Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

You are here: MacNN Forums > Community > MacNN Lounge > Political/War Lounge > The Cabinet of Deplorables: Year Two thru 4

The Cabinet of Deplorables: Year Two thru 4 (Page 3)
Thread Tools
subego
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Apr 26, 2018, 03:05 AM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post


������
Originally Posted by andi*pandi View Post
wow.
Originally Posted by Thorzdad View Post
At least he’s honest about the graft.

Why is this so shocking? I thought Bernie went over it pretty thoroughly.

I actually remember Senator Obama being asked if this was how it worked, and he wisely decided to cut the bullshit and admit it was.
     
Waragainstsleep
Posting Junkie
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: UK
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Apr 26, 2018, 05:08 AM
 
It should still be shocking because its terrible.
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
andi*pandi
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: inside 128, north of 90
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Apr 26, 2018, 11:02 AM
 
If they behave that way with Lobbyists, then what does that say about how they behave with Jane and Joe Citizen?
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Apr 26, 2018, 11:11 AM
 
I'll need that Obama quote for comparison
     
subego
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Apr 26, 2018, 11:58 AM
 
This was 10 years ago, so I doubt I’ll be able to find it.

The gist was the interviewer, who I think was Charlie Rose, asked if people could buy his influence.

He said something along the lines of “I don’t do what big donors tell me to do, but if a big donor calls, you can see why I’d take that call, right?”
     
subego
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Apr 26, 2018, 12:16 PM
 
Originally Posted by andi*pandi View Post
If they behave that way with Lobbyists, then what does that say about how they behave with Jane and Joe Citizen?
My district has 750,000 people. I assume I’ve got 1/750,000th of my congressman’s ear.
     
andi*pandi
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: inside 128, north of 90
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Apr 26, 2018, 12:33 PM
 
I was implying you have less, unless you've ante'd up $$.
     
subego
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Apr 26, 2018, 12:39 PM
 
Okay, so instead of the exponent of my influence being -6, because of lobbyists it’s -8.

Now I’m mad.
     
subego
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Apr 26, 2018, 12:58 PM
 
I implied this question, but I’ll ask it directly...

Wasn’t this why Bernie put so much focus on financing his campaign with small, individual donations?

Was he hammering on Goldman Sachs for his health?
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Apr 26, 2018, 08:27 PM
 
I feel like lobbyists and donors are being conflated in this conversation. Mulvaney was talking about lobbyists.
     
subego
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Apr 26, 2018, 08:37 PM
 
Lobbyists who who cough up are donors, no?
     
subego
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Apr 26, 2018, 09:52 PM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post
I can no longer continue this conversation because this nickname shit was never funny to begin with.
I missed this.

I would have stopped immediately had I been asked, unless that happened and I missed it too.

This was an extreme overreaction.
     
subego
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Apr 28, 2018, 12:15 AM
 
Rumor is they want to get Kelly to quit run the VA.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Apr 30, 2018, 07:46 PM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
I missed this.

I would have stopped immediately had I been asked, unless that happened and I missed it too.

This was an extreme overreaction.
Perhaps, but needing a decoder ring to follow a conversation coming from a person who chastised you for doing the same thing on a smaller scale last year does cut one's patience short.


Originally Posted by subego View Post
Rumor is they want to get Kelly to quit run the VA.
They want to find him a landing spot that doesn't look like a demotion (like they supposedly did for McMaster). I think the VA thing is more of a pipe dream than a strategy.
     
subego
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Apr 30, 2018, 09:19 PM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post
Perhaps, but needing a decoder ring to follow a conversation coming from a person who chastised you for doing the same thing on a smaller scale last year does cut one's patience short.
The only thing I recall was “who the **** is Sweet Tea?”

If this was what was meant to chastise me, it failed to do so because I interpreted it as a question.

Ask me directly not to do something like this and I’ll stop doing it. Literally zero patience is required.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 2, 2018, 07:44 PM
 
Originally Posted by subego View Post
If this was what was meant to chastise me, it failed to do so because I interpreted it as a question
No, I didn't chastise you. You gave me shit for calling Reince Rinse a long while back.. I figured I didn't have any standing to complain.


Originally Posted by subego View Post
Ask me directly not to do something like this and I’ll stop doing it. Literally zero patience is required.
The tone conveyed by using nicknames you made up on the spot repeatedly is you neither care if someone can follow the convo, nor do you take it seriously. Rather than force you to discuss things the way I like it, I bailed.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 2, 2018, 08:07 PM
 


I think several aides have jumped ship in the past week and the number of inquiries into Pruitt is still rising.

And. He's. Still. There.
     
subego
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 2, 2018, 09:18 PM
 
Haven’t heard any of the “sources close to the matter say President Trump has privately voiced frustration with his beleaguered appointee”.
     
subego
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 3, 2018, 01:02 AM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post
The tone conveyed by using nicknames you made up on the spot repeatedly is you neither care if someone can follow the convo, nor do you take it seriously.
That would be the tone if I was trying to **** with you.

What I was trying to do was make you laugh. I care whether you follow along because it’s necessary for getting the jokes.

This was a whiffed delivery, not sabotage.
     
subego
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 3, 2018, 07:59 PM
 
Originally Posted by The Final Dakar View Post
And. He's. Still. There.
I’m wondering at this point if he’s trying to draw fire away from the criminal goings-on at the White House.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 3, 2018, 10:06 PM
 
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics...-leaks/559607/
As Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt faces a seemingly endless stream of scandal, his team is scrambling to divert the spotlight to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke. And the White House isn’t happy about it.

In the last week, a member of Pruitt’s press team, Michael Abboud, has been shopping negative stories about Zinke to multiple outlets, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the efforts, as well as correspondence reviewed by The Atlantic.

“This did not happen, and it’s categorically false,” EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox said.
THIS IS AMAZING

Reminds me a saying that's probably not a saying, about how evil always turns on itself.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 14, 2018, 08:06 PM
 
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/...meeting-521215
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt placed a polluted California area on his personal priority list of Superfund sites targeted for “immediate and intense” action after conservative radio and television host Hugh Hewitt brokered a meeting between him and lawyers for the water district that was seeking federal help to clean up the polluted Orange County site.

The previously unreported meeting, which was documented in emails released by EPA under a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by the Sierra Club, showed Pruitt’s staff reacting quickly to the request last September by Hewitt, who has been one of Pruitt’s staunchest defenders amid a raft of ethics controversies around his expensive travel, security team spending and a cheap Washington condo rental from a lobbyist.
First Hannity, now Hewitt. Conservative media showing some stellar journalistic ethics, lately (MSNBC gave him a verbal slap on the wrist).
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 14, 2018, 08:30 PM
 

     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 14, 2018, 08:33 PM
 
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer...ght-calls.html
With the hope of calming him down, then–chief of staff Reince Priebus and then–press secretary Sean Spicer began a subtle campaign. “It got to the point that they were just like, ‘We need to get him off these channels and onto Fox & Friends or else we’re going to be chasing down this crazy-train bullshit from MSNBC and CNN all day,’ ” one former White House official said.

Like all other ideas, this had the highest chance of implementation if Trump believed he’d thought of it on his own. Priebus and Spicer worked talking points about the network’s high ratings and importance to his base of supporters into conversation until, eventually, it stuck, so that the president’s television consumption is today what the current White House official called “mainly a complete dosage of Fox.” The former official added, “Trump’s someone who loves praise more than he likes hate-watching Morning Joe.”

But the current official acknowledged that it has created a different set of problems: “Sometimes on Fox, a lot of stories are embellished, and they don’t necessarily cover the big news stories of the day. When they cover the smaller stories, if that gets the president riled up, then that becomes an issue. Whenever he tweets, all of us do a mad dash or mad scramble to find out as much information about that random topic as possible. We’re used to it in a lot of ways, so it’s part of our morning routine.”
...and I'm supposed to believe they were the adults in the room?
     
subego
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 15, 2018, 06:46 AM
 
How should they have played it?
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 15, 2018, 09:17 AM
 
Eat the shit sandwich because you're working for a thin-skinned narcissistic idiot. Getting him addicted to favorable propaganda didn't improve our lives but it sure as hell made their lives easier.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 15, 2018, 10:18 AM
 
I just realized, they put him in a literal safe space.
     
Thorzdad
Moderator
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Nobletucky
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 15, 2018, 11:54 AM
 
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 15, 2018, 12:00 PM
 
Thank you, I never got around to that last night. That's indefensible. They even hired one of the admin from an investigated school to oversee investigations from here on out.

If there's one thing this admin seems to be against, it's investigations: The EPA, DOJ civil rights, DOE...
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 16, 2018, 07:33 PM
 
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/...e-study-536950
The intervention early this year — not previously disclosed — came as HHS' Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry was preparing to publish its assessment of a class of toxic chemicals that has contaminated water supplies near military bases, chemical plants and other sites from New York to Michigan to West Virginia.

The study would show that the chemicals endanger human health at a far lower level than EPA has previously called safe, according to the emails.
By 'public relations nightmare' I think they mean 'would require us to do something against the wishes of our Secretary and his Corporate Overlords.'

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/...-rauser-594488
EPA administrator Scott Pruitt has tapped a white-collar defense lawyer to advise him as he grapples with a dozen federal investigations into his activity, according to two people familiar with the situation.
Pruitt is so deep into ethics problems he needs a ****ing outside lawyer and still he's untouchable. I think when this is all over we're going to find out it was a big GOP donor that was keeping him alive in the admin this long.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 16, 2018, 08:19 PM
 
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/...er-post-542916
The Trump administration has eliminated the White House’s top cyber policy role, jettisoning a key position created during the Obama presidency to harmonize the government's overall approach to cybersecurity policy and digital warfare.

POLITICO first reported last week that John Bolton, President Donald Trump's new national security adviser, was maneuvering to cut the cyber coordinator role, in a move that many experts and former government officials criticized as a major step backward for federal cybersecurity policy.
I'm going to go with this is a "John Bolton is a control freak" thing and not a "Trump admin doesn't care if we have no cyber strategy" thing. Though the two don't have to be mutually exclusive.
     
reader50
Administrator
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: California
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 16, 2018, 09:50 PM
 
It might be another one of those "Must undo anything Obama did." Also not mutually exclusive with the other explanations.

I wonder if Obama had the White House lawns reseeded at some point. They might have to replace the turf next.
     
subego
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 17, 2018, 06:11 AM
 
Дstяoturf.
     
Thorzdad
Moderator
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Nobletucky
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 22, 2018, 01:52 PM
 
     
andi*pandi
Moderator
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: inside 128, north of 90
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 22, 2018, 01:55 PM
 
Yes, that's how we ensure fair access to facts.
     
Thorzdad
Moderator
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Nobletucky
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 22, 2018, 02:08 PM
 
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 22, 2018, 08:18 PM
 
More than the AP. WSJ got in, making me think they were choosing outlets based on their sympathy.

Physically handling the AP reporter was a nice touch, though I blame security for that. Regardless of administration they tend to lack respect for the press/1s amendment.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 22, 2018, 08:39 PM
 
https://twitter.com/MariannaNBCNews/...20345536073728
Woah —> DHS Sec. Nielsen said she hasn’t seen the Intelligence community report that claims Putin preferred President Donald Trump win the US election over Hillary Clinton.

“I don’t believe I’ve seen that conclusion. I’m not aware of that,” she said on the Hill.


When you almost resign because your boss is a dick, but then you tell everyone what they know is a lie just to soothe his ego.

BTW, this is the Head of Homeland Security.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 23, 2018, 05:37 PM
 
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.f03c84f695d4
During testimony before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on commerce, justice, science and related agencies, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) asked Bridenstine whether he believes greenhouse gases are the primary cause of climate change. Bridenstine quickly replied in the affirmative.

“The National Climate Assessment, that includes NASA, and it includes the Department of Energy, and it includes NOAA, has clearly stated it is extremely likely, [that] is the language they use, that human activity is the dominant cause of global warming, and I have no reason to doubt the science that comes from that,” Bridenstine said.

Schatz followed up by asking, “Is it fair to call this an evolution of your views?”

Bridenstine replied: “Yes.”
!
     
Thorzdad
Moderator
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Nobletucky
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
May 23, 2018, 06:59 PM
 
     
Thorzdad
Moderator
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Nobletucky
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 5, 2018, 02:02 PM
 
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 5, 2018, 02:09 PM
 
Don't forget the weird mattress story. This guy is a mess.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 5, 2018, 02:51 PM
 
Sanders gaslighting like never before at today's briefing.
     
subego
Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Chicago, Bang! Bang!
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 5, 2018, 03:08 PM
 
Can’t one say this about all her briefings?
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 5, 2018, 03:18 PM
 
Depends on the news cycle. A lot of things hitting today.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 6, 2018, 06:52 PM
 
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics...esigns/561974/
Hupp, who worked as the director of scheduling and advance, has been entangled in many of the scandals dogging EPA Administrator Pruitt. In March, she was one of two aides who received hefty salary bumps, even after the White House refused Pruitt’s request for raises. And as The Washington Post reported on Monday, she recently testified to the House Oversight Committee that she regularly spent her days doing personal tasks for Pruitt, from hunting for housing to calling the Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C., in order to inquire about purchasing a used mattress.

According to one top EPA official, the 26-year-old was “tired of being thrown under the bus by Pruitt,” and weary of seeing her name constantly appear in headlines about the agency. Officials began drafting her resignation paperwork on Monday morning, just after portions of her congressional testimony had been made public.
Everybody but Pruitt leaving.


When reached by phone, Jahan Wilcox, an EPA spokesperson, would not comment. He said: “You have a great day, you’re a piece of trash.”
Jesus Christ. Fire his ass.
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 14, 2018, 08:40 PM
 
I don't why, but the latest revelation on Pruitt caused Laura Ingraham and James Inhofe both to say he should probably go.

Meanwhile...
@SpeakerRyan on whether EPA chief Scott Pruitt should remain in his position amid ethics scrutiny: "Frankly, I haven't paid that close attention to it...I don't know enough about what Pruitt has or has not done."
Mr. Oversight, everybody.
     
Thorzdad
Moderator
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Nobletucky
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 15, 2018, 09:44 AM
 
     
Thorzdad
Moderator
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: Nobletucky
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jun 21, 2018, 08:56 AM
 
     
The Final Dakar  (op)
Games Meister
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Eternity
Status: Offline
Reply With Quote
Jul 2, 2018, 10:23 PM
 
https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/02/polit...dar/index.html
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and his aides have kept "secret" calendars and schedules to overtly hide controversial meetings or calls with industry representatives and others, according to a former EPA official who is expected to soon testify before Congress. A review of EPA documents by CNN found discrepancies between Pruitt's official calendar and other records.

EPA staffers met routinely in Pruitt's office to "scrub," alter or remove from Pruitt's official calendar numerous records because they might "look bad," according to Kevin Chmielewski, Pruitt's former deputy chief of staff for operations, who attended the meetings.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...=.d13402bd5693

Pruitt initially asked her to contact the Republican Attorneys General Association — a group Pruitt had once led and Dravis had worked for before coming to the EPA — as part of the job search for his wife. Dravis said she declined to make that call to avoid any potential conflicts of interest or possible violations of the Hatch Act, which limits federal officials’ political activities.
During her session with investigators Thursday, according to two individuals, Dravis also described how Pruitt asked her and another former top aide, Sarah Greenwalt, to review a rental agreement which he had decided to break. Pruitt and his wife lived briefly last year in Washington’s U Street corridor before relocating — a move that forced them to pay a penalty. The administrator asked the two advisers, both of whom are attorneys, to examine the lease to see if there was a way to avoid the penalty, Dravis told committee staffers.
     
 
Thread Tools
 
Forum Links
Forum Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Top
Privacy Policy
All times are GMT -4. The time now is 10:11 AM.
All contents of these forums © 1995-2017 MacNN. All rights reserved.
Branding + Design: www.gesamtbild.com
vBulletin v.3.8.8 © 2000-2017, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.,