For the Record on the Prisoners in North Korea...

I'm watching MSNBC jerk off Donald Trump over the release of the North Korean prisoners. Having lived through decades of Republicans faking or embellishing things, I know there's a solid chance it isn't all it seems to be. But if it is, it's only because Kim Jong Un IS IN THE SAME FASCIST CABAL AS WE ARE WITH PUTIN. We did this with "Mission Accomplished." We've done this many other times. It usually works.

Just wanted to have that on the record. Enjoy the second coming of Mussolini, folks.

(I'm exaggerating. I hope.)

Late Night Track -- Stoned

Trump Got Served

The Dems are really doing this:

The Democratic National Committee filed a lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan Friday against President Trump’s campaign, some of his allies and associates, as well as Russians and Wikileaks. The suit alleges that the Russian effort to meddle in the 2016 election was a racketeering enterprise.

The complaint details the various alleged connections Trump associates had with Russians. It relies on information that has been released via Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, as well as on media reports.

President Trump is not a named defendant in the lawsuit, but his son Donald Trump Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner, longtime ally Roger Stone and former campaign chairman Paul Manafort are. Manafort deputy and ex-campaign aide Rick Gates is a defendant, as is former campaign advisor George Papadopoulos. Both pleaded guilty in Mueller’s probe and are currently cooperating with it.

Among the other defendants are the Russian Federation, its intelligence entity the GRU, the hacker Guccifer 2.0, Wikileaks and Julian Assange. Aras and Emin Agalarov — the father-son Russians who helped Trump bring his Miss Universe pageant to Moscow in 2013 —  are also defendants.

The complaint zeroes in on the hacking of the DNC during the 2016 campaign. It alleges that the hack involved violations of the Wiretap Act and the Stored Communications Act.

Either they're acting totally out of character, or they feel they've got Trump dead to rights. It's a beautiful move.

No one thing (the 2018 midterms, Mueller, Congressional investigations, Stormy Daniels, Eric Schneiderman, the Southern District of New York, the press) will take Trump down. They all feed each other, and now the DNC is throwing lawyers and civil courts into the mix.

Well played, Mr. Perez.


UPDATE (3:01 PM EDT): The Dems aren't the only ones getting in on the lawsuit act:

Former Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe is planning to sue the Trump administration for defamation and wrongful termination, according to multiple media reports Friday.

McCabe’s lawyer Michael Bromwich told reporters that McCabe is also considering filing other civil claims.

At least Trump's got Rudy to protect him.

All of the Comey Memos, In Audio Form

The AP picked up Comey's memos and Josh Marshall shared them on Twitter.

However, they're a slog, so I decided to do you all a favor.

Click here to download me reading all of the memos.

I did it all in one take, but I think it came out well (thought I've only listened to a second of it).

Late Night Track -- Mother Mother

Thread of the Day -- Illegitimate

From Gotham Girl Blue:

2/ I know a lot of people are tired of “re-litigating” 2016, but I think we keep going back to it because:
• it’s traumatic
• it’s a wound
• it’s not healing

— GothamGirlBlue (@GothamGirlBlue) April 17, 2018

*SNIP*

9/ And the toughest question from 2016: is this government legitimate? What confers legitimacy? Can legitimate power be conferred by corrupt processes?

— GothamGirlBlue (@GothamGirlBlue) April 17, 2018

10/ These questions are the same in meaning and scope as the ones posed at our Founding and the ones faced during the Civil War. What does representative government mean, and what does it require?

— GothamGirlBlue (@GothamGirlBlue) April 17, 2018

These points are profound, yet basic and apparently eternal.

I've been saying for a while that in nearly every other contest in life that has rules, if someone cheats to win and are found out, the contest usually gets turned over. Why not in the most important contest in the entire world? GothamGirlBlue makes that case much more effectively:

18/ We did not have an answer for nullification, but we decided it. We did not have an answer for secession, but we decided it. We do not have an answer for a president indebted to a foreign power for his election; we will decide it.

— GothamGirlBlue (@GothamGirlBlue) April 17, 2018

That's the money shot.

Click on the tweets or here for the whole thread.

Late Night Track -- This Is Love

Thread of the Day -- Fascism: Coming to a TV Near You

The good folks at Crooks and Liars have posted a really frightening video of the effect Sinclair's assimilation of more and more television stations is having on local news throughout the United States:

 It's unbelievable, but that's real. It's right out of 1984. 
I'm not sure what we can do about this, but getting the word out about which local affiliates are being forced to do deliver these messages is definitely the first step. And Julia Haber has done just that:

To fight back against Sinclair's "State TV" we must first know which stations are theirs!

Here's a state-by-state thread of all the stations owned or operated by Sinclair Broadcasting Group.

LET'S EDUCATE EVERYONE before it's too late. #Resist

Source: https://t.co/1fa5ykVhZw

— Julia Haber (@juliabhaber) April 1, 2018

Click through to find out if the stations you watch are affected.

Today's #MarchForOurLives

Sorry for the lack of posting lately; I've been on the road for two weeks and have another week ahead of me before things return to relative normal. I'm on the move again right now, but didn't want to let the day go by without acknowledging all of the amazing people, led by teenagers, protesting against the NRA and the gun agenda -- it was great to see a ton of pussy hats in Grand Central Terminal this morning! So, here are some scenes I've seen on Twitter:

pic.twitter.com/m8CKDXO8ED

— stephen (@ericserati68) March 24, 2018

Best sign at #MarchForOurLivesPhilly #NeverAgain #YouthPower pic.twitter.com/UxcuwG8de7

— Julie Slavet (@JulieSlavet) March 24, 2018

March For Our Lives will destroy the slime in DC & State Legislatures who are terrified of the NRA but expect children to be quiet when they are massacred.@CivilScream #MarchForOurLives pic.twitter.com/8cazDYlQED

— USMC (@johnpmcneil02) March 24, 2018

Shoutout to the over 800 sibling marches across the country and around the world! #MarchForOurLives 🙌 pic.twitter.com/v1MvzyY6fB

— March For Our Lives (@AMarch4OurLives) March 24, 2018

#MarchForOurLives #MarchForOurLivesBoston @SenMarkey @SenWarren @BUSPH @HarvardChanSPH @harvardmed @BrighamWomens pic.twitter.com/WBaZolVOf2

— Michael Sinha M.D., J.D. (@DrSinhaEsq) March 24, 2018

Busy morning in Washington D.C. #MarchForOurLives 📷: Photographed by @AndresKudacki pic.twitter.com/3c6Q6jyJMy

— The Cut (@TheCut) March 24, 2018

Not kidding! Seriously lot of people here at the march in #Vegas. Have never seen this many at a march here!#GOPCorruptAF #LGBT #LGBTQ #Resist #TheResistance #MarchForOurLives pic.twitter.com/fN8MmuJyUe

— Desert Blue Wave 🏳️‍🌈 (@DesertBlueWave) March 24, 2018

Earworm of the Afternoon -- Thought She'd Be Mine