Trump 31: Parody of a Presidency

[Gobsmacked]

18 minutes ago, samira_catlover said:

<snip> He should stay in London.  <snip>  

London doesn't have enough problems all on its own?  FFS and calling on Sweet Rufus, we've got this damned lunatic here in the States.  Please, in your kindness, send prayers, novenas, incense, rosaries, candles, ANYTHING you can---and hoping Team Mueller can get enough data for impeachment, conviction in Senate, and subsequent criminal trials.

London is having awful problems right now with stabbings and acid attacks. The Gremlins are running amok. However Theresa May invited him. She is based down there. That's why the suggestion of hiding him at Chequers is ideal. The security costs will be astronomical       of course but she wants him let her sort it. 

I'm not a royalist really but I don't think the Queen or Prince Phillip should be expected to meet him. They have a new great- grandchild to enjoy, also Prince Harry's wedding to look forward to. Let them enjoy their twilight years without dealing with that Bafoon.

The visit isn't being billed as a state visit. Nor should it be. Ever. 

Off to fridge again........

[GreyhoundFan]

The WaPo published an annotated transcript of Dumpy's Faux and Friends ramble-fest. There are some interesting points in the notes. Because of the notes, I can't quote, but I think it's worth a read.

[Gobsmacked]

8 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

The WaPo published an annotated transcript of Dumpy's Faux and Friends ramble-fest. There are some interesting points in the notes. Because of the notes, I can't quote, but I think it's worth a read.

It won't let me read it!! Grrrrr

[laPapessaGiovanna]

20 minutes ago, Gobsmacked said:

It won't let me read it!! Grrrrr

Open it in incognito mode.

[fraurosena]

37 minutes ago, Gobsmacked said:

It won't let me read it!! Grrrrr

When that happens, an incognito window works for me.

[JMarie]

9 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

 Yeah, they're right, Fox and Friends threw him off the air

^^^ the comments for this tweet are awesome!

Here they are being grilled by Rep. Jeffries: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUFkxbFMrlU

and just because I can't resist whipping out this little ditty

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He7zICcVmeo

 

 

[onekidanddone]

29 minutes ago, JMarie said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He7zICcVmeo

So sorry I watched this. I need 

Look I get everybody has different political views, but these women? Give them their own FoxSpews show and be done with it. 

[laPapessaGiovanna]

CNN reports the juiciest bits if tRump's unhinged drivel on F&F.

Spoiler

1. "I better not get into that because I may get in trouble. Maybe I didn't get her so much."

Trump starts the interview noting that today is a special day because it is his wife's birthday. Annnnnnd, he didn't get her anything. Off to a great start!

2. You know, I'm very busy -- to be running out looking for presents, OK? But I got her a beautiful card and some beautiful flowers."

Yes, I often tell my wife I didn't get her a present for her birthday because I am "very busy." It goes over great!

3. "I'll tell you what, the people of France are just -- were spellbound by what happened with their great president who just left"

The entire nation of France was spellbound. Believe me. Many people are saying it.

4. "We really accomplished a lot. More than anybody knows. You'll be seeing what we accomplished."

Trump is talking about his meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron here. Also, he's using his tried and true TV/salesman pitch. "Just wait until you see what we've got planned in the next episode! You'll never guess what happens next!"

5. "All they do is scream 'Death to America, death to America.' And by the way, they're not screaming it so much anymore. They were screaming it with him."

So. Iran used to scream "Death to America." But they don't it anymore because Trump is president now. So, he's got that going for him. Which is nice.

6. "The Democrats are obstructionists. It's horrible what they're doing. They're not approving people."

Trump here is blaming Senate Democrats for Ronny Jackson's withdrawal. Of course, the reason Jackson was forced to withdraw was that Trump shouldn't have nominated him in the first place -- and certainly not without vetting him in any meaningful way.

7. "Jim Jordan, and Mark Meadows, and Matt Gaetz, and DeSantis, and so many -- Corey Lewandowski."

Four of these people are members of Congress. One is Corey Lewandowski.

8. "Diamond and Silk are warriors, by the way. How about Diamond and Silk?"

My file of "things I never thought I would hear a president say ever" is already WAY overstuffed.

9. "You know, we call him Doc Ronny, we call him Admiral Ronny."

Also, "The Candy Man." BOOM. Too soon?

10. "I want to tell you that Jon Tester -- I think this is going to cause him a lot of problems in his state."

Color me skeptical. Tester does have a tough re-election race in a state that Trump won by 20 points, But, he's not going to lose because he aired concerns -- passed on to him by whistleblowers -- about Trump's nominee for the VA.

11. "Doc, you run a great operation. How do you think you'd do at the VA?"

"Vetting."

12. "It's a big monster."

The VA should consider adding this to their official name -- "Department of Veterans Affairs: A Big Monster."

13. "I'm really proud of the job we've done for the VA because we got -- we're working right now on choice and really big -- but we got rid of so many rules and regulations that made it impossible and we're really doing great at the VA."

This sentence is either a) a purposeful ode to Jack Kerouac's stream-of-consciousness style as best exhibited in "On The Road" or totally nonsensical.

14. "He's got a tremendous heart."

Ronny Jackson: One tremendous heart.

15. "These are all false accusations that were made. These are false and they're trying to destroy a man."

Maybe!

But, I'd note this: The allegations came from more than 20 peoplewho had worked or do work with Jackson. The accusations about his prescribing himself medication, of being intoxicated on foreign presidential trips et cetera all were confirmed by at least two separate whistleblowers, according to Tester.

And, if Jackson was totally innocent and could prove these were all false allegations, why not stay and fight?

16. "(Jackson) has a perfect record. He's got this beautiful record unblemished."

So:

a) Not exactly;

"Beautiful" is an odd word to use to describe someone's professional qualifications.

17. "I did a great thing for the American people by firing him."

Thus begins the James Comeysection of the interview. Buckle up.

18. "So the special counsel -- and by the way, and Intelligence Committee and everybody else has found no collusion. There's no collusion with me and the Russians."

NO COLLUSION! NO COLLUSION!

19. "You can ask President Putin about that. There's been nobody."

Trump is advising reporters to ask Russian President Vladimir Putin who has been the toughest on Russia. So, put that on the list of questions, I guess.

20. "So there's no collusion whatsoever."

So, there is or is not collusion? I'm fuzzy on that point.

21. "Those memos were about me and they're phony memos. He didn't write those memos accurately. He put a lot of phony stuff."

This is a serious charge. Because Comey recounted much of what was in the memos in his sworn testimony in front of Congress. So Trump is saying Comey lied to Congress.

22. "He does these memos and then fake news CNN who's a total fake -- you know, they give Hillary Clinton the questions to the debate and nobody -- can you imagine, by the way, if you gave me the questions to a debate?"

The non sequitors here are truly mind-boggling.

23. "He is guilty of crimes and if we had a Justice Department that was doing their job instead of spending $8 million trying to find ..."

Reminder: The Justice Department is run by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the man Trump hand-picked to serve as the country's top cop.

24. "I've taken the position -- and I don't have to take this position and maybe I'll change -- that I will not be involved with the Justice Department. I will wait until this is over."

HUGE news. The President of the United States saying that he has previously not meddled in Justice Department business but threatening that if they keep up this course of action -- presumably meaning the Russia investigation -- he could change his mind on that.

Yet more evidence that he either doesn't know or doesn't care that Justice has traditionally existed largely independently from the Executive Branch. And, I can't emphasize this enough: The President is threatening Justice to change direction -- or else.

25. "A horrible thing and yet, I've accomplished, with all of this going on, more than any president in the first year in our history."

This is not, strictly speaking, accurate. In fact, it's in no manner of speaking accurate.

26. "Even the enemies and the haters admit that."

[narrator voice]: They don't.

Also, here's an oldie but goodie: "I would like to extend my best wishes to all, even the haters and losers, on this special date, September 11th."

27. "We have accomplished more than any president in the first year, by far."

Again, no.

28. " I'm very disappointed in my Justice Department but because of the fact that it's going under, and I think you'll understand this, I have decided that I won't be involved. I may change my mind at some point because what's going on is a disgrace."

In case you missed the first time the President threatened his Justice Department to drop the Russia investigation, here's him doing it again.

29. "That's not the FBI. That's a fix."

No big deal -- just the President of the United States suggesting one of the most prominent law enforcement agencies in the country is compromised in fundamental ways.

30. "I have many, many -- just so you understand, I have many attorneys. I have attorneys -- sadly, I have so many attorneys you wouldn't even believe it."

Many people are saying Trump has the most attorneys. Beautiful attorneys. Unblemished even.

31. "(Michael Cohen) represents me -- like with this crazy Stormy Daniels deal he represented me."

Wait. Trump just admitted for the first time that Cohen represented him in the Stormy Daniels case. Remember that Trump had previously said he knew nothing about the $130,000 payment Cohen made to Daniels. And he said he knew absolutely nothing about the broader case, referring all questions to Cohen. So.....

32. "But I'm not involved and I'm not involved -- and I've been told I'm not involved."

NOT INVOLVED! NO INVOLVEMENT!

33. "I have known Kanye a little bit and I get along with Kanye. I get along with a lot of people, frankly. "

Same. Frankly.

34. "If you go back to the Civil War it was the Republicans that really did the thing."

They did do that thing. They really did.

35. "If you have people do that they become much more popular."

So: If celebrities come out and say they like Trump, they get "much more popular." Causation? Correlation?

36. "They also like to always talk about Electoral College. Well, it's an election based on the Electoral College. I would rather have a popular election but it's a totally different campaign."

The 2016 election ended 534 days ago.

37. "I got 306 and she got what, 223. So, remember -- there was no way to break 270."

By way of context, this is Trump's "answer" to a question about what it said about our culture that celebrities coming out in support of Trump were being castigated.

38. "So what they're trying to do is suppress the vote."

OK. Trump is accusing mainstream media outlets of working to keep people from voting so that projections that Trump would lose would come true. I really, really hope he doesn't believe this. If he does, whoa boy.

39. "We're doing very well with North Korea and we'll see how it all comes out."

Here's how it is going to shake out on North Korea: a) we are going to do very well we'll see what happens.

Nailed it.

40. "Look, it was very, very nasty with Little Rocket Man and with the buttons -- and, you know, my button's bigger than -- everybody said this guy's going to get us into nuclear war."

No words.

41. "The nuclear war would have happened if you had weak people."

Following this logic: Had Trump not called Kim Jong Un "Little Rocket Man" we would have had nuclear war. So, you're welcome.

42. "I don't watch them at all. I watched last night."

This is by far my favorite line of an interview full of them. Trump says he doesn't watch CNN. Then, IN THE NEXT SENTENCE, he says he watched CNN last night. Epic.

43. "You know, one of the reasons people say you're still looking good, Mr. President. How do you do it?"

Nothing triggered this observation. it came totally out of the blue. One minute Trump was talking about how he doesn't/does watch CNN. The next sentence? Many people say he is looking good. Unrelated: People always come up to me and say: "Man, Chris, how did you get so damn cool?"

44. "I have an ability -- I don't watch NBC anymore. They're as bad as CNN."

[narrator voice]: He does.

45. "I don't watch things now."

Of all the things Trump has said in this interview, this one is the farthest afield from reality. Like, on another planet.

46. "I did watch a liar-leaker and his performance, by the way, was horrible."

Is "liar-leaker" like a "singer-dancer"? Like a dual threat?

47. " Anderson Cooper was surprisingly tough and he did a good job."

Shouts to AC!

48. "When I came into office people thought we were going into nuclear war, OK, and now they're saying wow."

Donald Trump: He took you from nuclear war to "wow" -- and in only 15 months!

49. "I would give myself an A+."

The most Trumpian thing ever. Most people when asked to grade their performance say "B" or something like that. Room for improvement and false modesty and all that. Not Trump. A+!!!!!!

50. "The Electoral College is set up perfectly for the Democrats and this was an absolute total beating in the Electoral College."

See #36

51. "And our Justice Department, which I try and stay away from, but at some point I won't."

Third time's a charm! And, if you look up "threat" in the dictionary, you get something very like that sentence above.

52. "There is no collusion with me."

NO COLLUSION. NONE. NO COLLUSION.

53. "Sounds OK."

Yes, yes it does. Let's call it a day!

 

[47of74]

Putinfluffer's little call this morning did not go unnoticed by the SDNY peeps...

 

 

If I was the Putinfluffer's attorney I'd be calling right after his giggling couch tumor interview and saying hey dumb fuck shut the fuck up already, you just gave SDNY more reasons to keep digging...

Right after I put my own palm through my face. 

 

[formergothardite]

 

[Howl]

@formergothardite, Old man yells at clouds! 

From at @laPapessaGiovanna's post with link to CNN: 

19. "You can ask President Putin about that. There's been nobody."  A 10-word self-incriminating expose of the entire Russia investigation. 

[AmazonGrace]

 

 

[fraurosena]

You have got to be fucking kidding me. 

GOP lawmaker touts Nobel Peace Prize for Trump

Quote

Rep. Luke Messer (R-Ind.) is pressing colleagues to support President Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Messer says it would recognize Trump for his role in the new peace talks between North and South Korea.

“We are seeing unprecedented progress toward peace, and it’s a direct result of President Trump’s strong leadership,” said Messer, who is battling fellow GOP Rep. Todd Rokita (Ind.) and former Rep. Mike Braun in a primary to take on Democratic Sen. Joe Donnelly.

“Following this historic announcement, President Trump should get the Nobel Peace Prize. Our peace through strength strategy is delivering never before seen results,” Messer added in a statement.

Messer, whose support for Trump could help him in the primary, isn't the only Republican talking about Trump being deserving of the Nobel Peace Prize — which former President Obama won in his first year in office.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Friday also said that Trump deserves the award if he is able to successfully negotiate North Korean denuclearization.

North and South Korean leaders on Friday signed a declarationcommitting to work for "complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula” and to formally bring an end to the decades-long Korean War.

And earlier this month, North Korea agreed to stop its nuclear and missile tests ahead of an upcoming meeting between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

 

[laPapessaGiovanna]

1 hour ago, fraurosena said:

You have got to be fucking kidding me. 

GOP lawmaker touts Nobel Peace Prize for Trump

 

Well Obama got one just out of not being Dubya. Trumpliklans think he should get one for not being HRC. Not gonna lie, I'd love to see the Norwegians snubbing him.

[onekidanddone]

Mother Hubbard could post the same Tweet everyday and it would always be current:

 

[GreyhoundFan]

A good one from the NYT: "For Many, Life in Trump’s Orbit Ends in a Crash Landing"

Spoiler

WASHINGTON — Another day, another casualty. Or two.

By the time the sun set Thursday, Dr. Ronny L. Jackson was a failed cabinet nominee whose life had been picked apart for public consumption, and Michael D. Cohen was back in court facing possible criminal prosecution.

A ride on President Trump’s bullet train can be thrilling, but it is often a brutal journey that leaves some bloodied by the side of the tracks. In only 15 months in office, Mr. Trump has burned through a record number of advisers and associates who have found themselves in legal, professional or personal trouble, or even all three.

Half of the top aides who came to the White House with Mr. Trump in 2017 are gone, many under painful circumstances, either because they fell out with the boss or came under the harsh scrutiny that comes with him. Some of the president’s longest-serving aides have left with bruises. His son and son-in-law have hired lawyers and been interrogated. Even his lawyers now have lawyers as they face inquiries of their own.

Proximity to Mr. Trump has been a crushing experience for many who arrived with stellar careers and independent reputations yet ended up losing so much. Rex W. Tillerson ran the world’s largest energy company. David Shulkin was a respected doctor and a “high priest” of the medical world. Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster was an admired warrior. So was John F. Kelly. Jeff Sessions held a safe seat in Congress. So did Tom Price. Now all of them are known for unhappy associations with Mr. Trump.

All of them, of course, had varying degrees of responsibility for the troubles that would ultimately befall them. But like Dr. Jackson and Mr. Cohen, they have all emerged from the other end of Mr. Trump’s world deeply damaged. And their collective fate serves as a cautionary tale for those who might otherwise be tempted to join the president’s team but worry that they, too, might pay a price that would be too costly.

Mr. Trump expressed outrage on Thursday about the toll exacted on some people close to him. Dr. Jackson, the White House physician and rear admiral who withdrew as nominee for secretary of Veterans Affairs after accusations of drinking on official trips and badgering his staff, is “an incredible man” whom Democrats were “trying to destroy,” Mr. Trump said on “Fox & Friends.”

The president attributed it to the toxic atmosphere of the capital, saying he warned Dr. Jackson. “I did say welcome to Washington,” he said. “Welcome to the swamp. Welcome to the world of politics.”

Mr. Trump likewise said that Mr. Cohen, his longtime lawyer who paid $130,000 to Stephanie Clifford, the pornographic film actress known as Stormy Daniels, before the 2016 election and now faces a federal investigation, is “a great guy” who “did absolutely nothing wrong” in that matter.

But as he has with other advisers who have gotten in trouble, the president also distanced himself, suggesting that Mr. Cohen was in trouble for business dealings separate from any legal representation he had done for Mr. Trump. “I’m not involved, and I’ve been told I’m not involved,” he said.

Over many decades, people who have entered Mr. Trump’s circle have discovered that they are bit actors in a movie he sees himself starring in.

“People are not people to him, they are instruments of his ego. And when they serve his ego, they survive, and when they don’t, they pass into the night,” said Tony Schwartz, the ghostwriter on “The Art of the Deal,” Mr. Trump’s first book. “Ultimately, the fate of anyone who casts their lot with Trump is — you are passing through. And I just can’t think of anybody for whom it is not true.”

Jack O’Donnell, the former president of Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, and a vocal critic of his former boss, said many people have cycled through his world remarkably quickly without leaving much of an impression on Mr. Trump.

“This is an individual who completely lacks compassion and empathy, and therefore the recycling of people, people crashing and burning, it means nothing to him,” Mr. O’Donnell said. “He might put on a public frown for a day because he’s upset that, in his mind, the admiral got railroaded out. But Trump couldn’t care less about the admiral.”

The president tapped Dr. Jackson because he had come to like him and was impressed by him even though he had little management experience to run the government’s second-largest department. Shortly after his selection, several senior White House officials warned Dr. Jackson that it was a bad idea and that it was likely to end poorly.

But Mr. Trump is a transactional person, and many have made transactional decisions to work for him understanding the risks. For some, it is a sense of public service and duty to country. For others, it is a calculation that the return on investment will be worth it. Indeed, Mr. Cohen has attracted enormous attention over the years as he built business ties because of his affiliation with Mr. Trump.

Some who have come and gone managed to benefit from the experience in their own way despite the ordeal. Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary who was mocked on “Saturday Night Live” and maligned by the president and the news media, nonetheless has received lucrative speaking contracts and has a book coming out in July. Mr. Tillerson and Gary D. Cohn, the former national economics adviser, lost power struggles, but both still have hundreds of millions of dollars to console themselves, and friends say no one should feel sorry for them.

Still, former advisers like Michael T. Flynn, Paul Manafort and Rick Gates have all been charged with or pleaded guilty to crimes and are looking at prison time.

Others worry they may face the same fate. Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency whose spending and security practices were spotlighted Thursday at a contentious House hearing, may yet lose his job.

Other presidents have seen associates get caught up in investigations or scandals that were highlighted or magnified because of their closeness. Plenty of advisers, aides and friends of Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton met untimely ends to their political careers or even went to prison, and critics of both presidents often said they did not seem to care about the consequences to those around them.

The closer someone gets to a president, the harsher the spotlight can be. Many who seek the power and stature of the White House somehow convince themselves that their own foibles or misdeeds will not be exposed, only to learn otherwise, or become intoxicated by their new positions of influence and exercise poor judgment. And Washington can be especially unforgiving. “Here, ruining people is considered sport,” Vincent W. Foster Jr., a longtime Clinton friend and aide, wrote before killing himself in 1993.

Several people who have been close to Mr. Trump over the years say that he is exceptionally good at rationalizing his own behavior to himself, and compartmentalizing the types of personal catastrophes that would leave other people emotionally ravaged.

“I think that loyalty has always been a one-way street with Trump, and he doesn’t really care about the wreckages he engenders as long as he comes out where he wants to be,” said Tim O’Brien, a biographer who was sued by Mr. Trump over a book reporting that Mr. Trump had inflated his net worth.

“Ronny Jackson’s reputation would never have been in play had the president not put him up for this job,” Mr. O’Brien said, adding that in Mr. Trump’s mind, the issue is, “Ronny was great, but Washington is a snake pit.”

Michael D’Antonio, another Trump biographer, said, “Anyone who engages with the president and, before that, with him as a business person, had to practice self-defense even if they were his allies.”

“All that matters to him,” he added, “is what you say and do in the moment in front of him.”

 

[47of74]

20 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

A good one from the NYT: "For Many, Life in Trump’s Orbit Ends in a Crash Landing"

  Hide contents

WASHINGTON — Another day, another casualty. Or two.

By the time the sun set Thursday, Dr. Ronny L. Jackson was a failed cabinet nominee whose life had been picked apart for public consumption, and Michael D. Cohen was back in court facing possible criminal prosecution.

A ride on President Trump’s bullet train can be thrilling, but it is often a brutal journey that leaves some bloodied by the side of the tracks. In only 15 months in office, Mr. Trump has burned through a record number of advisers and associates who have found themselves in legal, professional or personal trouble, or even all three.

Half of the top aides who came to the White House with Mr. Trump in 2017 are gone, many under painful circumstances, either because they fell out with the boss or came under the harsh scrutiny that comes with him. Some of the president’s longest-serving aides have left with bruises. His son and son-in-law have hired lawyers and been interrogated. Even his lawyers now have lawyers as they face inquiries of their own.

Proximity to Mr. Trump has been a crushing experience for many who arrived with stellar careers and independent reputations yet ended up losing so much. Rex W. Tillerson ran the world’s largest energy company. David Shulkin was a respected doctor and a “high priest” of the medical world. Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster was an admired warrior. So was John F. Kelly. Jeff Sessions held a safe seat in Congress. So did Tom Price. Now all of them are known for unhappy associations with Mr. Trump.

All of them, of course, had varying degrees of responsibility for the troubles that would ultimately befall them. But like Dr. Jackson and Mr. Cohen, they have all emerged from the other end of Mr. Trump’s world deeply damaged. And their collective fate serves as a cautionary tale for those who might otherwise be tempted to join the president’s team but worry that they, too, might pay a price that would be too costly.

Mr. Trump expressed outrage on Thursday about the toll exacted on some people close to him. Dr. Jackson, the White House physician and rear admiral who withdrew as nominee for secretary of Veterans Affairs after accusations of drinking on official trips and badgering his staff, is “an incredible man” whom Democrats were “trying to destroy,” Mr. Trump said on “Fox & Friends.”

The president attributed it to the toxic atmosphere of the capital, saying he warned Dr. Jackson. “I did say welcome to Washington,” he said. “Welcome to the swamp. Welcome to the world of politics.”

Mr. Trump likewise said that Mr. Cohen, his longtime lawyer who paid $130,000 to Stephanie Clifford, the pornographic film actress known as Stormy Daniels, before the 2016 election and now faces a federal investigation, is “a great guy” who “did absolutely nothing wrong” in that matter.

But as he has with other advisers who have gotten in trouble, the president also distanced himself, suggesting that Mr. Cohen was in trouble for business dealings separate from any legal representation he had done for Mr. Trump. “I’m not involved, and I’ve been told I’m not involved,” he said.

Over many decades, people who have entered Mr. Trump’s circle have discovered that they are bit actors in a movie he sees himself starring in.

“People are not people to him, they are instruments of his ego. And when they serve his ego, they survive, and when they don’t, they pass into the night,” said Tony Schwartz, the ghostwriter on “The Art of the Deal,” Mr. Trump’s first book. “Ultimately, the fate of anyone who casts their lot with Trump is — you are passing through. And I just can’t think of anybody for whom it is not true.”

Jack O’Donnell, the former president of Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, and a vocal critic of his former boss, said many people have cycled through his world remarkably quickly without leaving much of an impression on Mr. Trump.

“This is an individual who completely lacks compassion and empathy, and therefore the recycling of people, people crashing and burning, it means nothing to him,” Mr. O’Donnell said. “He might put on a public frown for a day because he’s upset that, in his mind, the admiral got railroaded out. But Trump couldn’t care less about the admiral.”

The president tapped Dr. Jackson because he had come to like him and was impressed by him even though he had little management experience to run the government’s second-largest department. Shortly after his selection, several senior White House officials warned Dr. Jackson that it was a bad idea and that it was likely to end poorly.

But Mr. Trump is a transactional person, and many have made transactional decisions to work for him understanding the risks. For some, it is a sense of public service and duty to country. For others, it is a calculation that the return on investment will be worth it. Indeed, Mr. Cohen has attracted enormous attention over the years as he built business ties because of his affiliation with Mr. Trump.

Some who have come and gone managed to benefit from the experience in their own way despite the ordeal. Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary who was mocked on “Saturday Night Live” and maligned by the president and the news media, nonetheless has received lucrative speaking contracts and has a book coming out in July. Mr. Tillerson and Gary D. Cohn, the former national economics adviser, lost power struggles, but both still have hundreds of millions of dollars to console themselves, and friends say no one should feel sorry for them.

Still, former advisers like Michael T. Flynn, Paul Manafort and Rick Gates have all been charged with or pleaded guilty to crimes and are looking at prison time.

Others worry they may face the same fate. Scott Pruitt, the head of the Environmental Protection Agency whose spending and security practices were spotlighted Thursday at a contentious House hearing, may yet lose his job.

Other presidents have seen associates get caught up in investigations or scandals that were highlighted or magnified because of their closeness. Plenty of advisers, aides and friends of Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton met untimely ends to their political careers or even went to prison, and critics of both presidents often said they did not seem to care about the consequences to those around them.

The closer someone gets to a president, the harsher the spotlight can be. Many who seek the power and stature of the White House somehow convince themselves that their own foibles or misdeeds will not be exposed, only to learn otherwise, or become intoxicated by their new positions of influence and exercise poor judgment. And Washington can be especially unforgiving. “Here, ruining people is considered sport,” Vincent W. Foster Jr., a longtime Clinton friend and aide, wrote before killing himself in 1993.

Several people who have been close to Mr. Trump over the years say that he is exceptionally good at rationalizing his own behavior to himself, and compartmentalizing the types of personal catastrophes that would leave other people emotionally ravaged.

“I think that loyalty has always been a one-way street with Trump, and he doesn’t really care about the wreckages he engenders as long as he comes out where he wants to be,” said Tim O’Brien, a biographer who was sued by Mr. Trump over a book reporting that Mr. Trump had inflated his net worth.

“Ronny Jackson’s reputation would never have been in play had the president not put him up for this job,” Mr. O’Brien said, adding that in Mr. Trump’s mind, the issue is, “Ronny was great, but Washington is a snake pit.”

Michael D’Antonio, another Trump biographer, said, “Anyone who engages with the president and, before that, with him as a business person, had to practice self-defense even if they were his allies.”

“All that matters to him,” he added, “is what you say and do in the moment in front of him.”

 

Good.  These people stood up to be counted with the enemy of everything our country stands for so I don't give a fornicate if their lives are ruined now.

 

[Cartmann99]

The White House Correspondents' Dinner is Saturday, and the Orange Oaf has a rally scheduled:

Quote

"While the fake news media will be celebrating themselves with the denizens of Washington society in the swamp that evening, President Trump will be in a completely different Washington, celebrating our national economic revival with patriotic Americans, the Trump campaign's chief operating officer Michael Glassner said in a statement. 

Trump plans to highlight his economic policies at the rally, including his support of deregulation and tax cuts, Glassner said in the statement. 

During his campaign for the presidency, Trump visited Michigan several times, touting his positions on trade, immigration and other issues. His campaign says this is the 11th rally Trump has held in Michigan since June 2015, and the fifth he's held in the Detroit area. 

http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2018/04/president_donald_trump_coming.html

Apologies in advance to the sane Michiganders. 

[GreyhoundFan]

I wonder if this is who Dumpy has in mind to replace the Candyman as a nominee for VA Secretary:

 

[fraurosena]

Sweet Rufus.

 

[AmazonGrace]

When you're too corrupt for FIFA...

5 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

I wonder if this is who Dumpy has in mind to replace the Candyman as a nominee for VA Secretary:

 

Is Kanye too busy?

[AmazonGrace]

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

Apart from killing the planet this will be the most lasting damage Trump is doing

[fraurosena]

Oh dear. What did F&F say that Clapper said that got under the presidunce's skin? It must have really hit his poor sensitive little nerves, because it got the presidunce resorting to name-calling again. 

 

[Howl]

Chris Hayes was on Seth Meyers last night; we usually DVR and watch in the mornings, so just came across this.  Hayes was noting a term that Josh Marshal introduced relative to the absolute downfall of every person that has come into the Trump administration and crawled away because they were too damaged to stand upright: dignity rape.

See also:  ETTD™ (Everything Trump Touches Dies), and the title of Rick Wilson's book coming out Aug, 7, 2018: Everything Trump Touches Dies: A Republican Strategist Gets Real About the Worst President Ever