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April 11, 2018
The White House is pleading with Republicans to stay at the rich asshole's side before the midterm elections after House Speaker Paul Ryan announced his intention to retire.
Paul Ryan’s sudden decision to abandon his party as it faces a likely election wipeout rattled the rich asshole White House. And press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders stooped to imploring other Republicans to stay and help push the rich asshole’s agenda.
Ryan’s decision was devastating news for the GOP on Wednesday, and he wasn’t even the only one to do so. Florida Rep. Dennis Ross announced his own retirement right on the heels of Ryan’s statement.
During the daily press briefing, a reporter referred to reports that the rich asshole himself is concerned Ryan’s retirement might persuade even more Republicans to quit.
Sanders’ response was pitiful. “We certainly hope that Republicans will continue to remain in the House, especially those that support the president’s agenda.”
She added that the White House hopes that “a number” of the candidates campaigning for office will be “coming out” to support the rich asshole.
But the rich asshole and his agenda are exactly why the Republican Party is facing electoral headwinds.
the rich asshole is highly unpopular, and his signature and sole legislative achievement — tax legislation targeted to the super-wealthy — is equally so.
Republicans sought to run for re-election by using the tax law to appeal to voters. But having already have lost races in the process, they’ve been forced to abandon that scheme.
Ryan’s retirement is another signal that the tax law isn’t working, as he is closely identified with the ideas it embraces: cutting taxes for the wealthy at the expense of the poor and middle class.
Despite Sanders’ plea on the rich asshole’s behalf, the momentum is considerably against him and his party. More and more Republicans are headed for the exits, preferring to take their chances on the outside rather than go down on a sinking ship.
POLITICS
the rich asshole’s Complaints About Obama Giving Away Syria Strategy Look Pretty Silly Now
the rich asshole just gave away his own plans for Syria.
President some rich asshole adopted the same strategy he repeatedly criticized his predecessor for using when he issued Wednesday’s warning about imminent airstrikes on Syria.
the rich asshole, responding to a Russian warning that it would shoot down any U.S. missiles headed for Syria, wrote on Twitter: “Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!’ You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!”
the rich asshole, as a candidate and before, railed against former President Barack Obama for doing exactly what he did himself on Wednesday: giving away his military plans.
His rants date back to 2013, when Obama announced that the use of chemical weapons in Syria would represent a “red line” that could spur a U.S. military response:
On the 2016 campaign trail, the rich asshole referred numerous times to his secret plan to defeat the so-called Islamic State. He told Fox News in 2015 that he wasn’t broadcasting the plan because he didn’t want the enemy to know about it. He later said he was keeping it a secret so that his opponents in the presidential race didn’t catch on.
He maintained his stance into his own presidency.
“I don’t want to be one of these guys that say, yes, here’s what we’re going to do. I don’t have to do that. I don’t have to tell you what I’m going to do in North Korea,” the rich asshole told a reporter last year.
This week, the rich asshole at first seemed to be trying to maintain the element of surprise in announcing Monday that he would make a decision on how to respond in Syria within 24 to 48 hours.
But on Wednesday, the rich asshole jumped the gun, revealing that airstrikes “will be coming.”
Russian and Syrian forces are reportedly preparing for strikes.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) called out the rich asshole’s hypocrisy on Wednesday, imploring the president to “follow his previous advice.”
This article has been updated with comment from Johnson.
POLITICS
Paul Ryan Says He Won’t Seek Re-Election
The House speaker will complete his current term in Congress.
WASHINGTON ― House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) told colleagues Wednesday morning that he will not seek re-election this year and will retire from the House in January, capping off months of rumors that he was mulling stepping down from his leadership post.
“This year will be my last year as a member of the House,” Ryan said during a news conference after meeting with House colleagues and staff. “To be clear, I am not resigning.”
Ryan cited his accomplishments, chiefly the recent GOP tax bill, and his desire to spend more time with his teenage children as his reasons for leaving, saying that time is “fleeting.”
“I have given this job everything I had, and I have no regrets,” he said.
After several news outlets reported the news early Wednesday morning, Brendan Buck, one of his top aides, confirmed Ryan’s announcement in a statement before the speaker’s news conference.
Republicans face an uphill battle in November’s midterm elections, with dozens of competitive seats and a record number of resignations and retirements. Democrats are eager to make the election a referendum on both Ryan and President some rich asshole.
Ryan dismissed suggestions that his agenda would hinder GOP chances in the midterms.
“We’re going to have a great record to run on,” Ryan told reporters Wednesday.
the rich asshole responded on Twitter, offering his support and praise.
Speculation circulated in December over whether Ryan would leave the top House job in 2018 after GOP efforts to push through a massive tax bill ― one of Ryan’s legislative priorities ― or after the midterm elections.
In late March, Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) told a reporter that rumors had been swirling around the Capitol that Ryan would soon step down and be replaced by Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.).
“You know, [former Speaker] John Boehner said the thing: ‘Hey, I checked all of the boxes I thought were important and I’m moving on to whatever else,’” Amodei told Nevada Newsmakers, referencing what he thought could be Ryan’s decision to leave office.
In response to those reports, aides to both Scalise and Ryan adamantly denied the rumors, and Scalise’s spokeswoman said the lawmaker “fully” supported his colleague to remain speaker.
Ryan reluctantly took on the job of House speaker following the abrupt departure of his predecessor, John Boehner (R-Ohio), in 2015. The Wisconsin lawmaker had a tumultuous tenure, faced with infighting among various factions of the GOP caucus and the political rise of the rich asshole, for which he received much criticism, particularly for his often tepid responses to the rich asshole’s incendiary comments.
But Ryan secured a major win late last year with the passage of an unpopular tax bill he had long touted.
“When people see their withholding improving, when they see the jobs occurring, when they see a simpler tax code, that’s what’s going to produce the results,” Ryan said of the bill’s critics in December. “And results are going to be what makes this popular.”
Twitter users mocked Ryan in February after he used an anecdote about a school secretary in Pennsylvania who saw her pay go up by $1.50 a week to suggest the tax bill was working.
“She said [that] will more than cover her Costco membership for the year,” he tweeted.
Responding to Ryan’s announcement, Democratic leaders on Wednesday called on Ryan to work with them during his final months in office.
Describing him as “an avid advocate for his point of view and for the people of his district,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in a statement that “Democrats are hopeful that he joins us to work constructively to advance better futures for all Americans.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) suggested Ryan should “break free from the hard-right factions of his caucus that have kept Congress from getting real things done,” citing “his newfound political freedom.”
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee called Ryan’s announcement a harbinger of what’s to come in the midterms.
“Unfortunately, for the many vulnerable House Republicans that Paul Ryan is abandoning, his historically unpopular and failed policies will hang over their reelections like a dark cloud,” the DCCC said in a statement. “Stay tuned for more retirements as Republicans increasingly realize that their midterm prospects are doomed.”
This story has been updated with more details about Ryan’s announcement and reactions to it.
the rich asshole Humiliated As Republican Group Airs Ad Defending Mueller On Fox And Friends (VIDEO)
A Republican group’s ad on Fox & Friends Wednesday morning might be why some rich asshole appears to have unloaded his diaper all over Twitter in the mother of all tweetstorms. The ad defends special counsel Robert Mueller against the rich asshole’s attacks. the rich asshole is addicted to Fox & Friends so he’s sure to have seen the 30-second ad by Republicans for Rule of Law which highlights Mueller’s military service in Vietnam and his service as head of the FBI during the Bush administration.
“In Vietnam, Robert Mueller rescued fallen Marines under enemy fire and was awarded a Bronze Star for valor,” the narrator says. “As a prosecutor, he spent decades going after corruption, financial fraud, and terrorism.”
“As the head of the FBI under George W. Bush, Mueller has been trusted by Republicans to put America first,” the ad continues, then airs clips of Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky), House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), and Vice-President Mike Pence (R-Bigot), all of whom have voiced support for Mueller’s investigation but somehow, now they aren’t putting their president in check.
Watch:
The group was founded by conservative commentator Bill Kristol and Republican members who probabldon’t want the rich asshole to fire Mueller during his Russia investigation. The group also is trying to prevent its own party from dying while the rich asshole lashes out daily, creates havoc, and puts the U.S. in even more debt.
Kristol tweeted about the ad on Monday night while baiting the rich asshole, noting that he watches Fox & Friends.
I'm honored to be a founding director of Republicans for the Rule of Law. You (and President Trump) can see our first TV ad--defending the Mueller investigation--on Fox and Friends in DC tomorrow morning. But why wait? Take a look at it on our website now.ruleoflawrepublicans.com
Just this morning, presumably after watching Fox & Friends, the Dotard lashed out at Mueller again.
“Much of the bad blood with Russia is caused by the Fake & Corrupt Russia Investigation, headed up by the all Democrat loyalists, or people that worked for Obama,” It tweeted. “Mueller is most conflicted of all (except Rosenstein who signed FISA & Comey letter). No Collusion, so they go crazy!”
Kristol thinks the rich asshole is concerned over what the FBI found in the rich asshole’s attorney’s office during the raid.
What "information" is Trump worried about Mueller having found in Cohen's office? twitter.com/realDonaldTrum…
On Tuesday, it was reported that the rich asshole had tried to fire Mueller in December following inaccurate claims that Mueller subpoenaed Deutsche Bank for the former reality show star’s finances. the rich asshole is now considering firing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. What a hot mess.
Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images.
Cowardly Paul Ryan Sees The Writing On The Wall, Running Away From Congress Like A Weasel
Paul Ryan (R-WI) is one of the most powerful men in Washington. He is the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and has long been seen as someone who cannot be unseated – until now. Republicans are fleeing their re-election bids in droves, because they see the writing on the wall, and they know they’d be humiliated in November if they dared to run amidst the coming blue wave. Ryan is just the latest to do the same.
NPR reports that Ryan has announced that he will not seek re-election. He knows that in endorsing and standing behind the disaster that is some rich asshole, he stands a real chance of being only the second House Speaker in history to be unseated by a challenger. That challenger from the Democratic side is likely to be Wisconsin’s First District iron worker, Randy Bryce.
Bryce and others have long pointed out that Ryan rarely spends time in his own district, only takes questions from constituents in very controlled environments, and is a complete wimp when it comes to standing up to some rich asshole’s penchant for open racism, misogyny, and just general indecency. Further, Ryan, who is just 48 years old, which is very young for a Congressman who is so powerful, may aim for the top spots in government one day – perhaps even president. Being tethered to some rich asshole would not be good for such ambitions, and Ryan knows it. People have, until now, largely viewed him as a principled Boy Scout type, but that is all over as he just looks like a coward due to how he has been dealing with the problem of some rich asshole.
All I know is that with Paul Ryan out of the way, Democrats have a very real chance to take his seat during the blue wave. Come on out and vote, folks. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Featured image via Win McNamee/Getty Images
POLITICS
the rich asshole Warns Russia: Syria Strikes ‘Coming’
“Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!’”
President some rich asshole warned Wednesday that American airstrikes on Syria, in retaliation for a deadly chemical attack, were imminent.
the rich asshole directed a morning tweet at Russia, the Syrian government’s primary ally in the years-long civil war President Bashar Assad has waged against rebel groups. The Kremlin has warned the U.S. it planned to shoot down any U.S. missiles headed for Syria.
“Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!’” the rich asshole tweeted. “You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!”
the rich asshole, with his rhetoric, has taken an unusually hard line against the Assad regime’s brutality, condemning the attack as “sick” and “atrocious” and even coining a new nickname for the country’s leader: “Animal Assad.”
The president said Monday that he’d respond within 48 hours, though his administration has yet to formally announce any strikes. the rich asshole did, however, speak with French President Emmanuel Macron and U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday about a possible coordinated response, according to the White House.
the rich asshole reacted forcefully one year ago, following a similar chemical attack on the town of Khan Sheikhoun. He ordered cruise missile strikes on a Syrian airbase, a move experts said did little to deter Assad’s campaign against his own people. Conventional and chemical attacks have continued in the past year, focused on the eastern Ghouta region, one of the last remaining rebel strongholds.
The United Nations refugee agency estimates that more than 133,000 people have fled the region in the past month. More than 1,000 have also been killed in the last two weeks, according to Doctors Without Borders.
White House: the rich asshole weighing 'all options' in Syria after threat of military strike
BY LISA HAGEN AND BRETT SAMUELS - 04/11/18 05:15 PM EDT
The White House said Wednesday that “all options are on the table” in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria despite President the rich asshole's tweets threatening to send missiles.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said a final decision has yet to be made on the U.S. response following the rich asshole's early morning tweets warning that missiles would be headed to Syria and that its ally Russia should "get ready."
“We have a number of options and all of those options are still on the table,” Sanders told reporters. “The president has a number of options at his disposal and a number remain on the table.”
the rich asshole has blamed Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government and his ally Russian President Vladimir Putin for the suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria over the weekend that killed at least 49 people.
the rich asshole called it "an atrocious attack" and said he'll decide on a response soon.
"Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and 'smart!'" the rich asshole tweeted Wednesday.
Russia’s ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander Zasypkin, said prior to the rich asshole’s tweet that if there was a U.S. missile attack, Russian air defenses would shoot them down.
When asked if the rich asshole’s tweets represent a national security risk, Sanders said, “Not at all.”
She defended that the rich asshole’s tweet didn’t give any plans away, adding that the president is still deciding on a timetable and repeating that he’s leaving a number of options on the table.
Sanders also declined to say whether there were specific plans for the White House to seek congressional approval for a strike in Syria as some lawmakers have pushed.
"The administration will follow whatever laws and regulations are necessary for any actions that we take,” Sanders said. “Because we haven’t laid out any specific actions we plan to take I can't tell you exactly what needs we would have to go to Congress with."
Sanders was also pressed about the rich asshole’s tweet that blamed special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation for the United State’s current relationship with Moscow.
the rich asshole tweeted that the “bad blood with Russia is caused by the Fake & Corrupt Russia Investigation, headed up by the all Democrat loyalists, or people that worked for Obama.”
Sanders maintained that the rich asshole continues to deny any collusion between his campaign and Russia and has pushed for better relations with Putin.
“At the same time, [the Russia probe] hampered the ability to do so, as well as the bad actions that Russia has taken including meddling in the election among other things, but tying the president to that has created a lot of unnecessary problems," she said.
California gov accepts funding to add National Guard troops, blasts the rich asshole over immigration
BY ELLEN MITCHELL - 04/11/18 04:09 PM EDT
California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) on Wednesday accepted federal funding to add National Guard troops to his state while blasting President the rich asshole over his immigration policies.
Brown wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary James Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen that the California National Guard would accept federal funding to add "approximately 400 Guard members statewide to supplement the staffing of its ongoing program to combat transnational crime."
“But let’s be crystal clear on the scope of this mission," Brown wrote. "This will not be a mission to build a new wall. It will not be a mission to round up women and children or detain people escaping violence and seeking a better life. And the California National Guard will not be enforcing federal immigration laws."
The guardsmen are being added as part of the rich asshole’s plan announced last week for the military to shore up the southern border until his administration builds his long-proposed wall there.
Mattis followed that up by issuing a memo Friday night that authorized up to 4,000 National Guard troops to support the Department of Homeland Security’s border security mission.
The troops have been barred from interacting with migrants or any people that Border Patrol agents detain, and would not be armed unless necessary for self-protection.
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) has since said his state will send 338 of its guardsmen, while Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said on Monday that he would increase the number of troops the state will send to the border from 250 to at least 1,000.
Brown also contests the rich asshole’s long-pushed claims that immigrants are “pouring” over the Mexican border.
“Here are the facts: there is no massive wave of migrants pouring into California,” Brown asserts.
“Overall immigrant apprehensions on the border last year were as low as they’ve been in nearly 50 years (and 85 percent of the apprehensions occurred outside of California).”
U.S. Border Patrol has assessed that 303,916 immigrant apprehensions took place along the Southwest border in 2017, the lowest it’s been since 1971 and down from a high of 1.64 million in 2000.
Brown says the additional federal funding will instead “allow the Guard to do what it does best: support operations targeting transnational criminal gangs, human traffickers and illegal firearm and drug smugglers along the border, the coast and throughout the state.”
The California Guard program currently employs 250 personnel, including 55 at the California border with Mexico.
The state’s guardsmen provided “targeted assistance” in 2006 under then-President George W. Bush and in 2010 under President Obama.
Bush had sent 6,000 Guard troops while Obama sent 1,200.
Updated: 4:31 p.m.
FBI sought the rich asshole 'Access Hollywood' tape info in Cohen raid: report
BY JACQUELINE THOMSEN - 04/11/18 02:42 PM EDT
FBI agents who raided the office of President the rich asshole’s personal lawyer sought records related to the 2005 “Access Hollywood” tape released shortly before the 2016 election, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
The agents wanted records related to the tape, in which the rich asshole can be heard talking about grabbing and kissing women without their consent.
They also were looking for any evidence that the lawyer, Michael Cohen, had tried to conceal damaging information about the rich asshole during the election, sources briefed on the warrant told the Times.
the rich asshole faced intense backlash after the tape was released and sought to distance himself from the comments, describing it at the time as “locker room talk.”
He has also said the voice on the tape might not be him, according to The New York Times. Former "Access Hollywood" host Billy Bush, who was on the tape with the rich asshole, fired back in a Washington Post op-ed after those reports emerged, saying that it was definitely the rich asshole talking.
More than a dozen women have come forward to accuse the rich asshole of sexual misconduct since the tape’s release. Both the rich asshole and the White House have denied the allegations.
Agents raided Cohen’s hotel room and office on Monday.
They were also seeking information on payments made to women who have accused the rich asshole of extramarital affairs, including adult-film star Stormy Daniels, according to the Times.
Cohen's lawyer said in a statement Monday that federal prosecutors in Manhattan had obtained the search warrant after receiving a referral "in part" from special counsel Robert Mueller.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper: ‘Lewandowsky can tell them to go F-themselves and they can’t do anything about it’
Anderson Cooper (Photo: Screen capture)
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After the the rich asshole campaign’s Hispanic outreach coordinator said he agrees with fired Breitbart executive Steve Bannon’s plan to “cripple” the special counsel’s investigation, his fellow CNN panelists — and host Anderson Cooper himself — clamored over each other to shoot the idea down.
“I’m thoroughly with Bannon on this,” the rich asshole backer Steve Cortes said of the ex-White House chief strategist’s plan that involves firing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, ending the president’s cooperation with Mueller and exerting retroactive executive privilege. “This is an investigation in search of a crime, and nothing can be more un-American than that.”
As soon as the words “un-American” came out of Cortes’ mouth, co-panelist and Democratic strategist Maria Cardona began shaking her head and saying “come on!” She stared incredulously at the onetime the rich asshole campaign adviser incredulously as he compared the investigation to USSR leader Joseph Stalin. The rest of the panel burst into conversation at once.
“This is why there’s a bipartisan bill in the Senate Judiciary Committee [to protect Mueller] right now — because of folks like you!” former Bernie Sanders campaign press secretary Symone Sanders said.
Taking Sanders’ comment and spinning it, Cortes said Congress, as a co-equal branch of government, has “every right” to investigate the president and that they “have enormous powers to do so.” Once again, the panel erupted in outrage.
“They don’t have the same powers as the special counsel,” Cooper said. “[Former the rich asshole campaign manager] Corey Lewandowski can tell them to go F themselves and they can’t do anything about it.”
From there, the discussion devolved into chaos as panelists took turns taking shots at Cortes’ argument.
Watch below, via CNN:
‘Where was Paul Ryan after Charlottesville?’ MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough says Speaker ‘wasn’t comfortable standing up to the rich asshole’
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough
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Former Republican congressman and co-host of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough, offered a “harsh” assessment of the Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) era in Congress during a rare prime-time appearance on All In with Chris Hayes.
“Here’s my big question about Paul Ryan, why today, why now?” Hayes asked.
“I think Paul Ryan — I’ve known him since he was 22 years old, always liked the guy personally — there’s no doubt that Paul has always been more of a policy guy than a political guy,” Scarborough answered.
“There’s also no doubt — it sounds harsh to say — but he was over-matched by the times,” the Morning Joe host continued. “He was overmatched by a president who didn’t respect the rule of law, a president that didn’t respect the FBI, a president that attacks law enforcement by the day, a president that calls the press enemies of the people, a president that embraces dictators, that attacks our democratic allies across Europe and the rest of the world.”
“This was a position he may not have been entirely comfortable in, I’m sure his dream job was being chairman of the Ways and Means Committee,” Scarborough suggested. “It was an ill-fitting position for him, he was not comfortable standing up to some rich asshole.”
“I don’t understand why Paul Ryan was not more comfortable being that person, standing up and speaking out,” the morning host said. “I don’t understand why Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) or others have not been comfortable doing that.”
The former Congressman, who was first elected in the 1994 GOP wave, also gave Speaker Ryan poor marks selecting Congressman Devin Nunes (R-CA) to run the House Oversight Committee.
“You know, Devin Nunes is only there — allowing some rich asshole to do what some rich asshole does — because Paul Ryan’s allowed him to be there,” he explained.
“Again, I like Paul Ryan personally, but where was Paul Ryan’s press conference after Charlottesville?” he asked. “Where has Paul Ryan been standing up defending Robert Mueller?”
“It hasn’t happened,” Scarborough noted. “I don’t know why, for those of us who have liked Paul Ryan and respected him for years, that will remain one of the great mysteries of his speakership.”
“I don’t understand it,” he added. “And I never will.”
Watch:
Anthony Scaramucci: the rich asshole yelled at me on Easter when I told him to ‘end the war on the media’
Anthony Scaramucci speaks to CNN (screen grab)
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Short-lived White House press secretary Anthony Scaramucci reportedly got an earful from the president when he implored him on Easter Sunday to end his “war” with the press.
“And if I were sitting with the president right now, and he disagrees with me, because I talked to him on Easter Sunday, and he was yelling at me, which is fine, but I think he’s got to end the war on the media,” Scaramucci told SiriusXM host Dean Obedeillah when interviewed for his eponymous radio.
“The Mooch” went on to say that the rich asshole should make peace by going onto CNN and MSNBC — and that he shouldn’t be “painted into a corner of conservative news media.”
“Get him out there, he’s got to explain his agenda to the moderates, he’s got to explain his agenda to the independents, and he’ll win reelection resoundingly,” Scaramucci said.
Watch below, via The Dean Obedeillah show.
John Kelly was ‘horrified’ when the rich asshole said Cohen’s FBI raid was an ‘attack on our country’: report
President some rich asshole (left) and WH chief of staff John Kelly (right). Image via Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP.
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White House chief of staff John Kelly was reportedly “horrified” by President some rich asshole’s public outburst about his personal attorney Michael Cohen being raided by the FBI.
CNN reported Wednesday that according to a source with knowledge of the matter, Kelly, a retired four-star general, was upset by the president’s “highly-charged” display in which he called the raid an “attack on our nation” and slammed the attorney general, the deputy attorney general and the special counsel investigating him.
The report on Kelly’s reaction comes amid weeks of speculation about the chief of staff’s decreasing power in the West Wing. Other White House sources told the Associated Press that the rich asshole no longer confides in Kelly, who was once considered the “adult in the room” in the West Wing, because he was “tired of being told no.” The president reportedly did not let his chief of staff in on his now-infamous phone call congratulating Russian President Vladimir Putin on winning what many consider a “sham” election.
Last week, the Wall Street Journal reported that Kelly implored the rich asshole to fire his embattled EPA chief Scott Pruitt — but the president has yet to do so.
MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace airs epic and brutal fact check of some rich asshole
Nicolle Wallace, host of 'Deadline: White House' on MSNBC.
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MSNBC’s Deadline: White House broadcast an in-depth fact check on President some rich asshole’s latest attacks on special counsel Robert Mueller.
“There is a lot of debate in the media whether you cover the president’s tweets,” anchor Nicolle Wallace acknowledged. “We pay attention to them, because for the most part, they look like they come interest straight from the true the rich asshole.”
Wallace then examined a single tweet from the commander-in-chief.
“Let’s fact check that, no it’s not,” Wallace noted, examining the first the three highlighted sections of his argument.
“Fact check, not really, sir,” was the conclusion of the MSNBC anchor and former GOP White House communications director.
“Wrong again,” was her conclusion and the last section of the tweet. “Here may be where you are the most wrong, Mr. President.”
Though her fact check may not reach those most in need of hearing it, one panelist suggested.
“The president may want to live in an alternate reality and so too do people who support him. They are not watching your fact check on the show right now,” MSNBC political analyst Eli Stokols noted. “And I think what we are heading to in terms of this possible constitutional crisis that we may arrive at, we will find out whether or not we live in a true constitutional democracy with checks and balances, or if we’re going to live in some rich asshole’s alternative reality, because I don’t know that we can live in both.”
“Look, this is a president to whom truth is inconsequential and corruption is commonplace,” explained former Congressman David Jolly (R-FL). “It should be on the shoulders of the Paul Ryans and the Mitch McConnells and Republican Leaders on Capitol Hill and throughout the party to stand up to that, but they are staying silent and they are staying silent because some rich asshole has fully high-jacked this party.”
“This is some rich asshole’s party,” the former Republican congressman concluded. “He owns it and he controls it.”
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April 11, 2018
Within hours of stating otherwise, several Republicans in the Senate led by Chuck Grassley are now mysteriously backing legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller from the rich asshole's anger.
Some Senate Republicans, led by Iowa’s Chuck Grassley, have made a mysterious about-face regarding special counsel Robert Mueller. Right after saying Mueller didn’t need protection from the rich asshole’s attacks, the senators are now backing legislation to do just that.
The unusual move comes just hours after some of them belittled concerns for just such a remedy. “I haven’t seen a clear indication that we need to pass something,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said. His comment came hours after the rich asshole claimed “many people have said [he] should fire” Mueller.
Other Republicans, like South Dakota’s Sen. John Thune, seemed to agree. “I don’t know that that’s necessary. You know?” he said dismissively.
But now, their colleagues are whistling another tune.
Grassley now says he wants a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he chairs, to put limits on the rich asshole.
A bipartisan group of senators, including Thom Tillis (R-NC), Chris Coons (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Lindsey Graham (R-SC), have proposed the Special Counsel Independence and Integrity Act.
Under the bill, only a senior official at the Department of Justice could fire the special counsel. And it would also call for a 10-day window of judicial review to determine if a removal is based on “good cause.”
Graham’s inclusion is particularly interesting. Just hours before Grassley’s announcement, Graham said, “I’m not worried about the rich asshole firing Mueller. I think he’s smarter than that.”
What made Graham believe that the rich asshole lost some intelligence in the time between his statement and Grassley’s move is unclear.
In the intervening period, The New York Times reported that the rich asshole considered firing Mueller in December 2017. the rich asshole was upset about subpoenas issued pertaining to his business dealings with Deutsche Bank.
Some Republicans — or at least a rebellious faction of them in the Senate — now apparently believe that the rich asshole is closer to triggering a constitutional crisis than he was just a day ago.
There are still many hurdles to clear before the legislation can become law, including the fact that McConnell has yet to experience the same change of heart as some of his colleagues. But something has changed, and Republicans are finally appearing to notice, and to care.
It is increasingly clear that standing with the rich asshole is a political loser. The question now is how many Republicans are willing to go down for defending him.
‘I don’t mean to be coy’: the rich asshole judicial nominee refuses to say whether she supports segregation
New Orleans the rich asshole judicial nominee Wendy Vitter during her Senate confirmation hearing. Image via screengrab.
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A federal judicial nominee on Wednesday refused to say whether she agrees with the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision that ruled “separate but equal” schools are unconstitutional when grilled during her Senate confirmation hearing.
“Do you believe that Brown v. Board of Education was correctly decided?” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) asked the rich asshole judicial nominee Wendy Vitter.
“Senator, I don’t mean to be coy,” Vitter responded, “but I think I get into a difficult area when I start commenting on Supreme Court decisions, which are correctly decided and which I may disagree with.”
“My personal, political or religious views I would set aside,” she continued, saying that if she were confirmed she would uphold the “binding” decision.
After Blumenthal once more asked the anti-abortion New Orleans lawyer if she agreed with the more than half a century old precedent, she continue to deflect.
“I would respectfully not comment on what could be my boss’ ruling,” Vitter said.
If confirmed, Vitter will become a federal judge in the Eastern District of Louisiana — a district that includes New Orleans, a city whose population is nearly 60 percent African American. She currently serves as the general counsel for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans, and her nomination was supported by Mitch Landrieu, the city’s Democratic mayor.
Watch below:
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April 11, 2018
the rich asshole's a laughing stock on the world stage.
The Kremlin went on the record this morning to belittle the rich asshole’s latest Twitter rant, during which he appeared both to threaten “smart!” missiles against Syria and warn Russia not to get involved.
In their response, the Russian government dismissed the rich asshole with a statement that deemed him unserious.
“We do not participate in Twitter diplomacy,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. “We support serious approaches. We continue to believe that it is important not to take steps that could harm an already fragile situation.”
Indeed, the rich asshole has been his singularly incoherent self with regards to Syria, where Russia for years has played a central role in the country’s endless civil war. Just this morning, the rich asshole couldn’t seem to keep his stories straight.
Less than an hour after he taunted with his “smart!!” missile threat to Russia, the rich asshole seemed anxious to walk it all back, posting a tweet about how important it is for the U.S. to have close relations with Russia.
Soon after that, the rich asshole blamed special counsel Robert Mueller for America’s “bad blood” with Russia — not that fact that Russia attacked our democratic elections in 2016.
The Kremlin’s casual smackdown on Wednesday only seems to highlight the rich asshole’s weakening standing on the world stage.
On Tuesday, the rich asshole canceled his diplomatic trip to a summit in Latin America, which would have been his first trip to the region. The White House claimed it was so that the rich asshole could monitor the situation in Syria. But the rich asshole’s supposed monitoring has only consisted of him posting disjointed tweets.
The larger suspicion is that the rich asshole remains deeply rattled by the FBI’s raid on the office and home of the rich asshole’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen. And that’s why he called off his summit appearance.
Meanwhile, you get the feeling that Putin is enjoying the spectacle of the rich asshole’s slow-motion implosion.
the rich asshole administration weighs letting states drug test people who receive food assistance
The proposal is the latest in a line of efforts to destroy programs that offer assistance to the neediest among us.
The the rich asshole administration is considering a plan that would allow states to require Supplementary Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) — formerly known as food stamps — recipients to undergo drug testing in order to receive benefits, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
According the AP, the proposal would apply mostly to recipients who are able-bodied without dependents and applying to some specialized jobs. It’s a tactic many conservatives have advocated for in recent years, purportedly in an effort to save states money, but the move would leave many needy people without the resources they need. An official told the AP that about five percent of program recipients could be affected.
The AP also reported on Agriculture Department emails it obtained from February, in which officials said they were waiting for word from the White House about the timing of a possible drug testing announcement.
“I think we just have to be ready because my guess is we may get an hour’s notice instead of a day’s notice,” associate administrator of SNAP Jessica Shahin reportedly wrote.
Federal law does now allow states to make their own laws imposing restrictions on SNAP eligibility, though a number of states have tried. The idea has been a favorite of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), who asked the rich asshole administration to be able to drug test both SNAP recipients and Medicaid enrollees. Florida has tried to implement a similar program, though a federal appeals court in the state determined in 2014 that drug testing SNAP recipients would be unconstitutional.
Nonetheless, the rich asshole administration is looking to make it possible for states to do exactly that. Though the administration has not taken an official public position on SNAP, as the AP noted, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has promised to provide states with “greater control over SNAP.”
“As a former governor, I know first-hand how important it is for states to be given flexibility to achieve the desired goal of self-sufficiency for people,” he has said. “We want to provide the nutrition people need, but we also want to help them transition from government programs, back to work, and into lives of independence.”
The argument that drug testing for welfare programs will give states flexibility and save them money doesn’t actually pass the test, if you will. As ThinkProgress reported last April, drug testing for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) costs taxpayers more $1.3 million and identified just 369 drug users.
The plan allowing states to drug test SNAP recipients would be the latest in a line of the rich asshole administration efforts to restrict welfare programs. In recent months, the administration has considered plans that would allow states to implement work requirements and lifetime limits for Medicaid in the aim of allowing states “flexibility.”
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April 11, 2018
Florida Rep. Dennis Ross is the 39th House Republican to sprint for the exit.
On Wednesday, the ink had barely dried on the announcement that House Speaker Paul Ryan is not seeking re-election, when yet another House Republican joined him.
Republican Rep. Dennis Ross, a four-term congressman who represents Florida’s 15th Congressional District, informed his staff he was dropping his bid for another term.
“Eight years takes its time on you,” said Ross in an interview. “When you feel like a stranger in your hometown, it’s time to say, ‘There’s got to be an exit strategy at some point.'”
According to Daily Kos Elections, Ross is the 39th House Republican this cycle to announce retirement rather than face the blue wave.
That number doesn’t include Reps. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, Trent Franks of Arizona, Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania, and Blake Farenthold of Texas, who ultimately decided to resign outright rather than serve the remainder of their terms.
This announcement is a disaster for the GOP. Just as Ryan’s retirement shifted his congressional district’s rating in favor of Democrats, Ross’ retirement could give Democrats a shot at this seat.
Florida’s 15th District, which is northeast of the Tampa area and is centered in Lakeland, leans conservative — but not by much. the rich asshole only carried the district by 10 points, which is far less than he did in some other seats Democrats have flipped this year.
Seven Democrats have filed to run in this seat, including Navy veteran Andrew Learned and small business owner Phil Hornback.
According to the Florida Secretary of State’s Office, the only Republican left in the race as of Wednesday is Loretta Lax Miller, a “Constitutionalist” whose candidate website boasts about her desire to stop “Pizza Gate Falafel Gate no matter what you call it” on the home page. Unless another Republican steps up to run quickly, this race might end up very lopsided.
Day by day, as incumbents bail and Democrats step up, Republican prospects of holding onto the House only getting bleaker. The exit of Dennis Ross takes them a step closer to the risk of total wipeout.
Sarah Sanders’ incoherent explanation for the rich asshole’s bizarre warning to Russia
"Just because he does one thing doesn't mean he can't do a number of other actions as well."
During Wednesday’s White House news briefing, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders attempted to explain a cryptic tweet the rich asshole posted earlier in the day warning Russia about impending airstrikes in Syria.
the rich asshole’s tweet represents a complete reversal from what he was saying during the Obama years, when he relentlessly attacked the president for not being more unpredictable with his military moves. Within an hour of posting it, the rich asshole seemed to walk it back, indicating in another tweet that he still hopes to have warmer relations with Putin.
During Wednesday’s briefing, a reporter asked Sanders to clarify what exactly the rich asshole meant.
“What does ‘get ready Russia’ mean? Is the United States planning to target Russian assets or personnel in Syria as part of the attack that the president himself has said is coming?” a reporter said. “What does it mean?”
Sanders tried to dodge the question by saying a bunch of words that mean nothing.
“We are maintaining that we have a number of options, and all of those options are still on the table,” she said. “The final decision hasn’t been made on that front.”
A bit later, another reporter pressed Sanders to be more specific, noting that while she may want people to believe the rich asshole has left an array of options on the table, “when the president says ‘the missiles are coming,’ how is that anything but an announcement of a pending airstrike?”
Sanders’ response seemed to confirm that the rich asshole’s tweet should indeed be interpreted as indicating that airstrikes are imminent.
“That’s certainly one option, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only option or the only thing that the president may or may not do,” she said. “Just because he does one thing doesn’t mean he can’t do a number of other actions as well, and he certainly hasn’t laid out the timetable which would, ah, be broadcasting his intentions.”
On Monday, the rich asshole told reporters that “[w]e will be making some major decisions” about airstrikes in Syria “in the next 24 to 48 hours.” Wednesday’s press briefing came just a couple hours shy of that timeframe passing.
At another point during the briefing, Sanders indicated the White House hasn’t ruled out “direct military engagement” with Russia. She refused to answer a separate question about whether there’s anything Syria can still do to prevent a military strike from occurring.
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April 11, 2018
Republicans know they're in big trouble this November, and Paul Ryan bailing on Congress proves it.
Speaker Paul Ryan’s surprise retirement is an acknowledgement by the Republican Party that they face a bloodbath at the polls in the 2018 election, reports Politico’s Tim Alberta.
“Speaker Ryan is well-aware, and has been informed by his top political advisers, that this is going to be seen by some folks as a white flag of surrender,” Alberta explained on MSNBC.
Republicans realize “the House majority is already in jeopardy, and that by stepping aside, the speaker is essentially conceding the fact that Democrats will take over the House in November,” he added.
Republicans are in trouble.
Thanks in large part to the rich asshole’s unpopular presidency, and the Republican Party’s refusal to hold him accountable, voters are set to vote them out of power.
More than two dozen Republican members of Congress are retiring ahead of the building blue wave, with Ryan the most prominent of them all, and the election is still seven months away.
The House seat that Ryan himself holds now has as its leading Republican candidate the pro-Nazi Paul Nehlen, a sad statement on the precarious state of the GOP.
Things aren’t any better over in the Republican-controlled Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell admitted that Republicans face a “Category 3, 4 or 5” hurricane at the polls. Meanwhile, the Republican Party is furiously trying to attract donors just to hold on to its incredibly slim Senate majority.
Democratic voters, meanwhile, are energized and activated. They have already won seats on their home turf (New Jersey), swing states (Virginia), and in the reddest areas of America (Alabama).
Paul Ryan sees the blue wave coming, as do other Republicans.
Now they’re getting out of the way.
12 the rich asshole tweets about Syria that are very awkward right now
"What I am saying is stay out of Syria," the president now planning military strikes against Syria once said.
Almost one year to the day after he launched mostly symbolic airstrikes against Syria in response to a chemical attack against civilians, President the rich asshole provided Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his most important ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin, with a heads up about forthcoming missile strikes he’s planning to launch in retaliation for another chemical attack on Syrian civilians.
“Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!’ You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Animal who kills his people and enjoys it!” the rich asshole tweeted on Wednesday.
Within the hour, the rich asshole reversed course and was tweeting about his desire for improved relations with Russia. But his decision to give Assad and Putin a warning in the first place flies in the face of a talking point he’s used repeatedly since becoming president — that unlike Obama, he’s too smart to telegraph his military moves.
“One of the things I think you’ve noticed about me is: Militarily, I don’t like to say where I’m going and what I’m doing,” the rich asshole said in April 2017. “I’m not saying I’m doing anything one way or the other.”
That same month, the rich asshole told Fox News, “I don’t want to telegraph what I’m doing, or what I’m thinking. I’m not like other administrations, where they say we’re going to do this in four weeks and that. It doesn’t work that way.”
the rich asshole’s warning also represents a flip-flop from tweets he posted in August and September of 2013, back when he was a businessman who was trying to buddy up to Putin ahead of the Miss Universe pageant that took place in Moscow in November of that year.
the rich asshole repeatedly attacked President Obama for signaling that he was considering military action against the Assad regime.
Not only did the rich asshole think Obama was blowing it by telegraphing his military moves, but he was also very opposed to the idea of striking Syria in the first place.
@walaa_3ssaf No, dopey, I would not go into Syria, but if I did it would be by surprise and not blurted all over the media like fools.
At one point, the rich asshole framed his opposition to military intervention in Syria around concerns that it could lead to a proxy war with Russia, and hence the outbreak of a worldwide conflict — a risk that is still very much in play today.
the rich asshole also claimed that the Bush administration officials who led us into a disastrous war in Iraq shouldn’t be at the table when decisions about using military force are made.
Fast forward four years, and President the rich asshole is weighing military strikes against Assad while receiving input from new National Security Adviser John Bolton — one of the Bush-era officials responsible for the “waste of blood and treasure” in Iraq.
Louie Gohmert accidentally debunks the rich asshole’s claim that Mueller is a conflicted partisan
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) slammed Robert Mueller for his successful 2006 investigation into a corrupt Democratic congressman.
Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) fiercely attacked Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s credibility on Wednesday, calling him a “disaster” who “did more damage to the FBI than all the other FBI directors put together since J. Edgar Hoover.”
But Gohmert’s reasoning directly undermines President the rich asshole’s claim earlier in the day that Mueller is a partisan, conflicted “Democrat loyalist.”
Gohmert told Fox News that Mueller hurt the FBI when the Bureau investigated then-Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) in 2006, during the George W. Bush administration. After the FBI raided Jefferson’s office and home, they found he had taken $100,000 in bribe money — $90,000 of which which was discovered in his freezer. The Democrat was convicted on 11 counts in 2009 and sentenced to a lengthy jail term.
But 12 years later, Gohmert is still upset that the raid violated the separation of powers.
“I read the affidavit in support of a search warrant that they got into bust into a congressional office. Unprecedented in over 200 years,” he said. “The way you handle a conflict of interest with a congressional privilege being even higher than attorney client. You always would go to the ethics attorneys here at Capitol Hill and they would take all the things from the congressman’s office and sort through.”
Gohmert said the FBI’s raid on Jefferson’s office was about Mueller sending a message that “you yahoos on Capitol Hill, we are bigger, we’ll threaten you any time we want to.” He said Mueller’s current investigation into the rich asshole is no different.
But by attacking Mueller for his successful investigation of a Democratic politician who was convicted on multiple corruption charge, Gohmert inadvertently destroyed the rich asshole’s argument that Mueller is some sort of Democratic partisan trying to prosecute an innocent man.
Justice Department halts legal aid for detained immigrants facing deportation
A program advising immigrants in deportation proceedings comes to a halt.
The Department of Justice will temporarily halt and review a program providing detained immigrants with legal advice and assistance, the latest move in a series of crackdowns on immigration and immigrant rights more broadly by the rich asshole administration.
The Washington Post’s Maria Sacchetti reported Tuesday night that the Executive Office for Immigration Review intends to “conduct efficiency reviews which have not taken place in six years.” The implications will be immediate: officials told the Vera Institute of Justice that the organization’s government-backed Legal Orientation Program (LOP) will be paused beginning this month. Vera works with the 18 other nonprofits to administer information sessions for thousands of immigrants every year, assisting some 53,000 immigrants in 2017 across numerous states including those bordering Mexico.
The Justice Department established in 2012 that the Legal Orientation Program has saved the government $17.8 million a year and offered “a cost-effective and efficient way to promote due process” in addition to cutting detention time by an average of six days. But an immigration official told the Post that the government is conducting the audit to determine whether the program offers duplicate services that could be cut in a cost-saving measure.
“Two out of five legal orientation programs have been paused in order to conduct an audit of effectiveness, which has never occurred for one program and has not occurred in six years for the other,” an official said on behalf of the Justice Department.
The government also indicated it would look into the help Vera provides non-detained immigrants also facing deportation. In the LOP, lawyers explain to detainees how the court system works and offer advise on how to proceed, in addition to referring them to low-cost or pro-bono legal representation.
Executive Director of the National Immigrant Justice Center Mary Meg McCarthy, whose organization works with Vera, slammed the Justice Department’s decision.
The program “is a life line for the more than 40,000 immigrants who face complex deportation proceedings from remote detention facilities every day,” McCarthy said in a statement.
“Terminating the LOP and help desk program is a deliberate attempt to eliminate due process from the deportation process,” she continued.
President the rich asshole’s administration has overseen a series of sweeping crackdowns on immigration, targeting the H-1B visa program for highly-skilled workers along with the diversity visa program, which benefits immigrants from countries underrepresented in the United States. the rich asshole has also ordered troops to guard the U.S.-Mexico border, despite little indication that the area poses a danger to U.S. citizens.
Undocumented immigrants have received the bulk of the administration’s ire: the White House has targeted so-called sanctuary cities and the rich asshole ended the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in September. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced last week that the Justice Department will impose quotas on immigration judges in an effort to accelerate deportations. Judges will be asked to clear 700 cases per year in an effort to clear a backlog of more than 600,000 cases.
Vera has tangled with the government on immigration issues before now. The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) reportedly warned the organization not to inform undocumented minors about their right to an abortion. Scott Lloyd, ORR’s director, has made headlines in recent months for his efforts to stop undocumented pregnant minors from obtaining abortions, spurring legal action by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Lloyd is known to be strongly opposed to abortion. HHS later said the government’s instructions to Vera were a “miscommunication.”
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