Nikki Haley is all out of f*cks to give. Update!

Fuck this job.

Courtesy of CNN:

A consensus emerged Tuesday at the White House and Mar-a-Lago about how to clean up the administration's suddenly muddled plans to crack down on Russia: Blame Nikki Haley. 

Several administration officials said the US ambassador to the United Nations got ahead of President Donald Trump's decision-making when she hit the Sunday talk show circuit and said the US would level new sanctions the next day targeting Russian companies that facilitated the Syrian regime's chemical weapons program. The sanctions have yet to come. 

"She got ahead of the curve," National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow told reporters on Tuesday near the President's Florida estate, a day after a report claiming Trump "put the brakes" on plans for new Russia sanctions. "She's done a great job, she's a very effective ambassador. There might have been some momentary confusion about that." 

Haley struck back with a stunning statement later in the day that opened a new rift in the administration and raised questions about the White House's explanation of her comments. 

"With all due respect, I don't get confused," she said in a statement obtained by CNN's Jake Tapper. 

A White House official said Kudlow apologized to Haley for saying that she might have been confused.

Damn! You go girl!

I am not traditionally a Nikki Haley fan, but girlfriend can clap back with he best of them.

Keep in mind that all Nikki Haley was doing was to announce the implementation of the sanctions that were agreed on by the Congress and which Trump signed off on. And the minute she did it Trump pulled the rug right out from under her.

I mean shit, no wonder she's pissed.

Speaking of pissed, apparently Trump is almost constantly irritated at Haley for essentially doing her job.

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

Ms. Haley has been perhaps the most hawkish voice on Russia on a team headed by a president who has emphasized his fervent desire for friendship with President Vladimir V. Putin. 

At times, that serves the president’s interests because she can say what he will not. But at other times, he has grown exasperated by her outspokenness. 

At one point recently, he saw Ms. Haley on television sharply criticizing Russia over its intervention in Ukraine. “Who wrote that for her?” Mr. Trump yelled angrily at the screen, according to people briefed on the moment. “Who wrote that for her?”

Trump has also grown suspicious of Haley's ambition, and thinks she might be angling for his job.

There is also talk that she has a secret liaison with Mike Pence, which is certain to feed into Donald Trump's insecurities.

In other words we can probably predict that Nikki Haley will either quit her job as Ambassador to the UN, accompanied by broken furniture and screamed obscenities, or that she is going to be fired in some early morning tweet which will probably occur while she is on a plane flying out to meet with a foreign dignitary.

You know, as usual.

Update: Apparently Nikki Haley was left out of the loop on this.

Senior admin official confirms to CNN that the Trump Admin informed the Russian embassy on Sunday that there would not be another round of sanctions for now.

— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) April 18, 2018

I would love for some conservative to try and make the case, with a straight face, that Donald Trump is NOT Vladimir Putin's bitch.

Donald Trump hits the brakes on implementing those new Russia sanctions.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

President Trump on Monday put the brakes on a preliminary plan to impose additional economic sanctions on Russia, walking back a Sunday announcement by U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley that the Kremlin had swiftly denounced as “international economic raiding.” 

Preparations to punish Russia anew for its support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government over the alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria caused consternation at the White House. Haley had said on CBS News’s “Face the Nation” that sanctions on Russian companies behind the equipment related to Assad’s alleged chemical weapons attack would be announced Monday by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. 

But Trump conferred with his national security advisers later Sunday and told them he was upset the sanctions were being officially rolled out because he was not yet comfortable executing them, according to several people familiar with the plan.

Aw, is Trumpy wumpy a worried that the sanctions will anger his buddy Pooty Wooty, and they can't be best buddies anymore?

It was also reported that Trump threw a giant tantrum after learning that we had kicked out more Russians than the Europeans kicked out.

Also courtesy of WaPo:

President Trump seemed distracted in March as his aides briefed him at his Mar-a-Lago resort on the administration’s plan to expel 60 Russian diplomats and suspected spies. 

The United States, they explained, would be ousting roughly the same number of Russians as its European allies — part of a coordinated move to punish Moscow for the poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter on British soil. 

“We’ll match their numbers,” Trump instructed, according to a senior administration official. “We’re not taking the lead. We’re matching.” 

The next day, when the expulsions were announced publicly, Trump erupted, officials said. To his shock and dismay, France and Germany were each expelling only four Russian officials — far fewer than the 60 his administration had decided on. 

The president, who seemed to believe that other individual countries would largely equal the United States, was furious that his administration was being portrayed in the media as taking by far the toughest stance on Russia.

Remember how those folks were saying that Trump's aggressive tweets at Vladimir Putin over Syria, and his administrations new tougher stance, all proved that Trump was not actually Pootie's butt boy?

Yeah, they might have wanted to wait a beat or two before saying that. 

Looks to me as if Putin still has a pretty tight grip on Trump's ball sack.

The part of the Grammy's that pissed off the conservatives last night.

Courtesy of Politico:  

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton may already have a Grammy to her name, but on Sunday night she jokingly auditioned for the role of narrator to "Fire and Fury," Michael Wolff's insider account of drama in President Donald Trump's White House. 

"He had a longtime fear of being poisoned, one reason why he liked to eat at McDonald's — nobody knew he was coming and the food was safely premade," the former Democratic presidential candidate read from the book, before Grammy host James Corden told her she had the award "in the bag." 

Along with Clinton, Corden's bit of searching for the best narrator of Wolff's book included Snoop Dogg, Cardi B, DJ Khaled and other stars.

Now that is some grade A trolling right there.

Some of the broke ass trolls that show up here at IM should take a lesson. THAT is how you do it.

The clip above was the original version, but it does not capture the crowd reaction, which is the best part.

This tweet demonstrates that the Grammy crowd went wild.

Cardi B and Hillary Clinton reading #FireAndFury is gold 😂 #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/i5yGaZ4dLP

— UPROXX (@UPROXX) January 29, 2018

Oh yeah, that killed.

However some conservatives certainly did not appreciate the joke.

You know like Trump's Ambassador to the UN.

America's top diplomat, whining on Twitter. pic.twitter.com/XjHNOuHInG

— TV MoJoe (@TVMoJoe) January 29, 2018

Ruined the Grammys for you maybe. 

Nikki Haley announces that the US will cut 285 million dollars from the UN budget right after 120 nations criticize Donald Trump for recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Courtesy of the New York Post:  

UN Ambassador Nikki Haley announced Sunday that the United States negotiated a $285 million cut in the United Nations’ “bloated” budget for next year. 

“The inefficiency and overspending of the United Nations are well known,” Haley said in a statement from the US Mission. “We will no longer let the generosity of the American people be taken advantage of or remain unchecked.”

Haley added that the “historic reduction” in spending is a step in the right direction and that the US would make many other moves toward a more efficient and accountable UN. 

“In addition to these significant cost savings, we reduced the UN’s bloated management and support functions, bolstered support for key US priorities throughout the world and instilled more discipline and accountability throughout the UN system,” the statement said.

Haley said that she also hopes to make further cuts to the UN in the future.

Now Trump has been talking about how unfair it is that America pays so much to the United Nations essentially since launching his campaign in 2015.

However this announcement comes only days after this happened.

Courtesy of Yahoo News:  

The U.S. will cut its 2018 contribution to the United Nations by $285 million—nearly 25 percent—an announcement that comes days after more than 120 nations criticized the United States for its decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. 

Ambassador Nikki Haley made the announcement Sunday, but specifically blamed the world body for its budgetary excesses without making a specific reference to last week's vote on President Donald Trump's controversial Jerusalem decision.

You know if a Mafioso did not like it that a restaurant owner was not playing ball, he might say something like "This is a nice place, would be a shame if something happened to it." 

In a way this is essentially how Trump does things on a more national level.

UN members failed to kiss the emperor's ring and now he punishes them by cutting into their finances.

This is not how American presidents deal with the United Nations.

This is how dictators lose empires.

While engaged in campaign to stop leaks Donald Trump retweets classified information about North Korea.

Now the problem with his retweet is that the information Fox and Friends is posting about is classified.

In fact when they had UN Ambassador Nikki Haley on and asked her about it, this is how she replied: 

When Haley was on Fox & Friends this morning, Steve Doocy asked her to comment. Haley responded, “I can’t. I can’t talk about anything that’s classified, and if that’s in the newspaper, that’s a shame.” 

Doocy followed up, “You have no reason to believe that’s not accurate, though.” Haley again declined to comment, but said it’s “incredibly dangerous when things get out into the press like that.”

Well it looks like Jeff Sessions will have to start handing out those subpoenas to Fox News and the White House post haste. 

Of course none of us should be surprised by this as Trump has already handed over secret information to the Russians.

Perhaps somebody should call Mitch McConnell every time something like this happens and ask him if he is still convinced that this shitgibbon is better than electing Hillary Clinton.

Another historic day in America, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley signs bill to remove the Confederate battle flag from the state Capitol.

Courtesy of NBC News:  

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on Thursday signed into law a measure to remove the Confederate battle flag from the state Capitol, the culmination of a years-long movement that was reignited by the murders of nine members of a historically black Charleston church. 

Before adding her signature to the legislation, Haley spoke of the black victims, who were killed by a white man after they welcomed him into a June 17 prayer meeting at Emanuel African Methodist Church in Charleston. 

Their act of love and faith, Haley said, set into motion a chain of events that led to the flag's removal less than a month later.

Man just when you think you have seen everything.

It almost gives me hope that we might soon be able to do something about background checks and pass a ban on military style weapons.

I said "almost" give me hope.

Mississippi Republican lawmaker proposes removing confederate battle emblem from state flag and Wal-Mart removes Confederate flags from store shelves.

Courtesy of HuffPo:  

A top Mississippi lawmaker says the Confederate battle emblem is offensive and needs to be removed from the state flag. 

Republican House Speaker Philip Gunn said Monday that remembering our past is important, "but that does not mean we must let it define us."

And remember this is a top REPUBLICAN calling for this change. 

And now there is news that Wal-Mart is jumping on the bandwagon:  

Wal-Mart said Monday it is removing any items from its store shelves and website that feature the Confederate flag. In a statement, Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said its goal is to not offend anyone with the products it offers. "We have taken steps to remove all items promoting the Confederate flag from our assortment — whether in our stores or on our website," the company said. "We have a process in place to help lead us to the right decisions when it comes to the merchandise we sell. Still, at times, items make their way into our assortment improperly — this is one of those instances."

You know it is not often that I want to be wrong about things, but I  have to admit that when I first started to cover this Confederate flag story I was skeptical that these stubborn southern folks would be willing to change.

But with Nikki Haley calling for the removal of the Confederate flag from statehouse grounds, and the two changes listed above, it looks like there is a real push by many to move past their historic racist past.

Well if I have to be wrong about something, this is exactly the kind of something that I want to be wrong about.

Nikki Haley to call for the removal of the Confederate flag from statehouse grounds in South Carolina. Update!

Courtesy of The Post and Courier:  

Gov. Nikki Haley will hold a news conference in Columbia at 4 p.m. today at which, sources said, she will call for the Confederate flag to come down from the Statehouse grounds. 

The move comes as lawmakers are exploring if the removal can be done legislatively in the coming days, tying their heightened attention to the recent shooting deaths of nine members of the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.

Haley’s office would not confirm what the discussion would be. 

Lawmakers have an unfinished budget, but are considering using the current extended session to address wording that would remove the flag from the Confederate monument as part of the 2015-16 state spending plan.

Well as of right now it is not written in stone that the flag will be removed, and there will surely be a huge fight and political backlash, but I think that this news is somewhat encouraging.

Ultimately I believe that the flag will be removed.

Personally I like John Oliver's take on the Confederate flag controversy.

Update: Nikki Haley has now officially called for the removal of the Confederate flag:  

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called for the removal of the Confederate flag from the grounds of the state Capitol Monday, less than a week after a 21-year-old white man gunned down nine people at a historic African American church. 

Support for the flag to come down from leaders around the state and around the country has been steadily growing in the wake of the devastating attack. 

"Today, we are here in a moment of unity in our state, without ill will, to say it is time to move the flag from the Capitol grounds," Haley said during a news conference attended by Republican senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott, along with other state leaders. 

The announcement was met by applause and cheers from those in attendance.

"The announcement was met by applause and cheers from those in attendance." Okay, well that's a start. 

Conservative website that might have inspired Dylann Storm Roof defends his racist views, but really wish he had not shot people.

Kyle Rogers of the Council for Conservative Citizens.

Courtesy of Mother Jones:  

The Council of Conservative Citizens, an organization with white supremacist leanings, has issued a statement defending the "legitimate grievances" expressed by Charleston shooting suspect Dylann Roof. Roof made reference to the council in his manifesto, saying he used its site to learn about "black on White crime." 

In the statement, the council condemns "Roof’s murderous actions," but goes on to warn that "our society's silence about [such] crimes—despite enormous amounts of attention to 'racially tinged' acts by whites—only increase the anger of people like Dylann Roof. This double standard *only makes acts of murderous frustration more likely* [emphasis theirs]. In his manifesto, Roof outlines other grievances felt by many whites. Again, we utterly condemn Roof’s despicable killings, but they do not detract in the slightest from the legitimacy of some of the positions he has expressed."

So I guess the message here is that hating black people is fine, but shooting them full of holes is crossing a line. 

Speaking of crossing lines it appears that Ted Cruz was by no means the only Republican politician or well known conservative that associated with the CCC.

According to The Daily Beast Trent Lott, Mike Huckabee, Georgia Congressman Bob Barr, and South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley have all had close ties with the group, and conservative firebrand Ann Coulter even defended them in one of her books.

And as it has turned out several presidential hopefuls, besides Ted Cruz, have received donations from CCC including Rick Santorum, Rand Paul, and even Mitt Romney back in 2012.

I think that is really why conservative politicians and their apologists are working so hard to convince people that now is not the time for politics (Or to talk about gun violence, which almost literally caused one MSNBC host to lose her shit.)

They don't want us talking about politics, because they are well aware that this shooting is tied to THEIR politics and rhetoric in a way that is essentially indefensible.

What we have learned about the Charleston, South Carolina shooting, and what we adamantly refuse to learn.

So I, like I am sure all of you, have been watching the news coverage concerning that shooting in Charleston all day today.

To be totally honest I have turned it off a number of times, but then I just go back to it later on like some kind of sadness groupie. And yes, it is heartbreaking.

For instance we have now had it confirmed that Dylann Storm Roof went into that church to start a race war. I think on some level we might have expected as much, but that does not make hearing it any less chilling.

Of course before that was revealed the folks at Fox News were trying desperately to suggest that this was not a racially motivated attack but rather an attack on Christianity. (They also suggested that pastors start carrying guns, because as we all know more guns mean less gun deaths.)

We also learned that Roof almost didn't go through with his plan because "everyone was so nice to him." Which is something that I have read about five times today and it still makes me choke up a little.

I also watched as the victim's families spoke during Roof's bond hearing, and tried to hold it together as every single one of them forgave him.

Yeah it was a hard day.

Made even harder by watching conservatives and Republican politicians attempting to redirect any public outcry over gun control, and claim that racism was not something that they helped to support through their rhetoric or political actions. 

However at least one politician found herself called to task on Facebook in a response that has now gone viral.

Like I said it's been a hard day, and hopefully for some people, who have been working spin for the last 24 hours, it has been especially hard.

And as Jon Stewart so eloquently put it last night, nothing is really going to change. The only question remaining is how long will it be before we are all here again, talking about yet ANOTHER senseless shooting?

South Carolina has spoken, and they want Stephen Colbert to replace the outgoing Jim DeMint. Now THAT'S a change we can believe in!

Courtesy of Public Policy Polling:  

Nikki Haley is one of the most unpopular Governors in the country. Only 42% of voters approve of the job she's doing to 49% who disapprove. Out of 43 sitting Governors PPP has polled on, that ranks her 35th in popularity. 

Haley has pretty solid numbers within her own party. 70% of Republicans approve of the job she's doing to 22% who disapprove. But with Democrats (15/78 approval) and independents (28/57) her numbers are pretty woeful. 

There is a path back to popularity for Haley though: appointing Stephen Colbert to replace Jim DeMint in the Senate. Colbert tops the wish list of who South Carolina voters would like to see join that body at 20%, followed by Tim Scott at 15%, Trey Gowdy at 14%, Jenny Sanford at 11%, Henry McMaster and Mark Sanford at 8%, Jeff Duncan and Joe Wilson at 5%, and Mick Mulvaney at 4%. 

It's Democrats and independents- those voters Haley most needs to improve her standing with- who are pining for a Colbert appointment. Among Democrats 32% say they'd like Colbert to be picked with Jenny Sanford at 19% and no one else in double digits. With crucial independent voters Colbert has a 15 point lead for the appointment, getting 28% to 13% for Tim Scott, 12% for Jenny Sanford, and 10% for Trey Gowdy with no one else in double digits.

I think that South Carolina would be well served with a Senator Colbert advocating for them, but personally I don't think that any state that would elect Jim DeMint twice to the Senate and Nikki Haley as their governor deserves our Stephen.

He is FAR too valuable to us as a faux conservative comedic pundit to waste him on South Carolina. 

In other words, South Carolina's loss is America's gain.

South Carolina Senator Jim DeMint pulls a "Palin" and leaves office halfway through second term. Well isn't THAT interesting?

So apparently Jim DeMint, conservative Senator and teabagger extraordinaire, has decided that he is done with actual policy making and instead wants to take a job with he Heritage Foundation, a conservative "think tank" that essentially bitches about policies that politicians SHOULD be making.

So this would mean that DeMint would go from actually having an impact on the direction the country is going to just complaining about the direction this country is going. Isn't that kind of a demotion?

This from the Wall Street Journal:

In an interview preceding the succession announcement, Sen. DeMint said he is taking the Heritage job because he sees it as a vehicle to popularize conservative ideas in a way that connects with a broader public. "This is an urgent time," the senator said, "because we saw in the last election we were not able to communicate conservative ideas that win elections." Mr. DeMint, who was a market researcher before he entered politics, said he plans to take the Heritage Foundation's traditional research plus that of think tanks at the state level and "translate those policy papers into real-life demonstrations of things that work." He said, "We want to figure out what works at the local and state level" and give those models national attention. 

Mr. DeMint, an active conservative partisan often at odds with his party's leadership, says he will "protect the integrity of Heritage's research and not politicize the policy component. Heritage is not just another grassroots political group."

Okay is anybody else picking up a strong scent of bullshit here?

WHY would somebody leave their job in the Senate to push and agenda that polls show the majority of Americans are no longer interested in anymore? That is kind of like quitting your job to head up advertising for New Coke after everybody started spitting it out and moving over to Pepsi.

So conspiracy theory time.

Is Jim Demint simply reading the writing on the walls and realizes that the Teabaggers are facing extinction, and that his influence in the Senate will be minimal at best?

Or, is he moving out of the way in a prearranged agreement to open the spot for South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley? (Though doing it now makes little sense.)

Or , and this is my favorite, is there a scandal brewing that DeMint is trying to avoid, and is therefore making himself a smaller target in the hopes that it will disappear?

Well right now I am not at all sure which one of these, if any, are the reason behind this surprising development. However I would be willing to bet that the reason provided is not even close to the actual reasons behind DeMint's decision.

Sarah Palin breaks the trail and the new breed of female politician (Or Mama Grizzlies as she calls them) follows her into absurdity.

When I saw this picture of South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley striking a pose on a dock, more like a wannabe fashion model rather than a serious politician, I thought, "Now where have I seen THAT before?"

And then I remembered.

Oh yeah, how could I forget? This was the shot that Palin posed for that appeared in a Newsweek story on her before she finally dropped her charade and admitted that she had no intention of seriously running for the GOP nomination.

At the time we lambasted her for presenting the female politician as a bimbo, who presents cheescake instead of intelligence, and uses fake breasts and high definition makeup to hide her lack of political gravitas.

And today we are witness to a sitting Governor following the same path.

So is THIS the future of female politicians in America? Has Sarah Palin so dumbed down, and over sexualized, the blueprint for a successful woman entering politics that they must be photogenic and masturbation worthy first, and  qualified to run for office second?

Because if so I cringe to think what the future holds for this country.

The Palin curse continued: The Nikki Haley editon.

Courtesy of the Palmetto Public Record:  

Two well-placed legal experts have independently told Palmetto Public Record they expect the U.S. Department of Justice to issue an indictment against South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley on charges of tax fraud as early as this week. 

A highly ranked federal official has also privately confirmed rumblings of an investigation and possible indictment of the governor, though the official was not aware of the specific timeframe. 

Yesterday, Palmetto Public Record exclusively reported that the Internal Revenue Service has been investigating since March of 2011 the Sikh worship center run by Gov. Haley’s father. At least five lawsuits have been filed against the Sikh Society of South Carolina since 2010, alleging that the group bilked contractors out of nearly $130,000 for the construction of a new temple. 

Gov. Haley is reported to have managed the temple’s finances as late as 2003, and our sources believe any indictment would center on what happened to the missing money. 

As I am sure many of you remember Palin endorsed Haley in May of 2010, and she was one of the few candidates to benefit dramatically from the endorsement and to go on to win her election.

But as we have seen numerous times before, the Palin curse may take some time, but it ALWAYS destroys the host body once infected.

Do you hear that Senator McCain? It is only a matter of time.

That cranky old man from Arizona tries to endorse Mitt Romeny, misses, and endorses President Obama instead.

Personally I cannot imagine why anybody would want the endorsement of John McCain?

The guy chose Sarah Palin for his running mate, how does ANYBODY think he has an ounce of credibility left?

By the way, I think this gaffe is due to the fact that McCain really hates Romney's guts and is just doing this becasue he was pressured into it.

Jon Stewart thanks South Carolina for providing such scandalous distractions.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Thank You, South Carolina - The Race to Replace Disgrace
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

It also looks like Nikki Haley's opponent has taken a lie detector test to prove that HE had nothing to do with spreading the rumors of her sexual indiscretions. Guess who DID NOT volunteer to take the test:

"What are you going to do, start strapping polygraph tests to everybody making an allegation?" Haley said in an interview with a South Carolina television station over the weekend. "I think we need to be practical here."

Though Haley would not agree to take a lie detector test, Bauer did.

Sarah Palin records robocall for South Carolina gubernatorial candidate and "good time girl" Nikki Haley.

According to CNN:

In the robocall launched Thursday, Palin tells voters she is "calling on behalf of my good friend, and a brave and strong conservative woman, Nikki Haley."

Palin says that Haley's rivals are attacking her with "made-up nonsense to try to knock you down."

"Believe me, I've been there," Palin says in the recording. "But you can make your own statement against these unfair attacks, and you can help take back state government, by voting for the real deal (Actually, if I may be so bold as to correct CNN, she says "dill" not "deal") conservative, Nikki Haley on Tuesday."

And I know most of you already know this, but for those who may be joining us late, remember kids "made up nonsense to knock you down" is Palin-speak for "telling the truth that you don't want people to know about."

And speaking of THAT, I wonder if Sister Sarah has had an opportunity to see THIS interesting little video today?




Okay this guy could be completely full of shit.  I have no way of knowing, but after the accusations made by Will Folks, it looks like there might be a very definite pattern forming here. After all it all started for Tiger Woods with just one slutty girl, and we all know how that worked out.