Well, I know that when I blackmail somebody, that's the person

I call in the middle of the night to express my anxieties and innermost thoughts, fears and frustrations, and then to seek advice from on foreign policy decisions. And he's always overjoyed to see me and hear from me, and brags about it to anyone who will listen.

I don't mind this being a talking point if it bothers Lindsey Graham, but...

He's not that hard to understand. If you read Bob Woodward's book, Fear, he presents this relationship as fulfilling an inner need Graham has always had to have the attention of and validation from a more charismatic, more powerful politician. He loves being the guy that Trump calls in the middle of the night in the middle of an anxiety attack. He loves pontificating and actually having someone take him seriously, and he loves giving advice to Trump on what to do with our troops and sharing his grand vision of foreign relations (probably a lot of which he borrowed from John McCain, who fulfilled the mentor role before Trump did).

Someone also explained Lindsey Graham as being like a pilot fish that attaches itself to a whale for the safety and shelter it provides. That's a good analogy too. Graham is amoral, so he can shift allegiances easily. He loves the attention and adoration of the most powerful man in the world. It's just another peak experience for Graham.

He really is that person.

Ann Applebaum nails it in her mandatory-reading essay History Will Judge the Complicit
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/07/trumps-collaborators/612250/

Your point about the Lincoln Project ads is spot on.

They are profoundly effective but if they are not getting beyond Twitter and like social media platforms and MSNBC they are all but useless exercises in self-indulgence.

We need that kind of ad content (Lincoln Project/the Bloomberg ads) but sprayed the way Bloomberg placed his ads, on often-accessed television channels, plunked down in the middle of major televised events and so forth. This is so basic it shouldn't have to be stated.

Trump Illegally Eliminates Protections for First and Only Monument in the Atlantic Ocean

Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
June 05, 2020

Teeming with ancient coral, marine mammals, seabirds, and undiscovered species, the Northeast Canyons and Seamounts Marine National Monument is no place for commercial fishing.

I really hope this isn't a virus that can trigger ME/CFS

Rudy vs Piers Morgan: Partial Transcript

This is a quickly put-together transcript of the exchange from this post which documents an interview between Rudy Giuliani and Piers Morgan that goes completely off the rails. I just felt like doing this for the pure joy of it.

Thanks to kingofalldems for the original post.

"Rudy Giuliani goes off"
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100213541145

There’s crosstalk between Rudy and Piers, so some of the dialogue is missing.


Rudy: You’re a disgrace! This interview is over as far as I’m concerned.

Piers: You sound completely barking mad. You know that.

Rudy: No I don’t!

Piers: You’ve lost the plot.

Rudy: You are a big liar!

Piers: You’ve lost the plot. And it’s sad to see.

Rudy: You, you, you’re the one that got thrown off the television!

Piers: Yeah?

Rudy: Because you had ratings that were about a 2! So don’t tell me I’ve lost anything!

Piers: Keep going, Rudy.

Rudy: I know what happened to your show, Piers! And I remember the mistakes you made!

Piers: I remember…

Rudy: And I remember how you (“sucked” or “f#$ked”) up! So don’t give me that stuff, I know who you are!

Piers: Well, we’d like to apologize for the language.

Rudy: You can say anything you want about me, but you’re defaming my president, and you are helping to create violence in this country (by) the way you’re covering this.

Piers: When I used to interview you, you were an intelligent, reasonable man. And you’ve gone completely mad, and you sound deranged… It’s really sad to see what’s happened to you.

Rudy: It was really sad to see the way your career imploded in the United States, Piers!

Piers: Yeah?

Rudy: If you think I have any respect for you after this. Well, maybe you don’t care. But everyone in America knows you’re a failed journalist!

Piers: Really? Well you know what?

(Three people talking over each other, then they argue about the lack of gun control in the U.S.)

Rudy: But I tried to keep my mouth shut about you because I liked you.

Piers: Well you’ve come on here.

Rudy: You were thrown out of your job!

Pies: You’ve come on here, you’ve been rude and abusive, you sound unhinged, you’ve been using profanity.

Rudy: I haven’t been rude!

Piers: And you were somebody I used to admire, Rudy.

Rudy: I didn’t use profanity! Tell me what profanity I used?

Woman: Okay. Rudy Giuliani, thanks very much indeed.

Rudy: What profanity did I use, liar? What profanity did I use!

Woman: Well I don’t think we can repeat it, unfortunately.

Rudy: I didn’t use any profanity!

Woman: Well, what words did you use that we misheard in the studio?

Rudy: You tell me the profanity that I used! That’s exactly what you do to President Trump!

Woman: Rudy Giuliani, thank you very much indeed.

End Interview

Sorry for “Woman” but I don’t know who this third person is in the interview.

(Any mistakes are mine alone).

Lincoln Project, Team Bloomberg, Joe Biden's ad folks all need to

get video/images of all of this. These are images of weakness and cowardice unlike most of us have ever seen in our lifetimes. These images are the epitome of a failed presidency, an unelectable president.

It's revealing that, at this point in his presidency, Trump has to work

this ridiculously hard just to hold onto his base when it was believed that virtually nothing could hinder that support. As so many pundits have pointed out, at this point he needs to expand his base or he's toast; that expansion isn't going to materialize.

I admit, I'll be shocked if our medical system isn't totally overburdened in southern

and some other states by the end of June. But I can tell you here in AZ we are seeing our highest new case numbers since this thing began. In March and April we averaged 150 to 250 new cases a day and we are now up around a thousand new cases a day. 1127 yesterday and nine hundred something today, and higher death totals. It has moved gradually upwards through May. Now AZ is just one state, but I've noticed Florida totals are high and peripatetic.

This prediction isn't based solely on the protests but the Memorial Day opening debacle and some states moving to Stage 2 of the reopening despite climbing case numbers.

You might have to read several books.

Craig Unger's book House of Trump, House of Putin goes way back to trace Trump's relationship with Russian underworld figures and some of his financial crimes.

There are several books focusing specifically on his financial crimes. Check out David Kay Johnston's recent books, especially The Making of Donald Trump. There's also the new book about Deutsch Bank, Dark Towers

For the sexual crimes, try All the President's Women: Donald Trump and the Making of a Predator by Barry Levine and Monique El-Faizy.

For all the recent stuff, The Apprentice, Fire and Fury, The Mueller Report and A Very Stable Genius are all good books, as is Woodward's Fear.

I really wanted to read Susan Hennessey's book Unmaking the Presidency: Donald Trump's War on the World's Most Powerful Office which I think gets into his abuse of office to destroy our institutions but haven't had a chance.

I know of no single volume that can encompass it all. And I'm sure more are coming. An avalanche, even.