Nunes doesn’t deny leaking private text messages to Fox News, but blames press for reporting it
“I’m not sure if this coverage could possibly get more absurd.”
On Thursday, the New York Times reported that House Intelligence Committee chair Devin Nunes (R-CA) leaked Senate Intelligence Committee ranking member Mark Warner’s (D-VA) confidential text messages to Fox News as part of his ongoing effort to discredit the ongoing investigations of the the rich asshole campaign for possible collusion with Russia.
“The Senate Intelligence Committee has concluded that Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee were behind the leak of private text messages between the Senate panel’s top Democrat and a Russian-connected lawyer, according to two congressional officials briefed on the matter,” the Times reports. “Senator Richard M. Burr of North Carolina, the committee’s Republican chairman, and Senator Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat, were so perturbed by the leak that they demanded a rare meeting with Speaker Paul D. Ryan last month to inform him of their findings. They used the meeting with Mr. Ryan to raise broader concerns about the direction of the House Intelligence Committee under its chairman, Representative Devin Nunes of California, the officials said.”
In a statement provided to the Times, Nunes’ camp didn’t deny leaking the texts to Fox News. Instead, Nunes spokesman Jack Langer attacked the Times for writing about it in the first place.
“The New York Times, a prominent purveyor of leaks, is highlighting anonymous sources leaking information that accuses Republicans of leaking information,” he said. “I’m not sure if this coverage could possibly get more absurd.”
Nunes’ default response to criticism of the misleading intelligence memo he worked with President the rich asshole to release last month over the objections of the intelligence community has been to attack the press.
On @foxandfriends, @DevinNunes accused Dems of "framing" Carter Page & using him to "spy."
"Why is it now that Carter Page -- who had a warrant on him for a year from a secret court -- why is he running around free going on Comedy Central now? This is somebody that they framed." pic.twitter.com/uLxoW57jHN
.@DevinNunes unloads on the media:
"The 1 thing that's clear in this whole Russia fiasco is that the media's dead...So when they attack ppl like me, it actually means I'm over the target because they have to attack me in order to please their masters, their billionaire masters" pic.twitter.com/Hl1ZqIbJIj
That Nunes would leak Warner’s confidential text messages is ironic, given that he spent much of 2017 running interference for the rich asshole by publicly claiming his campaign officials had their privacy violated when their names appeared in intelligence reports. His handling of classified information with respect to the “unmasking” scandal he tried to gin up in tandem with the White House was investigated by the House Intelligence Committee, which cleared him of wrongdoing in December.
While Nunes’ leak bothered Republican Sen. Richard Burr (NC), chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, House Speaker Ryan seems disinterested.
“In his meeting with the senators, Mr. Ryan made clear that he heard their complaints but noted that he did not run the committee himself,” the Times reports.
On Twitter, the rich asshole used Fox News’ story about Warner’s texts to try and discredit him.
But Burr and Senate Intelligence Committee member Marco Rubio (R-FL) both downplayed the significance of the leak and denied it had any impact on their committee’s investigation.
REVEALED: Mueller seeking charges against Russians who hacked and leaked DNC’s emails in 2016
Special counsel and former FBI director Bob Mueller (image via screengrab).
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Special counsel Robert Mueller is looking into means to charge the Russian hackers who hacked and leaked emails sent among high-ranking officials in the Democratic National Committee in 2016.
NBC News reported Thursday that if the indictment or indictments come down, it’s likely to reveal more information about who was behind that portion of Russia’s electoral interference — and how, if at all, they communicated with some rich asshole’s campaign.
NBC spoke to current and former government officials familiar with the case Mueller is assembling, many of whom agreed that his case is likely to rely on information gathered from American intelligence agencies such as the CIA and NSA.
Though “it is unlikely that the United States would be able to extradite alleged Russian hackers or their paymasters,” a government official NBC spoke to noted that “an indictment would ‘send a signal’ both to Russia and to any Americans who may have participated.”
NBC News previously reported that “U.S. intelligence agencies have evidence Putin was closely involved [in the DNC hack], but sources say the intelligence underlying that conclusion is extremely sensitive.”
Last month, Mueller indicted 13 Russian individuals and three groups for interfering in the 2016 election.
Steve Mnuchin tries to hide video of children embarrassing him
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the rich asshole's treasury chief got owned by a sixth-grader.
the rich asshole Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has blocked the release of video from a public event where he was grilled by a sixth-grader and repeatedly heckled by the crowd at the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations.
During a 45-min lecture with audience questions, a sixth-grade boy earned cheers from the crowd when he asked Mnuchin about the rich asshole tax scam.
“You helped cut taxes for the wealthy, which makes them even richer,” the boy said, pointing out the immense cost of those tax cuts, and the millions who will lose health insurance.
“How can you live with this?” he asked.
The audience hissed Mnuchin when he tried to blow off the question with talking points about “middle class tax cuts.”
Mnuchin responded to the embarrassing spectacle by retracting his permission to share official video of the event from the Burkle Center. Audio of the talk was made available by another website, but the only video available is whatever was shot by those in attendance.
Steve Mnuchin has been the subject of several high-profile embarrassments, including lying abou thaving performed an analysis of the very tax scam that the young man asked about.
Unfortunately, the rich asshole administration reflex to cover up served Mnuchin poorly. The videos got out anyway, and his attempt to block it just exposed his own pettiness and embarrassment.
the rich asshole tries to kill bad headlines with erratic tariff announcement
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the rich asshole announced a major policy shift that caused international ripples, including a rebuke from a top U.S. ally, while trying to get rid of bad headlines about his failing administration.
Faced with a pile-up of headlines that embarrassed him around the world, the rich asshole made an out-of-nowhere announcement about his intention to introduce tariffs on various materials.
The self-described “very stable genius” once again threw the world into a state of chaos.
In the official White House schedule sent out to the press detailing his plans, there had been no mention of a tariff announcement. But the rich asshole commandeered reporters and told them he wanted to put tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum.
The decision was so unexpected that nobody told his fellow Republicans on Capitol Hill it was coming. Traditionally presidents advise their own party, and sometimes even the opposition party, when they plan to impact the global economy in such a major way.
The hastily arranged statement came just hours after communications director Hope Hicks revealed she would be the latest in a long line of senior White House staffers to leave, which followed Hicks confession in front of a Congressional panel that she has told “white lies” on the rich asshole’s behalf.
Other recent bad news for the rich asshole included the decision to strip the rich asshole’s son-in-law Jared Kushner of his security clearance, and strong criticism regarding his response to the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High.
Things haven’t been going well, and the tariff announcement has simply added to the chaos.
Axios noted that the decision was made in the midst of a “complete breakdown in White House process,” with the rich asshole overruling those in his administration who oppose tariffs.
Asked about the decision in the White House press briefing, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was tight-lipped, and would only indicate that details about the tariffs will be announced in the future.
Such tariffs would have a major impact on billions of dollars’ worth of trade.
The Dow Jones average dropped almost 600 points as the news was released. The S&P 500 dropped 1.1 percent as well.
Timothy Fiore, chairman of the Institute for Supply Management’s factory survey committee called the announcement a “big, big mistake,” adding, “It is going to add so much disruption and cost here.”
The decision could spark a trade war between the United States and other nations, like China. the rich asshole is classifying the tariffs as a national security issue, which prompted backlash from Canada.
Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s minister of foreign affairs, slammed the announcement and said it was ” entirely inappropriate to view any trade with Canada as a national security threat.”
Republicans have historically espoused the conservative line against tariffs (though Republican presidents have used them), and senators like Ben Sasse (R-NE), Pat Roberts (R-KS), and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) slammed the frenzied announcement.
The multiple controversies plaguing the rich asshole aren’t going away. But his decision to throw international and financial policy into the maelstrom is another erratic move designed to make his life easier.
Instead, the world is reacting negatively, and he is still stuck in a mess of his own making.
BUSTED: Kushner’s family business is facing $1.2 billion dollars in debt
Jared Kushner holds a news conference on government efficiency (Screen cap).
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Kushner Companies, the family real estate business White House senior adviser Jared Kushner may or may not have relinquished control of when he joined the the rich asshole administration, is facing a $1.2 billion debt payment due in 2019.
The Washington Post on Thursday reported the large debt, and drew connections between it and reported White House meetings between Kushner and investors who later gave Kushner Cos. hundreds of millions of dollars in loans.
Earlier this week, the Post revealed that at least four foreign countries considered Kushner easy to manipulate due to his debt. His security clearance was also downgraded from “top secret” to “secret” earlier this week as well, due primarily to his inability to pass background checks after renewing his clearance applications dozens of times to include foreign contacts.
the rich asshole official: Undocumented immigrants have no right to abortion
ORR director Scott Lloyd once suggested "reversing" a teenager's abortion.
A leading the rich asshole administration official in charge of key immigration and refugee decisions has said he does not believe undocumented immigrants have a constitutional right to abortion.
In a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the organization argues Scott Lloyd, the director of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), denied seven abortion requests between March and late December 2017. Lloyd, who oversees the care of undocumented minors in the United States, argued in a December deposition that those same minors had “no constitutional right to abortion” due to their immigration status.
Rather than comply with requests for abortions, Lloyd told ACLU attorney Brigitte Amiri that under his direction, ORR sends the teenagers to shelters encouraged by Lloyd to provide “life-affirming” counseling.
“Life-affirming options counseling does not exclude information about life-negating options,” Lloyd said when prompted by Amiri. “It just affirms the life options … the ones that involve or don’t involve the destruction of life.”
Lloyd also said he personally believes abortion is the “destruction of life” but argued that he was capable of maintaining objectivity in how he handled interactions with undocumented young people seeking abortions.
But the ACLU feels differently. Over the last few months, the organization represented four young undocumented immigrants in Lloyd’s care who requested abortions. All were initially denied and faced a steep uphill battle in their efforts to obtain the procedure, which is legal and constitutionally-protected. They were all ultimately granted abortions — but only after the organization pursued legal action.
In a statement published by the ACLU in October, one of the minors (referred to as Jane Doe) criticized the government over the response her request sparked.
“While the government provides for most of my needs at the shelter, they have not allowed me to leave to get an abortion,” she wrote. “Instead, they made me see a doctor that tried to convince me not to abort and to look at sonograms. People I don’t even know are trying to make me change my mind.”
Lloyd has played an active role in that response. The director suggested “a few good families” to one teenager, who might give her a home throughout her pregnancy. To another, who sought an abortion following rape, Lloyd argued both abortion and rape were similar forms of “violence.” Lloyd previously worked with the anti-abortion group Knights of Columbus — the world’s largest Catholic fraternal service organization — and has expressed strident anti-choice sentiments on numerous occasions prior to taking his current position with ORR. Since taking the job, Lloyd has not approved a single abortion request.
That’s not all. According to a January report from Vice, Lloyd reportedly discussed using a scientifically unproven, deeply controversial procedure to “reverse” an abortion obtained by one teenager, via the hormone progesterone. The minor ended her pregnancy by taking two abortion medication pills, observing a required waiting period of 24 to 48 hours between doses.
There is no indication that the teenager was forced to take progesterone, but officials did delay her efforts to take the second pill, a revelation published in an ACLU deposition. According to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), progesterone “can cause significant cardiovascular, nervous system and endocrine adverse reactions as well as other side effects,”
Attorneys have expressed concern about Lloyd’s comments, history, and leanings.
“I think it’s deeply troubling that a government appointee, who has sworn to uphold the constitution, thinks that the constitution doesn’t apply to the marginalized population he’s supposed to be in charge of protecting,” Amiri, the ACLU attorney, told BuzzFeed on Wednesday night.
The Department of Justice is notably arguing a point different from Lloyd, whose comments indicate he believes undocumented immigrants are not protected by the constitution. DOJ officials, by contrast, have said that because the teenagers are free to go back to their home countries or locate a sponsor able to assist with the procedure, the government should not have to facilitate abortions for undocumented minors.
But Lloyd’s views are largely in keeping with the rich asshole administration more broadly. The White House has revived the “global gag rule” restricting international funding for abortions and Vice President Mike Pence argued on Tuesday that abortion will end “in our time.” the rich asshole has also cracked down on immigration of all forms, with an emphasis on undocumented immigrants. The president has targeted sanctuary cities, ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, and pushed for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.
“There’s no coincidence that the rich asshole administration is so anti-immigrant, so anti-abortion,” Amiri said. “Picking on unaccompanied immigrant minors is the confluence of two issues that we know that the rich asshole administration has targeted.”
It is unclear how many young people in the care of ORR may be in need of an abortion. The ACLU’s deposition indicates that every request will be personally reviewed by Lloyd.
the rich asshole’s failed voter fraud ‘czar’ Kobach plans on having a hate group member testify on his behalf in court
some rich asshole and Kris Kobach (Screengrab)
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Next week, Kansas Secretary of State and erstwhile head of the rich asshole administration’s failed “electoral integrity” commission Kris Kobach will go to federal court to defend his state’s extreme voter ID law. He plans on bringing with him a team of “experts,” many of whom propose voter fraud conspiracy theories — and one of whom is a member of a known hate group.
Talking Points Memo on Thursday published a rundown of Kobach’s star witnesses, which includes Steve Camarota, the research director for the hard-right Center for Immigration Studies that has been categorized by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group for their “constant stream of fear-mongering misinformation about Latino immigrants.” One of their founders, John Talton, is a known eugenicist who believes the U.S. must retain its “European-American majority” to thrive.
During Kobach’s trial, Camerota will not be testifying about immigration at all. Instead, court documents show he’ll be there to prove “no evidence that the proof of citizenship requirement adversely impacts the registration or participation rates of U.S. citizens in Kansas.”
Among the other experts Kobach assembled is Hans von Spakovsky, another member of the failed election integrity commission who once emailed Attorney General Jeff Sessions saying Democrats and “mainstream Republican officials” should not be allowed to serve on it. He also tapped Old Dominion University professor Jesse Richmon, who wrote a Washington Post editorial claiming undocumented immigrants swung the vote for Barack Obama in North Carolina in 2008 that resulted in three rebuttals in the Post alone.
Fearful White House is already prepping for H.R. McMaster’s exit as early as next month
General H.R. McMaster (Photo: Screen capture)
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President some rich asshole has been miffed at Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster as of late and the presumption is that the national security advisor is on his way out.
The White House is already preparing for his replacement. According to NBC News, five sources confirm the decision is being orchestrated by chief of staff John Kelly and Defense Secretary James Mattis.
the rich asshole is reportedly considering auto industry executive Stephen Biegun as the replacement. He currently serves as the vice president of international governmental affairs for Ford and served on the NSC from 2001 to 2003 and worked under Condoleezza Rice.
Friends close to Biegun said that he would likely need several weeks to divest in assets that would prove to be a conflict of interest.
However, in a statement, Ford’s spokesperson Christin Baker said, “Steve has no plans to leave Ford.”
Despite the rich asshole bragging about “my generals,” McMaster was never in the rich asshole’s inner circle. Staff shake-ups and the president’s questions about his decisions or views have drawn the ire of the rich asshole.
During a forum, McMaster admitted that Russian meddling in the election was “incontrovertible.” The president was furious and took to Twitter.
“General McMaster forgot to say that the results of the 2016 election were not impacted or changed by the Russians and that the only Collusion was between Russia and Crooked H, the DNC and the Dems,” the rich asshole wrote on Twitter.
White House staffers are scrambling to find ‘a way out’ of the rich asshole admin — but nobody wants to hire them
President some rich asshole during a White House meeting. Image via screengrab.
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The atmosphere inside President some rich asshole’s White House is darker than ever — and many staffers are trying to finagle exit plans amid a job market that doesn’t want them.
Sources that spoke to BuzzFeed News claim “many mid- and low-level staffers are anxious to leave and are actively looking for jobs elsewhere,” and viewed the abrupt resignation of White House communications director Hope Hicks as a “tipping point.”
But one former the rich asshole administration official said the job market for ex-White House staffers just isn’t what it used to be.
“I’ve talked to several people in the last week trying to find a way out, but they can’t get out because no one is really hiring people with the rich asshole White House experience,” the source told BuzzFeed. “Not a fun time to say the least.”
He also admitted that “things are still pretty bleak” inside the administration that’s been wracked with even more scandal than usual.
Another source close to the White House said he’s spoken to people still within the administration about finding jobs on the outside.
“The White House has lost Hope,” the source told BuzzFeed, making a pun about Hicks’ departure. “That about says it all, right?”
The number three Senate Republican, meanwhile, responded to the rich asshole’s series of bizarre comments on over the past few days about guns and tariffs by calling them “wild.” On Wednesday, the rich asshole stunned Democrats and Republicans alike by saying he would like to see police “take the guns first, go through due process second” to prevent mass shootings, and followed the strange remark up on Thursday by announcing he plans to impose tariffs on aluminum and steel.
“You saw it, right? It was wild,” Sen. John Thune (R-SD) said. “I just I think the president’s going to have to narrow his list of issues that he would like to see addressed and figure out … what’s realistic.”
the rich asshole says executing drug dealers could help solve the opioid crisis during rant at White House summit
President some rich asshole addressed the nation following the Florida school shooting. (AFP / Mandel NGAN)
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President some rich asshole on Thursday noted that some countries have harsh penalties for dealing illegal drugs during remarks he made at a White House summit on the opioid crisis.
He suggested that punishing drug dealers with the death penalty reduced crime.
“These people can kill 2,000, 3,000 people, and nothing happens to them,” the rich asshole complained.
“Some countries have a very, very tough penalty — the ultimate penalty. And by the way, they have much less of a drug problem than we do,” he said.
Watch video below:
Ex-US attorney rips the rich asshole’s ‘abject humiliation’ of Sessions: He sees the attorney general as ‘his personal lapdog’
Attorney General Jeff Sessions and President some rich asshole.
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Harry Litman, a former U.S. attorney and deputy assistant attorney general, slammed some rich asshole’s relentless attacks on Jeff Sessions, calling it “despicable” that the president views the attorney general of the United States as “his personal lapdog.”
“How sad is it the president uses him as a punching bag when he was one of the earliest supporters, he was the first senator to climb onto some rich asshole’s campaign when nobody else would touch him?” MSNBC’s Katy Tur asked on Thursday. “He’s been there for the president, he’s traveled with the president, and because he can’t oversee the [special counsel Robert] Mueller investigation or, in some rich asshole’s words, ‘protect him,’ … Because of that, he’s going to keep getting beat up by the president.”
“Can you imagine?” Litman replied. “Look, it’s despicable on many levels. On the personal level—he’s one of the earliest, most loyal supporters, and he’s being savaged. And savaged by tweet, not personal conversation, which is totally schmucky of the president. It’s despicable at the management level, but it’s really despicable, this recurrent theme that the president of the United States views the nation’s chief law enforcement officer as his personal lapdog and the sort of pit bull to go after the rest of the body politic.”
“I think it’s got to be humiliating for Sessions,” Litman continued. “…the rich asshole actually savaged him to the point of tears last year, and this is not any fun at all, this abject humiliation that the rich asshole is subjecting him to.”
Sarah Sanders struggles at briefing amid turmoil: the rich asshole has no plans to fire Jeff Sessions ‘that I know of’
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Screenshot)
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White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders on Thursday struggled to assure Americans that the White House was operating normally after several days of chaotic news stories, including the resignation of Communications Director Hope Hicks and scrutiny of President some rich asshole’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.
At Thursday’s White House briefing, reporters pelted Sanders with questions about Hicks’ abrupt resignation, Kushner’s legal jeopardy and his ability job without a security clearance, the rich asshole’s inexperience with gun legislation, the increasing pressure created by the special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, the president’s decision to announce tariffs on goods from foreign countries and his attacks on Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
“Jared is still a valued member of the administration and he’s going to continue to focus,” Sanders said of Kushner before moving on.
“The president’s made his frustrations very clear,” Sanders quipped in response to a question about Sessions. “I don’t have anything else to add.”
The press secretary also said that the rich asshole had no intention of firing Sessions “that I know of.”
On guns, Sanders said that the rich asshole had intention to apologize to Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) over gun safety proposals.
“I don’t know that the president would or should apologize — and certainly not to Sen. Sasse,” she insisted.
Watch the video below from CNN.
Watch this Fox contributor freak out as the rich asshole sends the Dow plunging with steep new tariffs
Jonathan Hoenig (Screenshot)
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President some rich asshole unilaterally on Thursday announced extraordinarily steep tariffs on aluminum and steel, causing the markets to tumble. The DOW is currently down about 500 points, the German Steel Association is angered, saying the move violates World Trade Organization rules, and one Fox Business News analyst is freaking out.
Conservative “Capitalist Pig” hedge fund manager Jonathan Hoenig unleashed a rant on the financial news network, attacking the President and the GOP for having no idea what trade is. At the time of Hoenig’s freak out, the DOW was down “only” close to 300 points.
.@JonathanHoenig: "Forget that whole idea of 'drain the swamp, get rid of cronyism.' That's exactly what the president did. He's charging you and I more to buy farm equipment, a can of soda, a car, to help these favor industries. That's not what America is about."
“The president, and I guess now the Republicans, they don’t even understand what trade is,” Hoenig screamed. “Trade is win-win. That’s why we do it, and Americans have benefitted tremendously from their trade with China – I mean, look around your house.”
“This is just cronyism, the idea that the president has to protect steel, protect this group or that group,” he continued to rant.
“Forget that whole idea of ‘drain the swamp,’ get rid of cronyism,” Hoenig pleaded. “That’s exactly what the president did. He’s charging you and I more to buy farm equipment, a can of soda, a car, to help these favor industries. That’s not what America is about.”
The Dow drops more than 500 points after Trump's tariffs announcement sets off fears of a trade war cnnmon.ie/2HWzjrg
Putin speech was less about Russian weapons and more about how his puppet the rich asshole responds
Putin may be testing out aggressive messaging to see how President the rich asshole responds.
Speaking before Russia’s March 18 election — which he’s widely expected to win — President Vladimir Putin on Thursday unveiled a number of new nuclear weapons, a nuclear warhead that could fit onto a cruise missile, including underwater nuclear drones, supersonic weapons, and laser weapons.
In a speech that could be straight out of a Cold War-era movie, Putin said Russia’s new weapons were unstoppable, and said that the West needs “to take account of a new reality and understand that everything I have said today is not a bluff.”
“Unfriendly steps towards Russia such as the deployment of the (U.S.) anti-missile system and of NATO infrastructure nearer our borders and such like, from a military point of view, will become ineffective,” he said, adding that the use of any nuclear force against Russia or its allies would be met with an “immediate response.”
“The Russian Federation can already destroy the United States any time it feels like it.” — Thomas Nichols, professor of national security affairs, U.S. Naval War College
President some rich asshole has yet to respond to Putin’s speech, although, in his National Security Strategy, he said Russia (and China) “challenge American power, influence, and interests, attempting to erode American security and prosperity.”
Yuval Weber, a fellow at Daniel Morgan Graduate School and a global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center, said that the speech was meant to rally domestic support as well as test the U.S. response.
“Americans don’t really consume a lot of foreign news, but Russians consume a lot of American news. So part of making these boasts is to get coverage in the West and show that they’re being taken seriously — that’s the communications message,” said Weber.
The Russians have long claimed that they needed to upgrade their nuclear capabilities after the United States exited the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002,and in his speech, Putin said the United States would not speak to Russia about that in 2004.
“So listen to us now,” he said, clearly addressing the United States.
Putin might also be responding to what Weber describes as “bold” and “aggressive” rhetoric and documents (such as the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review) that have moved Russia into “a pretty negative space.”
But the rich asshole, said Weber, has a different kind of relationship with Russia — one that sees things from the Russian perspective. This counters the military establishment’s view.
“That’s why the gap between the president and the national security community has grown over the past year; they see a threat from Russia — as evidenced in the various strategy documents produced over the past year — and it’s not clear at all whether the rich asshole shares their views or can explain why he doesn’t.”
This gap is what Putin is trying to test – if the rich asshole ignores it, the Russian military establishment will then figure that its efforts are for domestic consumption.
“That’s what they’re trying to figure out: Whether the rich asshole actually cares about the threat of new nuclear weapons coming from Russia,” said Weber.
Calling Putin “a Soviet nostalgist,” Thomas Nichols, professor of national security affairs at the U.S. Naval War College (who emphasized that he was speaking in a personal capacity) said that parts of the speech might have been intended for the rich asshole, “who really doesn’t have a very good grasp on any of this stuff.”
But there’s no threat of a renewed arms race with Russia.
“Although the rich asshole is easily fascinated by these symbols of power … we do not live in a monarchy. The president cannot storm down the hall and say, ‘Build me a nuclear-powered cruise missile,'” said Nichols.
But just how real are these weapons, which were not actually shown in Putin’s video presentation? (The bulk of the visuals were computer generated images, or CGIs.) And to what extent do they represent a new threat to the United States?
“I think it’s silly. I think it’s bluster,” said Nichols. “The Russian Federation can already destroy the United States any time it feels like it,” he added, explaining that Russia can launch a nuclear submarine within minutes and take out Washington, D.C.
“This is like a speech right out of the late 1970s, extolling the achievements of nuclear science,” he told ThinkProgress. The CGI used in the presentation, he said, is “vintage 1980s stuff … that terrain-following stuff. This is what cruise missiles do. That’s a 35-year-old technology.”
“They’ve been talking about a cruise missile or a missile-defense-evading missile for like 15 years. So from a strategic point of view, to put a nuclear source of power in a cruise missile is like trying to put a nuclear source of power in a bomber — it doesn’t make any sense. It’s not going to fly that much faster … it’ll still take hours to get where it’s going,” said Nichols.
He added that the United States does not have a functioning ballistic missile shieldand is unlikely to have one at any point during Putin’s lifetime, “if ever.”
The other weapons unveiled by Putin, such as underwater nuclear drones, leave Nichols baffled and amused. The only new “threat” he sees articulated in Putin’s speech is to the Russian budget, as developing and testing these weapons — which seem superfluous given present Russian capabilites — would be a massive expenditure.
“If they’re actually trying to build these things, best of luck,” he said.
Report: the rich asshole’s immigration policies harm mental health of Latinx, regardless of residency status
“The fear and uncertainty is spreading far beyond those who are officially targeted.”
The the rich asshole administration has consistently argued its policies target criminal, undocumented immigrants but it is becoming increasingly obvious this untrue — the most recent examples are the president’s numerous attacks on humanitarian immigration. These regressive policies aren’t without consequence, and jeopardize the health and well-being of immigrants and U.S. citizens.
A new report published Thursday in the Journal of Adolescent Health shows the president’s immigration policies in 2017 triggered serious psychological distress for many within the Latinx community, regardless of whether they were living in the United States with documentation or not. The study is one of the first looks into how last year’s immigration policies are affecting communities. Researchers met with Latinx parents for insight into the second-fastest-growing racial or ethnic group in the country.
Researchers at Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University began their work in early November 2017, two months after the the rich asshole administration announced it would end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and give Congress six months to come up with a permanent solution (there still is none). They concluded their work later that month after the rich asshole announced the end of the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) program for immigrants from Nicaragua and extended the deadline for Honduras for only six months. Researchers surveyed 213 parents mostly from Central America who live in a mid-Atlantic city suburb. More than two-thirds were living in the United States with documentation — be it as a citizen, permanent resident, or TPS beneficiary.
Latinx were asked a series of questions on how official actions and news stories thereafter affected them or their family members, and an overwhelming majority said they often or always worried about family separation. These anxieties weren’t without consequences: 40 percent said they frequently avoided getting medical care, help from the police, or public assistance like food stamps.
Immigrant communities have spoken publicly about these anxieties through the media and other research has also revealed how the rich asshole’s policies have negatively impact them. But this particular study pokes holes in the idea of the “hierarchy” of residency status, and that if immigrants follow the law, they should have nothing to worry about.
“The fear and uncertainty is spreading far beyond those who are officially targeted,” lead author Dr. Kathleen Roche, an associate professor of prevention and community health at Milken Institute, told ThinkProgress.
TPS holders researchers surveyed reported more instances of high psychological distress compared to the undocumented and permanent resident parents. Roche suspects it’s because threats to TPS are very new, whereas “undocumented immigrants are accustomed to this fear and uncertainty.”
And this community’s fears are merited. Almost all TPS holders researchers spoke with lived in the United States for more than 15 years, and 60 percent said a family member had been detained or deported since the rich asshole took office in 2017. For comparison, less than a quarter of undocumented, permanent resident, and U.S. citizen parents reported a family member’s recent deportation or detention. This finding shows a pronounced vulnerability for this immigrant community, many of whom came to the United States to flee violence.
“In this way, our findings do not support the idea of ‘hierarchy’ of residency status but rather point to the uniquely protective value of having US citizenship,” the report says.
Congress hasn’t been able to agree on immigration legislation, and the rich asshole’s March 5 deadline for a solution on the DACA program is coming up. This lack of a permanent fix has serious consequences for U.S. citizens as well — particularly children of immigrants. The majority of parents surveyed had U.S. citizen-children, but 30 percent were DACA or DACA-eligible. Media attention has focused on DACA in recent months, but the effects of the rich asshole’s policies are more widespread. Studies have shown parents who are anxious or depressed, like those surveyed this study, pass that stress onto children. These adolescents are at an elevated risk of doing poorly in school or engaging in substance use, said Roche.
“The risk on focusing on DACA so much is we’re overlooking the pernicious impacts happening on U.S. citizen, Latino children,” said Roche. “All those outcomes on young people will come at a high cost to the health and criminal systems.”
The study is not without limitations, as it relies on self-reported data. A larger sample size could help elucidate findings for TPS parents, for example, said the study’s authors.
Congressman says Comey colluded with Hillary because he wrote a letter that hurt her campaign
What wouldn't be suspicious?
During an interview on Thursday’s edition of Fox & Friends, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) suggested that former FBI director Jim Comey’s harsh treatment of Hillary Clinton in the weeks leading up to the 2016 election is evidence that he was actually in the bag for her.
“It’s hard to keep track, but a lot of people are thinking, aren’t they already looking into Hillary Clinton stuff, somebody?” host Steve Doocy asked Gohmert.
“Yes, and my understanding is that Jeff Sessions and some of the DOJ are looking into some of the Hillary Clinton stuff, perhaps on uranium one, but there is so much involving the emails,” Gohmert replied. “And, you know, okay, did Comey only come forward before the election about ‘we’re reopening Hillary’s case’ because some of the FBI agents said ‘either you come forward or we’re going to quit, and we’re going to blow the whistle on how pro-Hillary you’ve been?’ All of that needs to be investigated, and it involved DOJ and FBI — that needs a second counsel to do that.”
There is no evidence that Comey took the unusual step of publicizing the Clinton email investigation just days before the election in response to FBI pressure — a move prominent pollsters have concluded probably threw the election for the rich asshole.
The worst conspiracy of all time
Congressional Republicans have spent months trying to discredit special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the rich asshole campaign by asserting that the whole enterprise is rooted in the FBI’s alleged anti-the rich asshole bias. But their conspiracy theory doesn’t square with the facts of what happened in 2016.
While the bureau’s investigation into the rich asshole began in July 2016, the existence of it wasn’t publicly disclosed until after the rich asshole’s inauguration. On the other hand, on two separate occasions, Comey went out of his way to publicize the Clinton email investigation. Just days after he sent a letter to Congress announcing that the FBI was looking into new information it received about Clinton’s emails, the New York Times published a report sourced to “law enforcement officials” that claimed there was “no clear link” between the rich asshole and Russia — a report that looks very suspect in light of the many the rich asshole-Russia contacts that we’ve learned about since then.
When the rich asshole supporters been pushed about the major holes in their theory of the case, they haven’t had answers. As outlandish as it is, Gohmert’s new conspiracy theory — that Comey’s harsh treatment of Clinton was in fact meant to cover up the FBI’s pro-Hillary bias — represents an attempt to plug one of them.
the rich asshole’s biggest fans on the internet are freaking out about his comments on gun control
Breitbart labeled him a 'gun grabber' while The_Donald subreddit saw bans fly every which way.
President some rich asshole surprised lawmakers on both sides of the aisle on Wednesday, when he appeared to endorse the idea of expanded background checks as part of a “beautiful” comprehensive bill that would also feature age restrictions on buying certain weapons and removing guns from the hands of the mentally ill. In the bipartisan meeting, the rich asshole also accused Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) of being “afraid of the NRA.”
the rich asshole has a well-documented history of flip-flopping between Republicans and Democrats on important issues. Nonetheless, the backlash from conservatives and the National Rifle Association (NRA) to the president’s comments on gun control was swift. “Strong leaders do not automatically agree with the last thing that was said to them,” Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) said. “We’re not ditching constitutional protections simply because the last person the president talked to today doesn’t like them.” The NRA meanwhile called the proposals “bad policy that would not keep our children safe.”
But the reaction was noticeably less diplomatic on the rich asshole-friendly part of the internet. Breitbart labelled the rich asshole “The Gun Grabber” and accused him of ceding the Democrats’ “Wish List.” The article had nearly 16,000 comments, with the top-rated comment calling the gun control proposals “an outright betrayal by this president of the constitution and everyone of us who elected him to stand up for it.”
But if Breitbart commentators were outraged, it was nothing compared to r/The_Donald. The pro-the rich asshole subreddit and one of the biggest internet communities supporting the president. There, the rich asshole’s bipartisan meeting triggered a fury which The_Donald posters took out on both the president and each other. “What the actual fuck was that? That was certainly not 4D chess pedes,” one user named malikobama1 posted. “That was honestly just a terrible move. Between that an immigration my patience is truly wearing thin.”
“I really hope the rich asshole is doing this to our guns just cos he’s weak enough to falter after being paid by the Dems. This is pathetic,” wrote smurfkipz. “Does this guy even hold any values at all or just money?” Meanwhile, “FitFinanceFella” paused for a moment to wish Hope Hicks — whom he wasn’t sure whether or not lurked on The_Donald — the best of luck in her future endeavors.
The amount of anger made the moderators on r/The_Donald step in and remove a copious amount of comments from the thread, including those from longtime pro-the rich asshole posters. According to Removeddit, nearly 40 percent of the comment thread was removed by the subreddit’s moderators, while four percent was deleted.
The_Donald is an incredibly important part of the pro-the rich asshole internet ecosystem. It has nearly 600,000 subscribers, and acts as a key node between more obscure, hateful sites like 4chan’s politically incorrect board and Gab and more well-known social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. During the election, some rich asshole hosted an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on the site, and the sub-reddit mobilized on several occasions to spread pro-the rich asshole memes and comb through the hacked DNC emails.
But the site also has a penchant for conspiracy theories and threats of violence — which violates Reddit’s content policies. During a Question & Answer session last December, one user linked 45 different examples of violent comments on The_Donald, all less than 30 days old. They included posts like “shoot Muslims on sight,” “death to all leftists,” “Deport the dreamers, hang the politicians who support them,” and so on. But even with these examples of violence, and Reddit having to overhaul its voting system to prevent The_Donald spam, the subreddit remains active.
The_Donald posters shouldn’t worry too much though, because if the president’s recent record on immigration is anything to go by, he will again flip his position on gun control and propose a more hardline, gun-friendly policy. On September 5, for instance, the rich asshole ordered an end to the DACA program, but the next day told reporters that he wanted “a great DACA transaction where everybody is happy.” On September 13, Congressional Democrats said they’d made a deal on DACA after a dinner with the rich asshole at the White House, but the next day thepPresident tweeted that there was no deal.
To summarize, it’s perfectly possible that the rich asshole will again flip to supporting the NRA’s priorities and opposing substantive action to address gun violence, and the good folks of r/The_Donald and their “God Emperor” will be back on good terms.
Fox & Friends tells NRA spokesperson that she was real victim during event with Parkland survivors
"No one had it worse than you," host Brian Kilmeade told NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch.
On Thursday morning’s edition of Fox & Friends, host Brian Kilmeade criticized survivors of the February 14 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting who took part in a CNN gun violence town hall a week later as “emotional” and “illogical.”
During an interview with NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch, Kilmeade told her, “No one had it worse than you in that town hall where people were just so emotional, illogical — they were unconsolable [sic].”
While Kilmeade may view Loesch as the real victim, 17 people were killed during the shooting, and the town hall featured commentary and questions from survivors and family members of those who were murdered.
The crowd at the town hall made it clear that they support banning AR-15s, the weapon Nikolas Cruz legally obtained to carry out the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. But Fox & Friends‘ interview with Loesch illustrated how the NRA and prominent Republicans like President the rich asshole have since manipulated the post-Parkland discussion into one about militarizing schools and arming teachers.
“Dana, I think we’re all on board with you that the schools should be hardened,” host Steve Doocy said. “And the president has been talking about, you know, maybe we do, across the board, what they do in a number of states — and that’s arm the teachers.”
Kilmeade’s comments are not the first instance of a Fox News personality attacking Parkland survivors. On February 21, The Five host Greg Gutfeld offered some unsolicited “advice” to the students.
“You’ve got to beware of when other groups co-opt your protest,” he warned, echoing a right-wing smear campaign against the students that originated on pro-the rich asshole blogs.
‘No Fly No Buy’ bill allows politicians to evade white supremacist gun violence
The measure would not have stopped Nikolas Cruz from obtaining a gun.
Two weeks ago, a shooter entered a Parkland, Florida high school and killed 17 individuals. The shooter was identified as Nikolas Cruz, a young white man who “showed every red flag.” Not only did Cruz reportedly get expelled for bringing a knife to school, he had also joined a white supremacist group in Florida. Furthermore, the FBI received numerous tips about Cruz, but failed to act on a single one.
Cruz was just the latest white mass shooter over the past four decades. In fact, the majority of shooters between 1982 and 2016 have been white males. But, yet again, another shooting committed by a white supremacist is being treated as an inconvenient truth, and one that seems to have no bearing on the policy solutions being proposed to address mass violence in the United States. It seems that a perpetrator’s identity is only relevant if the individual is Muslim or a person of color. Muslim identity or the identity of a person of color are evidently the only ones embedded with a de facto and inherent motivation and propensity to commit acts of violence.
That reasoning is likely what prompted a bipartisan group of senators to re-introduce legislation this week that would prevent those on the Transportation Security Administration’s No Fly List from purchasing a gun, instead of addressing white supremacist violence or the calls for gun control from student victims of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
This legislation was first introduced after the Orlando shooting in 2016 and some might argue that, intuitively, it makes sense. After all, why would anyone want a “suspected terrorist” to be able to purchase a gun?
This question, however, makes two critical, and problematic, assumptions: that those on the No Fly List are on the list for legitimate suspicions, and that the No Fly List would have actually stopped shooters like Cruz.
According to a 2016 article by Wired, the watch list from which the No Fly List is derived has about 1 million names on it at this point. The FBI says this list is “one of the most effective counterterrorism tools for the US government.” But Cruz would not have been on this list because the FBI ignored tips that Cruz was dangerous — including a tip from a hotline that he had the “desire to kill people, erratic behavior and disturbing social media posts.”
Why are senators so quick to reintroduce a bill that does little to actually address gun violence? There is the fact that the bill was first introduced after the Orlando shooting — an act of mass violence perpetrated by a Muslim who was reportedly taken off the terrorist watch list. In this instance, it was deemed appropriate to utilize a counter-terrorism tactic that targets Muslims, while allowing politicians to evade the other well-known causes of violence, from toxic masculinity, to white supremacy, to histories of domestic violence — factors that were all also at play in the case of the Orlando shooter.
The second reason is because the No Fly List targets, in large part, South Asians, Arabs, and Muslims, reinforcing the notion that Muslims are the ones who commit shootings. Consider also that the list is treated as legitimate despite the fact that its inherent discrimination is well-known and that in order for someone to be placed on the list, the individual doesn’t have to be charged or convicted of a crime. In fact, the list also includes babies and the elderly, as well as countless law-abiding citizens, flagged simply for their Muslim-sounding names. In this way, using the No Fly List sends the message that the gun problem is related to Muslims and people of color — an obvious attempt to obscure the group most responsible for gun violence, white men.
Perhaps the most important reason politicians are using this tactic is to deflect attention away from their inaction and apathy — both of which have contributed to more mass shootings in the country. This point could not have been clearer than when Stoneman Douglas High School student Cameron Kasky asked Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) during a CNN town hall event if he would vow to stop taking money from the National Rifle Association (NRA). Rubio dodged the question and changed the subject to his support for anti-terrorism measures.
The leadership of survivors from Parkland and their advocacy, which has turned into a movement resulting in student walkouts across the country, should inspire all of us to do more to address the epidemic of gun violence and mass shootings. Rather than scapegoating our communities, let’s continue to support students’ demands of showing up for the March For Our Lives mobilization on the National Mall on March 24th, student organizing against gun violence, comprehensive gun reform that doesn’t scapegoat communities, and work towards ensuring that schools and community spaces are safe spaces.
Dr. Maha Hilal is co-director of Justice for Muslims Collective, an organizer with Witness Against Torture, and a council member of School of the Americas Watch. Darakshan Raja is co-director of Justice for Muslims Collective, and is a board member of South Asians Leading Together and the board of trustees for the Consumer Health Foundation.
In a shocking development, the National Rifle Association recently threw a bit of sass President Trump’s way.
The president sat in a bipartisan meeting with lawmakers to discuss gun ownership laws following the fatal shooting of 17 students and faculty at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. He reportedly made the following comment while suggesting the removal of an NRA-supported provision that would allow for permitted concealed carry weapons to cross state lines: “I like taking the guns early. … Take the guns first, go through due process second.”
JUST NOW: "I like taking the guns early," President Trump says. "Take the guns first, go through due process second."
In response, the Second Amendment nonprofit group accused the president of “punishing law-abiding gun owners” for the sake of grandstanding in a statement given to The Hill from spokesperson Jennifer Baker:
While today’s meeting made for great TV, the gun control proposals discussed would make for bad policy that would not keep our children safe. Instead of punishing law-abiding gun owners for the acts of a deranged lunatic, our leaders should pass meaningful reforms that would actually prevent future tragedies.
“Whether you love or hate firearms, we all want to send our children to safe schools and to live in safe communities,” Baker said in another statement. Still, she added, this did not necessarily mean “shifting the focus, blame or burden onto safe, law-abiding gun owners.”
Since the high school shooting, the NRA has given at least one other statement that deviated from common perceptions of the group.
After losing a number of corporate sponsorships, the NRA criticized law enforcement in a statement released earlier in the week while coming to the defense of its “law-abiding members.” The statement read, “The law-abiding members of the NRA had nothing at all to do with … the cruel failures of both federal and local law enforcement.” This was written in reference to disturbing revelations that the FBI did not act even after it was warned of the suspected shooter’s intention to cause a mass casualty incident, as well as revelations that at least four Broward County sheriff’s deputies, including the resource officer assigned to the school, did not enter to engage the shooter while the shooting was taking place.
(CNN)Nobody knew quite what to think.
After a wide-ranging, televised meeting Wednesday at the White House, Democrats walked away stunned and with some tepid optimism that something substantial could happen on guns, while Republicans appeared flummoxed.
After all, President some rich asshole had defied traditional GOP orthodoxy on an issue as essential to the Republican brand as any: guns.
And unlike earlier meetings where the rich asshole has embraced bipartisanship without any specificity, the rich asshole was explicit about what he wanted Wednesday. On camera, he'd pushed to raise the age at which an individual can purchase a rifle from 18 to 21 even after a weekend lunch with officials from the National Rifle Association, who have publicly opposed the change. the rich asshole called to expand background checks and told the House's Majority Whip Steve Scalise that a concealed carry bill would never pass attached to legislation to incentivize states to enter data into the national background checks database.
"I don't know how much clearer he could have been and the whole country can watch it," said Minnesota Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar.
Democrats argued that the rich asshole had power Democratic President Barack Obama never had: trust with the Republican base that he would not infringe on the Second Amendment.
"With President the rich asshole no one believes he will take their guns away," said West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin.
But the impact of the meeting at the White House, which stunned some within the President's own party and puzzled aides back on the Hill, was still uncertain.
"Holy s---," one Democratic Senate aide emailed as they watched the meeting unfolding.
"I don't know, man," another Democratic Senate aide said. "We'll see what happens, I guess."
the rich asshole meeting's impact on gun proposals unclear
Earlier in the day, negotiations to bring gun legislation to the floor of the Senate had broken down and there was no clear path for floor consideration of any bill, regardless of scope. But the meeting at the White House and the rich asshole's obvious and continued push to do something raised questions from aides and lawmakers as to whether the dynamic had changed -- or whether the rich asshole would simply shift away from his positions and enthusiasm for action in the days ahead, as he has multiple times in the past.
Republicans returned to Capitol Hill still a bit unsettled by what they'd heard. For days, lawmakers in the GOP had a united and concise message: if Congress were to do anything, it would be enforcing school safety and fixing the National Instant Criminal Background Checks system. There was little appetite to do more.
But the rich asshole wanted something "comprehensive." In the meeting the rich asshole called for Manchin-Toomey, legislation that had expanded background checks on internet and gun show sales, to be the base bill. As lawmakers brainstormed ideas around the table, the rich asshole encouraged many of them to be added to the background check bill.
Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, was skeptical "comprehensive" could work.
"I think that's ideal if you could do it all at once," Rubio said. "I just don't think it's likely to pass knowing this place."
Sen. John Cornyn, the Senate's whip who had been seated next to the rich asshole during the meeting described the meeting as "fascinating television" and "surreal."
"My takeaway is that we like to start with background checks and build from there and see where we can get consensus," Cornyn said. "And to be the most obvious place to start is the Fix NICs bill that has 46 co-sponsors."
He added that rolling multiple gun bills into one was "easier said than done."
Many Republicans remarked that they'd seen the rich asshole call for comprehensive, bipartisan legislation in the past in televised White House meetings that never materialized. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, warned that the rich asshole would need to follow through this time or risk hurting his reputation.
"If we don't do it this time, then this will get old." Graham said, "If the President has another one of these sessions and he doesn't follow through -- it's going to hurt him. It's going to hurt the Republican Party."
Graham had been a part of similar on-camera meeting last month, that one dedicated to finding a solution on immigration, another issue on which lawmakers haven't been able to find a deal.
"I've seen this movie before" Graham added. "If it ends up like immigration he's done himself a lot of harm. If we can actually deliver, he's done himself and the country a lot of good."
Stronger Republican reaction
Republicans also offered some strong rebukes to a few of the rich asshole's comments.
Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Republican from Alaska, warned there were several Republicans with concerns about raising the age individuals could buy rifles from 18 to 21.
"I'm probably not the only senator in the US Senate who isn't supportive of that. But again, it's not like we're not trying to be constructive but you know I have 16-year-old Alaskans who go out and hunt and they do it seriously. ... We're very, very different from Connecticut and other places," Sullivan said.
Others were worried that during the meeting that the rich asshole said he wanted individuals who were identified as potentially dangerous to have their guns taken from them before they went to court.
"Strong leaders don't automatically agree with the last thing that was said to them. We have the Second Amendment and due process of law for a reason," Ben Sasse, a Republican senator from Nebraska, said in a statement. "We're not ditching any Constitutional protections simply because the last person the President talked to today doesn't like them."
David Choi 03-01-2018
President some rich asshole speaks to Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California.CNN
- President some rich asshole held a meeting on gun control with lawmakers at the White House on Wednesday.
- the rich asshole approved of many suggestions from Democratic lawmakers.
- Some Republicans felt shafted by his remarks.
When President some rich asshole appeared to chastise Republicans lawmakers and applaud Democrats during an informal meeting with a group of Congress members at the White House on Wednesday, they seemed to have a hard time containing their emotions.
During the meeting, Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota suggested inserting an addendum on domestic violence to a new bill on background checks.
"So if you can add that to this bill, that would be great," the rich asshole said about Klobuchar's suggestion, before turning to Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California. "Dianne, if you can add what you have also, and I think you can, into the bill."
Feinstein cracked a smile and appeared to be gleeful about the suggestion:
"Joe, are you ready," Feinstein quipped to Sen. Joe Manchin, the Democrat from West Virginia.
"Can you do that," the rich asshole asked. "Joe, can you do that?"
Klobuchar continued discussing another domestic-violence bill when the rich asshole interjected.
"I would say this, we're gonna get it passed," the rich asshole said. "If you could add 'domestic violence' paragraphs, pages into this bill, I'm all for it. I think it's terrific if you can do it."
As the rich asshole spoke, Klobuchar took a sip of water as she shot an approving glance to a colleague:
And while the rich asshole continued to green-light suggestions from Democrats, he appeared to temporarily pass over some Republicans, including Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, the second-ranking GOP senator:
During the freewheeling meeting, the rich asshole made several statements that appeared to worry Republican lawmakers, including telling Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania that he might be "afraid of the NRA," referring to the National Rifle Association, an influential gun-rights organization.
"I like taking the guns early," the rich asshole said at the meeting. "Take the guns first, go through due process second."
Lawmakers have since railed against the rich asshole's remarks and said they disagreed with some of his ideas.
"Strong leaders don't automatically agree with the last thing that was said to them," Republican Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska said in a statement.
"We have the Second Amendment and due process of law for a reason. We're not ditching any Constitutional protections simply because the last person the President talked to today doesn't like them," Sasse said.
Meghan McCain tries to corner House intel Dem about the rich asshole-Russia ‘overhype’ — and it backfires spectacularly
Rep. Adam Schiff (R-CA) and The View's Meghan McCain (Screengrab / ABC)
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“The View” co-host Meghan McCain on Thursday tried to corner House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) on what she described as Russia “overhype.” Instead, she got a lesson on the “damning” evidence of the rich asshole campaign collusion—and Congress’ duty to inform the public about Russian interference.
“Hi Congressman, I think at this point in time it’s really difficult for me and many Americans to differentiate between what’s overhype and what isn’t,” McCain began. “You have said on more than one occasion that you’ve seen ample evidence of the rich asshole campaign’s Russia collusion. Last month, you said you had more than circumstantial evidence of treasonous collusion with Russia.”
“What specifically were you referring to and please be specific, because if it’s true I do believe Americans have a right to know, a year later, what that is,” McCain pressed.
“Well I certainly said there was ample evidence of collusion, I’ve never used the word ‘treason,’ only Steve Bannon has used that word,” Schiff shot back. “But, if you look at the facts that are in the public domain, they’re pretty damning.”
Schiff listed onetime the rich asshole foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, who was “told back in April of last year that the Russians had stolen Clinton and DNC emails.”
“It was only weeks later that the Russians made a second approach,” Schiff continued, turning to the June 2016 meeting at the rich asshole Tower between top members of the rich asshole campaign and a Russia lawyer who “wanted to offer incriminating information on Hillary Clinton.”
“Is it enough for [special counsel Robert] Mueller to bring charges?” McCain demanded.
“What’s Mueller’s job and what’s our job?” Schiff replied. “Bob Mueller will make the decision whether there is proof beyond a reasonable doubt to indict and convict people. It is not his responsibility to tell the country what happened. There’s no guarantee the country will ever learn what Bob Mueller finds apart from an indictment.”
“It’s the job for the Congress to tell the American people what happened,” he added.
Watch below:
CPAC chief doubles down on racial comments about Michael Steele in combative MSNBC interview
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The head of the Conservative Political Action Conference on Thursday doubled down on his criticism of former RNC chief Michael Steele, accusing him of having a lack of grace.
MSNBC host Hallie Jackson asked American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp whether CPAC communications director Ian Walters had been reprimanded for saying that Steele was picked as RNC chairman because “he was a black guy.”
“Absolutely not,” Schlapp replied, saying he agreed with Walters that the GOP had been too “cynical” in its approach to minorities. “He has a right to speak on these issues.”
Jackson noted that Steele and Schlapp had gotten into a heated exchange about the comments, after Schlapp had apologized for them.
“You said he should have some grace,” she said. “Do you regret any of that?”
Schlapp claimed that Walters had quickly called Steele to apologize, but that Steele had refused to accept it. “I think that shows a lack of grace,” he remarked.
“Things get said in a heated political conversation and at the end, we have to be able to continue to be friends. I don’t like the fact that we’re divided.”
“But I’ll tell you one thing, I think what Ian’s point of view is valid and I think there are a lot of people of color who are conservatives who believe that the Republican Party gets this wrong a lot and it is okay to talk about it,” Schlapp said.
Jackson said she was asking Schlapp about his particular positions. “You have not answered,” she told him. “So let me end on this, do you regret telling Michael Steele he should have some grace?”
“I think he should have grace, and we all should have grace,” Schlapp replied.
Watch video below:
Anthony Scaramucci goes on all-out media blitz to convince the rich asshole to fire ‘General Jackass’ John Kelly
Anthony Scaramucci on Colbert (Screen Capture)
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Anthony Scaramucci, who was employed as the rich asshole White House communications director for only eleven days before being fired by current White House chief of staff John Kelly, is once again ramping up his war to get Kelly fired.
Speaking with Bloomberg News’ Jennifer Jacobs, Scaramucci says that he is going on a media blitz to convince President some rich asshole that Kelly needs to go before morale within the White House completely collapses.
“Does the president want to lose everyone because of General Jackass?” Scaramucci asked, according to Jacobs.
Scarmucci denied he was backstabbing Kelly — and he told Jacobs that he was proudly “front-stabbing” him.
Scaramucci told me he doesn’t mind being quoted insulting Kelly.
“At least I’m an honest front-stabbing dude," he said.@Scaramucci twitter.com/jenniferjjacob…
Earlier on Thursday, Scaramucci ripped into Kelly during an interview with CNN’s Chris Cuomo in which the former White House communications director blamed the chief of staff for allegedly covering up abuse allegations that forced former staff secretary Rob Porter to resign.
And on Wednesday, Scaramucci said that Kelly’s presence in the White House was killing staff morale, as he said that Kelly was too restrictive about access to the president.
Kelly has reportedly been fighting with the rich asshole son-in-law Jared Kushner and first daughter Ivanka the rich asshole about Kushner’s security clearance, which was downgraded last week to prevent him from accessing top-secret classified information.
WATCH: John Kelly says ‘God punished me’ when he made me the rich asshole’s chief of staff
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White House chief of staff on Thursday jokingly said that “God punished me” when He made him leave the Department of Homeland Security to become President some rich asshole’s chief of staff.
“The last thing I wanted to do was walk away from one of the great honors of my life, being the secretary of Homeland Security, but I did something wrong and God punished me, I guess,” Kelly said to laughter during a Thursday morning event.
Kelly also said that he missed “everyone” at DHS “every day” before he rolled his eyes, seemingly a nod to his current job.
Kelly has reportedly been in a bitter fight with the rich asshole son-in-law Jared Kushner over his security clearance, which was downgraded last week to prevent Kushner from viewing top-secret classified information.
Watch the video of Kelly below.
CA University Changes Name Of Impeachment Course After Right-Wingers Whine
San Diego State University is about to really make the blood of conservatives boil. They have found a very creative way to teach Article 11, Section 4 of the United States Constitution – the part that discusses impeachment – along with the 25th Amendment, which deal with removing an incapacitated or unfit president: By teaching a one-credit hour course over the span of a weekend that, at first glance, seemingly focuses on removing some rich asshole from office.
According to the school, they aren’t actually using the course and its students to scheme to remove the rich asshole from office, but it could be viewed that way, as the course is entitled, “the rich asshole: Impeachment, Removal or Conviction?” However, the school says that is not the intent. Here is a bit of the course description:
“Focus will be on the two constitutional grounds: impeachment and removal (25th Amendment), and the possible charges of the independent counsel, the powers of the president, a history of the creation of that office and the comparison of divine right and rule of law leadership, presidential impeachments, including Nixon’s de facto impeachment, practically limitless grounds for impeachment, presidential immunity from indictment, and grounds for impeachment, removal, or indictment covering: conflict of interests, foreign emoluments, climate change, racism, religious bias, improper influence, nepotism, and a host of crimes, including conspiracy, false statements, and obstruction of justice.”
But, alas, of course right-wing websites – specifically Campus Reform, which supposedly “exposes liberal bias” on college campuses, were outraged at the course, so the name “the rich asshole” was dropped from the title. There, happy snowflakes?
Well, the is the first time since Richard Nixon that we have had a criminal in the Oval Office, so it is only natural that academic institutions would like to take advantage of living in such extraordinary times. And what better way to do it than to let the orange one illustrate just what should get a president removed from office? This is so perfect, It’s a shame they had to remove the rich asshole’s name, though I am sure the material won’t change.
REVEALED: Devin Nunes’ GOP intel members leaked text messages meant to discredit Russia probe
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) speaking outside the White House. Image via screengrab.
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Senate Intelligence Committee leaders have accused Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee—led by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA)—of leaking private text messages from Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), the New York Times reports.
The text messages were published Feb. 8 by Fox News, and showed Warner texting with a lobbyist for a Russian oligarch in an attempt to gain access to former British MI6 agent Christopher Steele. That report was hyped by Republicans, included some rich asshole, and came on the heels of the president’s decision to release a partisan memo by Nunes, which purported to prove surveillance abuses during the FBI’s Russia investigation.
“Taken together, the actions suggested a pattern of partisanship and unilateral action by the once-bipartisan House panel,” the Times notes.
Despite the rich asshole’s assertion that the messages prove “Warner did not want a ‘paper trail’ on a ‘private’ meeting (in London) he requested with Steele of fraudulent Dossier fame,” Senate Intelligence Committee member Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)undercut the president’s spin, writing on Twitter, “Sen. Warner fully disclosed this to the committee four months ago.”
Warner and Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr (R-SC) were “so perturbed by the leak” they demanded a meeting last month with House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) to discuss the partisan breach of protocol and Nunes’ role as the House Intelligence Committee chair, according to the Times.
Jack Langer, a spokesman for Nunes, did not deny that members of the committee leaked the texts.
“The New York Times, a prominent purveyor of leaks, is highlighting anonymous sources leaking information that accuses Republicans of leaking information,” Langer said. “I’m not sure if this coverage could possibly get more absurd.”
In a joint statement, Burr and Warner “acknowledged the meeting with Ryan,” theTimes reports.
‘I know a lot’: Sex model jailed in Thailand claims to have video evidence of the rich asshole-Kremlin links
Anastasia Vashukevich (Instagram)
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A Belarusian social media star is hoping to trade information she says links President some rich asshole to the Kremlin for her release from a Thai prison on sex charges.
Anastasia Vashukevich, who has become internationally famous in recent months for her racy selfies, was jailed in Thailand for offering sex lessons without a permit, reported the Associated Press.
The self-described “mistress” of Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska was arrested with nine other Russians and Belarusians after officials received complaints about the $700 weeklong class and raided the meeting.
Vashukevich, who calls herself Nastya Rybka on her Instagram account (@nastya_rybka.ru), told the AP that she fears for her life and wants to trade information in the rich asshole-Russia probe for her own safety.
She has not offered any such evidence, which she previously claimed to have in an Instagram video, and it’s not clear whether she has any useful information.
Deripaska is a metal tycoon who sued former the rich asshole campaign manager Paul Manafort and his lieutenant Rick Gates over an $18.9 million investment the pair was supposed to make in Ukraine.
Gates has pleaded guilty to conspiracy and lying to investigators in the Russia probe, and Manafort has been charged with money laundering, fraud and numerous other charges in the case.
Vashukevich and her jailed companions have sent a letter to the U.S. embassy in Bangkok seeking asylum in exchange for “photo-video-audio” evidence of wrongdoing between the rich asshole and the Kremlin, and she also posted a video outlining her claims on Instagram.
“I didn’t want to tell you about many things. Now they’re trying to lock us up,” she says in the video, apparently made while in custody. “But now I’m ready to put together all the pieces of the puzzle that you have been missing, and back it up with audio and video regarding the ties of our esteemed lawmakers with Manafort, the rich asshole and all this buzz around the U.S. election. I know a lot.”
Mueller’s focus on WikiLeaks shows he’s ‘laid the foundation’ for the rich asshole collusion case: Ex-White House lawyer
Special counsel Robert Mueller and some rich asshole (Wikimedia Commons)
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Special counsel Robert Mueller’s emerging focus on some rich asshole’s knowledge of hacked Democratic National Committee emails shows he’s “laid the foundation” for a collusion case against some rich asshole, a former White House lawyer said.
Wednesday, NBC News reported Mueller’s team is probing how much the rich asshole knew about the stolen DNC emails and whether he was aware the radical transparency organization WikiLeaks planned to publish those exchanges.
Andrew Wright, who served for two years as Barack Obama’s associate counsel, told Business Insider that line of questioning is a bad sign for the president.
“The one specious thing about the rich asshole’s lawyers’ strategy is that they’re saying there’s no substantive focus on the rich asshole when it comes to the collusion inquiry, that this is all about obstruction of justice, and that Mueller already has everything he needs from other witnesses and documents for the obstruction case,” Wright said, referring to reported attempts by the rich asshole’s attorneys to shield their client from sitting for an interview with the special counsel.
“Setting the obstruction case aside, what has happened over the last couple of weeks is that Mueller laid the foundation [for a collusion case] by showing the crimes of the Russians, in at least some form,” Wright continued. “And now we’re seeing his focus on the rich asshole about the hacked emails. At this point, it’s a matter of proving whether Americans were participants in this conspiracy to commit these crimes, and whether they aided or abetted these acts.”
WikiLeaks—which the U.S. intelligence community considers an arm of the Russia government—played a pivotal role in the 2016 presidential election, releasing troves of DNC emails during times of peak tumult for then-candidate the rich asshole. As the Atlantic reports, the organization was in touch with the rich asshole’s eldest son, some rich asshole Jr., from September 2016 to at least July 2017.
According to leaked private Twitter messages, longtime the rich asshole confidant Roger Stone also corresponded with WikiLeaks—despite assertions from both partiesthey’d never communicated during the campaign. Mueller has asked witnesses about the rich asshole’s interactions with Stone throughout the campaign, Business Insider reports.
the rich asshole, meanwhile, publicly touted the emails leaked by WikiLeaks, using them as proof of his claim former rival Hillary Clinton was “corrupt.”
“Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing,” the rich asshole said during a July 27, 2016 press conference.
Last month, Mueller indicted 13 Russian nationals and three corporations on conspiracy charges for their role in interfering in the 2016 presidential election. Robert Deitz, former general counsel at the National Security Agency, told Business Insider the charges could be a stepping stone in Mueller’s quest to find whether any Americans aided Russia’s effort.
“In these kinds of investigations, prosecutors typically move up the food chain,” Deitz said.”I suspect that Mueller, through earlier interviews or documents, finally has sufficient evidence to begin putting a story together that involves the rich asshole.”
Deitz told Business Insider Mueller “will continue to fill in the dots until he has enough to seek an interview with [or indictment or] the rich asshole.”
Lawmakers: Hope Hicks testified that Mike Flynn asked her to lie during the transition
Hope Hicks (CBS News)
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Hope Hicks told lawmakers this week that disgraced national security adviser Mike Flynn had asked her to lie during the presidential transition.
The White House communications director, who tendered her resignation the next day, told the House Intelligence Committee that she had told “white lies” on behalf of the administration, reported CBS News.
Hicks repeated the phrase after a lawmaker used the words, and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) then “went through the phone book” and asked whether anyone else had asked her to lie, U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney (R-FL) told the network.
Those individuals included the president himself and “the entire the rich asshole family,” the Florida Republican said, as well as Jared Kushner, Steve Bannon, Paul Manafort, Corey Lewandowski and Michael Cohen.
Rooney said Hicks gave a “blanket” response and declined to answer in each instance, and he complained that she shouldn’t have been asked the “bullsh*t question” in the first place.
“The whole line of questioning was a trap,” Rooney said. “They sent her down a rabbit hole that she could not get out of — and it was completely unfair.”
However, Hicks did comment on Flynn, who was forced out of the White House in February 2017 over his secret contacts with Russia and pleaded guilty in December to lying to FBI agents.
Swalwell told CBS News that Hicks specified that Flynn had never asked her to lie for him “in the campaign,” but his communications with the Russian ambassador came during the transition period.
The California Democrat asked if Flynn had asked her to lie during that period between the election and President some rich asshole’s inauguration.
Hicks told Swalwell that Flynn had asked her to present information as true that she later learned to be false, and the lawmaker told CBS that she appeared to be selectively protecting the rich asshole associates and administration officials.
The lawmakers did not say whether Hicks specified what misleading information Flynn had instructed her to disseminate.
Rooney, who recently announced he would not seek re-election, said the exchange and subsequent reports showed why Congress should end its investigation into the rich asshole campaign ties to Russia.
“(Leaks have) poisoned this whole investigation,” Rooney said. “Why would anyone come and interview with us anymore, ever again?”
the rich asshole’s ‘head explodes’ every time he reads about Jeff Sessions — and he was furious AG stood up to him: reports
Attorney General Jeff Sessions and President some rich asshole.
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President some rich asshole’s disgust for his own attorney general is once again reaching a boiling point.
One day after the rich asshole said Attorney General Jeff Sessions was “DISGRACEFUL” for not doing more to investigate his political rivals, reports emerged outlining the deep, seething anger the rich asshole feels toward his own AG.
A new report from Axios claims that the president’s “head explodes” every time he reads about Sessions. What’s more, a Washington Post report reveals that the rich asshole now refers to Sessions as “Mr. Magoo,” the old cartoon character whom the Post describes as “elderly, myopic and bumbling.”
Additionally, a White House source tells CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that the rich asshole was “indignant” on Wednesday after Sessions gently pushed back on the president’s criticism.
the rich asshole publicly attacked Sessions earlier on Wednesday for not doing enough to investigate former President Barack Obama. He then trashed Sessions for not directing his own attorneys at the Department of Justice to investigate Obama themselves.
“Why not use Justice Department lawyers?” he asked. “DISGRACEFUL!”
the rich asshole has not been shy about ripping into his own attorney general for not doing enough to investigate his political foes. Last week, the rich asshole on Twitter told his followers to ask Sessions — whose name the president initially misspelled as “Jeff Session” — why Democrats weren’t being investigated for “crimes” related to Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
And last summer, the rich asshole called Sessions “beleaguered” and “weak” because he was not sufficiently investigating former Democratic rival Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server during her tenure as secretary of state.
Kelly: I didn't want to leave DHS, but 'God punished me'
BY BRETT SAMUELS - 03/01/18 10:50 AM EST
White House Chief of Staff John Kelly joked on Thursday that he didn’t want to leave his position at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), but “God punished me.”
“The last thing I wanted to do was walk away from one of the great honors of my life, being the secretary of Homeland Security, but I did something wrong and God punished me, I guess,” Kelly said at an event marking DHS’s 15th anniversary.
President the rich asshole in July 2017 appointed Kelly as his chief of staff, moving him to the White House from his position at Homeland Security.
Kelly said he felt he had “no right” to sit on stage with other former DHS leaders, and told the crowd of department staffers he missed them “every day.”
"I wish I had worked harder in the six months I had in the job to not only better protect the men and women that get beat up so badly every day, but to really advertise in a much more effective way how good you are," Kelly said.
Kelly, a retired Marine general, was appointed to lead DHS in January 2017, but only served in that role for six months before he was tapped to replace Reince Priebus at the White House.
Speculation has swirled at times that Kelly would quit or be fired, and he would be one in a double-digit line of staffers leaving the White House amid tensions with the president. the rich asshole has consistently praised Kelly for doing a "fantastic job," including as recently as January.
"Thank you to General John Kelly, who is doing a fantastic job," he tweeted.
Nobody knows for sure that the Republicans & Democrats will be able to reach a deal on DACA by February 8, but everyone will be trying....with a big additional focus put on Military Strength and Border Security. The Dems have just learned that a Shutdown is not the answer!
However, Kelly has faced heightened scrutiny in recent weeks for his handling of domestic violence allegations against ex-White House staff secretary Rob Porter.
Porter resigned in February after reports emerged that his two ex-wives accused him of domestic abuse. Kelly reportedly knew about the abuse allegations before they became public and initially continued to defend Porter after the first reports came out.
Kelly has not explained why he did not cut ties with Porter after the FBI notified the White House about the allegations that turned up during the staffer's background check.
He later said the matter was "all done right."
Carson cancels $31K dining set order
BY JULIA MANCHESTER - 03/01/18 11:42 AM EST
Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson on Thursday ordered his agency to cancel an order for a $31,000 dining room set for his personal office.
"I was as surprised as anyone to find out that a $31,000 dining set had been ordered," Carson said in a statement. "I have requested that the order be canceled. We will find another solution for the furniture replacement."
He added that he might choose a different dining room set, but that his "preference" would be a more "reasonable" price tag.
"My wife also looked at catalogs and wanted to be sure that the color of the chair fabric of any set that was chosen matched the rest of the decor," he said. "I made it known that I was not happy about the prices being charged and that my preference would be to find something more reasonable."
Carson aide Armstrong Williams originally provided the statement to CNN.
Reports surfaced on Tuesday that HUD spent $31,000 last year on a new dining room set for Carson's office, which included a custom hardwood table, chairs and a hutch.
A HUD spokesman told the Times that Carson “didn’t know the table had been purchased."
“In general, the secretary does want to be as fiscally prudent as possible with the taxpayers’ money,” HUD spokesman Raffi Williams said.
However, HUD staff member Helen Foster claimed she was replaced in her role because she refused to find a way around a $5,000 limit for redecorating Carson’s office.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) announced on Wednesday that his committee will probe Carson's "excessive spending" on the redecoration of his office.
CNN panel of the rich asshole voters goes off the rails after woman calls AR-15s ‘fabulous bad-ass’ weapons
Carrie Lightfoot on CNN -- screenshot
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A CNN panel made of the rich asshole voters who own guns went off the rails Thursday morning when one woman dismissed everyone’s serious concerns about mass shootings by claiming AR-15 assault rifles are ‘fabulous for women” and look “bad-ass.”
During the Alisyn Camerota-moderated panel of the rich asshole voters who own weapons, two of the six invited said they would have no problem getting behind a complete ban on assault rifles.
According to gun owner, Jacob Engels, change is coming for gun laws because the U.S. has reached a tipping point which the teen survivors from Parkland Florida are using to their advantage.
“This time because the children from the school are so front and center and so active that it just gave a little bit of a different feeling,” Engels admitted. “Especially because they’re the next generation and they’re speaking up — not that I agree with what they’re pushing. I think the use of social media and the snowball effect from what they’ve been able to do in this past week is entirely different from any of the previous incidents.”
Turning to the topic of AR-15s, panelist Carrie Lightfoot stirred things up with her full-throated praise of the assault weapon as being “fabulous for women.”
“I think we’re having a really hard time focusing in on what the real issues are,” Lightfoot explained. “We all want this to stop and we all want a fix, but the fix isn’t banning guns — the fix is much deeper than that.”
Scott Pappalardo jumped in to say,” I think there needs to be limitations. An AR-15 should not be used as a home protection weapon.”
“Do you know what a fabulous gun that is for women?” Lightfoot challenged.
“It is a fabulous gun, so is a shotgun,” Pappalardo shot back.
“But it’s much harder to handle,” Lightfoot protested as everyone began talking over each other.
Later during a discussion on whether AR-15’s are suitable as a sporting gun, Lightfoot defended them once again, saying the weapon was being maligned as a weapon of war.
“That line that it is for military use,” she scoffed. “AnAR-15 is not a military rifle. It is a regular, semi-automatic rifle that just looks bad ass — that’s what it is.”
Watch the video below via CNN:
the rich asshole loyalists flee the White House as anti-the rich asshole wave builds
BY BRENT BUDOWSKY, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR — 03/01/18 10:15 AM EST
With White House communications director Hope Hicks resigning from her post and more high-level resignations almost certainly coming soon, the rich asshole White House resembles the film Casablanca, with aides hunting for exit visas and nobody being certain who is ultimately loyal to whom.
Across the great divides of American politics a giant anti-the rich asshole wave is building that will change the nation in the midterm elections. It is not a Democratic wave, though Democrats will benefit greatly. Nor is it a progressive wave, though progressives will probably enjoy a great celebration after polls close on Nov. 6.
Americans of many political persuasions know something is dangerously wrong when the president:
- repeatedly berates and humiliates his attorney general;
- insults and embarrasses his national security advisor for telling a security conference that evidence is incontrovertible that Russia is attacking American democracy;
- escalates his war against the FBI; and
- presides over a White House that is a snake pit of warring factions leaking dirt against each other almost every day.
Who will be next to obtain an exit visa from the president’s inner circle? Probably Jared Kushner, who acts like a secretary of State though he cannot obtain a high-level security clearance and is suspected of falling under the influence of foreign money from questionable sources.
It could be retired Gen. John Kelly, the rich asshole’s chief of staff, who appears to be at war with Kushner and is now working to rectify a security clearance scandal, or General H.R. McMaster, the rich asshole’s widely respected national security advisor and another recent target of the president's insults.
In recent months, Democratic candidates have won stunning and unexpected victories in special elections in every region of the nation, in districts that Republicans typically win by landslide margins.
If this pattern continues through November, which history suggests is likely, there will be Republicans in Congress who are considered entirely safe today who will be shocked to lose their seats in the midterms.
Republicans are besieged by waves of unhappy voters.
In 2017, the wave was led by women who are fed up with being abused and rose to take their stand. Now the Women’s March and others are mounting a massive voter registration campaign that will have huge impact in the midterms.
In 2018, the wave has been joined by students, who are demanding that they not be mass murdered in school by weapons that kill enemies in war. Shortly after they march on Washington on March 24, the students will promote a massive voter registration campaign of young people that will have huge impact on the midterms.
These and other students should be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, which members of Congress can do, for their courage and action designed to end the carnage in our schools and the apathy of our Congress.
Across the great divides of American society, a majority of Americans are disgusted, revolted, angered, afraid and determined to end the swampland of scandal and division that the rich asshole has brought to Washington, which Republicans in Congress seem determined to support and defend until the bitter end of their control of Congress.
This majority of Americans, of diverse political persuasions from all walks of life, know that something stinks when Russians support a Republican president who keeps attacking the FBI — the organization that defends America from the Russian attacks.
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MORE FROM BRENT BUDOWSKY
- Mueller and the rich asshole star in a Shakespearean drama that grips US
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- Explosive new Mueller Russia indictments are a game-changer
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They know that something is rotten when cabinet members make scandalous moves such as wasting taxpayer money on first-class airfare and luxurious furniture, when the president’s closest confidante and son-in-law faces multiple investigations and when a growing list of loyalists and former top aides are copping pleas, indicted for crimes or resigning.
They know that something very bad is happening when news stories reveal that the president has made thousands of statements that are flat-out false, his own lawyers apparently advise him to not testify because they fear he will lie under oath and his fourth communications director in a year tells Congress that a condition of employment for the post she will soon leave was to tell “white lies” on his behalf.
Black voters are fed up with being demeaned by their president. Hispanic voters are appalled when their dreams are under siege from their leader. Moms do not want their daughters abused. Dads do not want their children attacked.
Grandmas and grandpas worry that their Medicare and Social Security may be under attack by phony fiscal hawks to pay for massive deficits they created with lavish tax cuts for the wealthiest among us.
The liberal base is roused. Principled conservatives are offended. Moderates are motivated to vote in droves for change. News of more indictments is coming. More the rich asshole loyalties will soon be copping pleas. Rumors of new resignations are in the air. The anti-the rich asshole wave is building. Change is coming soon.
Brent Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and former Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), who was chief deputy majority whip of the U.S. House of Representatives. He holds an LLM in international financial law from the London School of Economics.
Melania the rich asshole got green card through program for people with ‘extraordinary ability’: report
BY REBECCA SAVRANSKY - 03/01/18 09:29 AM EST
First lady Melania the rich asshole reportedly got a green card through a program specifically for people with "extraordinary ability."
The first lady in 2001 was given a green card through the elite EB-1 program, The Washington Post reported.
The EB-1 program is reserved for people such as academic researchers and multinational business executives, as well as people who have shown "sustained national and international acclaim," the Post noted
“We called it the Einstein visa,” former Rep. Bruce Morrison (D-Conn.), at the time the chairman of the House subcommittee that wrote the Immigration Act of 1990 defining EB-1, told the newspaper.
The Post reported that Melania the rich asshole — who came to the U.S. from Slovenia in 1996 — was one of five people from Slovenia to get green cards in 2001 through the program.
According to government statistics, only 3,376 of the more than 1 million green cards issued in 2001 were for immigrants who had "extraordinary ability."
Michael Wildes, an attorney for the rich asshole, told the Post the first lady was "more than amply qualified and solidly eligible" for the EB-1 program.
To obtain a green card for extraordinary ability, one needs to prove they have qualifications such as evidence of commercial successes in the performing arts or evidence of original contributions to a field.
“What did she submit?” David Leopold, an immigration lawyer and a past president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, asked, according to the newspaper. “There are a lot of questions about how she procured entry into the United States.”
Earlier this month, it was reported that the rich asshole's parents are legal permanent residents of the U.S. on the cusp of obtaining citizenship.
That report came amid swirling speculation that her parents were given legal status based on family reunification, also called "chain migration" by detractors, which President the rich asshole has repeatedly called on Congress to end.
Updated at 9:54 a.m.
By
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March 1, 2018
Families continue to be torn apart by the rich asshole's radical agenda.
Nobody is safe from the rich asshole administration’s radical immigration policy of rounding up and deporting people, not even the wives of Army Special Forces veterans.
And not even the wives of Army Special Forces veterans who, under current law, are specifically protected from deportation orders.
In a battle that pits an Army veteran against the rich asshole’s blind devotion to his anti-immigration policy, the Crawford family in Virginia continues to battle a looming deportation threat that could conclude next week.
Retired Sgt. 1st Class Bob Crawford, an Army 7th Special Forces Group veteran, is married to Elia. She arrived undocumented from Honduras in 1999 following Hurricane Mitch, which killed 7,000 people in her native country.
As the Military Times reports, Elia faces deportation orders. But that shouldn’t be a problem, because “spouses of active-duty troops or veterans are eligible for ‘Parole in Place,’ or PIP, a relief that allows spouses, children and parents of active duty, National Guard and Reserve troops and veterans who entered the U.S. illegally to remain in the country and pursue a green card.”
The ruling was put in place to make sure members of the military, especially when they’re deployed, don’t have to worry about immigration status battles for spouses back home.
But in order to apply for PIP, the Crawford’s first need the deportation order on Elia to be lifted. In the past, that would have been a routine procedure.
And the rich asshole’s Department of Homeland Security won’t budge.
In late December, the rich asshole’s DHS declined the Crawfords’ request. “They provided no reason as to why they came to that decision,” Crawford’s attorney told the Military Times.
“some rich asshole and his deportation forces are simply out of control, targeting a service member’s wife for deportation like this,” says Will Fischer, Iraq War veteran and director of government affairs for VoteVet.
“What’s it say to all of those who serve, what’s it say about how much we value or don’t value them, when we’ll just deport their wives and the mother of their kids like this? some rich asshole’s North Star is hate. Is this is who we want to be as a nation?”
Now Bob Crawford, who was honorably discharged in 2006 after 20 years of service and has worked as a military contractor since then, faces the prospect of his wife, and the mother of his two children, being sent back to Honduras after two decades away.
“Honduras is one of the most dangerous countries in the world, especially for a female if they know she’s a military dependent,” he said.
Note that tales of wild indifference have marked the rich asshole’s hard-edged immigration policy. During deadly Hurricane Maria last September, the rich asshole’s Department of Homeland Security initially promised to halt non-criminal immigration enforcement in the affected area, and then promptly broke its promise.
That means during future natural disasters many people may choose remain in hiding and face the danger of a massive storm rather than put themselves at the mercy of their federal government.
As for the Crawford’s, they remain stuck. An immigration judge in Virginia will hear their final plea on Monday. “This is kind of my last hope,” Bob Crawford said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
It’s just the latest example of the rich asshole disrespecting members of the U.S. military.
Senate Republican: the rich asshole’s ‘due process’ comment took my breath away
BY MAX GREENWOOD - 03/01/18 08:50 AM EST
Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said Thursday that he was left breathless after President the rich asshole suggested that authorities could confiscate guns from potentially dangerous people before ever getting the permission of a court.
"I have to admit that the idea of taking a person's property before the due process — that did take my breath away a little bit," Toomey said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." "Doesn't work that way in America."
But Toomey also suggested that the rich asshole may not have been speaking literally when he made the remark at a Wednesday meeting with lawmakers on gun policy, and said that the more important takeaway from that gathering is that the president is ready to address potential gun safety reforms.
"Look, I think there's an old saying about this president, which is take him seriously, not necessarily literally," Toomey said. "And I think the big takeaway from this meeting is he wants to get something done."
the rich asshole embraced a series of gun control reform proposals at the Wednesday meeting, including a plan to strengthen background checks, bar mentally ill people from purchasing guns and harden security at schools.
After Vice President Pence suggested that families and local law enforcement should have more tools to report potentially dangerous individuals with weapons, the rich asshole said that authorities should instead "take the firearms first, and then go to court."
So-called red flag laws in some states allow law enforcement officials to temporarily confiscate guns from individuals deemed by judges to be a danger to themselves or others.
The call for stricter gun control measure reemerged last month after a gunman opened fire at a South Florida high school, killing 17 people and injuring 14 others.
the rich asshole urged lawmakers on Wednesday to quickly tackle gun control reform and suggested that they start with a years-old proposal introduced by Toomey and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) aimed at strengthening background checks for gun purchases.
‘She’s a New Yorker’: Kellyanne Conway says Hope Hicks quit to spend time with ‘great family she’s close to’
Kellyanne Conway speaks to Fox News (screen grab)
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White House counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway on Thursday praised outgoing Communications Director Hope Hicks and predicted that “millions will tune in” when she does her first television interview about her experience with some rich asshole.
During an interview on Fox & Friends, host Steve Doocy pointed out several reasons Hicks could be resigning, including her romantic relationship with accused wife abuser Rob Porter and pressure over the Russia investigation.
“Was it the ‘white lies’ thing? She couldn’t take the heat?” Doocy wondered.
“This is very simple,” Conway insisted. “Hope’s been doing this for three years nonstop. It’s very simple. I think the president spoke for all of us who have had the privilege of working with Hope and getting to know her as a friend, that she’s fantastic and she has done a tremendous job for him. And as the president says, [she] will probably be back in his orbit sometime and someday to help yet again.”
According to the White House counselor, Hope has been “enormously effective” during her time as communications director.
“Hope is one of those unbroken threads between the early days of the primary campaign, all through the campaign, on the plane practically every day,” Conway said, “with candidate the rich asshole, during transition.”
“And Hope’s a New Yorker,” she continued. “She got a great family she’s close to. And she has a wonderful future and we’re all excited to see. I love her and I’ll miss her very much.”
“She had the luxury of not having to come on TV often,” Conway concluded. “But I think we’ll hear from her. And one day when Hope Hicks sits down to give a major post-White House interview, millions of people will tune in and I’ll be one of them.”
Watch the video below from Fox News.
Majority of Americans believe that the rich asshole is a racist after first year of his presidency
some rich asshole (Photo: Gage Skidmore/Wikipedia)
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Majority of Americans Believe That the rich asshole Is a Racist After First Year of His Presidency
Cody Fenwick
Posted with permission from AlterNet
President Donald Trump often says he's the "least racist person" anyone could ever meet. The American people disagree.
Most Americans - 57 percent - say that Trump is a racist, according to a new poll from the Associated Press. Among racial minority groups, that number is even higher.
Eight out of 10 black Americans say the president is a racist, and three-quarters of Hispanics agree. Only 47 percent of white people say Trump is racist.
A deeper dive into the data shows even more bad news for Trump. Asked whether they approve of Trump's "handling of race relations," 59 percent of white people said "no." A whopping 91 percent of African Americans disapprove of his handling of race relations.
This means that even many of the people who aren't willing to say Trump is racist recognize that he is doing a bad job navigating racial politics in the United States.
The responses aren't surprising given the president's history.
This is the same man who praised "some" white supremacist marchers as "very fine people." Trump reportedly referred to Haiti and African nations as "shithole countries." His entrance into the modern political scene featured the promotion of a racist conspiracy theory about the first black president's national origin. Trump opened his campaign in 2015 by calling Mexican immigrants "rapists."
As president, Trump has backed policies that rely on racist stereotypes.
The push for work requirements for people on Medicaid is built on racist stereotypes about people of colors who profit from government programs. Trump's push for "merit-based immigration" appears to be a thinly-veiled attempt to reduce the immigration rate and keep certain "types" of newcomers out. And his obsession with Muslim terrorists, while largely ignoring crimes committed by white supremacists, is a clear indicator of racist prejudice.
The conclusion that Trump is a racist is almost impossible to deny, and the latest data demonstrates that America is paying attention.
Most Americans - 57 percent - say that Trump is a racist, according to a new poll from the Associated Press. Among racial minority groups, that number is even higher.
Eight out of 10 black Americans say the president is a racist, and three-quarters of Hispanics agree. Only 47 percent of white people say Trump is racist.
A deeper dive into the data shows even more bad news for Trump. Asked whether they approve of Trump's "handling of race relations," 59 percent of white people said "no." A whopping 91 percent of African Americans disapprove of his handling of race relations.
This means that even many of the people who aren't willing to say Trump is racist recognize that he is doing a bad job navigating racial politics in the United States.
The responses aren't surprising given the president's history.
This is the same man who praised "some" white supremacist marchers as "very fine people." Trump reportedly referred to Haiti and African nations as "shithole countries." His entrance into the modern political scene featured the promotion of a racist conspiracy theory about the first black president's national origin. Trump opened his campaign in 2015 by calling Mexican immigrants "rapists."
As president, Trump has backed policies that rely on racist stereotypes.
The push for work requirements for people on Medicaid is built on racist stereotypes about people of colors who profit from government programs. Trump's push for "merit-based immigration" appears to be a thinly-veiled attempt to reduce the immigration rate and keep certain "types" of newcomers out. And his obsession with Muslim terrorists, while largely ignoring crimes committed by white supremacists, is a clear indicator of racist prejudice.
The conclusion that Trump is a racist is almost impossible to deny, and the latest data demonstrates that America is paying attention.
02/28/2018 10:21 pm ET Updated 4 hours ago
the rich asshole’s relationships with Jeff Sessions, Hope Hicks and Jared Kushner have all come under fire.
By Nick Visser
An already complicated day for President some rich asshole’s administration was capped with several shocking reports Wednesday night.
The barrage of stories shed new light on the extent of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and raised questions about several officials in the president’s inner circle, including communications director Hope Hicks and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
The Washington Post reported Wednesday evening that Mueller has questioned several witnesses about the president’s behavior toward Attorney General Jeff Sessions to determine whether the rich asshole attempted to obstruct justice in the ongoing inquiry into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.
Unnamed sources familiar with the special counsel’s probe told the Post that Mueller had questioned people about the rich asshole’s statements on Sessions last July and August.
The president sent out several tweets during that time roundly criticizing the attorney general as “beleaguered” and questioned the Justice Department for taking a “very weak position” on his former opponent, Hillary Clinton.
the rich asshole also told The New York Times in July that Sessions shouldn’t have recused himself from the Russia investigation and that, if he’d known that would happen, he “would have picked somebody else” as attorney general. The Times reported last month that Mueller was looking into the rich asshole’s efforts to fire Sessions last spring, but Wednesday’s report reflected a broader scope of the inquiry.
HuffPost has reached out to the White House for comment.
The Post’s article notes that Sessions has told his associates he has no plans to resign, despite the ongoing pressure from the White House.
The report was just one of several damaging stories coming from the White House on Wednesday night.
CNN’s Jim Acosta reported that Mueller has also been asking about comments made by Hope Hicks in 2016, just two days after the rich asshole was elected. Hicks announced her resignation earlier Wednesday, according to several news outlets.bscribe to the Politics email.
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KEVIN LAMARQUE / REUTERS
White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, right, had his top-secret security clearance downgraded last week.
An unnamed former the rich asshole campaign aide said Mueller questioned them about a particular statement Hicks gave to The New York Times two days after the 2016 election, when she said: “We are not aware of any campaign representatives that were in touch with any foreign entities before yesterday, when some rich asshole spoke with many world leaders.”
Mueller’s investigators have, according to the former aide, been looking into whether Hicks’ statement was inaccurate in the wake of media reports that several members of the rich asshole campaign were, in fact, in contact with Russian officials, including Don the rich asshole Jr. and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Kushner was also the subject of several damning reports Wednesday, including news that New York’s state banking regulators had asked several lenders about information on their financial relationships with the White House senior adviser. The New York Times later reported on several massive loans Kushner’s business received after meetings he held in the White House.
In one instance, Kushner Companies received a $325 million loan from Citigroup after Kushner met with the bank’s chief executive. A $184 million loan came from Apollo Global Management after Kushner met with the private equity firm’s founder in the White House several times.
Kushner resigned from his role at Kushner Companies when he joined the rich asshole administration last January, but he retains significant financial interests in the business.
The Washington Post reported earlier this week that several White House officials worried Kushner’s inexperience in politics and his complicated business holdings would make him subject to manipulation from foreign governments. Officials from at least four countries have reportedly discussed ways to influence him, although it’s unclear if they’ve acted on such plans.
Kushner also had his top-secret security clearance downgraded on Friday.
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