Scaramucci, Scaramucci, can you do the Drumfdango?

[PsyD2013]

Sarah Huckbee Sanders defended Scarmucci's profanity.  If an Obama appointee would have used similar profanity the GOP would be calling for a resignation.

 

http://fox61.com/2017/07/27/white-house-defends-scaramucci-after-profanity-laced-interview/

[GreyhoundFan]

OMG, a Bloomberg reporter tweeted this hilarious throwback photo of "Mooch". Love the wide stance.

[GreyhoundFan]

The WaPo published an interesting article contrasting the "Mooch v. Priebus" feud with the "RFK v. LBJ" feud. You know, for as much as they hated each other, at least they didn't go running to the press about it every day. "The crazy Scaramucci vs. Priebus feud is just as ugly as the LBJ vs. RFK hatefest"

Spoiler

These days, not a day passes without an eruption of hostility among high-ranking members of the  Trump administration. Whether it’s President Trump lashing out at Attorney General Jeff Sessions or Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci blaming Chief of Staff Reince Priebus for media leaks, the intra-White-House warfare seems relentless.

But internecine conflict has always been part of presidential administrations. During the Reagan years, Nancy Reagan and White House Chief of Staff Donald Regan loathed each other, and the first lady helped engineer his ouster in 1987. During the presidency of George W. Bush, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell was famously at odds with Vice President Richard B. Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld.

But perhaps the most epic White House feud was the smackdown between Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy. The two men’s hatred of each other began as soon as Johnson was selected as John F. Kennedy’s running mate in 1960, and never really ended — not even when Bobby was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in 1968.

Unlike today’s broadsides that instantly travel from the mouths or fingers of the attackers straight to everyone’s handheld devices, LBJ and RFK sniped at one another privately, with the most quotable insults appearing in books decades after the men wielded power.

You think Trump was nasty calling Sessions “beleaguered” or saying that he’d taken a “VERY weak position” on the alleged crimes of Hillary Clinton? You think Scaramucci sounded furious when he likened his relationship with Priebus to Cain and Abel, which ended in murder? Or told New Yorker writer Ryan Lizza that “Reince is a f— paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac.”

LBJ and Bobby despised each other so much that an entire book — 576 pages — was written about their enmity. It’s called, quite naturally, “Mutual Contempt: Lyndon Johnson, Robert Kennedy, and the Feud that Defined a Decade.” It was written in 1997 by Washington writer Jeff Shesol and received glowing reviews in The Washington Post and the New York Times.

This is how the book begins:

“‘Lyndon Johnson and Robert Kennedy loathed each other. ‘This man, said of Johnson, ‘is mean, bitter, vicious — an animal in many ways.’ Johnson considered Kennedy a ‘grandstanding little runt.’ Their mutual contempt was so acute, their bitterness so intense and abiding, they could scarcely speak in each other’s presence.”

Sometimes, the men shouted at each other, and when they were apart, they often “sulked and brooded” about the other, Shesol wrote.

The animosity began in earnest in 1960, when LBJ, then the Senate Democratic Majority Leader, and Jack Kennedy were vying for the Democratic presidential nomination. Initially reluctant to spar, LBJ ultimately resorted to attacks two months before the Democratic convention. Johnson’s men accused the Kennedys of buying votes in Oregon and West Virginia. Johnson attacked Kennedy’s Catholic faith and told a reporter for The Chicago Daily News that Jack was a “little scrawny fellow with rickets.”

“‘Have you ever seen his ankles? They’re about so round,’ ” Johnson said, tracing a petite circle in the air with his finger,” according to Shesol’s book.

LBJ’s constant insults infuriated Bobby, who already viewed his brother’s opponent as a prevaricating power broker.

“Bobby, more than Jack, took this stuff personally and reacted with rage,” Shesol said in an interview. “And he hated politicians who get in your face and lie. He hated politicians who felt like politicians, and Johnson was the perfect distillation of someone who lived and breathed politics of the old style.”

During the 1960 convention, Jack won the presidential nomination. But when he selected Johnson as his running mate, he and others in his camp immediately questioned the choice. It fell to Bobby to persuade LBJ, ever so diplomatically, to decline the offer.

He made three visits to Johnson’s hotel suite during the convention. LBJ hated him from the start.

“Whatever it is, I don’t want to see him,” Johnson told his advisers, according to “Mutual Contempt.”

“Johnson liked JFK but loathed Bobby and was convinced Bobby had done this of his own accord,” Shesol said in an interview with The Washington Post.

When JFK and Johnson were sworn into office in January 1961, Bobby was appointed to be attorney general. Relations did not improve. The Kennedy brothers, Shesol said, worked to sideline Johnson as much as they could. Given Johnson’s appetite for power, he chafed mightily at his marginalization.

“Johnson was an extremely powerful majority leader, and he expected to take on a major role as vice president. He was not looking quietly to go into the second seat,” Shesol told the Post. “But it was Robert Kennedy who emerged as the number two man in Washington. And Johnson raged at his impotence — and blamed it all on Bobby.”

And yet, neither of them publicly disparaged each other. Yes, Bobby whispered critically about Johnson, some of which was leaked to reporters, Shesol said, but always off the record.

“Johnson grumbled to his staff about Bobby, but he never said a word to the press,” Shesol said. Only later did anecdotes about their enmity leak out to historians — an encounter, for example, during which Bobby interrupted his brother in the Oval Office while he was meeting with LBJ, and never acknowledged him.

Perhaps the nadir occurred on Nov. 22, 1963. Bobby was sitting poolside at his family’s home in McLean, Va. He’d just gotten word from FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover that Jack had been assassinated in Dallas, and now Johnson was calling. The vice president had pressing questions for the nation’s chief legal adviser, who happened to be the dead president’s brother.

Johnson wanted to know: Could he be sworn in right away as president? Did Bobby have objections? Who could swear him in? And when? And how?

RFK was shocked into momentary silence.

Bobby stayed on as LBJ’s attorney general through 1964. Johnson needed him for his own legitimacy, and RFK wanted to play a role in the enactment of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, barring discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

In 1964, Bobby was elected to the Senate from New York. The feud between the two men became more public, Shesol said. The media became obsessed with the rivalry, as Bobby lobbied for a pause in the bombings in Vietnam during the war. In 1968, RFK declared he couldn’t support Johnson for reelection, and he decided to challenge him for the nomination. Johnson bowed out of the race, but he never forgave Bobby.

Even after Kennedy was assassinated on June 5, 1968, Johnson couldn’t resist a fight with his foe. Within hours of the news, Johnson called up his defense secretary, demanding to know whether Bobby had the legal right to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, according to “Mutual Contempt.” Johnson was told it was up to him. He finally relented, figuring he would face political suicide if he stopped it.

After Bobby’s death and burial in a temporary spot, the Kennedys asked that the federal government help pay for a permanent graveside for Bobby next to his brother’s. They wanted the government to maintain the foliage and landscape, basically.

But LBJ delayed approving the plan. It wasn’t until January 1969, during his final days in office, when he instructed the Bureau of the Budget to add $431,000 to the president’s 1970 contingency fund. He was leaving the ultimate decision to his successor — Richard Nixon.

“And in a final, petty display of bitterness undiminished by tragedy,” Shesol wrote, “LBJ omitted specific mention of the Kennedy grave from his budget.”

 

[Gobsmacked]

59 minutes ago, PsyD2013 said:

Sarah Huckbee Sanders defended Scarmucci's profanity.  If an Obama appointee would have used similar profanity the GOP would be calling for a resignation.

 

http://fox61.com/2017/07/27/white-house-defends-scaramucci-after-profanity-laced-interview/

Poor Sarah thinks that she is Mooch's new bestie. He put his arm (almost)round her shoulders for a pic. Giggle giggle, blush. (as 14 year old do Sarah!)

[onekidanddone]

20 minutes ago, Gobsmacked said:

Poor Sarah thinks that she is Mooch's new bestie. He put his arm (almost)round her shoulders for a pic. Giggle giggle, blush. (as 14 year old do Sarah!)

Her father is a Duggar apologist. I'm sure she would get blamed for defrauding Moochie. Run Sara run while you can still keep some of your dignity 

[JoyfulSel]

"Mooch" freaks me out, even more so after the interesting language he used. He reminds me of a third Menendez brother or something.

[apple1]

3 minutes ago, JoyfulSel said:

"Mooch" freaks me out, even more so after the interesting language he used. He reminds me of a third Menendez brother or something.

Terrifying. Mostly because Trump apparently thinks Scaramucci in the West Wing is good idea.

[candygirl200413]

A lousianna congressman was saying how he had no problem with Scaramucci's language because he needs to only focus about what's going on in the congress . Stephanie Rhule went off at him thankfully. This administration is the biggest piece of trash.

 

[JoyfulSel]

12 minutes ago, candygirl200413 said:

A lousianna congressman was saying how he had no problem with Scaramucci's language because he needs to only focus about what's going on in the congress .

 

This angers me so much because I KNOW the second anyone associated with the Obama administration, or even any current Dem/associate, saying anything like that would be skewered by the Repubes and Fox, etc. Ugh!

[JMarie]

I hope Scaramucci stays in office until the fall, so we can see him portrayed on SNL, with Mario Cantone as The Mooch.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-president-show-brings-mario-cantones-scaramucci-into-the-family_us_597b4153e4b0da64e878a7f3

 

[Gobsmacked]

15 minutes ago, JMarie said:

I hope Scaramucci stays in office until the fall, so we can see him portrayed on SNL, with Mario Cantone as The Mooch.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-president-show-brings-mario-cantones-scaramucci-into-the-family_us_597b4153e4b0da64e878a7f3

 

Pure Dead Brill!!!!!!! Our Polititicians are so boring compared to yours! However, if our little Island was large enough we would invite you all to stay on open ended Visas for as long as necessary. I do feel guilty laughing sometimes because I can turn off my phone when it all gets too much. It's your reality. if kegs were emojis I would send a few. 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[Cartmann99]

4 hours ago, PsyD2013 said:

Sarah Huckbee Sanders defended Scarmucci's profanity.  If an Obama appointee would have used similar profanity the GOP would be calling for a resignation.

http://fox61.com/2017/07/27/white-house-defends-scaramucci-after-profanity-laced-interview/

From the article:

Quote

"Sometimes he’s a passionate guy, sometimes he might let that passion get the better of him. I think maybe that happened,” she told reporters. “He used some colorful language that I don’t anticipate he will again.”

I think Sarah secretly likes that Scaramucci's a "bad boy".

[nokidsmom]

43 minutes ago, Cartmann99 said:

I think Sarah secretly likes that Scaramucci's a "bad boy".

The feeling I got as well.   The Moocher is spicing things up unlike Spicer who didn't live up to the name.

[AmazonGrace]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/anthony-scaramucci-reince-priebus_us_597b6e06e4b02a8434b63e5a?sh

Spoiler

 

n the escalating public feud between Anthony Scaramucci and Reince Priebus, what hasn’t been fully explained is why Scaramucci so dislikes the president’s chief of staff — a man he alternates between calling “Reince Penis” and “Rancid Penis,” according to an adviser to the White House.

The acrimony first surfaced during the presidential transition. The two men had been cordial before then. They met six years ago, when Scaramucci was a fundraiser for presidential candidate Mitt Romney and Priebus was chair of the Republican National Committee. They interacted peaceably during Donald Trump’s campaign as Scaramucci made the rounds on television and at donor events.

After Trump’s victory, Priebus was named chief of staff, and Scaramucci, according to someone close to the transition, was assured that he was also in line for a big position within the administration. (Sources for this story requested anonymity to discuss the details of sensitive conversations.)

While preparing for his move into government, Scaramucci struck a deal — which is still under regulatory scrutiny — to sell his stake in his hedge fund, SkyBridge Capital, to Chinese conglomerate HNA Group and another company. He assumed that he’d be put in charge of the public liaison office, a job that Valerie Jarrett held in the Obama administration. He had it all mapped out, according to the White House adviser. He identified 2,500 influential business leaders across the United States and had come up with a clever name for them: Trump Team 2,500. He believed these people would help pressure Congress into supporting the president’s agenda.

But Scaramucci’s plans were foiled in early January. That’s when Priebus, according to a confidant of both Scaramucci and the president, told Trump, “He played you.”

“How’s that?” Trump asked Priebus, according to the same source, who has spoken to several people within the White House about the conversation.

Priebus then told Trump that he felt Scaramucci had been offered too much for SkyBridge by HNA Group. The deal, he implied, smelled bad — as if the Chinese might expect favors from within the administration for that inflated price. The source also said that Priebus mentioned there was email traffic between Scaramucci and the Chinese proving this.

The White House rejected this version of events and declined to make Priebus available for comment.

Ultimately, Scaramucci was not offered the job.

But he didn’t give up. He hired Jamie Gorelick, the same Washington lawyer hired by Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner to represent him in the Russia investigation. Scaramucci also went to Kushner. According to two people familiar with the conversation, Kushner assured him that he didn’t think Scaramucci was “shady,” adding, “But it’s not what I think that matters.” Priebus had already planted the seed of doubt in Trump’s mind.

Scaramucci then tried presidential adviser Steve Bannon, who, according to those same two people, explained that he was too busy attempting to save the job of another adviser, Stephen Miller, to spend time or capital trying to help Scaramucci.

A friend of Scaramucci’s said he complained that some in the White House assumed his finances were suspect because he’s of Italian descent. Scaramucci also took Priebus’ behavior as a sign that Priebus was feeling insecure about his own job. “I will try things the Washington way first,” Trump had told his inner circle when he first named Priebus chief of staff, according to the confidant of Scaramucci and Trump. The implication was clear: If the Washington way did not work, then the New York real estate way would take over.

Finally, Scaramucci went to Keith Schiller, the president’s longtime bodyguard. He asked Schiller to put him on the phone with Trump so that he could lodge his complaints directly. The president listened, according to their mutual friend, and said he would find a position for Scaramucci as soon as he could.

In June, Scaramucci was appointed to be senior vice president and chief strategy officer of the Export-Import Bank. But the Priebus incident lingered in his mind.

So, on July 11, when Donald Trump Jr. found himself in trouble for holding a meeting with several people close to the Russian government the previous summer, Scaramucci sensed an opportunity. According to the mutual friend, Scaramucci told everyone he spoke to that day, including the president, that he was sure the person who divulged details of the meeting was Priebus. Scaramucci made the case — not necessarily backed by evidence — that with all the leaks targeting the administration, it was odd that only a few had hit Priebus directly.

Ten days later, Scaramucci was named the new White House communications director. The announcement noted that he would be reporting directly to the president — an unusual move that leapfrogged over the chief of staff.

Priebus balked, insisting that Scaramucci report to him. But Trump overrode his chief of staff. Not only was the hedge fund manager who had known Trump for 21 years officially in charge of the press shop, but he was also set to oversee the reorganization of the White House. Scaramucci seemed to have his revenge.

At least until Thursday evening. In an interview with The New Yorker, Scaramucci called Priebus “a fucking paranoid schizophrenic” and explained how he, unlike Bannon, is “not trying to suck my own cock.” Now, Scaramucci’s future at the White House is less clear, even if Trump reportedly “loved” the outburst.

Two sources close to the president said the very traits that have so endeared Scaramucci to Trump — tenacity, frankness, limitless swagger — could end up endangering his new job if he continues to steal news cycles from the president. But those same sources said he’s safe for now.

“Mark my words: Anthony will ultimately be an exceptionally good communications director,” said Sam Nunberg, a former Trump aide who still talks to the president. “His career proves he’s a master communicator. I hope he keeps his perfect chin up.”

 

 

[Gobsmacked]

55 minutes ago, Cartmann99 said:

From the article:

I think Sarah secretly likes that Scaramucci's a "bad boy".

She is having flashbacks to Happy Days. The Fonz was a lamb in wolfs clothing. Her new Bestie is a Demon in wolfs clothing. Go careful there girl.

[nokidsmom]

19 hours ago, apple1 said:

I cannot understand the cognitive disconnect with the continuing support of this administration by what we are told is approximately 80% of American evangelical Christians.

It boggles my mind as well.  The evangelical folks I know take offense to things that don't even approach the level of offensiveness that is emanating from this administration.   That they could vote for him and still continue to support him in spite of it all is just beyond baffling to me.    

[AmazonGrace]

32 minutes ago, Gobsmacked said:

She is having flashbacks to Happy Days. The Fonz was a lamb in wolfs clothing. Her new Bestie is a Demon in wolfs clothing. Go careful there girl.

Well but there is good news: Anthony is now available. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4740888/Anthony-Scaramucci-wife-Deidre-files-divorce.html

[fraurosena]

14 minutes ago, AmazonGrace said:

Well but there is good news: Anthony is now available. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4740888/Anthony-Scaramucci-wife-Deidre-files-divorce.html

So it's a mixed bag for him today. Wife's out. But so is Priebus... 

[JMarie]

7 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

So it's a mixed bag for him today. Wife's out. But so is Priebus... 

Hey, Tomi Lahren and Ann Coulter are available.

[Rachel333]

Maybe he will have something in common with Steve Bannon now...

Edited July 28, 2017 by Rachel333

[Gobsmacked]

2 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

Well but there is good news: Anthony is now available. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4740888/Anthony-Scaramucci-wife-Deidre-files-divorce.html

What a very sensible woman. Good on her. 

[Audrey2]

4 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

From the article:

I think Sarah secretly likes that Scaramucci's a "bad boy".

Eh... this administration has had so many scandals, a sex scandal would get lost in the shuffle very quickly.

Hmmm.... I almost want to make a Trump Administration Scandal Bingo card.

As a side note, I've just finished rereading The Lord of the Flies. Wow, does it ever sound like this administration!

Edited July 28, 2017 by Audrey2

[mamallama]

Remember when Biden was caught wispering "this is fucking huge" to Obama?  Many pearls were clutched that day.

[bea]

Well, Biden was a Democrat, everyone knows they're immoral bad people. [emoji6]