That was her first lie, pledging never to do that.
Points for efficiency.
An excellent piece in the April 25 Irish Times. Paywalled there; in a spoiler box here because it’s kinda long (but well worth a read).
**Donald Trump has destroyed the country he promised to make great again
**The Irish Times
by Fintan O’Toole
April 25, 2020
…
US president Donald Trump has claimed he was being sarcastic and testing the media when he raised the idea that injecting disinfectant or irradiating the body with ultraviolet light might kill coronavirus.
Over more than two centuries, the United States has stirred a very wide range of feelings in the rest of the world: love and hatred, fear and hope, envy and contempt, awe and anger. But there is one emotion that has never been directed towards the US until now: pity.
However bad things are for most other rich democracies, it is hard not to feel sorry for Americans. Most of them did not vote for Donald Trump in 2016. Yet they are locked down with a malignant narcissist who, instead of protecting his people from Covid-19, has amplified its lethality. The country Trump promised to make great again has never in its history seemed so pitiful.
…
[Moderating]
Elendil’s Heir, I cut most of your post as you’d gone pretty far beyond fair use. In the future, please just post a representative sample of the text, and a link to the source.
No warning issued.
[/Moderating]
Thank you for sharing this. It should not only be required reading but must make its way into the National Archives, indelibly made part of American History under the Trump administration.
Wish there was a way to make Trump read it. But obviously tl;dr for the orange assclown.
Elendil’s Heir, I saw that piece in its entirety only because a friend copied and pasted it into an email she sent me. It is spot on.
So spot on, in fact, that I sent it to my parents, both Fox “News”-watching MAGA-bots whom I dearly love but who have given themselves over entirely to Fox propaganda gibberish and will brook no contrary information.
After many years of me biting my tongue to the point it was becoming a bloody stump (figuratively, of course), our lengthy avoidance of discussions concerning topical and germane issues of the day came to a head yesterday. I could think of nothing that better encapsulated the basis for my deep distress and anger than what Mr. O’Toole had written, so I included his piece in full, together with a very long, cathartic email I sent them. At last.
I was heartened by the initial response that they are still reading and digesting what I said. Let us hope it is the beginning of a turning point for at least 2 MAGA-bots. (But I know better than to hope for too much.)
I agree with QuickSilver: It should be required reading for every American.
DYING to know your parents’ reaction! Do let us know.
I’ll share it, but frankly I am not sanguine. They are in very deep.
These 2 extremely intelligent people have become climate change deniers; birthers; xenophobes who believe that Sharia law is being practiced as the official law in Dearborn, Michigan and we wimmins will all be wearing burkas in the USA by and by; and most recently, questions about the constitutionality of the stay-at-home orders imposed by Governor Gavin Newsom. It was this last that finally tore it for me.
“Stay at home” is a bit of a misnomer, by the way. I’m under the repressive thumb of Gov Newsom (sarcasm if that wasn’t obvious) and I can leave my house any time I like and go pretty much anywhere I want. It’s just that there isn’t much reason to do so, with everything closed. But I spent a good deal of time this weekend out walking the paths and trails that were open and had adjacent parking. But when AG Barr throws out terms like “martial law” and “house arrest”, you know it’s complete bullshit.
Anatomically, scientifically, there is no difference between Barr’s mouth and a bull’s rectum.
When was the last time a bull’s rectum licked Individual 1’s ass?
Righto, and thanks.
Overheard on AF1: The president in his cabin yelling at a staffer. "What’s that tribute to McCain doing in my draft remarks for Phoenix? I don’t care if McSally recommended it. Get rid of it. I like people who weren’t captured.”
What the hell is “As Fuck One”? 
Also: can we get a source on that?
I’d like a cite as well. I also hope Sen. McSally finds out about that and starts to distance herself from Donny Two-scoops, but I doubt it. The Sunday before the Senate impeachment conviction vote I called her office and left a message – Sinema, too, but with a different angle on it. Text:
[spoiler]My name is [elided]. I am calling from the city of Mesa, zip code 85203. Although I have on a couple occasions written or emailed my representatives in Congress this is the first phone call I have ever made. I will be calling your colleague across the aisle as well.
As you might guess, it is about the impeachment trial of President Trump. Since the Senate has decided to not call any witnesses, your verdict has to rest on the facts already at hand and, to my mind they are not in dispute. By his own words, Trump himself has stated he impounded the funds to Ukraine and the only question remaining, was it an impeachable offense.
In order to decide it is not, you have to
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assume a strong executive theory, then
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assume that the President as executive had probable cause both to investigate Hunter Biden and to suspect a server machine in Ukraine could shed light on 2016 election interference, then
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assume the President needed cooperation from Ukraine to pursue those investigations, then
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assume the Ukrainians had a history of not complying with Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty requests due to corruption, and finally
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assume the impoundment of funds itself is not, in this case, an impeachable offense.
Frankly, if this is not an impeachable offense, I don’t know what would be. To not remove Trump from office on this account would mean Congress is giving up its obligation to give advice and consent to the Executive branch’s actions and might as well go home – Trump can do whatever he likes.
Now, I realize to vote to convict is tantamount to political suicide. The wingnut branch of the Republican party will surely excoriate you as a traitor and decline to vote for you in the upcoming primary in favor of someone who will represent their distorted view of what America is about. However, as a Viet Nam era veteran, I would hope that you, as a former officer, will take your oaths seriously.
And again, as a veteran I have to ask you, as an Air Force officer were you not prepared to sacrifice your very life in service to your country? How does a job compare to that?[/spoiler]I didn’t receive a response and didn’t really expect one; those were busy times for all the senators. After she, along with every other Republican senator but for Romney, voted to acquit I sent her a disappointed e-mail.
[spoiler]I am the person who left a message on your phone machine a week ago Sunday. I had hoped that your service as an officer in the Air Force would lead you to take your Senate oath of impeachment more seriously than the other run-of-the-mill Senators you share the chambers with. Apparently you did not.
That Trump did the things the House accused him of was not in question. Ample evidence and his own statements proved his guilt to anyone but the most partisan supporter of him. As I said in the message, the only question to be answered is, does what he did rise to the level where the impeachment should lead to his removal from office.
Again, as I said in the message, if withholding money Congress had appropriated – military aid to help a struggling ally withstand encroachment by a dictatorial regime – is not sufficient to warrant removal from office, what is? This goes double when you consider that – like sending Al Capone to prison for tax evasion – the impeachment charges were merely the easiest to prove in a long list of malfeasances.
In the days since his “vindication” Trump has shown, as always, what a petty, vengeful man he is, discharging Lt. Colonel Vindman and Ambassador Sondlund mere weeks before they were scheduled to leave anyway. Can Michael Atkinson be far behind? Can you honestly say you are surprised?
Trump’s actions these past three years will lead me to vote, for the first time in my life, for the Democrat nominee for President come November, regardless of who he or she might be. I can see now that I need not vote Republican down ticket, either.[/spoiler]Again, but for an auto-response to the email, she has not deigned to explain her actions. Clearly, despite characterizing Trump’s comments in the Access Hollywood tapes as “unacceptable” and “disgusting” she has hitched her political career to Trump’s wagon.
May she go down in flames along with him this November.
Remember that McSally got appointed by the Republican Governor to fill out McCain’s term after she lost to Sinema in the general election.
McSally is running this year against Mark Kelly , former astronaut and navy pilot and husband of Gabrielle Giffords. Kelly flew missions in the first gulf war.
I guess the GOP will start running ads painting him as a coward and hippie peacenik then.
They prefer candidates whose spouses don’t get shot while attending an event with their constituents.
Those were extremely even-handed and well-argued messages. Shame on any legislator who would fail to at least acknowledge them (in this case the GOP Senator McSally).