LOL: Trump Lawyers Send Bannon a Cease and Desist Letter
Oh, man, what a day. We started out with a story saying Steve Bannon had called President Trump’s family members “treasonous” for meeting with a Kremlin-connected lawyer, and asserting Trump must have known about the meeting. Then Trump blasted Bannon in an official statement, saying Bannon had lost his mind, never helped Trump, and was good for nothing but feeding phony stories to the journalists he pretended to hate. Now, this:
Lawyers on behalf of President Donald Trump sent a letter Wednesday night to former White House Chief Strategist Stephen Bannon demanding he refrain from making disparaging comments against the president and his family.
The letter comes after excerpts from a forthcoming book by journalist Michael Wolff were made public Wednesday, causing a stir.
Trump attorney Charles J. Harder of the firm Harder Mirell & Abrams LLP, said in a statement, “This law firm represents President Donald J. Trump and Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. On behalf of our clients, legal notice was issued today to Stephen K. Bannon, that his actions of communicating with author Michael Wolff regarding an upcoming book give rise to numerous legal claims including defamation by libel and slander, and breach of his written confidentiality and non-disparagement agreement with our clients. Legal action is imminent.”
There isn’t enough popcorn in all of Orville Redenbacher’s kingdom to last us through the epic battles to come.
[Cross-posted at RedState and The Jury Talks Back.]
2018 is only a few days old and it’s already been an hilarious year in politics.
Dustin (ba94b2) — 1/4/2018 @ 1:02 amI may have to send Bannon a cease and desist letter of my own.
He’s clearly plagiarizing my comments here at patterico.com and passing them off as his own ideas.
Dave (445e97) — 1/4/2018 @ 2:51 amTrump’s scum lawyers who all they do is talk, talk, talk and sue, sue, sue, instead of getting out of the way and letting people who get things done get things done, are ruining America.
nk (dbc370) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:45 amMr. Bannon will feel better after he sleeps it off wakes up and gets drunk again
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/4/2018 @ 4:25 amOver the years Bannon has been exposing the fraudulent Republican party. And I’m glad he continues to do so. Couple Javanka having say in what goes on is troubling for deplorables. Javanka are liberal swine. Go Bannon Go.
mg (8cbc69) — 1/4/2018 @ 4:27 amgetting flak from all sides in politics means you are directly over the target
mg (8cbc69) — 1/4/2018 @ 4:31 amwhat was the objective of bannon’s suicide mission exactly
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/4/2018 @ 4:42 amI imagine having to deal with the kushners and donny jr.
mg (8cbc69) — 1/4/2018 @ 5:05 amalso the rest of the rino and liberal herd all over the white house
mg (8cbc69) — 1/4/2018 @ 5:06 amot
mg (8cbc69) — 1/4/2018 @ 5:12 amThe govna of Massachusetts is giving a 20 minute weather report, because he thinks we cannot survive without the help of govt. This moron should worry about what a mess his transit system is. What a idiot. I will vote for Lieawatha before I would ever vote for this moron. Weather coverage in the last 10 years is pitiful. How did we ever make it this far without some bottomed bimbo with boobs posing in front of a map?
but what influence he retained he’s squandered now
along with whatever reputation as a strategist he may have cultivated
someone said yesterday the comments at breitbart paint a stark picture of Mr. Bannon’s self-immolation and i peeked and yeah i think I have to agree with that
he’s the drunk-ass pennywise clown of politics anymore
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/4/2018 @ 5:16 amBannon is a remora who got to thinking he was the shark, is the way I’d put it.
nk (dbc370) — 1/4/2018 @ 5:22 amthat seems apt
a drunken remora with delusions of influence and power
the titular head of a ratty piss-stained website what can’t attract your “more legitimate” advertisers
pour another scotch, little remora
buy a patio home in central florida
you’ve earned it honey bunny
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/4/2018 @ 5:30 amoh my goodness little remora
have a modicum of dignity
Bannon Praises Trump: POTUS ‘Is a Great Man… I Support Him Day In and Day Out’
who’s this sycophantic little Justin boy?
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/4/2018 @ 5:41 amoh.
Justin from California, a caller-in [sic] to Breitbart News Tonight
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/4/2018 @ 5:42 amMeh:
https://theconservativetreehouse.com/2018/01/04/understanding-the-context-of-devin-nunes-requests-obamas-2016-doj-fbi-spying-operation/
narciso (21eb6d) — 1/4/2018 @ 6:01 amThe battle for soopremacee..
https://youtu.be/ynl2abx1baI
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (421404) — 1/4/2018 @ 6:07 amHow dare Bannon attack the dignity of the Whitehouse.
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (421404) — 1/4/2018 @ 6:08 amWhat’s next, a #nevertrump-organized Legal Defense Fund for Reichsfuhrer Bannon?
Dave (445e97) — 1/4/2018 @ 6:08 amack this came in the middle of the night
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/4/2018 @ 6:10 ambuild the wall
mg (8cbc69) — 1/4/2018 @ 6:14 amlock her up
start beating the chicoms
86 the national education association
wake up a.g. sessions
There was some effort to ascribe to Trump magical powers. In an early conversation — half comic, half desperate — Bannon tried to explain him as having a particular kind of Jungian brilliance. Trump, obviously without having read Jung, somehow had access to the collective unconscious of the other half of the country, and, too, a gift for inventing archetypes: Little Marco … Low-Energy Jeb … the Failing New York Times. Everybody in the West Wing tried, with some panic, to explain him, and, sheepishly, their own reason for being here. He’s intuitive, he gets it, he has a mind-meld with his base. But there was palpable relief, of an Emperor’s New Clothes sort, when longtime Trump staffer Sam Nunberg — fired by Trump during the campaign but credited with knowing him better than anyone else — came back into the fold and said, widely, “He’s just a fu<king fool."
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/michael-wolff-my-insane-year-inside-trumps-white-house-1071504
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (421404) — 1/4/2018 @ 6:23 amnk @ 12. LOL, good one. Bannon may have reenacted Pickett’s Charge a few too many times.
crazy (d99a88) — 1/4/2018 @ 6:45 amI get a lot of flak from Trumpalos here and have always gotten it from lefties
Patterico (ed9208) — 1/4/2018 @ 7:04 amSo who’s over the target here mg? Bannon?
Patterico (ed9208) — 1/4/2018 @ 7:05 amFascists hate Federalism when it conflicts with fascism.
https://www.google.com/amp/www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-sessions-legal-marijuana-policy-20180104-story,amp.html
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (421404) — 1/4/2018 @ 7:07 amhttp://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/514529/
Mercers weren’t able toKELO the Louvre..
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (421404) — 1/4/2018 @ 7:23 amYou double cross once, where does it all end?
https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/92d22c53-f8f4-4f08-835d-6a02d7d9717b
nk (9651fb) — 1/4/2018 @ 7:27 amhttps://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/d15aaf53-464f-4fdd-9df8-6827fc45673e
nk (9651fb) — 1/4/2018 @ 7:30 amsee i bet you didn’t know that
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/4/2018 @ 7:38 amI agree with Bannon’s views on family Trump being in the Whitehouse.
mg (8cbc69) — 1/4/2018 @ 7:39 amI agree with Patterico that Trump can’t be trusted, for various reasons.
Just don’t you two run into each other in those unfriendly skies. I need the info from both sources.
It gets better: Trump trying to stop publication of explosive book about his presidency: report. Ordinarily I’d say fat chance but the government did squash a former SEAL’s book by contesting the accuracy of the story told as I recall so who knows. This battle is moving faster than usual.
crazy (d99a88) — 1/4/2018 @ 7:40 amivanka’s a nasty and stupid climate change hooker, but she’s a direct descendant of our president, President Donald Trump
so unless she decides to go back to being a roadhouse stripper in bloomington indiana we have to put up with her 🙁
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/4/2018 @ 7:45 amHeh. He’s gonna rescind a memo.
What a short squirt!
http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/04/politics/jeff-sessions-cole-memo/
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (421404) — 1/4/2018 @ 7:52 amSteve Bannon? Who cares what Steve Bannon thinks or says or does? Why, he was just a coffee-boy for the Trump campaign, a failed pathetic loser nobody from some failed pathetic loser website nobody cares about. And we’ve always been at war with Eastasia.
Jerryskids (cfad51) — 1/4/2018 @ 7:58 amYeah there’s a lot of that sentiment re Bannon, and it’s kinda like Mudville where there is no Joy. But I am fairly dripping with schadenfreude at the suicide watch at Just One Minute and other hedgehog blogs.
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (421404) — 1/4/2018 @ 8:03 amDozens of Republicans in Congress started out skeptical of Trump but have fallen in line behind him as he signed their top initiatives into law, like a trillion-dollar giveaway to the very rich. In exchange they’ve turned a blind eye to Trump’s significant financial conflicts of interest, repeated efforts to undermine the integrity of the criminal justice process, and more. The few remaining critics plan to leave Washington.
This is one of Trump’s most underappreciated political achievements of the year: consolidation of power over a party to which he had scant personal or institutional ties. And all signs are that if Republicans win in 2018, slavish loyalty to Trump will only grow more ingrained, especially because Trump himself makes no secret that loyalty to him is the key to access, and access is the key to policy influence.
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/1/4/16841070/trumpocracy-or-democracy
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (421404) — 1/4/2018 @ 8:08 amIf CNN says it’s fake news….
Kishnevi (4a77b9) — 1/4/2018 @ 8:28 amhttp://thehill.com/homenews/media/367411-cnns-camerota-cautions-viewers-that-explosive-wolff-book-isnt-really
16 — everyone who has an interest in the House Intel Comm investigation into the “unmasking” of US Persons should read the link to the Conservative Treehouse. I’m not 100% they are correct, but if they are, Armageddon is going to break out between the remnants of the Obama DOJ and the House Freedom Caucus, and the House members will be the only ones with loaded guns.
If what is speculated upon is true, there will be people going to jail.
I have thought for a while that the stonewalling done inside DOJ against the Nunes and Grassely requests for records — Nunes about unmasking and 702 violations, and Grassley about the dossier and its uses — was being done in order to preserve in the near and intermediate term the ability of DOJ to function.
If what is being speculated about is true, then a huge swath of upper echelon of career officials at DOJ, FBI, and a couple of intel agencies will likely be wiped out. I think the stonewalling has been to buy time to prepare for a major transition of personnel which minimizes the disruption to DOJ and FBI operations.
shipwreckedcrew (56b591) — 1/4/2018 @ 8:29 amMr Feets @20
Kishnevi (4a77b9) — 1/4/2018 @ 8:29 amPossibly this
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2018/01/meltdown-and-spectre-every-modern-processor-has-unfixable-security-flaws/
Nunes up to his arse in money laundering along with Rohrabacher and soon to be revealed Corker!
Watch this space!
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (421404) — 1/4/2018 @ 8:33 amyes yes Mr. kishnevi but that stuff was out yesterday (email came at 1:00 am)
sounds like maybe there could be more shoes dropping
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/4/2018 @ 8:37 amoopers *Mr. Kishnevi* i mean
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/4/2018 @ 8:37 amTrump’s scum lawyers who all they do is talk, talk, talk and sue, sue, sue, instead of getting out of the way and letting people who get things done get things done, are ruining America.
Just dropped in to observe…looks like somebody got into somebody’s head.
Peace out…
CFarleigh (5b282a) — 1/4/2018 @ 8:54 amgetting flak from all sides in politics means you are directly over the target
But mg, there is only ONE side from where you sit — all to the left.
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/4/2018 @ 9:21 amFascists hate Federalism when it conflicts with fascism.
FDR enacted most of this crap, all based on Wickard. So you’re calling FDR a fascist now?
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/4/2018 @ 9:22 amshipwreckedcrew @39, The details behind NSA Stops Certain Section 702 “Upstream” Activities on April 28, 2017 and the subsequently declassified Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Order filed April 26, 2017 (you may have been referring to last night on the Bannon thread @119) approving procedural changes in Section 702 collection are likely at the root of what Nunes and Grassley have been digging into. The apparently questionable use of the “about” selector may have gotten the last crew the info they sought but created a giant mess that’s hard to fix without blowing up everything as you said. Trump’s election left them exposed in ways Hillary’s victory would not have. The Church commission probably went too far the last time the USG abused its authority. We’ll have to see if Congress can get it right this time without blinding US to the real enemies.
crazy (d99a88) — 1/4/2018 @ 9:33 amCorporations use the agreements all the time, and enforce them. Why shouldn’t the White House? Considering the raft of books that came out of the Bush administration, and the dearth that came out of Obama’s, I’m willing to bet that Trump isn’t the first president to do this.
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/4/2018 @ 9:36 amI was getting the feeling that it was not only moonbats & Never Trumpers who believed Wolff’s book was factual but Trump himself.
The cease & desist plus even CNN calling it cr*p reassures a bit.
Let it play out and score accordingly.
harkin (8256c3) — 1/4/2018 @ 9:36 amMeanwhile……
“Obama’s record of failure in Iran begins with his tepid response to the Green Revolution of 2009 — he said nothing and certainly did nothing to prevent the mullahs’ murderous crackdown — and ends with his notorious shipment of greenbacks.
In bending over backwards to make the deal and overlook Tehran’s human rights violations, Obama sent Iranians the message that Ronald Reagan 50 years ago warned should never be sent to the world’s oppressed: “Give up your dreams of freedom, because to save our own skin, we are willing to make a deal with your slave masters.””
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/2018/01/04/trump_can_learn_from_obama039s_appalling_errors_on_iran_430493.html
harkin (8256c3) — 1/4/2018 @ 9:50 amRemember, folks: Trump only hires the very best people.
Bill H (383c5d) — 1/4/2018 @ 9:56 am47
Are State’s Rights an arbitrary principle for conservatives? Watch behaviors rather than words.
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (421404) — 1/4/2018 @ 10:03 amShorter harkin..
Whatabout Chappiquiddick?
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (421404) — 1/4/2018 @ 10:04 am49 – we’ve got a partial score:
https://www.dailywire.com/news/25377/top-7-quotes-new-book-trump-joseph-curl
When CNN and WaPo trash Wolff, you get a good idea of the final score.
Lenny (5ea732) — 1/4/2018 @ 10:19 am@50
Would the be the same Reagan behind Iran-Contra? That Reagan?
Davethulhu (fab944) — 1/4/2018 @ 10:36 am45 – Kevin M – Waters great, food is tasty, more people should view things from the mountaintop.
mg (8cbc69) — 1/4/2018 @ 10:58 am47 — that’s my view. When the lid comes off what might be an intelligence collection scandal that implicates top management at DOJ and FBI from the prior administration, lots of people could lose their jobs. The work of both agencies that is unconnected to the scandal must go on, and it might well be the case that the current leadership has planning well under way for the aftermath. But the stonewalling was simply done to give them time before the grenade goes off. Wray has been reorganizing the top of the FBI with his own people. At DOJ, there are still several Obama holdovers, and confirmation of 2nd and 3rd tier political appointees has been slower than usual because the Senate Dems have been dragging their feet.
But I think the Conservative Treehouse post comes to some logical conclusions in terms of finding an intersection between the “unmasking” issues and the inappropriate “about queries” that Adm. Rogers identified to the FISA Court in his Oct. 1996 certification. Remember that “unmasking” requests are made to the agency that collected the intel — which in most cases is going to be the NSA. It was also at the NSA that the “about queries” were being inappropriately made. As I understand the issue, the FISA warrant collects monitored conversations. The “About Query” allows the person reviewing the captured conversations to access additional data about the participants, including email content and meta data. Where this “About Query” involves a US person, you have a potential FISA violation because it violates the minimization rules.
So, assume there is a FISA warrant for Carter Page’s phone communications. And he is intercepted talking with another Trump campaign official about his contact with a Russian national. If an “About Query” is then made concerning emails from that campaign official, who would be another US Person — not Page — that is a violation of the minimization rules because there is no court approval for a FISA intercept of that other US person.
So in late September, 2016, the Gov’t files Reauthorization Certifications with the FISA Court. I don’t think these are for any campaign related FISAs — because the timing does not seem correct. If these are “reauthorizations”, then they are for a 90 day renewal of a FISA warrant already in place. But what the Gov’t discloses — when you put it in context of Adm. Rogers testimony on the subject before Congress — strongly suggests that the “About Query” problems were widespread across several different FISA warrants that are ongoing at any one time. Months earlier Adm. Rogers tasked his compliance officer with doing a minimization compliance review.
In Sept. 2016, the Gov’t submitted its Reauthorization Certification. On October 24, 2016, while those were pending, the Court’s Order states “The Government orally apprised the court of significant noncompliance with NSA’s minimization procedures.” Adm. Rogers testified that their minimization procedures at that point were largely technological, but that upon discovering the problems, he tasked his office with finding a better solution to the “About Query” minimization violations. A hearing was held by the Court on October 26, 2016, and I’m GUESSING based on Rogers testimony that he appeared at that hearing. He advised the Court that he had halted all “About Queries” upon discovering the minimization problems, and that they would only apply to the Court for reauthorization to resume “About Queries” once they had a “fix” in place to make sure the minimization rules were adhered to.
The Court’s order is dated April 26, 2017, and the Court authorized “About Queries” again under the conditions set forth, based on the NSA certification that it had corrected the problems.
So, if you work from Nunes’ disclosures about hundreds of “unmasking” requests coming out of the Obama Admin. to the NSA regarding US Persons intercepted in FISA warrants, and then go to the “About Queries” that could follow once the ID of the US Person is ascertained, you have a full-on warrantless surveillance of US Persons — presumably persons connected to Trump or the Trump campaign.
Adm. Rogers was appointed head of NSA by Obama in 2014. Ash Carter and DNI Clapper recommended to Obama that he remove Rogers from his position in OCTOBER 2016, in the same time frame that Rogers had shut down “About Queries” and reported the minimization violations to the FISA Court.
On November 17, 2016, 9 days after the election, and without advising anyone in the Obama Admin., Adm. Rogers travels to New York and meets with Trump, reportedly because he was under consideration to be DNI, replacing Clapper.
The NEXT DAY, Trump moves his transition operations from Trump Tower to his golf course in New Jersey.
It has been reported in the press — not sure ever actually verified — that there was a FISA warrant on an email server in Trump Tower which was ostensibly monitoring data between two Russian Banks and entities in Trump Tower.
The supposition at Conservative Treehouse is that the compliance review ordered by Adm. Rogers uncovered widespread unmasking and “About Queries” involving Trump campaign officials, and he was not persuaded by anyone in the Obama Admin. intelligence community to allow those practices to continue. He exposed the violations to the FISA Court – and in the time frame he did so there was an effort mounted to remove him. But that would have been a political bombshell 3 weeks before the election, and he might have taken his concerns public.
They further conclude that during the Nov. 17 meeting, Adm. Rogers advised him that the Trump Tower location was not secure, and may have even hinted that it wasn’t secure from his own government. That prompted the sudden move.
shipwreckedcrew (56b591) — 1/4/2018 @ 11:02 amWaters great, food is tasty, more people should view things from the mountaintop.
But the air seems so thin, and you really don’t want a lot of people up on your mountaintop anyway. They’d probably try to tell you what to do.
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/4/2018 @ 11:10 amTouche Kevin M.
mg (8cbc69) — 1/4/2018 @ 11:15 amReports say a c&d letter went out to Wolff’s publisher as well.
Memo to Ferret Mueller:
Wolff’s author’s note hints his methodology may be a little sloppy. But he has tapes.
History does rhyme.
“Ohhhh yeah…..”
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/4/2018 @ 11:29 amWow. I guess the 24/7 CSPAN coverage of visitors to Trump Tower had nothing to do with moving the Transition Team to New Jersey.
DRJ (15874d) — 1/4/2018 @ 11:45 amthe timing of the move relative to the discussion with Rogers is too coincidental DRJ
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/4/2018 @ 11:48 amRogers btw seems like a genuinely non-sleazy military officer
a very rare bird
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/4/2018 @ 11:48 am“Would the be the same Reagan behind Iran-Contra?“
Yes, who by coincidence was viewed by the Mullahs as John Wayne after four years of Don Knotts.
harkin (8256c3) — 1/4/2018 @ 11:53 am@50. Meanwhile…
Reagan sent Tehran an autographed Bible and traded arms for hostages.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/4/2018 @ 11:56 amWell I’m a dumb Strzok lady I should confess
This Trump Administration is a sordid mess
Insubordination gives you such a thrill
You and me baby we can sink it still
I’m in love Strzok, maybe
And you know just what to do
The election results, I remember that night
The way we all felt we can’t soon forget
We swore on Jim Comey we’d make it right
With you to steer it, baby, it ain’t over yet
Every time I see Trump my blood runs cold
My mind’s gettin’ crazy, Deep State runnin’ wild
Your subversion makes you seem like a mighty mighty man
I love this baby, don’t you understand?
I’m a dumb Strzok lady
Yeah I’m in love Strzok, maybe
Trump’s got me numb, Strzok baby
And you know just what to do
Sexts go flyin’ whenever we can’t meet
Don’t tell Bob: Red Roof Inn and Suites
We’ll strike a blow against Hillary’s “defeat”
Come 2020 she just can’t be beat
I’m a dumb Strzok lady
Think I’m in love Strzok, maybe
Trump’s got me numb, Strzok baby
And you know just what to do
Pinandpuller (16b0b5) — 1/4/2018 @ 12:03 pmIt saddens me that you take delight in a controversy like this.
We have the most operationally conservative presidency since Ronald Reagan – at least.
And you are getting out the popcorn to enjoy discord that may very well harm it.
Trump may or may not have the personal characteristics that the dubious journalist attributes to him.
But how about we look at a couple of things…
His accomplishments are stellar – He has made great appointments (with the bad ones fired as needed).
He has stuffed environmentalism back into its Pandora’s box.
His foreign policy that might actually help us – and is certainly one with a clear eyed view that a nation’s government exists to benefit its citizens first.
A tax bill that is as conservative as possible given the congressional makeup.
Lefties driven insane.
Sadly, his one negative accomplishment has been his failure to get #NeverTrump folks on the right to behave themselves.
Criticism is one thing. Cheering for his downfall is uncalled for, unless you are in favor of progressive causes.
John (08e2df) — 1/4/2018 @ 12:10 pm@22. ‘…a gift for inventing archetypes: Little Marco … Low-Energy Jeb … the Failing New York Times….’
So he’s a Wolff Ditzer.
It ain’t a gift, Ben; It’s a skill. Ask Don Draper or Roger Sterling; they’re ‘Mad Men’ too.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/4/2018 @ 12:20 pm@4 Mr. Bannon will feel better after he sleeps it off wakes up and gets drunk again
Can’t miss his meetings w/Target and Walmart, Mr. Feet; there’s a whole line of Bannonwear ready for the stores. Field jacket chic is in for ’18, Mr. Feet!
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/4/2018 @ 12:32 pmif amazon buys target we can get our bannonwear through the widger!
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/4/2018 @ 12:34 pm@70. House wear and houseware, Mr. Feet!
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/4/2018 @ 12:36 pm2018 is already my favorite!
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/4/2018 @ 12:36 pmMeanwhile…….
“CBS News fired Political Director Steve Chaggaris over allegations of “inappropriate behavior.” Chaggaris is the 52nd member of the elite media fired, suspended, or accused of misconduct.”
http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2018/01/04/cbs-news-political-director-52nd-member-elite-media-accused-misconduct/
Why is it that so many of these fired/suspended folks are liberals (Chaggaris is very anti-Trump)? I mean the msm has assured us that there is no liberal bias in the news media.
And oh yeah……
“ABC News’ embattled chief investigative correspondent, Brian Ross, has not returned to work as scheduled Thursday, despite the end of his suspension for botching an “exclusive” report on Donald Trump and Russia.”
harkin (8256c3) — 1/4/2018 @ 1:01 pm@67. We have the most operationally conservative presidency since Ronald Reagan – at least.
History rhymes: he suffered from dementia/early Alzheimer’s, too… ‘at least.’
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/4/2018 @ 1:08 pmThis is pretty hilarious.
It’s bizarre to me that the C+D letter alleges per se libel but doesn’t identify any specific statement which it says is per se libelous.
But beyond that:
this C+D letter threatens a lawsuit *in New York County* under *New York libel law*.
Does anyone seriously believe that a jury in Manhattan is going to convict a book publisher of per se libel because of things the publisher printed in a book critical of Trump?
aphrael (3f0569) — 1/4/2018 @ 1:15 pm
Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7) — 1/4/2018 @ 1:19 pmSadly that means in New York justice matters not, all that matters is the person involved and whether or not he’s PC (or democrat). IOW, a mini banana fiefdom.
Yes, who by coincidence was viewed by the Mullahs as John Wayne after four years of Don Knotts.
They view the current one as Yosemite Sam after 8 years of Elmer Fudd.
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/4/2018 @ 1:21 pmDoes anyone seriously believe that a jury in Manhattan is going to convict a book publisher of per se libel because of things the publisher printed in a book critical of Trump?
Yes, I do. Although I suspect they’d be a tad light when it came to damages.
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/4/2018 @ 1:22 pmNo its been like eight years of daffy
)http://dailysignal.com/2018/01/04/trump-rule-aims-extend-health-care-option-11-million-uninsured
narciso (d1f714) — 1/4/2018 @ 1:23 pmRev. Hoagie — I think it means that there’s a pretty broad belief in New York that it’s borderline impossible to *libel* the President. Not just *this* President, but high level politicians in general.
The really long-term importance of the publishing industry probably has a lot to do with that.
aphrael (3f0569) — 1/4/2018 @ 1:23 pmaphrael,
I think the threat against Bannon for breaching confidentiality is more likely to have teeth. I cannot imagine a NY court allowing those agreements to be disregarded.
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/4/2018 @ 1:23 pmDaffy had more smarts than Elmer, but a lot of bad bad luck. Elmer was just clueless.
Kevin M (752a26) — 1/4/2018 @ 1:26 pmKevin M – I think you’re right there.
I also think that a confidentiality agreement of this sort imposed on campaign staffers is incredibly harmful to democracy, and ought to be void for reasons of public policy, and I will be asking all of my representatives to support a law to that effect.
aphrael (3f0569) — 1/4/2018 @ 1:27 pmWhen you dial past the ambient noise:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/04/business/dealbook/trump-bannon-wolff-book.html
narciso (d1f714) — 1/4/2018 @ 1:27 pmthat’s from here
weird nobody said a peep when food stamp did this
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/4/2018 @ 1:33 pm@83
Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7) — 1/4/2018 @ 1:41 pmAphrael, if you believe democracy will be brought to its knees because of a confidentiality agreement you haven’t much faith in democracy. You also now want to cherry-pick who laws cover depending upon their position?
I didn’t support it then, AND there’s a huge difference: Obama’s NDA did not require that staffers promise to never publically disparage Obama. Trump’s NDA *does* require that.
The net result of this is that if a campaign staffer were to be aware of *hard evidence* that the candidate committed a crime, he would be *prohibited* by the NDA from revealing that information, except (presumably) under compulsion of law.
This is an absolutely terrible thing for the Democratic process. We should not tolerate it, and we should pass laws making such policies clearly void.
aphrael (3f0569) — 1/4/2018 @ 1:43 pmRev. Hoagie: it’s a well established principle in the American legal tradition that it’s nigh impossible to libel (or slander) a public figure. The public figure basically has to be able to demonstrate that the person publishing the libel *knew it to be false* or published it *with a reckless disregard for the truth*. That’s been true for more than half a century, now.
A private person, however, can win a libel case simply by showing negligence in confirming the truth or falsity of the statement.
The reason for this distinction is that it would be very difficult for the press to operate if it could be prosecuted for libel under negligence theories, and public figures have, by the nature of being public figures, chosen to place themselves under press scrutiny. Private persons have not.
It’s a sufficiently high bar that public figures virtually never win judgments for slander or libel.
aphrael (3f0569) — 1/4/2018 @ 1:47 pmCNN
Supply-side Econ with no doo-doo.
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/4/2018 @ 1:48 pmDue to unprecedented demand, we are moving the on-sale date for all formats of ‘Fire and Fury,’ by Michael Wolff, to Friday, January 5, at 9 a.m. ET, from the current on-sale date of Tuesday, January 9,” a Henry Holt spokeswoman told CNN Thursday afternoon.
Rev. Hoagie: if campaign staffers must *forever* give up their right to publically criticize a candidate for whom they once worked, then the political system loses a great deal of its capacity to reconsider decisions or change minds as candidates change, and it becomes impossible for a staffer who is aware of actual corruption or criminal activity by a campaign to do anything about it.
It’s an extremely dangerous road to travel down.
aphrael (3f0569) — 1/4/2018 @ 1:49 pmi kinda doubt the NDA could ever be enforced under those circumstances
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/4/2018 @ 1:50 pmIf Trump weren’t such an incorrigible moron, it wouldn’t be so necessary to his political survival to have such an odious NDA.
This is obvious to anyone who does the analysis.
Leviticus (efada1) — 1/4/2018 @ 1:53 pmThen what’s the problem with passing a law making it absolutely clear that such a provision cannot be enforced under those circumstances?
aphrael (3f0569) — 1/4/2018 @ 1:53 pmok you may proceed
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/4/2018 @ 1:56 pmi like how forthright President Trump is about things
he’s a straight shooter who inspires trust
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/4/2018 @ 2:01 pmYrs covering up a terrorist attack by al qeda elements, including suppressing the video wvodence of said attack
narciso (d1f714) — 1/4/2018 @ 2:03 pmwho does the analysis.
I have the diagnosis.
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/4/2018 @ 2:17 pm‘I never provided questions ahead of time to any candidate’
I come not to bury Caesar..
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/4/2018 @ 2:19 pmHere’s the rule, any changes made specifically to inhibit Trump behaviors, which were never once mentioned as a problem when they were defining characteristics of the Obama Admin, are automatically null and void.
Top of that the person sponsoring such changes deserves some form of corporal punishment. I’m leaning toward kick to the balls, but it’s negotiable.
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/4/2018 @ 2:21 pmThe problem, papertiger, is that Obama actually was criticized endlessly by many of the same people the Trump supporters hate the most (the “nevertrumpers). Granted, that’s not the case for David Frum, but it is the case around here. It’s also obviously the case with Bannon, though personally I don’t really respect him or his goals.
I think this is one of the major disconnects. Trump supporters should not pretend Trump’s critics are acting out of bias. They actually have a real perspective, and a real voice. Trump’s done well in several areas, and I think it’s fair to say he’s done better than his critics said he would, but that doesn’t actually mean the critics are dishonest.
In this case, Trump is trying to silence valuable insider information, criticizing him, which is fundamentally contrary to freedom. Bush, on the contrary, was very passive about criticism, letting it slide when he probably should have been more responsive. I personally think Bush’s approach was better, but I respect that Trump fans do not. There’s probably a middle ground here.
Dustin (ba94b2) — 1/4/2018 @ 2:28 pmhttp://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a14751577/trump-russia-all-about-money/
If the Trump Organization has been running the spin cycle for dirty Russian money, the quid and the quo would be so close as to be completely indistinguishable from one another. It always has been about the money, as even Steve Bannon seems to know, if his quotes to Michael Wolff are accurate. It always has been about the money, because that’s really all that’s left of a president*’s illusions.
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/4/2018 @ 2:32 pmAphrael, obviously I’m no lawyer but I am under the impression a contract cannot be legal if it is for illegal purpose, like corruption or criminal activity. I must be wrong. Either that or you want another law to say what already exists. That’s how lawyers keep screwing with the law till nobody rspects* it any longer.
*in deference to Obummer fans.
Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7) — 1/4/2018 @ 2:32 pm
Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7) — 1/4/2018 @ 2:35 pmThen some of the commenters here would be waiting till 105 years old for their testicles to re-descend.
Dave That’s why I’m making the punishment negotiable. What earns Aphrael a hockey check into the boards only gets you an NCIS style back of the head smack.
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/4/2018 @ 2:37 pmRev. Hoagie – to break an NDA on those grounds is actually fairly difficult, *and* would be extraordinarily costly for the staffer, who would have to pay attorneys capable of successfully doing legal battle with the campaign, without any expectation that fees would be reimbursed.
aphrael (3f0569) — 1/4/2018 @ 2:42 pmPapertiger: thank you greatly for that display of respect, and for the engagement you are showing in understanding what my reasoning is rather than in casting aspersions on my character.
I’ve been here since 2003, and I’d thought that over that time I’d behaved in such a fashion as to have earned better treatment than that. Apparently I was wrong.
aphrael (3f0569) — 1/4/2018 @ 2:43 pmLook {points at Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner picking his nose in the corner} Ben just said
President Trump took the job to get rich.
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/4/2018 @ 2:45 pmWhat a maroon [jpg].
Any State’s Rights advocates afoot?
https://splinternews.com/jeff-sessions-plans-to-declare-war-on-legal-weed-1821769356
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/4/2018 @ 2:54 pmAphrael don’t take it so personal. It’s not about you per sey.
I’d say the same of any two face who had no complaint for Obama’s iron curtain of security, but wants the drapes torn off the windows now that Trump is in the Oval Office.
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/4/2018 @ 2:55 pmExcrot for the direct avowal, of bannon it sounds like the trash Schmidt and Wallace dumped to rosencrantz, (halperin,) and guildentstern (heileman) dished toward the huntress.
narciso (d1f714) — 1/4/2018 @ 2:55 pmAll of us here had plenty of criticism to level at Obama, papertiger – including relative liberals like me and aphrael. Trump is cartoonishly incompetent and unintelligent by comparison… and the silence from your corner is deafening.
You and yours are the hypocrites. Not us.
Leviticus (efada1) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:00 pmThe surpring thing was Kate Walsh, she was one of the top gals suspected of leaking confidential communications. Spicer, her boss seems to among the mutineers
narciso (d1f714) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:00 pmNah, papertiger, when you bring my name into it *explicitly*, it becomes personal, and it’s definitionally “about me” because you *specifically made it about me*.
It’s not like I’m reacting to general complaints. I’m reacting to a specific statement: according to your own words, specifically naming me, I’ve earned a hockey check into the boards.
So I think it’s fair to conclude that, at least when it comes to me, you’re not interested in discussion, in understanding my position, or of persuading me to yours. You’re just interested in using physical force to express your displeasure.
Like I said, I had thought I’d earned better treatment than that. Clearly your mileage varies.
aphrael (3f0569) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:01 pmHeh. I criticised Obama starting from one of his last Senate voted on Telcom immunity.
He was more your stripe than mine.
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:04 pmYes tiger, aphrael has a sincere diffenernce of opinion, admiral is just a jerk
narciso (d1f714) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:07 pmIts not a “states’ rights” issue Ben.
If States had made laws legalizing MJ prior to federal law having made it illegal, then you might have a point.
But the feds got there first.
So now its a pure Supremacy Clause issue.
Federal law makes it a crime to cultivate, possess with the intent to distribute, or distribute MJ to another person.
Note that it does not make it illegal to possess MJ. Mere possession is not a federal crime.
But the others were before states started legalizing various forms of use.
Use under state law remains unrestricted.
Growing, distributing, or possessing with the intent to distribute, are all federal crimes and were federal crimes long before “Med. MJ” came along.
shipwreckedcrew (56b591) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:07 pmInstead of sending in Jackie Robinson, I’d have recommended Cassius Clay.
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:07 pmIn a suit to enforce the NDA, there would be no jury for injunctive relief; and not for monetary relief, either, if there was no genuine issue of material fact and it contained a provision for liquidated damages.
On the other hand, we would be more likely to find an honest and law-abiding Manhattan jury than we would be to find an honest and law-abiding Manhattan judge, see e.g. Rakoff v. Palin, so ….
nk (dbc370) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:09 pmLike Hell it ain’t!
trying to argue like a Trumphumper
Have I failed?
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:10 pmAnd papertiger is a dipsh!t, aphrael. Take his nonsense as a reflection on him, and not on you.
nk (dbc370) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:10 pmoh lord cumbaya
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:13 pmShipwreckedcrew, why do you say that simple possession isn’t a federal crime?
21 USC 844(a):
“It shall be unlawful for any person knowingly or intentionally to possess a controlled substance unless such substance was obtained directly, or pursuant to a valid prescription or order, from a practicioner, while acting int he course of his professional practice?”
I think that clearly makes it a federal crime to possess marijuana purchased on the black market, or from a state-legal recreational dispensary, and that it *may* make it a federal crime to possess marijuana purchased from a medical dispensary with a prescription, depending on other parts of the law.
I acknowledge that prosecution of such is not something which happens, AND the law clearly (to my mind) covers possession.
aphrael (3f0569) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:14 pmFederalism is a simple concept: The states, not the federal government, should control most issues.
https://www.google.com/amp/amp.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/sep/25/medical-marijuana-federalism-states-rights/
Is shipwrecker even a lawyer ?
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:14 pmNo Federalists here?
Or none you would notice?
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:17 pmC’mon.
Let’s fire up some genuine conservatism or is that dead like the Rumpublican Party?
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:18 pmI think it’s pretty clear from controlling precedent that the feds cannot force the states to ban marijuana, or force state law enforcement to comply with federal law.
I think there’s a real possibility that DoJ could choose to prosecute state officials who issue licenses to marijuana businesses — they’re issuing documents that purport to grant a business the right to conduct an illegal activity, and *that* may very well be a federal crime.
I also think the DoJ could choose to prosecute people for violating laws that make something *federally* illegal *even in states where the state doesn’t think that should be illegal*. Otherwise, for example, you could never prosecute a state official for denying black people the right to vote in a state where the state’s laws purported to do that.
*Legally* the issue was decided a dozen or so years ago: Congress’ power under the commerce clause includes the power to ban all trade in a given substance. Congress has the authority to make this (I think bad) policy decision, and the executive has the responsibility to carry it out.
*Philosophically*, yeah, it’s hard for me to stomach it when people who generally seem to think important decisions should be left to the states turn around and advocate for this decision being made federally. It’s certainly grounds for mocking.
But legally I don’t think there’s a substantive states rights claim here, and *if there is*, then the same argument would undo huge quantities of economic and environmental regulation.
aphrael (3f0569) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:20 pmThank you aphrael. Remind them of the tax bennies and helping cure opioid addicts.
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:23 pmRe: Obama NDA
You should really read things. It specifically covers confidential information about the campaign’s business operations. There is no agreement not to say mean things, and the NDA lasts only until the confidential information in question becomes generally known by other means.
Trump’s ignorance, mental incapacity and criminal insanity could never be concealed and were never a secret; thus, under the Obama-style NDA, it would not have been prohibited to talk about them.
Dave (445e97) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:27 pmThe main reason I applaud federal enforcement of the marijuana laws is because I detest the Stoner Libertarians who want marijuana legalized. Somebody needs to give them a kick in the scrotum, an NCIS smack on the back of the head, or a body check into the boards.
nk (dbc370) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:28 pmhttp://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gXBuTtc_EF4/TrH1PJSNvqI/AAAAAAAAKUU/pTnrdI4OWYw/s1600/Stains-620.jpg
papertiger (c8116c) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:32 pm122 — I’m going to have to plead faulty memory. I know there is a provision that makes mere possession not a crime, but it might have to do with mere possession combined with a Med MJ card. I didn’t do any drug cases my last 10 years as a fed, so I haven’t worked with 841 in close to 15 years. But I know there is some provision of 841 that applies to all controlled substances except MJ — but it might be a sentencing application, and not a guilt application. Age-induced brain cramp.
shipwreckedcrew (56b591) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:33 pmNK – why do the stoner libertarians who want marijuana legalized offend you so?
(Note: I voted both for California’s medical marijuana initiative AND for the measure which legalized recreational marijuana here. I’ve supported legalization for the entirety of my adult life.)
aphrael (3f0569) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:33 pmThat’s just your fascist proclivity, no.
But you’re just a marshmallow.
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:33 pmBen — drug distribution is a matter of “commerce”, therefor subject to the Commerce Clause and Congressional power to “regulate” commerce between the states.
Go read Wickard v. Filburn.
A crappy decision that has stood the test of time since the New Deal.
shipwreckedcrew (56b591) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:34 pmWolff Snitcher, Mr. Feet!
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:35 pmNk is a fair-weather Federalist…meaning hypocrite
What would you expect?
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:35 pm“Trump is cartoonishly incompetent and unintelligent by comparison… and the silence from your side is deafening.”
I agree only with the bold.
When he gives nuke technology to terrorist autocrats/theocrats, you can compare his intelligence and competence to Bubba and O’Blame’O (and liberals were not silent on these treasons, they absolutely applauded them).
harkin (8256c3) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:38 pmBecause when you talk to them for a little while, their overall philosophy seems to be “people should be free to do what I want to do” and not “people should be free to do what they want to do”. Not libertarians so much, more like libertines — selfish, self-indulgent and frivolous and concerned merely with their own personal gratification.
nk (dbc370) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:40 pmGo read Mein Kampf shipwreck and take Jeffrey Beauregard Goebbels with you.
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:41 pmYes nk. You are much better qualified to know what’s best for us and to make it so
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:42 pmIt’s consistent that hypocritical Christians would also be hypocritical Federalists.
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:44 pm@131. I’m going to have to plead faulty memory…
Playing your Trump card, swc.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:47 pmNK, I take it that your objection is that they are fair-weather libertarians, wanting to be free themselves while denying that freedom to others.
What is your view of the underlying policy?
aphrael (3f0569) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:47 pmI don’t think you need to be Libertarian to believe that marijuana should be legal and the drug war has many problems.
The thing I like about the current change in CA law is that the state thinks they’ll be able control distribution/taxes when what they are doing is opening up a much-more-affordable Black market. Another good thing is it will impede the profitability for destroying natural ecosystems that many illegal growers (many of them illegal immigrants) now do with wanton impunity.
No, I haven’t baked much since my younger days but I know plenty of people who do.
harkin (8256c3) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:55 pmshipwreckedcrew, I found a provision which allows, as a one-time thing, for someone (who has never been prosecuted federally or by a state for any controlled substances offence) to pay a $10K civil fine instead of being prosecuted criminally.
aphrael (3f0569) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:56 pmHarkin, the taxes in California are ~34% on top of sticker price. This is not wise.
I voted for the measure because legalization is better than decriminalization, BUT the measure had serious problems, and I hope the legislature works them out over time.
aphrael (3f0569) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:57 pmDCSCA, at 142: dude. the law is an enormous body of work. no man alive can remember it all, in any significant detail. i only know what the provision said *because i looked it up*, and i think it’s entirely reasonable for someone to not remember the details if they didn’t work in that area extensively.
aphrael (3f0569) — 1/4/2018 @ 3:58 pm“Do not forbid that which you do not have the power to prevent”, as a general principle. In real terms, the War on Drugs has shown itself to be corrupt and corrupting. Like the case you related, with the one kilo of real cocaine and the nineteen fake (snicker) ones. Or the Ramos and Compean case where a U.S. Attorney prosecuted two border agents for shooting a drug smuggler bringing in 800 lbs of marijuana. The illegal drug trade would not exist without the protection of the people in law enforcement who are supposed to stop it.
nk (dbc370) — 1/4/2018 @ 4:00 pmNK, for the life of me, I cannot come up with any explanation other than “the organization this dude works for was trying to scam someone by selling them fake cocaine”.
aphrael (3f0569) — 1/4/2018 @ 4:01 pmWhat is your limiting principle, then? If a state wants to legalize heroin, and sell it in unlimited quantities to people of any age, is that OK?
There are two related but slightly different issues involved.
One is protecting the people of State A from more or less direct harm caused by potentially dumb political decisions by people in State B, about which they otherwise have no recourse to correct, except through the Federal government. My reductio ad absurdum above is an attempt to illustrate this.
The second issue is that the Federal government, itself, has interests in the health of the general population, the economy, the legal system, etc at a national level. In a world where the feds are significantly involved in providing or subsidizing individual health insurance, working to keep money out of the hands of criminals and terrorists, trying to improve the work-force’s level of education and job-readiness, trying to recruit people fit to serve in the armed forces, etc, there are externalities related to recreational drug legalization that may not be adequately factored into any given state’s decision. One way of putting it is that states – by design – are insulated from the national effects of some of their decisions – the big picture.
That’s not to say that the present federal policy is automatically the right one. But our recent and on-going experiences with tobacco and alcohol do not suggest to me that introducing new mass-market recreational drugs with different, but still very real, health pathologies and public costs is automatically the right thing to do, either.
Dave (445e97) — 1/4/2018 @ 4:03 pmI can. The police seized twenty real kilos; substituted fake ones for nineteen of them; and sold the real ones back to the same wholesaler, or to another wholesaler — the one whose territory they were protecting by arresting his competition.
nk (dbc370) — 1/4/2018 @ 4:05 pmIf a state wants to legalize heroin, and sell it in unlimited quantities to people of any age, is that OK?
Have you heard of Opioids ? If so, where is your poutrage at thousands of overdose fatalities each year while marijuana has never killed a single soul?
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/4/2018 @ 4:10 pm> What is your limiting principle, then? If a state wants to legalize heroin, and sell it in unlimited quantities to people of any age, is that OK?
Are you asking me if I think that’s a good thing for them to do as a policy matter (I don’t), or if I think it’s within their powers as sovereign entities to do so? (I think I do).
> One is protecting the people of State A from more or less direct harm caused by potentially dumb political decisions by people in State B, about which they otherwise have no recourse to correct, except through the Federal government.
By that argument, the federal government *clearly* has the right to regulate emissions of carbon monoxide into the air, as one state’s willingness to allow that imposes costs on any downwind state. Doesn’t say it’s a good policy choice, but says it’s legitimately within the federal government’s powers.
> But our recent and on-going experiences with tobacco and alcohol do not suggest to me that introducing new mass-market recreational drugs with different, but still very real, health pathologies and public costs is automatically the right thing to do, either.
Fair, *and* that’s a criticism of the *policy*. It doesn’t strike me as being a comment on the structural allocation of power and what decisions should be made at what level of government.
My fundamental reason for mocking, in the cases where I mock on this, is that people will *say* that it’s really important that decisions be made at certain levels of government and then, when those levels of government make decisions they disagree with on policy grounds, will assert that no, some other level of government should make *just this decision*. It’s hilarious.
The left is hypocritical on this subject, too.
aphrael (3f0569) — 1/4/2018 @ 4:10 pmNk just hates cops..no reason or rationale…just bigotry.
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/4/2018 @ 4:11 pmTest a simple regulatory change re pain management,
narciso (d1f714) — 1/4/2018 @ 4:22 pmThe left is hypocritical on this subject, too.
Yes, it’s perfectly within states’ rights to give sanctuary to illegal aliens, here in violation of federal law, but Arpaio gets held in contempt for attempting to enforce laws which are “solely the province” of the Obama Administration.
nk (dbc370) — 1/4/2018 @ 4:31 pm145 — that might be it.
The issue of something unique has stuck in my head for 20 years because one time I was asked to look at an indictment where the issue was raised in an all MJ case. The AUSA who drafted the indictment asked if I agreed with the view that MJ was treated differently under the statute than the other controlled substances, and whether I thought that was purposeful or by happenstance. My recollection is that IMO it didn’t matter. The issue was dictated by the language of the statute, and the way the indictment was written, the prosecutor was stuck with a very defendant-friendly outcome from a plea deal.
shipwreckedcrew (56b591) — 1/4/2018 @ 4:42 pmMy recollection is that IMO it didn’t matter.
No mind, no matter. Simple for simpletons.
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/4/2018 @ 4:45 pm@147. Our Captain prefers picture books– dude.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/4/2018 @ 4:46 pmshipwreckedcrew @57, thanks for your thoughts and analysis this AM. I’m encouraged that Rosenstein and Wray are choosing cooperation over continued foot-dragging. If you’re so inclined, the 99 page FISA Court Order is enlightening, particularly the 10 requirements in the order the Court levied.
crazy (d99a88) — 1/4/2018 @ 6:34 pm160 — I have spent a couple hours trying to digest the Order, and it is horrifying in many ways. It not specifically about Trump-Russia, but if there was any mischief going on with the Page FISA consistent with what is described in here, its a scandal 10x bigger than Watergate.
shipwreckedcrew (56b591) — 1/4/2018 @ 8:52 pmExactly, I don’t know how DOJ would prosecute potential abuse like that without getting into sources and methods they don’t want to talk about outside of what’s already come to light. The present course of bringing it to light through the self-investigation by the IG couple with Congressional oversight and exposing/dumping the bad actors is probably better than years of litigation and greymail. Thanks for taking the time to review the order. I hope they behaved properly even if I suspect they didn’t.
crazy (d99a88) — 1/4/2018 @ 9:42 pmAG Sedsions had nothing on his plate but letting the feds fu## with the states cannabis laws.
mg (55254c) — 1/4/2018 @ 11:58 pmThis man should be celled in gitmo. Such a bag of excrement.
The controversy is far more likely to lead to the downfall of Steve Bannon than of Trump.
That said, I wanted five things of the president elected in 2016:
1. Repeal ObamaCare.
2. Do not get us into a stupid war.
3. Do not raise my taxes.
4. Shrink the size of government and the debt.
5. Appoint good judges.
I recognize Hillary would have given me none. But it is Trump’s failure to deliver here that prevents me from deeming his accomplishments to be “stellar.”
1. Repeal ObamaCare? Nope.
2. Do not get us into a stupid war? We’ll see.
3. Do not raise my taxes? I think they’re going up.
4. Shrink the size of government and the debt? LOL
5. Appoint good judges? I’ll give him a checkmark on this one.
That’s not “stellar” in my book. I could not give less of a crap whether lefties are driven insane. That does not make my list. Not even close.
But, back to the point, Bannon is the one going down here. Not Trump.
Patterico (115b1f) — 1/5/2018 @ 7:29 am4. Shrink the size of government and the debt? LOL
helpful graphic here
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/5/2018 @ 7:39 am“I have thought for a while that the stonewalling done inside DOJ against the Nunes and Grassely requests for records — Nunes about unmasking and 702 violations, and Grassley about the dossier and its uses — was being done in order to preserve in the near and intermediate term the ability of DOJ to function”.
Consider seeing someone. Nunes/Grassley are democracy killers. These two will help the Russians(if at all possible/probable) undermine what HPF calls “our way of life”.
To score weak, fleeting and temporary political points, Americans have shown a dangerous propensity to not only embellish.. But to knowlingly cut EVERYBODY’S nose to spite the face of the Obama’s. Or ANY(D)!
Leaveitandgo (961683) — 1/5/2018 @ 8:12 am166 – Leaveitandgohell
mg (8cbc69) — 1/5/2018 @ 8:27 amYou must not be American.
The entire Republican Party has become anti- democratic and treacherous to the Republic.
Iraq was the harbinger for demise..Ends justify means is their Mantra since that time. It’s like Opioids to them.
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/5/2018 @ 8:34 amThis has Trump’s fingerprints all over it. He tolerated/let the writer into the White House, and portraying Bannon as the fall guy is exactly what Trump would want after Alabama. My only question is whether or not Bannon volunteered to be the fall guy. My guess is he did.
This is the 2018 season premiere of Trump, The Presidency. Now that the holidays are over, what better way to forget Mueller, his investigation, and the serious charges against Trump’s former hand-picked associates? Granted, good publicity is better than bad but Trump has learned that political victories are hard for him to get. If bad press is all you have, grab it.
DRJ (15874d) — 1/5/2018 @ 9:03 amHe tolerated/let the writer into the White House
where are the proof of this
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/5/2018 @ 9:05 amThe proof? He was there. The White House isn’t a train station.
DRJ (15874d) — 1/5/2018 @ 9:13 amWHERE IS THE PROOF
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/5/2018 @ 9:15 amBut let’s assume Trump had nothing to do with this. What does that tell us? That his chosen employees are venomous, stupid, and gullible. That the White House is in chaos. And that everything Trump has accomplished has been because of luck.
DRJ (15874d) — 1/5/2018 @ 9:17 amTrump doesn’t read or listen
Wolfy..
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/5/2018 @ 9:19 amhe’s been dealing with a great many real issues, while the congress has been mostly chasing white rabbits, failing to approve at least one half of all appointments,
narciso (d1f714) — 1/5/2018 @ 9:19 amAnd that everything Trump has accomplished has been because of luck.
Other than Gorsuch his foundation is papier mache..easily rolled back..his legacy will be paper.
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/5/2018 @ 9:21 amI’ve never seen you yell online, hf. You are worried about this. You should be since Trump’s press secretary admitted they had talked:
Trump denied Wolff had interviewed him. Wolff claims he taped the interview. We’ll see who is lying. It’s a close call.
DRJ (15874d) — 1/5/2018 @ 9:24 ambut DRJ there is NO proof of either any fire or of any fury WHATSOEVER
this is all a huge HOAX
i abjure this fake news book and invite you to join me
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/5/2018 @ 9:25 amFirst of all Trump has accomplished nothing, ask any leftist. Secondly, all the great stuff he didn’t create was pre-created by Obummer and set to happen during the Trump presidency because Obummer was just that awesome!
Look, a shiny laser light.
Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7) — 1/5/2018 @ 9:31 amHoagie too dumb to be worried.
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/5/2018 @ 9:32 amthe book is about nothing of consequence, literally fake news, as pointed out before, this is typical of new York magazine’s earlier exercises, but this is also the type of circle jerk, to be charitable, that the Capitol specializes in
narciso (d1f714) — 1/5/2018 @ 9:37 amThey admit there was a phone conversation:
What else was there? How many times have you talked to the President on the phone?
DRJ (15874d) — 1/5/2018 @ 9:39 amThis has Trump’s fingerprints all over it. He tolerated/let the writer into the White House, and portraying Bannon as the fall guy is exactly what Trump would want after Alabama. My only question is whether or not Bannon volunteered to be the fall guy. My guess is he did.
mg (8cbc69) — 1/5/2018 @ 9:50 amHope no one holds this against you DRJ, I agree it seems possible.
if you talk to the president on the phone say hi for me ok
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/5/2018 @ 9:59 ami heard sloppy steve’s gonna get fired from that piss-stained breitbart site
and there may not even be a good reason!
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/5/2018 @ 10:01 amThere are probably some things in the book, including some hitherto unknown things, that are true, or where the truth is also embarrassing, so they don’t want to go into detail.
John Podhorezt wrote in the new York post on Thursday:
https://nypost.com/2018/01/03/why-latest-trump-bombshells-may-be-too-good-to-be-true/
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 1/5/2018 @ 11:18 amAnd the Wall street Journal wrote in an editorial today:
“If my shirt is on the floor, it’s because I want it on the floor,” Trump berated the staff
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 1/5/2018 @ 11:23 amBannon is the one going down here. Not Trump.
Don’t bet on it. In TrumpWorld you’re back in good graces by simply uttering a stream of compliments.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/5/2018 @ 11:24 amGive ’em hell, Donald?
“If my shirt is on the floor, it’s because I want it on the floor.”
– Donald Trump to his Housekeeper.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 1/5/2018 @ 11:25 ammg,
Why would anyone hold that against me? It’s an opinion and I could certainly be wrong, but why would anyone care whether I’m wrong or right?
Bannon and Trump may be permanently estranged but I’m not convinced they will be. Calling Bannon sloppy — a slob, careless, or both — isn’t that big a slur. Calling Cruz and others liars is much worse, as Trump knows from personal experience.
DRJ (15874d) — 1/5/2018 @ 11:26 am“If my shirt is on the floor, it’s because I want it on the floor.”
And who talks like that, Sammy?
Children.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/5/2018 @ 11:29 ami’m gonna start keeping all my shirts on the floor now
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/5/2018 @ 11:30 am188. DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/5/2018 @ 11:24 am
Would that work for Kim Jong Un?
He did talk that way about some political figures. He made up with ted Cruz. He almost is OK with Obama.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/president-trump-oval-office-interview-cbs-this-morning-full-transcript/
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 1/5/2018 @ 11:31 amBecause drj you are ostensibly interested in policy, now Gannon was supported because he was concerned about working class interests, those have certainly been slighted in this administration
narciso (21eb6d) — 1/5/2018 @ 11:32 amBut if Trump and his executives in the White House cooperated with letting this book get written without a plan to discredit it, then they are fools … just as Bush was trusting Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill. At least O’Neill was a Republican instead of a journalist. How dumb is it for Trump to trust a journalist? I don’t think he’s that dumb.
DRJ (15874d) — 1/5/2018 @ 11:32 am@192- Wire hangers or wood… just because our Captain is a closet case, eh, Mr. Feet!
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/5/2018 @ 11:32 amnarciso, I’m sorry but I don’t understand your insult.
DRJ (15874d) — 1/5/2018 @ 11:33 am190. happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/5/2018 @ 11:30 am
A laundry basket inside an unused shower stall is better. Or a washing machine, maybe. The floor is front of the dresser is a place for yesterday’s T-shirts until they are ready to be washed.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 1/5/2018 @ 11:35 ami use plastic ones and they’re all matchy matchy i think i got them from tranny target
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/5/2018 @ 11:35 amDRJ
mg (8cbc69) — 1/5/2018 @ 11:36 amI did not state it properly. Since I’m the only Bannon supporter and I agree with your statement and you were the only one that made it, I attempting to be funny. Not the first time i have failed at humor.
i used to be a Bannon fan until he did the disloyalty all up in it
after that i turned on him viciously
we’re done
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/5/2018 @ 11:38 amhopefully not the dollar store level of plastic hangers, those break if you so much as emphatically pick Shirt A over Shirt B
urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 1/5/2018 @ 11:40 ami’m gonna start keeping all my shirts on the floor now
That’s how Bannonwear got its start, Mr. Feet!
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/5/2018 @ 11:40 amthese ones have been pretty good i got them at tranny target in burbank (the ghetto one not the one by the Lowe’s or whatever)
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/5/2018 @ 11:44 amNewser article:
http://www.newser.com/story/253732/wolff-calls-trump-least-credible-person-to-ever-live.html
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 1/5/2018 @ 11:56 amThe metal from wire hangers can be used to fish out things from narrow places.
They are not usable as hangers after taht, though.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 1/5/2018 @ 11:57 am191.
Because their parents pretend it is not fdor their conveeience or sense of aesthetics.
The parent iosn’t working fro the child.
But Trump’s housekeeper was working for him.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 1/5/2018 @ 12:00 pm206, as a small plumbers snake they can be invaluable.
urbanleftbehind (1d75fb) — 1/5/2018 @ 12:03 pmSomeone said Bannon weras shorts like an ordinary person or something like that – flannel shirts and cargi pants – but he made millins working at Goldman Sachs. I think maybe he’s finallyw earing what feels comfortable to him.
We make clotehs very comfortable for children and then demand or try to, that they wear cloithing they never got used to.
If you want someone to wear a tuxedo, dress him in that at age 5, like Fred Astaire. The actors who played James Bond took some time getting used to the clothes they wore for the movies.
Sammy Finkelman (02a146) — 1/5/2018 @ 12:05 pm204, that one can be 4 types of ghetto (traditional ghetto, barrio, hijab, and trailer) on a good day.
urbanleftbehind (1d75fb) — 1/5/2018 @ 12:05 pmmostly it was barrio when i went
happyfeet (28a91b) — 1/5/2018 @ 12:13 pmFord City Mall (across the street) only gets that way in summer, when Family Reunions and Church Picnics suck out the other (and usually much larger) demo.
urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 1/5/2018 @ 12:17 pmAnd ….
Rev.Hoagie (6bbda7) — 1/5/2018 @ 12:35 pmhttps://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kfy6vt23kMM/Wk7lSzZRUqI/AAAAAAABUOI/Hja4j6abYYQvztXiZjnwpxK9kpzflPwaQCLcBGAs/s640/1%2B1_190m_p20d1iCPUg1u1w3aqo1_1280.jpg
mg,
It’s definitely not you, it’s me. I never spot people pulling my leg online although, fortunately, it’s easy to do in my real life. As for Bannon, I feel like Trump is mad at Bannon after Alabama but that doesn’t mean Trump will reject what Bannon stood for. Inaddition, Trump probably wants to punish Bannon and this seems too convenient.
DRJ (15874d) — 1/5/2018 @ 4:05 pmAlternatively, this could be Trump deciding to move to a more moderate position for the next three years. Maybe he feels he doesn’t need the populist right anymore, especially since it seems the TOP can lose the House and the Senate. If so, no more Federalist judges, No more Wall. Welcome DACA Dreamers.
DRJ (15874d) — 1/5/2018 @ 4:11 pmAs for Bannon, I feel like Trump is mad at Bannon after Alabama but that doesn’t mean Trump will reject what Bannon stood for. In addition, Trump probably wants to punish Bannon and this seems too convenient.
Yep. They’re birds of a feather and each knows how to stage a show.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/5/2018 @ 4:17 pmThey’re birds of a feather and each knows how to stage a show.
CUK FIGHT!!
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/5/2018 @ 4:20 pm@200. Since I’m the only Bannon supporter…
Don’t bet on that.
Bannon’s a gift for those opposed to the calcifying entrails of the modern conservative movement.
He’s a survivor; so is Trump.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/5/2018 @ 4:21 pmDC I think you mean scleroted arteries not entrails.
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/5/2018 @ 4:24 pmI haven’t felt this good in say, about a year.
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/5/2018 @ 4:25 pmMo Brooks is who Bannon should have tried to get elected in the primary.
mg (8cbc69) — 1/5/2018 @ 4:26 pm@219/220. A fossil is a fossil is a fossil. Hear the mammoth death roars from the tar pits.
DCSCA (797bc0) — 1/5/2018 @ 4:28 pmYeah but it’s Night at the Museum and the animals don’t know they’re stuffed.
Admiral Ben Bunsen Burner (b3d5ab) — 1/5/2018 @ 4:30 pm