14 thoughts on “Thursday Open Thread”

1. Well H*ll!  Someone has to say it.

   T*ump stinks.  Stay upwind my brothers and sisters.

   Peace

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2. The Trumpstink is very very bad today.

   There is no more Hope for America.

   Stay upwind, Hope.

   Abandon ship!

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3. Grantham on Facebook live now, trying to get out in front of sexual harassment charges, asking DA Beth McCann to investigate.

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   1. Nothing like having to sprint to make to look less bad when you've deliberately lagged far behind the whole time.

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4. WOTD from Josh Marshall: "Manafort, The Cinematic Arc of History And The Wildest Coincidence"

   Damn Josh Marshall is on fire. His background as a history student is showing.

   As noted, Russia appears to have begun testing out information warfare possibilities in mid-to-late 2014. We don’t know when Donald Trump came into focus as a possible tool – witting or otherwise – of Russia. But events were clearly coming together. Russian operatives began hacking into DNC servers in late 2015 and continued these efforts into the spring. It was in March that Russian operatives successfully hacked John Podesta’s email. It was also in March that Trump announced Carter Page, George Papadopoulos, and three others as his foreign policy advisory team. Papadopoulos had learned earlier in March that he’d be working for Trump. He’d already attracted the attention of Russian intelligence operatives in London who would tell him about Russia’s dirt on Hillary Clinton.

   All of this is coming together in February and March of 2016. And it’s right then that Manafort shows up eager to work for Donald Trump – to ‘get back in the game’…

   Life is messy and filled with coincidences. But it is well to remember a key fact. Part of the work Manafort did for Yanukovych was helping him run campaigns and political operations in Ukraine. But a big, big part of his work was influencing politics in the US on behalf of Yanukovych and the Russian interests who backed him. He was literally in the business of acting as a foreign agent in the US representing the interests of the then-pro-Russian government of Ukraine. That’s actually one of the things Mueller charged him with doing – not the representation itself but failing to properly register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).

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5. Steve Lebsock gains national notoriety via The Hill: http://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/376088-two-dem-legislators-face-calls-for-ouster-after-harassment-claims?

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6. Let me guess? . . . 

   U.S. Ambassador to Mexico to Quit Amid Tense Relations Under Trump

   The Trump administration has selected a nominee to fill Mrs. Jacobson’s vacancy, but has not yet released the name, according to an American official with knowledge of the decision who was not authorized to comment publicly and who discussed the matter on the condition of anonymity.

   https://nyti.ms/2t9kb6u

   . . . Does his (you know it’s a he) last name start with “Tancredo”?

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7. National News – o – duh – day:

   McMaster is out.

   Georgia strips Delta of $50M because NRA.

   Drumpf’s protectionist aluminum and steel tariffs send the markets into a 2% tailspin, and open the door for international retaliation. 

   Putin’s got himself intercontinental cruise missle nukes.  (Can’t believe Raygun fans couldn’t see that one coming, huh?!?)

   Mnuchin blocks video of what UCLA students think of him. 

   Carson’s got new furniture.

   Kushner probably couldn’t pass the background check you’d expect of your kids neighborhood babysitter.

   Trump’s formerly “bad [Mexican] judge”   green lights his big, beautiful wall.

   The Making America Great Again Shitshow continues . . . 

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   1. Georgia strips Delta of $50M because NRA.

      Let's reverse this scenario. 

      Georgia gives Delta $50M tax break as a reward for offering NRA discounts.

      Since when do state legislatures dictate political correctness for businesses?

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      1. In a “perfect” world, corporations would earn their tax breaks the old-fashioned way . . . 

         . . . solely by making campaign contributions.

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         1. Dio, there's no respect for tradition anymore.

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      2. Perhaps Delta should adopt the Hobby Lobby/Masterpiece Cake Bakery line. Gun violence offends the company's deeply-held moral and religious beliefs. They are simply refusing the accommodate (or give discounts to) people who engage in objectionable behavior.

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         1. 

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8. LOCK HER UP! LOCK HER UP!

   https://www.cnn.com/2018/03/01/politics/ivanka-trump-fbi-investigation/index.html

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