269 Comments

Sounds a bit more like punishment than reward.

Expand full comment

Ta, Gary. I had hoped never to hear of Grenell or Nunes again. Oh, well.

Expand full comment

Look at it this way. We'll be able to follow Devin Nunes's Cow on Bluesky.

Expand full comment

"he best-case scenario obviously being stranding them on Attu Island with nothing but a thermos full of horse diarrhea and one long-sleeve T-shirt to ward off the cold that they have to share"

Oh, that's cold... and I know you know what I mean. Attu? LMAO

Expand full comment

At tu, Garius Legumensis?

Expand full comment

Good thing these are both essential government jobs, otherwise the DOGE bros might have some things to say.

Expand full comment

Nunes is mooving on up.

Expand full comment

Stupid picks stupids, makes sense.

Expand full comment

…i really don’t fucking get it, how’s ANYONE trump would appoint can be better or worse? …they will be no “better” then one another, it’s like arguing about the needle size for your lethal injection and “background check” really ? …have you by any chance noticed who’s in WH ? …how people can become so dubious and primitive thinkers ? 

…there’s three facts at play we can do nothing about

Expand full comment

If it's not from the Cabinet region of France, it's just sparkling idiocy

Expand full comment

"Nunes sued Ryan Lizza and Esquire for publishing an accurate story about his family moving its dairy farm from California to Iowa, a suit that was eventually dismissed in its entirety. He also sued CNN for defamation for $435,000,000. Unsurprisingly, that one was also dismissed in its entirety. Nunes does love filing frivolous lawsuits that judges kick into the ionosphere."

Nunes has been learning at the feet of the master. The Fulvous Flatulence has perfected the frivolous lawsuit technique to get what he wants and to shut up his critics. The truly awful part is that it has been working for him! Didn't Disney just agree to give the Pumpkin Pestilence $15 mil, and his lawyers $1 mil, for George "Slopadopolos" telling the truth that the reelected Asshat-in-Chief is a rapist -- or at least has been held liable for sexual abuse, which was deemed tantamount to rape?

"A judge [Lewis A. Kaplan] has now clarified that this is basically a legal distinction without a real-world difference. He says that what the jury found Trump did was in fact rape, as commonly understood." https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/07/19/trump-carroll-judge-rape/

-----

"According to the White House website, the PIAB exists to provide the President “with an independent source of advice on the effectiveness with which the Intelligence Community is meeting the nation’s intelligence needs.”"

I might be mistaken, but I've been under the impression that *some* intelligence would be required to fill such a position. (See also: Tulsi Gabbard.)

-----

"This means that Nunes, according to Barbara McQuade of MSNBC, will have access to all of America’s massive trove of intelligence. Which, given Nunes’s past efforts to manipulate classified information to look favorable to Trump, feels like a recipe for disaster."

Given a choice, I would rather see an incompetent Nunes manipulating intelligence for the benefit of the Amber Ardipithecus ramidus (Nunes has already shown that he's not very good at it) than see Gabbard as DNI since she's such asshole buddies with Putin and the Kremlin. I'd bet the ranch that Putin will be privy to some national security reports before many of our intelligence agencies.

-----

"we might have Tulsi Gabbard overseeing America’s entire intelligence community and Devin Nunes ... running an advisory board telling Trump whether she’s doing a good job or not."

The best that we can expect from these two is that they will be the Laurel and Hardy of the world's intelligence community.

-----

"Advocating for leadership change in a diplomat's host country is very NOT ON, not to mention being a violation of Article 41 of the Vienna Convention, which requires overseas diplomats "not to interfere in the internal affairs of that State.""

Violations of international Conventions are no big deal in the world of the Mango Malignancy, in fact it might even be a plus. Grenell's breaking of Article 41 will be child's play if Hegseth wins Senate approval. One of his policy objectives will put our military in a very dangerous position that will have a dramatic effect when (not if) the US goes to war again. Hegseth's stance on the Geneva conventions and NATO match those expressed by the Desert Sand Demi-Demon from as early as 2016:

"Pete Hegseth, Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense, has attacked several key US alliances such as Nato, allied countries such as Turkey and international institutions such as the United Nations in two recent books, as well as saying US troops should not be bound by the Geneva conventions.

...

Elsewhere, Hegseth appears to argue that the US military should ignore the Geneva conventions and any international laws governing the conduct of war, and instead “unleash them” to become a “ruthless”, “uncompromising” and “overwhelmingly lethal” force geared to “winning our wars according to our own rules”." https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/25/pete-hegseth-book-attacks-nato-alliances

fnord

Expand full comment

"Presidential Envoy for Special Missions" sounds like Grenell is going to be hanging around teen beauty pageants.

Expand full comment

Why have a red button, when there’s Ric?

Expand full comment

I still can't believe Marco Rubio is going to be our Secretary of State. There isn't a head of state or foreign minister anywhere in the world who couldn't chew up that callow lump and spit him back out.

Expand full comment

and he's the best of the lot.

i can't really imagine what happens at defense. or DHS. or intelligence. or FBI.

oh fuck up i'm going to bed.

Expand full comment

Jobs for the boys. We all know why Trump keeps Nunes on the payroll.

https://youtu.be/95lfMVzMWxg

Expand full comment

"

Christ, we wish anyone in the Trump administration had the competence of Inspector Clouseau.

/"

[Pantomimes chef's kiss]

Expand full comment

Nunes. Sounds Mexican.... just sayin'

Expand full comment

It’s actually Italian for “cow fucker.”

Expand full comment

Only Cow Fucking song I know of:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMGt2EyteXM

Expand full comment

Just last week my agency told me "No international travel for the foreseeable future."

I wonder why...

Expand full comment

so sounds like ric's job is to go shout at people in other countries rubbing pab the wrong way

Expand full comment

He'll be hoarse in two days.

Expand full comment