Influence sold separately

From NBC NEWS:

Paul Manafort, a former campaign manager for President Donald Trump, has much stronger financial ties to a Russian oligarch than have been previously reported.

An NBC News investigation reveals that $26 million changed hands in the form of a loan between a company linked to Manafort and the oligarch, Oleg Deripaska, a billionaire with close ties to the Kremlin.

The loan brings the total of their known business dealings to around $60 million over the past decade, according to financial documents filed in Cyprus and the Cayman Islands.

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Odium for the Podium

From NEWSWEEK:

Much like her father, Sarah Huckabee Sanders could probably benefit from deleting a tweet or two.

The deputy White House press secretary under President Donald Trump—who some Americans (and mock reporters on Saturday Night Live alike) are saying should replace her boss, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer—is facing new criticism for messages she posted on Twitter before accepting a role in the Trump administration.

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Herman Cain, What a Doll!

This is what happens when you make a comment around me.  This is the thread over at the Big Orange that started it all. Eventually, Jeff Y declared that  Herb Herman Koch Cain is:

The black Caribou Barbie

Of course, that reminded me of this old poster:

And that got me thinking that Herb Hermie deserved his own action figure.  Maybe he and Princess Sarah Palin will be hosting a show togther over at Faux News one day, and we don’t want Caribou Barbie’s doll to be lonely.

Hello Dollies!

Since it’s the holiday season, I’m thinking about toys, specifically dolls. We’ve seen a few of them in the last few posts, but I thought I’d find some others we might have forgotten about and brush the dust off them. There are all different kinds of dolls. For example, there are the ones that talk…and talk…and talk…

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…even when they have nothing of value to say.

The Great Rethuglican Toy Catalog

Hey, kids, Chanukah starts tonight, and the War on Christmas is just around the corner, so those of you who still have jobs, can afford to buy some presents, and have a few Rethuglican kids on your gift list, you might want to start thinking about what kind of toys you might want to purchase. Well, you know that I’m always here to help! This afternoon, I visited a store with lots of different toys to choose from…

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The Bratz Pack

Hi Kids!!! Didja miss me? It’s been a electronic nightmare ’round here. My computer got infected with something (I suspect some nefarious rethuglican plot) to the point where I couldn’t even play solitaire. The offspring had to go all nuclear on it–scrub it clean and start from scratch. Well, I can play solitaire again, and I loaded up Photoshop again (took 4 tries, and it’s a friggin’ mess–lost all my fonts and the old pics don’t work with whatever PS did to update the program). Anyway, I’m happy to be back, and I was thrilled to see that you guys hung around in my absence. I’ll try my best to answer the comments you left.

I didn’t have a chance to do lots of research on anything, so I went with a sure thing–what hasn’t changed is that the Rethugs are as rabid as ever.

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(left–directionally speaking only–to right:  Virginia So-Not-A Foxx, Shelley Please-No Moore Capito, Michele Bathshit Bachmann, Ginny Doody Brown-Waite, Princess Sarah Palin)

Czars in Her Eyes

From Alex Koppelman at Salon:

Lately, conservatives haven’t shown much of a knack for the facts. The healthcare reform debate has been marred by bogus accusations of death panels and the myth that reform will include a government mandate that taxpayers foot the bill for abortions. Now, some Republicans are extending that same treatment to the personnel decisions in President Obama’s administration.

On Sunday in the Washington Post, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, wrote a column warning of the number of informal policy “czars” employed by the White House.

Oh noez!!!!! Not the czars!!!!!

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Rethugs R Them

May 28 (Bloomberg) — Toys “R” Us Inc., the largest U.S. toy-store chain, acquired FAO Schwarz to take over the retailer’s flagship Fifth Avenue store in New York and increase its market share.

…snip…

The company was founded in 1862 by Frederick August Otto Schwarz and his three brothers.

Now when I think of that scene in Big with Tom Hanks and Robert Loggia playing Heart and Soul on the giant FAO Schwarz piano, I’ll be sad. However, kids, the news might have been far worse! Just imagine…

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