April 26, 2018

David Vitter served 10 years in the Senate after hooker-diapergate: Using Our Ethics Against Us

Because the GOP has no morals, ethics, shame, or standards of conduct, no one is ever kicked out of the conservative tent.

failed human Newt Gingrich, child molester Roy Moore, "Keating 5" John McCain, constitution-schmonstitution Ollie North, Cap "my diary would have revealed a criminal conspiracy" Weinberger, Mitt "I'm filthy rich from vulture capitalism" Romney, etc.

and the aforementioned Vitter, who you would have thought would perhaps have died of embarrassment in 2007 when his illegal sexcapades were revealed, but managed to stay on and continue the ruinous harm to our country for 10 more years.

Conservatives never (and are never forced to) condemn their fellow conservatives, no matter how corrupt, law-breaking, or hideous they are. Most are given sinecures at Fox News if their public sector jobs end.

And because they have zero standards, they see progressive ethics as a laughable weakness. If they can just get progressives to turn on each other by pointing out small issues (and appealing to our higher selves), they can break our coalition just because it is made up of fallible, imperfect people. buh bye, Senator Franken.

Let's remember to keep our tent big - anyone fighting for economic and social progress is our ally, even if they are flawed in a way that might not make them our best friends.

April 23, 2018

Comey is a hero in his own mind. He's been spinning noble tales about himself for at least 10 years

One thing I will always remember about Comey is this story from 2007, when he told the tale of how he rushed to John Ashcroft's hospital bed and protected him from Andrew Card...

His testimony describes the night that the Bush's NSA warrantless eavesdropping program was set to expire, as then AG Ashcroft lay in a hospital Intensive Care Unit with a critical case of pancreatitis. Comey, designated as Acting AG during the AG's illness, had refused the White House demands to certify the NSA program as "legal", as was needed for it to continue. The White House was said to have been furious about it, so Dubya, reportedly, personally called Ashcroft's wife to inform her that his own legal adviser Alberto Gonzalez (who was not yet AG) and Chief of Staff Andy Card, were on their way over to the hospital to have the ailing AG personally sign off on the program.

He describes the ensuing late-night chain of events --- from speeding in his redirected limosine, to an ICU confrontation and an astounding "moment of clarity" from the ailing AG, to a midnight White House showdown over all of this. I'd describe the testimony as "must watch" if you've never seen it, and a great refresher for those of us who saw it at the time. It offers an instructive moment about where nomination hearings for Comey could go if, in fact, he is nominated to replace Robert Mueller as FBI Director. Along with Comey, Mueller performed as one of the "good guys", at least in this particular moment of history.

Maybe it happened exactly this way. Maybe Comey stood up to Bush and all of his cronies. This story has been repeated and repeated as if it was the gospel truth since then, and appears in nearly all accounts of Comey's career.

The thing is though, this story, as far as I know, only comes from Comey. No one else has ever described the events of that night. And so, we are left with Comey's heroic tale of standing athwart warrantless eavesdropping, rescuing his ailing superior in the hospital from political pressure. Comey, the hero. He likes to tell these aw shucks tales about how great and patriotic and moral and ethical he is.

BUT COMEY FUCKED HILLARY OVER ROYALLY. Against his OWN guidelines. No amount of painting himself the grand hero/martyr will erase that.

April 6, 2018

TYT: Why Christians Wouldnt Care If Trump Paid For Abortions - what we are up against