The Trump Presidency

[Dolemite]

Pence is the one guy in the administration that Trump can't fire, so if this does get aired out somehow, it doesn't really matter that much.

Yeah, but The Times said they knew who wrote the piece and that they were withholding their identity because they feared for their job. So, probably not Pence (unless The Times wuz bein' sneaky).

[Calliander]

this letter is strategic positioning

It's reminiscent of how some Nazi officials started distancing themselves as Hitler weakened.

EDIT: Also, no way it's Pence. It's probably Mattis.

Government seems to be witholding a lot of damning stuff on Kavanaugh.

All this showing off is going to amount to nothing. He'll get confirmed.

That said, Cory Booker responding to the threat of expulsion from the Senate with, "Bring it. Bring the charges." is pretty badass, even if it's blatant early campaigning.

[Melf]

I would love if it was Melania, lol. But it's totally not.

Oh man, that would be so awesome.

[Frogacuda]

I am 200000000% sure it's not Pence. Like, I am utterly not convinced this dude is some sort of Putin-level genius playing 4D chess with the press.

I don't think this is all that sophisticated, and seems consistent with a general pattern of "waiting at the ready." When one is VP to a guy like Trump, it doesn't take a very sophisticated plan. Just sit, wait, don't get any shit on you, and claim you had nothing to do with it. This is really more of an alibi than a manipulation.

I think it's some middle tier individual who likes to hear her/himself talk and is greatly inflating his/her position and importance. I'm not sure how complicit the NYT is in this, but whatever.

I think it's going to come out eventually, and if this is true, it's going to be hugely damaging to the NYT. Overstating the authority of an anonymous source does happen in journalism but on a matter of this importance, I find it hard to believe they'd try to fudge it.

[Joust Williams]

All this showing off is going to amount to nothing. He'll get confirmed.

That's fine, but I'd want to go down on the right side of history. So kudos to Booker.

As far as Kavanaugh...it'd be a real shame if he got some really bad cancr or something and couldn't be on the bench long. A real shame.

[Error]

It's going to be someone really boring, like the under-secretary of the interior or something. Somebody nobody gives a shit about.

[kedawa]

My money's on the Groom of the Stool.

[Melf]

I think its Linda McMahon. She's due for a face turn.

[cigsthecat]

Since grabbing a tiny bit of mental health, I've entirely stopped listening to NPR, and I'm better for it.

What if next season, each of us here on TNL selects a politician to snoop on. So like, maybe I've got eyes on Colin Powell, or whoever the fuck. So I'm following the twitter, reading his wiki, got google alerts on for his name, etc. Wild Stuff. Meanwhile, each one of you fine people is doing the same for some other bizarre reptilian overlord.

I think we could learn and keep track of quite a bit if we use our angst to gather information in a very focused way.

[Fe 26]

no