ALL ABOUT ME

The U.S. kills Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the head of ISIS -- and Trump is at his brutal, gloating, self-preening worst

https://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2019/10/theres-always-tweet.html
“Bin Laden was a big thing but this is the biggest thing there is. This is the worst ever. Osama bin Laden was very big but Osama bin Laden became big with the WTC. This is a man who built a whole caliphate”

"I wrote a book, a really successful book, about a year before the World Trade Center…there’s someone named Osama bin Laden…you ought to take him out; he’s big trouble. I think I wrote 12 books. Nobody listened to me.”

“These people are very smart ... very technically brilliant. They use the internet better than anyone else in the world .. perhaps except Donald Trump.”

He thanked Russia before he thanks the US troops. . . .

https://crooksandliars.com/2019/10/trump-whines-my-murder-terrorist-leader
Trump Whines: My Murder Of A Terrorist Leader Is BIGGER Than Obama's

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/10/27/1895417/-Trump-turns-announcement-of-ISIS-leader-s-death-into-disturbing-rant-says-U-S-will-take-Syrian-oil
Trump turns announcement of ISIS leader's death into disturbing rant, says U.S. will take Syrian oil . . . 
 
https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-turns-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-killing-into-a-reality-show
Trump Turns Baghdadi’s Killing Into a Reality Show 

Don't miss it! https://www.vox.com/2019/10/27/20934792/trump-isis-baghdadi-remarks-pelosi-intelligence
Trump’s Baghdadi press conference shows how he ruins even his best moments

A look back

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/10/27/1895389/-Trump-to-make-morning-announcement-likely-concerns-death-of-ISIS-leader-Baghdadi
[Trump, Oct 22, 2012] Why don't we ask the Navy SEALs who killed Bin Laden? They don't seem to be happy with Obama claiming credit. All he did is say O.K.

Trump almost blew it

https://washingtonmonthly.com/2019/10/27/trump-almost-ruined-the-operation-against-al-baghdadi/
Trump Almost Ruined the Operation Against Al-Baghdadi

Was this photo staged?

https://crooksandliars.com/2019/10/trump-appears-have-staged-situation-room

More: https://politicalwire.com/2019/10/27/two-photos-capture-vastly-different-presidents/
Obama photographer Pete Souza notes the Trump photo was taken at 5:05 p.m., according to the camera data. However, raid reportedly took place at 3:30 p.m. indicated the Trump photo was staged.
 
Trump didn't inform Congressional leaders, but he did tell Russia

https://www.axios.com/trump-democrats-baghdadi-raid-leaks-a64ed755-11db-437f-89d6-ab32162ecbc0.html
 

What does it all mean for the future of ISIS?

https://www.vox.com/2019/10/27/20934608/isis-baghdadi-trump-leiter-interview

More: https://www.vox.com/world/2019/10/27/20934583/isis-leader-abu-bakr-al-baghdadi-dead-us-trump

In other news . . .

Repubs who lost in 2018 want to run again

https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/27/ousted-house-republicans-2020-rematch-056784

Bonus item: Trump visits the World Series

https://politicalwire.com/2019/10/27/trump-loudly-booed-at-world-series/

“Trump, who did not arrive in time for the national anthem or first pitch, was shown on the videoboard ahead of the fourth inning during a Salute to Veterans in-game segment. The crowd immediately responded by booing Trump loudly.” “After initially booing Trump, the crowd continued into a ‘lock him up‘ chant.”

***If you enjoy Progressive Blog Digest and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sharing its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com) with others via email or social media. Thanks for helping to spread the word!

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

ANGER MANAGEMENT

He's very upset

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/10/26/1895243/-Trump-s-anger-grows-as-more-and-more-people-agree-to-speak
Trump's anger grows as more and more people agree to speak

More: https://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2019/10/trump-waking-to-danger.html
Somebody is thinking about impeachment this morning. . . . [read on]

Former Chief of Staff John Kelly: I could have saved Trump from himself

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/john-kelly-says-he-warned-trump-hed-be-impeached-if-he-hired-a-yes-man-as-chief-of-staff-to-replace-him/2019/10/26/e4d5d028-f827-11e9-8cf0-4cc99f74d127_story.html
John Kelly, former chief of staff to President Trump, said Saturday he warned the president before he left the White House not to replace him with a “yes man” because it would lead to Trump’s impeachment. . . . Kelly said the inquiry could have been avoided if president had surrounded himself with people who could rein in his worst instincts. . . .

Nope: https://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2019/10/john-kelly-would-be-savior-of-republic.html 

The WH responds

https://politicalwire.com/2019/10/26/kelly-was-unequipped-to-handle-trumps-genius/
Said White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham: “I worked with John Kelly, and he was totally unequipped to handle the genius of our great President.”

[NB: It's a cult.]

Former ambassador Gordon Sondland said the Ukraine deal WAS a quid pro quo

https://www.axios.com/sondland-trump-ukraine-quid-pro-quo-wsj-4020d352-581b-4e3b-b3b4-1a8989b7b610.html

Sect'y of State Mike Pompeo is turning the State Dept into a mess -- all to protect Trump

https://politicalwire.com/2019/10/26/pompeo-blocked-support-for-ousted-ambassador/
“A senior State Department official was set to tell House impeachment investigators Saturday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other top officials stymied a show of solidarity for the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine after President Trump had her removed” . . .

More: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/10/26/20933914/impeachment-inquiry-ukraine-aid-quid-pro-quo-reeker
Top State Department official says ousting ambassador to Ukraine was a White House priority

In investigation news . . .

Where things stand in the impeachment probe

https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/26/impeachment-roundup-trump-justice-department-058184

More: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/10/26/1895169/-Abbreviated-Pundit-Round-up-When-the-facts-just-aren-t-on-their-side-what-s-a-Republican-to-do

GOP officials don't understand the meaning of "whistleblower protection"

https://politicalwire.com/2019/10/26/gop-lawmakers-try-to-unmask-whistleblower/

In other news . . .

The Cesspool, part one

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-mattis-screw-amazon-pentagon-contract
In 2018, President Donald Trump directed then-Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis to “screw Amazon” in the company’s attempt to bid on a $10 billion tech contract with the Pentagon, according to an upcoming book about Mattis. . . .“We’re not going to do that,” Mattis said, according to Snodgrass. “This will be done by the book, both legally and ethically.”

Trump has often invoked Amazon or Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos in his attacks against the Washington Post, which is owned by Bezos. And ultimately the Pentagon did end up passing over Amazon to award the contract for cloud computing services to Microsoft

The Cesspool, part two

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/certipath-robert-trump-donald-federal-contrat_n_5db4bd6fe4b05df62ec03d0a
Company Linked To Trump Brother Won $33 Million Federal Contract  

The Cesspool, part three

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/10/25/1895082/-Trump-campaign-is-ignoring-rally-security-bills-for-more-than-1-million-from-U-S-cities
Trump campaign is ignoring rally security bills for more than $1 million from U.S. cities

Daddy's little princess

https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-ivanka-trump-and-her-team-cry-cajole-and-carp-to-get-her-out-of-bad-press
How Ivanka Trump and Her Team Cry, Cajole and Carp to Get Her Out of Bad Press

Is Pete Buttigieg making inroads on Joe Biden's "moderate" support?

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/10/biden-faces-fundraising-woes-super-pac-cash-on-hand.html

Here's why it's a mistake for Elizabeth Warren to take her policy leads from Bernie Sanders: (1) he doesn't mind being called a "socialist" because that's what he calls himself, (2) he doesn't have to offer specifics about how he will pass or pay for his policies, because he will never be president and so doesn't have to worry about such details, and (3) because he is playing a different game, movement politics and not pragmatic governing. But it's a bad blueprint for someone who might actually have a chance of being the Democratic nominee

https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/25/warren-sanders-progressive-race-056903
"This is exactly the primary we should be having,” said Alex Lawson, executive director of the advocacy group Social Security Works. “When candidates compete to release the boldest policies, everyone wins — except the billionaires.” 

[NB: This is dumb. Here "boldest" seems to mean "furthest left" and "most expensive." Propose anything you want folks, but if it doesn't help you win you can't do anything about it anyway.]

Bonus item: SNL on impeachment bros

https://www.thedailybeast.com/snl-darrell-hammonds-bill-clinton-and-alec-baldwins-trump-bond-over-impeachment

***If you enjoy Progressive Blog Digest and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sharing its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com) with others via email or social media. Thanks for helping to spread the word!

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

TIME TO START WORRYING

They're worried -- and should be

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/467388-gop-worries-its-losing-impeachment-fight
GOP worries it's losing impeachment fight

https://politicalwire.com/2019/10/25/republicans-are-struggling-to-defend-trump/
Republicans Are Struggling to Defend Trump

Lindsey F. Graham tries to get the GOP senators on record rejecting the impeachment process -- and seven of his colleagues say no

https://politicalwire.com/2019/10/25/7-gop-senators-decline-to-back-graham-resolution/

More: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/10/donald-trump-has-senate-problem/600724/
Donald Trump Has a Big Problem in the Senate

Trump keeps trying to block witnesses -- but they aren't listening any more

https://politicalwire.com/2019/10/25/morrison-will-testify-even-if-white-house-objects/

More: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/10/25/1895061/-The-biggest-reason-that-Republicans-are-going-nuts-Trump-s-ability-to-block-testimony-is-crumbling

[NB: Yes, that means that the only "defense" Trump ever had was to stop the facts from getting out.]

And here comes John Bolton. . .

https://www.salon.com/2019/10/25/fired-trump-adviser-john-bolton-is-in-talks-to-testify-in-the-house-impeachment-inquiry_partner/

The WH finally creates an impeachment "war room" -- but it isn't about proclaiming Trump's innocence

https://www.axios.com/donald-trump-impeachment-white-house-messaging-8ae132ad-864c-4c8b-b110-718c3aa4b70b.html
Top Trump officials have quietly created a de facto impeachment war room, with a chief goal of policing and solidifying Republican Senate support for acquittal. . . . 

More: https://politicalwire.com/2019/10/25/ex-treasury-spokesman-eyed-to-lead-impeachment-messaging/
“The White House is eyeing former Treasury Department spokesman Tony Sayegh to lead impeachment messaging efforts . . . Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law, is among those pushing for Sayegh’s hire…”

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/467473-trump-dismisses-need-for-impeachment-team-im-the-team
Trump dismisses need for impeachment team: 'I'm the team'

Trump doesn't believe in U.S. troops as peacekeepers or to protect the innocent. But guarding the oil fields? YES!

https://www.vox.com/2019/10/25/20931932/trump-syria-oil-isis-withdrawal-troops

He keeps saying he's "bringing the troops home" https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1187708412685107200
"Oil is secured. Our soldiers have left and are leaving Syria for other places, then COMING HOME!"

[NB: But, of course, that means they AREN'T coming home.]

Trump's new "trade deal" with China isn't new -- it's old offers the U.S. is now forced to accept in order to get a deal -- any deal at all

https://www.salon.com/2019/10/25/that-new-trade-deal-with-china-looks-awfully-familiar_partner/

In investigation news . . .

Judge rules that the House impeachment process is (a) totally legitimate and (b) already underway, and orders that Mueller grand jury materials be turned over immediately 

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/10/25/1895151/-Judge-rules-that-House-is-in-official-impeachment-inquiry-and-entitled-to-all-Mueller-materials

AG Bill Barr's Justice Dept is now pursuing CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS of its own people over the origins of the Russia probe

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/justice-depts-investigation-investigators-takes-unsettling-turn

https://www.salon.com/2019/10/25/department-of-justice-opens-criminal-inquiry-into-its-own-russia-investigation-reports/

Meanwhile, their investigation of Rudy Giuliani grows

https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/25/rudy-giuliani-justice-department-057125

More: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/10/25/1895135/-Giuliani-butt-dialed-NBC-reporter-overheard-saying-he-needed-a-few-hundred-thousand-in-cash
Giuliani butt dialed NBC reporter, overheard saying he needed a 'few hundred thousand'

And more: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/how-a-veteran-reporter-worked-with-giulianis-pals-to-launch-ukraine-conspiracy
How A Veteran Reporter Worked With Giuliani’s Pals To Launch Ukraine Conspiracy

Inspectors General (plural) find that DOJ's dismissal of the original whistleblower's complaint was badly mishandled

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/inspectors-general-justice-department-ukraine-whistleblower

More: https://www.emptywheel.net/2019/10/25/dojs-inspector-general-and-70-colleagues-says-dojs-lawyers-fucked-up/

Another key witness is trying to testify despite Trump efforts to block them 

https://www.salon.com/2019/10/25/white-house-official-to-back-diplomats-damning-testimony-in-defiance-of-administration-report/

https://politicalwire.com/2019/10/25/key-witness-in-impeachment-probe-asks-court/

In other news . . .

Kellyanne sure doesn't like being the subject of unfavorable news stories

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/transcript-of-telephone-call-between-kellyanne-conway-and-caitlin-yilek

"Let me tell you something, from a powerful woman. Don’t pull the crap where you’re trying to undercut another woman based on who she’s married to. He gets his power through me, if you haven’t noticed. Not the other way around. And if these are the, quote, standards, unquote, at the Washington Examiner, then yes, I’d be happy to talk to your editor. But I’ve known your editor since before you were born. So, I can call your editor either way. I’m just trying to give you a chance to explain why you think what you wrote qualifies as breaking news or reporting. . . ."

Twitter has a field day: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/kellyanne-conway-phone-call-reporter-reaction_n_5db2b846e4b0b9ba5c4994b9

They are really down to the dregs now

https://politicalwire.com/2019/10/24/senate-confirms-another-judge-who-is-not-qualified/
Senate Confirms Another Judge Who Is ‘Not Qualified’ 

The Cesspool

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-international-hotel-market-eric-trump
The Trump Organization is contemplating selling its International Trump Hotel in Washington, Eric Trump told the Wall Street Journal, amid longstanding criticism that hotel serves as an improper source of profit for the President. . . . “People are objecting to us making so much money on the hotel, and therefore we may be willing to sell,” he told the Journal.

[NB: God, he is dumb.]

More: https://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2019/10/people-are-objecting-to-us-making-so.html

You don't think of the Trump admin and "ethics pledge" in the same sentence

https://www.salon.com/2019/10/25/the-trump-administration-says-it-has-violated-its-own-ethics-pledge_partner/

Ready for the new "Anonymous" book?

https://politicalwire.com/2019/10/25/anonynous-to-expose-private-trump-conversations/
The anonymous “senior Trump administration official” who will release a tell-all book, A Warning, next month was a frequent participant in meetings with President Trump and plans to recount specific conversations . . .

Trump is going to the World Series, but won't throw out the first pitch. He would get booed overwhelmingly

https://crooksandliars.com/2019/10/friday-news-dump-nationals-didnt-invite

Trump's approval goes up and down, within a very narrow range. It's headed down right now. Will it end up under 40%?

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/10/24/1894953/-Trump-s-approval-rating-may-be-headed-toward-shutdown-territory

Obama inherited a huge deficit from George Bush and gradually brought it down. Now a Republican is in charge again and it's going back up 

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/despite-trumps-promises-deficit-soars-2019
In June 2018, Larry Kudlow, the director of the Trump White House’s National Economic Council, expressed his delight with the nation’s fiscal landscape. Federal revenues, he insisted, are “rolling in,” while the budget deficit “is coming down.” It wasn’t coming down at the time, and it’s certainly not coming down now. . . .

The Dem field is basically down to seven

https://politicalwire.com/2019/10/25/were-down-to-7-plausible-democrats/

I told you, I told you

https://slate.com/business/2019/10/elizabeth-warren-medicare-for-all-plan.html
“Medicare for All” Is Becoming a Political Quagmire for Elizabeth Warren

What is Tulsi Gabbard's game?

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/tulsi-gabbard-2020-drops-house-reelection-bid

https://politicalwire.com/2019/10/25/gabbard-skips-iowa-forum-to-appear-on-fox-news/

Bonus item: Seth Meyers calls out Trump's hopeless defenders

https://www.thedailybeast.com/seth-meyers-dismantles-sean-hannitys-dumb-trump-defense

***If you enjoy Progressive Blog Digest and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sharing its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com) with others via email or social media. Thanks for helping to spread the word!

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***

MESSAGE DISCIPLINE

There is no coordinated messaging plan from the White House on impeachment. There are several reasons for this. One is that Trump is his own messaging platform, and that means random unpredictable outbursts, not always consistent with each other. Staffers have humiliated themselves trying to stay within the chaotic framework of Trump's constantly shifting comments -- many of which, also, are simply untrue.

Another problem is that the facts just aren't on their side, so they can't decide between admitting what can no longer be denied, and trying to minimize it -- or continuing to repeat what has already been discredited, facts be damned ("there was no quid pro quo").

Finally, they can't coordinate their messaging when they just don't know what more will be revealed: so many shady characters were running their own shows in Ukraine, and telling no one, that every day brings new revelations that undermine previous defenses. Lindsey F. Graham, for example, said he would consider impeachment if there was proof of a quid pro quo, outside of Trump's phone call, and when the news next day showed that there WAS, he had to move the goalposts again. Mitch McConnell had to deny Trump's claim that he'd said the Ukraine phone call was totally innocent

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/10/23/william-taylor-testimony-donald-trump-229875
The President Has No Defense

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/10/trumps-ukraine-scandal-impeachment-defenses-conservative.html
Trump’s Allies Growing Desperate for Defenses of Ukraine Scandal

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/10/trump-impeachment-quid-pro-quo/600640/
How Trump Lost the Impeachment Narrative

More: https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/23/trump-impeachment-offensive-conservative-056063
Conservative groups and Trump allies are launching their own individual efforts to fight impeachment, panicked by the slow pace of the White House response. . . .

The Repubs who are speaking out admit that Trump has a problem - the rest are trying hard not to say anything at all

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/gop-leader-emerging-picture-trump-not-good-one
GOP leader: emerging picture for Trump ‘is not a good one’

No comment: https://crooksandliars.com/2019/10/hah-watch-republicans-scurry-when-asked

The House GOP stunt of storming the room where Democrats AND Republicans were interviewing impeachment witnesses was an even bigger fraud than we realized

https://crooksandliars.com/2019/10/rep-eric-swalwell-exposes-gop-scif-stunt
 
Trump loved it, of course: https://politicalwire.com/2019/10/24/trump-thanks-house-republicans/

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/white-house-response-republican-scif-stunt

Trump said that very few ISIS fighters escaped during the chaos his Syria decision unleashed, and they've been recaptured. Both statements are false

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trump-admin-contradicts-trump-escaped-isis-militants

More: https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-j-trumps-turkey-kurd-syria-presser-was-the-craziest-yet
Trump’s Turkey, Kurd, Syria Presser Was the Craziest Yet

Stephen Colbert has fun with it: https://crooksandliars.com/2019/10/stephen-colbert-tries-decipher-trumps 

3/4 of Americans don't agree with Trump that the Syria situation is a great victory

https://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2019/10/trumps-syria-debacle-not-going-over-well.html 

A new witness will confirm the quid pro quo

https://politicalwire.com/2019/10/24/white-house-adviser-will-corroborate-quid-pro-quo/
White House Adviser Will Corroborate Quid Pro Quo
 
An even bigger quid: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-administration-ukraine-trade-privileges-withheld-aid
Trump Admin Withheld Restoration Of Ukraine’s Trade Privileges Along With Aid

Why we call him Lindsey F. Graham

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/graham-impmeachment-inquiry-white-house-lunch
[Graham] I’m Not Saying Trump Is Totally Innocent, But Impeachment Is Still Bogus

More: https://www.vox.com/2019/10/24/20930509/lindsey-graham-resolution-condemn-house-impeachment-inquiry
Lindsey Graham introduces a resolution condemning the House impeachment inquiry
 
I think this IS an answer

https://www.vox.com/2019/10/24/20930446/chain-trade-trump-navarro-biden
A top Trump adviser was asked if the Bidens came up in China talks. He wouldn’t answer.

In investigation news . . .

What does “High Crimes and Misdemeanors” mean?

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/10/24/20926891/high-crimes-and-misdemeanors-trump-impeachment-whitaker

The impeachment choice: broad focus or narrow?

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/10/24/20927844/impeachment-inquiry-testimony-taylor-trump

Two witnesses: Sondland vs Taylor -- who do you believe?

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/sondland-taylor-disputes-conversations-doesnt-recall

Is Rudy going to jail?

https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/24/rudy-giuliani-jail-056570

In other news . . .

Trump is still lying to farmers

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-false-farm_n_5db20c9ae4b00448c945bd93  

Trump only believes in protecting whistleblowers when they say things he likes to hear

https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2019/10/ig-says-va-whistleblower-office-mostly-screwed-whistleblowers/ 

It isn't just the White House

https://www.axios.com/white-house-new-york-times-washington-post-subscriptions-5dedb9bf-c036-4185-b5a3-765cefa0dbd9.html
The White House plans to order all federal agencies not to renew their subscriptions to the New York Times and the Washington Post, two papers that President Trump has repeatedly attacked for their critical coverage of his administration . . . [read on]

The WH press sect'y job has basically turned into showing up as a talking head on Fox News. Here's the useless Stephanie Grisham saying it's just fine for Trump to call Republicans who disagree with him "human scum"

https://www.thedailybeast.com/white-house-press-secretary-grisham-those-against-trump-deserve-to-be-called-human-scum 

So we're gonna spend a year obsessively howling over this, right?

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/wilbur-ross-email-watchdog
But His Emails: National Archive Investigating Ross’ Private Email Use

I think former Sect'y of Defense Jim Mattis didn't like the idea of Trump's military parade

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/jim-mattis-donald-trump-military-parade_n_5db15237e4b0131fa999af07
[H]e reportedly said he’d “rather swallow acid” than watch it . . .

Trump official in charge of student loans quits, calls for loan forgiveness

https://politicalwire.com/2019/10/24/trump-official-to-resign-and-call-for-student-loan-forgiveness/

A glimpse into the real Kellyanne Conway

https://politicalwire.com/2019/10/24/kellyanne-conway-mocks-and-threatens-reporter/ 

Twitter goes wild: https://www.politico.com/news/2019/10/24/rudy-giuliani-jail-056570

The Trump gang's refusal to do anything serious about election security has left the door wide open for Russia . . . again

https://crooksandliars.com/2019/10/russian-trolls-are-gearing-2020-and-fake

Yesterday we had a poll showing Biden in the lead nationally -- this one has Warren in the lead

https://politicalwire.com/2019/10/24/new-poll-shows-warren-expanding-her-lead/

Yes, Tulsi Gabbard IS weighing a third party run

https://crooksandliars.com/2019/10/report-gabbard-snuggles-wall-st-execs

Bonus item: Trump won't admit his "Colorado" mistake (of course), and ends up making things even worse

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trump-tries-and-fails-explain-his-colorado-border-wall-comments

Colbert: https://www.thedailybeast.com/stephen-colbert-brutally-mocks-trumps-colorado-wall-joke

***If you enjoy Progressive Blog Digest and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sharing its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com) with others via email or social media. Thanks for helping to spread the word!

I don’t get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don’t run ads, etc.). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a “mission,” it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***