Some of the stuff below may not seem like good news, but it’s opportunity for our side. We have so much work to do.
The Trump White House Is a Mess 💙
The outrage du jour is the fact that the White House staff secretary Rob Porter was physically abusive to his two ex-wives. And this information is not new in the White House. The FBI would not clear him because of it (my respect for the FBI has been growing lately) and so of course people like John Kelly, the WH chief of staff knew too. But, as we saw, Kelly even tried to defend Porter after the information came out.
NOW (National Organization of Women) is demanding the resignation of John Kelly NOW.
White House Chief of Staff John Kelly must resign. His pathetic defense of staff secretary Rob Porter reveals his true nature—an enabler of domestic violence, a betrayer of trust and an avoider of responsibility.
Why did John Kelly continue to support Rob Porter after he was told about Porter’s history of abuse? Why did he allow a man who was denied a security clearance because of his history of violence against women to continue in a high ranking position of trust? Why did he talk Rob Porter out of resigning, telling him he could “weather the storm,” according to press accounts?
Of course, there’s the question, who would replace him? All those great people, “the best people” known by Trump — perhaps he knows another wedding caterer — where are they now? (Maddow pressed Eric Holder to say whether or not he think he’d make a better president than Trump, and Holder said his kids would each make a better president.)
And it turns out that White House Counsel Don McGahn knew about Porter’s situation too — although McGahn at least, as far as I know, did not deliberately go out and defend the wife-beater.
White House Counsel Donald McGahn knew one year ago that staff secretary Rob Porter’s ex-wives had accused him of domestic violence but allowed him to serve as an influential gatekeeper and aide to President Trump, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Chief of Staff John F. Kelly learned this fall about the allegations of spousal abuse and that they were delaying Porter’s security clearance amid an ongoing FBI investigation. But Kelly handed Porter more responsibilities to control the flow of information to the president.
Business Insider has a piece on some of the people in the WH who were denied security clearances. Flynn, Kushner, and Gorka.
Lots of people are raining on Trump’s parade 💙
Along with a whole bunch of others, even the former Navy SEAL who killed bin Laden thinks the idea is stupid.
First, Major General (Ret) Paul Eaton, the former commander of the U.S. Army Infantry Center and the man dubbed the “father of the Iraq Army” for his work training Iraqis after the U.S. invasion, released an absolutely blistering letter calling Donald Trump a 'wannabe banana republic strongman.' Then Admiral (Ret) James Stavridis released a public letter saying the troops don’t need a 'puffy parade,’ they need real-life support like higher wages, better veteran care, and the weekend off to rest, not wasting their time in the summer heat inflating Trump’s ego.
Adding to the list is Robert J. O’Neill, the former Navy SEAL who shot Osama bin Laden in 2011.
Even FOX came out against the idea, and as we know, Trump kind of listens to FOX, so maybe this idea will die.
Russia, Russia, Russia 💙
I’ve heard less — thanks to all the other stuff going on, e.g. Porter, Kelly, stock market — about the Russia investigation this week. One aspect that is getting talked about a lot is whether or not Trump will talk to Mueller. I watched part of an interview with former VP Joe Biden (Feb 8, Andrea Mitchell on MSNBC) where Biden gave the opinion that Trump owes it to the American people to testify, but if he (Biden) were his (Trump’s) lawyer, Biden would advise him not to do it, as Trump certainly couldn’t handle it.
And it’s not just Bobby Three-Sticks. Others are piling on.
Trump made his love of Russians known by attending a National Prayer Breakfast with a lot of them. Maybe that’s not good news, but it shows he’s still at it:
More than 50 people from Russia’s religious and political elite are attending the National Prayer Breakfast along with President Donald Trump on Thursday, according to organizers. The number is three times higher than last year’s quota of Russians to attend the high-profile event.
The Fellowship Foundation, a religious organization that organizes the National Prayer Breakfast, does not disclose how it compiles its guest list. But several members of Russia’s parliament and a member of the political opposition running for president against Vladimir Putin were reportedly invited to the event.
Rob Reiner and David Frum (an odd couple) have teamed up. This diary has links to interviews.
You may know that the unlikely team of Rob Reiner and David Frum started The Committee to Investigate Russia. Well, just this morning their website posted an interview with the Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and the Former CIA Director John Brennan:
Even George W. Bush says the Russians aren’t on our side:
George W Bush has said there is “pretty clear evidence that the Russians meddled” in the 2016 US presidential election, forcefully rebutting Donald Trump’s denials that Moscow tried to affect the vote.
While never mentioning Trump by name, Bush, the US president from 2001 to 2009, appeared to be pushing back at Trump’s attempts to foster warmer relations with Russia.
The Russians want to and plan to keep on meddling, something acknowledged by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who doesn’t seem to think we can do anything about it. Others disagree (sorry for no links on this) and if you have ideas, put them in the comments.
💙 Republicans Suck, and people know it
Republicans are shutting down the government again. I am not sure why. I think they’re acting like this is some sort of TV show, and that there has to be some sort of shoot-out before we go to commercial? Anyway, this from the Los Angeles Times:
The government stumbled into a midnight shutdown early Friday as a defiant Senate Republican blocked a speedy vote on a massive, bipartisan, budget-busting spending deal, protesting the return of trillion-dollar deficits on the watch of Republicans controlling Washington.
Rand Paul, the senator in question, is correct, the deal is budget-busting. But it is more evidence of how rotten, absolutely rotten, Republicans are, and how incoherent and contradictory they are at governing, even when (especially when) they are totally in charge. And it will be a bit more difficult for anyone to spin this as a Democratic shutdown. Anyway, this may not last, because as Maddow explains, Rand Paul can only do this for about a few hours. Stay tuned.
You know that blue wave they keep talking about? Well, here’s some evidence of how little people like the Rs these days: MN GOP Caucus Turnout was lowest recorded ever…
The Republican turnout for Tuesday night’s precinct caucuses in Minnesota was the lowest it’s been since at least 2002, the farthest back for which numbers were available.
Just fewer than 11,000 people attended the GOP gatherings, compared with 14,000 in 2014 and nearly 20,000 in 2010, the last time there was an open seat in the governor’s office, according to figures the party has reported to the state.
So if you’re a little nervous, let me talk you off that ledge. The pollsters in the media may be trying to whip up the idea of a horse race, but when I was listening to some pundits on Lawrence O’Donnell’s The Last Word, some guy described the numbers (from the Republican perspective) as “grisly.” The real numbers, the numbers that they look at, are worth considering.
If you want to participate in next week’s special elections — postcards, phone calls, whatever — check out this diary.
And some miscellaneous stuff to love… 💙
A Utah school has changed its name from honoring Andrew Jackson, that evil racist, to honoring Mary W. Jackson, a black, female mathematician at NASA who was celebrated in Hidden Figures (I have not seen the movie but the book was great).
That 11-year-old cartoonist is being featured in Salon!
Congratulations are in order for Nate, the 11 Year Old genius behind anti.trump.cartoons and also for you all, dear DKos readers.
Kind of gives me hope for the next generation.
Get out there and fight! We have so much to do!