In Trump ....We Trust

[jeanvaljean]

I wonder if the wiretap might backfire on the FBI.

This quote was from Breitbart, so take it with the usual mountain of salt:



I tend to predict that the possible illegality of the wiretap will blow over due to the broad definition of "inadvertent."

That quote you posted did not bring up the possibility of the wiretap being illegal. It says right there that it's legal because they were spying on the Russians at the time, not Flynn.

[jeanvaljean]

My money is on Sewer Rat Barbie. Her "endorsement" of Ivanka put her in trouble with the boys from Ethics and she's currently more of an embarrassment to Trump than Beltway Sean, even though he's been made a laughingstock by Melissa McCarthy on SNL.

Plus, with Morning Joe saying "we won't let her on the show anymore because she lies and she is out of the loop" other media may follow, and she won't have any value left for Trump.

[numberthirty]

Plus, with Morning Joe saying "we won't let her on the show anymore because she lies and she is out of the loop" other media may follow, and she won't have any value left for Trump.

It's not even that it's their policy going forward. It's that it looks like it may already have been policy without them feeling the need to mention it until Conway started seriously flubbing.

There's no telling how many other folks may have been on the same page.

[Iron Maiden]

Well, this didn't take long. With his tenure already in turmoil, Trump falls back on the bread and circuses strategy like the Emperors of Rome and decides that it's time for one of his rallies. I knew he'd find a way to continue this ego stroking favorite of his.
Unable to do much else but tweet and sign executive orders, he goes back to things that he knows how to do. It's not like much is going on at the White House these days. Also, looks like he's already campaigning for 2020. This one will be held at the Orlando airport.

The president is taking the permanent campaign to new levels with a political rally in Florida—the latest sign that he’s already planning for a second term.

The idea of a “permanent campaign” has been floating around American political circles since 1980, when Sidney Blumenthal used it as the title for a book. It was during the presidency of Bill Clinton, whom Blumenthal advised, that the idea really came into practice. Even by the standards of modern-day presidents, Clinton loved politicking, and his team held on to campaign methods once in the White House, famously calling on polling to help determine its course. Newt Gingrich helped Republicans capture the House in 1994, in part by adopting the same tactics. Each of Clinton’s successors has adopted the permanent-campaign mentality to some degree.
Yet Trump’s choice to hold a campaign rally less than a month into his presidency breaks new ground. Where his predecessors practiced electoral politics between cycles, none was willing to do so as baldly, as quickly, as Trump. Barack Obama realized, like Trump, that he thrived off large audiences, and he made liberal use of the major speech, even early in his term: In February 2009, he made several trips to promote the stimulus package and his agenda. But Obama’s events were political by implication, while outwardly aimed at boosting specific policies.

Trump by contrast is planning a straightforward campaign-style rally on Saturday. It’s at an airport, in a swing state, and it’s being advertised through his campaign website. His press secretary even called it a campaign event. Making the event a campaign event rather than a speech might afford Trump greater flexibility in who he allows to attend and who he excludes. It means that the Trump campaign will likely pick up some of the travel tab, rather than taxpayers. But it might also grant Trump more leeway to make straightforwardly political arguments and attacks that it might be unseemly for a president to make at an official event—though Trump has shown such little regard for those unwritten rules that it’s hard to imagine he could be significantly more strident.

[Shining Trapezohedron]

So this is what Trump said about Anti-semitism rising in the US, while standing next to Netanyahu



wat

[WestPhillyPunisher]

So this is what Trump said about Anti-semitism rising in the US, while standing next to Netanyahu



wat

Cheeto Jesus ran off at the mouth but didn't say a goddamn thing. Lord knows he didn't say jack **** about the issue of racism and xenophobia which was the crux of that reporter's question, nor did I expect him to since Trump stoked all that madness in the first place. I'm sure Netanyahu must've been wondering just what sort of mental midget he's dealing with.

[IheartBatman]

So this is what Trump said about Anti-semitism rising in the US, while standing next to Netanyahu



wat

Interesting. Do you have the link to the full interview?

[Carabas]

Well, this didn't take long. With his tenure already in turmoil, Trump falls back on the bread and circuses strategy like the Emperors of Room and decides that it's time for one of his rallies. I knew he'd find a way to continue this ego stroking favorite of his.
Unable to do much else but tweet and sign executive orders, he goes back to things that he knows how to do. It's not like much is going on at the White House these days. Also, looks like he's already campaigning for 2020. This one will be held at the Orlando airport.

I think it is less campaigning for 2020 and more him really liking those rallies to the point he's gotten a bit of an adiction. It is after all him on a stage being his horrible self with a fairly huge amount of people chanting his name in praise.

Seems to me that for somebody like Trump, campaigning for president is a lot more fun than being president, or at least hopelesly trying to be president.

[Iron Maiden]

I think it is less campaigning for 2020 and more him really liking those rallies to the point he's gotten a bit of an adiction. It is after all him on a stage being his horrible self with a fairly huge amount of people chanting his name in praise.

Seems to me that for somebody like Trump, campaigning for president is a lot more fun than being president, or at least hopelesly trying to be president.

Emperors of Room? What the hell was I thinking (sometimes I think there's a berserk autospeller here )

I totally agree. It's a giant ego fest. Bread and circuses but I doubt Trump will be handing out bread. It's been said before, the dog chases the car and having caught it now just wants to do the chase part over and over again.


With him staying up all night on Twitter, Melania in NYC you have to wonder what's going on with his "night maneuvers"

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I think it is less campaigning for 2020 and more him really liking those rallies to the point he's gotten a bit of an adiction. It is after all him on a stage being his horrible self with a fairly huge amount of people chanting his name in praise.

Seems to me that for somebody like Trump, campaigning for president is a lot more fun than being president, or at least hopelesly trying to be president.

That makes a lot of sense. In a way, Trump is the living embodiment of that old saying, "Getting there is half the fun". Being in campaign mode was a huge rush for Darth Orange, but now that it's over, he misses the thrill that came from being in front of a sympathetic crowd where he's showered with unconditional adoration, something he's not getting in the Oval Office where it's just one headache after another. It wouldn't shock or surprise me if Cheeto Jesus does this on a monthly basis, or after any particularly rough stretch at work and he needs to get away from the swamp and have his ego stroked by his legion of sycophants. Bread and circuses indeed.

[Iron Maiden]

That makes a lot of sense. In a way, Trump is the living embodiment of that old saying, "Getting there is half the fun". Being in campaign mode was a huge rush for Darth Orange, but now that it's over, he misses the thrill that came from being in front of a sympathetic crowd where he's showered with unconditional adoration, something he's not getting in the Oval Office where it's just one headache after another. It wouldn't shock or surprise me if Cheeto Jesus does this on a monthly basis, or after any particularly rough stretch at work and he needs to get away from the swamp and have his ego stroked by his legion of sycophants. Bread and circuses indeed.

I would be willing to make a small wager on this coming to pass. He already started a campaign fund for he re-election back in January. It's sort of a rollover from last year and they continued to take donations.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

I would be willing to make a small wager on this coming to pass. He already started a campaign fund for he re-election back in January. It's sort of a rollover from last year and they continued to take donations.

Re-election my ass. Trump will be in a straitjacket before 2019 rolls around. He's already going apeshit after just one MONTH in office, can you imagine how crazed he'll be after three YEARS?

[ImprobableQuestion]

That makes a lot of sense. In a way, Trump is the living embodiment of that old saying, "Getting there is half the fun". Being in campaign mode was a huge rush for Darth Orange, but now that it's over, he misses the thrill that came from being in front of a sympathetic crowd where he's showered with unconditional adoration, something he's not getting in the Oval Office where it's just one headache after another. It wouldn't shock or surprise me if Cheeto Jesus does this on a monthly basis, or after any particularly rough stretch at work and he needs to get away from the swamp and have his ego stroked by his legion of sycophants. Bread and circuses indeed.

This is the perfect distraction from his current scandal. Don't be surprised if this rally is the Reichstag Fire he needs to silence all his enemies.

[aja_christopher]

"We should not — and cannot — trust this man." A CIA vet on Trump's feud with US spies."


Sean Illing
Have we entered uncharted territory?

Glenn Carle
The narrow answer is yes, but it's much more than that. The real issue is what I've been saying [here and here] in public for many months: We are facing the gravest threat to our institutions and our government since 1861, since the country broke in half. This is a graver crisis than Watergate, which was about corruption, not the usurpation of our laws and our checks and balances. It's graver than World War II, when Hitler never actually threatened our institutions or occupation of Washington.

So this goes back to 1861. It's a huge societal and institutional crisis. We're dealing with a man in Trump who doesn't accept a fact-based reality, who only acts for his own self-aggrandizement, and who views any action that does not serve him as a threat that must be destroyed. And, on top of that, his team appears to have been colluding with Russian intelligence services.

This is a massive crisis for our norms and our Constitution, and we have to say so.

Sean Illing
Republicans like Rep. Devin Nunes, who chairs the Intelligence Committee, seem to be more concerned with the source of the leaks than with the revelations themselves. Perhaps there is a belief that these leaks are an act of retaliation by the intelligence community. How do you see it? Are intelligence officials pushing back out of a sense of obligation? Do they think he’s dangerous?

Glenn Carle
These sorts of accusations are outrageous and part of the problem. It's shocking to see such a betrayal of the oaths these people took to serve the nation. With only a handful of exceptions, nearly every Republican has marched in lockstep to protect their leader because it allows them to pursue their agenda — tax cuts for the rich, increasing voter restrictions on minority districts, the elimination of entitlement programs, etc.

So they have clearly put personal professional advantage ahead of their oaths."

Sean Illing
Now the talking point seems to be that we should be more concerned about the leaks than the actual revelations.

Glenn Carle
Again, that's totally outrageous. To say that the leaks are the real issue is like saying the guy who reported that he saw someone set fire to a building had dirty shoes. It's an egregious misdirection of attention.

Sean Illing
Do you think people in the intelligence community trust Donald Trump? Should they trust him?

Glenn Carle
No, of course not. We all should know this man very well at this point: If something seems to create an issue for him, he will denounce, denigrate, and attempt to destroy the person or the entity responsible for creating it. That's it. The law doesn't count for Donald Trump. Social convention doesn't count for Donald Trump. Institutional practices don't count for Donald Trump. Only Donald Trump counts for Donald Trump. Nothing else matters.

So no, we should not — and cannot — trust this man."

http://www.vox.com/conversations/201...ia-white-house

[Iron Maiden]

Re-election my ass. Trump will be in a straitjacket before 2019 rolls around. He's already going apeshit after just one MONTH in office, can you imagine how crazed he'll be after three YEARS?

I think the GOP is going to prop him up as long as they can to get their agenda passed. They'll be safe with Pence taking over. And the chances of getting a big change in the House for mid term don't look good with all the gerrymandering that's gone on.

Either he's going to resign (they could always convince him to use some bogus reason like his health) or a possibly impeached depending how much comes out on the Russian connection. I wouldn't put it past Putin to turn loose the Golden Shower tapes if they exist just to put things into chaos. I think he's got Trump by the short and curlies.