Patterico's Pontifications

4/25/2018

Federal Judge: To Hell with Trump! Long Live Barack Obama’s DACA Program!

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 8:30 am



A third federal judge has ruled that President Trump is not allowed to terminate Barack Obama’s illegal DACA program. This is not the first time a judge has done this, so I’ll quote myself from one of the previous times:

This decision is outrageous. Immigration is Congress’s business. Obama overstepped his authority in issuing a blanket amnesty to a group of people under the guise of prosecutorial discretion. Trump had every right to undo that decision and return the issue to Congress, where it belongs.

. . . .

I hope that this order is swiftly appealed and reversed. It’s a naked power grab by the courts and has no basis in law.

But this decision is worse than the previous ones. Until yesterday, judges had simply ordered that Homeland Security process renewal applications from who had already applied. But this ruling is different:

But the ruling by Bates, an appointee of President George W. Bush, is far more expansive: If the government does not come up with a better explanation within 90 days, he will rescind the government memo that terminated the program and require Homeland Security to enroll new applicants, as well. Thousands could be eligible to apply.

The judge has put his absurd decision on hold for that 90-day period.

Here’s the centerpiece of the “reasoning” offered by the court:

The Court further concludes that, under the APA, DACA’s rescission was arbitrary and capricious because the Department failed adequately to explain its conclusion that the program was unlawful. Neither the meager legal reasoning nor the assessment of litigation risk provided by DHS to support its rescission decision is sufficient to sustain termination of the DACA program.

This is nonsense. Obama’s proffered justification for undermining Congressional legislation in the area of immigration was that he was making a resource allocation decision in enforcement, which is an executive function. Decisions like this mean that one president’s decision about how to allocate resources binds the hands of all future presidents, who are not allowed to make different decisions unless they can explain to a judge’s satisfaction why the previous decisions were illegal.

Even if you accept the resource allocation justification (and I don’t), it makes no sense to say that all future presidents are bound by a previous president’s resource allocation. Obama’s not the President anymore. Donald Trump is, and he’s the one who gets to decide how to allocate the resources available in his administration.

I can’t wait for the Supreme Court to overrule this and decisions like it.

P.S. Today is the day that the Supreme Court hears arguments on Trump’s travel ban. I’ll do my best to offer analysis later today or tomorrow.

P.P.S. This has nothing to do with the subject matter of this post, but if you haven’t read Kira Davis’s post on the tragic and infuriating Alfie Evans case out of the U.K., read it now. I was going to write a post about that myself, but realized that I’d never be able to write anything as effective as her piece. So instead of writing my own piece, I’m promoting hers, and recommending that everyone read it. It’s that good.

[Cross-posted at RedState and The Jury Talks Back.]

233 Responses to “Federal Judge: To Hell with Trump! Long Live Barack Obama’s DACA Program!”

  1. laughingstock legal system

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  2. This is why I believe in following the Constitution and not the decisions of our robed clergy. Law schools have damaged the rule of law by focusing on court decisions and not the law.

    NJRob (b00189)

  3. Only lawyers go unscathed while they abort the justice system. You people really succ.

    mg (9e54f8)

  4. For those who seem to persist in the thinking that Obama wasn’t “far left” and didn’t govern that way, that sonuvagun biscuit thumbed his nose at the constitution and the separation of powers each and every day and in every way.

    Colonel Haiku (43fb26)

  5. Someone needs to write a book about how lawyers have raped this country of its constitutional law.

    mg (9e54f8)

  6. I welcome the ridiculous decisions by these courts. They illustrate clearly the difference between the right and the left.

    I think I know which side most Americans are on. The coming elections should be interesting.

    Patricia (3363ec)

  7. Thanks for the link, Patterico. I read Kira Davis’s article in disbelief that a supposed “free” and “enlightened” country like England could be so gripped by the socialist fist they have become not amoral but virtually immoral. Sad end to Western Civilization. I wonder what comes after us? A New Dark Age perhaps?

    Rev.Hoagie (1b0402)

  8. As I said at the time (in an admitted Bunkerism) Obama has no power to discrete green cards.

    Kevin M (752a26)

  9. There have been several district court judges lately who have massively overstepped their authority in order to counter the administration. As Patterico notes, the “ratchet effect” — used in the past to lock in judge-approved “rights” — is now being used with abandon to lock in usurpations by the Executive.

    Not only is the administration entitled to it’s own discretion, but the original DACA program had no basis in discretion in the first place. It was a bald-faced refusal to follow clear law.

    We made a decision long ago (circa 1802) not to impeach judges for mere policy differences, but this latest rash of abuse of office is beyond the pale. This judge needs to be impeached. He may not be convicted, but the case has to be made, pour encourager les autres.

    Kevin M (752a26)

  10. * its

    Kevin M (752a26)

  11. It’s not a surprise that the judge is a Bush appointee. Chamber of Commerce Republicans want a cheap labor pool more than Democrats want welfare recipients to pander to. In point of fact, the Shrub wanted to create a new class of visas, like HB-1, for unskilled workers.

    nk (dbc370)

  12. He won’t be, though. It won’t even be introduced. Not even “Trump’s GOP.”

    Kevin M (752a26)

  13. As for Baby Alfie, when was England ever a free country? It does not have citizens, it has subjects. Its present day socialism is merely an extension of the feudalism it started out with.

    nk (dbc370)

  14. OT:

    Alex Griswold
    @HashtagGriswold
    Given that this is a Politico write-up, I’m a bit surprised they left off the fact that she’s a former Ready for Hillary staffer, Clinton campaign staffer, and Democratic lobbyist

    The surprise is that you’re surprised.

    Check out the video of Port Authority board member and [cough] ethics chair dealing with two cops who had pulled over and impounded a car in which her daughter was a passenger:

    https://mobile.twitter.com/politico/status/988894869635633153

    Cherry on top: check out her profile:

    https://mobile.twitter.com/MichelBrewer/status/988896672229900288/photo/1

    Maybe she can change the law on unregistered vehicles.

    harkin (fc723d)

  15. Chicago, Chicago, that tottering town…

    “Byrd had run afoul of Chicago’s aggressive vehicle impound program, which seizes cars and fines owners thousands of dollars for dozens of different offenses. The program impounds cars when the owner beats a criminal case or isn’t charged with a crime in the first place. It impounds cars even when the owner isn’t even driving, like when a child is borrowing a parent’s car.

    In total, Chicago fined motorists more than $17 million between March 2017 and March of this year for 31 different types of offenses, ranging from DUI to having illegal fireworks in a car to playing music too loud, according to data from the Chicago Administrative Hearings Department. About $10 million of those fines were for driving on a suspended license, and more than $3 million were for drug offenses like the one that resulted in the impoundment of Byrd’s car.

    The city says it is simply enforcing nuisance laws and cracking down on scofflaws. But community activists and civil liberties groups say the laws are predatory, burying guilty and innocent owners alike in debt, regardless of their ability to pay or the effect losing a vehicle will have on their lives.

    “There’s plenty of reason to be concerned that there’s injustice being done to people who are mostly poor, people who aren’t in a position to fight back,” says Ben Ruddell, a staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Illinois. “The city has been perpetuating an exploitative system, charging exorbitant fees in a way that it knows is likely to make it so folks never get their cars out of impoundment.”

    https://reason.com/archives/2018/04/25/chicago-debt-impound-cars-innocent

    Colonel Haiku (43fb26)

  16. 16… and she’s their “Ethics” chair because ethics!!!

    Colonel Haiku (43fb26)

  17. Reason! Aw fer …! Jonathan Chait is more credible.

    nk (dbc370)

  18. #11 I agree with your sentiment, but to lay this mess at the feet of a single party is a half measure a best.

    #19 I will be charitable and assume you left out the sarc tag.

    The post: informative and well reasoned. The dubious application of executive privilege to create what is in fact legislation, and binding at that, must be met with vociferous opposition regardless of the partisan affiliation of the President. And thank you for the link: I would have not seen this otherwise.

    Estarcatus (d19e9c)

  19. 13.As for Baby Alfie, when was England ever a free country? It does not have citizens, it has subjects. Its present day socialism is merely an extension of the feudalism it started out with.
    nk (dbc370) — 4/25/2018 @ 10:26 am

    Englishmen have considered themselves Free Men for hundreds of years regardless of what you believe being a subject means. They did invent common law and that certainly was for free men.

    BTW, just cause you don’t like Reason does not make this incorrect.

    Rev.Hoagie (1b0402)

  20. Chait over Reason says it all.

    harkin (fc723d)

  21. There is nothing either good or bad

    But Reason makes it so

    Pinandpuller (f2928d)

  22. Just the sloppiness and inattention to detail that we’ve come to expect from Trump’s Romper Room administration.

    The judge isn’t saying that Trump can’t change Obama’s rules, he’s saying that Trump has to follow the law concerning administrative procedures to do so.

    The judge stayed his own decision for 90 days. Hopefully they will find someone who knows what they’re doing and can comply with the law by then.

    Dave (445e97)

  23. Reason is a bunch of drama queens. I’ve practiced law in Chicago since 1982. I dare you to come here and try and get your drivers license suspended. You won’t even know where to start and if somebody tells you, you’ll give up halfway through. It’s hard work. And, yeah, if a drivers license is suspended, license plate registered to that driver are also suspended, and the car will be towed if it’s caught being driven. Heavens to Betsy!

    nk (dbc370)

  24. And Chait was messing with Haiku.

    nk (dbc370)

  25. Gun Control Now! for Chicago… dumb bastards will shoot themselves if left unsupervised.

    Colonel Haiku (43fb26)

  26. According to the New York Times story, what the judge seemed to do is say that the program was discontinued on the grounds it was not legal.

    But they did not give much of an argument that it was illegal.

    The judge gave them three months to come up with a more detailed legal analysis. He stgayed his ruling for taht time. There is no oractical effect since there is a ruling requiring it continue anyway from other judges.

    This does not get into the question of whether it might be legal, but discretionary – both ways.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  27. One way to prop up teh Failed Blue State Model…

    Colonel Haiku (43fb26)

  28. What is not logical and nearly incomprehensible is the decision of the court not simply to deny Alfie further treatment, but then deny his right and the right of his parents to leave the country to seek treatment elsewhere. Even that decision might make a tiny bit of sense if it were to add to the NHS’ costs. That would be a problem for that pesky algorithm.

    The NHS doesn’t want to be proven wrong about Alfies chances for survival.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  29. One can only imagine the circle jerk of payoffs with the city bureaucracy and the tow companies.

    Colonel Haiku (43fb26)

  30. And teh lawyers standing in teh middle of it all, coated in a whitish substance…

    Colonel Haiku (43fb26)

  31. Just kidding on that last part…

    Colonel Haiku (43fb26)

  32. Justice Louis Brandeis so simply and eloquently stated, “If we desire that the law be respected, we must first make the law respectful.”

    The purpose of the law is to provide a large measure of certainty, clarity, through reasoned and wise laws and court decisions that interpret and rule on those laws. If well reasoned and followed by just result, the people will respect the law. Conversely, if there is no certainty, there can be no justice; without certainty it would be hard know even what the law is and the concept of justice was.

    Fact is, for too long there have been too, too, many decisions from the Supreme Court with votes of 5/4, that are too long and contain many separate opinions. Such provides little certainty or clarity, and instead offer much uncertainty and confusion – and if allowed to continue chaos.

    Judge Bates’ decision above, provides the most recent example. Precedent has turned to whim.

    So why should any reasoned person respect Judge Bates’ decision?

    Where is the Rule of Law to respect in America today? How can one respect such sophistry?

    How and who will we make the law respectful again in America?

    Justice Brandeis also stated, “The most important political office, is that of private citizen.”

    Judge Bates’ decision disrespects both the law and the American citizen. Such conduct is coming more and more often from judges/judiciary, as well as from the two other twigs (branches) of our government. Here are two (2) recent examples of two more judges acting badly: (1) Florida – https://www.theblaze.com/news/2018/04/23/judge-no-longer-allowed-in-court-after-chiding-sickly-inmate-who-later-died; and, (2) New York – http://www.scjc.state.ny.us/Press.Releases/2018.Releases/Astacio.Leticia.D.Release.2018-04-24.pdf

    Liberty & Truth require constant vigilance. GLZ.

    Gary L. Zerman (ab669e)

  33. Man, could this Sacramento DA be any more “all about me” on this east area rapist case? Now with the Sheriff… Why can’t these people ever just be focusing on the business at hand? Preening sons of biscuits.

    Colonel Haiku (43fb26)

  34. It is sooooo great that they’ve caught this monster… what a trail of victims… dead and devastated lives left in his wake.

    Colonel Haiku (43fb26)

  35. 40 years… wow.

    Colonel Haiku (43fb26)

  36. Chait gives us no advantage over the beasts of the field.

    Funny enough, mr nk, I know a 21 year old girl who is on her sixth DL suspension. There’s a DMV on Murfreesboro road that only processes the suspended licences and a metro bus arrives every eight minutes.

    Pinandpuller (4c1023)

  37. 12 murders and 51 rapes

    Colonel Haiku (43fb26)

  38. Multi-generational victims of this monster.

    Colonel Haiku (43fb26)

  39. Shaming California State Senator John Burton “I shamed you then and I shame you now.”

    — Bruce Harrington, speaking about the “buzzsaw of opposition” re: using DNA he got he says “Burton acolytes” are still controlling the public safety committees

    Colonel Haiku (43fb26)

  40. Legislatures can approve ridiculous laws, but it takes judges to reduce the entire legal system to a dirty joke.

    ropelight (46c65c)

  41. I hope the transcript of what this DNA evidence advocate Bruce Harrington had to say becomes available. Very moving.

    Colonel Haiku (43fb26)

  42. It’s a long way from Tiperneni

    It’s a long way to go

    Pinandpuller (aa51da)

  43. Respect muh Port Authoritay. That’s “Big C-“a-r-e-n.

    The Mean Police they come to me in my head

    The Mean Police they come to me in my bed

    The Mean Police are coming to tow me

    Pinandpuller (aa51da)

  44. poor lady she got it all twisted

    and now she’s paying a heavy price

    and everyone hates her

    even her daughter probably hates her guts

    my favorite part was how she was talking about mit and yale like it would make the popos get a tingle somewhere

    poor lady

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  45. 1. laughingstock legal system

    FBI Showmanship, Mr. Feet! Stop wire tapping; start toe-tapping:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?vM1hDabZZv9c

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  46. As I understand it, it was the car the Port Authority lady was driving that was guilty of something. Not her. Anybody know what it was?

    nk (dbc370)

  47. #25 You’re defense of Chait over Reason is weak tea.

    #34: Excellent and thoughtful comment. I don’t much care for the Blaze, but your sentiment, and quotes, are both eloquently stated and must give one pause. You are correct that the law becomes meaningless where there is no possibility of justice. And yes, it is up to each American, every American, to jealously guard their liberties, which are necessarily undergirded by both Natural laws and those conceived by men to, ideally, put a check on the supremacy of any one branch of our system of governance lest they become tyrannical (small “t”, don’t want to get all rowdy quite yet). That it appears to so many that the institutions that must be pure in intention for the Republic to continue as a going concern have jettisoned principle in favor of activism is a bit of a problem. As stated, though, it is up to the Citizenry to restore discipline. The problem is that we have too many cheerleaders on both sidelines and too few honest men on the field. At least in the context of our failing fourth estate (the best and brightest find no home in journalism school, only ideologues), the popular culture and a certain apathetic malaise that seems to have infected the body politic. I find it disheartening, but I also see an awakening that gives me hope.

    As Franklin said coming from the Great Debates that formed our nation, when asked by a passerby what would be the form of our governance: a Republic, if you can keep it. Apocryphal, maybe. But even so. It is the duty of each generation to carry the torch forward and to hand it off to the next generation, the flame intact. If we choose not to do this, we will be forever known as the Least Generation, and the architects of the demise of our collective dream, the end of the greatest Experiment in self governance the world has ever known. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’d like to keep that dream alive, and hand to our children a better nation than we found it. Petty squabbling concerning “Well, he did it too” is not helpful in this regard, to say the least. Where are the men who shun the petty and will stay the course? Look in the mirror, and be honest with yourself: are you part of the problem or part of the solution. We are all prone to fall victim to the curse of our times, but a regular and honest self appraisal is the antidote. If any man will not do this, they are indeed part of what must be overcome.

    Damn those who have cast aside the necessary grounding in civics and the superior ideals of Western values and systems of belief that have evolved through the centuries due to our children. This is but one part of the problem we face today, and it must be rectified. If our public educational system fails our children while we idly stand by, those that come after us will be ill prepared to serve our nation.

    End of rant.

    Estarcatus (d19e9c)

  48. Expired plates.

    nk (dbc370)

  49. #50

    Bad link?

    Estarcatus (d19e9c)

  50. “You said there is no deep state but you talk about a deep culture and it doesn’t sound that much different,” noted host Anderson Cooper. “A deep culture which has ways of doing things and believes it is the right way of doing things isn’t that some of what President Trump was elected to shake up?”

    “Absolutely not,” Comey responded. “No one, I hope, voted for him with the idea that he would destroy those values. So that is what I mean by a deep culture. It is a culture that we should celebrate, and the rest of us who are not part of it ought to make sure we call it out when we see it threatened or damaged.”

    “When we say the deep state is trying to destroy president Trump,” Cooper pressed one more time. “You are saying point blank that is not true?”

    “That’s nonsense,” Comey answered.

    Mr. Anderson Coupier has found a tentative backbone

    god save the queen

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  51. #53 Whether one buys into the notion of the deep state, this is a bit of a cringe worthy interview. And I wouldn’t bet good money on the Cooper backbone theory quite yet. Not even on a tentative basis, Mr. Feet. Unless you bet a buck, and the odds are enough to turn a tidy profit just in case. Given that the odds are a zillion to one, why not thrown down a dollar?

    Estarcatus (d19e9c)

  52. But they did not give much of an argument that it was illegal.

    How much of an argument is needed when the law specifically says “You cannot do this.” In particular, you cannot give work permits to people who are not entitled to them.

    Using his discretion, Obama COULD say “I will not prosecute these people for illegal entry.” He could even say “I will not prosecute these people for working without legal status, nor will I prosecute those who hire them.”

    What he CAN NOT do is say “I will grant them legal status, and give them documents saying so”. That last is not “discretion”, but a grant of status that is not within his power, and a fraud upon employers.

    To STOP doing something that the Executive has no legal power to do ought not take a court to decide, and IF it was a matter of discretion before, why is it not discretion now?

    Kevin M (752a26)

  53. i’m just a glass half full kinda pikachu

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  54. Again, either the judge is WAY too stupid to be on the bench, or he is using his court to engage in political warfare. Either way the House should impeach him. Thursday.

    Kevin M (752a26)

  55. Kevin M, you are arguing logic, consistency and the Constitution to a jurist, the very last person who could comprehend such abstracts.

    Rev.Hoagie (1b0402)

  56. if judges were promoted on the basis of intelligence we’d be sitting pretty

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  57. sotomayor for example is a nasty witless diabetic

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  58. All the broads on the SC are A-holes, happyfeet. In fact, most women in government are leftist toads.

    Rev.Hoagie (1b0402)

  59. i like this Marsha Blackburn lady even if i often disagree with her on policy

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  60. Hoagie–

    In what twisted universe does the President need a court’s permission to follow the law as written? Surely, following the law is within his discretion? If not, they’ve really got him now!

    Kevin M (752a26)

  61. The dem has a small lead over Blackburn. I hope she wins, at least she’s not a leftist. She’s not part of “most”. She’s part of the some who aren’t.

    Rev.Hoagie (1b0402)

  62. Kevin M, you got me by the nads. I was as stunned as could be that a supposed educated “jurist” would make a dumbassed decision like that. I just as befuddeled that Trump didn’t have him removed by “executive order” and when all the lawyers started b!tching say: “If the Kenyan can issue illegal EO’s so can I”.

    Rev.Hoagie (1b0402)

  63. It wasn’t the blowhard, Port Authority woman’s car, nk… she was just picking up all the passengers – including her daughter – who were riding in the car that was being towed by the officers… driven by a young man who knew it was better to keep his yap shut than run his mouth.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  64. In particular, you cannot give work permits to people who are not entitled to them.

    I thought that too, but in fact there is a regulation on the books allowing work permits to be granted to aliens who are subject to deferred action, and it was on the books before Obama’s first term began:

    https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2009-title8-vol1/xml/CFR-2009-title8-vol1-sec274a-12.xml

    Title 8, Section 274a.12

    (c) Aliens who must apply for employment authorization. An alien within a class of aliens described in this section must apply for work authorization. If authorized, such an alien may accept employment subject to any restrictions stated in the regulations or cited on the employment authorization document. BCIS, in its discretion, may establish a specific validity period for an employment authorization document, which may include any period when an administrative appeal or judicial review of an application or petition is pending.
    […]
    (14) An alien who has been granted deferred action, an act of administrative convenience to the government which gives some cases lower priority, if the alien establishes an economic necessity for employment;

    That page is from January 1, 2009 (regulation appears to date from 1987 though).

    You can find the same language on the current US Customs and Immigration Service site here:

    https://www.uscis.gov/ilink/docView/SLB/HTML/SLB/0-0-0-1/0-0-0-11261/0-0-0-28757/0-0-0-29424.html

    Dave (445e97)

  65. Damn… he did it. ConDave wrote an entire comment that didn’t mention Trump!

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  66. @52. Google 2011 Tony Awards: Don’t Break The Rules and watch how the FBI taps toes, not wires.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  67. tonight i created a twatter

    and i followed yon kanye yes i did

    if this be wrong then i’m most willingly fallen

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  68. You say naked power grab by the courts, I say goodbye, Chevron.

    Jerryskids (cfad51)

  69. I just as befuddeled that Trump didn’t have him removed by “executive order” and when all the lawyers started b!tching say…

    “I’ve got a phone and a pen. Anyone else want a defrocking?!”

    I mean, aren’t we done with this “rule of law” stuff by now?

    Kevin M (752a26)

  70. But still, Dave, nothing in that section says that discretion cannot change, nor does it say that the agency must treat each of those 20-some classes the same.

    For example, the dependent of a NATO person might be treated differently than a person present only because it’s too much trouble to deport them.

    Further, so long as judges are demanding “proof” of things that are supposed to be discretion, perhaps someone should have to show cause that the deferment IS “an act of administrative convenience to the government.” From what I read of these deferments, they’re more costly in money,, manpower and facilities than a straight deportation would have been.

    Kevin M (752a26)

  71. Kevin, I tried to read the decision, but while I can often get a general understanding of the legal points by doing that, this one is densely cross-referenced to obscure precedents of administrative law.

    What I gathered is that the APA requires jumping through certain hoops unless the changes qualify for specific exceptions enumerated in the act and/or the case law associated with it, and the judge decided the government had not met the requirements to qualify for any of those exceptions.

    So the judge gave them 90 days to cross their t’s and dot their i’s properly.

    Dave (445e97)

  72. i like this Marsha Blackburn lady even if i often disagree with her on policy

    happyfeet (28a91b) — 4/25/2018 @ 7:35 pm

    Real Talk

    Pinandpuller (aa065b)

  73. I’m actually a little afraid that Marcia Blackburn is going to walk into TV studio to do an interview and accidentally get hired to be a talk show host.

    Pinandpuller (aa065b)

  74. Noted and agreed, but there will be a cruel fascination with the first progeny of Harry and Leggy as to the assigned…aesthetics.

    urbanleftbehind (6ce600)

  75. Jury finds Bill Cosby guilty on all 3 counts.

    ropelight (60df36)

  76. Narciso hardest Hit, looking forward to the hip hop twitterverse indignation, even from Kimye.

    urbanleftbehind (6ce600)

  77. i’m all about this spam sandwich thing kevin williamson is all up into

    there’s the recipe at the link

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  78. Hey, people want us to trust prosecutors like Robert Mueller but it sounds like a state attorney in PA just tried to lie about Doc Huxtible having a private plane. How are we supposed to trust the process?

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  79. 76.I’m actually a little afraid that Marcia Blackburn is going to walk into TV studio to do an interview and accidentally get hired to be a talk show host.

    QVC or HSN?

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  80. poor Mr. Cosby he’s gotta go to the pokey and probably die there

    it’s so sad and there’s nothing i can do to help

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  81. 81.Jury finds Bill Cosby guilty on all 3 counts.

    “Hey, hey, hey!’ – Fat Albert

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  82. Jury finds Bill Cosby guilty on all 3 counts.

    ropelight (60df36) — 4/26/2018 @ 10:53 am

    So was the bail hearing for from now until his sentencing?

    I saw Paterno was on HBO last night but I don’t really care for football or boy diddling.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  83. @86. From Culp to culprit; what a long, strange trip it’s been, Mr. Feet.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  84. My dad bought some property from a guy. He had some fellas living on the land. They were awaiting sentencing for sexual assault. Actually, while they were out on bail awaiting sentencing they grabbed another girl off the street and did the same thing to her. So my dad didn’t end up having to evict them really.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  85. @88. From Penn State to State Pen.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  86. QVC or HSN?

    DCSCA (797bc0) — 4/26/2018 @ 11:47 am

    She’s not a Nasty Woman.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  87. I may have conflated a few things but you lawyers might be interested in this guy’s appeal Phillips v State

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  88. @80. Are you kidding? Plucked from Slovenian obscurity to shine in the White House; every day is a gift.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  89. This guy I went to school with went on to become a lawyer and worked for the Dale Wayne Eaton defense on the Lil’ Miss Murder Trial

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  90. Inspector W. H. Drane Lester, editor of the employee magazine, “The Investigator,” perfectly summed up the FBI’s values in September 1935:

    “[W]e might well choose our motto, for those initials also represent the three things for which the Bureau and its representatives always stand: “Fidelity – Bravery – Integrity.”*

    fidelity lol

    guess hot and horny Lisa Page didn’t get the memo

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  91. Joe Pa, the most beloved figure of northeastern Eye-talians before ol’ 45.

    urbanleftbehind (6ce600)

  92. @96…. perfectly summed up the FBI’s values in September 2011, Mr. Feet- ‘Don’t Break The Rules:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McQ8a-7Ml-0

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  93. densely cross-referenced to obscure precedents of administrative law.

    Accumulated penumbrae of regulatory decisions? Sounds like a Gordian Knot. What to do!?

    Kevin M (752a26)

  94. They should try: “Fabrication … Bureaucracy … Iniquity”

    Kevin M (752a26)

  95. the men and women of the fbi are terrible people

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  96. @100. Or Broadway; Americans love to be entertained.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McQ8a-7Ml-0

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  97. did we know that Dane Cook charted a pop single in 2006?

    it made me sign in cause of it’s inappropriate somehow for america according to the googletwats at youtube

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  98. @101. But they sing and dance well, Mr. Feet.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  99. 86.poor Mr. Cosby he’s gotta go to the pokey and probably die there; it’s so sad and there’s nothing i can do to help

    The Lord is with him, Mr. Feet: he raised his cane, waved and walked briskly from courthouse; it’s an Emmy-award-winning miracle.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  100. he’s a good man

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  101. Joe Pa, the most beloved figure of northeastern Eye-talians before ol’ 45.

    urbanleftbehind (6ce600) — 4/26/2018 @ 12:16 pm

    Some goodfellas were just talking about how much the Italian Horn looks like a DNA reentry vehicle.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  102. Mrs Cosby and Mrs Stzok can open a whistlestop cafe called Fried Green Tomatoes.

    Here’s to you, Mr Cos, Bang Camaro Nightlife Commando

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  103. i liked his pudding pops when i was little

    not anymore but when i was little i did

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  104. To quote Richard Pryor, recipient of strange new respect, tell Bill to have a Coke and a Smile and STFU (Eddie Murphy RAW, 1987)

    urbanleftbehind (6ce600)

  105. mom we’re outta puddin pops i’d say

    and off to the store we’d go

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  106. It’s a judicial lynching.

    Take my advice guys, if you want to have sex with strange women, don’t be either rich or famous. That way the chippies and their sleazy lawyers won’t have the money motive to accuse you of “sexual misconduct”. Likewise, prosecutors will not have the publicity motive. It won’t be worth the trouble for them.

    nk (dbc370)

  107. yes yes a lynching

    good word choice (Mr. Cosby happens to be African American and plus he went off the plantation)

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  108. ….only in regards to behavior and dress of the young men. Went from a John Conyers Dem to a Doug Jones Dem.

    urbanleftbehind (6ce600)

  109. The EPA administrator praised President Donald Trump for setting “an ambitious goal for the EPA under his administration” by demanding “comprehensive regulatory reform.” Pruitt proudly reported that the Trump administration has “saved the American people almost $8 billion dollars in regulatory savings” in just one year, including $1 billion of savings with the EPA.

    that’s a good start Mr. Pruitt but you have a lot more work to do picklehead

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  110. @113. (Mr. Cosby happens to be African American and plus he went off the plantation)

    Not anymore, Mr. Feet- Cos-celeb is being fitted for a tracking device.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  111. @112. Guilty of committing lude acts.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  112. I was sad to find out a guy I admire is several years passed but he was noteworthy for playing bass on The Democratic Socialist National Anthem

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  113. TRUMP: … When you look at some of the others — you look at like a CNN, they’ll have a council of seven people and of the seven people every one of them is against me. I’m saying, where do we — where do they even find these people? I appreciate the —
    KILMEADE: I’m not your doctor, Mr. President, but I would — I would recommend you watch less of them.
    TRUMP: I don’t watch them at all. I watched last night.

    Davethulhu (fab944)

  114. Watching Baier’s Interview of Comey… so Comey says he’s “not familiar with the term collusion” but says an investigation is opened “to determine if any Americans are in cahoots with Russians”.

    Okay then.

    Colonel Haiku (b32ce9)

  115. I don’t watch CNN at all either but coincidently I too watched it last night. It reminded me why I don’t watch it.

    Rev.Hoagie (1b0402)

  116. So Comey asked a “close friend” of his and “professor” (Richman) to provide info on an unclassified conversation with the president to the media in hopes that a special prosecutor would be engaged, never telling anyone Richman was an FBI employee. Shared info – “work product” – even though rules covering his employment expressly forbid it.

    It’s good to see someone asking Comey the tough questions in lieu of another butt-munch, would-be-comedian ass-slurping for 15 minutes.

    Colonel Haiku (b32ce9)

  117. I’ve said before that I think Comey “lost it” sometime back in 2016. He’s operating on reserves.

    nk (dbc370)

  118. CNN – you mean that network that presented Scott Israel as an expert on gun violence?

    BREAKING: By a 534-94 margin, deputies vote ‘no confidence’ in Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel – WPLG

    harkin (711b68)

  119. I think sheriff Israel should move to California where they are appreciative of his type of “law enforcement”.

    Rev.Hoagie (1b0402)

  120. hey look at how the sleazy tranny-trash mattis military is spending our money

    The military paid for a study on sea level rise. The results were scary.

    … More than a thousand low-lying tropical islands risk becoming “uninhabitable” by the middle of the century — or possibly sooner — because of rising sea levels, upending the populations of some island nations …

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  121. The good sheriff will fit right in:

    A Los Angeles Police Department officer has been arrested and federally charged after allegedly attempting to smuggle two people through an immigration checkpoint in Southern California.

    Mambasse Koulabalo Patara was charged with the intent to violate the immigration laws of the U.S., knowing or in reckless disregard of the fact that two aliens had come to, entered and remained in the U.S. in violation of law, did transport and move said aliens within the United States in furtherance of such violation of law, according to a complaint released Thursday.

    Authorities say Patara was driving with two people inside his car who were later found to be in the country illegally.

    It all happened around midnight Tuesday about 12 miles north of the Mexico border.


    Commies, crossexuals, illegals…the democrat base is in a constant state of expansion. Too bad they can’t attract real Americans.

    Rev.Hoagie (1b0402)

  122. Way to go, happyfeet. They have another bull crap prediction that won’t happen but we should all give up something and pay something yadda, yadda, yadda. We’ve heard it all a hundred times before. The left invented Fake News right after they invented Phony Science. They really thrive on this stupidity.

    Rev.Hoagie (1b0402)

  123. Joe Pa, the most beloved figure of northeastern Eye-talians before ol’ 45.

    Sounds like someone has forgotten about one Mr. Francis Albert Sinatra.

    JVW (30a532)

  124. It’s too bad that Teddy Kennedy isn’t still alive.

    Kevin M (752a26)

  125. upending the populations of some island nations …

    … leading to an inevitable capsizing!

    Kevin M (752a26)

  126. Nasty Nissan builds their cars so I have to take a wheel off to change a headlamp. Bad!

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  127. FNC’s Bret Baier grills Comey over dossier, e-Mail, leaks in EPIC interview…

    “The questioning began with the Hillary Clinton e-mail probe and if it was “true that you and your FBI colleagues made the decision to exonerate Secretary Clinton well before she was interviewed.”

    Comey denied that despite having written a memo exonerating her and emphasized that it’s crucial for investigators to have an idea of where a probe that ended up lasting almost a year.

    It was soon after that Baier showed his mettle, telling Comey that “you already knew that she had been telling, whatever you want to say, lies, mistruths about this investigation of what — and how she handled those emails” and played a clip of Comey stating just that in congressional testimony in July 2016.

    Here’s more of that exchange, including a question about why Cheryl Mills was allowed to sit in on Clinton’s FBI interview.”

    https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/curtis-houck/2018/04/26/tour-de-force-fncs-baier-grills-comey-over-dossier-e-mail-leaks

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  128. i bought a car from nissan once their #1 dealership actually on ventura

    never again

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  129. i’m a sell the car and bet it all on megyn kelly that’s what i’m a do

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  130. Hf,

    I think that’s bet the farm…

    EPWJ (5022ab)

  131. she’s got sturdy hips

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  132. My mistake, J,V,W, (your handle without punctuation autocorrects to a slur)…certainly amongst the bobby socksers

    urbanleftbehind (6ce600)

  133. It used to be the most you would have to do is take off a #10 hex bolt or a screw. I got pulled over twice in 10 minutes by super friendly Nashville cops. We had some great chats about guns and all that but come on.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  134. guns are fun

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  135. this blog are morbledun

    whatever happened to the topicality aspect

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  136. Well it’s a more intimate form of the now-nightly Instapundit open thread.

    urbanleftbehind (6ce600)

  137. When the driver side low beam went out six months ago I got pulled over twice in the same night. I changed the high beam by accident and two nights later I got pulled over again. I think this time I will get that part right if I ever make it home.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  138. I’m reading the first volume of Deadpool comics, volume not issue, and have seven more volumes, volumes not issues, available for the rest of the month. (I’d have nine but I used up two of my monthly quota on two Jackie Chan movies, one in which he played a bad guy and one I couldn’t stand more than five minutes of.) That’s like 250 pages or more than 1,000 panels (my viewer can do panel by panel) per volume.

    nk (dbc370)

  139. What sort of unironic reverse psychology re-railing the topic sorcery is this?

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  140. Make that like closer to 2,000 panels.

    nk (dbc370)

  141. There’s no topic left. Alfie’s daddy was on the news and he had the most wonderful things to say about the people who are killing his baby. For real, I’m not being sarcastic. If he’s not outraged, what right do we have to be outraged?

    DACA will be sorted out one way or another. Likely by amnesty. It’s what they were after to begin with, anyway.

    nk (dbc370)

  142. i have a bunch of comics on cds from back when i used some napster-ish thing to download … cbf files?

    i should look at that

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  143. but do i have a computer with a cd drive

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  144. i think this is it

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  145. Haley Byrd / Weekly Standard:
    Here’s Why Ben Sasse Voted Against the Mueller Protection Bill — Constitutional concerns were at the center of some conservatives’ opposition. — A bipartisan bill that would provide special counsel Robert Mueller legal recourse in the event of his firing passed the Senate Judiciary Committee …

    apparently there are people what need an explainer from “Haley Byrd” about why harvardtrash lickspittle benji sassafrass voted against an unconstitutional bill

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  146. So I met a guy named D’Artagnan and, good news, I have a duel at noon tomorrow.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  147. my friend d has a blind dog named darty

    because

    when the sun shines we shine together

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  148. He’s one of those French guys with really prominent eyebrows, if you know what I mean. So I have to choose from C4 or Semtex.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  149. Well mr nk, my son is rather fond of comics or graphic novels. Whatever one calls them these days. He’s coming to visit in June so I will let him hijack my screen name or have him create his own as I’m sure he’d love to talk to a lawyer about Deadpool on a late night dead end thread.

    Pinandpuller (16b0b5)

  150. mr deadpool is witty and topical unlike this morbledun thread hello

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  151. Haupuna Beach is the best place on earth for aqua therapy.
    And the sunsets Rock!

    mg (9e54f8)

  152. I think the family cares about what the doctors are doing, nk, but they have been told that they can’t even take their child home to die unless they change their attitude:

    A doctor, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said that for Alfie to be allowed home would require a “sea change” in attitude from the child’s family.

    It’s not enough for the parents to lose their child. Now they have to be grateful.

    DRJ (0280d9)

  153. Breaking… North and South Korean leaders meet in DMZ, hold presser; declare they will ‘officially’ end Korean War this year.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  154. For legal reasons they have to be…solicitous.

    Pinandpuller (e69a18)

  155. Trump is into three ways: expect a Peace of Nobel.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  156. I suspected as much, DRJ. Also, the draconian libel and slander laws of that “Country of Free Men”. They have no First Amendment, and opinion and truth are not necessarily defenses to a charge of defamation.

    nk (dbc370)

  157. Pinandpuller @156. I am not a plump young man who goes to Comic-Cons. The Deadpool comics are merely what I happen to be reading at this time. It might have to do with my daughter being assigned “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” in her English class. Sympathetic rebellion?

    nk (dbc370)

  158. Trump, Moon, and Xi deserve a Nobel Prize if this results in Kim and North Korea opening the NK borders.

    DRJ (15874d)

  159. It would be a Tear Down The Wall moment, but it actually has to open the border for the people and not just the leaders.

    DRJ (15874d)

  160. I read a little bit of Korean history recently. All of Korea used to be, and was called, The Hermit Kingdom until the late 1800’s. It had closed its shores to maritime commerce and its only interactions with the outside world were diplomatic relations with China and raids by Japanese pirates. The Kim dynasty is also very similar to the monarchies at the head of feudal/bureaucratic/military oligarchies that ruled it.

    nk (dbc370)

  161. England loves Big Brother and the American left wants the same for us.

    NJRob (b00189)

  162. Rock the Casbah Jong Un

    Now teh Trump told teh funny man
    You must forget about teh Bombs
    The path to teh DMZ
    Is the path you should be on
    The Un drove his DeSoto
    He went a’ cruisin’ down the hill
    Baggy pants and funny hair
    And a smile upon his grill

    Patterico don’t like it
    Rockin’ teh Un man
    Rock the Jong Un
    Patterico don’t like it
    Rockin’ the Un man
    Rock the Jong Un
    By order of the Trumpster
    We ban that nukey blast
    Start generatin’ power
    Or this year may be your last
    But teh Un man surprised ‘em
    And started thinkin’ with his head
    He put his funky clothes on
    His hair-don’t lookin’ fine
    As soon as teh SoKos
    Had cleared the square
    Teh Un man crossed teh line

    Patterico don’t like it
    Rockin’ the Un man
    Rock teh Jong Un
    Patterico don’t like it
    Rockin’ the Un man
    Rock teh Jong Un

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  163. DRJ,

    I’m in wait and see mode on North Korea as we’ve seen this game from them before.

    But if it truly is them standing down and opening up their nation, than that is the biggest diplomatic victory for America since the Cold War ended.

    And just a couple of days after some on here called Trump’s international actions to be the worst in American history.

    NJRob (b00189)

  164. Good news for teh NoKos:
    They get to stop eating shoe leather and insects and start eating dogs!

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  165. Yes, Rob. If it does come to pass, the line
    starts over there to get your goddam NeverTrump noses rubbed in it

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  166. I’m in wait and see mode on North Korea as we’ve seen this game from them before.

    Unfortunately, I think it is extremely foolish to believe the north korean dictatorship. It’s practically mental illness to believe them when they have lied about the nuclear program so recently and so frequently.

    But yeah, the potential benefit of opening up between the countries is tremendous. It’s hard to turn down that opportunity even if it’s almost certainly not going to work, and I guess I’ll give Trump credit for being bold enough to give it a shot. But the Madeline Albright strategy, a weak strategy, has a built-in incentive to look the other way. To not let the ‘big deal’ and ‘legacy accomplishment’ fail. The North Koreans absolutely want to take advantage of that.

    I’m not really seeing any point in a wait and see approach. This is obviously a con, and if it turns out to work out, that’s a miracle that no one should be counting on.

    Dustin (ba94b2)

  167. Dustin,

    Trump is just as skeptical, but China knows with a snap of our fingers we can destroy their economy, just like that. Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan can easily replace the lost goods China is manufacturing for sale. China will be preoccupied with the unrest among its burgeoning middle class, this is what happened to the last gasps of the USSR.

    So China is going to play nice, they have no choice. Apparently food shipments have stopped to the North Koreans. Oil, coal, spare parts, medical supplies.

    China has made enemies out of Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, not wise, that’s 550 million people who oppose the regimes reckless expansion by trying to claim millions of square mile thousands of mile from China capital.

    EPWJ (5022ab)

  168. 171, dont forget “night soil” Mangos as well!!

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  169. Somewhat OT, but some say, in the same vein that The Cosby Show primed the electorate for Barack Obama, that Roseanne version 1 primed the electorate for Donald Trump. I actually think Mad Men primed the electorate for Trump, and I mean that in a complimentary sense.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  170. Would you be amenable to “presaged” instead of “primed”? The shows’ successes were due to the same attitudes in culture that later helped Obama and Trump?

    If nothing else, I hate to think that dippy TV shows could affect our culture that much and not, as I want to believe, merely reflect a small aspect of it.

    nk (dbc370)

  171. I lay much blame at teh feet of L.A. Law for teh sheer idiocy of this litigious society.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  172. Public Service Announcement:
    There is a Veterans Assistance Foundation which is a legitimate charity that helps veterans.
    WARNING: There has sprung up something which calls itself the U.S. Veterans Assistance Foundation which calls people on the phone asking for money. It is not the same organization. Look out!

    nk (dbc370)

  173. Probably one of those outfits that calls from a number that shares your 3-digit mobile phone prefix – my primary cellphone # is from a differing area code in the Chicago metro than where I actually live and I can spot these b.s. numbers because I barely know anyone in that area code.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  174. “Nothing good can come from making Trump nervous. It’s like asking Bill Cosby to top off your drink.”

    —- Rob Schneider

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  175. #MeToo. At first I thought it was local volunteers electioneering.

    nk (dbc370)

  176. Pjmedia purged a bunch of writers, including Goldstein, I think the Evil Blogger lady etc, they blamed criticism of Bush if I remember correctly, it was a decade or so ago, and the Hill did the same thing, got rid of the 7 original contributors who made the blog replaced them with staff writers, a new 7 standard commentators…

    People click on their advertisers, etc. I don’t know why these three organizations purged the writers that made their sites, but they did. Hot air also purged writers, and stopped comments, their traffic is in the gutter some say.

    I have seen a sea change of late in Allahpundits anti trump frothings, also a sharp decline in the number of daily postings from him and a raft of who are these guys but hey there here posting on hot air taking up where he used to post 8 or 9 articles a day. Jazz Shaw, ed morrisey share equal time with allah who used to be the whole show.

    EPWJ (5022ab)

  177. @183. Where have you been? There’s a civil war going on– and you should have figured out by now which side is which, which is winning and which has been losing.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  178. They’re not there here

    EPWJ (5022ab)

  179. DCSCA

    Daily kos, liberal land has purged literally hundreds of contributors.

    EPWJ (5022ab)

  180. Clapper leaked the briefing of the dossier to Trump to the press. This is outrageous. What kind of intel officer does something like this? How can the President trust his people? How can the transitioning President get any kind of transition? This is a complete break of trust and likely a formal breach of security. Clapper needs to get time in the brig. What a slimy weasel

    Anonymous (ea5569)

  181. 183.What the heck’s going on at Red State?

    In case of emergency, shout “Reagan!” But then, every battery has an expiration date.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  182. @183. “Where have you been? There’s a civil war going on– and you should have figured out by now which side is which, which is winning and which has been losing.”

    I have no idea who’s winning. The only sense I get is that the Constitution, common sense, individuality, media/political standards and civil discourse are losing.

    harkin (711b68)

  183. Ryan Struyk
    @ryanstruyk
    Only 37% of Republican voters say the news media is “an important part of democracy” vs. a majority, 51%, who says it’s “the enemy of the people,” via new Quinnipiac poll today.

    — –

    Brian Stelter
    @brianstelter
    What do you see in this data? I see an infection that’s spreading…

    — –

    Peter J. Hasson
    @peterjhasson
    Replying to @brianstelter
    If a group of people doesn’t trust you, calling them an “infection” might not be the best way to win over their trust.

    harkin (711b68)

  184. Dustin,

    Trump is just as skeptical

    I’m sorry, it was hard to hear you over the sound of a million Trump fans talking about giving him the Nobel for this coup that we all agree is almost certainly going to not work and is merely repeating the Clinton era mistakes.

    I have seen a sea change of late in Allahpundits anti trump frothings

    Allahpundit is the man and I’m grateful there are a few conservatives with balls. These days if you criticize Trump a lot of people will just hate your guts. I don’t blame him for having other stuff to do. Politics is extremely boring now. Both parties are virtually identical in purpose, ethics, family values, and functionality. Both operate by trolling eachother. It gets a little tedious.

    I can go a month without reading a thing about politics.

    Dustin (ba94b2)

  185. 188. Anonymous (ea5569) — 4/27/2018 @ 11:33 am

    Clapper leaked the briefing of the dossier to Trump to the press. This is outrageous.

    I am noit sure what hapepned where with whom but here is soem more information:

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/mccabe-the-new-deep-throat-1523915645

    In October 2016, the Journal had raised questions about Mr. McCabe’s impartiality on the Hillary Clinton email investigation by reporting that his wife, Jill, had accepted donations from political action committees associated with Terry McAuliffe —a Clinton friend and former member of the Clinton Foundation board. Now the Journal was following up, and asking about an alleged order from Mr. McCabe telling FBI agents investigating the Clinton Foundation to “stand down.”

    To counter the narrative that he might be compromised, Mr. McCabe authorized FBI counsel Lisa Page and a public-affairs officer to tell the Journal about a phone call with a high-ranking Justice official. In this account, Mr. McCabe is the fearless G-man pushing back against Justice complaints that the bureau was still investigating Mrs. Clinton’s family foundation during the election.

    In the process the leak made public something Mr. Comey had studiously kept quiet: an FBI investigation into the Clinton Foundation. [Well, the WSJ already knew. You could say confirm. Nothing has so far come of this investigation, though. SF] In a report released Friday, the Justice Department’s inspector general notes that while this disclosure “may have served McCabe’s personal interests,” it did so “at the expense of undermining public confidence in the Department as a whole.”

    In a report released Friday, the Justice Department’s inspector general notes that while this disclosure “may have served McCabe’s personal interests,” it did so “at the expense of undermining public confidence in the Department as a whole.”

    Mr. McCabe’s disservice to the bureau didn’t stop there. Just as Felt had covered his tracks by shifting blame, Mr. McCabe implicated innocent agents. After the second Journal story appeared, he called the heads of the New York and Washington field offices to berate them for what appears to be his own leak. The head of the Washington office says he was told “to get his house in order.”

    Then, in a final Feltian flourish, Mr. McCabe lied to his director.

    The IG report says that Messrs. Comey and McCabe give “starkly different accounts” of their conversation about the article containing the leak. Mr. McCabe insists he told Mr. Comey he’d authorized it—and that Mr. Comey had answered it was a “good” idea. Mr. Comey is categorical that Mr. McCabe “definitely did not tell me that he authorized” the leak. …

    President Trump is having a Twitter field day calling Mr. McCabe a liar. But the irony of the McCabe defense is that it hinges on having us believe it was not him but Mr. Comey and other FBI agents who gave the false accounts of his actions.

    …….

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  186. Mark Felt’s lawyer wrote a letter to the Wall Street Journal saying Mark Felt was honorable, and he said something which I never heard before, and I am not sure is right, but it could be.

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-lawyer-for-deep-throat-defends-the-late-mark-felt-1524602927

    ….Around June 21, 1972, FBI Acting Director L. Patrick Gray ordered his FBI agents to complete the Watergate investigation in 72 hours. A Felt call to Time magazine’s Sandy Smith yielded, by design, his inquiry to Gray, who thereupon lifted his three-day limit, while angrily castigating his agents for leaking. The notion that Felt was leaking to discredit Gray is absurd, and contradicted by strong incontrovertible evidence.

    If Mark Felt had been a senior FBI official in recent years, we would likely be witnessing a prosecution of individuals associated with the Clinton Foundation. Watergate, alas, had the perverse effect of creating weaving political spiders like James Comey and Andrew McCabe.

    John D. O’Connor

    I never heard of this order to finish the investigation in 3 days.

    This is not in the usual Watergate stories, but it does fit with the chronology.

    You see, at the very beginning, Nixon was trying to, or willing to go along with ideas of some of his subordinates, mainly or only John Dean, to conceal the connection between the burglars and the Commmittee to Re-Elect the President.

    Once he knew that that was out (and he was late getting or perceiving the news) he had no more interest in a coverup.

    N.B. In March 1973, John Dean had to claim that E. Howard Hunt was threatenibg to reveal the burglary of Daniel Ellsberg’s pychiatrist’s office to get Nixon to agree to paying “hush money” (which by the way John Dean had already given Hunt before asking Nixon for approval.) Nixon had no interest in hiding anything about the Watergate burglary by that point, or at any point after late June, 1972.

    His only interest had ever been trying to distance his campaign from that, which was actually a lost cause right from the beginning.

    Bob Woodward’s version of recruiting Mark Felt as an informant has him practically blackmailing Mark Felt.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  187. Another thing (from Karl Rove)

    Comey was not present at the famous encounter he supposedly had with Attorney General John Ashcroft in the hospital.

    https://www.wsj.com/articles/comeys-loyalty-isnt-to-the-truth-1524696380

    White House officials don’t even recall Mr. Comey’s presence at Mr. Ashcroft’s bedside. He might have been seated in a dark corner or hiding behind a room divider, but he was a silent observer at best.

    His story was supposedly verified by Mueller,although all that Mueller has is supposedly contemporaneous typewritten notes of what Comey told him. (And they were so redacted when released it might be hard to check their general conformity with the truth)

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/16/AR2007081601358.html

    “Saw AG,” Mueller writes in his notes for 8:10 p.m. on March 10, 2004, only minutes after Gonzales and White House chief of staff Andrew H. Card Jr. had visited Ashcroft. “Janet Ashcroft in the room. AG in chair; is feeble, barely articulate, clearly stressed.”

    The typewritten notes, heavily censored before being turned over to the House Judiciary Committee, provide further insight into a tumultuous but secret legal battle that gripped the Justice Department and the White House in March 2004, after Justice lawyers determined that parts of the warrantless wiretapping program run by the National Security Agency were illegal.

    Although Mueller did not directly witness the exchange between Ashcroft, Gonzales and Card, his notes recounted Comey’s personal statement that Ashcroft at the outset said that “he was in no condition to decide issues.” Ashcroft also told the two men he supported his deputy’s position on the secret program, Mueller said Comey told him

    That proved Comey was telling the truth?

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  188. Some rumors are coming in that it was abuse of their readers that initiated the purge

    ObamaFails chrisinva
    an hour ago
    Yup! RedState became a bunch of snowflakes. They were willing to lose the Supreme Court and pay higher taxes in their blind hatred of Trump. They blocked all conservatives who posted pro-Trump comments and now they are our of work

    EPWJ (5022ab)

  189. Anyone who thinks Salem media purged never trumpers

    Today on town hall

    Erick Erickson
    David Hasarnyi
    Jonah Goldberg
    Lauretta Brown
    Guy Benson

    That’s quite a who’s who of never trumpers

    But they don’t ban their commentators like those at RedState

    EPWJ (5022ab)

  190. Actually going through the last three weeks of contributors on townhall, there’s a whole raft of never trumpers

    John stossel
    Michelle Malkin
    Frank Cannon
    Byron York

    EPWJ (5022ab)

  191. Oh and the article at the hill was written by a writer from mediaite

    EPWJ (5022ab)

  192. 197.

    Maybe somebody only paid them off to purge never trumpers from RedState.

    Besides the RedState commentators are less famous.\

    The Daily Beast says several Trump critics — including Sarah Rumpf and Joe Cunningham remain.

    (Maybe it is no anti-Trump but anti some other writers or commentators)

    Erickson says some of thse fired had higher cost contracts, but when it came to those making less per click, they only fired those who were regularly critical of Trump

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  193. Well daily beast says the most popular anti trump authors were kept, the ones with the most views.

    Several vocal Trump critics—including Sarah Rumpf and Joe Cunningham—remain with the site. But Friday’s dismissals have been interpreted by those on staff, and those let go, as a purge of anti-Trump writers

    EPWJ (5022ab)

  194. Meh. Such is this facet of the media biz. Clicks vs. costs; looks more like corporate consolidation than content conflicts.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  195. @164 nk

    Yes, lol. I don’t know that I have conservative kids per se, but anti-leftism independent thinkers. If Stan Lee of all people could draw them into discussions and reading in the periphery of economics, philosophy and politics I would like that.

    Actually, my daughter dropped her welding aspirations and is supposedly going towards secondary education, where she would be very subversive to the system if she’s anything like me. I have to look it up later but there’s a monty Python skit about a writer who gets into it with his coal miner son. Very funny as I recall.

    Pinandpuller (82a104)

  196. There’s 2 kinds of NeverTrumpers, another thing to consider – I would say Malkin is of the “not-conservative enough” branch and Stossel and Kristol are of the achingly centrist branch.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  197. Erickson was fired from fox in 2015 for getting into an argument with several female fox anchors and then he “left”nredstate about the same time

    Erickson is a major league douchbag, he’s the guy who got his blog going by being so outrageously nasty like saying Kay bailey Hutchinson’s adoptedbkids were political show ponies and much more.

    Disinvited trump, yeah, purging other conservative opinions?

    And now the sanctimonious from him is getting rancid

    EPWJ (5022ab)

  198. http://ace.mu.nu/archives/375026.php

    This about sums it up. Temper tantrums don’t actually generate much interest. You can only sustain a business model when people, you know, see some value. Too cute by half. I genuinely believe just simply calling for Trump’s impeachment instead of half assing it, then defending said open and honest position, would make for an interesting and lively debate. It would have the side benefit of forcing people to actually admit which side of the fence they stand. Novel concept, I know.

    Estarcatus (dbff87)

  199. I’d like to thank you folks for bringing this to mind. It sums up #nevertrump nicely:

    Monty Python Coal Mining Son

    Pinandpuller (42e6a6)

  200. @197/198. Yes, but unless the media model is using some of those names as loss leaders to generate traffic/clicks, you could easily trim some of them from the roster, particularly those echoed and available on other sites– especially if they’re not drawing, save $ and still present the same POV. This looks like a business move.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  201. Best comment ever

    Ace-

    How can you have, say, a New York Giants blog where you claim to want the Giants to win each game but want the quarterback Eli Manning to lose every game, because you think he’s “unfit to lead the Giants” and you want them to get a better quarterback to do better in later seasons?

    It’s fine to want the quarterback replaced, and it’s understandable that someone might say “I’ll take a losing season to set up winning seasons later.”

    But you can’t also be rooting for the Giants at the same time you’re rooting against them.

    There’s nothing wrong, really, with rooting against them so they realize their error in keeping Eli at the helm. People do this. I did this any time their season was so crappy they wouldn’t make the playoffs– might as well then lose ALL THE GAMES.

    But the proprietor of such a Pro-Giants-But-Anti-Eli blog must understand, and must admit, that until Eli has departed, the blog would actually be an anti-Giants blog, until they have a quarterback the blog deems fit to lead.

    Yes, you can say you’re pro-Giants — but your actual tangible day-to-day hoped-for outcome is losses as far as the eye can see.

    Sure, you can say “But on a deeper, more important level, I really want them to win.”

    Yeah, but in some hypothetical future. As a current-day present-time matter, you want them to lose.

    What exactly is the market for a New York Giants football blog dedicated to promoting at least four years of Giants losses until Eli’s contract runs out in 2020?

    How many readers would such a blog have?

    Probably not a lot.

    EPWJ (5022ab)

  202. while we’re talking about nevertrump media

    The first full season with Baldwin in the role as Trump in 2016–2017 averaged 11.1 million viewers, the highest audience numbers the show has seen since 1995, according to Nielsen Media Research.

    This season’s numbers has dropped somewhat, with the show averaging 9.4 million viewers.

    that’s a better than 15% decline

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  203. Patterico, “is you is or is you ain’t” still with RedState? ‘Sounds like a mass firing of those not licking Spanky’s um, boots.
    http://money.cnn.com/2018/04/27/media/redstate-blog-salem-media/index.html

    Tillman (a95660)

  204. i’d never be fired from redstate cause my love for our president, President Donald Trump, is palpable and brings great cheer to the people

    but i think you should never be fired just for not being in proper alignment with President Trump unless you’re a hugely incompetent manboober like rex tillerson

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  205. Well, it sounds like RedState might be hiring hf.

    Tillman (a95660)

  206. i’d be happy to do a Daily Affirmation post where we talk about all the good stuff going on in America cause of our president

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  207. that part aside though my sense is today’s events really raised Mr. P’s profile so that’s what they call a “silver lining”

    silver linings are good cause that’s how you make lemonade from the lemons

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  208. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s inspector general office told Democratic lawmakers it will open a probe into Administrator Scott Pruitt’s controversial housing arrangement with a lobbyist and other matters, according to a letter they circulated on Friday.

    the inspector general’s office at the EPA stinks like corruption

    it’s led by a corrupt lil gov-pig lifer named Arthur Elkins

    nasty crooked little man with nasty crooked teeth

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  209. Writers are an important part of a nutritious breakfast but having so damn many of them is a luxury of The Industrial Revolution. Could many of them be automated?

    Trump bad…Trump bad…Trump bad…

    Pinandpuller (bb2c7f)

  210. A silver lining on glass, mr happyfeet, gives one a mirror.

    Pinandpuller (bb2c7f)

  211. mirror mirror on the wall who’s the bestest president of them all?

    oh hi happyfeet it’s President Trump that’s who!

    ok i knew that but just wanted to check

    anytime happy that’s what i’m here for

    i like you so much better than alexa

    thanks she gets on my nerves

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  212. Michelle Malkin is a Never Trumper?

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  213. Big time, pissed at trump now, Ann Coulter is too every other week, they also have Mona Charon on staff as well

    EPWJ (5022ab)

  214. Michelle Malkin is a Never Trumper?

    I’d call her more of a reluctant Trumper.

    Anon Y. Mous (6cc438)

  215. EPWJ (5022ab) — 4/27/2018 @ 1:32 pm

    Dear lord, I’m not the only one who notices.

    On top of that, say you love the Giants, but hate Eli Manning. fair enough. But then you decide to heap scorn on everyone who likes Eli Manning, and scorn on those that cheer for his wins, and those that cheer for the Giants to win, despite Manning. You call those people idiots and losers. You taunt them relentlessly. If only they would accept your premise that Eli Manning is a loser and needs to be fired! As the Giants begin to have a fairly successful season, you become ever more deranged and full of excuses. Oh sure, the Giants won that game, but it was against a weak team. Oh sure the Giants won the next game, but not because of Manning. And that next game? Dumb luck. Because your initial premise, that Manning is a poor leader, and should be fired, cannot be changed. It cannot be shaken by events. It never occurs to you that Eli might get better at playing, or was not the root of all failure to begin with.

    Expect to be sitting in the stands alone.

    Cassandra (a815b9)

  216. Anon,

    Oh she is buuuut, she also knows her audience

    EPWJ (5022ab)

  217. bots could work as writers…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  218. Cassandra

    Only far left wing news sites are reporting on it.

    The hill used their pet mediaite writer to pen their article

    EPWJ (5022ab)

  219. Sad that Redstate had fired people. Not sure where I can read brave voices opposing Trump. Suggestions?

    rcocean (1a839e)

  220. Heard WaPo, NYT, PBS, NPR, National Review, Weekly Standard, CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, MSBNC, and WS editorial page occasionally criticize Trump but want someone who won’t suck up to him.

    Suggestions?

    rcocean (1a839e)

  221. What!?!? A purge at Red State?

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  222. I have a new post about it. I suggest commenting there.

    Patterico (115b1f)

  223. this is worth a click just for the gorgeous photography

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  224. R.I.P. Alfie Evans.

    nk (dbc370)


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