Did you notice trump has been completely losing his mind, freaking out over twitter, and just generally panicking? I am guessing you did.
It’s been hard to miss.
Although it is scary and disturbing, please keep in mind WHY this is happening.
This is happening because he has no other defense about this. It is clear that the walls are closing in and he has no other defense.
Roger Stone is going to be indicted (and likely soon). All the dirty deeds done with Michael Cohen are going to come out. More illegal activities involving Jr. came to light.
And that is above and beyond all the damning info there is already re: Russia/Trump team conspiracy. There were 75+ CONTACTS WITH RUSSIA-LINKED OPERATIVES that we know about. And there is already a great deal of evidence of conspiracy.
It is no wonder he is completely losing his mind about this investigation. It is not going to end well for him.
Trump is freaking out *because* the truth is going to come out.
His only defense is the defense of the truly and wholly f-ed “I was set up. The cops are the crooks!” And he is using that defense.
But remember, the other side’s story has not yet come out. Mueller is playing his cards close to his chest. When the public hears the full story, many, many people will be shocked and will turn on this administration.
Remember, when the reports come out from law enforcement in ALL of these cases, they will be greeted by a public in which 87% of the country already thinks trump is a liar.
It will get uglier. It will get more stressful. But the TRUTH will come out. There is just no avoiding it at this point.
Rosenstein is Playing Trump Because He Knows How This Will End
Why It Makes Sense for Rod Rosenstein to Appease Trump
Trump’s bullying has grown louder and his threats and demands more concrete. On the other hand, the investigation has been conducted for a year now and no matter what the president does, it will be very hard to kill the investigation, and especially the many fruits of it that we do not yet know about. Also, the political fallout from firing someone connected to the investigation is greater now than a year ago, and will continue to be significant until the midterms, which are still six months away
But the main reason they appear to be staying on is to see the investigation through. It would disrupt the investigation for an uncertain period, and in an uncertain but probably bad way if Rosenstein, Wray, or Mueller left for any reason. That’s why I think we should support them in their decision to stay on, take the heat, and see the investigation to its completion, or at least as far towards completion as possible.
For Now, We'll Trust That Rod Rosenstein Is Playing the President* Like a Five-Cent Violin
The indications are the Deputy AG is a crafty bureaucrat.
Every day that Robert Mueller and his tunnel rats continue to labor under the foul mire that is this administration* is a day when the White House loses. Every day in which Mueller goes home at night still in the same job is a day when the president* is one day closer to possibly losing his.
I’m going to give Rosenstein credit for being a gifted bureaucratic infighter and survivor who has played the president* like a five-cent violin. (There are precedents supporting this view to be found just this morning.) There are a dozen ways for Rosenstein to slow-play the review of any classified documents. I think the president* got played on behalf of all of us.
And this opinion
If Rosenstein didn’t think Mueller had anything. If he didn’t think this investigation needed, against all pressures, to be protected, he wouldn’t be doing all he could to protect it. Big things are coming and he is doing all he can to get us there.
News that is Scaring the Heck out of trump
Donald Trump Jr. and Trump aides were reportedly open to foreign help in 2016 election beyond Russia
remember→ getting foreign help in an election is ILLEGAL
According to a report from the New York Times, the president’s eldest son and other aides met with an emissary for the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia who said the countries’ leaders wanted to help Donald Trump win.
The men met at Trump Tower in New York, according to a report from Mark Mazzetti, Ronen Bergman, and David Kirkpatrick. Nader told Trump Jr. that the princes of Saudi Arabia and UAE were “eager” to help Trump win the White House, saying they believed he was a strong leader who would “fill the power vacuum” they thought President Barack Obama had left in the Middle East. Zamel’s company, Psy-Group, had put together a proposal for an online manipulation program to help elect Trump using thousands of fake accounts to promote him on Facebook.
It’s illegal for foreign governments or people to get involved in US elections. The Trump campaign seemed open to it.
There are multiple reasons the report matters. It indicates that it wasn’t just Russia that was offering to help the Trump campaign ahead of the 2016 election. It also raises questions about what sort of repayment the Middle East countries in question might have received for their help. And it demonstrates the Trump campaign’s reckless, if not nefarious, attitude toward campaign laws in the United States.
This is a big big big big deal. And Mueller has all of this. Remember, Nader is cooperating with Mueller.
Someone else this won’t end well for? Roger Stone:
Roger Stone 'prepared' for Mueller indictment
Roger Stone, a longtime Republican operative and ally of President Donald Trump, said Sunday he is “prepared” to be indicted as part of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation if that’s where the probe leads.
and another person in trouble: Michael Cohen Has Become a Trumpworld Pariah: ‘Time to Keep a Distance’
Two prominent allies of the president, who also know Cohen well, told The Daily Beast they’ve begun ignoring or declining requests from cable news bookers to discuss Cohen on-air. “It’s time to keep a distance,” one of these people said.
Numerous other Trump associates, veterans of the 2016 campaign or presidential transition, and White House surrogates said they’re avoiding any phone contact with Cohen out of concern that his line might be tapped, and that direct interaction could involve them in the scandal that has enveloped Cohen and the influence-peddling operation he set up in the wake of Trump’s election victory.
The feds, Trump allies say, are treating Cohen as if he were a sketchy mafia lawyer. The White House wants nothing to do with him, and begrudges him for imperiling the Trump presidency with his antics (whether sanctioned by Trump or not). The president remains privately skeptical that his loyalist pit bull won’t end up snitching on him under a threat of serious jail time.
Flip! Flip! Flip!
And even thought it is stressful for us to watch, Trump's disgraceful investigation order via Twitter may haunt him
In the end, Trump's attempt to embarrass his own Department of Justice and FBI is likely to wound only his own presidency. If Inspector General Horowitz makes the highly unlikely finding that the DOJ and the FBI acted criminally in their conduct of a counterintelligence operation related to the Trump campaign, a criminal referral will be necessary.
Sunday's Twitter order to commence a new investigation to smear the Obama administration is likely to backfire and extend the Mueller investigation. It may also cause Mueller to look at an interesting new idea -- was the presidential order to commence such a frivolous investigation itself really an attempt to block the progress of the Mueller investigation and obstruct justice?
It might be the one piece of evidence needed by the independent counsel to prove corrupt intent as required by the obstruction of justice statute. The law of unintended consequences is a dangerous thing.
and Super lawyer strikes again!
Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani made up the Sept. 1 deadline he said special counsel Robert Mueller had placed on Mueller's investigation into whether Trump obstructed the Russia investigation, a source familiar with the investigation told Reuters.
The source called the deadline “entirely made up” and “another apparent effort to pressure the special counsel to hasten the end of his work,” Reuters reported.
So, trump’s behavior is totally awful to watch and seeing the spineless Rs in power refuse to their job of oversight is disgusting. I get how scary and stressful this is. I totally do.
However, the truth will come out. What we are seeing is someone who desperately wants to avoid that and has no good options left.
In the meantime, our focus needs to remain on November:
Great Election News
Young People Keep Marching After Parkland, This Time to Register to Vote
The pace of new voter registrations among young people in crucial states is accelerating, a signal that school shootings this year — and the anger and political organizing in their wake — may prove to be more than ephemeral displays of activism.
They could even help shape the outcome of the midterm elections. If voters in their teens and 20s vote in greater numbers than usual, as many promised during nationwide marches for gun control this spring, the groundswell could affect close races in key states like Arizona and Florida, where there will be competitive races for governor, the Senate and a number of House districts in November.
Let’s continue to do all we can to flip the house and senate and state legislatures in November. This is something you CAN control. It is a firm action you can make to save our country. It will make you feel better and you will be a part of this great movement. Here are some things you can do:
Donate to ActBlue
Donate to Swing Left
Send postcards to voters in other districts
Sign up to go door to door in your district
Sign up to drive people to the polls
Find your local Democratic Party and volunteer!
Democrats Are Amazing!
Democrats’ newest midterm pitch: A crackdown on corruption
Democrats are preparing to highlight allegations of corruption surrounding the Trump administration — and a legislative agenda to prevent future abuses — as they continue rolling out their party platform ahead of November’s midterm elections.
This is a GREAT message for our party!
The first planks of the “A Better Deal” platform, released last year, focused on the party’s economic agenda. Now, with questions about pay-to-play politics swirling around President Trump and his current and former aides, Democrats are set to introduce anti-corruption proposals Monday billed as “A Better Deal for Our Democracy.”
According to a senior Democratic official familiar with the announcement, the new agenda will include proposals that would eliminate loopholes that allow lobbyists and lawmakers to buy and sell influence without the public’s knowledge. The message: Elect Democrats in November to “clean up the chaos and corruption in Washington.”
More reporting on this → Democrats take aim at Trump scandals in midterm message
Democratic leaders will roll out the latest plank of their messaging platform Monday, focusing on a package of anti-corruption bills they say would directly target "pay-to-play" accusations linked to the White House — and some of the most controversial players in President Donald Trump’s orbit — if enacted.
“The corruption, the conflicts of interest in this administration are important, not only because it’s not the right way to do things, but because of what it means,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said at a recent POLITICO Playbook event.
The anti-corruption plank will focus on three key areas, according to a Democratic official who briefed POLITICO: overhauling campaign finance rules, tightening current ethics laws and strengthening voting laws by cracking down on discrimination at the polls and gerrymandering.
and at the same time that the Rs are trying to turn the clock back, Ds are embracing the diversity that is America: black Dems seek big gains in 2018
After years of brush-offs by local and national Democratic groups, donors and operatives are putting new muscle behind black candidates in the 2018 midterms.
A network of Democratic donors and operatives are organizing an ambitious effort to elect African-American candidates for governor and Congress in 2018 — politicians who have often been overlooked by the party’s predominantly white leadership in past years.
They see the 2018 elections as a crucial opportunity to elect a wave of black candidates, especially to governorships, where only two African-Americans have been elected in U.S. history but a half-dozen prominent hopefuls are running this year. Many organizers also see running strong black candidates as a key way to inspire higher African-American voter turnout that will boost the whole Democratic Party in November.
Surge of female candidates reshapes Democratic Party
'Women are leading the resistance’ into 2020.
A string of victories for women in primary elections across the country is beginning to reshape the face of the Democratic Party and accelerate a conversation about its future — with consequences that reach well beyond the 2018 midterm election horizon.
The prospect of a record number of female candidates on the November ballot — and running for president in 2020 — has Democratic leaders leaning into increasingly explicit, gender-based appeals and focusing renewed attention on education, health care, sexual harassment and other issues perceived as critical to women.
The party itself is casting women as a focal point of the pre-presidential campaign, ahead of a presidential primary season in which women are expected to prove critical — as volunteers, donors and most important, as a bulk of voters.
“I can tell you, women are leading the resistance,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, the New York senator and prospective presidential contender, said at a Center for American Progress event in Washington last week. “A year and a half after our generation’s own women’s march, the grassroots energy is growing, it is not fading. And women are holding our democracy together in these dangerous times.”
Wouldn’t we all love to take this a-hole down? Ad campaign whacks Devin Nunes
House Intelligence chair Rep. Devin Nunes of California has become a GOP hero and a Fox News regular in his role as the president’s congressional pit bull on the Russia investigation. But a new Democratic ad campaign aims to unseat him by suggesting that he’s advancing his own stardom in Washington while neglecting his real job of representing his constituents back home in California’s Central Valley.
“The poll numbers in this district betray the reality of what’s happening on the ground,’’ says Katie Merrill, the Democratic political strategist advising the Fight Back California PAC. While Nunes’ support among hardline GOP voters remains strong, she says that independent voters and GOP women in the district are among the rising number of Central Valley residents “who are very concerned about Nunes spending all his time on Washington scandals and not paying attention to the district,’’ where issues like water, and the struggling economy are key.
Fueling Democrats’ hunger to take out Nunes is what many see as an unexpectedly cash-flush challenge from Democrat Andrew Janz. The Fresno County prosecutor has“raised a tremendous amount of money, he’s home grown, raised in the district three generations,’’ Merrill said. “There’s no mistaking Andrew Janz for a San Francisco liberal. He’s is of the Valley — and he is putting away the bad guys.”
While Janz’s bid remains a longshot, local and national Democrats are increasingly energized to take out Nunes.
So keep your eyes on the prize. November is our goal. Everything else is a distraction.
Helping us out a bit:
Republicans are a mess
‘Just pure frustration’: How months of inaction led 20 Republicans to take a stand on immigration
Denham and nearly two dozen of his fellow Republican lawmakers have now joined together, spurred by pressure back home and frustrated by the GOP leadership’s lack of action on a heated issue that has long stymied the party. They could represent the best chance that dreamers — beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program — now have to secure legal protections under President Trump.
By undertaking a rare maneuver to force consideration of legislation over the objections of the Republican leadership, this group has rekindled a sputtering immigration debate in Congress and raised the possibility that a bipartisan compromise could emerge from the deeply divided House, giving President Trump what could be his only opportunity to sign an immigration bill into law this year.
They have done so by defying House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) and other top Republican leaders who fear that unleashing such an internally divisive issue in an election year could hurt the GOP’s chances in November’s midterms and potentially risk the party’s majority in the House.
This is good news for at least three reasons. First, and most important, this may actually lead to help for the dreamers. That would be amazing. Second, this is another sign that republicans are a mess. They are having increasingly tough times holding their coalition together. And finally, they are right about this hurting them in November. And anything that hurts them in November is good news.
Has Paul Ryan Already Lost Control of the House?
House Speaker Paul Ryan lost on Friday. He lost a high-profile vote on one of his “legacy” projects, the latest farm bill, which would have imposed additional work requirements on food stamp recipients. The decision to pursue those “welfare” cuts had lost him all Democratic and many moderate Republican votes from the outset. His lost authority on the issue of immigration, meanwhile, had led many of those same moderates—and a host of others—to circumvent him in an effort to force votes on immigration bills. The Freedom Caucus, which takes pride in its ability to procedurally out-crazy all other blocs, killed the farm bill after not getting its own, hard-line immigration demands to counter the moderates. With moderate and far-right Republicans opposing Ryan, the speaker stood in the back of the chamber when his farm bill went down on Friday, lost to himself.
and this bit of possible good news:
Blankenship to wage third-party bid after losing primary
West Virginia coal baron and former prisoner Don Blankenship announced on Monday that he plans to launch a long-shot third-party Senate bid after finishing a distant third in this month’s Republican primary.
Blankenship said he would run in the general election as the Constitution Party nominee. But he would need to overcome a “sore loser” law in West Virginia that prevents failed candidates in a main-party primary from refiling to run in the general election under another party’s banner.
Blankenship said he’s prepared to challenge that law in court if needed. If he’s successful, his move that could hurt the GOP’s prospects of unseating Democratic incumbent Joe Manchin in November.
please please please please please let this happen!
And in Rs turning on each other (as usual these days) Trump is taking trash from the immoral/awful branch of his party for giving in on China —> Bannon: Mnuchin is giving China everything they want on trade
Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon blasted Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Monday, criticizing Mnuchin's attempt to call a truce over a brewing trade war with China.
Bannon told Bloomberg that President Trump “changed the dynamic regarding China, but in one weekend Secretary Mnuchin has given it away."
Bannon's comments came after Mnuchin said on "Fox News Sunday" that the U.S. had put the tariffs for China on hold while they try to execute the framework.
Bannon, of course, is framing this in terms of Mnuchin, because he is a kissass desperate to worm his way back into trump’s “heart” but this is really a dig on Trump.
this has left Trump in a pickle that he is not enjoying. He wants to give China everything (seemingly due to bribery and cowardice), but his isolationist buddies are getting mad at him — > Trump is scrambling to justify his trade concessions to China
President Donald Trump fired off a series of tweets Monday morning to defend against criticism that he’s being too soft on China when it comes to trade.
Critics — including some in Trump’s own party — immediately panned the statement as a sign that Trump was rolling over too quickly in talks with Beijing. “China is winning the negotiations. Their concessions are things they planned to do anyways,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) tweeted Monday morning. “In exchange they get no tariffs, can keep stealing intellectual property & can keep blocking our companies while they invest in the U.S. without limits.”
Trump is in an awkward spot. On one hand, it appears that he may have at least temporarily warded off the possibility of a trade war with the world’s second-largest economy. On the other hand, the vague terms of the agreement that are publicly known seem to suggest that Trump hasn’t managed to deliver big wins for the US despite his much-touted dealmaking prowess.
Other Good News
Coming to Netflix: The Obamas Sign Deal to Produce Show
Former President Barack Obama formally announced on Monday a multiyear production deal with Netflix in which he and the former first lady, Michelle Obama, will produce television shows and films for the streaming service.
The deal will give Mr. Obama an international television platform during his post-presidency, allowing him to reach millions of people in the United States and internationally. The couple has created “Higher Ground Productions,” a company to produce content for Netflix, the streaming service announced.
yay! more Obamas please!
Thanks, Meghan Markle, We Needed That
We went to church on Saturday, all of us, and caught the Meghan and Harry spirit.
Who knew the royal wedding was going to be so black? Who knew it would be so American?
And then there was the happy couple, the love we saw on full display.
Suddenly, I thought about 11-year-old Tshego Lengolo, the British daughter of a South African immigrant, who sees Meghan Markle, and thinks of herself as a princess for the first time, too. “There is nothing that racist people can do about it,” she told The Times this month.
I thought of that photograph years ago of President Barack Obama with little Jacob Philadelphia, bowing down so this black child could know that the president’s hair was just like his own.
And then I began to cry.
This is exactly what I wanted to avoid, really, this buying-in, this excruciatingly fragile hopefulness about what is possible for a black woman, and about what is possible for Americans.
Meghan Markle declares herself a feminist on the British monarchy’s website
Meghan Markle does not appear to be reining in her feminist views since her traditional-yet-modern nuptials to Prince Harry.
On her new page on the British monarchy’s official website — in pulled out quotes — the woman now known as the Duchess of Sussex says, “I am proud to be a woman and a feminist,” referencing a line from a 2015 speech she gave at a United Nations event.
‘The Onion’ Has Finally Read Michael Cohen’s 2013 Email Regarding His Client Donald Trump And Would Like To Discuss The Matter Further At His Convenience
Our editorial board would like to formally announce that we have finally read Michael Cohen’s 2013 email regarding his client Donald Trump and would like to discuss the matter further at his convenience.
In 2013, we published a piece by Mr. Trump titled “When You’re Feeling Low, Just Remember I’ll Be Dead In About 15 Or 20 Years.” Mr. Trump’s column, which was thoroughly vetted by our editors, simply endeavored to offer any of The Onion’s over 10 billion readers who had found themselves depressed about the state of the world a hopeful reminder that he would mentally and physically deteriorate and most likely die very soon.
Pope Francis tells gay man: 'God made you like that and loves you like that'
A victim of clerical sexual abuse has said that Pope Francis told him that God made him gay and that his sexuality "does not matter."
Juan Carlos Cruz, a survivor of sexual abuse, spent three days with Pope Francis at the Vatican in April, in which he discussed his sexuality and the abuse he suffered at the hands of a Chilean priest.
Describing his encounter with the Pope to CNN, Cruz said: "You know Juan Carlos, that does not matter. God made you like this. God loves you like this. The Pope loves you like this and you should love yourself and not worry about what people say."
Oh my lord! Can you even imagine, if someone told you 30, 20, or even 10 years ago that the head of the catholic church would say such a thing? My friends, the world is changing and, in many ways, it is changing for the better. The arc of justice, you guys, the arc of justice.
NYC Mayor de Blasio Tells Cops to End Arrests for Pot Smoking
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has told the city’s police chiefs that it’s time to stop arresting people who are caught smoking marijuana in public, CNN reports. The mayor reportedly told the NYPD this weekend to issue summonses for smoking pot in public instead of making arrests. The NYPD has already set up a working group to review its marijuana enforcement procedures, but the mayor made it clear this weekend that ending public marijuana smoking arrests is one of the changes he wants. However, any changes to NYPD’s policy on smoking in public would not take effect until the end of the summer. De Blasio’s call to end arrests comes after Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. said he would end prosecution of marijuana possession and smoking cases, starting in August.
That is it for today. Keep hope. Keep faith. Keep being kind to one another and doing what you can for November. I know this is exhausting and discouraging, but America has seen tough times before. We can make it out of this if we work very hard and stick together.
As always, I am super proud and super lucky to be in this with all of you. ❤️ ✊ ❤️