Trump 13: More Scandal, More Fun. Yay! :/

[GreyhoundFan]

49 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

I just had to post this article. Not even for what it says, which is interesting enough, but mostly for the name of one of the law students. 

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/us-congress-donald-trump-remove-us-president-impeachment-constitution-25th-amendment-mental-health-a7618241.html

Wouldn't it be the absolute best joke of all if the Parasitic President and his cronie Breitbart Bannon would be brought down by a law student named Nayak and his crony Breidbart? 

Yes, this was brought up a few weeks ago in the WaPo and NYT. Sadly, there's no way that the sycophants who are "leading" Congress will step up and take action against the tangerine toddler.

 

"This is the single worst quote in the entire Trump wiretapping mess"

Quote

...

But, the worst thing that came out of this whole wiretapping mess is this quote from a White House official, reported by Mike Allen of Axios

“The president just has a great nose for these things. Even if it turns out not to be true that they surveilled Trump Tower, he will have a very good point to make about the level of sabotage coming from Obama holdovers.”

Even. If. It. Turns. Out. Not. To. Be. True.

Look, I am a cynical guy. It comes from covering electoral politics for the last 20 years. But the astounding cynicism of that quote surprised even me. What that unidentified White House aide is saying is that even if the current president of the United States actually made up a very serious allegation against his predecessor, it would be a good thing because it would have injected the idea that the remnants of the Obama administration are trying to poison the well for Trump.

... (there is a great GIF in the article here)...

Under this logic, Trump can say and do anything — even if he knows it's not based in fact — because it has the potential to be good for him politically. His base believes in the idea of the “Deep State” — the cabal of reporters and establishment types who control everything and have screwed up the country for years — and so charges about what the Deep State is allegedly doing will always work, even if there is no truth to them.

...

 

[fraurosena]

There is a Deep State. I'm quite convinced of it.

Only it's not the FAKE Deep State that the Tangerine Toddler is trying to establish in the minds of the Branch Trumpvidians.
No, the REAL Deep State is the Russian Connection.
You know, that interconnected, intricate spiderweb, that is now slowly but surely being unravelled, showing it to be much, much larger and insidious than anyone thought possible.

 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Interesting op-ed from a former CIA and NSA director: "How Trump Undermines Intelligence Gathering". I especially liked the following:

Quote

...

 

The president has asserted that the leaking will stop “because now we have our people in,” a choice of words that creates more than a little shudder in the ranks of intelligence professionals, who prefer to work in the background for presidents, Democratic or Republican.

Mr. Trump may not appreciate the size of that community — 17 separate agencies, more than 100,000 workers, from analysts to computer programmers to case officers. So far he has put in place only Mike Pompeo, the director of the C.I.A., while his choice for director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, awaits confirmation.

He may also not appreciate that new presidents rarely make major changes to the intelligence agencies, a tradition of treating the intelligence community as apolitical professionals that has been handed down from administration to administration for decades. In 2009 only I, the director of the C.I.A., and Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, were quickly swapped out. President Obama even personally intervened to keep in place the rest of the C.I.A. team that served President George W. Bush. In 2001 President Bush replaced no one.

...

 

[fraurosena]

The corruption and collusion goes ever on and on:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/ivanka-trump-landlord-washington-dc-chilean-billionaire-andr-nico-luksic-suing-government-mine-jared-a7619861.html

Quote

Ivanka Trump’s landlord is a Chilean billionaire suing the US government over a multi-billion dollar mine, it has emerged.

Donald Trump’s daughter, and husband Jared Kushner, who is a senior adviser to the US President, started renting a $5.5 million home in Washington DC around the time of the inauguration.

The ultimate owner, Andrónico Luksic, is lobbying the government to persuade it to give the green light for a huge and environmentally controversial mine in Minnesota. It raises yet more questions over Mr Trump’s family ties to big global business and its potential to corrupt the administration.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports how Tracy DC Real Estate Inc, which Mr Luksic owns, bought the six-bedroom house in the Kalorama neighbourhood in late December. The famous couple moved in towards the end of January after a broker, according to a White House spokesman, “put it all together”. But the newspaper claims the house was not listed for rent on the Metropolitan Regional Information System, which advertises listings. Trevor Potter, a Republican lawyer who chaired the Federal Election Commission, said: “To me, the favour is having a house made available to them on short notice.”

Now, that all seems like favoritism, which is a lousy thing to do, but in the grand scheme of things a bit 'meh'. However, it's about what Luksic will want in return for this favor that makes things more than reprehensible:

Quote

In September, Twin Metals Minnesota LLC, a Luksic firm, sued the US government in a federal court over the preliminary move by the Interior Department to deny renewals of two mineral leases.

In its waning days in December, the Barack Obama administration officially blocked the leases, despite the firm reportedly spending $160,000 on lobbying Congress.

It means another Luksic company, Antogagasta PLC, cannot tap into an estimated $40bn in minerals. The area sits on US Forest Service land, next to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which is a 1.1m acre tract of lakes and forest protected by government since 1926.

A Twin Metals spokesman told WSJ it has asked Mr Trump’s team to reverse the mineral-lease decision.

The fact Mr Luksic is effectively providing a roof over Mr Trump’s daughter’s head may raise questions over whether the US President owes the South American tycoon anything in return.

 

[fraurosena]

What the fuck? I mean... what the fuck?

David Friedman: Man who said liberal Jews are worse than Nazi collaborators named new US Ambassador to Israel

Seriously. What.the.fuck?

[Audrey2]

Historians generally mention the administrations of Ulysses Grant and Warren Harding as being the most filled by corrupt cronies. Trump's administration will make them look like Pius Sunday School teachers!

[Cartmann99]

I read yesterday that Team Trump doesn't like that people are calling the new healthcare plan Trumpcare. Fine. I'll call it TrumpedUpCare. Happy now?

[fraurosena]

Personally, I like Chumpcare. 

[Penny]

7 minutes ago, Cartmann99 said:

I read yesterday that Team Trump doesn't like that people are calling the new healthcare plan Trumpcare. Fine. I'll call it TrumpedUpCare. Happy now?

How about Don't cover me when I am sick care? 

[fraurosena]

Oh, how I would love to be a fly on the wall if and when the Tangerine Toddler gets served, in the WH. Or better yet, at the WWH, where the paying guests can catch it on their phones for all the world to see!

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/03/dc-wine-bar-sues-trump-unfair-competition

Quote

A Washington, DC, wine bar is suing President Donald Trump over his nearby hotel, which it claims has an "unfair" competitive advantage that violates the hotel's lease with the federal government. The owners of Cork Wine Bar, located 1.5 miles north of the Trump International Hotel, announced at a press conference this morning that they have filed a lawsuit alleging that the power of Trump's public office and simultaneous ownership of the restaurants at his Pennsylvania Avenue hotel are hurting other restaurants and bars in Washington for his personal benefit.

[...]

The lawsuit is not related to a lawsuit filed in New York City in January alleging that Trump is violating the Constitution's Emoluments Clause, which prohibits federal officials from recieving financial benefits from foreign governments. The new suit does not seek any monetary damages, just a court order mandating that the unfair competition be halted.

"That could be divestment, it could be the president resigns, or it could be the hotel or restaurant stops functioning," said Mark Zaid, one of the attorneys for the couple and their restaurant.

[...]

Although Trump pledged to remove himself from the daily operation of his businesses, he is still the majority owner of the hotel—his adult children have a small stake in the operation—which means he is also named personally in the lawsuit. Presidents are shielded from lawsuits against actions they have taken in their official capacity but can be sued for activities undertaken as private citizens. For the case to proceed, Trump will have to be served with the lawsuit personally.

 

[iweartanktops]

17 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

"The Trump White House is totally changing its tune on wiretapping and hoping you don’t notice"

Tweet first and think second...the only problem with that is the tangerine toddler is incapable of rational thought.

 

"21 times Donald Trump has assured us he respects women". Too many Tweets to copy, but it's an interesting read.

 

 

Oh, silly, silly @onekidanddone, not only will it be the ebil media's fault, but also Obama's and Hillary's fault.

What the fuck? What's his deal with always being the MOST respectful, the LEAST racist, the LEAST anti-semitic, etc.? It's fucking weird. It creeps me out! It's like me walking up to my employer and saying, "I'm the LEAST likely to hurt your child." Um... 

[sawasdee]

Excellent article by Nicholas Kristof (double Pulitzer winner) on the dots that are connecting on the tRump -Russia connections. He is admirably balanced, and  - for me - really can't be argued with.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/09/opinion/connecting-trumps-dots-to-russia.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=opinion-c-col-right-region&region=opinion-c-col-right-region&WT.nav=opinion-c-col-right-region&_r=0

In the comments, there are references to two things which intrigued me.

1. That the voting machines in use in this election - in many cases,purchased hurriedly, after the  'hanging chad' debacle in 2000 - were very easily hacked - even wirelessly, from the next room. Recorded votes could very easily be changed.

2. The even greater influence of money in this election, since the SCOTUS declared political donations to be a form of free speech - even anonymous donations from overseas can be funnelled through PACs.

The UK is BY NO MEANS perfect, but this I do think is handled more fairly.

1. We don't use machines. We use paper ballots. You can register to vote online. When on the electoral roll, you receive a postcard through the mail, which you produce at the polling station, and are then given your voting slip.

All those on the ballot may have observers at every polling station, and they may accompany the sealed ballot boxes to the place where the votes are to be counted. Again, observers from all on the ballot may attend.

It's a very simple system, and I don't think has changed since we first had the secret ballot in 1872. It is also not too vulnerable to any outside interference.

2.Our campaigns are very short - usually three weeks. We don't have primaries. There are strict limits on how much an individual candidate may spend, and exceeding them will lead to a bye election. The amount may vary according to factors such as geographical size of constituency, size of electorate, etc. Admittedly, we only vote for our local candidate in national elections - not our Prime Minister, who, depending on party, is elected by Members of Parliament, Party members, and in the case of the Labour Party, trade unions affiliated to the party. However, we do usually know the leader BEFORE the election - so we sort of know what we are getting! (And there is a Party Manifesto - I once saw Margaret Thatcher's Conservative Party Manifesto shelved with fairy tales in an Edinburgh bookstore...)

There are no paid TV commercials. Rather, each party gets a certain amount of free air time on both tv and radio - Party Political Broadcasts - typically in ten minute segments.  This does at least allow for policies to be explained more than in a 60 second commercial - but I'm afraid for a lot of Brits it's time to go and make a cup of tea....* They have to hold at least one seat in a regional, national or the European Parliament to qualify for this airtime.

There is also spending by the central party on billboards, newspapers, the internet etc - but for the party as a whole, not individual candidates. Donations over UKP7,500 must be declared.

This means that money does not play as great a role, and that corporate and union donations are easily visible.

It ain't perfect. But I think the abbreviated campaign, the caps on spending and the confidence in the transparency of the count help lead to a relatively higher turnout than the US - turnout, not burnout!

(I couldn't live with your more than a year presidential primaries/elections, and then congress only two years later - no wonder so many get completely bored with politics if they are not initially engaged!

ETA Sorry for the wall o' text!

*A study once showed that water usage increased enormously as a Party Political Broadcast came on - as the nation went to the loo and filled the kettle!

[onekidanddone]

57 minutes ago, iweartanktops said:

What the fuck? What's his deal with always being the MOST respectful, the LEAST racist, the LEAST anti-semitic, etc.? It's fucking weird. It creeps me out! It's like me walking up to my employer and saying, "I'm the LEAST likely to hurt your child." Um... 

I'm the least likely to run through the office naked drinking a big gulp of vodka.  Or I'm the least person here who could run up even one flight of stairs.  The the MOST person in the world who looks like me.

[Audrey2]

2 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

I read yesterday that Team Trump doesn't like that people are calling the new healthcare plan Trumpcare. Fine. I'll call it TrumpedUpCare. Happy now?

No. If all we heard from Republicans and Trump was the term Obamacare for the Affordable Care Act, then this is Trumpcare. (How funny - my phone autocorrects this to truncate.) You write it, you support it, you sell it, you pass it, you own it. It's your mess. The blood of the low income people who will be pushed off of Medicaid is on your hands. Man up and call it Trumpcare. (I'm saving the term Ryancare for the mess he wants to make out of Medicare.)

[onekidanddone]

1 hour ago, iweartanktops said:

What the fuck? What's his deal with always being the MOST respectful, the LEAST racist, the LEAST anti-semitic, etc.? It's fucking weird. It creeps me out! It's like me walking up to my employer and saying, "I'm the LEAST likely to hurt your child." Um... 

Least likely to hurt my child? Oh fuck no. I don't want him with in 4,000 miles of my kid.  Sadly we live closer than that.

[GreyhoundFan]

54 minutes ago, onekidanddone said:

I'm the least likely to run through the office naked drinking a big gulp of vodka.  Or I'm the least person here who could run up even one flight of stairs.  The the MOST person in the world who looks like me.

I'm most likely to put $100,000 in my swear jar in the next year.

 

10 minutes ago, Audrey2 said:

No. If all we heard from Republicans and Trump was the term Obamacare for the Affordable Care Act, then this is Trumpcare. (How funny - my phone autocorrects this to truncate.) You write it, you support it, you sell it, you pass it, you own it. It's your mess. The blood of the low income people who will be pushed off of Medicaid is on your hands. Man up and call it Trumpcare. (I'm saving the term Ryancare for the mess he wants to make out of Medicare.)

I'm going with Ryancareless, because it's less care for more money.

 

I hope the weasel's words DO come back to bite Agent Orange: "Stephen Miller’s Fox News interview is coming back to haunt President Trump"

Quote

The state of Hawaii has filed the first legal challenge to President Trump's revised travel ban, arguing that “this second executive order is infected with the same legal problems as the first order — undermining bedrock constitutional and statutory guarantees.”

One piece of evidence submitted to support Hawaii's case is a Feb. 21 interview White House senior policy adviser Stephen Miller granted to Fox News. Here's an excerpt from Hawaii's lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Honolulu:

Miller told Fox News that the new travel ban would have the same effect as the old one. He said: “Fundamentally, you're still going to have the same basic policy outcome for the country, but you're going to be responsive to a lot of very technical issues that were brought up by the court, and those will be addressed. But, in terms of protecting the country, those basic policies are still going to be in effect.”

We don't know how the federal court in Hawaii will weigh Miller's remarks. But we do know that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit (Hawaii is on the 9th Circuit, by the way) did factor public remarks by Trump and his surrogates into its decision last month to keep implementation of the original travel ban on hold.

...

I bet the tangerine toddler will lay on the floor, kicking and screaming if the courts stop him again!

[fraurosena]

 

Well, that's because it's Obama's fault, of course! Sheesh! 

[GreyhoundFan]

1 minute ago, fraurosena said:

 

Well, that's because it's Obama's fault, of course! Sheesh! 

They're only laying off those people because of Hillary's emails.

[fraurosena]

Ugh. I don't know why this stuff still surprises me..

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-secret-hires-white-house-government-allies-conspiracy-theorists-a7620826.html

Quote

Donald Trump has secretly hired hundreds of allies within US government to act as 'eyes and ears' [and has]  hired 36 former lobbyists, despite his campaign trail pledge to 'drain the swamp' of corporate influence. [...]

Among those taken on are a number of far-right commentators associated with the pro-Trump news site, Breitbart, a former reality TV show contestant and a supporter who has only recently graduated from high school. [...]

Among the more notable appointments is Curtis Ellis, now a special assistant to the Labour Secretary.Mr Ellis is a former columnist for WorldNetDaily, a news site best known for its promotion of the “birther” movement, which sought to discredit President Obama by claiming he was born outside the United States. 

He made headlines last year after he wrote a column suggesting that Mr Obama and Hillary Clinton were conspiring to commit “ethnic cleansing” of “white working people”.

But Mr Ellis is one of around 520 people employed by the White House in January on contracts which would last between four and eight months. Many of these roles have the potential to be made permanent. At the time they were described in some quarters as “beachhead” teams - named after the line of defense that the military constructs as it lands in enemy territory. Their role was to ensure that President Obama’s appointees would not be able to obstruct his successor's policies.

While many remain in their roles, hundreds of jobs which require Senate confirmation remain unfilled. The President has previously implied this is deliberate. “A lot of those jobs, I don’t want to appoint someone because they’re unnecessary to have,” Mr Trump said. “In government, we have too many people.”

On the campaign trail, Mr Trump vowed to fight corruption in Washington’s corridors of power, and “drain the swamp” of corporate lobbyists. [...] However, the list of recent hires has revealed a number of officials who are now working in the same policy area in which they specialised within the corporate world. At least three new employees in the Health and Human Services department have worked as lobbyists for the corporate healthcare sector.

Keigan Lenihan, a senior adviser to Health Secretary Tom Price, was previously director of government relations at private healthcare firm McKesson Specialty Health, which reported revenues of $190 billion (£156 billion) in 2016. Another role in the Department of Defense has been given to a former lobbyist for tech firm Palantir which provides it with specialist software.

It is possible that Mr Trump has issued ethics waivers to these appointments from the executive order signed in January. However, the order removed the requirement to publicly disclose these waivers. 

 

[HeathenBlondie]

3 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

I read yesterday that Team Trump doesn't like that people are calling the new healthcare plan Trumpcare. Fine. I'll call it TrumpedUpCare. Happy now?

I'll chime in with DeathCare.

[sawasdee]

@fraurosenaWhat's terrifying is that at least 50% of the Trumpanzee's supporter's wouldn't even understand the implications of your post.

And at least 5% would be trying to get on the gravy train.

Ethics waivers? You are either ethical or not - you can't 'waive' ethics. If you do, you are, by definition, corrupt.

Orwell, where are you?

[fraurosena]

Good news on the Muslim Ban #2:

Washington State Wants Restraining Order Applied to Trump’s New Travel Ban

Quote

Washington state will file a restraining order against President Trump's revamped travel ban — a move which could foreshadow a potential legal showdown between the administration and a wave of challenges to the controversial executive order.

Minnesota, which is already part of the challenge, Oregon, Massachusetts, New York will also seek to join with other states looking to lend their voices to the effort in upcoming days, Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson said Thursday during a press conference.

Washington state will ask U.S. District Court Senior Judge James L. Robart to apply the temporary injunction he issued last month on Trump's initial executive order to the newly revised travel ban. The state believes that tweaks to the travel ban do not get around the previous restraining order.

"It's my duty, my responsibility to act," Ferguson said. "We're not going to be bullied by threats and actions by the federal government."

He added later, "You can't tweet your way out of the rule of law."

 That last remark!

[onekidanddone]

5 hours ago, fraurosena said:

What the fuck? I mean... what the fuck?

David Friedman: Man who said liberal Jews are worse than Nazi collaborators named new US Ambassador to Israel

Seriously. What.the.fuck?

My oldest niece who is very active in peace groups and conflict negations  especially an open dialog between Israel and Palestine is livid over this. She is studying international relations at her University and she likened shit stain's son-in-law and this ambassador POS to the Kapos.  Kapos were Jewish guards in the camps who basically acted as guards.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kapo_(concentration_camp)

12 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

Good news on the Muslim Ban #2:

Washington State Wants Restraining Order Applied to Trump’s New Travel Ban

 That last remark!

Remember the first time he did this and the court of appeals gave him a smack down?  I'LL SEE YOU IN COURT. he cried his big orange crocodile tears.  Didn't he know that they ARE the court?  It really is scary how he acts w hen  he doesn't get his way.  Like with the ACA and the next fiscal year's budget.  He does not get that he can't have 100% of what he wants.  There is a process.  I have a feeling he is just going to rule by executive order only.  He won't send anything to congress or let them work on any bills.

[fraurosena]

In case you didn't know yet. I'm a fan. Here's Keith Olbermann, on the speech that didn't age well. 

 

Brilliant, as usual.

[onekidanddone]

23 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

In case you didn't know yet. I'm a fan. Here's Keith Olbermann, on the speech that didn't age well. 

 

Brilliant, as usual.

This guy needs to be back on TV