MISTWEETMENT

Trump is enraged over impeachment, and has been wildly retweeting posts from far right BANNED sites . . . and he has now repeatedly revealed the whistleblower's name

https://crooksandliars.com/2019/12/sodonald-trump-completely-melting-down
The President of the United States has, today alone, retweeted 2 QAnon fan accounts, a Pizzagate account, an account that compared his following to a cult, and an account that described Obama as “Satan’s Muslim Scum.” And this insanity isn’t even a blip on the news radar. . . . Federal law protects the whistleblower from retaliation and POTUS just outed him. . . . 

https://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/an-unhinged-gangster-in-florida.html
He also tweeted out the alleged name of the whistleblower, which also contained a litany of lies. They've removed the tweet now. I have a screenshot but I won't share it. It was up for hours. . . . [read on] 

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/12/28/21040471/trump-impeachment-whistleblower-name-retweet-twitter
"No action constituting a reprisal, or threat of reprisal, for making such complaint or disclosing such information to the Inspector General may be taken by any employee in a position to take such actions . . . " [read on]

[NB: Does he really think removing it protects him from legal liability?]

More: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-obama-jesus-christ-meme_n_5e06db0ec5b6b5a713ae5dc0

Trump Retweets Meme That Jesus Likes Him Better Than Obama

In other investigation news . . .

Remember that Mitch McConnell isn't in charge of a trial in the Senate: Chief Justice John Roberts is

https://www.salon.com/2019/12/27/the-coming-showdown-in-the-senate_partner/

Biden sorta kinda walks back his refusal to comply with a Senate subpoena to testify in Trump's impeachment trial

https://www.thedailybeast.com/joe-biden-says-he-would-defy-impeachment-subpoenathen-tries-to-clarify

“The issue is not what I did. . . . I reiterate: this impeachment is about Trump’s conduct, not mine. . . The subpoenas should go to witnesses with testimony to offer to Trump’s shaking down the Ukraine government — they should go to the White House”

In other news . . .

For some reason Trump wants to talk about homelessness . . . in California and New York

https://politicalwire.com/2019/12/28/trump-tells-california-and-new-york-to-ask-him-for-help/ 

Here's why: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/09/donald-trump-homeless-property-values 
Trump Worried Unsightly Homeless Are Hurting Property Values . . . According to the president, wealthy foreigners are livid about what the homeless are doing to their investments. [read on]

[NB: Oh, you thought it was because he was concerned about the HOMELESS?] 

Trump's war on science

https://politicalwire.com/2019/12/28/trumps-war-on-science/

The Poor Little Rich Girl wants her own life back again

https://politicalwire.com/2019/12/28/ivanka-trump-suggests-shell-leave-white-house/
Ivanka Trump has cast doubt in a CBS News interview about continuing in her advisory role in the administration if her father wins re-election next year. . . .

[NB: What will he do without her? And can she take her husband with her? Please?]

The Repubs are worried about a wipeout in 2020

https://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/if-you-wondered-about-democratic.html

More: https://politicalwire.com/2019/12/28/impeachment-supercharges-battle-for-senate/
Impeachment Supercharges Battle for Senate

Bonus item: Our political system, as viewed through the lens of television

https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/28/how-tv-in-the-2010s-predicted-politics-089916

***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.***

WHILE WE SLEPT

This is a first-strike weapon, impervious to anti-missile defenses

https://www.axios.com/russia-hypersonic-weapon-avangard-missile-defense-247883d2-d987-4766-87a2-ff70930a9e15.html
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu confirmed Friday that the Avangard, the country's new intercontinental hypersonic weapon, became operational and entered combat duty . . . The Pentagon said that it is currently working on developing hypersonic weapons, but Defense Secretary Mark Esper said in August that "it's probably a matter of a couple of years" before the U.S. can obtain one.

[NB: Better make that Wall™ a hell of a lot higher. Good to know that Trump has his priorities straight.] 

More: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/look-out-america-russias-hypersonic-avangard-nuclear-missile-going-live-106771

[NB: No need to worry, though, right? I'm sure Trump's buddy Vlad has promised him that he won't use them.]
 

The exodus continues: Sect'y of State Pompeo is next

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-pompeo-secretary-of-state-search 

[NB: Notice how many of these replacements are just reshuffling the same old familiar names. Trump has given up seeking new, fresh advice -- especially in foreign policy. The circle is drawing smaller and smaller.]

This is the guy Trump just pardoned for war crimes -- from the troops who fought with him

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/navy-seals-eddie-gallagher-war-crimes-new-york-times_n_5e061518c5b6b5a713ad85e0
“The guy is freaking evil.” [read on]

Trump's trade war has been a disaster

https://politicalwire.com/2019/12/27/trump-tariffs-backfired/

More: https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2019/12/trumps-tariffs-are-raising-prices-and-slashing-employment/

In other investigation news . . . 

Here's what I want: a few Repubs to split off and support getting documents and witnesses that the Trump gang has been withholding. Then all bets are off about the outcome of a Senate trial: there could be testimony explicitly linking Trump to the extortion scheme

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/12/27/1908132/-Senate-Democrat-Five-to-10-Republicans-have-severe-misgivings-about-McConnell-s-impeachment-plans
Senate Democrat: Five to 10 Republicans have 'severe misgivings' about McConnell's impeachment plans
 
No, Trump isn't over impeachment, not by a long shot

https://politicalwire.com/2019/12/27/trump-obsesses-over-sting-of-impeachment-5/
“Trump, between rounds of golf and greeting guests at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, keeps returning to vent fury at the House speaker who led his impeachment a week ago.” 

He just doesn't get this "separation of powers" thing

https://crooksandliars.com/2019/12/trump-actually-asks-why-house-allowed
Trump Actually Asks Why House Is 'Allowed' To Impeach The President 

Sauce for the goose . . . 

https://politicalwire.com/2019/12/27/biden-would-not-comply-with-subpoena-for-trump-trial/
Biden Would Not Comply with Senate Subpoena 

In other news . . . 

The Cesspool

https://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-projection-strategy.html
Donald Trump charges anonymous foreign and domestic interests $200,000 to hang out with him at the private business he spends 1/4 of his presidency promoting, the most obvious corruption in the history of the presidency. . . .  

Why evangelicals love Trump

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/12/27/21038031/white-evangelicals-trump-immigration-election-2020
Immigration

More: https://www.axios.com/trump-2020-evangelical-voters-christianity-today-op-ed-0f1773dd-1904-447b-b894-82ce578b0910.html
Trump's moves to shore up his evangelical base 

Kevin Drum debunks some liberal myths

https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2019/12/here-are-a-few-things-lots-of-liberals-believe-that-they-shouldnt/
 
I've wondered this too

https://politicalwire.com/2019/12/27/why-are-democrats-ignoring-hispanic-voters/
Why Are Democrats Ignoring Hispanic Voters?

Bonus item: Witch hunts

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/12/21/1907238/-Cartoon-Witch-fire

***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.***

WHO? ME?

Trump gets asked about Ukraine. And Putin

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trump-struggles-when-asked-about-ukraine-messages-putin
For nearly three years, Donald Trump has ignored his own country’s intelligence community and believed that Ukraine intervened in the U.S. elections in 2016 . . . Trump’s embrace of the falsehood appears to have come directly from Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Post quoted one former senior White House official who said Trump was quite explicit on this point, saying he knew Ukraine was the real culprit, U.S. intelligence be damned, because “Putin told me.” . . . Trump not only believed Putin, he also acted on that belief, pressing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to pursue, among other things, a crackpot conspiracy theory about Ukraine’s role in American election interference. It was against this backdrop that a reporter broached the subject yesterday morning, after Trump’s Christmas video teleconference with U.S. troops deployed abroad.

Q: Sir, what did President Putin say to you that convinced you that the Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election?
TRUMP: What did he say to me?
Q: Yes.
TRUMP: About what?
Q: What did President Putin say to you when you met?
TRUMP: You’re putting words in somebody’s mouth. Who are you referring to? Me? I never said anything about it. I never said a thing about it. All right, any other questions?  

The hollowing out of foreign policy expertise in Trump's admin continues: Why bother giving expert advice and information when nobody listens to you?

https://politicalwire.com/2019/12/26/the-aftermath-of-the-ukraine-scandal/
“The new Russia adviser at the White House — the third in just six months — has no meaningful background on the subject. The only expert on Ukraine has never spoken with President Trump, only been mocked by him publicly.” “The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv will soon be without its highest-ranking diplomat for the second time in a year, as another ambassador departs after being undermined by the U.S. president and his personal attorney.” “The CIA analyst who triggered the impeachment inquiry continues to work on issues relating to Russia and Ukraine, but when threats against him spike — often seemingly spurred by presidential tweets — he is driven to and from work by armed security officers.”

More: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-testify-nsc-diplomat-hill-taylor-vindman

https://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/all-presidents-threats.html 

Trump outs the name of the whistleblower . . . because you knew he would

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-pushes-out-tweet-naming-alleged-whistleblower
Several people close to the president, such as Ivanka Trump and White House Counsel Pat Cipollone, had privately cautioned him against saying or posting the name in public, arguing it would be counterproductive. . . Multiple sources close to Trump had told The Daily Beast last month that they were genuinely shocked the president hadn’t already rage-tweeted the name or blurted it out to the cameras, given his massive fury at the individual.

[NB: This person has done nothing remotely wrong or illegal -- and in fact they are supposed to have legal protections. Every word of what they originally drew attention to has been confirmed by subsequent testimony. Now their life is in danger, and if something happens to them, you can be sure that Trump will say his own vicious tirades had nothing to do with it.]

A new problem for Trump's Wall™

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/12/26/1907957/-Private-land-owners-fight-the-border-wall-but-eminent-domain-doesn-t-give-them-many-options

In other investigation news . . .

Polls supporting Trump's removal from office are going UP

https://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/55-support-trumps-removal-in-new-poll.html
55% 

Impeachment triggers calls for "civil war" -- even on the floors of Congress

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/12/26/1907050/-Thanks-to-impeachment-civil-war-talk-is-on-the-tip-of-all-the-far-right-wingnuts-tongues

In a howl-inducing distortion of history, Republicans now (including some of the same Republicans) say that the Trump Senate trial should be serious and dignified -- just like the Bill Clinton Senate trial was. Let's roll the tape. . . .

https://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/comedy-gold-from-karl-rove.html

More: https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2019/12/the-clinton-impeachment-was-nonpartisan-please/
Rep. James Sensenbrenner, one of the House managers in the impeachment of Bill Clinton . . . "Earlier this Congress, Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House, and Jerrold Nadler, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, set forth criteria for undertaking an impeachment. They said that the evidence would have to be overwhelming and compelling, and, importantly, it would have to be bipartisan. Looking back at the Clinton impeachment, I’m convinced we satisfied each of these. Kenneth Starr, the independent counsel, conducted a very lengthy and nonpartisan investigation . . ." [read on]

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/mcconnell-clinton-impeachment-senate-trial
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) tried to justify his position on witnesses in the Senate trial by asserting that the decision on whether or not to call them during President Bill Clinton’s impeachment was a “partisan exercise,” too. “What’s good enough for President Clinton is good enough for President Trump,” he said . . . .

Trump and the Repubs have been screaming about Nancy Pelosi's temporary delay in transmitting impeachment to the Senate, even arguing that the delay invalidates the House vote. Now what will they say about this GOP advisor's suggestion that the Senate delay a trial UNTIL AFTER THE ELECTION?

https://www.newsweek.com/brad-blakeman-gop-nuclear-option-impeachment-senate-trial-after-2020-election-1479241

https://www.dailywire.com/news/blakeman-theres-no-requirement-for-senate-to-hold-impeachment-trial-trump-agrees

Trump wants to start pardoning the people who protected him

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/trump-eyes-possible-pardons-stone-flynn-other-people 

Rudy Giuliani, Big Fat Liar

https://www.salon.com/2019/12/26/rudy-giuliani-falsely-claims-on-facebook-that-he-is-a-former-us-attorney-general/
Giuliani's Facebook page billed him as "Former Attorney General of the United States," a post which he never held . . . The Facebook page wrongly listed Giuliani as a “government official,” even though he has repeatedly said that he is a private citizen who is representing the president for free. . . .

In other news . . .

The Repubs have had a determined, long-term strategy to control the Supreme Court. Here is the difference that has made

https://www.vox.com/2019/12/26/21024188/nine-supreme-court-citizens-united-obamacare-muslim-ban-religion 

[NB: All of which would have been different if Dems had had similar party discipline and backed Gore in 2000 and Hillary in 2016. As we worry about Trump in 2020, if this issue were forefront on the Dem side, it wouldn't even be close.]

Will the Supreme Court REQUIRE Montana to fund religious schools?

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/12/26/1907724/-Supreme-Court-to-decide-whether-Montana-is-required-to-fund-religious-schools

Theocracy watch: as an outsider I am fascinated by the debate within Christian evangelical circles about the damage being done to their moral authority as they sell out their values in order to back Trump

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/evangelical-editor-quit-ex-employer-breitbart 
Nazworth ended up quitting once he learned the Christian Post intended to not only publish the pro-Trump article, but also to give ongoing support to the President. . . . [I]n the past the magazine published editorials highly critical of Trump, including one that said he was a “scam.” “We all agreed back then and understood who Donald Trump was,” Nazworth said. “I didn’t change my mind about Donald Trump, but some of the other editors did.” . . . Nazworth said he felt he couldn’t stay and support the direction the magazine was taking. “I warned them. If you go down this road and join team Trump, then that will destroy the reputation of The Christian Post,” Nazworth said. . . 

Will the gender gap save us in 2020?

https://crooksandliars.com/2019/12/thats-right-women-are-smarter-2020-polling
In 2016, he points out, women voted for Hillary Clinton by 14 percentage points. . . .That showed a gender gap of 25 percentage points. "What does 2020 look like?" Alysin Camerota asked. "So take a look here," Enten said. "I averaged our last two CNN polls, October and December. Take a look at this. I'm specifically looking at Biden and Trump to simplify things a bit. Take a look here. Women in average of our polls voting Democratic by 24 percentage points, voting for Joe Biden. Republicans voting for Trump by ten percentage points. That's a gender gap of 34 points. That is huge. I have never ever seen that before in any poll, heading into a presidential election." . . .

Erp!

https://www.newsweek.com/more-americans-say-trump-will-viewed-poor-president-poll-1479236

Almost 50% of Americans Say Donald Trump Will Go Down in History as 'Poor' or 'Below Average' President, Poll Finds

What happens if there is real hacking of the election results next time?

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2019/12/26/did-russia-really-hack-2016-election-088171

https://apnews.com/222bd1402c96bc487f5a0a2dc5bff12c

https://politicalwire.com/2019/12/26/how-u-s-will-counter-russia-election-interference/ 

Aren't you glad Trump drained the swamp?

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/mcconnell-spending-perks-kentucky-billion 
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) strong-armed $914.2 million in federal spending and tax breaks for Kentucky into the recently passed omnibus spending bill — and is making sure Kentuckians know about it. . . . [read on] 

More: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/12/26/1907969/-McConnell-hopes-1-billion-Kentucky-bribe-blinds-voters-to-the-fact-he-s-tearing-up-the-Constitution

Trump talks about the "Do Nothing" Democrats. But here are the "Block Everything" Republicans

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/12/26/1906015/-You-know-that-trainload-of-hundreds-of-bills-Senate-Republicans-have-blocked-Here-s-a-linked-list

Trump does not want to run on his health care record. The Dems should 

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/12/26/21037751/trump-snowflake-victory-health-care

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/12/26/1907956/-Democrats-gear-up-to-make-health-care-the-defining-issue-for-the-Senate-and-the-House-in-2020

The case for Bernie

https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/26/can-bernie-sanders-win-2020-election-president-089636 

Chuck Todd, of Meet the Press, is an exemplar of mainstream TV journalism: he is capable of real reporting, but he too often chooses not to

https://crooksandliars.com/2019/12/crookie-award-worst-moment-media-not-fox 
Chuck Todd was very very Chuck Todd this year. . . .

More: https://crooksandliars.com/2019/12/chuck-todd-will-present-special-spread
O Irony! Chuck Todd To Present A Special On The Spread Of Misinformation

https://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-msm-belatedly-discovers-their-own.html
Three years after Kellyanne Conway introduced the doctrine of “alternative facts” on his own program, a light went on for Chuck Todd. Republican strategy, he now realized, was to make stuff up, spread it on social media, repeat it in your answers to journalists . . . Todd repeatedly called himself naive for not recognizing the pattern, itself an astounding statement that cast doubt on his fitness for office as host of Meet the Press. . .

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-cbc-home-alone-2-cameo-cut_n_5e04e804e4b0843d3604133f
Trump’s ‘Home Alone 2’ Cameo Cut By CBC Network, Supporters Freak

More: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/cbc-response-edited-trump-home-alone-2-scene

Bonus item: How to do satire about Trump

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/cafe/satire-in-the-us-has-a-trump-problem-less-democratic-countries-have-some-solutions
Will Stephen leans back in his chair, a pained smile on his face. Now in his fifth season as a writer for Saturday Night Live, Stephen admits the daily challenge of satirizing a figure as bizarre as Donald Trump — a president who feels like the creation of satirists — has grown stale. “I feel angry or sometimes depressed more than I do ready to write or make a joke,” he says. . . . [read on]

***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.***

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/president-trump-is-increasingly-isolated_n_5df3e703e4b047e8889d0c03
Donald Trump Is The Loneliest Man In America

Trump wants to ruin your holiday family get-together

https://www.politico.com/news/2019/12/24/trump-liberal-snowflake-relatives-089714
Trump campaign encourages supporters to confront their ‘snowflake’ relatives

In investigation news . . .

A crack in McConnell's Senate wall?

https://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2019/12/a-little-crack-in-mcconnell-wall.html

In other news . . .

Nancy Pelosi keeps beating Trump

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2019/12/25/ballad-donald-trump-nancy-pelosi-089077
The trouble started even before the new speaker took the gavel. . . . [read on] 

[NB: Also her big win on NAFTA 2.0. https://www.mediaite.com/news/we-ate-their-lunch-pelosi-privately-brags-about-outmaneuvering-trump-wh-on-usmca-trade-deal/]

Merry Christmas, Nancy! https://politicalwire.com/2019/12/25/trump-lashes-out-at-pelosi-and-democrats/
President Trump lashed out again Tuesday at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats involved in his impeachment after a teleconference in which he exchanged holiday greetings with members of the military stationed around the globe . . . Said Trump: “She hates the Republican Party. She hates all of the people who voted for me and the Republican Party… She’s doing a tremendous disservice to the country.”

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-christmas-message-twitter-critics_n_5e042000e4b0b2520d12078d 
Trump Blasts ‘Crazy’ Pelosi After Calling For ‘Respect’ In His Christmas Message

The conventional wisdom is that Trump's 40-45% base is unshakably loyal to him. That's not true

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/12/25/1905326/-Trump-s-base-of-support-continues-to-be-much-softer-than-advertised
Two things jump out about those numbers immediately: 1) 14% of Trump supporters are open to changing their mind about him; 2) stalwart opposition to Trump registers nearly 20 points higher than diehard support for him. Additionally, Trump's growth opportunities are minimal since literally 0% are unsure about him and only 8% seem tepidly open to supporting him...

Bonus item: Trump Mad Libs

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/12/25/1907016/-Here-are-some-Donald-Trump-Mad-Libs-you-can-play-with-your-loved-ones-during-the-winter-holidays

***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.***