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Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#252726: Aug 21st 2018 at 3:14:16 PM

Just saw this on Twitter and had a chuckle.

Michael Cohen, asked by judge William Pauley if he’s had anything to drink or taken any drugs in advance of his plea, says: “Last night at dinner I had a glass of Glenlivet 12 on the rocks.”

Monster deserves a year in prison just for putting ice in that drink.tongue

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Deadbeatloser22 from Disappeared by Space Magic (Great Old One) Relationship Status: Tsundere'ing
#252727: Aug 21st 2018 at 3:14:41 PM

So has Trump exploded yet?

"Yup. That tasted purple."
Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#252728: Aug 21st 2018 at 3:17:58 PM

He's pissed about the Manafort conviction, but isn't saying anything he hasn't already said for months.

Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#252729: Aug 21st 2018 at 3:18:02 PM

I think we’re waiting for his rally later tonight for the fallout.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
TobiasDrake (•̀⤙•́) (Edited uphill both ways) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
(•̀⤙•́)
#252730: Aug 21st 2018 at 3:19:36 PM

I keep seeing people saying Cohen flipped.

To our knowledge, he hasn't flipped in the sense of cooperating with and helping the Mueller investigation take down Trump. What he has done is enter into a plea bagain and plead guilty to eight charges: five counts of tax evasion, one count of making a false statement to a bank, and two campaign finance violations intended to help get "the candidate" elected.

Now, those last two are certainly a win in terms of the case against Trump. But that's the extent of what Cohen's done. He's not sitting in Mueller's office singing like a canary about all of Trump's misdoings or anything and, in fact, no part of the plea deal actually requires him to cooperate with the federal Russia investigation at all.

It's a win. But it's not the win that "Cohen flipped on Trump!" makes it sound like.

My Tumblr. Currently side-by-side liveblogging Digimon Adventure, sub vs dub.
Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#252731: Aug 21st 2018 at 3:21:40 PM

None of this was in relation to Russia though, so Cohen could still be called in for questioning by Mueller (if he hasn't already), and I doubt that he wants to top off his rap sheet with lying to the feds or obstruction of justice.

Edited by Rationalinsanity on Aug 21st 2018 at 7:25:42 AM

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#252732: Aug 21st 2018 at 3:26:30 PM

The claims that he’s flipped seem to be based on the statements that his plea deal specifically said that he commited said crimes at Trump’s instruction.

So he’s not cooperating int he traditional sense, but he’s not just saying “yes I did it”, he’s saying “I did it when Trump told me to”, that extra context directly implicates Trump.

If that’s the truth of his guilty plea, I need to do some source digging.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
Mario1995 The Dishonorable from Atlanta Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
The Dishonorable
#252733: Aug 21st 2018 at 3:26:37 PM

In other news, Larry Kudlow hosted a white nationalist at his birthday party.

"The devil's got all the good gear. What's God got? The Inspiral Carpets and nuns. Fuck that." - Liam Gallagher
Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#252734: Aug 21st 2018 at 3:39:12 PM

Found a source, the associated press (know as the AP and basicly the news source for news organisations) is saying that the plea deal states that “he made the payments in coordination with Trump, who wasn’t named, to influence the election.”

He’s directly stating that he and Trump commited a federal crime together, a crime he’s pleading guilty to.[1]

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
Imca (Veteran)
#252735: Aug 21st 2018 at 3:52:42 PM

More good news from today

Microsoft has taken a chunk out of the russian hackers.

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#252736: Aug 21st 2018 at 3:55:00 PM

So, there’s a trump rally in West Virginia tonight. That will be interesting. [1]

Ok, with Trump set to take the stage in West Virginia in a mere 90 mins, might as well take a swing at what we might see from him.

The Vegas betting odds have installed "Completely raging like an unhinged lunatic" as the odds-on favorite.

I'm gonna throw a curve though.

I used to write about Trump's narcissistic personality disorder all the time. Back in the day, it was almost eerie how accurately his shtick could be predicted. Folks who have been around my feed for a while can vouch for that...

It has gotten harder though...

...not because Trump has become less predictable. Nope. That dude is the simplest of simple machines. With enough insight into what he's experiencing, he'd be regular as rain.

We just don't have enough of a window anymore. We see too little.

Today though, there's no way he could know more than we know. He had no advanced knowledge of the Manafort verdict. It's unlikely he knew about the Cohen plea.

So, we know what Trump is taking in as new inputs...

While he'd seem likely to rage, like a whole lotta people with NPD, Babyfingers tends to go quiet when he is completely "caught". He freezes. Retreats. Cocoons himself away from scrutiny.

He can't do that on stage obviously...

So, I'd wager he's going to instead focus on distancing himself from Cohen and Manafort.

Narcissists have only two impulses: Seek adoration; avoid shame.

Trump will likely aim to avoid shame by pushing Cohen and Manafort as far away as possible.

I won't be shocked at all to hear Senor Loco dismiss the Cohen and Manafort convictions as having absolutely nothing to do with him...

...and then pivot off that to blaming the media for alleging he's in trouble when those other fellas' problems have nothing to do with him..

My money is on Trump surprising folks.

Look for:

  1. A more sedate Trump than expected
  2. Effort to distance himself from Cohen/Manafort
  3. A show of empathy for only Manafort
  4. Insisting "collusion" was the only legitimate accusation Mueller was supposed to investigate
  5. Whining about how unfair it is to HIM that Mueller is going after other people who's issues have "nothing to do with him"
  6. Insisting that Mueller's investigation is STILL a "Witch Hunt" because it has delivered no proof he "colluded" and is now "spiraling out of control"

Bottom-line: I'm guessing tonight's one-hour crazygram from the dais will mostly be about distancing the narcissist from the shame...

If Trump shows up with a flat affect and way less fire than he usually brings - and everyone expects tonight - somebody owes me beer.

Edited by megaeliz on Aug 21st 2018 at 6:55:19 AM

DingoWalley1 Asgore Adopts Noelle Since: Feb, 2014 Relationship Status: Can't buy me love
Asgore Adopts Noelle
#252737: Aug 21st 2018 at 5:02:36 PM

BREAKING NEWS: Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA 50) and his wife have both been indicted for Fraud and Campaign Finance Charges. This has caused California-50 to become a Competitive Race (according to Pollsters like Crystal Ball).

So on top of Michael Cohen's plea and Paul Manafort's 8 convictions, we now have a 3rd Republican-aligned official in deep trouble.

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#252738: Aug 21st 2018 at 5:11:25 PM

Hunter was also an early Trump follower.

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
Silasw A procrastination in of itself from A handcart to hell (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
A procrastination in of itself
#252739: Aug 21st 2018 at 5:21:13 PM

You’re forgetting the New York Republican who got arrested for insider trading, that makes four, plus any I forgot.

“And the Bunny nails it!” ~ Gabrael “If the UN can get through a day without everyone strangling everyone else so can we.” ~ Cyran
Ramidel Since: Jan, 2001
#252740: Aug 21st 2018 at 5:21:23 PM

@tsstevens: The police and the FBI have plenty of guns of their own. Any attempt by a militia to make America free for slavery again will be met with them holed up in a bunker being laughed at by everyone, like last time.

kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#252741: Aug 21st 2018 at 5:27:17 PM

[up][up]The difference I think is that those last two can't implicate Trump directly. Unless they can put him on the chopping block, he won't care for anything but his own skin.

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#252742: Aug 21st 2018 at 5:27:47 PM

I expect domestic terrorism but the thing to understand about these white nationalist nutjobs is they all expect themselves to be John Gault not random follower 14#.

They can't stand each other because they love themselves and their revolutionary fantasy.

So they can't unite as their ideology is self-importance.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
Fourthspartan56 from Georgia, US Since: Oct, 2016 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#252743: Aug 21st 2018 at 5:37:43 PM

[up][up]Well yeah but that's because he's a shortsighted and selfish moron, not to mention that it helps the country with each Republican that goes down or is weakened for the midterms. There is something beyond Trump after-all.

"Einstein would turn over in his grave. Not only does God play dice, the dice are loaded." -Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang
speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#252744: Aug 21st 2018 at 5:50:22 PM

I saw a headline on CNN stating that Manafort may be going to jail for 80 years? ...Holy shit.

Speaking of, interesting what the networks choose to cover. CNN and MSNBC are covering the trial. Fox News chose to just run Trump's latest rally. Mueller ain't going away, Fox.

Edited by speedyboris on Aug 21st 2018 at 7:50:07 AM

AlleyOop Since: Oct, 2010
#252745: Aug 21st 2018 at 6:32:42 PM

@ Imca

I wonder how the Democrats are going to respond to this. Regardless the Republicans will probably try to spin it as evidence of Russian-Democrat collusion.

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#252746: Aug 21st 2018 at 6:44:57 PM

The Republicans aren't even good at spin.

It's just "No, you" now.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
PhysicalStamina i'm tired, my friend (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
i'm tired, my friend
#252747: Aug 21st 2018 at 6:48:38 PM

It's been "no you" for months, now.

i'm tired, my friend
TacticalFox88 from USA Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Dating the Doctor
#252748: Aug 21st 2018 at 7:17:56 PM

Oh, what a day.

What a LOVELY day!

New Survey coming this weekend!
M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#252749: Aug 21st 2018 at 7:20:42 PM

Hmm, now I kind of want to watch Fury Road again. Or at least that scene.

Edited by M84 on Aug 21st 2018 at 10:20:16 PM

Disgusted, but not surprised
AngelusNox Warder of the damned from The guard of the gates of oblivion Since: Dec, 2014 Relationship Status: Married to the job
Warder of the damned
#252750: Aug 21st 2018 at 7:31:30 PM

Wish granted.

Inter arma enim silent leges

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