Vee

LOL:

pic.twitter.com/qOtRq5G7d7

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 14, 2019

Michael Graziadei (Daniel, Y&R) is a murder victim's shifty uncle on the new season of True Detective.

Trump humiliated his new chief of staff in front of Schumer and Pelosi:

"You just f*cked it all up, Mick," Trump said to Mulvaney.

Scoop by @jonathanvswan:https://t.co/iZvMYdlJPW

— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) January 13, 2019

NEW: intel & foreign affairs committee lawyers meeting tomorrow to evaluate subpoenaing Trump's interpreters at meetings w/ Putin when no aides present. Many Dems were opposed b/c it's an unprecedented step that could impact future diplomacy. Now warming to it due to WaPo report

— Tara Palmeri (@tarapalmeri) January 13, 2019

Trump is losing the battle for public opinion. New WaPo/ABC poll:
-53 percent say Trump/GOP at fault for shutdown, 29 percent say Democrats
-54 percent oppose the wall, 42 percent support
-66 percent oppose declaring national emergency, 31 percent supporthttps://t.co/2xMsz1n5Ml

— Philip Rucker (@PhilipRucker) January 13, 2019

Donald Trump bears most blame for shutdown, according to new CNN poll - CNNPolitics https://t.co/szYX1MkuWQ

— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) January 13, 2019

new CNN poll on how Americans view Trump’s performance as president: 37% approve, 57% disapprove

— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) January 13, 2019

Welp:

My god. “Trump has gone to extraordinary lengths to conceal details of his conversations with Putin, including on at least one occasion taking possession of his interpreter’s notes and instructing him not to discuss what had transpired w/other officials” https://t.co/8WsxEJ3U7u

— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) January 12, 2019

That's the brief and polite version.

Passions on paper, as a story bible, had many of the building blocks of classic soap: Its characters, families, future twists (Ethan being a Bennett, etc). The problem is JER never had any interest in decent writing or talented performers. He was a deeply screwed up Catholic with both prudish and perverse impulses re: sex, women, and anything 21st century and giving him his own show was never going to end well.

Daytime programming ennui and a misplaced and expensive loyalty to Jim Reilly, who NBC adored in the 90s and early 2000s.

Major bombshell tonight:

New from @NYTimes: After Trump fired James Comey, the FBI investigated whether the president was working for Russia and against American interests.https://t.co/XAQyrffARU

— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) January 12, 2019

The investigation was turned over to Mueller.

Full story on the first Hoyer/Scalise colloquy w/ explainer on what that is since I'm sure most people outside of the Hill orbit have never heard of the weekly House floor colloquy https://t.co/fvMUxy4cW6

— Lindsey McPherson (@lindsemcpherson) January 11, 2019

The pace never improved, lol

Today in news too bizarre to be false - Coming to America 2 is apparently actually happening, and Shari Headley (Mimi, AMC) is name-dropped among the original cast supposedly being asked back:

Craig Brewer To Direct Eddie Murphy In ‘Coming To America 2’ For Paramount https://t.co/WNjx9Vx8QK pic.twitter.com/2BeI9CUV35

— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) January 11, 2019

The White House has stopped paying its water bill. Desks sit empty. Only 156 of the mansion’s 359 full-time employees are allowed to report for work. @katierogers https://t.co/wn0V5tAMAA

— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) January 11, 2019

Government is a place where process isn’t a dirty word, it’s a vital aspect. In the current administration, it can be hard to find. https://t.co/SNWCdSzvOl

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 11, 2019

Trump via @dsupervilleap: TRUMP: “This is where I ask the Democrats to come back to Washington and vote for money for the all the barrier. I don’t care what they name it. They can name it peaches"

— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) January 11, 2019

In the same event, Trump says he won't declare a national emergency quickly, calls on Congress to do its job, then reminds everyone that he'll totally declare a national emergency.

— Katie Rogers (@katierogers) January 11, 2019

Trump walks back his talk of declaring a national emergency, at least for the hour. "What we're not looking to do right now is national emergency," he tells reporters.

— Katie Rogers (@katierogers) January 11, 2019

Sen. Gary Peters is asking the Trump admin why Trump's D.C. Hotel is "exempt" from the shutdown and still staffed with National Park Service employees. pic.twitter.com/deLqfQNkK2

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 11, 2019

Travis Schuldt made Eric Martsolf look like Laurence Olivier. Martsolf has always been a way better actor.

Meanwhile, back in absurdist hell:

King: "The people who know me know I wouldn't have to even make this statement...lived in the same place since 1978...There's nothing about my family or my history or my neighbourhood that would suggest that these false allegations could be supported by any activity whatsoever."

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) January 11, 2019

Looks like Jonathan Bennett (AMC) may be on Celebrity Big Brother - with no less than the immortal Tiffany Pollard, Stephen Baldwin, Trump Jr. paramour Aubrey O'Day and Sean Spicer. Yikes! (But he's also on Supergirl, so I guess he's doing not entirely terrible.)

They do mention Roseanne fairly regularly.

33 minutes ago, DRW50 said:

The way you describe it sounds to me like he will spin it as a win, and his base, along with the media, will agree. 

That's exactly what he'll do and his base will agree, of course. But no, in this case most of the media won't - they know what it means, they know it is Trump's only figleaf to pretend he has a 'win' and they have been calling it that on social media for days. That's how most of us became aware of this option in the first place.

His base is, beyond a certain hardcore, immovable (though some are flaking off). The rest of the country will call this possible outcome what it would be - no wall, the shutdown ended and Trump posturing again. That is the overwhelming polling result and the final analysis. And there have been a slew of stories in the last week - and month, really - about Trump being helpless and defeated in this fight.

Even the Wall Street Journal, of all places, calls it what it is:

White House officials discussing a potential exit ramp in the shutdown fight: Trump declares national emergency; courts intervene and stay the order; he and Congress re-open the gov't while case is litigated. https://t.co/e1wrN0Tii9

— Peter Nicholas (@PeterWSJ) January 9, 2019

Trump is unlikely to declare a national emergency in his Oval Office address Tuesday evening but could do so in the coming days in an effort to find a face-saving way out of the shutdown https://t.co/drlYxGvwHf

— POLITICO (@politico) January 9, 2019

Those are just two. There's at least a dozen major Beltway journalists or publications/networks all saying the same thing - Trump needs an escape hatch to pretend he 'won' and this is it.

The way to stop it is clear: Trump declares an emergency to get his wall, the Democrats immediately sue (as they've said they'll do) and it gets tied up in court while the government reopens and no wall ever is actually made.

That is Trump's only out: He loses, but tells his base "it's coming" and that he didn't lose. It's what has been circling the table for several days and any second now he will likely do it. Either way, he's lost.

McConnell says he spoke with Trump and he told him he'll sign it https://t.co/OWyAbYtEGp

— Igor Bobic (@igorbobic) January 10, 2019

TRANSLATION: "You're not going to get the Wall, but I'm too chickenshit to tell you that, so I'm advising you to take a strategy which as a lawyer I know you'll lose in court but at that point it won't matter and this way at least we can get this idiocy overwith." https://t.co/HhFyo2x7xt

— Asha Rangappa (@AshaRangappa_) January 11, 2019

I never liked or "got" Theresa. There's a difference between a teenage vixen we root for and a psycho. Theresa was psycho from the jump. Reilly never understood that, which is why he often took Sami Brady too far as well in later years. I didn't know Lindsay could act until AMC.

I always liked Liza Huber. I wish she'd do more acting. Travis Schuldt was absolutely horrendous. So was most of the cast, really - Metcalfe, Dana Sparks, James Hyde, Rodney Van Johnson, you name it.

Why the Michael Cohen hearing will be unlike anything we’ve seen in recent memory: He’s a witness essentially unencumbered by personal legal jeopardy (he’s already going to jail) and he will not have to respect classification restraints (he doesn’t work for the govt). Buckle up!

— Josh Campbell (@joshscampbell) January 10, 2019

Cummings just made clear to @jeremyherb that the Cohen hearing will be public

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 10, 2019

Cummings says he will make sure questions don’t interfere with Mueller when Cohen appears. https://t.co/qTOV2JFkjM

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 10, 2019

“These people cannot go to their fathers to cover their costs,” @SpeakerPelosi says she told the President, about federal workers getting hurt by the shutdown. pic.twitter.com/F0TobhCvzh

— Garrett Haake (@GarrettHaake) January 10, 2019

Uh-oh!

Ex-Trump lawyer Michael Cohen has agreed to testify publicly before Congress, a major first move from House Democrats investigating the President https://t.co/H3obd7HTlz pic.twitter.com/hyWFKDa7Qe

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) January 10, 2019