ABOUT THE RUSSIAN CONNECTIONS AND MICHAEL FLYNN

Just six days into his presidency, Donald Trump was informed his national security adviser had misled his vice president about contacts with Russia. Trump kept his No. 2 in the dark and waited nearly three weeks before ousting the aide, Michael Flynn, citing a slow but steady erosion of trust, White House officials said.

Flynn was interviewed by the FBI about his telephone conversations with Russia's ambassador to the U.S., a sign his ties to Russia had caught the attention of law enforcement officials.

Though the WH had known about Flynn's discussions with the Russians since January 26, when they were informed by acting-AG Sally Yates and another official that he was vulnerable to blackmail, no one bothered to inform Pence.  Yet he was sent out to defend Flynn publicly in a TV interview and declare the conversations about sanctions had not happened.

Pence, who had vouched for Flynn in a televised interview, is said to have been angry and deeply frustrated.

How many ways to say out of the loop?  Team Trump humiliated Pence, and now he is angry.  Still, I expect he's not angry enough to resign his potted plant position in the Trump maladministration, because he is the gentleman-in-waiting should something go wrong.

According to the "retelling" from the White House, Flynn had done nothing illegal, but his downfall came because he lied to WH officials. Why was the erosion of trust in Flynn "slow and steady"?  Trump values loyalty above all.  It seems not to matter if his close advisers do not know what the hell they are doing or whether they tell the truth.  Why would truth matter when the boss lies repeatedly? Thus, loyalty trumps everything else, even if the result is chaos and certain staff members are thrown under the bus.

What about Kellyanne Conway?  What did she know, and when did she know it?  Conway is the most visible of Trump's loyal supporters defending him on TV.  Is she out of the loop, too?  A couple of hours before the information about Flynn's "resignation", she said the security adviser had Trump's "full confidence".

If you'd like to walk through the looking glass with Matt Lauer and his interview with Kellyanne Conway this morning, you may or may not find the answer to the question about whether she was out of the loop.

I confess that I was dizzy, rather than enlightened by the walk, but that's just me.

Here's the video of the interview. Conway's ability to remain upright through this long spin is amazing.

THAT NICE ROMNEY LAD

BILL LUMAYE: I’m going to ask something I think a lot of people want to know, or at least I do. What is it like for you to hear the President of the United States call your dad a liar. How do you react to that? 

TAGG ROMNEY: Jump out of your seat and you want to rush down to the debate stage and take a swing at him. But you know you can’t do that because… Well, first there is a lot of Secret Service between you and him but also because this is the nature of the process.

As Melissa in the comments said:

Huh. I thought violent people weren't supposed to come from two parent households.

Seemingly, respect for the office of President of the United States was not high on the training agenda for the five Romney lads, or perhaps Tagg models his dad.  We all saw during the second debate that Mitt treated President Barack Obama like one of "the help".  Like father, like son? 

Full interview with Tagg Romney at Think Progress.

THE TRUTH ABOUT ROMNEY'S HEALTH CARE PLAN

Eric Fehrnstrom, a Romney advisor, admitted that if Obamacare is repealed, those with pre-existing conditions would probably not be able to purchase health insurance.  The individual states would first have to pass laws to prevent insurance companies from excluding the sick from coverage.  Romney's plan would only assure that those who have insurance would continue to be covered.

The admission directly contradicts the GOP candidate’s claim during the debate that “pre-existing conditions are covered under my plan” — a contention Romney has repeated on the trail and that his campaign has repeatedly walked back. 

In other words Romney lies, and even his own campaign staff admit it.

UPDATE: Or as Margaret at Margaret and Helen says:

Well Margaret, once again I am going to say what the media won’t. Mitt Romney is a lying sack of shit and he wouldn’t know a middle class tax cut if it bit him in the middle of his gold plated ass. Evidently the media seems to think that the person who slings the bullshit the farthest wins the debate. Well if that ain’t the damnest thing.

NOTHING TO DO WITH THE DEFICIT

From Media Matters:

STEVE DOOCY: And the thing about it that was audacious was the fact that he [Sen. Harry Reid] was talking about Planned Parenthood being this great provider where women can get blood pressure checks, and pap smears, and breast --

BRIAN KILMEADE: Which you can get at Walgreens.

DOOCY: --examinations. Exactly right.

Where does Walgreen's do the paps and breast exams? Under the counter? In a back room? Right in the open on the floor of the store?

Who does the exams? The pharmacist? The manager? The clerk at checkout? The person who restocks the shelves?

But wait!

"Neither Walgreens, nor its in-store healthcare clinics, Take Care Clinics, offer pap smears or breast exams," Take Care Clinic spokeswoman Lauren Nestler told Media Matters after being emailed the segment.

The clinics, which are a subsidiary of Walgreens, offer health services like flu vaccines and blood pressure screening at 350 Walgreens stores.

What is your response to these lies?

a) Kill me now.
b) I'm leaving the country
c) I'm deeply depressed
d) Other

H/T to Atrios, who says this:

Nothing that's going on in Washington has anything to do with the deficit. People concerned with the deficit would be concerned with jobs. Also, too, nobody cares about the deficit.

And this:

It appears all the serious people believe the unemployment situation has been solved.

I suspect they're wrong.

And ain't that two mouthsful of truth?