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Edited by Mrph1 on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:03:59 AM

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#250276: Jul 25th 2018 at 5:00:18 PM

I, in fact, pointed out that Bernie had no chance about the whole thing because he had less popular appeal than Hillary. He didn't have popular support in his party and many Bernists didn't realize they needed those delegates to get him as the party choice.

The "rigging" argument made us all look like immature assholes.

And you forgot the DNC determines the party platform.

You know...issues.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Jul 25th 2018 at 5:01:21 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#250277: Jul 25th 2018 at 5:00:53 PM

Just for clarity on the DNC, they’re not in charge of the Democratic Party and have no direct authority over candidates. What they do is create the party platform, nominate presidents, and do campaign organization and fundraising.

They should have sent a poet.
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#250278: Jul 25th 2018 at 5:02:36 PM

Why they're the head of the Democratic party.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Lightysnake Since: May, 2010
#250279: Jul 25th 2018 at 5:02:44 PM

The party platform is a wish list for the national party. It is not a binding set of laws on a nominee or party members.

I believed you didn't know what the DNC is or what it does, and you've confirmed it for me.

Edited by Lightysnake on Jul 25th 2018 at 5:03:14 AM

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#250280: Jul 25th 2018 at 5:03:27 PM

Is there a higher authority on party matters?

And they do have a binding authority.

Money and the party machine.

Promotion.

But I said I'd drop it....my bad. CURSE YOU INTERNET ARGUING! SO ADDICTIVE!

:)

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Jul 25th 2018 at 5:03:41 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
archonspeaks Since: Jun, 2013
#250281: Jul 25th 2018 at 5:04:17 PM

[up] The President, if he’s a Democrat. There’s not really a formal party hierarchy though, at least not in the traditional sense.

They should have sent a poet.
Lightysnake Since: May, 2010
#250282: Jul 25th 2018 at 5:04:42 PM

Trying to pin down a 'high authority on party matters' is....not what party politics is. At all. Parties arecoalition that often proceed from bottom up

Bur from Flyover Country (Living Relic) Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
#250283: Jul 25th 2018 at 5:04:55 PM

To bring it back from the last page,

Conservative lawmakers introduce resolution calling for impeachment of Rod Rosenstein, who oversees special counsel probe on Russia

Conservative lawmakers on Wednesday introduced a resolution calling for the impeachment of Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, in a move that marks a dramatic escalation in the battle over the special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

The effort, spearheaded by Reps. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), also sets up a showdown with House Republican leaders, who have distanced themselves from calls to remove Rosenstein from office. But Meadows and Jordan stopped short of forcing an immediate vote on the measure, sparing Republican lawmakers for now from a potential dilemma.

"I just filed a resolution with @Jim_Jordan and several colleagues to impeach Rod Rosenstein. The DOJ has continued to hide information from Congress and repeatedly obstructed oversight - even defying multiple Congressional subpoenas," Meadows said in a tweet announcing the move. "We have had enough."

Meadows and Jordan are leaders of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, a bloc whose members have been among the most persistent critics of Rosenstein.

House Republicans have been ramping up their attacks on the deputy attorney general in recent weeks, accusing him of withholding documents and being insufficiently transparent in his handling of the probe led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.

Democrats have argued that House Republicans' clashes with Rosenstein are little more than a pretext to weaken Mueller's efforts.

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#250284: Jul 25th 2018 at 5:05:46 PM

What a surprise.

At this point, I'm ready to proclaim we're the latest acquisition in the Russian Empire.

Since we have a full on collaborator government.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#250285: Jul 25th 2018 at 5:08:44 PM

[up]x2 It's really stupid of these 2 Republicans (and yes, thankfully, and sadly, it's only Mark Meadows and Jim Jordans doing this right now) would introduce these articles a)when the House is about to go on Vacation, and b)it does not have the support to get on the floor (Ryan will not support it, or probably even allow a vote on it; not to mention most Republicans appear to not want to impeach Rosenstein). Jordans and Meadows didn't even bother to try and force the vote (though again, I doubt they'd get the votes).

This will hurt them, and Republicans over all, this November though, so it's not a total bust.

sgamer82 Since: Jan, 2001
#250286: Jul 25th 2018 at 5:38:01 PM

Didn't Rosenstein also point out that, were be impeached or held in contempt of Congress, he'd be free to supeona Congressional records to defend himself?

speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#250287: Jul 25th 2018 at 5:57:07 PM

[up]x2 So we shouldn't go into panic mode? That's good, I saw the headline on the various news networks and was like, "You better not."

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#250288: Jul 25th 2018 at 6:00:38 PM

Even the House Freedom Caucus isn't united on this, and as mentioned above, there is zero chance that Ryan will allow a vote to come to the floor.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
KnightofLsama Since: Sep, 2010
#250289: Jul 25th 2018 at 6:05:41 PM

Funny you bring up Queen, Since Sacha Baron Cohen is playing Freddie Mercury himself in the upcoming biopic about them.

It's a bit late (timezone differences) but I just feel it's worth pointing out that Rami Malek is the one playing Freddie. Sasha Baron-Cohen was attached to the project for a while but left before principal photography even started.

ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#250290: Jul 25th 2018 at 6:07:42 PM

As the BBC points out, though, the purpose of their stirring the shit over Rosenstein could be intentional, as a means to give Trump himself a reason to fire him.

That doesn't mean those who want Robert Mueller's Russia investigation to continue unimpeded should breathe easy, however. The president might claim that the impeachment resolution shows Mr Rosenstein is too embattled to continue his duties and replace him with someone who would clip the special counsel's wings.

In April Mr Trump was reportedly itching to swing the axe on his deputy attorney general. Now, Jim Jordan and Mark Meadows could be helping to sharpen the president's blade.

Edited by ironballs16 on Jul 25th 2018 at 6:08:12 AM

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#250291: Jul 25th 2018 at 6:20:37 PM

Sasha Baron-Cohen was enthusiastic as fuck about being Freddie Mercury then he found out the movie is 50% Freddie Mercury and then how the band went on after him as well as coped with his death.

Which he had no interest in portraying.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
AceofSpades Since: Apr, 2009 Relationship Status: Showing feelings of an almost human nature
#250292: Jul 25th 2018 at 6:49:15 PM

Hm, one thing I'm kind of morbidly curious about is how the Republicans are going to get a new Speaker of the House with Ryan retiring. It was a few months long saga to get him to do it in the first place after Boehner quit.

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#250293: Jul 25th 2018 at 6:52:39 PM

I wonder if Trump will try to appoint Jared.

Then whine why he can't.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#250294: Jul 25th 2018 at 7:00:29 PM

[up][up]Ryan is retiring at the end of the current Congress, and I hope to fuck that the Republicans aren't in a position to replace the Speaker. The contest for Minority Leader (hopefully) should be a bloodbath though, especially because the Tea Party will be relatively stronger if the moderates start losing to Democrats.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#250295: Jul 25th 2018 at 10:18:47 PM

Man who says he destroyed Trump's Walk of Fame star is booked on felony vandalism charge

Not super important or anything, but something that made me go "oh". I didn't even know Trump had a star (because I don't care about things like that at all).

TerminusEst from the Land of Winter and Stars Since: Feb, 2010
#250296: Jul 25th 2018 at 10:24:52 PM

[up]

You can basically buy one for what, $20k?

Edited by TerminusEst on Jul 25th 2018 at 10:26:43 AM

Si Vis Pacem, Para Perkele
kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#250297: Jul 25th 2018 at 10:25:25 PM

White House Bans Network Pool Reporter From Rose Garden Event

The White House took retaliatory action against Kaitlan Collins, a White House reporter for CNN, after Collins asked President Trump questions at an Oval Office photo op on Wednesday.

CNN, rival networks, and the White House Correspondents Association all spoke out against the administration's action.

On Wednesday afternoon Collins was representing all the television networks as the "pool reporter" in the room during a meeting between Trump and Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission.

As is customary, Collins lobbed a few questions at the president. She asked about Vladimir Putin and Michael Cohen. Trump did not answer the questions.

Later in the afternoon, the White House surprised the press corps by announcing a press availability with Trump and Juncker in the Rose Garden. It was said to be open to all press, not just the small pool.

A few minutes later, Collins was asked to come to Bill Shine's office. Shine, a former co-president of Fox News, is the new deputy chief of staff for communications. Shine and press secretary Sarah Sanders met Collins there.

"They said 'You are dis-invited from the press availability in the Rose Garden today,'" Collins said in an interview. "They said that the questions I asked were inappropriate for that venue. And they said I was shouting."

A video clip of the exchange shows that Collins was speaking the same way journalists in the press pool usually speak.

Collins said she reacted by saying, "You're banning me from an event because you didn't like the questions I asked."

Collins said Shine and Sanders asserted that "we're not banning your network. Your photographers can still come. Your producers can still come. But you are not invited to the Rose Garden today."

In a statement in response to press inquiries, Sanders confirmed the dis-invitation. She claimed Collins "shouted questions and refused to leave despite repeatedly being asked to do so."

"To be clear, we support a free press and ask that everyone be respectful of the presidency and guests at the White House," Sanders said.

Other reporters who were in the room said Collins was perfectly respectful.

In a statement, CNN disputed the White House's assertion that Collins' questions were inappropriate.

"Just because the White House is uncomfortable with a question regarding the news of day doesn't mean the question isn't relevant and shouldn't be asked," the network said. "This decision to bar a member of the press is retaliatory in nature and not indicative of an open and free press. We demand better."

What Collins described — telling a well-known and well-respected reporter that she can't attend a presidential event — is another serious escalation against the press by the Trump administration.

The association which represents the White House press corps said it strongly condemned the action.

"This type of retaliation is wholly inappropriate, wrong-headed, and weak. It cannot stand," the group said in a statement.

Fox News, one of CNN's top competitors, also spoke out.

"We stand in strong solidarity with CNN for the right to full access for our journalists as part of a free and unfettered press," Fox News president Jay Wallace said. Wallace and Shine previously worked together for many years.

Reporters from the major networks take turns as the TV "pool reporter." Wednesday happened to be CNN's day.

On some days, there's only one opportunity to ask the president questions.

So Collins felt she should ask about two of Wednesday's biggest stories when journalists were let inside the Oval Office for a portion of Trump and Juncker's meeting.

She asked: "Did Michael Cohen betray you, Mr. President?" She repeated the question, then asked "Mr. President, are you worried about what Michael Cohen is about to say to the prosecutors? Are you worried about what is on the other tapes, Mr. President?"

This was a follow-up to Trump's Wednesday morning tweet about the Cohen tape that CNN aired on Tuesday night.

Trump didn't answer, so Collins changed subjects. She asked, "Why is Vladimir Putin not accepting your invitation, Mr. President?"

This was a reference to last week's announcement by Sanders that Putin was being invited to Washington in the fall.

Trump rebuffed the questions by saying, "thank you very much, everybody" to the press pool.

Collins said the photo op was "totally normal."

"It wasn't anything different from any other pool spray," she said.

She was taken aback by Shine and Sanders' assertions later in the day.

Recalling what she told them in the short meeting, she said, "I'm from Alabama. I'm not rude. I believe you should always be polite when you ask a question. I totally believe that."

Edited by kkhohoho on Jul 25th 2018 at 12:27:49 PM

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#250298: Jul 26th 2018 at 12:20:16 AM

https://www.themarysue.com/ivanka-trump-shutting-down-her-company/

A bit more of an issue on Ivanka's clothing line shutdown.

Which has the wonderful bit how clothing made in China was exempt from Der Cheeto's tariffs.

Like Ivankas.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Jul 26th 2018 at 12:20:14 PM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Swanpride Since: Jun, 2013
#250299: Jul 26th 2018 at 5:14:52 AM

Speaking of Tariffs, it looks like Juncker has found a way to allow Trump to sell going back to the status quo as a win. I am sensing a pattern there. That is just like the NATO meeting after which Trump bragged about the other NATO members having agreed to something they already agreed to.

TheWanderer Student of Story from Somewhere in New England (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: Wishfully thinking
Student of Story
#250300: Jul 26th 2018 at 6:26:59 AM

A bit of analysis on the impeachment of Rosenstein

(Bold emphasis added to the sections that stood out most to me.)

President Trump’s conservative allies in the House of Representatives have moved to impeach Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, claiming that he committed “high crimes and misdemeanors” for failing to turn over requested documents and obstructing oversight by Congress.

Republican Reps. Mark Meadows (NC) and Jim Jordan (OH), both members of the House Freedom Caucus, filed the resolution late Wednesday. It’s an incredible escalation of a war between the Department of Justice and Trump’s allies in Congress that’s been brewing for months.

“For 9 months we’ve warned them consequences were coming, and for 9 months we’ve heard the same excuses backed up by the same unacceptable conduct,” Meadows said in a statement. “Time is up and the consequences are here. It’s time to find a new Deputy Attorney General who is serious about accountability and transparency.”

The resolution against Rosenstein lists five articles of impeachment against Rosenstein. They allege:

  • Dereliction of duty on the part of Rosenstein for failing to recommend the appointment of a second special counsel to look into potential misconduct by the FBI and Department of Justice relating to the investigations into Trump and Hillary Clinton, including the FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) surveillance of former Trump aide Carter Page;

  • Repeated failure to produce documents requested by the House Judiciary Committee and House Oversight Committee;

  • Attempts to conceal facts in documents turned over because of heavy redactions, which the articles allege were done so “unnecessarily.” It contests the DOJ’s explanation that these redactions contained sensitive law enforcement information;

  • Failure to provide a less-redacted version detailing the scope of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation; and

  • Authorized improper FISA surveillance of Trump campaign aides.

This impeachment resolution is the culmination of a showdown between the House and the Department of Justice over the House’s subpoenas for documents related to the FBI’s investigations into Trump campaign aides’ Russia ties and investigations related to Hillary Clinton from 2016. House leaders allege that Rosenstein stonewalled their requests, failing to turn over the requested documentation by the required deadlines, or restricting access to certain materials.

The Justice Department, on the other hand, has maintained that it’s complying with the subpoenas and has already turned over hundreds of thousands of documents. Bloomberg reports that the Department of Justice has built out two reading rooms, and the FBI has written new software code just to meet Congress’s demands.

The articles of impeachment were filed shortly after Meadows and other House leaders met with DOJ officials about compliance with the subpoenas.

Meadows avoided a procedural measure that would have forced a vote this week. And timing is everything: The House is headed off for summer break on Thursday, which means this probably won’t be dealt with until lawmakers return in September — weeks before the midterms, where Republicans are looking more and more vulnerable. The GOP might not have the appetite to undertake such a politically charged move, one that could reveal deep cracks in the Republican caucus.

Meadows and Jordan have floated the possibility of impeaching Rosenstein, or holding him in contempt of Congress, for weeks, and they’ve been steadily building to this point with a campaign against the deputy attorney general. In June, the House voted along strict party lines to demand Rosenstein comply with document requests. Last week, Meadows and Jordan demanded the DOJ Inspector General investigate Rosenstein for alleged threats to Congressional aides.

But the idea for impeachment hasn’t gotten much traction with House leadership, including from House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), the chair of the House Oversight Committee. Both men have expressed confidence that the Justice Department is working toward meeting Congress’s document demands.

...

Rosenstein, for his part, has yet to comment publicly on this impeachment move; but he has responded to previous attacks with defiance. “There have been people who have been making threats privately and publicly against me for quite some time,” Rosenstein said at an event in May. “I think they should understand by now the Department of Justice is not going to be extorted.”

Still, the Republicans’ resolution could force a showdown between the White House and Department of Justice, potentially giving Trump cover to fire Rosenstein or forcing him to resign — all of which could throw the future of the Mueller investigation into doubt.

Also, for those with a legal mind/interest on this board, the article contains the full text of the motion.

| Wandering, but not lost. | If people bring so much courage to this world...◊ |

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