All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!(Part II)

[BeastieRunner]

John Kelly expected to resign soon, no longer on speaking terms with Trump



Yet another adult, perhaps the last one is being forced to leave the playpen that's Trump's White House.

Rex said Trump directed himself and others to do things that are against the law. He said Kelly was pushed to be there to scare Trump enough to stop doing that. Fun times.

EDIT: He's stepping down after talking to Mueller. He's a witness to obstruction.

[BeastieRunner]

Beastie's Cartoons of the Week:

[WestPhillyPunisher]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46487122

William Barr will be nominated by Donald Trump to be the next US attorney general. It makes sense since Barr is likely to either hamper or maybe even able to end Mueller's investigation.

Bet on the latter, which was why Turtle Boy refused to allow a vote on a bipartisan bill that would prevent Mueller from being torpedoed. And said refusal had NOTHING to do with McConnell's half-assed "belief" that Trump wouldn't fire Mueller which was pure bullshit. The longer the investigation goes on, the more unhinged Adolph Twitler becomes, and the more likely he'll snap and drop the hammer. At the end of the day, McConnell, like pretty much everyone else in the GOP will do anything to protect Trump.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

President Donald Trump to handle coin toss at Army-Navy game Saturday in Philadelphia

I could be wrong, in fact, I HOPE I'll be proven wrong, but I fear this is going to be a clusterfuck. Trump will be coming to a city that voted overwhelmingly Democrat in the 2016 election and has precious little love for the Conman-in-Chief. Chances are Trump could get the bejesus booed out of him if he's on the field instead of hiding in a luxury box, leading right wing yahoos and Faux News talking heads to slam the city 24/7. Again, I hope I'm completely wrong and nothing controversial happens, save for a blown call by the zebras during the game.

[BeastieRunner]

President Donald Trump to handle coin toss at Army-Navy game Saturday in Philadelphia

I could be wrong, in fact, I HOPE I'll be proven wrong, but I fear this is going to be a clusterfuck. Trump will be coming to a city that voted overwhelmingly Democrat in the 2016 election and has precious little love for the Conman-in-Chief. Chances are Trump could get the bejesus booed out of him if he's on the field instead of hiding in a luxury box, leading right wing yahoos and Faux News talking heads to slam the city 24/7. Again, I hope I'm completely wrong and nothing controversial happens, save for a blown call by the zebras during the game.

Army-Navy fans tend to be vets and their families. FWIW.

[BeastieRunner]

It's official: we passed the Death Cross. The economic downturn has arrived.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Army-Navy fans tend to be vets and their families. FWIW.

Perhaps I'm just being paranoid as I'm looking at this through the prism of Eagles fans who, on a bad day, can be only a step or two above European soccer hooligans when it comes to rowdiness. I would be elated if nothing controversial happens tomorrow.

It's official: we passed the Death Cross. The economic downturn has arrived.

Look for Trump and the GOP to ignore those numbers.

[InformationGeek]

He talks a big game but eh.

We will be doing a major Counter Report to the Mueller Report. This should never again be allowed to happen to a future President of the United States!

[BeastieRunner]

It's a busy Friday and we haven't gotten to the good stuff yet.

N.C. GOP candidate says he ‘would wholeheartedly support a new election’ if evidence of fraud emerges.

A death cross for the S&P 500 highlights a stock market in tatters.

Nadler: Comey Testimony ‘Waste Of Time,’ GOP Just Wants To Discredit Mueller.

[kidfresh512]

Sometimes I Wish the Obamas Wouldn’t ‘Go High’

The movie Mudbound helped me train for a half marathon last year. I watched it on a treadmill and it made me so angry that I didn’t even think about the tightness in my shins and hamstrings; it distracted me from the grueling workout.

Mudbound is a tender and compelling story of black pain that’s set in the Mississippi Delta during World War II. The overarching theme—which is what enraged me—was sadly familiar: White people belittling, dehumanizing, and violently attacking black folks with impunity. Meanwhile, the black people have no choice but to act benevolently toward whites for fear of more punishment. It states in the white-supremacy handbook that those brutalized by racism must be virtuous in the face of indignity—because it would be inhumane to be impolite to racists.

I felt Mudbound-level anger—and for the same reason—when I watched the awkward exchange between the Trumps and the Obamas at the state funeral for former President George H. W. Bush. The couples were seated next to each other. Former President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, both politely nodded at the first couple and graciously shook their hands. In that moment, I wished it wasn’t Michelle Obama who had coined the phrase When they go low, we go high.

I sometimes wonder if the people who often cite that quote have a full understanding of the emotional toll it takes on people of color to have to constantly absolve the racism directed at them.
The Obamas didn’t go low when they interacted with the Trumps, because that’s just not how they operate. And it’s not like I expected anything different at a state funeral. Former President Obama has always, always exhibited a maddening allegiance to institutional respect, even if it wasn’t returned. (All too often, it wasn’t.)
Still, it was infuriating to see the Obamas graciously engage with the man who spent years vociferously promoting the racist conspiracy theory that the former president is a Muslim who wasn’t born in the United States. Also recall that Donald Trump repeatedly challenged Obama to produce his college-admissions records—because it wasn’t enough for Trump to try to invalidate Obama’s presidency, he had to question Obama’s intellect.

Trump was rewarded with the presidency for his ugliness. And, as president, Trump is often given special credit for behaving like an adult, as he was at the state funeral. The Obamas were also praised for their magnanimity—but the difference is that the Obamas were the aggrieved party, not Trump.

I felt this article in my SOUL. I think it is overlooked how dignified and how much **** the Obama's had to put up with for the good of the country and because they had to be 10xs better or face the backlash. They would be WELL within their rights to have completely iced Trump out and not greeted them or spoke to them at all. Same as Hillary, hes still calling her a criminal and putting her life in danger from trump freaks who want to mail bombs or plot to kill her.

The man lead a racist birther campaign against Obama for years. Michelle talks about the effect on her in her book and how she will never forgive him for putting her family in danger with the lies and racism. But she shook that bastards hand because she knows she would be labeled an angry black woman. Or ungracious, or undignified. Obama greeted that ******* racist and had to sit next to him the whole time like he isn't the orange spawn of satan.

I was angry for them even though they tried to keep it classy and do what's right for the country and show that we can all get along

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Sometimes I Wish the Obamas Wouldn’t ‘Go High’





I felt this article in my SOUL. I think it is overlooked how dignified and how much **** the Obama's had to put up with for the good of the country and because they had to be 10xs better or face the backlash. They would be WELL within their rights to have completely iced Trump out and not greeted them or spoke to them at all. Same as Hillary, hes still calling her a criminal and putting her life in danger from trump freaks who want to mail bombs or plot to kill her.

The man lead a racist birther campaign against Obama for years. Michelle talks about the effect on her in her book and how she will never forgive him for putting her family in danger with the lies and racism. But she shook that bastards hand because she knows she would be labeled an angry black woman. Or ungracious, or undignified. Obama greeted that ******* racist and had to sit next to him the whole time like he isn't the orange spawn of satan.

I was angry for them even though they tried to keep it classy and do what's right for the country and show that we can all get along

The Obamas were in a classic no-win situation with the eyes of the nation, if not the world upon them, and they knew it. Freeze out Trump and white America goes ballistic while Faux News rages 24/7 for a week about what they did. Meanwhile, I’m sure blacks were furious that Barack and Michelle kowtowed and showed deference to a pitiful excuse of a white man who made it his mission to demean and debase them at every turn. The Obamas knew they were damned if they did and damned if they didn’t, so they chose the path of least resistance so it wouldn’t be all about them at the funeral of a president, and I commend them for their choice, though, as a black man, I wasn’t all that thrilled.

[BeastieRunner]

Team Mueller Update Part 1:

Federal prosecutors in New York call for ‘substantial term’ in prison for Trump’s ex-lawyer Michael Cohen.

Federal prosecutors recommend ‘substantial’ prison term for former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.

“He seeks extraordinary leniency — a sentence of no jail time — based principally on his rose-colored view of the seriousness of the crimes; his claims to a sympathetic personal history; and his provision of certain information to law enforcement,” prosecutors wrote in their filing. “But the crimes committed by Cohen were more serious than his submission allows and were marked by a pattern of deception that permeated his professional life.”

“To be clear: Cohen does not have a cooperation agreement and is not receiving a Section 5K1.1 letter either from this Office or (special counsel Robert S. Mueller III), and therefore is not properly described as a ‘cooperating witness,’ as that term is commonly used in this district.”

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Cohen is getting the Manafort deal. This appears to be related to obstruction and Trump U, not Russia.

Is Trump going to get nailed coming and going?

[BeastieRunner]

Team Mueller Update #2:

Giuliani says Mueller has accused Manafort of lying about Trump.

"Giuliani said he is not sure this information will show up in the special counsel's Friday filing.

According to Giuliani, investigators told Manafort they don't believe that the President did not know about the 2016 Trump Tower meeting that Manafort attended with Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner and a Russian attorney who had promised dirt on Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Giuliani, who received this information from Manafort's attorneys, accused Mueller's team of crossing the line by trying to force Manafort to say Trump knew about the meeting.

"They repeated that conduct over and over and over again which gives us a clear indication of what they want him to say in order to get him out of solitary confinement. I find that abominable," said Giuliani."

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Last I checked, sharing info can be consideration for disbarment and possible extra charges.

Mueller poised to reveal new details on Russia probe in Manafort, Cohen filings.

The big takeway is that Cohen is demonstrating motive and means for obstruction by 45.

The Mueller investigation has been a series of drips. It’s about to turn into a flood.

Comey's transcript is out soon, and the Manafort update is underway. The spigots are about to open.

‘Everything here is complicated’: Trump Tower Moscow’s deeper problem.

Trump dumped all his money in Russia and the final word from Russia was ... no, you cannot build here. So not only did he sell the US out, he bankrupted his fortune.

[BeastieRunner]

Team Mueller Update #3:

Paul Manafort: Special counsel Robert Mueller keeps secret the lies that doomed plea deal.

Mueller says Manafort told ‘discernible lies,’ including about contacts with employee alleged to have Russian intelligence ties.

Mueller filed under seal, so all the information appears to be critical to the next phase.

The judge agreed and it appears has bound Manafort already but he gets to dispute on Wednesday.

Cohen lawyer declines to comment.

"Mueller’s prosecutors say the information from Cohen pertained to his contacts with people “connected” to the Trump White House during 2017 and 2018. The contacts are being disclosed as Mueller investigates not only Russian election interference but whether Trump tried to obstruct the investigation."

[Darkspellmaster]

The problem is that Congress, just like many companies, basically uses internships as an easy source of free labor. Any experience or connections the interns might gain out of the arrangement are purely incidental, and not particularly special compared to what they would get out of working a normal paid job instead, so it's hardly an excuse for not compensating them properly for their necessary and valuable labor.

Agreed on this. I think interns at least should be paid minimum wage. Unless there is a deal directly with the college to get them credits for a course where they can get something out of the deal then they should be paid for their work and compensated for what they are doing for the company that they are working for.