*** Just for fun — the GNR from two years ago today ***
Well yesterday was quite a news day for all of us! Lots of fun to compile it. And although there is a lot of other good stuff, I had to start with the brawl of the scumbags!
Trump and Bannon are fighting!
and it is AMAZING! Trump is claiming that Bannon had nothing to do with his presidency and wasn’t invited to meetings.
LOL
That is clearly not true but it is also AWESOME. Please remember that a year ago, many of us (me included) were losing our minds that Bannon would have a big role in the white house. Remember that even though Priebus got COS:
But the Priebus appointment, announced in mid-November, put Bannon on a co-equal level to the new chief of staff.
And that was terrifying! Because Bannon is a white supremacist piece of shit. Remember? Remember how we called and called our reps and begged them to do something to get Bannon out of the WH?
And then Bannon did all kinds of interviews with his stupid white board and he ordered the muslim ban and he was everywhere working hard and we were so distressed — with good reason! We all called him President Bannon because it sure seemed like he was (and, in all honesty, to troll Trump).
well, my friends, not only did that pile of poop get fired in less than a year but then he went on to lose ALABAMA for them and now even Trump won’t talk to him! Hee Hee
And his awful website is full of readers picking sides and fighting with one another. Hee Hee
He is done. Finally and forever we can let go of this fiction that he is an evil genius who will take over the world. Bannon is DONE. We are all still here fighting and Bannon is DONE.
And THAT is GREAT NEWS! :-)
Russia Noose Tightens on Trump
I know it is scary and disconcerting and troubling when Trump goes crazy on Twitter. But don’t forget that it also always means that he is freaking out and with good reason. As cited below, Trump can’t stop Mueller and more and more info is coming out that looks worse and worse for him.
Trump Tower meeting with Russians 'treasonous', Bannon says in explosive book
Donald Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon has described the Trump Tower meeting between the president’s son and a group of Russians during the 2016 election campaign as “treasonous” and “unpatriotic”, according to an explosive new book seen by the Guardian.
Bannon, speaking to author Michael Wolff, warned that the investigation into alleged collusion with the Kremlin will focus on money laundering and predicted: “They’re going to crack Don Junior like an egg on national TV.”
Even more important: Bannon: Zero chance that Trump didn't know about son's Russian meeting
the Breitbart News executive chair and former White House chief strategist, said there was "zero" chance that President Trump was not aware of a controversial 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between one of his sons and a Russian lawyer, according to a new book.
According to MSNBC, which tweeted an excerpt from Michael Wolff's upcoming book, "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House," Bannon said that it was likely Donald Trump Jr. took the lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya and others up to then-candidate Trump's office during the meeting.
“The chance that Don. Jr did not walk these Jumos up to his father’s office on the 26th floor is zero," the excerpt reads.
although it is hard to know if we should believe that Bannon actually said that, it is notable that Breitbart also published this information and did it WITHOUT any “I didn’t say that” alongside it. AND It is notable that Trump freaked out and lashed out at Bannon. All of which makes me believe it more.
Oh and check out this (possibly true) tidbit from the book:
Wolff reports that a spokesman for Trump's legal team left the job because he feared possible obstruction of justice related to a statement drafted aboard Air Force One that defended Donald Trump Jr.'s meeting with a Russian lawyer in June 2016.
"Mark Corallo was instructed not to speak to the press, indeed not to even answer his phone. Later that week, Corallo, seeing no good outcome-and privately confiding that he believed the meeting on Air Force One represented a likely obstruction of justice-quit. (The Jarvanka side would put it out that Corallo was fired.)"
well that sounds like good news!
Stressed about Manafort’s lawsuit? Don’t be — Paul Manafort’s Ridiculous Lawsuit Against Robert Mueller Is a Pure Publicity Stunt
His lawsuit is almost certain to fail. Indeed, it is so legally tenuous that it is best understood as a political statement meant to frame Manafort as a victim of unlawful prosecutorial overreach.
And in a really important story yesterday, Fusion GPS is bringing their A game and tearing down Republican counter-arguments:
Fusion GPS tears Republicans a new one in the NYT and it is beautiful
Republicans have refused to release full transcripts of our firm’s testimony, even as they selectively leak details to media outlets on the far right. It’s time to share what our company told investigators.
We don’t believe the Steele dossier was the trigger for the F.B.I.’s investigation into Russian meddling. As we told the Senate Judiciary Committee in August, our sources said the dossier was taken so seriously because it corroborated reports the bureau had received from other sources, including one inside the Trump camp.
and this:
Yes, we hired Mr. Steele, a highly respected Russia expert. But we did so without informing him whom we were working for and gave him no specific marching orders beyond this basic question: Why did Mr. Trump repeatedly seek to do deals in a notoriously corrupt police state that most serious investors shun?
What came back shocked us. Mr. Steele’s sources in Russia (who were not paid) reported on an extensive — and now confirmed — effort by the Kremlin to help elect Mr. Trump president. Mr. Steele saw this as a crime in progress and decided he needed to report it to the F.B.I.
the craven response of many republicans to this investigation is not good, but it also isn’t news. What IS good news is that people are fighting back against it. Go Fusion GPS!
finally, an important reminder:
The President Can’t Kill the Mueller Investigation
the political appointees in the Justice Department who are connected to the Mueller investigation have shown that they follow the rules and norms of the department despite the president’s wishes otherwise. This is all an amazing (though widely unappreciated) testament to DOJ’s independence and the rule of law. I think the mechanisms that worked so well in 2017 will keep working to see the investigation through, no matter what steps Trump takes to stop it.
If Trump wished to stop the Mueller investigation, he couldn’t just tweet a declaration that it is over. The investigation is guided by a set of Justice Department regulations that Rosenstein deemed “applicable to the Special Counsel” in his appointment Order.
These are very demanding legal criteria for Rosenstein to terminate Mueller or elements of his investigation. But Rosenstein does not think Mueller is close to meeting them.
Note that my confidence that Trump cannot “get away with” killing the Mueller investigation ultimately rests on two factors: the good faith of Trump political appointees to follow the law and the political reaction if Trump acted to try to circumvent their good faith adherence to the law. These might seem like weak reeds. But at bottom, as we learned in Watergate, they are what make constitutional principles operate against a president.
In 2017 these mechanisms worked remarkably well.
Democrats looking Strong
Doug Jones sworn in on Wednesday, shrinking GOP Senate majority
Democrat Doug Jones was sworn in today as Alabama’s newest U.S. senator, reducing the Republican advantage to 51-49 and giving his party more room to impede President Trump’s 2018 legislative agenda.
Jones is already playing an outsized role in Senate politics. His presence allows Democrats to block any Trump nominee, or any budget bill, by winning over just two Republicans. (If one Republican defects, Vice President Pence can break a tie.) Senator Republican aides privately conceded that Jones’s vote will make it nearly impossible to take another run at repealing the Affordable Care Act and may quiet talk of a major entitlement reform push this year.
Itching for a fight, Dems vow to hold the line
The January battle to keep the government open is the fight Democrats have been itching for.
In a Tuesday letter to her troops, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) laid out the party’s top priorities heading into the fight. The Democrats will “insist” on parity between defense and nondefense spending hikes, Pelosi wrote, while pressing “firmly” to protect the young immigrants affected by President Trump’s move to dismantle the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Pelosi also promised a tough fight over new funding for veterans, pensions, the opioid crisis, health research, disaster aid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
“Democrats are focused on fulfilling the many long-overdue, bipartisan priorities facing the American people,” she said.
Democrats Outline Demands as Threat of Shutdown Looms
Democratic demands are ambitious, topped by a legislative shield for the young undocumented immigrants whose Obama-era protection from deportation was ended by Mr. Trump. They are also pushing for broader intervention in the opioid epidemic, a boost for veterans’ care, disaster relief to hurricane-stricken areas, and financing for the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
Yes, Democrats absolutely should campaign on anger at Trump
they’re going to get a lot of lectures in the news media about how they shouldn’t let their rage at President Trump take over the primary process. We’ll be hearing this from “centrist” commentators, of course, but also from concern trolls on the right and even some liberals sincerely worried that Democrats will be led down the path to defeat if they’re guided only by their anger.
We’ll hear that this year, too, with regard to the midterm elections. Democrats need a positive vision! They can’t just criticize the president! Voters want to know what they’ll do instead!
It’s baloney.
To be clear, I’m not saying Democratic candidates shouldn’t have a policy vision. They should, and they will. They’re Democrats — they love nothing more than putting together meaty position papers detailing all the policy changes they’ll make if they get the chance. That’s one thing we don’t have to worry about.
But if Democratic voters wind up asking themselves, “Which candidate really gets my juices flowing when she starts railing against Trump?” when they’re choosing among their many options, that’s actually an excellent criterion to pick their next standard-bearer.
The Resistance is winning important battles
the diminishment of Bannon is a huge victory for us but it is NOT the only one. Another huge victory:
Trump Disbands Commission on Voter Fraud
President Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday evening to disband a White House commission investigating claims of voter fraud, ending an inquiry started after he falsely claimed that unauthorized votes had cost him the popular vote in the presidential election.
Mr. Trump cast blame for the commission’s demise on the refusal by several states to turn over voter information to the group. He said he made the decision despite “substantial evidence of voter fraud,” but experts generally agree such fraud is rare.
This is great news! Remember how freaked out we all were when he set this up? Remember all the calls we made on this? All the pressure we put on our states to not comply? IT WORKED!!! WE DID THIS!!!
From the National Review!: We Were Wrong about Stop-and-Frisk
Today in New York City, use of stop-and-frisk, which the department justified via the 1968 Terry v. Ohio Supreme Court ruling, has crashed. Yet the statistics are clear: Crime is lower than ever. It’s possible that crime would be even lower had stop-and-frisk been retained, but that’s moving the goalposts. I and others argued that crime would rise. Instead, it fell. We were wrong.
U.S. judge orders government to release Iraqis or grant bond hearings
A U.S. judge ordered the government on Tuesday to either release Iraqi immigrants it arrested last year or grant them bond hearings, in the latest judicial curb on the Trump administration’s efforts to tighten U.S. immigration.
Bill de Blasio declares a ‘new progressive era’ in New York
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) began his second term Monday by decrying a “new dawn of divisiveness” in the United States and suggesting that “a new progressive era” had begun in the country’s largest city.
“A society where only the 1 percent can get ahead is truly a house divided against itself,” de Blasio said. “It is a reality that cannot be sustained.”
In State of State speech, Cuomo vows to sue federal government over tax bill
We all know I am not a huge Cuomo fan but his state of the state was GREAT. Lots of great stuff in there from protecting the poor to protecting progressive states and our values.
And the word ‘progressive” keeps coming up in speeches by our politicians. And it comes up as a badge of honor. As someone old enough to remember how “liberal” was used as a dirty word for DECADES this is an AMAZING departure. I truly believe we are entering into a more progressive age. It is just around the corner. The old racist white guys may have held on a little longer than we liked, but it is NOT going to last!!!
Other Bad News for Trump
Orrin Hatch, Utah Senator, to Retire, Opening Path for Mitt Romney
Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah, the longest-serving Senate Republican, announced Tuesday that he would retire at the end of the year, rebuffing personal pleas from President Trump to seek an eighth term and paving the way for Mitt Romney, a critic of Mr. Trump’s, to run for the seat.
Why likely Sen. Mitt Romney could be a real headache for Trump
no Republican criticized Trump as harshly as Romney did on the 2016 campaign trail. Yes, Romney then sought to lead Trump's State Department and said some nice things about Trump, but he was turned down for that job, which may make the fire burn even hotter.
And most importantly, unlike other Republicans in red states, Romney wouldn't necessarily feel the need to temper his opposition to Trump in the Senate. Utah is about equally as anti-Trump as it is pro-Romney. Trump did win the state, but that victory owed almost entirely to the state's Republican lean. Polls there showed Trump's favorable rating as low as 19 percent and his unfavorable rating as high as 71 percent, largely thanks to Mormons disliking him.
Trump’s Irish golf course lost $2.3 million in 2016
President Trump’s golf course in Ireland lost about $2.3 million in 2016, according to new documents filed with the Irish government — the latest in a series of Trump golf clubs that have recently reported losses or declining revenue.
Other Good News
North Korea Calls Hotline to South for the First Time in Two Years
North Korea contacted authorities in Seoul over a hotline for the first time in about two years, paving the way for a thaw during the Winter Olympics despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s fresh taunts at Kim Jong Un.
Officials from both countries spoke several times Wednesday to conduct technical checks before agreeing to stop for the day, according to Lee Yeon-du, an official with South Korea’s Unification Ministry. President Moon Jae-in has proposed holding talks Jan. 9 at the border village of Panmunjom, which would be the first formal gathering between the two sides since 2015.
Charlottesville selects first black female mayor
The city of Charlottesville, Va., on Tuesday night chose the first African-American woman to serve as its mayor, less than six months after a deadly white nationalist rally in the city made national headlines.
Hoda Kotb replacing Matt Lauer is sweet justice
If 2017 was the year of badly behaved men meeting their downfall, 2018 might just bring something better: well-qualified women replacing them.
While Everyone Else Was Hungover, These People Came Together To Save A Whale's Life On New Year's Day
Ron Yaschuk found the whale while walking his dog on Rainbow Haven Beach, about 15 kilometres east of Dartmouth.
"We're walking along and I could see something off in the distance," Yaschuk told BuzzFeed Canada. "I approach it and I see it's a whale."
It's unclear how long the 2,000-kilogram pilot whale had been on the sand, but it was still moving its tail and breathing through its blowhole, so Yaschuk hoped it wasn't too late.
After calling 911 to alert the authorities, Yaschuk got in touch with his son, who showed up with two others.
People just started rolling in," Yaschuk said.
He estimated anywhere from 50 to 100 people were there on the front lines, with marine rescue workers directing the crowd. Another 100 or more were looking on eagerly from the sidelines.
The rescue mission took several hours, but Yaschuk said it was an incredible way to start 2018.
I don’t think I have been this excited about the news since Mueller Monday and Flynn Flipped Friday. It was a weird day, but it was filled with lots of hopeful stories.
Enjoy it! Lots more good days and bad days ahead but a path forward is clear and we are on it TOGETHER! ✊ ❤️
I couldn’t be prouder to be in this with all of you!