Another Hack Reveals Himself

Any sense that this Republican hack was a "hero" and "institutionalist" at any point in the Mueller report saga can now be dispelled forever:

Speaking publicly for the first time since the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential elections, Assistant Attorney General Rob Rosenstein did not mince words.

In a prepared speech delivered to the Public Servants Dinner of the Armenian Bar Association, Rosenstein criticized the Obama administration for failing to act on what he says should have been a “real-time reaction to Russian hacking.” 

“The previous Administration chose not to publicize the full story about Russian computer hackers and social media trolls, and how they relate to a broader strategy to undermine America,” he said.

Of course, it was turtle/ human hybrid and "Man Who Broke the Senate" Mitch "Missy" McConnell (R- Quid pro quo) who blocked a bipartisan statement just prior to the 2016 election, saying he would denounce any effort by the Obama Administration to call out Russian meddling as "an act of partisan politics."  Rosenstein chose not to remember that episode.

But, being the Republican tribalist he has always been, he did remember the noble thoughts and pure motives of his Dear Leader:

He only mentioned Trump once in the talk, praising the president’s approach to the law. “The rule of law is our most important principle,” Rosenstein said. “As President Trump pointed out, ‘We govern ourselves in accordance with the rule of law rather [than] … the whims of an elite few or the dictates of collective will.’”

Please, go straight to hell.

BONUS:  Wonkette has a more fulsome farewell.

BONUS II:  The compromised skunk told Trump he'd "land the plane" (i.e. the Mueller investigation), and "I'm on your (Trump's) team."  Not America's team, that is.

Can Turdblossom Look More Ridiculous?

Sometimes it appears as though Fux "News" is looking for ways to humiliate their political analyst, Karl "Turdblossom" Rove, on election nights. Recall that in 2012, Turdblossom was confidently predicting on election night that Ohio would go for plutocrat Willard "Mittens" Romney, and was in denial when President Obama won the state. Last night, check out this gem of a face plant by Turdblossom, who has been fluffing the candidacy of Republican establishment and Beltway media favorite Marco "Roboto" Rubio.  Host Chris Wallace even seems to set him up, just before Virginia is called for vulgar neo-fascist Donald "Rump" Trump:



"Well, I think this race is going to continue to tighten...."  Whoops! This is the hack that the Beltway media and punditocracy regards as an "expert" political strategist and serious student of politics.

Media Fluffing Of 2016 Republican Prospects Is In Full Swing

The 2016 Presidential election may be 2 years away, but that won't stop Republican hacks in the media and "non-partisan" weasels from catapulting bullshit into the public arena.  We'd like to share two examples that floated to the top of the bowl in just the last 24 hours.

Steve M. at No More Mister Nice Blog gives us an example of hack (and Republican legacy hire) Mark Halperin's starry-eyed fluffing of Jeb "The Bush Whose IQ May Be Higher Than A Shrub" Bush:

It's clear that Halperin wants to believe that Jeb will run. Breathlessly, he explains what a formidable general-election candidate Jeb would be in a race against Hillary Clinton:

Finally, the most macro significant question for any Republican putting him or herself forward to beat Clinton is this: what states can you win that Romney lost? For Bush, the easy answer includes Florida, Ohio, Colorado, Iowa, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, and Virginia. If he runs a strong campaign, Bush could perhaps compete in California and possibly New Jersey and Michigan.

No, that's nuts.

Steve goes on to perform a simple act of journalism (i.e., he checks the facts) that shows Clinton kicking Jebbie's ass in States where they've polled the match-up.  Verdict:  Halperin wins, hacks down.

Charles P. Pierce on Bush hack and "No Labels" twit Mark McKinnon's piece in Politic-ho (first McKinnon's chin stroker on "competence", then Charlie's rejoinder):

(McKinnon) It also means 2016 could become a referendum on Obama's competence. Democrats leave him out of the discussion, but Republican strategists are quick to tie the general theme to him, without any prompting. Even though some of the most recent incidents are clearly beyond his control - presidents can't personally oversee hospital workers in Dallas, for example - he has plenty of stumbles that did happen on his watch, like the Veterans Administration scandal and the sputtering launch of Obamacare last year. And Republicans believe the public is worried enough about the government's general track record that they'll be ready for a candidate who's just a good manager. 

(Charlie) At this point, anyone who is still defining the Affordable Care Act by its "sputtering launch" is just being a hack. But the rest of this swill is also simply rote memorization of the narrative that the Republicans want to sell, and I do mean sell, to a midterm electorate scared stupid by six years of the deliberate disinformation. The people selling that narrative are the people who purposely wrecked the government's "track record" in unprecedented fashion, and not simply to demolish the agenda of a Democratic president, but also because they are the creatures of a philosophy and of a self-contained political universe in which government is not supposed to work, at least not for the general good, anyway. So, now, having thrown a carload of spanners into the works, the same people point out that the mechanism was built to fail. It's a neat trick, and it almost always works.  (our emphasis)

So, every time you hear the words "competence" in the same sentence as "Republican,"  you can take it as a joke.  "Vandals" and "Republicans," now that's a different matter.

BONUS:  Here's Digby on what a worthless hack Halperin is.