Trump 33: Making Norman Bates Look Like a Choir Boy

[AmazonGrace]

Who you gonna believe, me or the lying reality.

 

Man not smart:

 

[AmazonGrace]

Man not smart:

 

[GreyhoundFan]

 

[AmazonGrace]

If you have nothing to hide you hide nothing 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"Is this the administration’s dumbest idea yet?"

Spoiler

President Trump probably won’t follow through on his threat to revoke the security clearances of a bunch of former federal officials who have been critical of him, if only because within a couple of days he’ll get distracted by something else and forget all about it. But this bizarre episode contains so many Trump administration pathologies wrapped up into one idiotic idea that it really is a wonder, and something we shouldn’t forget.

Yesterday, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders told the press corps that Trump is considering revoking the security clearances of former CIA directors John Brennan and Michael Hayden, former director of national intelligence James R. Clapper Jr., former FBI director James B. Comey, former deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe and former national security adviser Susan E. Rice. All have been publicly critical of Trump in one way or another.

What do I mean when I say that this idea wraps so many Trump administration pathologies together? Let’s count the ways. It has no real policy justification but is based entirely on the president’s momentary whims. In fact, it has its roots in right-wing media. It’s born of the president’s inability to tolerate criticism and his authoritarian impulses. It’s petty and vindictive. In justifying it, the administration accuses others of things Trump and those around him are guilty of. It was offered without any understanding of even basic facts. (For starters, Comey and McCabe no longer have security clearances, so there’s nothing to take from them.) And arguing in its favor requires a herculean level of shamelessness and dishonesty, but Trump’s employees and allies will show themselves to be up to the task.

Let’s look at how Sanders described the reasons Trump might take this step:

The president is exploring the mechanisms to remove security clearance because they’ve politicized and, in some cases, monetized their public service and security clearances. Making baseless accusations of improper contact with Russia or being influenced by Russia against the president is extremely inappropriate. And the fact that people with security clearances are making these baseless charges provides inappropriate legitimacy to accusations with zero evidence.

Naturally, she provided no details or specifics. But stand back and marvel for a moment that Trump’s White House is taking the position that “making … baseless charges” is absolutely intolerable and must be punished. Trump, the most profligate liar in the history of the American presidency. And the Trump administration now believes that you’re not supposed to monetize your public service? Good to know.

This idea, however, didn’t just occur to Trump yesterday morning. It goes back a couple of months, and like many things, it began on the fringes of the right and moved quickly to Fox, and from there into Trump’s brain.

It’s important to note that many people, both high-ranking and not-so-high-ranking, retain their security clearances after leaving government service. According to a fiscal year 2016 report from the Director of National Intelligence, at the time there were 4 million Americans with security clearances, which includes not only the staff of agencies such as the Pentagon, the Department of Homeland Security or the CIA, but also former employees and people employed by government contractors, many of whom have never worked for the government. This was actually a decline from a few years before, when the number topped 5 million.

But few Americans understand that, which is why it wasn’t hard for those on the right to begin shouting OMG these former officials still have security clearances! as though it were something unusual. On April 30, right-wing conspiracy site Gateway Pundit published a piece entitled “Clapper and Brennan STILL Have Security Clearance as They Trash Trump and Work at CNN, MSNBC,” breathlessly reporting this shocking news.

A few weeks later, former Trump official Sebastian Gorka went on Fox News to demand that Trump “pull the clearances of Clapper, Comey, Brennan, and Hillary.” Host Jeanine Pirro was incredulous. “Hold on a second,” she said. “These people are not in office anymore and they still have security clearances?” “Yes! Yes!” Gorka shouted.

Then yesterday, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said on Twitter, “Today I will meet with the President and I will ask him to revoke John Brennan’s security clearance!” Apparently, he was quite persuasive.

Let’s return to Sanders’s assertion that it’s so problematic that former intelligence officials have gotten work using their government experience, thereby “monetizing” that experience in a way no Trump aide would ever dream of. Had it been Sean Spicer, you would have seen droplets of sweat pouring off his forehead, the telltale sign of shame and fear as he offered up what he knew was an laughable justification for an indefensible decision. But Sanders doesn’t hesitate or waver, not for an instant. She can tell you that today is Tuesday or that Hillary Clinton killed JFK, and she’ll say both things with the same flat affect and barely disguised contempt at anyone who would possibly question the rightness of everything she says. This is why Sanders is and will always be the one true Trump spokeswoman, no matter who comes after her when she leaves. No one could possibly match her unwavering shamelessness.

As to what it means to monetize your security clearance and government service, it’s what thousands of officials from Democratic and Republican administrations, not to mention Congress, do all the time. They serve on corporate boards, they make paid speeches, they become lobbyists, they go into “consulting,” they work for defense contractors or other corporations. Even those who go to think tanks or nonprofit advocacy groups are using what they learned in government to earn a salary. There’s plenty to criticize about the revolving door, but the idea that it’s something that only a few former officials who served under Barack Obama (as well as Republican presidents) have done is so plainly ludicrous that it’s almost surprising that even Sanders could say it with a straight face. Almost.

In the ever-growing list of moronic Trump administration ideas, stripping security clearances from former officials who have had the temerity to criticize the president won’t count among the most consequential. But it will be one of the most Trumpian.

 

[AmazonGrace]

Man not smart: 

 

[AmazonGrace]

Melania watches CNN and Trumpsky gets mad

 

[47of74]

Melania watches CNN and Trumpsky gets mad
 

Separate hotel rooms...like she can’t stand to be in the same room as Spanky McFornicateFace.

[Cartmann99]

1 hour ago, AmazonGrace said:

Melania watches CNN and Trumpsky gets mad

 

Melania is a grown woman who should be able to watch whatever she damn well pleases on her own television. Trump yelling at his staff about this is enraging, because it's not fair to put them in a position where they are expected to police the First Lady's viewing habits. 

23 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

Separate hotel rooms...like she can’t stand to be in the same room as Spanky McFornicateFace.

 

I don't blame her, but you'd think Trump would have a big-ass rule about not revealing that to the press. Even when there's a very reasonable explanation for separate bedrooms, people will wonder if the relationship is in trouble because it's part of our culture for married or partnered couples to sleep together.

[Cartmann99]

The farmers ain't happy with Trump:

 

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[Cartmann99]

 

[AmericanRose]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/republicans-denounce-trump-plan-welfare-farmers-hit-tariffs-205952800.html

Quote

“You have a terrible policy that sends farmers to the poorhouse, and then you put them on welfare, and we borrow the money from other countries,” Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., told reporters in Washington Tuesday. “It’s hard to believe there isn’t an outright revolt right now in Congress.”

Yes, Bob. It is hard to believe.

[Alisamer]

9 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

Even when there's a very reasonable explanation for separate bedrooms, people will wonder if the relationship is in trouble because it's part of our culture for married or partnered couples to sleep together.

I could think of several reasons for them to sleep in separate bedrooms... so she doesn't have to see the hookers/mistresses, because she realizes all his threats against immigrants put her and her family at risk, because she's only staying with him in hopes of inheriting most of his wealth, because maybe she loathes him as much as it looks like she does, because she wants to actually sleep and not scream at Fox News at all hours...

or maybe he just snores. IDK. All my grandparents slept in separate bedrooms for years, as have my parents since my sisters and I moved out. Dad has a CPAP and restless leg syndrome and mom can't take it. My sister and her husband even sleep in separate rooms - he works second shift and she has back problems that mean she sleeps with a zillion pillows making a nest around her. 

So to me, separate bedrooms is not a big deal. I wouldn't want to spend any more time with that moron than I had to either. It did strike me, however, that it said "separate hotel rooms", not just "separate rooms". Small difference, but I'd think they'd have separate rooms in the same hotel suite, not whole separate hotel rooms. I mean, they're not staying in the Days Inn. They get the VIP suite wherever they go, I'm sure.

[AmazonGrace]

2 hours ago, AmericanRose said:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/republicans-denounce-trump-plan-welfare-farmers-hit-tariffs-205952800.html

Yes, Bob. It is hard to believe.

 Corker should call his senator. 

 If only the recording was longer Donald Trump would have said great things

[47of74]

Fuck Face's Hollywood star was destroyed.

I kind of wish I could have gone to Louisiana with my mom and her siblings now so I wouldn't have to be in the area when Fuck Face comes around for the Reich Wing Circle Jerk Klan Rally round table.

[NotQuiteMotY]

15 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

Fuck Face's Hollywood star was destroyed.

I kind of wish I could have gone to Louisiana with my mom and her siblings now so I wouldn't have to be in the area when Fuck Face comes around for the Reich Wing Circle Jerk Klan Rally round table.

This actually annoys me. Vandalism is not cool. Someone has to go out and fix that now, and haven't we already spent enough money on His Utter Narcissist?

[47of74]

8 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

The farmers ain't happy with Trump:

 

 

Being from a farming family I'm very much of two minds about this.

On the one hand I hate how the farmers are getting hurt because of what fuck face is doing.  My dad has mentioned how it's affected the prices for some of his product as of late.  I don't think he's hurting because of the kind and amount of business he does and is spread out enough to keep from getting fucked over by fuck face and his groupies.

On the other hand, the fact that many of these people voted for that son of a bitch does effect the amount of sympathy I have for farmers who supported fuck face.  These are people who will see nothing wrong with taking the emergency aid than turn around and whine about government spending on poor people - especially racial, sexual, and religious minorities.

[AmazonGrace]

1 hour ago, 47of74 said:

Fuck Face's Hollywood star was destroyed

Six horcruxes left...

[CTRLZero]

33 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

many of these people voted for that son of a bitch does effect the amount of sympathy

We have a friend that inherited half a farm in Iowa.  He's liberal and lives here in Washington state and his brother (who actually does the farming) is a Trumpster.  There are interesting conversations going on between those siblings!  Our friend says their soybean crop is going to have to be stored for who knows how long.  His brother would like to be able to take a wait-and-see approach with Trump, but the harvest doesn't work that way for the most part.  They need those markets to remain open to move their product, but it's no longer possible. 

It's complicated, but I've already seen prices going up on a wide range of grocery store items.  This really hurts people like my MIL, who lives solely on a small Social Security check.  It's difficult to see billions transferred to the farmers because the president is screwing with the various markets (not just farm crops) with no assurance things will get better because of these "great" tariffs. 

Makes me cranky. 

[GreyhoundFan]

8 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

 

He's only for locking up minorities, not white males, who tend to be the biggest corporate offenders.

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[AmazonGrace]

The war on truth https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLYV36DxM0E

[Cartmann99]

5 hours ago, Alisamer said:

I could think of several reasons for them to sleep in separate bedrooms... so she doesn't have to see the hookers/mistresses, because she realizes all his threats against immigrants put her and her family at risk, because she's only staying with him in hopes of inheriting most of his wealth, because maybe she loathes him as much as it looks like she does, because she wants to actually sleep and not scream at Fox News at all hours...

 Don't forget the crumbs, containers, and bags from his fast food meals in bed. Housekeeping probably vacuums the bed before they change the sheets to try and contain the mess.