Anthony Scaramucci, the Wall Streetsleaze employed as a temp worker in the Trump White House, will be interviewed on Sunday by George Stephanopoulos on ABC’s This Week and on Monday by Stephen Colbert on CBS’s Late Show with Stephen Colbert. While the Colbert appearance might be more amusing, the Mooch, who was President Trump’s Communications Director for 10 days, has something in common with Stephanopoulos, President Clinton’s Communications Director for a whopping 138 days.
The U.S. Congress is on vacation until after Labor Day, but given its lack of accomplishments, it could have been in recess for the preceding year. Of course, Congress typically spends three days a week in DC even when it’s in session, spending the other four back home collecting campaign funds for the next election, a practice euphemistically called “meeting with constituents.”
But summer recess isn’t all stump speeches and visits to examine vital NATO defenses on the Riviera. Congress will still be hard at work tweeting about the highlights of rubber chicken luncheons at the Rotary Club. We hope our legislators don’t over-exert their Twitter fingers this month. They’ll have just a few days in September to decide on the nation budget, the debt limit, and tax reform, and to keep the White House from crashing the health care system or stumbling into trade war or a military crisis.
Donald Trump has taken 42 golf outings to date during the first 6 months of his presidency. Taxpayers recently covered $41 million in security costs for New Jersey’s Trump National Bedminster resort.
In other news, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway called special counsel Robert Mueller’s Trump-Russia investigation a “fishing expedition.” Russian President Vladimir Putin immediately went to Siberia’s Lake Baikal, took off his shirt, and picked up his fishing rod.
President Trump appointed Anthony “The Mooch” Scaramucci as his new Communications Director 12 days ago. A few days later the slick New York finance guy communicated to The New Yorker‘s Ryan Lizza by phone in an expletive-laced rant threatening other White House staff, especially Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, who soon resigned. Yesterday Anthony Scaramucci was fired by the new White House Chief of Staff, General John Kelly (Matt Taibbi had predicted this).
Mr. Scaramucci looks forward to spending more time with his … um, no.
“Ike Kaveladze’s responsibilities pertaining to Crocus’ international development projects include securing and structuring project investments, and negotiating with Chinese and other international contractors. One such project is the construction of the largest institution of higher education in Russia, Far Eastern Federal University in the Primorsky Krai (maritime province) capitol city of Vladivostok. Ike Kaveladze has engaged architects, engineers, designers, and decorators from the United States and elsewhere to work on the construction of the 8.4-million-square-meter campus and other Crocus endeavors across Russia.
Ike Kaveladze earned his undergraduate degree in economics and graduate degree in accounting at the Moscow Academy of Finance, prior to receiving his Master of Business Administration at the University of New Haven in Connecticut. Active with governments, businesses, and professionals on three continents, he is a member of the US-Russia Business Council and the Georgian Association in the United States of America, Inc.”
Video: Okay, Mr. Kavaladze was technically not the “8th man” at the meeting, he was the “8th person” (one attendee was a woman), but we couldn’t find any music for that.
More:
“Eighth person in Trump Tower meeting is identified,” Rosalind S. Helderman, Washington Post
“Mueller Probing Eighth Man from Trump Jr.’s Russia Meeting,” Daily Beast
Update:
“Russian man at Trump Jr meeting had partner with Soviet intelligence ties,” Jon Swaine, The Guardian
Related:
“Was President at Trump Tower When Son Met Russian Lawyer?” John T. Bennett, Roll Call
“How bad is it?” asks David Von Drehle in Time magazine, the new issue with Donald Trump Jr. on the cover. Maybe Trump Sr. will put this cover on the walls of his golf course clubhouses.
Donny Junior’s Russian meeting is certainly a front page story, and as more information emerges, it just gets worse. Possible federal election law violation, conspiracy, and obstruction of justice. That means full employment for Washington’s lawyers for the foreseeable future.
More:
“How Donald Trump Jr.’s Emails Have Cranked Up the Heat on His Family,” David Von Drehle, TIME
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The Rule of Law: He who rules makes the law. Legislators often reshape voting districts to keep their parties in political power. John Oliver explains.
Related:
“Why the Supreme Court’s decision to review Wisconsin’s gerrymandering is such a big deal,” Christopher Ingraham, Washington Post
“Gerrymandering Case Echoes in Inkblot-Like Districts Across the U.S.,” Michael Cooper, New York Times
“Where Gerrymandering Is Containing City Power,” Brentin Mock, CityLab
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“It seems our desire for instant gratification has conquered politics. Voters are channel-hopping, snacking on ideologies and political styles, moving on as soon as they’re bored. In that light, Donald Trump is a political genius: His slippery, shifting positions on just about everything command attention and perfectly reflect the restless mood of the times. People are eager for something—anything—different, and damn any concerns about consistency.”
“While major news networks have struggled to figure out the right way to cover the Trump administration, political satirists like Samantha Bee, John Oliver, Stephen Colbert, and Seth Meyers have demonstrated why comedy can be such a powerful antidote to bullsh*t.”
— Carlos Maza, and Coleman Lowndes, Vox
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The Trick to Covering Trump
May 29, 2017“While major news networks have struggled to figure out the right way to cover the Trump administration, political satirists like Samantha Bee, John Oliver, Stephen Colbert, and Seth Meyers have demonstrated why comedy can be such a powerful antidote to bullsh*t.”
— Carlos Maza, and Coleman Lowndes, Vox
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Tags:comedy, Donald Trump, John Oliver, political commentary, politics, Samantha Bee, Seth Meyers, Stephen Colbert, Trump, Vox
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