"Birdbrain" Has A "Message"

 

Über- ambitious lightweight Nikki "Birdbrain" Haley, after capitulating and kissing the Malignant Loser's ample ass, is visiting Israel this week (is she deluding herself into thinking the Malignant Loser will pick her as his VP nominee?).  She couldn't let the visit pass without a birdbrain message (our emphasis):

Days after dozens of Palestinians were killed by Israeli air strikes against displacement camps in Southern Gaza, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley wrote “Finish them!” on Israeli artillery shells. 

"Finish them"?  At the very least, writing such a, let's say it again, birdbrain message on a bomb days after the bombing of a tent camp in Rafah that killed two Hamas leaders while also killing 45 civilians, including children, displays a lack of moral clarity.  It's especially appalling now that we know it was an American-made GBU-39 bomb that was used in the Rafah attack.  But she wasn't finished with her faux moralizing:

Haley, who recently sputtered in her bid to defeat former President Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination, toured a kibbutz ravaged by Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack against Israel in the company of current Knesset member and former UN Envoy [Likudnik] Danny Danon. 

“If you think this will only be in Israel, if we are arrogant enough, this could absolutely happen in America too and this is the moral of this story,” Haley said at one point during the visit...

Exactly what could happen in America, "Birdbrain"?  What puerile connections exactly are you making?  A large scale Hamas terrorist attack on an American town?  Or American-made weapons reducing an area the size of Philadelphia to rubble?   Perhaps the moral of this story is simply that one should never be where one does not belong.

On further reflection, she might make a good running mate for the Malignant Loser.  Her ambition far outweighs her competence, and she has the superficiality, the bold ignorance, and the sycophancy to make a good match for the Malignant Loser.  

Her voters now need to see her for what she is and always has been, and know that there's only one way to keep her chosen candidate out of the Oval Office -- reelecting President Biden.

(Photos:  via Twitter/X)

QOTD: "Ambition Incarnate"

 

The regulars on MSNBC this morning torched the cynical, opportunistic decision of Nikki "Birdbrain" Haley to announce she was voting for the Malignant Loser / Orange Turd. Political horse race guy John Heilemann:

"She came right up to the edge of making the critiques that never-Trump, that progressive Democrats and never-Trump Republicans have made. Those are existential arguments, those are not about any policy. They're about, this man is not fit to serve, this man is a threat to democracy – all of that, she was right in that zone. Then to retreat to policy is so craven and cynical. I think, what we have learned about her, the most cynical, the most negative critical people about Nikki Haley have always said, she is ambition incarnate – you cannot believe a word out of her mouth. She'll say whatever, and change her mind from Monday to Wednesday, Wednesday to Thursday. [snip]

This month, now there's still 20 percent of Republicans in the primaries still voting for her. They must not let her in November – let me just say, what they can't let her do is, if Trump loses in November, stand up and say, 'Oh, I told you so.' She forfeits the right to say, 'I told you so, and I was always against Donald Trump.' She's now back on the Trump train, and there has got to be some accountability for that politically going forward."  (our emphasis)

She's now adopting the dishonest, overblown rhetoric of the Malignant Loser in talking about the "disaster" President Biden has been, notwithstanding the booming economy, stronger international alliances against authoritarianism, and more. She had a choice to keep her vote private, but chose to signal her followers that it was acceptable for them to switch to the Malignant Loser. 

During the MAGA primaries, the Malignant Loser denigrated Haley and her qualifications, usually referring to her as "Birdbrain," which we now feel free to use since she apparently has no problem bending her knee to the person who kept calling her that.

BONUS:  For a pitch- perfect satiric take, check out Madeline Goetz's piece at McSweeney's.

The Felon And The Lady Spar

 

She's in it until she's not, but in the meantime lightweight windsock Nikki Haley continues needling the Malignant Loser.  From a rally yesterday in South Carolina:

“So we got out there and we did our thing and we said what we had to say, and Donald Trump got out there and just threw a temper tantrum, he pitched a fit.  He was insulting, he was doing what he does.”

“I know that’s what he does when he’s insecure, I know that’s what he does when he is threatened.  And he should feel threatened, without a doubt.”

On cue, the threatened Malignant Loser, longtime crime boss and aspiring tyrant, responded with more threats on his failed social media platform later that night (same link as above):

Nikki “Birdbrain” Haley is very bad for the Republican Party and, indeed, our Country. Her False Statements, Derogatory Comments, and Humiliating Public Loss, is demeaning to True American Patriots. [snip] Anybody that makes a “Contribution” to Birdbrain, from this moment forth, will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp. We don’t want them, and will not accept them, because we Put America First, and ALWAYS WILL!

We'll be the first to give Haley credit if she keeps up the fight through South Carolina's Republican primary on February 24, much less Super Tuesday, March 5.  Regardless, every day/ week/ month she's in the race, she's raising questions about the Malignant Loser's obvious unfitness and depravity.  It makes a nice political companion piece to what's going to be coming out of the Malignant Loser's various trials over the next days/ weeks/ months.

Quotes Of The Day -- That Was Then, This Is Now

 

“She’s gonna win in a landslide,” he said, “and that’s not an exaggeration.” -- New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu, December 15, 2023, endorsing history-challenged windsock Nikki Haley, and predicting a landslide victory in the New Hampshire primary.

“We always wanted to have a strong second. That's the only expectation we ever laid out there.” -- memory-challenged Sununu, January 17, 2024, lowering the only expectation he ever laid out there.

What a couple of losers.

QOTD -- A Participation Trophy For Haley

 

“I can safely say tonight Iowa made this Republican primary a two-person race.”  -- third-place Iowa caucus finisher and lightweight windsock Nikki Haley spinning last night.  Yes, but perhaps not in the way you hoped, Nikki.  We can safely say the "momentum" she had that supposedly would propel her into second place behind the Malignant Loser fizzled.  Maybe she thinks people in Iowa and elsewhere are too ignant (well...) to notice both the Malignant Loser and Bootsie beat her.  But, for her brave attempt to capture victory out of the jaws of defeat, we'll award her a participation trophy:

QOTD -- The Messenger Of Mush

 

Mark Leibovich concludes "What Is Nikki Haley Even Talking About?" in The Atlantic:

“So if he’s [Trump's] gonna lie about me,” Haley went on, “I’m gonna tell you the truth about him.” The line drew the biggest applause of the event. Haley delivered it slowly, clearly, and with authority—like a candidate to be reckoned with, who might just be willing to escalate things.

But wasn’t Haley supposedly telling “hard truths” all along? Isn’t that kind of her signature thing? “She’s admitting that her retaliation to Trump’s lying about her is that she will stop lying about him,” Jonathan V. Last wrote in The Bulwark. Last dubbed Haley’s line “the most complete exposure to a politician’s subconscious I’ve ever seen.”

Or maybe this was always Haley’s conscious plan—to gradually parcel out her clever “hard truths” if convenient and when openings arise, and impress the right people and donors while doing so. Perhaps Haley already views this foray as a success. Even if she never seriously threatens Trump, she’s likely to perform respectably in the early states, win a second place or two, outlast DeSantis, and land some breezy swipes at Trump. Then, when his nomination becomes inevitable again, she can safely endorse her old boss (they always had a good working relationship!) and move on to her next campaign, to be Trump’s vice president or to try again in 2028.

Leibovich does a good job of exposing her skin- deep vacuity.  This is an ambitious lightweight who spouts the "mushy" and "nonsensical" (e.g., her evasions on slavery) and "hard truths" that focus on easy targets.  But, for now, she's a star for the corporate media, so attention must be paid!

Don't Know Much About History? Nikki Haley And Slavery

 

 

Lightweight- who- will- never- be- President Nikki Haley is used to talking in front of white nationalist Republican crowds who don't like to hear "woke"/ Critical Race Theory discussions about things like, um, American history -- specifically things like the Civil War.  It might make them feel (there's that word again) uncomfortable about the institution of slavery, the North's hostility toward which was the first reason Haley's home state of South Carolina cited when it seceded from the Union in 1860.  It's not the first time she's been asked, and we're certain Haley knows all about this history but was too chickenshit to mention it when she was confronted at a New Hampshire town hall yesterday: 

Nikki Haley had talked about a litany of issues America is confronting today — including fentanyl, inflation and wars abroad — before an audience member at a town hall here Wednesday raised his hand to question the Republican presidential candidate about a 162-year-old event.

“What was the cause of the United States Civil War?” the man asked Haley, a former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina governor who is campaigning this week in this key early primary state.

Haley’s answer did not include any mention of slavery, which scholars agree was the main driver of the conflict. It prompted surprise from her questioner and swift criticism and rebuttals from Democrats and Republicans beyond New Hampshire, including President Biden. It also resurfaced Haley’s previous comments that the war was the result of disagreements over “tradition versus change.”

At first, when she heard the question, Haley appeared caught off guard. The recreation room in this northernmost city in New Hampshire, a place that has leaned red in recent elections, grew quiet, and Haley looked at the man dressed in a plaid shirt who stood behind his sons seated in the back row.

She paused and responded, “Well, don’t come with an easy question.” Then she proceeded to answer.

“I think the cause of the Civil War was basically how government was going to run, the freedoms and what people could and couldn’t do,” Haley said.

She then turned the question to the man who asked it: “What do you think the cause of the Civil War was?”

The man responded that he is not running for president and wanted to hear her thoughts.

“I think it always comes down to the role of government and what the rights of the people are,” Haley continued. “And I will always stand by the fact that I think government was intended to secure the rights and freedoms of the people. It was never meant to be all things to all people. Government doesn’t need to tell you how to live your life. They don’t need to tell you what you can and can’t do. They don’t need to be a part of your life.”

The man then responded, “In the year 2023, it’s astonishing to me that you answer that question without mentioning the word slavery.”

Haley quickly replied with a question: “What do you want me to say about slavery?”

The man said, “You’ve answered my question, thank you.” Haley replied, “Next question.”... (our emphasis)

Our next question would be, "Where and at what point did you lose your soul?"

One of our lasting political myths is that "character counts" when selecting a presidential nominee. Any number of candidates for president (including a few Democrats along the way) have failed to meet that standard, and the most recent Republican cult leader has completely obliterated it from that party's list of criteria for eternity.  Haley, being the ambitious lightweight that she is, will happily say whatever she thinks will help her in the moment.  Of course, she's a hypocrite like all of her Republican cult mates.  A daughter of immigrants, she's all over the place on immigration policy.  She's the current darling of the Republican- wired  horse race media, which has been desperately trying to brand her as a "different kind of Republican" for years now.  She ain't no "moderate."  She was reportedly vying to be the Malignant Loser's running mate in 2020.  Don't be surprised if she doesn't try the same move in 2024.  We could go on, but when it comes to Haley, there's no there there.  Suffice it to say, this should be disqualifying for anyone running for the Office of President of the United States, and with any luck, this unprincipled windsock is not likely to get within sniffing distance of the Oval Office again.

(Image:  via Wonkette)

BONUS:

It was about slavery. https://t.co/q9bTDvtPne

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) December 28, 2023

 

 

The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly

 

The good:

... Today, our Nation faces another inflection point.  In 2023 alone, State and local legislatures have already introduced over 600 hateful laws targeting the LGBTQI+ community.  Books about LGBTQI+ people are being banned from libraries.  Transgender youth in over a dozen States have had their medically necessary health care banned.  Homophobic and transphobic vitriol spewed online has spilled over into real life, as armed hate groups intimidate people at Pride marches and drag performances, and threaten doctors’ offices and children’s hospitals that offer care to the LGBTQI+ community.  Our hearts are heavy with grief for the loved ones we have lost to anti-LGBTQI+ violence. 

Despite these attacks, the LGBTQI+ community remains resilient.  LGBTQI+ Americans are defiantly and unapologetically proud.  Youth leaders are organizing walkouts at high schools and colleges across the country to protest discriminatory laws.  LGBTQI+ young people and their parents are demonstrating unimaginable courage by testifying in State capitols in defense of their basic rights.

They are not alone:  My entire Administration stands proudly with the LGBTQI+ community in the enduring struggle for freedom, justice, and equality.  And we are making strides.  On my first day in office, I signed a historic Executive Order charging the entire Federal Government with protecting LGBTQI+ people from discrimination — from health care to housing, education, employment, banking, and the criminal justice system.  Last December, surrounded by dozens of couples who have fought for marriage equality in the courts for decades, I had the great honor of signing into law the landmark Respect for Marriage Act.  This bipartisan law protects the rights of same-sex and interracial couples — like caring for one’s sick partner and receiving spousal benefits.  Deciding who to marry is one of life’s most profound decisions, so we etched a simple truth into law:  Love is love...

From President Biden's Proclamation on LGTBQI+ Pride Month.  The full text is at the link above.

The bad:

Natalia Hafykina, 60, was so close to her next-door neighbors, Vladislav and Natalya Prykhodko, that they celebrated the young couple’s pregnancy together and then, just over one year ago, the birth of their daughter, Liza.

Until now, their small, suburban town, seven miles north of the bustling city of Dnipro, had been peaceful. But on Saturday night, a Russian missile struck their two-story apartment building, cracking slabs of concrete and shattering walls and windows.

The blast left little Liza dead under the rubble and her mother in an intensive care ward. When Vladislav Prykhodko briefly came home from the hospital on Sunday, Hafykina could not bear to speak to him.

“He looked so vulnerable that I couldn’t go up to him — there were no words,” she said, standing amid splintered furniture as her son and his friends nailed plywood over her shattered windows. “We were a family. This was our community. We never worried about danger,” Hafykina said. “Now I too am scared. Suddenly everything feels different.”

The strike in Pidhorodne, which injured 22 people including five children, was the second attack in just over a week in the Dnipro area.

On May 26, a medical clinic specializing in psychological disorders was hit by two missiles, leaving the old stone building in ruins, four people dead and 32 injured. An adjacent veterinary clinic burned to the ground, though all staff members and animals escaped harm.

The back-to-back strikes in greater Dnipro, a city in central Ukraine that often feels far from the front lines, came as a disconcerting reminder that there is no escaping Russia’s brutal war and that Moscow’s relentless barrage of missiles can deliver death and destruction at any moment...

Each and every Russian responsible for these war crimes, from war criminal Putin down to the sub-morons firing the missiles, needs to end up dangling from a noose.

The ugly: 

Republican presidential hopeful Nikki Haley suggested in an interview that United States forces “need to align” with non-European countries including Russia to enhance global security, a remark her campaign characterized as a gaffe.

Asked by WMUR-TV for a segment Wednesday on regions of the world to which she felt the U.S. could pay more attention, Haley — who served the Trump administration as United Nations ambassador, first said “the Arab world,” saying the U.S. needs Arab countries “to kind of join with us” on opposing Iran.

“You see Saudi Arabia making deals with China, that’s not good for us. We need them to be with us, and then we need to align with others, Russia, Australia, Japan, Israel,” Haley added.

“We need to start focusing on the allies that we have besides the Europeans and make sure that we have more friends — one, for our needs, so that we’re not dependent on an enemy for energy or medicines or anything else, and then two, to make sure that we build those alliances so that the world is more safe.”...

Her campaign later claimed she "misspoke."  She's still the hyper- ambitious, resume- building lightweight the Malignant Loser sent to the UN to give her foreign policy cred for her to use at just this campaign moment.  Sadly for her, she still thinks and speaks in banal terms that would make a high school Model UN student blush.

Pompeo: Haley Schemed To Be Trump VP

In his upcoming score-settling book, former Secretary of State and potential Republican nominee in 2024 Mike "Pompous" Pompeo alleges that former U.N. Ambassador and Trumpist sycophant Nimrata "Nikki" Haley enlisted Javanka to help her persuade the Malignant Loser to dump VP Mike Pence on the 2020 ticket and replace him with her. Pompeo himself is a potential candidate, so he has a dog in this cat fight. According to reports:

"Pompeo said Nikki Haley, while serving as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, convinced then-White House chief of staff John Kelly to organize an Oval Office meeting between her and the then-president.

But Haley showed up flanked by Trump’s senior advisers, his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner.

'As best Kelly could tell, they were presenting a possible ‘Haley for vice-president’ option,' Pompeo wrote in excerpts of 'Never Give An Inch: Fighting For The America I Love' that were published by The Guardian on Thursday."  (our emphasis)

The "snake pit" that was the Malignant Loser's administration nurtured quite a few snakes eager to bite each other politically. Pompeo spills even more bitter tea:

"Pompeo, in his memoir set for release next week, also expressed his apparent disdain for Haley, saying her ambassador role was 'a job that is far less important than people think.'

'She has described her role as going toe-to-toe with tyrants,' he wrote, per The Guardian’s excerpts. 'If so, then why would she quit such an important job at such an important time?'”

As with so many of her ambitious and amoral MAGA ilk, Haley learned to shed her dignity and to expertly grovel at the Malignant Loser's feet, even after this:

Even a broken clock... pic.twitter.com/Xzv4yFU3Vf

— Oliver Darko (@oliver_drk) May 30, 2021

(photo: U.S. State Department) 

 

Nikki Haley: Against Trump Before She Was For Him

If there's an emptier suit who continues to impress the media it's featherweight former governor/UN ambassador (!) and alleged adulterer (alleged!) Nikki Haley.  Here's a then/ now example of her willingness to abandon the pretense of having "principles" in order to lick the boots of a certain malignant loser:

Before: “We need to acknowledge he let us down. He went down a path he shouldn’t have, and we shouldn’t have followed him, and we shouldn’t have listened to him. And we can’t let that ever happen again.” (Politico)

“I think he’s going to find himself further and further isolated. … I don’t think he’s going to be in the picture. I don’t think he can. He’s fallen so far.” (Politico)

After: “He has the ability to move the ball, and I hope that he continues to do that. We need him in the Republican Party. I don’t want us to go back to the days before Trump.” (Wall Street Journal)

 

When she's not angling for a résumé- padding job feeding in the public trough, the human weathervane has attempted to find the political sweet spot on Trump and Trumpism for years without doing much except showing herself to be shallow and unprincipled.

Now there's some strong presidential timber for ya!

Twit Tweet, Thwap -- There Are No Good Ones

Twit tweet by adultress (allegedly!) Nikki Haley, hitting several wingnut auto- erogenous zones:

“The only ones mourning the loss of Soleimani are our Democrat leadership and Democrat Presidential candidates.” pic.twitter.com/IZJJqpxkBE

— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) January 7, 2020

Thwap:

Exactly which members of the Democratic leadership and exactly which Democratic Presidential candidates have mourned the "loss" of Soleimani?

Be specific, ma'am, with exact quotes. Show your work. https://t.co/w8ufuqHIrl

— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) January 7, 2020

Some people care about safety & prosperity of American people. Other people, like @NikkiHaley & rest of Trump sycophants, care about what helps them most in their quest for money & power. Disgusting that mainstream media held her up as one of the good ones. There Are No Good Ones

— David Rothschild (@DavMicRot) January 7, 2020

What a shock that the woman who claims Trump has never lied is a disgusting liar herself. You disgrace this country.

— Andrew Wortman (@AmoneyResists) January 7, 2020

It's lies like these which confirm that the entire GOP is as bad as serial liar Trump. There are NO "good" Republicans. All of them have embraced Trump's bigotry, racism, Sexism and non-stop lying.

— (((DeanObeidallah))) (@DeanObeidallah) January 7, 2020

Shame on you

— Devin Nunes’ cow 🐮 (@DevinCow) January 7, 2020

Good grief, you’re such power-hungry trash

— Ned Pyle (@NerdPyle) January 7, 2020

Later, when Haley pretends not to have been part of the shameless lying of the Trump era, remember that she was.

— Will Saletan (@saletan) January 7, 2020

ah, the future of the republican party https://t.co/dUmYnsCCUe

— b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) January 7, 2020

QOTD -- Another Toady Exits

Oh, really?

“Look at what has happened in two years with the United States on foreign policy. Now, the United States is respected.  Countries may not like what we do, but they respect what we do.”  

That was outgoing Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley yesterday, sitting next to her benefactor Donald "Rump" Trump. (She also volunteered that she'd be out campaigning for the groper- in- chief in 2020 -- if he lasts that long.  What a feminist!)

It's remarkable that Haley's managed to craft an image of herself as a moderate, "savvy" politician, who suddenly has "foreign policy chops" that she never possessed upon entering the job at the UN.  After dutifully reading statements crafted by career diplomats for two years, the "mainstream" media, including a number of "liberal" commentators, have declared her to be one of the "adults" in the Rump regime, and they talk of a presidential run in 2024. Glossed over or ignored entirely are the mountain of debt she apparently carries, and a possible ethics investigation into her accepting free corporate jet rides from South Carolina businessmen. She's really not that unlike the standard Rump appointee after all, is she?

Now, look at that quote again.  "Now, the United States is respected."

No, they laughed at your dimbulb leader right in front of you.  Another reality check:

BREAKING: UN Ambassador Nikki Haley resigns, declaring that the rest of the world couldn't possibly have more respect for Trump than it currently does pic.twitter.com/QJOuRpuyJv

— Richard Hine (@richardhine) October 9, 2018

Someone who lies so shamelessly to curry favor from a despot- in- waiting like Rump should never, ever be entrusted by the American people to hold any office again.

The Wheels On The Bus Go Over Nikki Haley

What's life like under the Trump bus, Ambassador Haley?

President Trump on Monday put the brakes on a preliminary plan to impose additional economic sanctions on Russia, walking back a Sunday announcement by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley that the Kremlin had swiftly denounced as “international economic raiding.” 

Preparations to punish Russia anew for its support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government over an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria caused consternation at the White House. Haley had said on CBS News’s “Face the Nation” that sanctions on Russian companies behind the equipment related to Assad’s alleged chemical weapons attack would be announced Monday by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. 

But Trump conferred with his national security advisers later Sunday and told them he was upset the sanctions were being officially rolled out because he was not yet comfortable executing them, according to several people familiar with the plan. (our emphasis)

Oops.

Clearly, there's nothing more important -- especially now -- for un- indicted co- conspirator and Putin puppet Donald "Rump" Trump than keeping Putin from exposing what he has on him. That should come as no shock to anyone with a pulse at this stage. At this point, way Rump reacts to anything that might harm, offend or upset Putin is a giant tell. But, it's the continuing chaos, rinky- dink amateurism and lack of cohesion of the Rump team, especially on the subject of Russian sanctions, that also, uh, impresses.

Some officials said the misunderstanding could have been the result of Haley’s tendency to speak directly with the president, sometimes outside of the normal policy process. “She’ll usually talk to the president without the rest of the White House and get her remarks cleared directly,” said the senior administration official. “Often we don’t know about them.” 

Early in the Trump administration, there were conflicts between Haley’s team and the president on Russia. Shortly after Trump’s inauguration, Haley delivered a speech at the United Nations that recommitted the White House to the Obama administration’s policy on sanctions related to Russian aggression in Ukraine. The speech was cleared by David Cattler, then a senior official on the National Security Council, but the remarks frustrated Trump, who demanded to know who had approved them. 

Of course, Haley will immediately submit her resignation, being the typical Rump appointee of high ethical standards and honor. =crickets=

(h/t our friend P.E.C.)

Tweets Of The Day - Cuts

This from Nikki Haley, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations and Bismarck of Bamberg, SC:

"Just 5 months into our time here, we've cut over half a billion $$$ from the UN peacekeeping budget & we’re only getting started.” pic.twitter.com/LA7IKqupff

— Nikki Haley (@nikkihaley) June 29, 2017

Funny, we thought peacekeeping was a primary goal of the United Nations.  Silly us.

Meanwhile, the "leader of the free world" (no, not the real leader of the free world Angela Merkel!) is occupied with important affairs of state this morning:

I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don't watch anymore). Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2017

...to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year's Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 29, 2017

Why doesn't the world have confidence in us anymore, we wonder...

BONUS:  Rump's getting pushback from other Republicans. Sad!