29 minutes ago, ReddFoxx said:

Dynasty works

17 minutes ago, DramatistDreamer said:

The meeting lasted 14 minutes with him walking out after he didn't get what he wanted....

Democratic Leaders emerge from WH saying Pres Trump slammed the table and walked out of their meeting, when Pelosi said she won't agree to a border wall. "Then we have nothing to talk about," Schumer quoted the president as saying. pic.twitter.com/f3CpKILugm

— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) January 9, 2019

 

And now, Trump's expected avenue for escape and failure while claiming 'victory':

Been discussing this off-ramp awhile. POTUS has been pulled in a few different directions, including by conservative supporters who don’t think this is a good way to go. https://t.co/QaX9Qcfe00

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 9, 2019

Trump thought he was “getting Roger.” @katierogers and @maggieNYT on the man he has: Bill Shine. https://t.co/jufbWMbNzd

— Annie Karni (@anniekarni) January 10, 2019

But seriously.  Schumer was correct to say that Trump is using us as leverage for his stupid wall -- and we aren't off-the-mark for comparing the moment to a soap opera, because that's exactly how Trump sees all this.  In his mind, Pelosi and Schumer are the Jeremy Wendell to his J.R. Ewing; and he's just raising the stakes before the shocking end-of-season cliffhanger (where Southfork -- er, I mean, the United States -- will burn to the ground).

 

It will never sink into that man's head that this is not DAYS, and that the President of the United States cannot use ordinary citizens as chess pieces against one party or another.  Not when the livelihoods of men and women are at stake -- a far greater risk to our security, IMO, than some perceived terrorists and drug-dealing thugs we THINK are crossing illegally over our borders.

 

We are not pawns; we are flesh-and-blood human beings; and many who work for our government stand to lose incomes, careers, houses and everything else to a madman who sees a damn wall (or fence, or barrier, or glorified child-safety gate) as being more valuable than citizens to whom he is most certainly accountable.

 

If you continue to support and defend this man after this debacle, then you aren't just dumb.  You're as unhinged as he is.

"Democrats in disarray," and the not-so-subtle media efforts to make sure we know Democrats will pay the price for this shutdown (as they always do), roll on.

 

https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/09/house-democrats-government-shutdown-strategy-1092440

LOL:

 

 

AP has now issued another statement about that "two to tango" tweet: pic.twitter.com/n8NLqgxBRS

— ErikWemple (@ErikWemple) January 9, 2019

12 hours ago, Soapsuds said:

The meeting lasted 14 minutes with him walking out after he didn't get what he wanted....

 

After that Oval office address that lasted a whopping 9 minutes.  Boy, he's really putting in overtime.

TRUMP: "When during the campaign I would say Mexico is going to pay for [the wall], obviously I never meant they are going to write out a check. I said they are are going to pay for it. They are. They are paying for it w/the incredible [unapproved] deal we made called the USMCA." pic.twitter.com/YVCrSQty2v

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 10, 2019

REPORTER: If this is a national emergency, why haven't you delcared it?

TRUMP: "Because I would like to do the deal through Congress and because it makes sense to do it through Congress. But the easy route is for me call a national emergency and do it." pic.twitter.com/Hg9vuYO5Bw

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 10, 2019

REPORTER: Mr President, there are pictures this morning showing steel barrier wall being sawed right through. What good is it?

TRUMP: "Well, that's a wall that was designed by previous administrations. There is nothing that can't be penetrated, but you fix it." pic.twitter.com/fpPwP9A759

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 10, 2019

Trump says he thinks "there is far more pressure" on Democrats than him to end the shutdown because "the people of our country want security." pic.twitter.com/VBkmdfH41x

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 10, 2019

TRUMP: "The Democrats, which I've been saying all along, they don't give a damn about crime... They don't care about gang members coming in and stabbing people and cutting people up." pic.twitter.com/N2D4xnQqZI

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 10, 2019

TRUMP: "The buck stops with everybody."

"The Democrats don't care about crime. They've been taken over by a group of young people that frankly, in some cases, I think they're crazy." pic.twitter.com/h46zuAAfcN

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 10, 2019

Trump says he "didn't know anything" about his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, sharing polling data with a person connected to Russian intelligence pic.twitter.com/wgbHsTh3vD

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 10, 2019

All I can say is someone needs to start drug testing Trump.  I skip through most of his quotes because they 1) don't make any sense and 2) tend to change at the drop of a dime anyway.  Best of luck to those who want to decipher the madness.

 

Speaking of GOP kooks who spout gibberish.-

King hasn't been censured because he is emblematic of the circus-like, carnival barker atmosphere of today's Republican party.  King doesn't particularly stand out anymore because he is part and parcel of today's GOP, in lock step with racist, xenophobic ideology. 

Perhaps now that the Dems are the majority, a censure has a possibility but when there are already so many fires to put out, I imagine the racist in the White House is a bigger concern.

 

 

How is @SteveKingIA not censured by the House? How is he not expelled from the Republican caucus? https://t.co/qXbXJRlP6N

— Max Boot (@MaxBoot) January 10, 2019

Backed into a corner:

 

 

Moments ago on the Senate floor, Ben Cardin asked for unanimous consent from all senators to pass one of the House-approved bills to reopen the government.

Mitch McConnell objected, calling the House-passed bills "an absolutely pointless show vote." Via ABC pic.twitter.com/Ad3vWaHb59

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 10, 2019

Today, the FBI Agents Association sent a petition to the White House and Congressional Leaders signed by representatives of all FBI Agent Association field offices across the country warning of the effect of the continued government shutdown on Agents and their work. pic.twitter.com/22u62CXZRp

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 10, 2019

I love how Steve Kind tries to make praising white supremacy and white nationalism akin to appreciating western civilization.  Some people just swallow up that kind of sloppy logic without a second thought.

Bernie Sanders: "What they experienced was absolutely unacceptable, and certainly not what a progressive campaign or any campaign should be about."

— David Wright (@DavidWright_CNN) January 10, 2019

In a cab en route to the Capitol. The driver, like every driver this week, says the shutdown has devastated business. She tears up talking about it. "We are poor people. They are killing us."

— Elise Viebeck (@eliseviebeck) January 9, 2019

Yikes: Air traffic controllers, who are guiding planes through the sky without pay, received pay stubs on Thursday showing a net pay of zero dollars https://t.co/uT8iNYzXEl via @samjmintz

— Sudeep Reddy (@Reddy) January 10, 2019

Trump cancels trip to Davos citing government shutdown, which would suggest that he expects it to still be going on at least another 10 days.

— Peter Baker (@peterbakernyt) January 10, 2019

Robert Mueller reportedly sought information directly last year from Tony Fabrizio — one of Trump's campaign pollsters who is also a former business associate of Paul Manafort. https://t.co/QIn7eaANtb

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 10, 2019

“No wall, no deal,” Pence says in briefing at the Capitol. Repeatedly thanks congressional Rs for “standing strong” & says Democrats are stonewalling in negotiations.

— Julie Davis (@juliehdavis) January 10, 2019

Pence pretty handily shot down the Graham effort at a deal that would pair wall $ with legal status for DACA, TPS recipients, saying POTUS has been clear he wants to wait until Supreme Court sustains his decision to end DACA to address that & other issues

— Julie Davis (@juliehdavis) January 10, 2019

My only remaining take on Pence here, because he is not this stupid: He is trying to appear doggedly loyal to Trump to the last, so he can take his place when the time comes with minimal pushback.

Nancy Pelosi, just now:

"I think the meeting was a setup so he could walk out."

My bet is this is correct. Everything on the wall and Mueller probe right now is about creating the appearance of manly action, the appearance of taking control: https://t.co/mgxSuUI0L0

— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) January 10, 2019

Take me now, Black Lodge:

 

 

"They say a wall is medieval—well, so is a wheel," Pres. Trump says at meeting near southern border. "A wheel is older than a wall."

"There are some things that work, you know what? A wheel works, and a wall works." https://t.co/1QHVGTRFOZ pic.twitter.com/Vgs87esAmz

— ABC News (@ABC) January 10, 2019

TRUMP: "They drive, they just go where there's no security, fencing or walls of any kind, they just make a left into US & they come in and they have women tied up, they have tape over their mouths, electrical tape. Powerful stuff. Not good."

Fox News quickly cuts away. pic.twitter.com/EOrVuSRHrB

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 10, 2019

A screenshot of the correction for those who don't want to click: pic.twitter.com/YdS1b2NnUU

— Laura Bassett (@LEBassett) January 10, 2019

Trump in McAllen Texas....Jim Acosta just reported from there saying people living in McAllen told him there is no emergency.....LOL......one of the safest place to live.....come on people WAKE UP! You all are being duped!

Edited January 10, 20196 yr by Soapsuds

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

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