has anyone ever been this Mad Online?

Deep in Macron Country:

Finally, in the bookshop, I do find someone who is angry. "We are tired of our traditional culture being mocked and derided," says Pierre, angrily setting aside his Proust omnibus. "Does Marine Le Pen not understand that being French is all about being insouciant, not shouting endlessly about how terrible it is when women wear veils? The only article of clothing a Frenchman should be against is the sock with the sandal." He shudders. "We are not . . . Germans."

However, walking around town, I also notice a disturbing phenomenon. A lot of people simply don't want to talk to me about their political views. These are the Shy Macronists, living proof that our media climate is hostile to those with a pragmatic, centrist outlook. They know their opinions are unfashionable, and the casual insults thrown at them are exactly what drove so many to vote for the 39-year-old. "Do not use my name," says one young man, looking nervously down the street. "Here in France you cannot speak openly about your love of the European Union. Politicians are scared of tackling the subject, even though we know this is what many people in the country think. It is - how you say? - political correctness gone mad."

Walking back to the train, I reflect how strange it is that I should run into a series of broad French stereotypes who confirmed my pre-existing views. Still, I shrug, pulling out a Gauloise, putting on my beret and adjusting the string of onions around my neck, you just have to go where the story takes you.

i love this, especially considering i live in a county that has become a trek for those from newspapers and tv news to come in and ask why we're so *insert their idea here*.

acronyms, how do they work.

Gov. Mike Huckabee‏@GovMikeHuckabee
CNN now stands for Cardiac Care Network because their ppl are having heart attacks over Trump doing what Dems once demanded-fire Comey.

he was a governor

Governing is easy, comedy is harder.

The trick will not be shedding drumpf. Once the Russia evidence piles up that should be easy.


no, the trick is dumping both him AND Pence. Pence knew what was going on, so he needs to be held accountable too. He's not as appallingly stupid as drumpf though, and has a few friends left in Congress.

HillBilly Hollar time for McConnell to invite the Dems to join him in presiding over the murder of ObamaCare. Because that is likely to happen.

He is just sort of rambling. I am not sure what he is trying to do or why he is talking. He got lost in his notes... dead air... Well back to paying attention to work.

Have I reminded everyone that Mitch McConnell is a disgusting sack of aardvark shit yet today?

I wish he were only that offensive.

McConnell basically suggesting there is no need for a special prosecutor.

Elected republicans are actively hurting the country. Horrific

@johnberman
JUST NOW: McConnell says new investigation will only impede current work on Russia investigations.
(so no special prosecutor or committee)

Every time I think that we've hit rock bottom, another Repub digs another level.

It is hard for me to convey how bad republicans are hurting the country. Literally no elected R gives a shit

Jason chaffetz had 6 emergency hearings in a 4 week span on Hillary emails during the campaign

sigh

drsmooth wrote:I read this brief essay the other day that offers a brief, mild defense of Machiavelli as something other than a cynical, manipulative Rasputin-by-the-Mediterranean.

Basically its author suggests Machiavelli was a master ironist - he intended its reader to take him literally, and so walk right into taking personally disastrous political steps that would result in his total failure as a leader.


And then I read Rosenstein's 3-pager, and I thought, "hmmmm"....

As a former state AAG and a current in-house attorney at a state agency, let me say this unequivocally: state and federal Departments of Law are very rarely concerned with the political ramifications of their recommendations. They may point out to the client/executive what the potential pitfalls may be, but the political calculus is left to the politicians. Their recommendations are based on the legal/ethical/regulatory ramifications. It's not that those people aren't politically savvy--many of them are far more savvy than the appointed or elected officials they are advising. But the political calculus just isn't their concern.

So this type of recommendation isn't particularly surprising. And I don't know that the timing of the recommendation memo is either--Rosenstein had probably reached this opinion some time ago but wasn't confirmed until the end of April. What's weird/suspicious/insane is that Trump received the recommendation and immediately acted on it within hours.

Rosenstein's conclusions are sound and correct. I just don't trust Sessions or Trump and it looks to me and to most sane people like they used Rosenstein's conclusions to hide their real rationale.

pacino wrote:Rosenstein's conclusions are sound and correct. I just don't trust Sessions or Trump and it looks to me and to most sane people like they used Rosenstein's conclusions to hide their real rationale.

Of course. But I was responding to doc's suggestion that Rosenstein was engaging in some Machiavellian plot. That is almost certainly an untrue statement.

So when Pence pardons Donal Nixon where do the riots start? How long do they last?

RichmondPhilsFan wrote:

pacino wrote:Rosenstein's conclusions are sound and correct. I just don't trust Sessions or Trump and it looks to me and to most sane people like they used Rosenstein's conclusions to hide their real rationale.

Of course. But I was responding to doc's suggestion that Rosenstein was engaging in some Machiavellian plot. That is almost certainly an untrue statement.

I sure hope so. If Rosenstein is in on the fix, too, we're in really, really bad shape.