The Trump Administration: A Clusterfuck in the Making Part Deux (Part 1)

[ThelmaLou]

Here’s a bit of good news.

# Trump’s sway over Lindsey Graham — and all Republicans — is weakening

Over the weekend, Graham appears to have thwarted the Trump administration’s power play in the Manhattan federal prosecutor’s office. Since when does Graham tell the president no? A human windsock, whose loyalties exquisitely reflect the gusts and lulls of power in the GOP, Graham was the wise-cracking wingman to the late Sen. John McCain when the Arizonan carried the party’s flag. But that went out the window when President Trump took over. Graham swung the full 180 degrees to become Trump’s golf buddy, footstool and dutiful apologist.

Two things have happened recently to weaken Trump’s sway over Graham — and the same shifting breezes are being felt elsewhere in the Senate. First, Graham passed his reelection primary test with flying colors on June 9, winning nearly 70 percent of the votes. Any concern the senator might have had that he must mollify the president or risk a Trump-backed challenger melted away.
…
Trump and Attorney General William P. Barr failed to check which way the wind was blowing before launching their scheme to replace Geoffrey Berman of the Southern District of New York with a U.S. attorney more to the president’s liking. According to Graham, no one from the White House or the Justice Department consulted him about the plan — even though he chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Had they asked, they might have learned that Graham has gained his voice. There will be no Trump flunky at the head of the Southern District of New York, Graham says. While paying lip service to the presidential prerogative over U.S. attorneys, Graham made clear that any nominee for the post must pass muster with the senators from New York. This traditional Senate courtesy effectively guts the Trump-Barr maneuver, because both senators are anti-Trump Democrats. In the meantime, Berman will be replaced on an acting basis by his deputy, Audrey Strauss, in whom Graham expressed “confidence.” She’s a Democrat, too.
…

[JKellyMap]

“Footstool” - heh. I picture Graham like the Mexicans hired as furniture in the Sascha Baron Cohen film Bruno.

[ThelmaLou]

I liked “Trump-backed challenger.”

[Rick_Kitchen]

Not the entire court. A subset. I hope they take it to the full court.

[Aspenglow]

If ever a case cried out for an en banc review, this would be the one.

[ThelmaLou]

@Aspenglow

en banc

This was not covered in my law degree, which I got from watching all 348 seasons of Law & Order.

In law, an en banc session (French for “in bench”) is a session in which a case is heard before all the judges of a court (before the entire bench) rather than by one judge or a panel of judges selected from them. The equivalent terms in banc , in banco or in bank are also sometimes seen.

[JKellyMap]

@JKellyMap

“Footstool” - heh. I picture Graham like the Mexicans hired as furniture in the Sascha Baron Cohen film Bruno

Brüno mexican furniture scene

[bobot]

Trump “Nobody Knew” compilation:

Trump on All the Things ‘Nobody Knew’ | NowThis

[Euphonious_Polemic]

@bobot

Trump “Nobody Knew” compilation:

Hilarious!

I think it’s well established that when Trump says “Nobody knew this before”, what he really means is “I didn’t know this until someone recently explained it to me with the aid of puppets and a coloring book.”

[JKellyMap]

Fantastic. Start to finish. (Great way to end it, too).

[BlankSlate]

Man, he looked so proud himself delivering the little known fact about Lincoln. If ignorance is bliss, that’s the happiest motherfucker on the planet.

[JKellyMap]

Or, as the Perfect Master once said, “if ignorance were corn flakes, [he’d] be General Mills.”

[BlankSlate]

If the seven deadly sins were virtues, he’d be the archangel Gabriel.

[Little_Nemo]

@EinsteinsHund

@Little_Nemo

Hydroxychloroquine, bleach, sunshine, and carbon monoxide; it’s the Trump cocktail.

To be applied oral, nasal, intravenous and by suppository all at the same time to make it work.

I’m assuming he’s popping the hydroxychloroquine pills, sniffing the carbon monoxide, and shooting up the bleach. Which means we know where he can stick that sunshine.

[Little_Nemo]

@eschereal

CFSG takes out his sharpie

I’m not sure of the exact legal ramifications of this. Does it mean the border wall is now part of Alabama?

[HelenGawn]

The court should sentence him to writing all the names on it. He’s so fond of Sharpieing government property.

[Euphonious_Polemic]

@HelenGawn

The court should sentence him to writing all the names on it. He’s so fond of Sharpieing government property

I am loving this idea.

For his community service, every day Trump gets up from the camp where he is living, and is taken to his beloved wall.

There, he repeats his task from the previous day(s); Using a Sharpie, he continues to write the names of every single person who died of Covid-19 under his leadership. Unlimited Sharpies are on hand, given to him by his only companion, William Barr. After 500 names in the hot, hot sun, he’s allowed to go back to his small tent in the camp, which he must share with Mr. Barr. Repeat every single day for at least a year.

[Mr.Greenjeans]

Not just Barr. I think Rudy should be there too.

[Jeff_Lichtman]

@Euphonious_Polemic

Using a Sharpie, he continues to write the names of every single person who died of Covid-19 under his leadership.

He should start with the names of the people who died in his border camps. Once he’s done with them, he can move on to people whose deaths he caused in other ways.

[Euphonious_Polemic]

@Jeff_Lichtman

He should start with the names of the people who died in his border camps. Once he’s done with them, he can move on to people whose deaths he caused in other ways.

Agreed. And Rudy can be there too. We will give him toilet cleaning duties for the camp. And personal wiping.