Trump 35: Still an Asshole to Everyone but Ivanka

[fraurosena]

11 minutes ago, AmazonGrace said:

 

Lighthizer never noticed that this didn't get signed?

As it was a draft, maybe he didn't even know about it beforehand because it was an impulsive decision by the presidunce? Or if he did know about it, someone told him the presidunce had changed his mind -- something that he does on a daily basis, so not that remarkable to Lighthizer.

[AmazonGrace]

 

49 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

As it was a draft, maybe he didn't even know about it beforehand because it was an impulsive decision by the presidunce? Or if he did know about it, someone told him the presidunce had changed his mind -- something that he does on a daily basis, so not that remarkable to Lighthizer.

Do you think if Trump is a sundowning grandpa and notices things going mysteriously missing in the Oval, it could trigger this:

[fraurosena]

1 hour ago, AmazonGrace said:

Do you think if Trump is a sundowning grandpa and notices things going mysteriously missing in the Oval, it could trigger this:

If this anecdote is true, then yes, it would certainly contribute to his belief that there are ghosts in the Oval. What I'd like to know is who or what was flicking his ears...  Maybe that's why is asked Priebus to chase away flies from the office?

Trump reportedly tasked Reince Priebus with killing a fly in the Oval Office

Quote

[...] he also tasked him with a number of menial responsibilities including, at one point, killing a fly that was buzzing over his head in the Oval Office, one official familiar with the incident told the Post.

 

[AmazonGrace]

6 hours ago, Rachel333 said:

So he's thanking a horrific dictator for his support.

In times of trouble you find out who your real friends are.

[EyesOpen]

So... I kinda came out online today and told my cousin I think she’s worshipping Trump instead of Christ and that Trump lied about abortion cause he knew people like her vote on only one issue and if it would make him a buck he’d support abortion just fine. I said he’s amoral, sinful and corrupt. That he’s not a statesman but an embarrassment and a shame. She deleted my comment after many of her friends liked it

I can’t believe how people can still support him; even my sweet elderly Christian cousin... I can only imagine they must live in some kind of horrible fear bubble. I surely don’t know how we reach their hearts or minds.

[Ozlsn]

7 hours ago, Rachel333 said:

So he's thanking a horrific dictator for his support.

You really can tell a lot about a person by his choice in friends. And if these are the friends Trump has left...

42 minutes ago, EyesOpen said:

She deleted my comment after many of her friends liked it 

I think that is opening her eyes - it wasn't just you, who she could write of as a token protest, it was other people too. I'd be interested to see if her posts shift in tone, or become less frequent supporting Trump. Depending on who liked the comment she may shift.

[GreyhoundFan]

From the wonderfully snarky Alexandra Petri: "I am the real Resistance, the Resistance within the Trump administration"

Spoiler

When you think of the Resistance, you probably don’t think of a group of senior Trump administration officials. But, you see, that is your mistake. That is exactly what I am, and I am resisting more than any of you, in your hats with your signs.

You may ask: Is President Trump a threat to this country and all that it stands for?

Absolutely. Yes.

We are all continually traumatized. I don’t know how we are going to get through each week.

Trump is completely amoral. Furthermore, he has the memory of a gnat that has recently stunned itself by flying into a windshield. Furthermore, during Cabinet meetings, he is often to be found asking embarrassingly basic questions about things such as What Is The Federal Reserve, Though? and Why Can’t We Just Assassinate People? and Why Are We in Afghanistan, Again? (Unlike his predecessors, wise and sensible men, he would not take “just because” as a suitable answer to the third question.) Also, for the first six months of the administration he referred to me as Shouty Dave for no reason I could discern; Dave is not my name, and I do not usually shout.

We leave every meeting having aged eight years. Horror turns our faces even whiter than usual (and they started off pretty white). I entered this administration a comparatively young man/woman; now I am broken and bent with sorrow, and my liver is giving out. Everything he says terrifies me. Every day he could usher in World War III. We tell him this, and it is like water off the back of a duck that has access to the nuclear codes.

I would like to publish this in a newspaper so that someone will read it and feel that there is a steady hand on the tiller, sometimes, except when obviously there isn’t. If I get fired by tweet, please know that I stand proudly by these words. My name is Unnamed Trump Administration Official Who Wished To Remain on Background.

But the point is, do not worry. I am here, and I am secretly in charge, kind of, I hope, except when the president takes any action on the public stage over which I have no control, which is quite often, but not ALL the time. That is my point. Sometimes, the administration does something that I would like it to do, and we should all cling to that, like a mariner to a floating sign post that says “IMMIGRANTS NOT WELCOME AND LOOK AT ALL THIS DEREGULATION.”

Trump is wrong to say that he is surrounded by a deep state of people working and conspiring to undermine his policies at every turn. He is surrounded by a steady state of people working and conspiring to undermine his policies at every turn, except for those that involve deregulation and stopping Certain People from coming here, which we are all for.

I am not part of the Resistance you think of when you think of the Resistance. I walk through marches with an expression of irritation, and I disdain women and pink hats. The two in tandem are more than I can bear. My biggest complaint about the Trump administration is that the president keeps changing his mind and is less efficient than could be hoped. I do feel that he has done a lot of good things, although I am also terrified that this nightmare straw man full of only bile and bad impulses will maybe do something bad. But he might not! After all, I am there watching him, powerless to stop him unless he is not paying attention.

But I have been resisting as best I know how. I often knock papers off his desk to prevent him from signing them. Once I stuffed an entire memo in my mouth while his back was turned. Another day I knew that it would startle and confuse him to learn that there was such a person as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, so I ran through the White House devouring every newspaper I could see. One day he picked up a red phone and said, “I would like to Start World War III, please, I don’t care with whom,” and if it had not been for me on the other line pretending to be a dial tone, who can say what would have happened. It is these little things that make all the difference between the unimaginable chaos you see and an unimaginable worse chaos. Once in a meeting he became upset because I made a positive remark about John McCain, and we had to pretend that he had force-choked me to death. My limp form was carried out by aides. But fortunately the next day, he had forgotten, and I was able to keep my position. After Vice President Pence and his rabbit did something that bothered him, we told him that Pence had been sent to the cornfield. Sometimes I call his phone pretending to be the president of France so that he can yell at me and not our ally. He derailed the last meeting we had by making truck noises, and he would not stop even when asked nicely by several other senior officials who will also remain nameless. I am positive he thinks NAFTA is a naughty word for a body part and NATO is a kind of expensive fruit. Honestly, I don’t know what he thinks. Sometimes I think his mind is just a loose marble rolling around and if he tilts his head to one side you can hear it. He spent a whole Cabinet meeting asking us what an updog was. Once he made Sean Spicer eat an entire chocolate cake.

The president is completely venal and displays all the worst excesses of the Bad Popes but also Henry VIII during his worst years. He is surrounded by spiders and wolves and other large predators. But I am also there! That is what I am trying to get at. I am there too, which should reassure you.

We should definitely invoke the 25th Amendment, I think, but then I think: Wouldn’t it might be worth it if we got to deregulate just a little bit more and make immigrating to this country a little more difficult and painful? Of course it would. Right. We can all agree.

The point is, I think it is America’s fault for letting this happen to it. We were, I think, asking for something like this. I wish more people were like McCain.

But don’t worry. I am there. I keep thinking we should maybe say something, anonymously, but then I think, what if I just said something more, anonymously.

I am part of the real resistance: the Trump administration. That is what I have persuaded myself to think. Doesn’t that reassure you?

 

[Audrey2]

5 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

Do you think if Trump is a sundowning grandpa and notices things going mysteriously missing in the Oval, it could trigger this:

I can't get the top to cut.

Here's my version:

Former presidents: Who is this moron and how did the American people elect him? He even makes Harding and Buchanan look good. We will not stand for this desecration of the office and American ideals. Any ideas?

LBJ: What if we scare him out of office. You know, tweak his ears, move his papers, etc.

Truman: That sounds great. Maybe we could drive him crazy and either he'll resign or Congress would grow some balls and 25th Amendment him.

Grant : Don't count on it- turtles and Ryans don't have balls. Trump has had them surgically removed. 

[Snarkasarus Rex]

15 hours ago, fraurosena said:

I was thinking John Kelly too, based on absolutely nothing other than that I believe it to be a strategic move akin to a military one (and that's why as a political move it's not working) and because it's got to be someone very close to the Oval Office. Also, it can't be Kellyanne because the NYT described the author as "he". 

I wouldn't get too hung up on certain words, tbh.  Frankly, the tone and perspective give it away for me.  I also think it's John Kelly.  He has nothing to lose, really.  He's not a career politician, and writing this op-ed is a career-ender.

He still hasn't denied he wrote the op-ed, either.

[fraurosena]

Although this is a remarkable statement, I don’t think it’s time to rejoice just yet, as she’s only admonishing the administrators to just do it.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

From Jennifer Rubin: "The unnamed op-ed writer can’t be pleased"

Spoiler

I do not believe that the unnamed New York Times op-ed writer, who warns us the president is unfit for office, is Cabinet-rank. Surely anyone at that level would know they would be asked and would have to deny authorship, but since the op-ed writer thinks of themselves as honorable, they wouldn’t want to lie. And in any event, a “big” name would have no reason to write anonymously. They’d quit and get a book deal.

It therefore makes more sense that the writer is a level or two down the food chain from a Cabinet secretary. These are the sort of people who may attend the deputies meetings of the National Security Council (e.g., deputy secretaries of treasury, defense, state). They aren’t household names; they don’t generally get book deals or make the front page of papers when they are fired or quit. And these are, by the way, the same sort of people who joined the administration, rationalizing their decision, and are now inundated with I-told-you-so’s from friends, family and colleagues who said their participation in this administration was akin to selling their souls.

Given the op-ed’s emphasis on foreign policy, the author no doubt knew, maybe very well, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who was eulogized by two presidents last Saturday in Washington National Cathedral. Perhaps the writer’s conscience had been pricked. He needs to believe and have others believe that he could serve in this White House honorably. He insists he hasn’t been destroying conservatism but, like the monks of the Dark Ages, squirreling away treasure for a time when the Trumpian cloud lifts. ( The phrase “free minds, free markets and free people” is straight from the young Republicans’ Russell Kirk collection. This is no protectionist or anti-immigrant zealot, but someone who imagines he’s bending politics to the right.)

So, assuming this is all correct (and it may be wildly off base), what does a defensive, never-a-top-tier player do? He probably resigns by the end of the year, having put in two years with an administration. His op-ed is the first draft of the rationalization he will give to employers, friends, relatives, et al.

But here’s the problem: No one, it seems, views this author positively. Trump cultists of course see this person as a “traitor.” Trump’s harshest critics denounce this person who serves this president and can’t even sign his name to an op-ed. In their eyes, he is a cowering enabler. The Washington establishment, where this person will likely want to continue operating, has become, if anything, even more severe in its judgment: You cannot be honorable if you are silent in what appears to be an incapacitated, antidemocratic presidency. You’re an enabler.

In short, somewhere in a West Wing or department office, a nervous adviser is trying to blend into the walls, keep his head down. He likely didn’t get what he wanted — balm for his inflamed conscience. And worse, the chief “saviors” are gone or soon to go from Cabinet jobs, leaving fewer guardrails and putting the country further at risk. No, the anonymous author didn’t get what he wanted; indeed, he may have made his own and the country’s predicament worse.

 

[Snarkasarus Rex]

I disagree with Jennifer Rubin.  I don't think the NYT would have published it anonymously if it wasn't someone who is nationally recognized.   Whoever wrote it knew they were done as soon as it was published, and they didn't care.  The goal was never to continue in the job that they were doing.

[ViolaSebastian]

I broke down and pre-ordered Woodward's book. Get out all your popcorn gifs, because dis gon b gud. 

[dawbs]

I thought this (critical) bit made it'spoint well:
https://slate.com/culture/2018/09/i-am-part-of-the-police-department-inside-this-bank-robbery.html

with this as my favorite blurb:
 

Spoiler

Quote

Although we, personally, had hoped not to machine gun anyone we didn’t have to, we have to regretfully report that “Machine Gun” McGuire shows little affinity for not shooting people with machine guns. We’re going to keep emphasizing “Machine Gun” McGuire’s outsized personality and big, attention-grabbing nickname, so you pay less attention to the way we’re edging toward the back stairwell with these tasteful, understated black duffel bags. Come to think of it, it looks like “Machine Gun” McGuire is preparing for a last-ditch shootout in the main lobby of the bank, so you should probably all be looking over in that direction, don’t you think?

 

[Cartmann99]

Trump is at a rally in Billings, Montana right now:

 

[AnywhereButHere]

8 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

 

Although, according  to Lawrence O'Donnell just now, there are 12 people possibly facing a polygraph test in their near future. Sorry Caligula. When you play in the swamp - never trust the alligators. They’re not pets. 

[onekidanddone]

8 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

 

Do you think if Trump is a sundowning grandpa and notices things going mysteriously missing in the Oval, it could trigger this:

I don’t see the name Trump on the list. Maybe it is Treason Barbie 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[JMarie]

1 hour ago, onekidanddone said:

I don’t see the name Trump on the list. Maybe it is Treason Barbie 

Kushner's not on the list either.

[AmazonGrace]

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[fraurosena]

If, like me, you could never watch a presiduncial rally, but do want to know what kind of idiocy he spouted, Daniel Dale does a pretty good running commentary.

(thread, ofc)

 

 

[fraurosena]

This is just hilarious. You don't need sound on for this one. Just imagine Benny Hill theme music.

 

[EyesOpen]

14 hours ago, Ozlsn said:

 

I think that is opening her eyes - it wasn't just you, who she could write of as a token protest, it was other people too. I'd be interested to see if her posts shift in tone, or become less frequent supporting Trump. Depending on who liked the comment she may shift.

I really pray that is true. Her post was asking us to pray for the president and I said I pray he finds true repentance in Christ and I pray he is voted or removed from office... so we’re both praying. That’s for sure!

[fraurosena]

Anonymous. Sound on!