So...this brings the number of organizations that have had to be like “what the fuck did we invite him here today to say Jesus what is wrong with him OH GOD NO STOP HOLY SHIT WE’RE SO SORRY” to two: cops and boy scouts. Two organizations where it is LITERALLY NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE to fuck up a speech.

That’s what Roger Stone calls him, so you’re in...some kind of company there.

Lol the Mooch, Ivanka, Jared, and Bannon will still all report directly to Trump, so best of luck to Gen. Kelly, the man with the most doomed job on earth.

Not really getting this take. Republicans in the House (and Heller and Flake in the Senate) want this issue as far as possible in the rearview mirror by next November. Democrats win if they keep putting up “bipartisan” legislation and pointing out that the Rs are doing nothing but obstructing. They ought to be…

I think the idea was that he didn’t want to live in an echo chamber of people constantly telling him he was awesome, rather he wanted a broad swath of opinions, as opposed to Trump, who throws a fit unless someone is telling he is awesome at all times

WOW.

Read somewhere that Obama specifically asked that his people not bring him fawning letters (except they would choose a few letters from kids to respond to). Not surprising that Trump is doing the opposite.

I doubt it was his last vote (he is pretty invested in the NDAA), but I don’t think he’s going to face re-election again, so he had some freedom the moderates like Flake, Heller et al didn’t. Plus by waiting until the last possible second to decide, he blocked McConnell from pulling the vote and drawing things out…

Exactly. He’s no longer susceptible to political pressure and he was able to give cover to Flake, Heller, Capito et al (they got to vote yes but not to feel the full consequences of what repeal would have done.

Given there is likely to be significant blowback from the right on this vote, I’m ok with McCain getting credit/taking the heat. He’s unlikely to run again - if he wants to bask in the glow of taking a principled stand (while likely protecting some other moderates from threats from the WH), that’s fine by me. Keep in…

A thing I noticed about the Mooch this morning: he doesn’t wear a wedding ring but he does wear some sort of class ring thing on his right hand (probably from Harvard law school did you know he went to Harvard law school he’ll tell you about it). So he’s not jewelry averse, he’s just that asshole who won’t wear a…

Agreed that they’ve resorted to strong-arming as pretty much their only tactic at this point - they’ve bought off everyone who could be bought, so now they’re doing this impotent threat thing. I just don’t think it’s gonna be effective on Murkowski. Trump is incredibly unpopular, this bill is incredibly unpopular,…

Yeah, but Zinke doesn’t have the same kind of control as Wynn does - Murkowski sits on two committees that control Interior’s funding, so if Zinke tries to freeze her out she can cut him off at the knees. It’s a bit of mutually assured destruction, but I don’t think Zinke’s gonna follow through on any threats once…

Heller caved because Steve Wynn got up his ass and threatened to cut off all his funding. Murkowski doesn’t have a real single “patron” and is pretty popular in AK. Here’s hoping she isn’t subject to the same kinds of pressures.

Lisa Murkowski got primaried from the right in her last election, wasn’t supported by the party at all, and managed to organize a successful write-in campaign in the general election (which, with a name like Murkowski, is no small feat). She also sits on Appropriations and chairs Energy and Natural Resources, giving…

Well, no matter what she says in the book, at least we know we have a level-headed President and a calming, moderating influence in the person of his Communications Director, so this shouldn’t lead to any unhinged behavior whatsoever.

I honestly thought the guy would make it to a week before “bizarre unhinged public rant about how he’s calling the FBI because probably Reince leaked documents that are publicly available.” I forgot a week is a LOOOOONG ass-time in Trump Admin years.

Yep. He’s trying to avoid a saturday night massacre situation where he has to go down the line at DOJ by just getting sessions to quit and installing an acolyte to fire Mueller.

He’s coming back to vote on the NDAA. Whether he takes a principled stand on healthcare is yet to be seen.

+1