United States Congress of Fail - Part 4

[GreyhoundFan]

An opinion piece from a teabagger (and Dumpy supporter) former member of congress: "Devin Nunes is acting like a partisan hack. That’s just how I remember him."

Spoiler

I served in Congress with Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.). Based on my experience working with him, nothing about the way he’s behaving now as chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence — overseeing part of the so-called Russia-Trump investigation — is particularly shocking.

The Nunes I knew was a purely partisan animal. When it comes to exercising good judgment and discharging his duties in service of the Constitution, he’s just not up to the task.

He saw everything through a Republican vs. Democrat lens. In weekly conference meetings for Republican House members, Nunes was always one of then-Speaker John A. Boehner’s or Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s go-to lieutenants, willing to tout the party line and make sure the rest of us lined up like obedient boys and girls. During my brief tenure, I was one of the more outspoken tea party members, regularly at odds with leadership when it came to budget or government-funding legislation. I still vividly recall Nunes lambasting us as obstinate obstructionists on many occasions, trying to bend us to leadership’s will on votes that went against our principles. With Nunes, I found it was all about politics, almost never about policy.

At one meeting, we were fighting over passing some budget resolution, and leadership had Nunes go to the mic, where he said something like: You tea party extremists are the problem. You’re making the Republican Party look dysfunctional. If you keep this up, Romney is going to lose in 2012. Well, Mitt Romney lost. The GOP looks dysfunctional now. And either way, I didn’t go to D.C. to get Romney, or anyone else, elected. I went to stop D.C. from bankrupting the country.

So it doesn’t surprise me to see Nunes today, acting more like the chairman of the president’s reelection campaign than chairman of the Intelligence Committee. He wants to please whomever he sees as the person or people running the show. Back then, it was House GOP leadership. Now it’s President Trump. And it’s pretty clear Nunes has decided his job is to protect Trump no matter what collateral damage results. How else do you explain his careless and dangerous rush to release his already infamous “memo”?

The FBI and Trump’s Justice Department have practically begged Nunes, and Trump, not to release it. Urging his fellow Republicans not to release the memo, Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.) said, “We can’t let the politics of the moment cloud our judgment.”

I agree. But it’s not Nunes’s style to care.

Instead, he’s doubling down on the farce that he started when he tried to steer the Russia investigation in the direction of documents the White House fed him that were meant to put the blame on President Barack Obama’s national security adviser, Susan E. Rice. But that’s not his job. He’s supposed to be sorting out a high-stakes national security crisis, not scoring political points. I’m a Trump supporter, and I’m definitely no fan of Rice, but if Nunes can’t keep his eye on the ball, he shouldn’t be running any part of the investigation, and he shouldn’t be chairman.

The congressional intelligence committees traditionally function as some of the least partisan committees — as they should. Oversight for security threats to this country is too great a responsibility to let committee business devolve into finger-pointing and score-settling along party lines, but that’s exactly where the level of discourse has gone under Nunes’s “leadership.” He’s not searching for truth, he’s running interference for the White House, abdicating his role as a member of a coequal branch of government, dragging his fellow committee members down with him and exposing House leadership as ineffectual and foolish.

As a former congressman — but more important, as a citizen — that’s not what I want. I want transparency because I believe that we need to get to the end of the Russia investigation and let Trump get back to being Trump on behalf of the American people. Whatever is happening now isn’t that.

If Nunes’s investigation and memo are about transparency, if he and the president have confidence in their case, then the committee should release the memo, with Nunes’s version of events — and the Democrats’ memo, with their version of events — at the same time. To the extent they can do this without disclosing classified sources and methods, they should release the underlying intelligence both memos are based on. Hell, at this point, they should release the FISA warrant the memo apparently alludes to. If they don’t, Nunes and anyone who backs him should be ashamed.

Some issues have to be partisan. But in this case, we’re not talking about lowering taxes, getting rid of the individual mandate or clamping down on immigration — all good things that Trump can be proud of. No, here, Nunes is at risk of turning what should be a nonpartisan issue — a foreign government trying to interfere in our election — into a game.

The president, and the country, are being poorly served.

My Republican colleagues would be screaming bloody murder if Russia, or any foreign government, was suspected of helping Hillary Clinton become president. If Chairman Nunes can’t lead them out of this sad of hypocrisy, it means he’s putting party over country. I’ll be disappointed. But not surprised.

 

[fraurosena]

2 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

An opinion piece from a teabagger (and Dumpy supporter) former member of congress: "Devin Nunes is acting like a partisan hack. That’s just how I remember him."

  Hide contents

I served in Congress with Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.). Based on my experience working with him, nothing about the way he’s behaving now as chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence — overseeing part of the so-called Russia-Trump investigation — is particularly shocking.

The Nunes I knew was a purely partisan animal. When it comes to exercising good judgment and discharging his duties in service of the Constitution, he’s just not up to the task.

He saw everything through a Republican vs. Democrat lens. In weekly conference meetings for Republican House members, Nunes was always one of then-Speaker John A. Boehner’s or Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s go-to lieutenants, willing to tout the party line and make sure the rest of us lined up like obedient boys and girls. During my brief tenure, I was one of the more outspoken tea party members, regularly at odds with leadership when it came to budget or government-funding legislation. I still vividly recall Nunes lambasting us as obstinate obstructionists on many occasions, trying to bend us to leadership’s will on votes that went against our principles. With Nunes, I found it was all about politics, almost never about policy.

At one meeting, we were fighting over passing some budget resolution, and leadership had Nunes go to the mic, where he said something like: You tea party extremists are the problem. You’re making the Republican Party look dysfunctional. If you keep this up, Romney is going to lose in 2012. Well, Mitt Romney lost. The GOP looks dysfunctional now. And either way, I didn’t go to D.C. to get Romney, or anyone else, elected. I went to stop D.C. from bankrupting the country.

So it doesn’t surprise me to see Nunes today, acting more like the chairman of the president’s reelection campaign than chairman of the Intelligence Committee. He wants to please whomever he sees as the person or people running the show. Back then, it was House GOP leadership. Now it’s President Trump. And it’s pretty clear Nunes has decided his job is to protect Trump no matter what collateral damage results. How else do you explain his careless and dangerous rush to release his already infamous “memo”?

The FBI and Trump’s Justice Department have practically begged Nunes, and Trump, not to release it. Urging his fellow Republicans not to release the memo, Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.) said, “We can’t let the politics of the moment cloud our judgment.”

I agree. But it’s not Nunes’s style to care.

Instead, he’s doubling down on the farce that he started when he tried to steer the Russia investigation in the direction of documents the White House fed him that were meant to put the blame on President Barack Obama’s national security adviser, Susan E. Rice. But that’s not his job. He’s supposed to be sorting out a high-stakes national security crisis, not scoring political points. I’m a Trump supporter, and I’m definitely no fan of Rice, but if Nunes can’t keep his eye on the ball, he shouldn’t be running any part of the investigation, and he shouldn’t be chairman.

The congressional intelligence committees traditionally function as some of the least partisan committees — as they should. Oversight for security threats to this country is too great a responsibility to let committee business devolve into finger-pointing and score-settling along party lines, but that’s exactly where the level of discourse has gone under Nunes’s “leadership.” He’s not searching for truth, he’s running interference for the White House, abdicating his role as a member of a coequal branch of government, dragging his fellow committee members down with him and exposing House leadership as ineffectual and foolish.

As a former congressman — but more important, as a citizen — that’s not what I want. I want transparency because I believe that we need to get to the end of the Russia investigation and let Trump get back to being Trump on behalf of the American people. Whatever is happening now isn’t that.

If Nunes’s investigation and memo are about transparency, if he and the president have confidence in their case, then the committee should release the memo, with Nunes’s version of events — and the Democrats’ memo, with their version of events — at the same time. To the extent they can do this without disclosing classified sources and methods, they should release the underlying intelligence both memos are based on. Hell, at this point, they should release the FISA warrant the memo apparently alludes to. If they don’t, Nunes and anyone who backs him should be ashamed.

Some issues have to be partisan. But in this case, we’re not talking about lowering taxes, getting rid of the individual mandate or clamping down on immigration — all good things that Trump can be proud of. No, here, Nunes is at risk of turning what should be a nonpartisan issue — a foreign government trying to interfere in our election — into a game.

The president, and the country, are being poorly served.

My Republican colleagues would be screaming bloody murder if Russia, or any foreign government, was suspected of helping Hillary Clinton become president. If Chairman Nunes can’t lead them out of this sad of hypocrisy, it means he’s putting party over country. I’ll be disappointed. But not surprised.

 

It looks like some Repugs are ‘smart’ after all. This is the first one publically throwing Nunes under the bus, in an attempt to save the party’s face after the mehmo disaster.

[AmazonGrace]

On 3.2.2018 at 10:02 PM, formergothardite said:

Was Paul Ryan sure that woman wasn't being sarcastic? 

 

[fraurosena]

Well, look at that! Ununanimously? Ha! We all know that there would be at least one ‘no’ vote against releasing the Dem memo completely debunking his.

And now it’s up to the presidunce. Raise your hand if you think he will approve.

[fraurosena]

3 hours ago, fraurosena said:

Well, look at that! Ununanimously? Ha! We all know that there would be at least one ‘no’ vote against releasing the Dem memo completely debunking his.

And now it’s up to the presidunce. Raise your hand if you think he will approve.

Quoting myself here, because I see that my reading comprehension early in the morning when I'm not fully awake yet is not what it should be. It clearly says unanimously not UNunanimously....  

In other words, quite surprising that Nunes voted for release. 

[fraurosena]

Yup. They're a bunch of yellow-belly, spineless lickspittles, blinded by ambition and power, corrupted by corporate capital being surreptitiously poured into their bottomless pockets.

The cowardice among Republicans is staggering

Quote

According to House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, the declassified Devin Nunes memo — alleging FBI misconduct in the Russia investigation — is “not an indictment of the FBI, of the Department of Justice.” According to President Trump, the memo shows how leaders at the FBI “politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats” and “totally vindicates ‘Trump’ in probe.”

Both men are deluded or deceptive.

Releasing the memo — while suppressing a dissenting assessment from other members of the House Intelligence Committee — was clearly intended to demonstrate that the FBI is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Democratic Party. The effort ended in a pathetic fizzle. Nunes’s brief, amateurish document failed to demonstrate that FBI surveillance was triggered solely or mainly by a Democratic-funded dossier. But for cherry-picking above and beyond the call of duty, Nunes (R-Calif.) deserves his own exhibit in the hackery hall of fame. This was a true innovation: an intelligence product created and released for the consumption of Fox News.

Trump’s eager publication of the memo was expected. Yet his action crossed a line: from criticism of the FBI to executive action designed to undermine an ongoing investigation. Trump seems to be testing the waters for direct action against the FBI by testing the limits of what his Republican followers will stomach. So far, there are no limits.

With the blessing of Republican leaders, the lickspittle wing of the GOP is now firmly in charge. The existence of reckless partisans such as Nunes is hardly surprising. The nearly uniform cowardice among elected Republicans is staggering. One is left wishing that Obamacare covered spine transplants. The Republican-led Congress is now an adjunct of the White House. The White House is now an adjunct of Trump’s chaotic will.

And what to make of Ryan (R-Wis.)? I have been a consistent defender of his good intentions. But after the 17th time saying “He knows better,” it dawns that he may not. By his recent actions, the speaker has provided political cover for a weakening of the constitutional order. He has been used as a tool while loudly insisting he is not a tool. The way Ryan is headed, history offers two possible verdicts: Either he enabled an autocrat, or he was intimidated by a fool. I believe Ryan to be a good person. But the greatest source of cynicism is not the existence of corrupt people in politics; it is good people who lose their way.

The United States Congress is an institution of great power. According to the Constitution, it can deny jurisdiction to the Supreme Court. It can remove the commander in chief. But now it watches as Trump makes the executive branch his personal fiefdom. It stands by — or cheers — as the president persecutes law enforcement professionals for the performance of their public duties.

Why can’t Republican legislators see the personal damage this might cause? Trump has made a practice of forcing people around him to lower their standards and abandon their ideals before turning against them when their usefulness ends. His servants are sucked dry of integrity and dignity, then thrown away like the rind of a squeezed orange. Who does Trump’s bidding and has his or her reputation enhanced? A generation of Republicans will end up writing memoirs of apology and regret.

The political damage to the GOP as the party of corruption and coverup should be obvious as well. This is a rare case when the rats, rather than deserting a sinking ship, seemed determined to ride it all the way down.

But it is damage to the conscience that is hardest to repair. For Republicans, what seemed like a temporary political compromise is becoming an indelible moral stain. The Russia investigation is revealing a Trump universe in which ethical considerations did not (and do not) figure at all. Who can imagine a senior Trump campaign official — say, Paul Manafort or Donald Trump Jr. — saying the words “That would be wrong”? Their degraded spirit has now invaded the whole GOP. By defending Trump’s transgressions, by justifying his abuses, Republicans are creating an atmosphere in which corruption and cowardice thrive.

How can this course be corrected? “You only have one political death,” said Rep. John Jacob Rhodes, the late Republican congressman from Arizona, “but you can choose when to use it.” Larger showdowns — concerning the possible firings of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III and Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein — now seem likely. If there is nothing for which Ryan and other Republican leaders will risk their careers, there is nothing in which they truly believe.

History will not treat them well. 

I can hardly wait for history to start already!

[AmazonGrace]

25 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

Yup. They're a bunch of yellow-belly, spineless lickspittles, blinded by ambition and power, corrupted by corporate capital being surreptitiously poured into their bottomless pockets.

The cowardice among Republicans is staggering

History will not treat them well. 

I can hardly wait for history to start already!

You're assuming that history will still be allowed after Trump is done.

[fraurosena]

6 minutes ago, AmazonGrace said:

You're assuming that history will still be allowed after Trump is done.

Yeah. I'm an obstinate optimist after all, unremitting and unrelenting in my positive outlook. 

 

[Cartmann99]

21 hours ago, fraurosena said:

Thank Rufus!

Bachmann won't run for Franken's Senate seat because she did not hear a 'call from God'

I wonder if God called her to get a flu shot?

 

[fraurosena]

And they wonder why the Dow tanked yesterday...

 

[GreyhoundFan]

I love the idea of sticking it to Lyan: "McConnell and Schumer jam the House: Six things that just happened"

Spoiler

The crafty Senate majority and minority leaders announced a two-year budget deal that marks the end of the disastrous 2011 Budget Control Act. News reports indicate that “the plan eliminates mandatory spending cuts for two years and increases Pentagon spending by $80 billion and domestic spending by $63 billion for the 2018 fiscal year.” The bill includes funding for disaster relief, children’s health care and funding for fighting the opioid addiction. On the defense side of the ledger, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) declared, “First and foremost, this bipartisan agreement will unwind the sequestration cuts that have hamstrung our armed forces and jeopardized our national security. [Defense] Secretary [Jim] Mattis said that, quote, ‘no enemy in the field has done more to harm the readiness of our military than sequestration.’ . . . We haven’t asked our men and women in uniform to do less for our country. We have just forced them to make do with less than they need. This agreement changes that.”

Here are the other important aspects of the deal:

1. Democrats won what they have been looking for since 2011 — an end to the painful cap on domestic spending. Both parties now can claim credit for fully funding the military.

2. The deal will likely enrage the Freedom Caucus (who grabbed onto the BCA as evidence of their fiscal bona fides but actually allowed the debt to balloon). House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) is now compelled to put a bill on the floor that a majority of his conference does not like — or take responsibility for a shutdown. Having been forced to do this in the context of the budget, Ryan will be under greater pressure, as Senate Minority Leader Charles E.  Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in his remarks on the floor, to do the same on any “dreamer” deal that comes out of the Senate.

3. Pro-DACA advocates ironically have a better shot at getting a deal than they did when they were tying DACA to the budget. The reason: McConnell promised a shell bill will be put on the floor, allowing free-flowing amendments. If there are 60 votes (as backers of DACA insist), then they will get their bill out of the Senate regardless of what Stephen Miller or John F. Kelly or Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) want. Moreover, that bill very well could have none of the poison pills Trump wants stuffed into the deal (e.g., limits on legal immigration).

4. But the House won’t vote for DACA? That is likely the case, but the only shot the DACA proponents have is to pass the bill our of the Senate and apply pressure to Ryan to bring it to the House floor. If he does not (very possible), he and his fellow Republicans on the ballot in 2018 will face the voters. His insistence that he won’t allow a vote on a bill that Trump/Miller/Cotton don’t like will be evidence of his failure to fulfill his role as speaker of a co-equal branch. Moreover, just about everyone in town knows that if both houses pass a DACA fix, Trump won’t have the nerve to oppose it.

5. For all of Trump’s outbursts, cheers for a shutdown and determination that an egregious immigration bill be tied to the budget, McConnell ultimately ignored him. That is the key to future deals. The president is and can continue to be a non-player so long as the Senate operates on consensus. The House faces a choice, or rather Ryan does: Will he govern for the House and country or will he spend his (likely) last months as speaker carrying water for a failing president?

6. Schumer called the deal the “first green shoots” of bipartisanship. If this does unlock the budget jam, it portends well for infrastructure, votes to patch up Obamacare and other priorities. After often acting with the same untempered partisanship as the House, the Senate may manage to recover some of its luster — and functionality. Let’s hope Schumer is right.

I hope this agreement does make things better.

[Rosalie]

Nancy Pelosi is filibustering:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/pelosi-launches-hours-long-filibuster-style-speech-in-bid-to-force-immigration-votes-in-the-house/2018/02/07/b98a25f4-0c33-11e8-8b0d-891602206fb7_story.html?utm_term=.a28f9eba4a09

 Acc. to norwegian news she has done so for five hours so far.

[Cartmann99]

I stumbled onto an Arizona man that's running for Congress, while seeing what's brewing with the various conspiracy theorists on Twitter. His name is Brenden Dilley, he's an author and a "life coach", he loves Trump, and he supposedly has a source in the government who is feeding him Intel which he dutifully passes on to the Trump faithful.

Latest video:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=323329651493188&id=303956383430515

Anyhoo, this is one of the things he's telling his supporters:

The story is that the NSA has discovered massive voter fraud in the last presidential election, and will soon reveal to the public that Trump actually won the popular vote. He told the faithful that this would be revealed in two weeks from the date of his announcement, so according to my calendar, the big NSA reveal will happen anytime between now and the 13th. 

The nice thing about these conspiracies is that when they don't pan out, you just make up an excuse and roll on into the next one. 

 

[fraurosena]

I know the news has moved along from the bigly tax cut for the rich bill, and I know I'm preaching to the choir, but I wanted to share this take-down of 'trickle-down economics' by a billionaire with you anyway. It's worth the look.

 

[GrumpyGran]

23 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

I stumbled onto an Arizona man that's running for Congress, while seeing what's brewing with the various conspiracy theorists on Twitter. His name is Brenden Dilley, he's an author and a "life coach", he loves Trump, and he supposedly has a source in the government who is feeding him Intel which he dutifully passes on to the Trump faithful.

Latest video:

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=323329651493188&id=303956383430515

Anyhoo, this is one of the things he's telling his supporters:

The story is that the NSA has discovered massive voter fraud in the last presidential election, and will soon reveal to the public that Trump actually won the popular vote. He told the faithful that this would be revealed in two weeks from the date of his announcement, so according to my calendar, the big NSA reveal will happen anytime between now and the 13th. 

The nice thing about these conspiracies is that when they don't pan out, you just make up an excuse and roll on into the next one. 

 

I wonder why he settled on those numbers. Why not say Dump won by 25 million votes? How did the NSA figure this out? Did 8 million people tell each other on the phone that they voted for Hillary twice? No wait, that won't work. Does he not know what the NSA does? Great, he'll fit in perfectly with the Dump administration.

[Cartmann99]

4 hours ago, GrumpyGran said:

I wonder why he settled on those numbers. Why not say Dump won by 25 million votes? How did the NSA figure this out? Did 8 million people tell each other on the phone that they voted for Hillary twice? No wait, that won't work. Does he not know what the NSA does? Great, he'll fit in perfectly with the Dump administration.

@GrumpyGran, don't you get it? Dilley is the real deal! MAGA!

In case you don't know who Bill Mitchell is, he's another guy who is hopelessly devoted to Trump, and believes every half-baked theory that supports him:

Spoiler

 

 

[Howl]

Which seal of the apocalypse, when broken, releases a plague of idiots upon the land? 

[GreyhoundFan]

Lyan's staff is on the ball:

[fraurosena]

It looks like  #releasethememo is needed again, this time for a good cause.

 

Sen. Tim Kaine demands release of secret Trump war powers memo

Quote

 Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., is demanding the release of a secret memo outlining President Donald Trump’s interpretation of his legal authority to wage war.

Kaine, a member of the Armed Services and the Foreign Relations committees, sent a letter Thursday night to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson seeking a seven-page memo the administration has kept under wraps for months.

[video]

Kaine has been leading the charge for Trump to outline his legal rationale for a U.S. bombing campaign in Syria last April in response to President Bashar al-Assad’s chemical attacks on civilians. Kaine and others worry that such action compromises congressional oversight over military action.

There is a new urgency to obtain the memo given increasing U.S. involvement in Syria and recent Trump administration rhetoric on North Korea. Shortly after the 2017 bombing raid, several members of Congress called on Trump to justify it under U.S. and international law. Article I of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war.

“The fact that there is a lengthy memo with a more detailed legal justification that has not been shared with Congress, or the American public, is unacceptable,” Kaine said in the letter to Tillerson, obtained by NBC News.

“I am also concerned that this legal justification may now become precedent for additional executive unilateral military action, including this week’s U.S. airstrikes in Syria against pro-Assad forces or even an extremely risky ‘bloody nose’ strike against North Korea,” Kaine wrote.

According to a court filing provided by Protect Democracy, a bipartisan group of lawyers, Attorney General Jeff Sessions was briefed last April on the substance of the memo. Sessions received the briefing so he could know “how to advise the president on future actions,” the filing said, citing a DOJ attorney.

The Justice Department declined a request for comment.

Kaine’s demand comes after a U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS in Syria conducted air and artillery strikes against pro-regime forces on Wednesday, killing an estimated 100 pro-regime fighters. The confrontation and last year’s operation “raises serious questions about our continued presence in Syria,” Kaine said.

It also follows recent talk from Trump administration officials — including United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley — suggesting the U.S. stands ready to respond militarily to additional chemical attacks in Syria.

Lawmakers are also concerned about the administration’s adversarial posture toward North Korea, including reported internal discussions of a first strike. On Monday, a group of Democratic senators organized by Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, sent a letter to Trump saying he lacks the “legal authority” to carry out a pre-emptive strike on North Korea.

Trump has previously suggested on Twitter he may dispense with diplomacy in North Korea, contradicting his own officials, including Tillerson.

[twitler tweet]

Meanwhile, his administration has not committed to seeking prior approval from Congress or the United Nations Security Council for any potential action against North Korea.

Finally, Trump’s demand for a U.S. military parade in Washington, an event that has historically been associated with major wars, has raised concerns on both sides of the aisle.

[video]

“Unless Donald Trump goes to Congress before starting a new war, the real bloody nose is going to be the American Constitution,” said Allison Murphy, counsel at Protect Democracy who served in President Barack Obama’s White House Counsel’s office.

“Congress needs to demand the secret Syria memo when the administration is threatening to use force around the world without authority,” Murphy said, adding that the American people deserve to see it.

The memo’s existence came to light last fall because of a Freedom of Information Act request by Protect Democracy seeking Trump’s legal justification for the strikes.

Since the military action in Syria was against a foreign sovereign country — and not ISIS — there was no obvious legal basis for it, the group argued. In July, a U.S. District Court judge ordered federal agencies to expedite their responses to the group’s FOIA request.

Protect Democracy has also filed a lawsuit to determine whether the Trump administration is developing any analysis about a legal basis for a potential pre-emptive attack on North Korea.

The administration has shared a summary explanation of the memo, which Kaine read aloud during a Dec. 13 Senate hearing, claiming it “would completely wipe out Congress’s power (to declare war) under Article I.”

Defense Secretary James Mattis suggested last week that the U.S. could launch further attacks against Syria. “You’ve all seen how we reacted to that,” he said, referring to the April strikes.

A few days later, Haley warned the U.S. will “not give up on the responsibility” to “provide real accountability for chemical weapons use in Syria.”

Kaine’s bid for more disclosure is part of a broader controversy over how legislation passed shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks is being used for an open-ended battle against Islamic terrorist groups, including ISIS, that are not covered under the current version of what’s called an AUMF, or authorization to use military force.

Talks on Capitol Hill to approve a new AUMF have stalled amid disputes over issues including how to limit the war’s geographic reach. Some lawmakers are also pushing back, leery of restricting the executive branch’s interpretation of his current wartime powers.

Along with Sen. Jeff Flake, a retiring Republican from Arizona, Kaine has proposed a new war authorization bill. Others who’ve been outspoken include Sen. Bob Corker, a retiring Tennessee Republican who said in October that Trump’s reckless threats against other countries could put the U.S. “on the path to World War III.”

 

[GreyhoundFan]

WTDH? "Devin Nunes creates his own alternative news site"

Spoiler

LOS ANGELES — House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, a relentless critic of the media, has found a way around the often unflattering coverage of his role in the Trump-Russia investigation — by operating his own partisan news outlet.

Resembling a local, conservative news site, “The California Republican” is classified on Facebook as a “media/news company” and claims to deliver “the best of US, California, and Central Valley news, sports, and analysis.”

But the website is paid for by Nunes’ campaign committee, according to small print at the bottom of the site. Leading the home page most recently: a photograph of Nunes over the headline, “Understanding the process behind #ReleaseTheMemo.”

The story, like many others on carepublican.com, largely excerpts other publications, including both conservative and mainstream sources. Headlines include “CNN busted for peddling fake news AGAIN!,” “California’s budget future isn’t as good as it looks” and “Billions of dollars later, Democrats and the LA Times start to see the light on high-speed rail.”

In a jab at fellow California Rep. Ted Lieu — an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump — the site titled one blurb, “Dem CA Rep roasted on CNN, proceeds to make a fool of himself.”

The outlet includes stories dating from mid-2017, when it was registered by a Fresno-area communications consultant, Alex Tavlian. Nunes’ campaign has paid Tavlian’s company, Sultana Media, $7,773 since July for “advertising; digital advertising management.”

Reached Saturday, Tavlian said his company registered several domains for Nunes’ campaign. But he said he did not manage “The California Republican” and was unfamiliar with it.

Most of the stories on the site are not about Nunes. But the power to self-publish and to bypass the mainstream media would hold special appeal for a lawmaker who has long complained about “fake news” and “anti-Trump, anti-Republican” coverage.

Nunes has come under intense scrutiny for his handling of the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Last month, the editorial board of the dominant newspaper in Nunes’ district, The Fresno Bee, called Nunes “Trump’s stooge,” accusing him of “doing dirty work for House Republican leaders trying to protect President Donald Trump in the Russia investigation.”

In response to negative coverage, Nunes has cast himself as a victim of media smears. He told radio host Rush Limbaugh last week, “Almost every story is fake news. … Almost every story that runs about me is fake. I mean, it’s unbelievable the stuff that is out there.”

He added, "Democracy does die in darkness. The problem is, is the darkness is emanating from the mainstream media themselves. I mean, they refuse, they absolutely refuse to cover the truth. They don’t want to cover it.”

Asked for comment about “The California Republican” website, Anthony Ratekin, Nunes’ chief of staff, said in an email Saturday: “Until Politico retracts its multitude of fake stories on Congressman Nunes, we will not go on the record.”

For strictly electoral purposes, the site would seem superfluous. Nunes holds more cash on hand, $3.8 million, than any other Republican House incumbent in California, and Trump carried his district by nearly 10 percentage points in 2016.

While the site includes sections devoted to national, state and local politics, it also offers some limited sports coverage — it followed the Fresno State football team’s turnaround season last year.

It is unclear how widely “The California Republican” is read. Its Facebook page on Saturday listed just fewer than 3,598 "Likes” and 3,705 followers.

California Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said before an event in Los Angeles on Saturday that he had not seen the site and would reserve judgment.

But Andrew Janz, Nunes’ main Democratic challenger in his reelection bid, did not hold back. Told of the website’s existence by POLITICO, he derided the publication as “typical Devin Nunes.”

“He’s got fake memos, fake websites and fake news,” Janz said. “It’s disappointing to see a member of Congress, especially one who chairs an important committee, spread misinformation to his constituents, who he knows will just eat it up.”

Oh, please Rufus, let Andrew Janz win the seat in November.

[fraurosena]

The idiot can't even do his own 'news outlet' right...

Devin Nunes' media site down after reported 'attack' on server

Quote

An online media outlet funded by Rep. Devin Nunes’s (R-Calif.) campaign appeared to be down Sunday afternoon after what the site called “heavy traffic and an attack on our servers.”

“The California Republican,” the name of the site, posted on its Facebook page that those trying to reach the site may encounter an error message. 

As of late Sunday afternoon, the link to the site’s home page redirects back to the outlet’s Facebook page, and links to articles redirect to a broken Facebook link.

Politico reported earlier Sunday that the Nunes campaign has paid nearly $8,000 to a Fresno-area communications consultant since July for the site. "The California Republican" is listed as a "Media/News Company" on Facebook.

Anthony Ratekin, Nunes’s chief of staff, declined to comment to Politico about the site.

Nunes has faced significant media scrutiny in recent weeks after he led the charge to release a Republican memo that accuses the FBI and Justice Department of abusing a surveillance program because of partisan bias. 

The report drew significant attention from other reporters and lawmakers who criticized the venture. 

Andrew Janz, Nunes's challenger in the November midterm, told Politico the congressman is spreading "misinformation" and "fake news."

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), a fellow California lawmaker who is the subject of a "California Republican" post, took a swipe at the outlet, joking that he would create a site of his own.

“Aw, just kidding. I don’t need to spend more money peddling fake news,” Lieu tweeted. “I’ve learned there is an easier way to inform the American people: tell the truth.”

 

I love Ted Lieu's tweet in the article. The best response to partisan disinformation. Truth...

[AmazonGrace]

I wonder if there was any kind of attack. Maybe there was just more traffic because the site was in the news so they ran out of bandwidth?  

[fraurosena]

I'm not sure if there was an attack or not. Even if it was, it's still an example of incompetence on Nunes part, if his site can be hacked that easily.

[47of74]

Senator Breadbags McCutyernutzoff thinks Trump isn't sending a strong enough message 

Quote

Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst is calling on President Donald Trump to send a stronger message against domestic abuse after the resignation of two White House aides.

"I just want to reemphasize to everybody that abuse is never OK and we need to send a very clear signal that it won't be tolerated and it won't be tolerated with our employees," Ernst said.

Berman asked Ernst, "Is the president sending that signal?"

"I think he needs to send a stronger message a stronger message. We need to allow women and men that have been abused to come out make sure their stories are heard and believed," Ernst responded.

Yeah, sure Joni.  Like the orange fuckstain is gonna listen to you.  

God could she be any dumber?  

[GreyhoundFan]

Someone is having second thoughts about resigning in a huff: "Corker weighs his options as GOP frets about losing Tennessee"

Spoiler

Retiring Sen. Bob Corker is “listening” to Republicans urging him to run for reelection, according to a person close to him, a development that would quell anxiety among Republicans over losing a must-win seat to Democrats this fall.

The two-term Tennessee GOP senator decided to call it quits in September amid an on-again, off-again dispute with President Donald Trump that has eroded his standing with the party’s base. But now a faction of Republicans in Tennessee and Washington are worried that the favorite for the Republican Senate nomination, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), could lose the general election — and with it the Senate majority.

They want Corker to get back in to hold the seat and preserve waning foreign policy experience in the GOP. And there are signs that he is open to it, despite the steep climb a Republican primary might entail.

“While Corker is listening to the concerns that have been raised, he hasn’t made any commitments,” said the person close to Corker. Corker himself said on Monday he had no comment on the race.

An internal poll taken in late January shows former Democratic Gov. Phil Bredesen narrowly edging out Blackburn in a hypothetical match-up. With Republicans controlling just 51 seats, a loss in Tennessee and other competitive races could put the Senate in play — despite an electoral map tilted heavily in the GOP’s favor.

The poll, conducted by Glen Bolger of Public Opinion Strategies for a Tennessee business group and obtained by POLITICO, shows Bredesen up 47 to 45, despite a sample that was overweighted with Republicans. The survey shows that voters preferred a generic Republican over a Democrat and strongly approved of Trump, signs that even in a Republican-leaning state like Tennessee, Blackburn is in for a tough race.

Asked to respond to Corker’s second thoughts and the coterie of Republicans pushing him to run again, Blackburn’s campaign insisted she was in the race to stay, whether Corker runs or not. Blackburn’s allies argue she will unite the GOP in the conservative state and crush Bredesen in the fall.

“It’s well past time for the good old boys’ club in Washington, D.C., to quit thinking they know who the best candidate and conservative leader is for Tennessee families,” said Andrea Bozek, a spokeswoman for Blackburn.

Public polls show Blackburn is a heavy favorite over former Rep. Stephen Fincher in the primary to succeed Corker, and her allies argue the state is so Republican that she can’t lose after winning the primary. Trump won nearly 2-to-1 against Hillary Clinton in Tennessee. She also raised $2 million in her first quarter as a candidate, a significant haul. Meanwhile, a Club for Growth poll from January showed Blackburn trouncing Corker.

The Club for Growth, which has spent millions in past elections to defeat more moderate Republicans, will stick with Blackburn regardless of whether Corker reverses course. Their poll showed Blackburn beating Fincher by more than 50 points and also showed Blackburn trouncing Corker.

“The message that I’d want to give to the folks trying to entice Corker into running: You shouldn’t do it, he’s gonna lose,” said Club President David McIntosh. “It would be a sad way for him to end his career to end up being defeated. We will continue to support Marsha.”

McIntosh also argued that Corker re-entering the race would only weaken the GOP by reopening ideological chasms within the party. Indeed, there is a long- running feud between Tennessee’s more moderate Republicans and conservatives like Blackburn.

Moderates in Tennessee had been aligning with Fincher, but Blackburn has outraised him and Fincher has failed to get traction in the polls. Fincher’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

Victor Ashe, a former GOP mayor of Knoxville, prefers Fincher but said he’s “not sure that he’s a candidate, based on his inactivity.” If he was left to choose between Blackburn and Bredesen, Ashe said he would not commit to endorsing Blackburn. “I could go either way,” Ashe said.

“Anyone seriously sizing it up would have to say Mrs. Blackburn would be somewhat ahead of Bredesen but not a lot,” Ashe said. “Depending on how the national situation goes, it could be extremely competitive. It would be hard to attack [Bredesen’s] record as governor because so many Republicans like him.”

Former Tennessee Republican Gov. Don Sundquist was blunt when asked about Blackburn: “You can say on the record I’m not supporting her.” Blackburn worked in Sundquist’s administration and the two do not get along after Blackburn opposed Sunquist’s push for a state income tax..

The distaste for Blackburn in some parts of the party is driving the campaign to recruit Corker to get back in. Those Republicans argue that she could blow a winnable race, pointing to Bredesen’s coalitions of Republican supporters when he won two gubernatorial races.

“Tennessee by any normal standard is a Republican state. I think it’s only close with Blackburn,” said a top Tennessee Republican urging Corker to get back in. “The problem is Marsha’s a polarizing force. Her nomination is the only path to put this race in play.”

Yet Corker would almost certainly need a blessing from Trump to have any hope of beating Blackburn, who has received money from Vice President Mike Pence’s political action committee. Corker has reached out to the White House to gauge Trump’s support, according to a source familiar with those conversations. And almost all of the dozen Republican officials and operatives interviewed for this story say Corker would need a presidential endorsement to have any chance against Blackburn.

Furthermore, the electorate in Tennessee is so overwhelmingly Republican now that several strategists said Blackburn would be fine once she wins the August primary and shifts gears ahead of the general election.

Blackburn launched her campaign attacking GOP leadership and had an early campaign ad pulled from Twitter for being “inflammatory” — and that rubs some Tennessee Republicans the wrong way.

“It’s as much about taste as it is about electability for some people,” said a strategist following the race.

The last-gasp effort to recruit Corker is an awkward topic in the Senate GOP right now. Senate GOP campaign chairman Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) attended a political event with Blackburn in New York on Monday, even as his colleague Corker mulled getting back in the race, according to two sources with knowledge of the event.

Plus, Blackburn would be just the sixth female senator in the Republican Caucus if she were to win.

“This situation is baffling since we need more Republican women in the Senate — not less,” said a senior Senate GOP aide.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has spoken to Corker about whether he should reconsider his retirement, but the leader told Corker he needed to work it out with the president, a source with direct knowledge of the conversation said. Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander has also discussed the race with Corker, but is not explicitly pushing Corker to run again, said a Republican familiar with those talks.

Yet clearly some Senate Republicans are excited by the Senate Foreign Relations chairman’s fresh look at his decision to retire. Corker’s departure, along with uncertainty about Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and the retirement of House Foreign Relations Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.), would further drain the party of senior foreign policy voices.

“That would be terrific,” said Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas). “We need to hold that seat. I don’t have any doubt” that Corker would win.

Such a move would not be unprecedented.

Two years ago, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) reversed his plans to retire from the Senate despite denying any second thoughts for weeks. One of the key people who persuaded Rubio to run? Sen. Bob Corker.