Mueller Indicts Manafort, Trump Hits Personal Low Approval Rating, Obama Gets Jury Duty: A.M. Links

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  Mike Baehr/flickr

  The Robert Mueller investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 elections has yielded its first indictment, that of Paul Manafort.

• President Trump hits a new personal low on his approval rating, 38 percent in the latest NBC News/WSJ poll.
• The governor of Puerto Rico says the territory's power contract with Whitefish, which has earned media scrutiny for its generous terms and the company's perceived connection to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, ought to be canceled.
• "White Lives Matter" activists canceled a rally in Tennessee after more counter-protesters showed up.
• Iran President Hassan Rouhani insists his country will keep building missiles.
• At least 23 people were killed in a hotel siege in Mogadishu for which Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility.
• Life goes on as Spain enforces direct rule in Catalonia.
• The president of Iraqi Kurdistan announced he would resign after the region's failed independence bid.
• Barack Obama gets called for jury duty.

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

The Robert Mueller investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 elections has yielded its first indictment, that of Paul Manafort.

Looks like it's time for this criminal to...

[dons sunglasses]

...man the fort.

[Bee Tagger]

Yuck, that is appauling.

[Bee Tagger]

Yuck, that is appauling.

[Rich]

He would have gotten away with it if it weren't for those meddling Russians!

[CE]

She.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

I was going to comment on:

"President Trump hits a new personal low on his approval rating, 38 percent in the latest NBC News/WSJ poll"

With a ha!

But after that quip, perhaps it's time for Fist to hand in his sunglasses.

[Number 2]

Notably, according to reports, the indictments are for ... tax evasion. Not quite "election meddling," is it?

[Fist of Etiquette]

This was somewhat predicted. Special prosecutors can't come up empty. That's why Libby went up for something outside the focus of that investigation.

[damikesc]

Hell, Libby went up for something Fitzgerald already knew the answer to within days and was penalized because his recollection and a reporter's recollection varied. Not sure why one is held as proof over the other, but that's justice for you.

[Rhywun]

The whole thing is so inside baseball I'm not even trying to follow this non-story anymore.

[Sevo]

"Notably, according to reports, the indictments are for ... tax evasion."

You just wait! Next, they'll get Trump!
They'll find an unpaid parking ticket from 2002, but it was WITHIN A MILE AND A HALF OF THE RUSSIAN CONSULATE!
Do I have to connect the dots for you?

[BestUsedCarSales]

This is the church this is the SHEEPLE open the doors and WAKE UP!!!

[Mickey Rat]

How esoteric a violation is this? Is it something straightforward or a violation of part of the tax code even the IRS does not understand?

[damikesc]

How esoteric a violation is this? Is it something straightforward or a violation of part of the tax code even the IRS does not understand?

Why wouldn't he just be allowed to pay it back, like Obama's first Sec of Treasury did? I mean, he RAN the IRS and got a very sweetheart deal in his illegal tax issues.

[Mitsima]

Al Sharpton snickers.

[Rat on a train]

Give the man a break. Have you tried to use TurboTax?

[damikesc]

Hell, he got EXTRA PAY specifically to PAY for the taxes in question. It was given explicitly for that reason.

[Bubba Jones]

He got paid millions of dollars, used them to buy US property and never paid income taxes.

He also got nabbed for some pretty ridiculous bullshit that made it sound like he was trying to cheat on his taxes in a very low rent way. Stuff like not declaring air bnb income and lying about a property was personal or for rental.

[CE]

You know who else was indicted for tax evasion?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Barack Obama gets called for jury duty.

"Present."

[DJF]

But where is he being called to jury duty, the USA or some foreign place??????

[Brian]

If you like your verdict, you can keep your verdict.

[Rich]

"You didn't build that case."

[jester]

Law enforcement types are typically dismissed in the first minute...and he can't be picked for the Manafort case. Why ever didn't he just tear up the notification.

[Ska]

Who would turn down free "I'm just a normal guy" press like that.

[loveconstitution1789]

That is what this smells like- a publicity stunt.

Obama should be dismissed from jury duty because the courtroom requires secret service protection and its a distraction from the actual court case.

If I was one of the lawyers, I would ask Obama directly all sorts of questions while he was under oath. "Were you planning on pardoning Hillary, for mishandling classified information, if she was indicted by the FBI"?

[CE]

He should be dismissed from jury duty because half the jury will believe everything he says.

[loveconstitution1789]

If I lived in his area, I would heckle Obama to no end.

That lady in the news who gave Trump's motorcade the finger would look like the Pope in comparison to how I would voice/show my displeasure about Obama.

[Hank Stamper]

Who wouldn't want a guy who kept a secret kill list on their jury?

[Bee Tagger]

President Trump hits a new personal low on his approval rating, 38 percent in the latest NBC News/WSJ poll.

He needs a fresh new PR approach, maybe an elderly woman saying "Where's the Tweets?!"

[Bee Tagger]

Barack Obama gets called for jury duty.

What a way to learn you have to go to jury duty.

[Fist of Etiquette]

President Trump hits a new personal low on his approval rating, 38 percent in the latest NBC News/WSJ poll.

Look at the aerial shots of the poll respondents. Fake news.

[Rich]

"White Lives Matter" activists canceled a rally in Tennessee after more counter-protesters showed up.

"WHITE LIVES DON'T MATTER!"

[Fist of Etiquette]

"White Lives Matter" activists canceled a rally in Tennessee after more counter-protesters showed up.

Don't leave me hanging. Do they or don't they?

[Rich]

"Hanging"? RACIST!!

[Fist of Etiquette]

No.

[Bee Tagger]

Life goes on as Spain enforces direct rule in Catalonia.

More like can't alone, duh. Yanno?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Ya?

[CE]

Yeah, and the EU and the USA predictably support Spain's crackdown on democracy.

The Declaration of Independence sure is embarrassing. Hasn't it been banned as hate speech yet?

[BestUsedCarSales]

We crushed the idea succession 160 years ago. That hasn't changed.

[MarkLastname]

More like... dogalonia

[Rich]

Barack Obama gets called for jury duty.

Well, they *said* "If you vote for Obama, you'll get called for jury duty."

[Citizen X - #6]

Barack Obama gets called for jury duty.

He's so like us.

[lap83]

because he's just now learning about it by reading the news, like we are?

[Bee Tagger]

Hey, that's my beat.

[Chinny Chin Chin]

He's so like us.

Outrageous. He gave us healthcare and lowered the seas. He is NOTHING like us.

[Brian]

We never deserved him. Sniffles.

[CE]

Can't SNL have a pro-Obama special where they sing even more songs to him?

[Fist of Etiquette]

The president of Iraqi Kurdistan announced he would resign after the region's failed independence bid.

Spain just won't let anyone go.

[Bee Tagger]

"White Lives Matter" activists canceled a rally in Tennessee after more counter-protesters showed up.

I propose that all of the Lives Matter groups have a race to the top of a mountain to see who matters most. If it's not too obvious, they should race to the top of the Matterhorn.

[Rat on a train]

Closed for renovations. Thunder, Space and Splash are still available. Maybe they should race around Autopia for eternity.

[Rich]

The timing of the indictment suggests that Mueller is pursuing a legal strategy typically reserved for cases involving drug cartels and Mafia families.

So, someone's going to end up sleeping with the fishes?

[CE]

Only if they have dirt on Clinton.

[Rich]

Work resumes normally in Catalonia as Spain enforces direct rule

"But you'll come right home after work, and no TV for a week!"

[This Machine Chips Fascists]

That's a small price to pay for a week of living dangerously.

[Rich]

[Pelosi] jokes that her nicknames for the president are "Rock Bottom" and "Difficult Circumstances." But she also holds back. "I am respectful of the people that voted for him," she said. "They are way down the road with me already because they vote."

Her nicknames for them are "Bottom Heads" and "Pompous Circumstances".

[Scarecrow Repair & Chippering]

She doesn't want to hear their nicknames for her.

[BestUsedCarSales]

I call her "nice lady" with air quotes. Show her her place.

[Citizen X - #6]

"They are way down the road with me already because they vote."

So that WAS a stroke she was having the other day.

[Domestic Dissident]

I wish The Rock would put the Rock Bottom on her hideous plastic Joker face.

[Rufus The Monocled]

"Barack Obama gets called for jury duty."

INT: Court room for jury. Rufus walks in whistling hands in pockets winking with reckless abandon. Sees Obama sitting there in assumed position of authority posture. Walks right out. Feigns heart attack.

[Libertarian]

Hey, I thought Obama lived in D.C. Will be interesting to see if he votes in D.C. Oh hell, who am I kidding, he'll vote in D.C. and Chicago.

[Rhywun]

I thought he bought a millions-dollar penthouse spread in NYC.

Oh well, houses everywhere!

[This Machine Chips Fascists]

Obama slept here!?

[MarkLastname]

Vote in Chicago? But he's still alive.

[Palin's Buttplug]

http://buzz.blog.ajc.com/2017/.....he-is-gay/

Kevin Spacey admits he is gay. NTTIAWWT.

[jester]

Never saw that coming.

[BestUsedCarSales]

I'm just glad we know he wasn't getting off when he made that guy raped the hooker to death with a blade covered condom.

[loveconstitution1789]

Sinner!

[Citizen X - #6]

"What's in the box? WHAT'S IN THE BOX?!?"

[Rhywun]

*falls out of chair*

[damikesc]

Nice defense for child molestation claims, I guess.

[Rhywun]

Except the former child making the accusation is a dude.

[damikesc]

And the media is busily discussing his homosexuality and not his attempts to hit on a 14 year old boy. He's using "coming out" as almost a defense for his pedophilia.

[lap83]

Right? Like that makes it OK for him to do those things while not being sufficiently famous anymore. Ugh, I can't even

[John]

He is an artist and he is gay. That makes pederasty okay. And hey, I am sure that was the only time he ever tried to molest a young boy. He was just curious what it would be like. He was drunk.

[jester]

Boys, If you're going to be raped, you might as well, sit back...er, bend over, and enjoy it.

[loveconstitution1789]

And get paid! This ex-kid is going to get a payday from Kevin Spacey.

This person goes public and a few hours later, Spacey comes out of the closet. Its not an admission of guilt though.

[John]

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2017.....columnists

The same idiot who can't understand why so many Americans support the right to ear arms and wants the second amendment repealled, waxes poetic about the evils of communism. Gee Bret, if you were anything but an upper class twit of the highest order, you might see a connection between these two things.

[jester]

Reached my limit of free viewings of Gray Lady articles. How will excellence in journalism survive?

[loveconstitution1789]

The puke-fest is coming to mark the centennial of the Oktober Revolution.

I will be hard at work countering the useful idiot socialists for the next few weeks and their complete ignorance of what happened to billions of people under Communism.

[jester]

You can't lay enough eggs to make that perfect omelet. But then again, maybe. If they'd had genetic engineering back then they could have got the right chickens.

[CE]

The millions who were disappeared don't count, apparently

[BYODB]

President Trump hits a new personal low on his approval rating, 38 percent in the latest NBC News/WSJ poll.

Is this poll as accurate as the one's that told us he would lose the election?

[EscherEnigma]

So +/- 1-3% then?

[BYODB]

It's a widely known, but under reported, feature of modern polling that they are no longer even ballpark predictive although I will take it as truth that Trump is not widely popular.

[CE]

It's pretty accurate in California, but they're not so sure about Michigan and Wisconsin.

[loveconstitution1789]

Fuck those fly over states. All deplorables!