No One Could Have Predicted

That George W. Bush would coin the all-purpose punchline for the Trump era...

What George W. Bush Really Thought of Donald Trump's Inauguration

That was some weird shit.
Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call,Inc.

Tuesday Morning, Day 68

Only Tuesday; only morning...

Flagging—The Trump administration sought to block Sally Yates from testifying to Congress on Russia, per WaPo https://t.co/Bzcqh64I6s pic.twitter.com/DzFgydDiBw

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 28, 2017

Interesting: Nunes cancelled hearing w/ Sally Yates same day Yates' lawyer notified the W.H. she would still testify to House Intel Cmte. https://t.co/8YSckSeeZ1

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 28, 2017

Sally Yates pushed back on Trump admin: "Ms Yates should not be obligated to refuse to provide non-classified facts" https://t.co/Bzcqh64I6s pic.twitter.com/Cn5IpxeEpC

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 28, 2017

Interesting—Jeremy Bash implies Sally Yates had revelations for House Intel about when she told WH that Flynn lied. Nunes nixed the hearing. pic.twitter.com/vKCd1jdoc5

— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) March 28, 2017

Bash: "An elaborately choreographed gag order on Sally Yates."

Ready, Set, Sign

Make America great pollution unregulated again!

70 year old man poisoning the earth to make his even older pals a little bit richer. https://t.co/llcN7ezsyP

— Schooley (@Rschooley) March 28, 2017

"Kids, I'm signing papers here that's going to ruin the planet for you. I'm a psychopath and you will curse my name when you are older." pic.twitter.com/UyP3M9zXxP

— Schooley (@Rschooley) March 28, 2017

"This is 'The Living Will Envy the Dead Act.' I have no idea why we're doing this, I just sign what Steve hands me."

— Schooley (@Rschooley) March 28, 2017

I always forget about Bannon's involvement with the biosphere.https://t.co/JJz3AQ4c6J

— Schooley (@Rschooley) March 28, 2017

Why do I feel like a Thiel is building a giant biobunker in New Zealand for all these mugs to survive the chaos they wrought?

— Schooley (@Rschooley) March 28, 2017

What, Us Suspicious?

MUST READ-> Spicer personally arranged for CIA head & GOP intel cmte chairs (Nunes/Burr) to kill #TrumpRussia story. https://t.co/8XkoC1yWZP

— Caroline O. (@RVAwonk) February 27, 2017

Did Nunes' intel come from WH? Neither DNI, FBI nor NSA logged visit from him on key night. Via @gregpmiller @karoun https://t.co/bLaO3T8BIu

— Rosalind Helderman (@PostRoz) March 27, 2017

TPM: Nunes Met Source On WH Grounds Before Making Trump Surveillance Claims

AS PREDICTED: Nunes Source was WH staffer googling names on Classified Internet. He must Resign fm HPSCI https://t.co/eji0XPnZYM via @TPM

— Malcolm Nance (@MalcolmNance) March 27, 2017

Pretty much anybody willing to get on the Trump train early should be assumed either a Russian agent or a spineless idiot now, I think. pic.twitter.com/zTKsrfmfPu

— Schooley (@Rschooley) March 27, 2017

Nunes looks like a guy worried about getting near any upper story window. pic.twitter.com/LXx8aM1uVq

— Schooley (@Rschooley) March 28, 2017

Can we just bring them all in for questioning? pic.twitter.com/BtDKJQso9E

— Schooley (@Rschooley) March 27, 2017

In Other News of Unidicted Co-conspirators...

New news: Trump removes aide with clear Russian ties as FBI investigation heats up. In this case—just to narrow the category of "Trump aide with clear Russian ties"—it's Boris Epshteyn.

And news that's only now reported:

NYT reports last month Giuliani & Michael Mukasey traveled to Turkey to meet w/ Erdogan on behalf of this new client https://t.co/vY6YTSTP4G https://t.co/93rDler8kN

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 28, 2017

No "Violent Extremism" To See Here

So said the Trump administration, when it re-branded violent extremism as unique to Muslims.

The State of New York has disagreed, charging Timothy Caughman's killer with terrorism as well as counts of murder.

Caughman was the latest victim added to the growing list of hate crimes found unworthy of the slightest comment by Trump and Co.

Spicer asked about an avowed white supremacist killing a black man. His answer was on "rush to judgment by the left" over JCC bomb threats.

— Jennifer Epstein (@jeneps) March 27, 2017

Reporter yells q about white supremacist who killed a black man in NYC. "Is that a hate crime, sir." Sessions keeps walking. No answer.

— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) March 27, 2017

And their allies...

A white supremacist drives from MD to NYC to stab a random black man to death & news reports compliment his attire? https://t.co/4lrr3TmbY5

— JJ MacNab (@jjmacnab) March 22, 2017

It does if it's a legendarily racist tabloid https://t.co/bd7XIBVe80

— Roy Edroso (@edroso) March 23, 2017

Jamelle Bouie sees Caughman's murder in its historical context: white terrorist murder of a black man as lynching.

Standing on line waiting to vote I love america󾓦󾓦󾓦 pic.twitter.com/jVAeLXtUAq

— timothy caughman (@timrock715) November 8, 2016

Timothy Caughman was an American above all else. He was killed by a white supremacist in MY city. This IS NOT America. #BlackLivesMatter https://t.co/RvsNwHPZuR

— Emanuel Zbeda (@therealezway) March 22, 2017

New Week, Fresh Nepotism

Those questions about Ivanka...

Gov't watchdogs to W.H. Counsel: Give Ivanka an official title or risk conflict of interests w/ her business. https://t.co/bOQTQBGeKw pic.twitter.com/aCgpst7fdx

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 26, 2017

... They're so last week.... On Sunday at 10 pm, here's the Washington Post: Trump taps Kushner to lead a SWAT team to fix government with business ideas.

"We need to run America more like a business!" - People whose parents gave them a business

— Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) March 27, 2017

Aside from the current particulars of who will divide the spoils, it's the usual GOP-Heritage-Business Roundtable template. In that regard, the WaPo's story doesn't sound very different from pro-privatization puff pieces of the last 25 or so years...

President Trump plans to unveil a new White House office on Monday with sweeping authority to overhaul the federal bureaucracy and fulfill key campaign promises — such as reforming care for veterans and fighting opioid addiction — by harvesting ideas from the business world and, potentially, privatizing some government functions.

The White House Office of American Innovation, to be led by Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser, will operate as its own nimble power center within the West Wing and will report directly to Trump. Viewed internally as a SWAT team of strategic consultants, the office will be staffed by former business executives and is designed to infuse fresh thinking into Washington, float above the daily political grind and create a lasting legacy for a president still searching for signature achievements.

It would seem, in Kushner's spare time—when he's not bringing peace to the Middle East.

WaPo's Philip Rucker puffs (and fluffs) away—

Kushner's ambitions for what the new office can achieve are grand. At least to start, the team plans to focus its attention on reimagining Veterans Affairs; modernizing the technology and data infrastructure of every federal department and agency; remodeling workforce-training programs; and developing "transformative projects" under the banner of Trump’s $1 trillion infrastructure plan, such as providing broadband Internet service to every American.

In some cases, the office could direct that government functions be privatized, or that existing contracts be awarded to new bidders.

The office will also focus on combating opioid abuse, a regular emphasis for Trump on the campaign trail. The president later this week plans to announce an official drug commission devoted to the problem that will be chaired by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R). He has been working informally on the issue for several weeks with Kushner, despite reported tension between the two."

With malice toward all government; with spoils for some.

Also: a nice diversion from this.

Kushner reportedly met w/ the head of a Russian bank—at the request of the Russian Amb (& hadn't made it public yet) https://t.co/014QKQCiNg pic.twitter.com/HqSZIFjFHI

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 27, 2017

This is a big deal: Kushner surely discussed Russia w Trump, and during campaign & transition, so no exec privilege https://t.co/zugzNS1hLc

— Norm Eisen (@NormEisen) March 27, 2017

Over here! Lean, mean, profit-generating machine; not at all aligned to certain ideologies...

The work of White House chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon has drawn considerable attention, especially after his call for the "deconstruction of the administrative state." But Bannon will have no formal role in the innovation office, which Trump advisers described as an incubator of sleek transformation as opposed to deconstruction.

But what about creative destruction? Here comes the supposed re-branding—

Kushner is positioning the new office as "an offensive team" — an aggressive, nonideological ideas factory capable of attracting top talent from both inside and outside of government, and serving as a conduit with the business, philanthropic and academic communities.

"We should have excellence in government," Kushner said Sunday in an interview in his West Wing office. "The government should be run like a great American company. Our hope is that we can achieve successes and efficiencies for our customers, who are the citizens."

In other words...

... run government like a business... pic.twitter.com/ZCq7SZuwfp

— Schooley (@Rschooley) March 27, 2017

... run government like a business... pic.twitter.com/OuTTrLljl6

— Schooley (@Rschooley) March 27, 2017

And,

That, "I'm going to be here for 50 years after you two mooks are dust to enjoy all the cash I'm raking in on this gig" look. pic.twitter.com/NF9qIpw0Oj

— Schooley (@Rschooley) March 27, 2017