August 31, 2018

Why do Republicans prefer a racist Democrat to John McCain? Because they're craven hypocrites

Renaming the Senate office building for the late GOP hero seemed like a slam dunk. Then Republicans hit a new low

HEATHER DIGBY PARTON
AUGUST 31, 2018 12:35PM (UTC)

This week's memorial to the late Sen. John McCain has not brought out the best in President Trump. Indeed, he seems to be increasingly upset as he obsessively watches cable news and sees the drama of the funeral and all the accolades pouring in from around the world in tribute to the nation's most famous elder statesman.

Trump's behavior on the announcement of McCain's passing was typically boorish and crass, and as the mourning period goes on he seems to be doing everything short of turning cartwheels in the Rose Garden to get attention. He has pushed White House counsel Don McGahn out the door on Twitter and made clear that he'll let Jeff Sessions stay on as attorney general until the midterms, pretty much putting Robert Mueller on notice. Grace of any kind is not this president's strong suit.

Congressional Republicans have by and large behaved with more dignity, although that's a very low bar. Most members gave stirring encomiums to their late comrade on the Senate floor this week, undoubtedly annoying Trump to no end. There were a few noteworthy exceptions. Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma defended Trump's petulant behavior, saying, "Well, you know, frankly, I think that John McCain is partially to blame for that because he is very outspoken." Apparently, disagreeing with Trump means you deserve to be treated disrespectfully upon your death regardless of your years of government service. Good to know.

McCain's stalwart BFF, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., also hedged about Trump's sour attitude, first saying, "Clearly, they had a contentious relationship, but he’s not the only one to have a tense relationship with John McCain. How the president feels about Sen. McCain is his right to feel any way he’d like."

Graham also claimed that the president generously told White House Chief of Staff John Kelly that the McCain family should get "whatever they need." Then, on Thursday, Graham shifted gears, telling CBS News, "It bothers me greatly when the president says things about John McCain. It pisses me off to no end. And the way he handled the passing of John is just — it was disturbing." This isn't the only time in recent days that Graham has behaved erratically, but it's perhaps the most surprising.

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https://www.salon.com/2018/08/31/why-do-republicans-prefer-a-segregationist-to-john-mccain-because-theyre-craven-hypocrites/

August 31, 2018

As Ex-Aides Face Prison Time, Crowd Chants 'Lock Her Up' At Indiana Trump Rally

https://twitter.com/JordanUhl/status/1035327091540152320

August 31, 2018

The Real Reason Russia Is Rooting for Republicans in the Midterms

State-controlled media joke about abetting Trump and believe his tough talk on sanctions is just a ploy. If the Republicans win the midterms, they say, he’ll come around.

Julia Davis
08.31.18 4:45 AM ET

Looking ahead to the midterms, President Donald Trump tweeted recently: “I’m very concerned that Russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming Election. Based on the fact that no President has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for the Democrats. They definitely don’t want Trump!” And yet, they do.

Recent commentary on Russia’s tightly controlled state television reveals that pro-Kremlin forces are still rooting for the Republicans. And against his enemies, even in death.

With glee, Russian political figures rejoiced over the passing of the late, great Sen. John McCain. Oleg Morozov, a member of the International Affairs Committee of the upper house of the Russian parliament, wrote, “The enemy died.” Margarita Simonyan, editor in chief of RT [the Russian state’s international television network] admitted: “I am a lousy Christian... I can’t love my enemies. I can’t even have compassion for them. I can only will myself not to gloat.”

One of the reasons McCain’s death was so deeply enjoyed by the pro-establishment Russians is that they don’t see a worthy replacement for the anti-Trump, anti-Putin elements anywhere within the Republican party. Karen Shakhnazarov, a prominent film director who is a regular on Russian state TV, summed up that perspective on the political opinion show 60 Minutes: “Global empires like the United States are destroyed from within... The U.S. is deteriorating. They won’t find other fighters like McCain. There won’t be any others like him. This process is irreversible.”

With respect to the sanctions, Russian experts see them as Trump’s “pre-election trump cards,” a set of measures designed to make him look “tough on Russia” in the run-up to midterms.

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https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-real-reason-russia-is-rooting-for-republicans-in-the-midterms?source=twitter&via=desktop

August 31, 2018

Ex-DOJ spokesman explains why Mueller may not keep quiet after Labor Day

August 31, 2018

This vile, unadulterated racism - By Eugene Robinson

By Eugene Robinson
Columnist
August 30 at 4:42 PM

President Trump’s bigoted hatred of Latino immigrants has been clear from the beginning. Now his administration is aggressively persecuting Latino citizens as well.

It is hard to be shocked anymore, given the daily outrages committed by Trump and his minions, but a report Thursday by The Post was jaw-dropping: In the borderlands of southern Texas, the State Department is denying passports to hundreds and perhaps thousands of men and women who have official birth certificates demonstrating they were born in the United States.

In some cases, valid passports have been confiscated and revoked, their holders stranded in Mexico, unable to come home. In other cases, people have been arrested, sent to detention centers and slated for deportation. Imagine how they and their American families must feel — and how their distress must make Trump and his fellow xenophobes feel warm inside.

Denial of passports effectively renders the victims stateless — meaning they cannot travel outside the country, because they would not be readmitted — and potentially vulnerable to being deported. Again, these are people who have government-issued birth certificates, long accepted as gold-standard proof of citizenship. The Trump administration simply doesn’t see Latinos as full-fledged Americans.

The Post quoted a 40-year-old man named Juan — he didn’t want his last name used for fear of being targeted — who has a birth certificate stating he was born in the Texas border city of Brownsville. He served his country for three years in the U.S. Army, then was a cadet in the Border Patrol, and now works as a Texas state prison guard. But when he applied to renew his passport this year, the State Department responded with a letter saying it didn’t believe he was a citizen.

more
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-trump-administration-doesnt-see-latinos-as-americans/2018/08/30/0ab8b7de-ac83-11e8-b1da-ff7faa680710_story.html

August 31, 2018

The fight for Donald Trump's tax returns is heating up -- again

By MATTHEW MOSK BENJAMIN SIEGEL Aug 31, 2018, 8:33 AM ET

From Congress to the courts, Democrats are seeking to capitalize on efforts to bring President Trump’s tax returns into public view, hoping the documents could shed fresh light on possible conflicts of interest, foreign business deals and even the Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 election.

Questions about Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns have followed the president from the campaign trail to the Oval Office and reemerged in force last week as a pair of Trump’s closest former aides -– his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his former personal attorney Michael Cohen –- confronted serious tax fraud charges that will likely land both of them behind bars.

Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat who sponsored legislation last year to require all sitting presidents to release their most recent three years of tax returns, says Trump’s tax returns are of vital public interest.

“Trump’s tax returns will deliver honest answers to key questions from the American public,” Wyden said.

Trump was the first major party candidate in four decades to refuse to disclose his tax returns. When his refusal sparked controversy, he agreed to release the records, but only after an audit.

"Tax experts throughout the media agree that no sane person would give their tax returns during an audit," Trump wrote on Twitter in February of 2016. "After the audit, no problem!"

But Trump appears to have reversed his position after the election, and his top aides have deflected questions about the issue.

more
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/fight-donald-trumps-tax-returns-heating/story?id=57524995

August 31, 2018

'Tough decisions have to be made': House Republicans prepare for pain

Party officials begin deciding which GOP lawmakers to save and which ones to cut loose.

By ALEX ISENSTADT 08/31/2018 05:08 AM EDT

With a massive field of vulnerable House incumbents to defend and limited resources to go around, Republicans are readying for a painful round of political triage — deciding which lawmakers are worth trying to rescue, and which ones need to be cut loose to fend for themselves in November.

GOP officials say as many as 45 Republican-held seats are at serious risk, making it impossible to salvage each one in the costly scramble to protect the party’s 23-seat majority— especially those members who have waged sluggish campaigns and posted lackluster fundraising totals.

“This is the time of year when tough decisions have to be made,” said Ken Spain, a longtime former top National Republican Congressional Committee staffer. “There are likely going to be a number of unhappy Republican members of Congress in the coming weeks.”

Behind the scenes, senior party strategists have begun polling to determine which incumbents may be beyond saving. Among those most in jeopardy of getting cut off, they say, are Virginia Rep. Barbara Comstock, Pennsylvania Rep. Keith Rothfus, and Iowa Rep. Rod Blum, all of whom are precariously positioned in their districts.

The party has to date reserved millions of dollars of future advertising time to buttress Comstock and Rothfus. Yet those funds are not guaranteed — they still might be diverted to other incumbents viewed as more likely to win in the fall.

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https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/31/republicans-midterms-congress-vulnerable-lawmakers-gop-805496

August 31, 2018

'The walls are crashing in on him': Ex-DNI Clapper explains Trump's latest attacks on Mueller

‘The walls are crashing in on him’: Ex-DNI Clapper explains Trump’s latest frantic attacks on Mueller

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/08/walls-crashing-ex-dni-clapper-explains-trumps-latest-frantic-attacks-mueller/

August 31, 2018

Mike Huckabee: Unless 'Smug, Arrogant People' On Other Networks Look at FBI Corruption 'We've Lost..

Mike Huckabee: Unless ‘Smug, Arrogant People’ On Other Networks Look at FBI Corruption ‘We’ve Lost Our Country

by Ken Meyer | Aug 31st, 2018, 7:33 am

On Friday, Mike Huckabee lashed out “smug arrogant people” in the media because they supposedly don’t care that the Justice Department and FBI are corruptly trying to bring down President Trump.

The former governor of Arkansas was on Fox & Friends Friday to discuss the connections Bruce Ohr has with Robert Mueller and the Fusion GPS dossier. Huckabee called it a “disgusting coverup and conspiracy” by the DOJ, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions should stand aside if he won’t do anything about it.



The discussions continued with Huckabee slamming Congressional Democrats and saying they only want to protect themselves while allowing “criminal activity” to go unchecked.

video
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/mike-huckabee-unless-smug-arrogant-people-on-other-networks-look-at-fbi-corruption-weve-lost-our-country/

August 31, 2018

Mike Allen on Mueller Probe: Roger Stone and Wikileaks 'Might Happen Today'

by Colby Hall | Aug 31st, 2018, 7:29 am

On the eve of Labor Day weekend, and with the midterm elections roughly two months away, there has been a lot of speculation when we will next see news from the Mueller team. Executive Editor Mike Allen appeared on Morning Joe today to provide insight and explanation on what we can next expect from the investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Context: Meet the Press anchor (and Political Director for NBC News) Chuck Todd made news yesterday when he speculated that today, the Friday before the long weekend, might bring a Mueller bombshell.

Allen tapped down expectation a bit, explaining that the office of Special Counsel is likely on its own timeline adding that they won’t succumb to “taunts” from the “other side.” He then revealed that “the two topics mentioned to me by lawyers close to this investigation when they talked about what might happen today,” are legal questions surrounding Roger Stone, Jr. and Wikileaks.

Stone himself is widely accepted to be the unnamed person in the indictment of 12 Russian agents in the Mueller probe and raised eyebrows when he his anti-Hillary tweets appeared to coordinate with Wikileaks release of hacked DNC emails that were, at best, politically embarrassing to the Clinton campaign.

more
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/mike-allen-speculates-on-mueller-probe-roger-stone-and-wikileaks-might-happen-today/