Tweets Of The Day

On the Flynn pardon --

 

Donald Trump has repeatedly abused the pardon power to reward friends and protect those who covered up for him.

This time he pardons Michael Flynn, who lied to hide his dealings with the Russians.

It’s no surprise that Trump would go out as he came in —

Crooked to the end.

— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) November 25, 2020

Never forget what happened --

 

Just because Trump's gambits failed is no reason to minimize the gravity of what he attempted, or how many Republicans either actively supported it or chose to let it proceed. https://t.co/reCYvAaX0d

— Ronald Brownstein (@RonBrownstein) November 24, 2020

 

“Anyone advising Biden and members of his party to turn the other cheek and reach out to Republican congressional leaders as though none of this has happened is urging them down the path of political suicide.”https://t.co/fWyvVeGEyN

— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) November 24, 2020

The noble accountability Republican --

John Cornyn has been a sycophantic enabler of trumpism but now he wants everyone to know that he’s committed to holding the president accountable now that he’s a democrat. https://t.co/98SPcgpAyz

— Molly Jong-Fast🏡 (@MollyJongFast) November 25, 2020

Here's some more Republican style accountability --

 

Gaetz Urges Trump To Go Wild With Pardons, Including A Self-Pardon, To Own The Libs https://t.co/G0AOQ5ikQV via @TPM

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) November 25, 2020

Li'l Marco Rubio, a glutton for Twitter punishment --

 

The president of the United States told people to ingest ineffectual, dangerous pharmaceuticals–like a cartoon snake oil salesman–to cover for his deadly policy failures and you went along with it because he was a Republican and you are spineless, and now you’re whining about it? https://t.co/TgDff7kEnz

— Brian Beutler (@brianbeutler) November 25, 2020

Reality check --

 

Trump is the first president since Hoover to preside over net job loss https://t.co/JDS88DcJca

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 25, 2020

Firefighters to the rescue --

 

These Trump sycophants are gutting the government & setting up boobytraps left & right to make things difficult for all the principled people coming in to serve. @realDonaldTrump is in burn it all down mode.

If you’re in GA, please vote for @ReverendWarnock & @ossoff. #SaveUs https://t.co/7nRKG03o8Z

— yvette nicole brown (@YNB) November 25, 2020

 

Diego Maradona -- 

Diego Maradona - legend on and off the pitch - has passed away, age 60.

Rest, Sir...pic.twitter.com/rAXPf9EUhk

— Rex Chapman🏇🏼 (@RexChapman) November 25, 2020

 

 

Trump Cancels Appearance At Giuliani Shit Show

Earlier today, narcissistic sociopath and one-term impeached loser Donald "Mango Mussolini" Trump ducked his corrupt and deranged consigliere Rudy "Hands In Pants" Giuliani's latest clown show in Gettysburg, PA, to yell "fraud" and "stolen election." The reason given by the White (Supremacist) House is that one of Trump's Elite Strike Force of Power Rangers, Russian-born Trumpkin Boris "Shitsteyn" Epshteyn, tested positive for COVID-19, i.e. the Trump Virus.  Either that, or Trump was reluctant to stand near Hands In Pants for fear of getting some sweaty hair dye blown on him, and listening to farcical voter fraud "testimony" from the very cult members that he finds disgusting. Instead, Mango Mussolini phoned in to spew lies about the election.

As an aside, we're not counting, but we wouldn't be surprised if the COVID positivity rate among these hacks and scoundrels is upwards of 90%. 

UPDATE:  Trump ended up calling into a cellphone that his "attorney" held up to the microphone in order for him to spout the usual deranged bullshit about winning the election.  What a tenth- rate shitshow.

(photo: "Mr. President, I have Ukrainian President Zelensky on the line again....hello? Mr. President?")

Today's Cartoons

(click on images to enlarge)

(Ken Catalino, catalinocartoons.com)

(David Horsey, Seattle Times)

(John Deering, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

(Matt Wuerker, Politico)

(Stuart Carlson, gocomics.com)

(Drew Sheneman, The Star-Ledger, Newark, NJ)

(Heng Kim Song, Lianhe Zaobao, Singapore)

(Nath Paresh, The Khaleej Times, Dubai, UAE)

(Steve Sack, Minneapolis Star Tribune)

(Nick Anderson, Counterpoint)

(Dave Brown, The Independent, London)

(Jack Ohman, Sacramento Bee)

(Mike Smith, Las Vegas Sun)

(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal Constitution)

Mid-Week Koz Song

Jazz saxophonist Dave Koz's latest single, "Side By Side," is an upbeat display of his virtuosity from his latest album, "New Day." He's joined by alto saxophonist and six-time Grammy winner David Sanborn, who, with other musicians on the recording, recorded and added their parts virtually, rather than in-studio. Enjoy.

The Perils Of A Flynn Pardon (UPDATED)

Marcy Wheeler details the complex ramifications the rumored pardon of foreign agent and convicted felon Michael Flynn by Mango Mussolini would entail.  Here's the tease:

At least three outlets (CNN, Axios, NYT) have reported the entirely unsurprising news that Trump is considering pardoning admitted liar and undisclosed Agent of Turkey, Mike Flynn. Only the NYT provides a reasonable account of what has happened since DOJ moved to dismiss the case, and only after repeating Trump’s false claims about the investigation.

None of the outlets reviewed how complex successfully pardoning Flynn will be, without making Trump’s — or Flynn’s son’s — fate worse. That’s true because the posture of the Flynn case before Judge Emmet Sullivan is such that Sullivan has multiple possible options for holding Flynn accountable, depending on when Sullivan moves and when Trump does.

Wheeler's detailed explainer illuminates a number of twists and exposures that pardoning Flynn (and, for that matter, other convicted members of the Trump regime and crime family) might present not only for Flynn and son, but also for another player.  This is most interesting:

Assuming Trump does pardon Flynn for some or all of these crimes, it would add several overt actions to obstruction charges against himself. So unless he’s sure that Mike Pence would give him a last minute pardon (or certain that his own self-pardon would withstand legal review), then pardoning all Flynn’s crimes would pile up his own exposure.

We wonder, should that knowledge penetrate Mango Mussolini's dim brain, if he would still be so eager to throw pardons around as he's escorted out the door.

UPDATE:  The Very Stable Genius acts -- 

 

It is my Great Honor to announce that General Michael T. Flynn has been granted a Full Pardon. Congratulations to @GenFlynn and his wonderful family, I know you will now have a truly fantastic Thanksgiving!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 25, 2020

Salting The Earth: Locking The Money Up Edition

The petty and dangerous games that the regime of sore loser and sociopathic demagogue Donald "Mango Mussolini" Trump continue in an effort to hamstring the incoming Biden Administration. This time it's Trump's robotic, sininster plutocrat Treasury Secretary Steve "No Chin" Mnuchin, who has announced he plans to put some $455 billion of unspent stimulus money into a fund that Biden can't spend without Congressional approval. That places corrupt hack Sen. Moscow Mitch McConnell in the position of vetoing any release of the needed funding to stimulate Trump's crashed economy:

"The move, experts say, will likely undercut the ability of Mnuchin's likely successor, Janet Yellen, from restarting the Fed's lending programs at a similar scale early next year. Instead, she will have only $80 billion at her discretion.

Ernie Tedeschi, a policy economist at Evercore ISI, called Mnuchin's decision "a dangerous move" as the US economy faces a perilous moment in the pandemic.

"'t's one more enormous risk we are piling onto the winter in the US atop of other risks already there,' Tedeschi told Business Insider. 'We may need that backstop again as cases have now blown through their prior peaks, state and local governments are making cuts, and we're about to kick off millions of people from unemployment insurance.'"  (our emphasis)

This action follows Mnuchin's decision not to extend the Federal Reserve's emergency loan program past December 31, which will cripple loan activities to small business hurting from the pandemic.

Watching their depraved lack of interest over the past few months in helping Americans stay afloat during the raging pandemic, we shouldn't be surprised that they're sabotaging the Biden Administration two months before the inauguration and hurting already suffering Americans. Republican philosophy has always been to afflict the afflicted and comfort the comfortable. But this maneuver is so despicable on its own that the stench from it should follow them wherever they go.

BONUS: Trump biographer Tim O'Brien has more on Mango Mussolini's vandalism.

(photo: No Chin and wife Cruella deVil collecting samples. AP)

Biden-Harris Go Over 80 Million Votes

(click on map to enlarge)

Today's Cartoons

(click on images to enlarge)

(Matt Davies, Newsday)

(Nick Anderson, Washington Post Writers Group)

(Mike Thompson, USA Today)

(Mike Peters, Dayton Daily News)

(Lalo Alcaraz, LA Weekly)

(John Darkow, Columbia Missourian)

(Dan Wasserman, Boston Globe)

(Kevin Kallaugher, Counterpoint)

(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

(Rob Rogers, Counterpoint)

(Kevin Siers, Charlotte Observer)

(Jen Sorensen, gocomics.com)

(Robert Ariail, gocomics.com)

(Ed Hall, Artizans.com)

(Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press)

Pennsylvania & Nevada Certify Biden-Harris Victories

Pennsylvania:

Democrat Joe Biden has been certified as the winner of the presidential election in Pennsylvania, culminating three weeks of vote counting and a string of failed legal challenges by President Donald Trump, state officials said Tuesday.

The Pennsylvania State Department “certified the results of the November 3 election in Pennsylvania for president and vice president of the United States,” Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, tweeted.

“As required by federal law, I’ve signed the Certificate of Ascertainment for the slate of electors for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” Wolf wrote.

Nevada:

The Nevada Supreme Court certified the state’s election results on Tuesday morning following numerous failed post-election court challenges that sought to delay or thwart it.

Nevada’s certification comes following Michigan’s move to certify on Monday, and Pennsylvania’s certification early Tuesday, and ahead of Wisconsin’s and Arizona’s certifications later this week. All are states President Donald Trump lost on Nov. 3, and all are states where the Republican Party and the Trump campaign filed lawsuits challenging the outcome.

 

Deal with it, Trumpkins.

Twit Tweet, Thwap

 

Twit tweet from Li'l Marco Rubio, professional poltroon:

Biden’s cabinet picks went to Ivy League schools,have strong resumes,attend all the right conferences & will be polite & orderly caretakers of America’s decline

I support American greatness

And I have no interest in returning to the “normal” that left us dependent on China

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) November 24, 2020

 

Thwap: 

Donald Trump just spent four years turbo charging American decline with Rubio’s full support. The people who have to clean up that mess don’t really need the lecture on American greatness https://t.co/cEoZN3KllM

— Ben Rhodes (@brhodes) November 24, 2020

 

Trump — UPenn
Pompeo — Harvard Law
Mnuchin — Yale
Esper — Harvard
Barr — Columbia
Ross — Yale + Harvard
Acosta — Harvard
Azar — Dartmouth + Yale Law
Carson — Yale
Chao — Harvard
Navarro — Harvard https://t.co/DnJ7mLIxuK

— Jacob Rubashkin (@JacobRubashkin) November 24, 2020

 

Is Rubio arguing that in order to achieve "American greatness" our public servants must avoid top colleges, have weak resumes, avoid working or meeting colleagues, and be mean? https://t.co/cjkVJPE6L0

— igorvolsky (@igorvolsky) November 24, 2020

 

Was this normal? pic.twitter.com/JMf9YqObKy

— Lula Rodriguez (@Lananalula) November 24, 2020

 

The shameless hypocrite has some thoughts. 🙄

— Chidi®️ (@ChidiNwatu) November 24, 2020

 

Forgive me if I dismiss your ability to judge good government after your fawning support of the greatest internal threat to America democracy in its history during the last 4 years of Trumpiam Dystopia.

— Ollie will be worried until 1/20/21 at 12:01 (@Olliechocopup) November 24, 2020

 

Ya boy out here demolishing planes just to make it harder to keep an eye on Russia

— under the bus 🍑🥜 (@thrillout) November 24, 2020

 

You chose the wrong side of history, Bible boy. We won’t forget.

— KareBearScare (@KareBearScare) November 24, 2020

 

 

Feinstein Gone As Judiciary Committee Ranking Member

The widely hoped-for move that 87 year-old Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) would relinquish her Ranking Member position on the Senate Judiciary Committee has occurred. Feinstein announced that she would step down from that position after her highly criticized performance at the hearing for Amy Coney "Coathanger" Barrett to be Supreme Court Justice. Her bend-over-and-take it style was on display during that hearing as she praised Committee Chair and despicable hypocrite and Trump remora Sen. Lindsey "Use My Words Against Me" Graham for his handling of the rammed-through nomination shortly before the election.  Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer reportedly had a "long and serious talk" with Feinstein after that debacle. Said one leader of a progressive organization:

"This was a necessary step if Democrats are ever going to meaningfully confront the damage Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell have done to the federal judiciary," said Brian Fallon, executive director of Demand Justice. "Going forward, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee must be led by someone who will not wishfully cling to a bygone era of civility and decorum that Republicans abandoned long ago."  (our emphasis)

It would be a service to the Dems and to the nation if Feinstein were to gracefully retire and allow California Governor Gavin Newsom to appoint a replacement to serve out her term, but we're not holding our breath. In the meantime, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) is next in line in seniority and will be the new Ranking Member on the Committee.

(photo: "Thanks for the screwing": Feinstein hugs Graham after Republicans ram Barrett SCOTUS nomination down Dems' throats. CNN)

When The Fool Client Has A Fool Lawyer

After a string of humiliating defeats in court, culminating in conservative Federal Judge Matthew Brann's scathing dismissal of the Trump "elite strike force" legal team's argument in Pennsylvania last Saturday, delusional sociopath and one term impeached authoritarian Donald "Mango Mussolini" Trump is seething about their inept performance, led by Trump consigliere and "fool for a lawyer" Rudy "Hands In Pants" Giuliani. Bunkered alternatively in the White (Supremacist) House or in sand traps at his Virginia golf course, Trump felt humiliated by Giuliani's clown show appearance at Republican National Committee headquarters, where sweat mixed with hair dye streamed down his face. From the NBC report:

"The president has been complaining to aides and allies about his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and recently-removed lawyer Sidney Powell’s over-the-top performances at a news conference at the Republican National Committee headquarters last week, these people said. Both Giuliani and Powell have continued to make conspiratorial and baseless claims about widespread voter fraud, for which they have provided no evidence.

The president is concerned his team is comprised of 'fools that are making him look bad,' said one source familiar with the thinking. Asked why he would not fire them, this person replied, in essence, who knows? [snip]

When Giuliani was announced as taking the lead, it did not go over well with some of the president’s aides and allies because he 'makes mockery' of the effort to actually pursue what they consider to be legitimate issues around voting, these people said."  (our emphasis)

One would think that after Giuliani's pivotal role in arranging Trump's fateful call in 2018 to Ukrainian President Zelensky which led to his impeachment, he'd be shown the exit thereafter. But this regime is a dumpster fire of incompetents, grifters and loons that prize "loyalty" to the Dear Leader above all else, even when it means further humiliation and defeat.

(photo: Get the straightjacket ready. Jacqueline Martin / AP)

"Georgia Republican Patriots! Dump RINOs Purdue And Loeffler!"

Finally, some Republican ratfucking we can get behind:

Conservative operatives and a super PAC with ties to infamous GOP dirty trickster Roger Stone are calling for Trump supporters to punish Republicans by sitting out Georgia’s crucial Senate runoffs or writing in Trump’s name instead. And though their efforts remains on the party’s fringes, the trajectory of the movement has Republicans fearful that it could cost the GOP control of the Senate.

The most aggressive call to boycott or cast protest ballots in the two runoff races has, so far, come from a dormant pro-Trump super PAC with ties to Stone, which unveiled a new initiative to retaliate against the Republican Party’s supposed turncoats by handing Democrats control of the U.S. Senate.

The group, dubbed the Committee for American Sovereignty, unveiled a new website encouraging Georgia Republicans to write in Trump’s name in both of the upcoming Senate runoff elections, which could determine the party that controls the upper chamber during President-elect Joe Biden’s first two years in office. The PAC argued that doing so will show support for the president in addition to forcing Republicans to address the wild election-fraud conspiracy theories floated by Trump supporters and members of his own legal team.

We'll grab the popcorn let them cannibalize themselves.  

Meanwhile, we can do something positive to support Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff by contributing to Stacy Abrams' "Fair Fight" get- out- the- vote effort.  This is an opportunity the frothing right is handing us in Georgia.  Let's do it!

GSA Administrator Belatedly Begins Formal Transition Process

Long overdue:

The head of the General Services Administration said in a letter to President-elect Joe Biden on Monday that her office is ready to begin the formal presidential transition, after weeks of pressure from Democrats to allow the process to go ahead.

“I take this role seriously and, because of recent developments involving legal challenges and certifications of election results, am transmitting this letter today to make those resources and services available to you,” GSA head Emily Murphy said in the letter.

The letter came after a four-member canvassing board in Michigan certified that state’s election results, effectively awarding Michigan’s 16 electoral votes to Biden, who defeated President Trump with a margin of more than 155,000 votes.

Meanwhile, President- elect Biden continues to announce senior staffing for his administration, including former Fed Chair Janet Yellen, who'll be the first female Secretary of the Treasury in American history.

BREAKING: Michigan Officially Certified For Biden

Within the last hour, the four member Michigan Board of State Canvassers officially certified the election results by a vote of 3 - 0, giving President-elect Joe Biden the official win, despite efforts by neo-fascist demagogue Donald "Mango Mussolini" Trump to subvert the will of Michiganders. The Board has four members, two Dems and two Republicans; one Republican member abstained.

Trump had personally and corruptly intervened with Michigan legislators and the two Republican Board of State Canvassers members to pressure them to disregard the vote in predominantly Democratic Wayne County (Detroit) and give the election to him. Lately, the Trumpers have been attempting to delay the certification vote, presumably to apply more pressure on key officials and muddy the waters with bogus voter fraud claims.