Today's Tweet

Something, something...30-foot wall...something, something...32-foot ladder.

Billion of dollars have been committed to build 45*'s little vanity project - zero new wall built.

Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada, Bupkis. Maggie's Drawers. Nuthin'.

Where's my fuckin' money, GOP?

This is the newly replaced wall along the US/MEXICO border. #TheWall pic.twitter.com/MIrD3HhVsE

— J. Omar Ornelas (@fotornelas) December 4, 2019

Today's Quote

President Trump in London: “I think it’s a good thing to get along with Russia. I campaigned on it. I went to a lot of big stadiums and people liked it.”

Calling The Bluff

Cult45 is really starting to thrash about, grasping at straws.

At first this little game of 45*'s where he sits off to the side and just bitches about everything, and then the Dems try to accommodate him - it looked at first like they were appeasing - like they were making the same mistake Obama made by trying to be reasonable when the GOP had no fucking intention of doing anything but moving the goal posts ever further towards their side.

But lately, it seems different. Like they're baiting him. They seem to be accommodating, but they're not giving anything up in return - just calling him on it when he throws his little tantrums.

WaPo, Dana Milbank:

Friends have likened White House counsel Pat Cipollone to a pit bull. Now, he’s the proverbial dog that caught the car.

For months, the Trump White House and its congressional chorus have clamored for Democrats to allow President Trump’s counsel to be present at impeachment proceedings.

Trump and his supporters have shared that the impeachment resolution is unfairbecause it “doesn’t allow POTUS’ counsel to be present to question witnesses.”

White House spokesman Hogan Gidley complained that “we can’t question witnesses; we can’t have a conversation with those who are in front of the committees." A White House official briefing reporters lamented the president’s inability “to have counsel present.”

GOP Reps. Lee Zeldin (N.Y.), Steve Scalise (La.), Michael McCaul (Texas), Tom Cole (Okla.) and many others have howled that Trump should have counsel present.

And so it came to pass that House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) last week sent a letter to Trump inviting him and his counsel to participate in this week’s first impeachment hearing before the panel and to gauge their interest in questioning the witnesses.

Trump’s reply? “We do not intend to participate in your Wednesday hearing,” Cipollone wrote Sunday night.

In sending the White House’s regrets, Cipollone tossed in a maybe-next-time formulation: “We may consider participating in future Judiciary Committee proceedings if you afford the Administration the ability to do so meaningfully.”

How good of them!

This is the White House that can’t take “yes” for an answer.

Trump and his allies complained about secret proceedings. The proceedings were made public.

They complained that there was no formal impeachment resolution. A formal resolution was passed.

They complained that deposition transcripts weren’t released. The transcripts were released.

And still, no cooperation.

They complained that Democrats should hurry up and “move on” from impeachment. But as Democrats work to wrap up impeachment quickly, Rep. Doug Collins (Ga.), the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, complained Sunday that “we’re rushing this.”

Now, we have the president’s lawyer complaining that Trump “was allowed absolutely no participation” — and yet refusing to participate when invited. It’s a bit like the administration blocking senior officials from testifying and then complaining that those who did testify lacked “first-hand” experience.

But if Cipollone is plagued by inconsistencies, he is blessed with a surfeit of adjectives and adverbs, which he deployed in great number in his reply to Nadler. It wasn’t just the impeachment inquiry but a “purported,” “baseless” and “highly partisan” one, with an “irretrievably broken process” characterized by “profound,” “unprecedented,” “historical,” “basic,” “arbitrary,” “fundamental,” “extremely troubling,” “false,” “rudimentary” and “unfair” elements.

Unfairest of all, Trump had “so little time to prepare” for the hearing, Cipollone carped, above a large, thick Trumpian signature.

Maybe he could have spent less time on Twitter?

If the president had a better defense, it stands to reason, his lawyer wouldn’t need such an adjectival arsenal. If we had a healthier political climate, Republicans would acknowledge Trump’s wrongdoing and propose, in lieu of impeachment, a bipartisan, bicameral resolution of censure.

Instead, they are in the ridiculous position of arguing that Trump and his representatives did absolutely nothing wrong, and of doing all they can to delegitimize Congress’s impeachment powers.

Thus did we have Collins on "Fox News Sunday," maintaining that “there’s nothing here that the president did wrong” and “nothing improper.” The improprieties were everybody else’s: Adam Schiff’s “motives” and “veracity,” Nadler’s “crazy” letters, something about the witness “ratio” at hearings and host Chris Wallace’s flawed premises.

“You’re pretty wound up, I’ve got to say,” Wallace observed.

Better wound up than unwound, as Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.) showed himself to be. A week after he embraced Russian propaganda over U.S. intelligence on Wallace’s show, Kennedy went one step further in advancing Russia’s attempt to frame Ukraine for its 2016 election interference, telling NBC’s Chuck Todd on Sunday that Ukraine’s then-president “actively worked for Secretary Clinton.”

That’s exactly the sort of Russian disinformation that intelligence officials, in a recent briefing, pleaded with senators not to spread. “I wasn’t briefed,” Kennedy said.

Nor was he briefed, apparently, on the invitation for Trump and his counsel to participate in the impeachment hearing.

“His lawyer can't even be there,” the senator complained. “Have they allowed him to have his lawyer present? No.” Kennedy, brushing aside the unhelpful fact that Trump hasn’t allowed his advisers to testify or to provide documents to the inquiry, further claimed that Trump hasn’t been given a chance to clear himself.

Such claims can’t withstand the light of day. And this is why Trump won’t honor the invitation to participate or even the subpoenas demanding it: He can’t tell his side of the story because there isn’t one.

Today's Tweet

Suggested followups to ask the congressman:
Where did you get your information?
Can you post your documentation to our website please?

REP. RANDY WEBER (R): Is CrowdStrike in part owned by a Ukrainian?

CHRIS CUOMO: No!

WEBER: ... ... really?

CUOMO: Yes!

WEBER: That's not the information that we have.

CUOMO: You have bad information! pic.twitter.com/byfAq1eXov

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) December 3, 2019

Today's Beau

Justin King - Beau Of The Fifth Column

"Fifty years from now, if we don't start holding the people in the White House accountable, we won't be talking about impeachment, because we won't have a presidency."

Today's Tweet

DumFux with guns.

Yesterday was the 334th day in 2019, and marked the 397th mass shooting.

We really are the stoopid country.

Dipshits with guns... pic.twitter.com/d21RE2ECND
via RexChapman

— Tomthunkit™ (@TomthunkitsMind) December 1, 2019

Today's YouTubie

Brian Tyler Cohen

A guy like 45* sees no value in anything outside himself.

He's learned some basics about Buzzword Selling though, which is why he remembers to say things like "my family" (throwing a bone to the Christianists) and "our nation" (trying to invoke some mythical connection with Lincoln et al) before he wanders off on one of his little imagination safaris.

And he's exactly the guy you don't want next to you in a fight.

BTW, Smedley Butler warned us about this shit a long time ago.

A Classic American Love Story

aka: Today's Dumb Crook.

Not exactly Romeo and Juliet. 

And definitely not Mickey and Mallory.

Just a coupla goofy American kids who may or may not have had a proper upbringing, but who decided they'd get some for themselves - cuz after all, everybody else is doin' it. You have to be willin' to take what you want. You ain't gettin' jack shit for bein' polite and askin' all nice-like.

WKRG - CBS Channel 5:

MORGANTON, N.C. (AP) — A convenience store clerk in North Carolina staged a robbery with her boyfriend at the business, used the money to buy rings hours later and made a video of their engagement at a Walmart, police said.

The case began late Monday night when convenience store clerk Callie Elizabeth Carswell told police a man entered the Big Daddy’s store carrying a long, curved knife and demanded money from her, according to a Morganton Department of Public Safety news release.

But investigators say they noticed discrepancies between her story and surveillance video from the store and they discovered it was her boyfriend, Clarence William Moore III, who entered the store demanding money.

“Carswell and Moore planned the armed robbery and stole a total of $2,960 in cash,” the news release said.

The news release said authorities searched Moore’s vehicle and found money form the store and a hand-written list of items needed to conduct the robbery. Investigators say they found the weapon and clothing Moore used during the robbery.

Authorities searched Carswell’s phone and found video of them getting engaged at Walmart early the next morning, according to the news release. Receipts showed engagement rings were purchased at the Walmart. Police Lt. Josiah Brown confirmed in an email that the stolen cash was used to buy the rings.

According to The News Herald, Carswell said outside of court Tuesday that she wasn’t involved in the robbery plan.

“I didn’t do it. … I wasn’t involved,” she told reporters.

Police said Carswell was charged with armed robbery, misuse of 911, and filing a false police report. Moore was charged with armed robbery.

Brilliance In Political Marketing

Hey now - who says Eric's the dumb one!?!

#LeaveOurPresidentAlone pic.twitter.com/z24eTX5f5b

— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) November 28, 2019

Well - pretty much everybody, actually.

Lead Our President Away

— Tom McNaught (@TomMcNaught1) November 28, 2019

Tell your Daddy to leave US alone.

I’m happy to ignore his crass and meretricious grandstanding, as long as he doesn’t bray his regressive policies into a taxpayer-funded megaphone.

— ⚜️Rob Anderson for Louisiana⚜️ (@RobAnderson2018) November 28, 2019

We would love to leave him alone ...in solitary pic.twitter.com/zISuV2yZXM

— Swamp_Watcher (@swamp_watcher) November 28, 2019

MAGA. LOPA. KAG.

Starting to get the feeling this administration isn't playing with a full scrabble set.

— 🦎Swamp Lizard🦎 (@DiscoTempoJazz) November 28, 2019

And these via Urban Dictionary:

On Devin Nunes

The Fresno Bee has to be considered a hometown paper for US Rep Devin Nunes (R-CA22).

And the editors at the Bee aren't amused by some of Devin's antics.

To wit:

Devin Nunes must stop suing fake cows and explain $60,000 Europe trip

Read more here: https://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/article237841409.html#storylink=cpy

Rep. Devin Nunes’ decision to sue anyone who dares to criticize him – including a fictitious cow on Twitter – backfired spectacularly this week. Again.

In a court filing, a lawyer for a former Democratic National Committee employee eviscerated the Tulare Republican’s argument that mockery from Twitter accounts like “Devin Nunes’ Cow” and “Devin Nunes’ mom” constitutes defamation.

“No reasonable person would believe that Devin Nunes’ cow actually has a Twitter account, or that the hyperbole, satire and cow-related jokes it posts are serious facts,” reads the filing in Virginia’s Henrico County Circuit Court, according to a Bee story by Hannah Wiley and Kate Irby. “It is self-evident that cows are domesticated livestock animals and do not have the intelligence, language, or opposable digits needed to operate a Twitter account. Defendant ‘Devin Nunes’ Mom’ likewise posts satirical patronizing, nagging, mothering comments which ostensibly treat Mr. Nunes as a misbehaving child.”

The court brief went viral on social media, increasing public awareness of Nunes’ critics in a way that likely never would have happened without his frivolous lawsuit. It sparked a trend on Twitter, with people desperate for attention begging Nunes to sue them so they might benefit from free press.

“Hey, @DevinNunes, what do I have to say to get you to sue me too,” tweeted former Clinton White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart. “You’re corrupt? You met with a bunch of corrupt Ukrainians. You still wet the bed?”

The social media backlash mirrored Nunes’ experience earlier this year, when his decision to sue the Twitter cow increased the parody account’s reach exponentially. “Devin Nunes’ Cow” had 1,000 followers on the social media site before Nunes filed his lawsuit. It now has over 667,000 followers.

Nunes’ lawsuits likely don’t stand a chance in court. Parodying elected officials like Nunes is protected by the First Amendment, and satire as an art form has a long history dating back to ancient times.

But Nunes’ lawsuits are no laughing matter because he’s not just suing fake cows. He filed – and later dropped – a lawsuit against a Dinuba peach farmer for calling him a “fake farmer.”

His lawsuit strategy has also targeted the press. Nunes is suing Esquire Magazine and McClatchy, the parent company of The Fresno Bee, for simply reporting on him truthfully and accurately. He sued Esquire for reporting that Nunes’ family moved its farm to Iowa years ago. He sued The Fresno Bee for accurately reporting that he owned a stake in Alpha Omega winery in a story headlined “A yacht, cocaine, prostitutes: Winery partly owned by Nunes sued after fundraiser event.”

Given the frivolous nature of Nunes’ lawsuits, one can easily draw the conclusion that he’s trying to chill free speech by miring his critics in expensive legal proceedings. If that’s the idea, it’s not working. Twitter accounts continue to mock him and the press continues to report on his increasingly grim situation.

Last week, Nunes threatened to sue CNN and the Daily Beast for reporting that “A lawyer for an indicted associate of Rudy Giuliani told CNN that his client is willing to tell Congress about meetings the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee had in Vienna last year with a former Ukrainian prosecutor to discuss digging up dirt on Joe Biden.”

Lev Parnas, a Ukraine-born man arrested while trying to leave the United States in October, said through a lawyer that he is willing to implicate Nunes, who was in Europe during the period in question.

“House travel records show Nunes traveled to Europe from Nov. 30 to Dec. 3. Three congressional aides who have worked for Nunes have matching travel receipts for the same dates, House records show,” according to a story by The Bee’s Andrew Sheeler. “The trip cost $63,525.”

Now, Nunes faces calls for an ethics investigation.

“If he was on a political errand for the president that was using taxpayer funds inappropriately then he should be investigated by the Ethics Committee and should be forced to repay the Treasury the money that was spent for a political activity,” said Rep. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, who serves on the House Intelligence Committee with Nunes.

Given the seriousness of these matters, perhaps it’s time for Nunes to abandon his frivolous lawsuit hobby and direct his lawyers’ attention elsewhere.

And some folks showed up at the courthouse in Virginia to voice their displeasure: