Patterico's Pontifications

3/5/2018

Hot Take: The Russia Investigation Is a Good Thing for America

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 9:00 am

Warning: This post is going to be a little tongue-in-cheek. But only a little.

Robert Mueller’s investigation shows no signs of being over “shortly after the first of the year” as indicated by Ty Cobb last year. After all, it’s March 5, which is not exactly “shortly after” the first of the year. That was another swing and a miss by Cobb, whose batting percentage is surprisingly low. As news has been made public of Mueller’s request for communications among Trump, Carter Page, Bannon, Manafort, Rick Gates, and many others, it appears we will have this investigation for a while.

Here’s my Hot Take: that’s a good thing.

Think about it. This President is, let’s be honest, not exactly a master of policy. We all got yet another taste of his lack of policy chops (to be kind) this past week, when we saw the man unfiltered on guns and tariffs. And yet — if you ignore things like the explosion of the debt and the fact that our foreign policy is subject to the whim of a fool with a smartphone — some decent things have gotten done in Trump’s administation.

And one thing you may have noticed is that the best things were done by other people.

The crowning achievement of Trump’s administration for most conservatives has been his judicial picks, including but not limited to Neil Gorsuch. It’s the main reason to be glad Hillary Clinton didn’t win. And what involvement has Trump had in picking judges? A ceremonial one at best. More than any President in history, he has left the actual selections to the Federalist Society. And that’s a Very Good Thing. It seems true that regulations have been whittled away, and that too is a Good Thing. But do you think Donald Trump reads regulations to decide which are counterproductive? He doesn’t even know how to read a balance sheet.

Trump’s success at policy, to the extent that he has succeeded (and I am still very grumpy about the debt), is not due to his personal engagement with policy. It is owed to the people around him. If anything, when he does get involved in policy, the people around him have to correct his wildly wrong statements. In each case, after stumbling on immigration (“I have no problem. I would like to do that” in response to a request for a clean DACA bill), guns (add your assault weapons ban into the bill, Dianne!), and tariffs (let’s slam Canada with huge tariffs for some reason), Trump has walked his original statements back after the people around him gently explained that he had it all backwards.

This is a man who needs something to do. Ideally, something having nothing to do with policy.

I know! How about having him spend all his time obsessing over some silly Russia investigation!

It’s pretty difficult to believe that Mueller’s investigation is going to uncover much more in the way of “collusion” than has been uncovered already. If you’re cool with Trump Jr., Trump’s son-in-law, and Trump’s campaign manager meeting with someone who represents themselves to be connected to the Kremlin, for the purposes of collecting dirt on a campaign rival, odds are that your mind is not going to be changed much by anything Mueller finds.

But the Russia investigation is a nice shiny laser-pointer beam on the wall, and as long as Trump chases it, he won’t be dealing with policy. Let’s keep this guy preoccupied with personal worries over nothing, and away from substantive policy discussions about gun control, tariffs, single-payer healthcare, family leave, or any of the other lefty programs so near and dear to his heart.

Plus, the Russia investigation provides a little transparency for a fellow who is the last transparent President in modern history regarding his financial dealings. And no modern President has needed sunlight on his financial dealings as much as Trump and the people surrounding him. We have seen recently that Jared Kushner’s company was lobbying the government of Qatar directly for help — and after no help was forthcoming, Kushner pushed hard to support a Saudi Arabian blockade of Qatar that was a humanitarian disaster. We have seen how Trump issued an immigration order that covered various Muslim countries, yet curiously excluded several countries with ties to terror — but also ties to the Trump Organization. To the extent the Russia investigation sheds some light on this President’s financial affairs, I consider that to be a feature, not a bug.

So my Hot Take is: let’s drag this investigation on for as long as it takes. Four years, eight years . . . anything that keeps the kitten chasing the laser beam on the wall.

P.S. I often see people using the laser-beam-on-the-wall metaphor to describe their fantasy about how Trump is a sooper-sekrit genius using his Twitter tirades to distract the press. These people remind me of the credulous folks talking to the President in this clip from the movie “Being There”:

Rationalization is a powerful drug. If you’re determined to treat Trump as a genius, you’re going to find a way to treat him as a genius. The rest of us want to keep the man as far away from policy discussions as possible.

Comments (123)

123 Responses to “Hot Take: The Russia Investigation Is a Good Thing for America”

Lock him up. Problem solved.
Dave (8e9246) — 3/5/2018 @ 9:18 am
Even agreeing with everything you say, Patterico, it still remains that the Presidency is supposed to be iconic. And Trump is a dirty picture. Impeach!
nk (dbc370) — 3/5/2018 @ 9:30 am
Qatar has been the real story, they are the seat of the brotherhood and their branches from Ansar sharia to hamas
narciso (48ecae) — 3/5/2018 @ 9:35 am
And they have long standing ties in Washington from muellers Wilmer firm to Ashcroft to fmr Cruz staffer muzin
narciso (48ecae) — 3/5/2018 @ 9:37 am
No we should spend 7-10 million dollars wasting the time of the govt for a crime conjured up through opposition lawfare.
narciso (48ecae) — 3/5/2018 @ 9:41 am
He served his purpose. He beat Hillary. He’s not necessary to anything anymore. You know he’d do the same thing to anyone he no longer needed. How many of his early supporters hasn’t he already thrown under the bus?
nk (dbc370) — 3/5/2018 @ 9:53 am
And one thing you may have noticed is that the best things were done by other people.

You didn’t build that!-another clueless government blowhard
TheBas (3bcea0) — 3/5/2018 @ 9:54 am
I don’t think Trump is a genius. However, there’s some phrase the shrinks use for the cognitively-challenged who started hating a comb-over and figure that’s poisoned all policy, whether it works (they fervently hope not) or not.

I suppose the tongue-in-cheek part is about talking to Russians and paying somebody to get dirt on one’s opponent. As in, to avoid people being deliberately obtuse as a way of obfuscating, Hillary! and the dossier. So maybe this post was a metaphor condemning Hillary! Right?
Richard Aubrey (10ef71) — 3/5/2018 @ 9:55 am
It’s the main reason to be glad Hillary Clinton didn’t win.

The crowning achievement of Trump’s administration for most conservatives has been his judicial picks, including but not limited to Neil Gorsuch. Unless maybe you include the judicial picks in a larger category, that of misgovernment prevented, I would not say so. I would also add the fact that everybody feels free to criticize him.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 3/5/2018 @ 10:13 am
What he does, not what he says. That is all.
Colonel Haiku (bd4dc3) — 3/5/2018 @ 10:18 am
Mueller and that bunch can go pound sand.
Colonel Haiku (bd4dc3) — 3/5/2018 @ 10:19 am
Well, that quoting got botched up but you can see what I mean.

Charles M. Blow in the New York Times op-ed page today, has this take on Donald Trump: (I put some of what he wrote in boldface) I don’t know if this is all correct.

[Donald Trump] has faked his way through life pretending that he knows more than he does and is tougher than he is.

He has two diametrically opposed impulses.

On the one hand, he latches on to outlandish ideas, or simple, emotional aspects of complicated issues, or conspiratorial drivel, and he vests the whole of his emotional energy into proving their veracity, often against overwhelming evidence to the contrary …. [Blow gives what he thinks are examples, but the best example would be his claim that he won the popular vote, or would have if every vote was legally cast.]

On the other hand, and with other issues, his convictions are not fixed at all, but ephemeral and fleeting, changing from moment to moment, like the pattern of fog on a glass.

This is when you can see that he is clearly faking it. He wants so desperately to be right that he says whatever his audience — whether that be a small group or a filled arena, whether that be members of Congress or fans at a rally — want to hear and will respond to….

…And one thing that clearly comes across in those meetings is how much he talks rather than listens. It’s all about what he believes, what he would do, how courageous he is, how conciliatory he is, how smart he is about the subject…

…As is Trump’s wont, he doubled down defending his hasty decision [on tariffs] by trying to render something fraught and nuanced as simple and easy.

He tweeted Friday, at 5:50 a.m. no less, that “trade wars are good, and easy to win.” Only a simpleton with no true comprehension of global trade systems would say such a thing. And he did.

As is the case most often with this man, the subjects aren’t simple, but his understanding is.

It is this constant attempt to render the big things small and to make his limited knowledge and ability appear not only sufficient but extraordinary, that leads to Trump’s constant state of chaos.

It comes down to Donald Trump always wanting to prove he is right even when, I think, he knows he is wrong.

Sometimes this takes the form of sticking to something outlandish, which he may have asserted for all kinds of reasons, and sometimes this takes the form of trying to find the middle ground.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 3/5/2018 @ 10:25 am
Well if you think tweets are all that Trump has done, you are living in a bubble.
BTW all presidents hereafter will be tweeting.
Otto (c00bfe) — 3/5/2018 @ 10:34 am
Why does it appear that the description of DJT offered by Chas Blow (via Sammy) is a pretty good description of nearly every person who holds elected public office, and even a fair number of those who unsuccessfully run. Maybe its just me, however…
Gramps (cecc77) — 3/5/2018 @ 11:20 am
meanwhile harvardtrash Ted’s struggling to raise money to run for what should have been a very safe senate seat
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/5/2018 @ 11:24 am
Alabama was an even safer seat. And who knows how much more damage Trump will do to the GOP? This election season and next. Impeach!
nk (dbc370) — 3/5/2018 @ 11:29 am
President Trump tried to win Alabama while dirty nevertrump filth like Jeff Flake did everything they could to give it to the abortion candidate
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/5/2018 @ 11:51 am
Dog tormenting and employee wife killing romney vouched for the garden 5
narciso (d1f714) — 3/5/2018 @ 11:55 am
Good news everybody

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/senators-worry-gun-bill-could-fizzle-like-immigration-bill/article/2650628
narciso (d1f714) — 3/5/2018 @ 12:06 pm
Well except for the obvious how did you like the play:
https://mobile.twitter.com/ChuckRossDC/status/970738520523509761?p=v
narciso (d1f714) — 3/5/2018 @ 12:12 pm
As I have indicated in my prior posts, I view our current President as a narcisstic buffoon who will inflict great damage on the country and the GOP.

But some of your criticisms are off. That he delegates certain functions — like picking nominations for the bench — is neither unique to him nor a valid criticism. Most presidents leave judicial nominations to a committee. The issue is who is on the committee. Had Hillary Clinton won, you can bet her committee would have had a different makeup.
Bored Lawyer (998177) — 3/5/2018 @ 12:14 pm
personally i think this post lacks depth and nuance

as posts goes on a scale of one to ten this one is not high on the scale

that’s not a criticism it’s a challenge to do more better next time
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/5/2018 @ 12:22 pm
“…a sooper-sekrit genius…”

Gee, this morning Benny-Off-His-Jet praised our Captain as another Harry Truman, for obvious reasons. When the tide turns w/t November Wave, he may just be right.

Keep in mind the ‘sooper sekrit genius,’ ‘idiot,’ and the ‘dunce’ defeated Perry, Walker, Jindal, Graham, Pataki, Huckabee, Santorum, Paul, Christie, Fiorina, Gilmore, Bush, Carson, Rubio, Cruz and Kasich to win the Republican Party nomination. Then won the 2016 general election securing 304 electoral college votes w/62,984,825 of the popular vote beating Hillary Clinton’s 227 electoral college total in spite of her higher popular vote total of 65,853,516. But then, over 200-plus years, sooner or later one of the sicker rats was bound to make its way through the maze to the cheese.

From our Captain’s POV – and his ‘loyal crew’ as well– “you can’t argue with success” – to them the ship of state is steaming along just fine w/him at the helm. But keep your lifejacket close at hand.
______

Stellar meltdown on live television today: ex-Trump aide and Roger Stone pal Sam Nunberg loses it on call-in w/MSNBC’s Katy Tur; announces he’ll defy Mueller subpoena for his emails, says he thinks it will be ‘really funny’ if Mueller arrests him. Then says he thinks they ‘may have something’ on Trump- but doesn’t know for sure.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/5/2018 @ 12:26 pm
@22. postscript- it’s a roledex meltdown: loses it w/CNN’s Gloria Borger over Trump and Roger Stone as well.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/5/2018 @ 12:33 pm
20.As I have indicated in my prior posts, I view our current President as a narcisstic buffoon who will inflict great damage on the country and the GOP.

And that is your opinion and you are entitled to it however, I break ranks with you after “narcisstic buffoon”. I believe significantly more damage would have been done by our alternative choice for president and the political party to which it belongs and have a long, long list of evidence stretching back to The New Deal to substantiate my claim. Similarly, no one can be accused of doing more damage to the Republican Party over the past few decades than The Party itself, it’s candidates, it’s refusal to fight but to remain democrat lite and the fact that Republican politicians have used their position to keep themselves in the minority to enjoy all the trappings of power, prestige and money without doing a damn thing to stop the democrat/communist constant run toward the left.

The Republican Party destroyed (Not destroying) the Republican Party, not Donald J. Trump. George H.W. “Read My Lips” Bush did more to destroy the Republican Party that Donald J. Trump. George W. “I have to destroy the free market to save it” Bush did more to destroy the Republican Party then Donald J. Trump. When so-called Republican presidents institute democrat/communist policies like Medicare Part D and No Child Left Behind and “Quantitative Easing” the Party is o-v-e-r.

Then you get a Donald J. Trump. Be thankful he’s not a Hillary Rodham Clinton with all her brains and baggage.
Rev.Hoagie (66ef0d) — 3/5/2018 @ 12:36 pm
Heck I would go Tasmania devil and counterfile for discovery of every contact between Mueller’s staff and the Dnc odd how podesta and qeber who did the lobbying don’t get an indictment
narciso (d1f714) — 3/5/2018 @ 12:37 pm
Some theorized that Trump would so obsess the Deep State that, like scorpions locked at the mandibles in a martini glass, they’d just sting each other continuously — despite each being immune to the other’s venom.

Me, I’d prefer a POTUS who would not forfeit and waste the rare opportunity created by the GOP controlling the White House and both chambers of the Congress (even subject to the zombie-filibuster rule). But that’s clearly beyond Trump’s capabilities.
Beldar (fa637a) — 3/5/2018 @ 1:00 pm
@ Bored Lawyer (#20): I didn’t read our host to be criticizing Trump for delegating, but rather celebrating the consequences when he’s delegated to someone competent — as opposed to trying to use his own (disastrous, uninformed) judgment.
Beldar (fa637a) — 3/5/2018 @ 1:02 pm
You mean like senator lankford, whose up for amnesty and against even nominal freezes of govt salaries.
narciso (d1f714) — 3/5/2018 @ 1:03 pm
Me, I’d prefer a POTUS who would not forfeit and waste the rare opportunity created by the GOP controlling the White House and both chambers of the Congress (even subject to the zombie-filibuster rule). But that’s clearly beyond Trump’s capabilities.
Beldar (fa637a) — 3/5/2018 @ 1:00 pm

As I responded to Bored Lawyer, the only forfeiting and wasting of the GOP controlling anything is being done by the GOP, Beldar. All they have/had to do was fall behind and support Trump our winning candidate from day one and the GOP would be so far ahead right now it would be yuge! But no. They didn’t like “The Donald” cause he wasn’t couth and not sitting at the cool kids table.

The GOP created this mess by not fighting the leftists every-step-of-the-way and by not supporting THEIR candidate when he won. Even now with the crap the crazy leftists are doing from bringing in moslems who hate us to crying “gun control” every time a criminal breaks the law the GOP can’t find it within their soul to fight. And fight like the Republic depends on it.
Rev.Hoagie (66ef0d) — 3/5/2018 @ 1:15 pm
I know its an older piece, but it shows the travismockasham

https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/02/the-russians-colluded-massively-with-democrats/
narciso (d1f714) — 3/5/2018 @ 1:15 pm
@22. Postscript; Nunberg’s call-in rant live on the air w/t respected-by-our-host Jake Tapper is equally entertaining. Jake even offered legal advice to him. Lots of chaff w/plenty of static on the TeeVee but head’s up, Howard Stern, expect a call from the over-caffeinated Sam.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/5/2018 @ 1:18 pm
Oh Gawd – more superficial banalities based on a couple of newspaper stories which rely on anonymous sourcing.

Only an incurious NeverTrumper would look at the exclusion of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Turkey from the Travel Ban and come to the conclusion that its based on existing business ties between various Trump Organization activities and those countries.

Nooooo — there’s no meaningful difference between Yemen, Sudan, Iran, Syria, Libya, and Iraq when compared to the other 4.

One is a NATO member.’
One is a long-standing ally in efforts to bring about peace between Isreal and its neighbors.
One is a long-standing ally in military efforts in various Mideast conflicts.
And the last one hosts more US Navy ships in its ports than any other port on the world outside the US.

And the entire dispute between Saudi Arabia and Qatar really just comes down to Qatar’s unwillingness to lend money to Jared Kushner’s father.

Okey Dokey.

Must have been too rushed on your way out to work this morning to bother with the substance of any of this — too good to check I guess.
shipwreckedcrew (56b591) — 3/5/2018 @ 1:33 pm
Interesting there are ties to glenn Simpson here:

https://www.cjr.org/special_report/the-source.php

Kirkpatrick will buy any story re Benghazi, hamas et al all curiously are tied to qatar
narciso (d1f714) — 3/5/2018 @ 1:40 pm
Warning: This post is going to be a little tongue-in-cheek. But only a little.

Translation: I have a serious point to make, but it makes no sense so I’ll add the “tongue-in-cheek” disclaimer.
random viking (df30e9) — 3/5/2018 @ 1:48 pm
Yemen, Sudan, Iran, Syria, Libya, Somalia and Iraq were all countries where terrroists operated in or whose governments sponsored terrorism

What they were not were countries were terrrorists came from.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 3/5/2018 @ 1:48 pm
* where terrosist (primarily) came from.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 3/5/2018 @ 1:49 pm
Breaking…

The chairman of the U.S. Senate Appropriations, Republican Thad Cochran of Mississippi, tells The Associated Press he will resign April 1 because of health problems.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/5/2018 @ 1:55 pm
I hadn’t made that connection re mcmafia

https://www.thenational.ae/business/travel-and-tourism/russian-tourism-set-to-recover-in-ras-al-khaimah-1.213791
narciso (d1f714) — 3/5/2018 @ 1:58 pm
“I have a serious point to make, but it makes no sense so I’ll add the “tongue-in-cheek” disclaimer.”

– random viking

It actually does make sense. I’ll simplify it for you:

1. Trump is a moron.

2. It’s good to keep morons from crafting public policy.

3. The Russia investigation is a nice shiny laser-pointer beam on the wall, and as long as Trump chases it, he won’t be dealing with policy. (This part was in bold).

———–

4. The Russia investigation is good.
Leviticus (efada1) — 3/5/2018 @ 2:03 pm
72 years ago, was the famous iron curtain speech, in fulton
Missouri.
narciso (d1f714) — 3/5/2018 @ 2:04 pm
OT, but I choked up just now when I got to the part of this video showing still-colored roundels on the wings of the aircraft still sitting on the deck of the just-rediscovered USS Lexington (CV-2), lost in 1942 in the Battle of the Coral Sea.
Beldar (fa637a) — 3/5/2018 @ 2:07 pm
Equally tongue in cheek:

https://amgreatness.com/2018/03/05/woman-high-castle/
narciso (d1f714) — 3/5/2018 @ 2:20 pm
Actually, that may be on the sea floor, I’ve concluded after re-watching it, rather than on deck. The comments on the video indicate that this is a Douglas TBD Devastator torpedo bomber.
Beldar (fa637a) — 3/5/2018 @ 2:26 pm
Outright resign!
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 3/5/2018 @ 2:28 pm
Thad Cochran resigns effective APRIL FOOLS DAY – having some type of medical difficulty

Thad Cochran. Thad Cochran. Isn’t he the “conservative” Republican from Mississippi who paid the NAACP to smear McDaniel?

Yeah. https://www.redstate.com/erick/2014/07/15/confirmed-senate-republican-leaders-paid-for-attacks-against-conservatives/

That’s the [sacre bleu]ing guy.

I’m guessing his “medical difficulty” is poll related. You can’t pay Democrats to cross over and squeek through a Republican runoff twice.
papertiger (c8116c) — 3/5/2018 @ 2:34 pm
@41. Interesting piece; aircraft parts might be worthy to retrieve and restore if desired; a recent PBS piece on Dunkirk noted a Brit who salvaged much less intact wreckage of a Spitfire, albeit on land, flown at the battle, and restored it to flight. They can do wonders these days w/restoration efforts for vintage aircraft; Grissom’s Liberty Bell 7 was found back in ’99, recovered and restored; it occasionally goes on tour– it was in fairly good shape. And Bezos recovered and restored elements of Saturn V F-1 engines from Apollo 11, Apollo 12 and Apollo 16.

For space enthusiasts, the one to recover is the Sea King helicopter, number 66, used in the Apollo recoveries. It remained in service, post-Apollo, but was lost in a mishap in 1975 off San Diego. They know where it is and a general idea of its condition; it’s just a matter of resources, motivation and logistics to salvage and restore it.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/5/2018 @ 2:34 pm
Our host wrote (and I agree):

Trump’s success at policy, to the extent that he has succeeded (and I am still very grumpy about the debt), is not due to his personal engagement with policy. It is owed to the people around him.

I’m guessing that also extends beyond policy to comedy: Except for the Titanic joke (which I think I’ve heard from Trump before), I’m pretty sure that someone ghostwrote these one-liners for Trump from Saturday night’s Gridiron Banquet:

In light of Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner having his security clearance downgraded, Trump joked about the matter, saying he was late “because Jared couldn’t get through security.”

“Ivanka, you’ve got to do something!” Trump said, according to White House pool reports, referring to Ivanka Trump, his daughter and Kushner’s wife.

I do give Trump credit both for outsourcing this task and then for reading them in front of an audience (even if he did promptly step on a couple of them, by this account).
Beldar (fa637a) — 3/5/2018 @ 2:49 pm
this is completely irresponsible and i abjure this because of the high elevation and mostly the high elevation and the potential for falling down
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/5/2018 @ 2:51 pm
I’ve always found the “a nice shiny laser-pointer beam on the wall” to be a bit inhumane.

I like to think of it as a “Butterfly”.

Just when you think they are smart … “Butterfly” … and off they go.
Neo (d1c681) — 3/5/2018 @ 2:57 pm
Charles Blow blows donkeys.
Colonel Haiku (bd4dc3) — 3/5/2018 @ 2:58 pm
Thank God rapper (back when it wasnt hip-hop) Kurtis Blow (Basketball, The Breaks) is a pseudonym and he’s not related.
urbanleftbehind (b60adc) — 3/5/2018 @ 3:09 pm
Between going to bed late this morning and getting up and about I’m already starting to forget about what’s his name in the penalty box. And so it will be with Trump. Anyone you don’t pay child support to is easily forgotten.
Pinandpuller (880e5c) — 3/5/2018 @ 3:10 pm
You think of the pacific campaign, the Japanese forces struck Almost simultaneous in Malaya in the phillipines and at pearl. The first fell almost immediately the second took longer at corregidor and almost the entire fleet at the last.
narciso (d1f714) — 3/5/2018 @ 3:25 pm
I support this viewpoint if every president hence gets a governor. They aren’t equally distributed however.

Let’s just investigate and litigate the results of every election!
Pinandpuller (880e5c) — 3/5/2018 @ 3:26 pm
Yes I was right about that:

http://www.london.gov.au/battles/singapore
narciso (d1f714) — 3/5/2018 @ 3:30 pm
If you’re determined to treat Trump as a genius, you’re going to find a way to treat him as a genius. The rest of us want to keep the man as far away from policy discussions as possible.

Trump is not a genius. He’s president.

Every so often, the host lets the mask slip to reveal his utter contempt for the famous William F. Buckley quote:

“I’d rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University.”
random viking (df30e9) — 3/5/2018 @ 4:06 pm
Who will investigate the Mueller Crime Family and this Thing of Theirs? All the way up the food chain to teh Capo di TuttiFruitti…
Colonel Haiku (bd4dc3) — 3/5/2018 @ 4:22 pm
Meanwhile in the UK, well there’s a reason its a major setting for mcmafia:
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/05/alleged-former-russian-spy-critically-exposure-unknown-substance/
narciso (d1f714) — 3/5/2018 @ 4:29 pm
That’s what I don’t understand, random viking. It took over 200 years to seriously compromise the validity of The American Experiment and through almost all that time we had “experts” at the helm. Now The Experiment may be entering it’s final phase with the leftists pushing with all their might to “fundamentally change” America and what it stands for. We are now to the point where we have 53 “genders”, can’t decide what rest room pervs should use, allow all sort of people to immigrate here who are 1) unworthy, 2) unassimilable, 3) incompatible and hostile to our culture and now actually listen to 18 year old kids about gun control.

Trump had nothing to do with any of this and neither did the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone book. Professional politicians did. It reminds me of Robert Conquest’s Second Law of politics: Any organization not explicitly and constitutionally right-wing will sooner or later become left-wing. Therefore, everything will become left-wing, including government. And is.

Trump may be the first installment of the push back. Besides, he keeps the leftists so occupied in hating him, protesting him, ridiculing him and crying about him they are unable to cause their usual destruction…..so far. Sooner or later even these bubbleheads will sober up enough to realize “that great big idiot” has fooled them. Maybe. If he doesn’t “become left-wing” himself.
Rev.Hoagie (66ef0d) — 3/5/2018 @ 4:35 pm
@58

Putting the “yum” in polonium.
Davethulhu (fab944) — 3/5/2018 @ 4:38 pm
Yes they have a phrase shmert spionem ‘death to spies’,
narciso (d1f714) — 3/5/2018 @ 4:44 pm
Yada, yada, yada.
ropelight (698a32) — 3/5/2018 @ 4:45 pm
Mitch McConnell watered down the warning he gave to Putin over election tampering, Obama claims.

Thats why the DNC emails abruptly ended with the murder of Mark Rich, according to Obama.

hah hah

https://www.yahoo.com/news/obama-warning-russia-meddling-apos-220759889.html
papertiger (c8116c) — 3/5/2018 @ 4:46 pm
President Trump’s a good president i don’t care what anybody says

i waited so long for this and I’m loving it so much

i love it when i wake up in the morning and make my bed and i love it when i drink my coffee out of my coffee cup and i love it when I do whatever it is i do all day and then at night i love it some more and i go to bed feeling happy
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/5/2018 @ 4:47 pm
There was an Oscar thing last night. Didn’t even notice.

http://www.breitbart.com/big-hollywood/2018/03/05/collapse-oscar-ratings-crash-double-digits/
papertiger (c8116c) — 3/5/2018 @ 4:53 pm
Oddly there are statutory violations here, but no one seemed interested:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/03/05/fbi-agent-peter-strzok-was-told-possible-breach-into-clintons-server-but-didnt-follow-up-sources-say.html
narciso (d1f714) — 3/5/2018 @ 4:53 pm
Trump is the best President we’ve ever had.

Pat would complain if he were getting a [sacre bleu].
papertiger (c8116c) — 3/5/2018 @ 4:58 pm
My wife sat thru teh Oscars and tells me that Wes Studi was at the podium telling the attendees about serving for 12 months in Vietnam. He received some tepid applause and then asked “anyone else”… a few laughs and then some rather perfunctory applause. The Hollywood assholes stayed glued to their chairs.

However, when Jane Fonda was up there, you better believe THAT got them on their feet.
Colonel Haiku (bd4dc3) — 3/5/2018 @ 5:02 pm
All the good things Trump has done were due to listening to his advisers, right?

Okay. What sense does it make for Mitch McConnell to hold up Trump’s appointments?
Blocking the Potus from all the “good” advice is all it’s doing.
Which not coincidentally is what Mueller’s snipe hunt is doing.

Stupidity. Like sticking your tongue in your cheek and chewing.
papertiger (c8116c) — 3/5/2018 @ 5:06 pm
So to Jimmy Kimmel and all the other geniuses with OCD, fvck you right in your cakeholes.
Colonel Haiku (bd4dc3) — 3/5/2018 @ 5:10 pm
Type A’s hire Type A’s. It’s why they’re successful.
Lenny (5ea732) — 3/5/2018 @ 5:13 pm
69.All the good things Trump has done were due to listening to his advisers, right?

As long as good things get done Where’s the Beef? It’s called winning which is so damn rare for our team they don’t know how to handle it.
Rev.Hoagie (66ef0d) — 3/5/2018 @ 5:14 pm
The corollary is Type B’s hire Type C’s….which explains government.
Lenny (5ea732) — 3/5/2018 @ 5:24 pm
And you may remember the kerfuffle when Milo Y. made comments about gay sex with minors. So Hollywood makes a movie about the same subject, everybody gets lauded for their courageous stand and Kimmel makes a swinish joke about making movies to upset Mike Pence.

Los Angeles – Hollywood in particular- is evil.
Colonel Haiku (bd4dc3) — 3/5/2018 @ 5:24 pm
Here’s the operative part of the Oscars;
Seven of the nine nominees averaged just $47 million at the box office, which means only about 5 million people saw them.

On top of not watching their awards show.
papertiger (c8116c) — 3/5/2018 @ 5:26 pm
Yes but milo, from his perch in it, noted how londonistan wee becoming inhospitable and he saw that reflection in Orlando, he is more like the late pin fortyn than gert wilders, but they along with hirsi Ali, have the same common enemy.
narciso (d1f714) — 3/5/2018 @ 5:28 pm
Putting the “yum” in polonium.

More likely, their dealer turned him and his girlfriend on to some too strong Fentanyl. Like the stuff Uma Thurman stole from John Travolta in Pulp Fiction.
nk (dbc370) — 3/5/2018 @ 5:30 pm
Uma Thurman is dead?
papertiger (c8116c) — 3/5/2018 @ 5:35 pm
David Carradine’s hoods gunned her down on her wedding day. Her betrothed too. Very sad.
nk (dbc370) — 3/5/2018 @ 5:37 pm
Just kidding!

Did you hear the anguished scream in your neighborhood?
papertiger (c8116c) — 3/5/2018 @ 5:37 pm
No her character in the cobalt 60 of sophistication preferred by Tarantino. Thanks to weinstein
narciso (d1f714) — 3/5/2018 @ 5:39 pm
The Russian meddling began in 2014, well before Donald J.
Trump’s campaign commenced.
Got to wonder how Mueller missed this critical tidbit of information after a year of investigating his navel.

The Russians promoted Vermont senator Bernie Sanders’s Democratic-primary bid and Green-party nominee Jill Stein’s general-election effort.
More exculpatory evidence that slipped right past Inspector Clouseau.

After Trump won, the Russians organized pro-Trump and anti-Trump demonstrations, once in New York City on the same day.
Must be due to the narrow scope of his investigation {only includes evidence gleened from the New Youk Times, Washington Post, and to a lesser extent, The Huffington Post, headlines.

They also staged an anti-Trump rally in Charlotte.
Aha. How that is juicy. That pantomime of torch marchers protecting the statue of Geddy Lee from the Nazi Brown Shirts, was a Putin operation?
Well done , Vlademir.
What’s he got against the Working Man? [YouTube]
papertiger (c8116c) — 3/5/2018 @ 5:53 pm
Perhaps because a real conspiracy to deprive was going on re uranium one, rosenstein mccabe it al were running interference, the material was routed from Kentucky through Canada to Europe using trans logistics
narciso (d1f714) — 3/5/2018 @ 5:57 pm
Like Freddie krueger he can still get at them:

https://www.weaselzippers.us/377185-the-oscars-ripped-conservative-values-all-night-heres-how-many-jokes-were-made-about-harvey-weinstein/
narciso (d1f714) — 3/5/2018 @ 6:20 pm
What I was referring to:
https://www.clickorlando.com/news/pulse-orlando-shooting/pulse-gunman-was-at-disney-springs-eve-nightclub-night-of-shooting-widows-defense-says
narciso (d1f714) — 3/5/2018 @ 6:26 pm
As I have indicated in my prior posts, I view our current President as a narcisstic buffoon who will inflict great damage on the country and the GOP.

But some of your criticisms are off. That he delegates certain functions — like picking nominations for the bench — is neither unique to him nor a valid criticism. Most presidents leave judicial nominations to a committee. The issue is who is on the committee. Had Hillary Clinton won, you can bet her committee would have had a different makeup.

I think you overlooked the fact that I do not criticize his delegation of these functions. I praise it. I want him to delegate more. I want him to delegate everything.
Patterico (115b1f) — 3/5/2018 @ 6:32 pm
@ Bored Lawyer (#20): I didn’t read our host to be criticizing Trump for delegating, but rather celebrating the consequences when he’s delegated to someone competent — as opposed to trying to use his own (disastrous, uninformed) judgment.

I had not read this comment when I posted #86, but yes. Exactly.
Patterico (115b1f) — 3/5/2018 @ 6:34 pm
It actually does make sense. I’ll simplify it for you:

1. Trump is a moron.

2. It’s good to keep morons from crafting public policy.

3. The Russia investigation is a nice shiny laser-pointer beam on the wall, and as long as Trump chases it, he won’t be dealing with policy. (This part was in bold).

———–

4. The Russia investigation is good.

The Post for Dummies.

Which is not to say random viking is a dummy. It’s to say that you have a nice summary there.
Patterico (115b1f) — 3/5/2018 @ 6:35 pm
ICYMI in a mostly moribund thread:

Ben burn is now banned completely. It’s not just a vacation. Details here.
Patterico (115b1f) — 3/5/2018 @ 6:38 pm
goodbye Mr. burn though i never knew you at all your candle burned out long before your hatred of the best president we ever had our whole lives, President Donald Trump
happyfeet (28a91b) — 3/5/2018 @ 6:45 pm
OT, but absolutely worth quoting in full, from our host, on the prior set of comments about the sheriff, where it might now be missed:

Ben burn’s ban is now permanent, due to a bizarre email he sent me this morning which shows that he is taking this comment section far, far too personally. I have no choice but to disengage when someone gets this wound up about comments. I wish Ben burn good luck — far, far away from this blog.

Patterico (115b1f) — 3/5/2018 @ 6:29 pm

May he indeed get the help he needs.
Beldar (fa637a) — 3/5/2018 @ 6:45 pm
Aha. I wrote #91 as our host was writing #89.
Beldar (fa637a) — 3/5/2018 @ 6:46 pm
Yes subaltern burn, was nearing the boiling bunny stage, I did offer warnings but no one listens to zathras.
narciso (d1f714) — 3/5/2018 @ 6:48 pm
Is this a bit over the top? Honest question.
felipe (023cc9) — 3/5/2018 @ 7:10 pm
Yes subaltern burn, was nearing the boiling bunny stage, I did offer warnings but no one listens to zathras.

You did, but I ban people for things they say on the blog (or crazy emails they send to me).

But you’re right: he will not be ignored!
Patterico (115b1f) — 3/5/2018 @ 7:12 pm
A little harsh, Nicholson’s enterpetation seems tame compared to ledgers and letos
narciso (d1f714) — 3/5/2018 @ 7:17 pm
True, and if they have seen further, it was by standing on the shoulders of giants.
felipe (023cc9) — 3/5/2018 @ 7:21 pm
Well, there is this if you are a Joker fan.
felipe (023cc9) — 3/5/2018 @ 7:24 pm
~~Best~~ Only good Batman movie ever. Just the right mix of camp, mawkishness and action, with lots of cool production values. The second one was good too. Tim Burton knows how to make a movie.
nk (dbc370) — 3/5/2018 @ 7:27 pm
Yes subaltern burn, was nearing the boiling bunny stage, I did offer warnings but no one listens to zathras.
narciso (d1f714) — 3/5/2018 @ 6:48 pm

Wow, I need to expand my television viewing. I had no idea what a zathra was and had to look it up. Minor detail though, I don’t have TV…. I’ll have to find an alternate source. I will have to say that not having any TV is lovely. I highly recommend it for everyone. Now if only I could dump the internet as easily, but then I’d miss all the highly challenging (challenged? lol)discussion from the comments section of this blog.

Off to collude with the Russians.
Marci (e5bb26) — 3/5/2018 @ 7:27 pm
Romero, fne (who was Martis grandson) had a much more slapstick version
narciso (d1f714) — 3/5/2018 @ 7:27 pm
Zathras was this minor character, an alien repairman, on Babylon 5 who would issue advice that wasn’t heeded.
narciso (d1f714) — 3/5/2018 @ 7:29 pm
I had to look it up too, Marci.
nk (dbc370) — 3/5/2018 @ 7:30 pm
Marci (e5bb26) — 3/5/2018 @ 7:27 pm

Same here. Internet is my crack cocaine.
felipe (023cc9) — 3/5/2018 @ 7:30 pm
Amen, Pat.

I am reminded of a certain Chief Executive who also admired bodacious babes.

Ed from SFV (3400a5) — 3/5/2018 @ 7:35 pm
https://youtu.be/NzbhbetwYFU
Ed from SFV (3400a5) — 3/5/2018 @ 7:35 pm
For space enthusiasts, the one to recover is the Sea King helicopter, number 66, used in the Apollo recoveries. It remained in service, post-Apollo, but was lost in a mishap in 1975 off San Diego. They know where it is and a general idea of its condition; it’s just a matter of resources, motivation and logistics to salvage and restore it.

DCSCA (797bc0) — 3/5/2018 @ 2:34 pm

Do you want to send the bill to Elon Musk or charge it to the room?
Pinandpuller (d8aedb) — 3/5/2018 @ 7:43 pm
Thank God rapper (back when it wasnt hip-hop) Kurtis Blow (Basketball, The Breaks) is a pseudonym and he’s not related.

urbanleftbehind (b60adc) — 3/5/2018 @ 3:09 pm

I’ve never been clear as to the difference between a rapper and an MC.
Pinandpuller (d8aedb) — 3/5/2018 @ 7:47 pm
It appears Ben burn had been banned here 8 years ago, for telling me to go **** myself.
Patterico (115b1f) — 3/5/2018 @ 7:59 pm
However, when Jane Fonda was up there, you better believe THAT got them on their feet.

Colonel Haiku (bd4dc3) — 3/5/2018 @ 5:02 pm

How did she even get to travel there, Diplomatic Immunity? Why did we take her back?
Pinandpuller (d8aedb) — 3/5/2018 @ 8:04 pm
David Carradine’s hoods gunned her down on her wedding day. Her betrothed too. Very sad.

nk (dbc370) — 3/5/2018 @ 5:37 pm

When they’re in a coma they let you grab ’em by the wagon.
Pinandpuller (d8aedb) — 3/5/2018 @ 8:12 pm
Tarrantino is a very sick puppy.
nk (dbc370) — 3/5/2018 @ 8:15 pm
So with the life cycle and dissonant chirping Ben could be a member of the cicada family:

Although only males produce the cicadas’ distinctive sound, both sexes have membraneous structures called tympana by which they detect sounds; the equivalent of having ears. Males disable their own tympana while calling, thereby preventing damage to their hearing; a necessity partly because some cicadas produce sounds up to 120 dB which is among the loudest of all insect-produced sounds. The song is loud enough to cause permanent hearing loss in humans should the cicada sing just outside the listener’s ear.

For the human ear, it is often difficult to tell precisely where a cicada song originates. The pitch is nearly constant, the sound is continuous to the human ear, and cicadas sing in scattered groups. In addition to the mating song, many species have a distinct distress call, usually a broken and erratic sound emitted by the insect when seized or panicked. Some species also have courtship songs, generally quieter, and produced after a female has been drawn to the calling song.
Pinandpuller (d8aedb) — 3/5/2018 @ 8:46 pm
You had a good run there, Ben Burn.
papertiger (c8116c) — 3/5/2018 @ 9:16 pm
You know if there were some sort of appliance, like an upside down lampshade to wear around his neck, so he doesn’t chew the furniture [jpg].

Semanticleo from 2007? That’s a long time between comments. I mean to sit on the sideline thinking, “Boy. If I could just get a word in edgewise, those hooligans at PP would be straightened out proper.“
papertiger (c8116c) — 3/5/2018 @ 9:33 pm
He went on sabbatical, everywhere from Ireland to Bhutan, yet didn’t care to speak about it.
narciso (d1f714) — 3/5/2018 @ 9:46 pm
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/03/06/michael-flynn-selling-home-to-pay-for-legal-fees-after-pleading-guilty-in-trump-probe.html

Is it a good thing to ruin a man’s life to keep President Trump on the defensive?
NJRob (b00189) — 3/8/2018 @ 7:17 am
Mueller will swear out a warrant for Nunberg”s arrest, and Nunberg will go to jail. However, the length of time he is imprisoned will depend on the “value of his alleged testimony to Mueller. I predict about 6 months. After that, the news-cycle value of Nunberg”s “alleged testimony will cease being valuable to Mueller. Plus, this may turn out to be a “trend. Some people are willing to go to jail if they believe in their own personal power to “take a stand. Mueller will “threaten Nunberg with a long prison sentence. But if Nunberg stands against Mueller, there”s nothing Mueller can do. sanjosemike (no longer in CA) order a custom essay
bert (b2173e) — 3/9/2018 @ 7:03 pm
Bert, you never went up against the established, entrenched federal bureaucracy have you? Nunberg and anyone else will be bankrupt, out on the street, unemployable and ground to sh!t by a thousand cuts by a thousand lawyers before the ink dries on his first defense attorney check.

I’ve gone up against these guys. I once bailed out on a $30 million shopping center for $6 million and was grateful to not end up broke and in prison for breaking some obscure federal law previously unheard of (because it really isn’t a law, it’s a rule established by a bureaucracy with all the power of a law). Trust me, you don’t want your lawyer at $700 an hour fighting the 140 federal lawyers (that you are also paying for). He will lose.
Rev.Hoagie (1b0402) — 3/9/2018 @ 7:15 pm
Yes the goal is to confess to anything, they see 1984 as a how to manual, glovers novel takes a whole host of experiences like when Orwell was detained by the republics security, excerpts from purge trial snippets from totskys bio to ascertain the sources of the tale.
narciso (d1f714) — 3/9/2018 @ 7:21 pm
Engineering students at the university of Texas in the early 60s didn’t have time for politics. I knew some people whose parents were in the anticastro movement at the time, but you could count on one hand thosrcwho were still procastro in 63
narciso (d1f714) — 3/9/2018 @ 7:32 pm
It appears Ben burn had been banned here 8 years ago, for telling me to go **** myself.
Patterico (115b1f) — 3/5/2018 @ 7:59 pm

Well, that seems fair.
Steve57 (0b1dac) — 3/10/2018 @ 9:56 am

3/5/2018

Hot Take: The Russia Investigation Is a Good Thing for America

123 Responses to “Hot Take: The Russia Investigation Is a Good Thing for America”

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