Trump 36: We Shall Overcome

[WiseGirl]

3 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

They re-enacted the movie "Dumb and Dumber" in the Oval Office today: "Here’s what happened at Kanye West’s incredibly bizarre meeting with Donald Trump"

  Reveal hidden contents

It was a head-scratching afternoon at the White House on Thursday as rapper Kanye West and so many of his opinions descended upon 1600 Penn. to discuss everything from North Korea to bipolar disorder with his “brother” President Trump.

Sporting his now-signature “Make America Great Again” hat, West made his first trip to the executive mansion to move the needle on several issues close to his heart and, before he deleted it, his social media feed — among them prison reform, gang violence and his hometown of Chicago.

With West seated across from him at the famous Resolute Desk, Trump began the Oval Office meeting — which also included Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Brown and Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner — by saying that the administration has been “keeping our promises.”

West responded, “I like the North Korea.”

Trump went on to explain that the United States had been “headed for war” with North Korea and that his administration had stopped the war and “saved millions of lives.” According to Trump, President Barack Obama told him that North Korea was one of the country’s biggest problems.

West was impressed. “Day One, solved one of his biggest problems,” the rapper said. “We solved one of the biggest problems.”

With that, West launched into a nearly 10-minute-long speech that the rapper said was “from the soul,” according to White House pool reports.

[A timeline of Kanye West’s most political moments]

The meandering soliloquy roller-coastered from the personal to the political. West called the president’s work on criminal-justice reform (an issue championed by his wife, Kim Kardashian, during her own visits with Trump) “bravery.” He said he was advised not to wear his MAGA hat, though he did not specify by whom: “They tried to scare me to not wear this hat.” He commented on his childhood. “My dad and my mom separated, so there was not a lot of male energy in my home and also I’m married to a family where, you know, there’s not a lot of male energy. It’s beautiful, though.” He said that Trump had given him (we assume metaphorically) “a Superman cape” to help do good.

West also had some clarifications about his mental health, a hot topic following his appearance on “Saturday Night Live” on Sept. 30. After the show went off the air, the rapper kept talking to the cast and audience about random topics that were captured on social media, including welfare conspiracies, racism and being bullied for his choice of hat. West has spoken out before about his bipolar disorder, but he told Trump on Thursday that was a misdiagnosis and that he is instead just sleep-deprived.

West, who received harsh criticism for suggesting that slavery was a “choice,” also told Trump that “we have to release the love [throughout] the country . . . we don’t have the reparations, but we have the 13th Amendment.”

The rapper referred to his own Oval Office opus as “a fine wine,” adding that “it has complex notes to it.”

When his monologue was finally finished, it was Trump’s turn to say something.

“I tell you what, that was pretty impressive,” Trump said. “That was quite something.”

The president added that West could “speak for me any time he wants. He’s a smart cookie. He gets it.”

When asked by a reporter if West, who has teased a presidential run in the past, was a viable candidate for commander in chief, Trump said that the rapper “could very well be.” But West himself had a caveat: “Only after 2024.”

West continued: “Let’s stop worrying about the future, all we have is today. . . . Trump is on his hero’s journey right now. He might not have thought he’d have a crazy motherf—er like [me].”

The pair then posed for photos and West, who did not cast a vote in the 2016 presidential election but has been a vocal supporter of Trump, hugged the president.

“I love this guy right here,” West .

Good grief. That is all.

Wtf did I just see on tv? I have got to wake up from this nightmare. It has to end, right? Right? Right?

[LeftCoastLurker]

Not sure where to post it, so doing it here. I watch Madame Secretary (CBS Sunday nights) and was blown away by the show Sunday night. 

If you can, go watch it (I looked and can't find the exact clip)...they managed to get Madeline Albright, Colin Powell and Hillary all in the room. It was amazing and they threw great shade at the current administration. (the episode's plot line was that an RPG got launched at the oval office...turned out it was white nationalists, not scary brown people).

The speech bye Tea Leoni at the end wasn't bad either...shades of the West Wing.

I cried for what our country used to have while watching.

[47of74]

Same here. 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[Howl]

Ya know, it always amazes me when I take a trip down memory lane to revisit the high quality research going on back when that clearly shows Trump's rampant and blatant ties to money laundering and corrupt entities.  Also remember that, besides owning property, Trump also licensed the Trump name to properties for a percentage of the take. 

Here's a piece from the Financial Times from Oct. 19, 2016, but this is just one example of many, many articles that have laid this out. 

Dirty money: Trump and the Kazakh connection

[Drala]

My head is exploding from the monumental amount of sh*t Trump & Company excrete into the universe on a daily basis.  I definitely need mental health self-care strategies.  Been spending at least 20 minutes of my online day looking at kitties, nature and baby monkey pics.  I may need to up my game with some formal therapy.

Trump May Not Be Crazy, But the Rest of Us Are Getting There Fast: Psychologists’ couches are filling up as Americans seek relief from Trump Anxiety Disorder. By JOHN F. HARRIS and SARAH ZIMMERMAN, October 12, 2018

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/10/12/donald-trump-anxiety-disorder-pscyhologists-221305

[prayawaythefundie]

51 minutes ago, Drala said:

My head is exploding from the monumental amount of sh*t Trump & Company excrete into the universe on a daily basis.  I definitely need mental health self-care strategies.  Been spending at least 20 minutes of my online day looking at kitties, nature and baby monkey pics.  I may need to up my game with some formal therapy.

Trump May Not Be Crazy, But the Rest of Us Are Getting There Fast: Psychologists’ couches are filling up as Americans seek relief from Trump Anxiety Disorder. By JOHN F. HARRIS and SARAH ZIMMERMAN, October 12, 2018

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/10/12/donald-trump-anxiety-disorder-pscyhologists-221305

Should it be called a disorder when it‘s a reasonable fear of Trump wrecking the world?

[Drala]

@prayawaythefundie

It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society ~ Jiddu Krishnamurti

[Howl]

OK, noting again that I've been on a tear about the Jamal Khashoggi assassination.  Remember that the Magnitsky Act applies to more than Russia, and on this past Wednesday, Congress has triggered a Magnitsky action relative to the Saudi assassination of Khashoggi.  This gives the administration 120 days to investigate and report back on whether Magnitsky sanctions will apply and to whom they will apply.  Al Jazeera does a good job of explaining this: What is the Magnitsky Act? How does it apply to Khashoggi's case?

Quote

 

On Wednesday, ranking members and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee sent a letter to President Trump triggering the Magnitsky Act and an investigation into whether rights violations occurred relating to Khashoggi's disappearance.

Upon receipt of the letter, the White House has 120 days to report back to the committee with a decision and determine whether it will impose sanctions on the foreign individual(s) involved in the "gross violation of internationally recognized human rights against an individual exercising freedom of expression".

Human rights violations would also include "torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, prolonged detention without charges and trial, causing the disappearance of persons by the abduction and clandestine detention of those persons, and other flagrant denial of the right to life, liberty, or the security of person," the Committee wrote in its letter on Wednesday. 

 

Please raise your hand if you think the administration will spend its 120 days providing cover for Jared, obfuscating and trying to explain why the Magnitsky Act won't apply to gazillion dollar mega-contracts to supply advanced weaponry to the Saudis to kill more Yemenis while they abduct/torture/murder journalists and dissidents. 

[GreyhoundFan]

WTAF?

[fraurosena]

So much for trickle-down economics.

 

[WiseGirl]

On 10/12/2018 at 9:03 AM, Howl said:

clearly shows Trump's rampant and blatant ties to money laundering and corrupt entities.

And yet it all gets swept under the rug when new shit arrives...on a daily basis...?

[Howl]

3 hours ago, WiseGirl said:

And yet it all gets swept under the rug when new shit arrives...on a daily basis...?

Yup, there's a daily avalanche of shit and no one human can keep up with it all, but typically it can be sorted into broad categories that roughly correspond to most of the 7 Deadly Sins and racism.

[AmericanRose]

Republicans did a really good job of convincing people that companies would be more than happy to forego higher profits and pass along those tax cuts to employees. They also did a really good job of convincing people that higher minimum wages are undeserved and BAD!!!!1111

[GreyhoundFan]

Because of course he did: "Trump praises Robert E. Lee during Ohio rally"

Spoiler

President Donald Trump praised Confederate General Robert E. Lee at a rally in Ohio Friday night during a soliloquy in which he also praised a number of Ohioans, including Union General Ulysses S. Grant.

"So Robert E. Lee was a great general and Abraham Lincoln developed a phobia, he couldn't beat Robert E. Lee," Trump told supporters at a rally in Lebanon, Ohio, the latest place he's visited to boost GOP candidates before the midterm elections. "He was going crazy ... but Robert E. Lee was winning battle after battle after battle and Abraham Lincoln came home and he said 'I can't beat Robert E. Lee."

Trump added that the frustrated Lincoln was forced to turn to Grant to finally deliver a victory for the Union and to end the Civil War.

While his praise of Lee, who was not from Ohio, came in his build-up of Grant, who was, Civil War history has been fraught territory for Trump and key members of his administration, particularly in a time when many of the monuments of Lee and other Southern generals are being targeted for removal.

White House chief of staff John Kelly called Lee an "honorable man" in October 2017 and added that the war was caused by a "lack of compromise."

Trump has previously defended the existence of statues for figures like Lee, saying that imposing modern morals on historical figures is a slippery slope that will devour many esteemed leaders in the process.

"Sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments," he wrote in a series of tweets in August 2017, just days after violent protests in Charlottesville erupted following a rally that was organized in part to protest the removal of a statue of Lee. "[C]an't change history, but you can learn from it. Robert E Lee, Stonewall Jackson - who's next, Washington, Jefferson? So foolish! Also... the beauty that is being taken out of our cities, towns and parks will be greatly missed and never able to be comparably replaced!

Addressing another of Ohio's native sons, Trump said President William McKinley "has not been properly recognized." He also praised Astronaut Neil Armstrong and the Wright Brothers, and while not mentioning him by name, called Ohio State Football coach Urban Meyer a "great" man.

 

[thoughtful]

2 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Trump has previously defended the existence of statues for figures like Lee, saying that imposing modern morals on historical figures is a slippery slope

Can we at least impose modern (or any other kind of) morals on Trump? That would be a start.

[47of74]

Fuck face's people are going to sell the list of his supporters

Quote

Early in his presidential campaign, Donald J. Trump dismissed political data as an “overrated” tool. But after he won the Republican nomination, his team began building a database that offers a pipeline into the heart of the party’s base, a comprehensive list including the email addresses and cellphone numbers of as many as 20 million supporters.

Now, consultants close to the Trump campaign are ramping up efforts to put that database — by far the most sought-after in Republican politics — to use, offering it for rent to candidates, conservative groups and even businesses.

It is an arrangement that has the potential to help the Republican Party in key midterm races, while providing a source of revenue for President Trump’s campaign and the consultants involved.

It has also set off concerns about diluting the power of one of Mr. Trump’s most potent political assets, while raising questions about whether his team is facilitating the sort of political profiteering that he disparaged during his campaign.

Every scammer's dream....buy a list of gullible, racist morons who would buy fake gold plated horseshit if told that it came straight from the anus of one Donald J. Trump.  (And, yeah, I know....nice mental image).

[fraurosena]

Well, we all know what's really important, don't we?

 

[Gobsmacked]

We just watched this on Sunday morning TV. Mr GS just looked stunned, choked on his coffee and turned the TV off. I feel Nausea creeping on. A trip to a local Hostelery (sp) is now being planned. 

[WiseGirl]

@SilverBeach posted this in the Gwen Shamblin thread, but for some reason it reminded me of something we discuss over here.

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/cult-leader-personality-traits?utm_source=email

[GreyhoundFan]

The Dumpy/Kanye meeting was the opening of SNL this week. I love the mental comments like,  "I wonder if there is such a thing as tripolar".

 

[AmericanRose]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-defiant-unloads-on-60-minutes/ar-BBOokiM?ocid=spartanntp

Quote

The president also dismissed the work of researchers studying increases in global temperatures that could threaten the well-being of the planet and exacerbate natural disasters, purporting that “they have a very big political agenda” and claiming that Earth’s climate “could very well go back.”

A political agenda of what?* Does he know how science works?

And per usual, Europe = bad. N. Korea and Russia = good.

*I'm sure my mom would say something about how they'll use global warming fears to control the population.

[fraurosena]

What a nauseating piece of shit.

 

[fraurosena]

That interview was even worse than I thought after seeing the clip I posted earlier.

‘I’m president and you’re not’: Trump’s interview goes off the rails when Stahl demands answers on immigration and Dr. Ford

Quote

When it came to questions about immigration and President Donald Trump’s policy to take children away from their parents, the president swore, inaccurately, that President Barack Obama did the same thing.

In a “60 Minutes” interview, reporter Lesley Stahl asked him what he regretted. He started off on a rant about how he regrets the press treating him unfairly. She clarified she wanted to know if he made any mistakes, and all he would say is that he wished he’d done NAFTA sooner.

When speaking about the immigration crisis and his misstep with his executive order that changed the way Border Patrol operated taking children away from their families.

“Can you answer yes or no,” Stahl asked for the third time about reinstituting the executive order.

“There have to be consequences for coming into a country illegally,” Trump said.

“I’m not going to ask it again,” she said, giving up.

“You don’t have to,” Trump said. “But it’s the same as Obama.” As a fact-check, the Obama administration never had the same policy. It was only with Trump’s executive order that children were taken from families.

When asked about what he’s learned from his presidency, Trump called Manhattan real estate people “babies” compared to political people.

“It’s the most deceptive, vicious world. It’s vicious. It’s full of lies, deceit and deception,” he said. “You make a deal you might as well be making a deal with that table.”

“Give me an example,” she asked.

“Well, I don’t want to give you an example — remember nobody’s been able to do what I do,” Trump said, factually inaccurate. “When you look a taxes, when you look at regulation when you look at making deals with other countries — nobody’s been able to do something like this. Actually, most people didn’t even try because they didn’t have the ability to do it. But it’s a very deceptive world. The other thing I’ve really learned is I never knew how dishonest the media was. I really mean it. I’m not saying that to sound-byte, I never know how –“

“I’m going to change the subject again,” Stahl moved on.

“No, but even the way you ask me a question like about family separation, I say Obama did it you don’t want to talk about it,” Trump said. Obama never took children from their families at the border and put them in cages.

“I’m going to run your answer, but you did it four times,” Stahl said about Trump avoiding answering her question.

“I’m just telling you that you treated much differently on the subject,” Trump said.

“I disagree, but I don’t want to have that fight with you,” she said. “I’d rather have another fight with you.”

“Hey, that’s OK. That’s OK. I’m president and you’re not,” he said.

They also addressed the way in which the country has been pulled apart by the confirmation hearing of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

“I don’t think they want to heal. I want to heal,” Trump said about Americans wanting to come together after being torn apart.

When it came to Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, Trump said he didn’t mimic her or make fun of her. He claimed he was really just calling into question what she didn’t remember.

“Had I not made that speech, we would not have won,” Trump said. “I was just saying she didn’t seem to know anything and you tried to destroy the life of a man who has been extraordinary.”

Trump’s speech was factually inaccurate, Dr. Ford did have a lot of information, described the house in such great detail that reporters were able to locate the house the assault likely occurred in and which friend of Kavanaugh’s lived there at the time. The date was uncovered by using the calendar Kavanaugh released showing July 1 was likely when the party she referenced took place.

“Why did you have to make fun of her?” Stahl asked.

“I didn’t really make fun of her,” Trump said.

Stahl said that when speaking at the hearing, one thing Dr. Ford remembered the worst moment was that the two men were laughing at her.

“OK,” Trump said, shrugging his shoulders.

“And then I watched you mimic her and thousands of people were laughing at her,” Stahl explained.

“They can do what they — I will tell you this,” Trump said. “The way now Justice Kavanaugh was treated has become a big factor in the midterms.”

“But did you have to–” Stahl cut in.

“I think she was treated with great respect,” Trump said about the Senate hearing. “There are those who think she shouldn’t have been.”

“But do you think you treated her with great respect?” Stahl asked.

“Oh, yes, I do,” he answered.

Watch below:

 

 

[Howl]

First, we're 100% agreement on politics, but our viewing habits vary. Hubs watched Trump but I muted the audio, because NOTHING Trump says is informative. TV headphones have saved our marriage.  He wears them and I mute as needed. 

This is already shaping up to be a stellar Infrastructure Week and it's not even 8 am Central.

My take? The Saudis murdered Jamal Khashoggi and likely there is an audio and visual record.   There will be tons of posturing and hand wringing over what to do to punish the Saudis.  Trump can posture and carry on about what he'll do if it is "proven" that the Saudis assassinated Khashoggi,  but won't do anything, because a) jared and b) jared  and Saudi investment in the US. I was reading here and there and came across this statement: "All the Saudis have to do is sit out one T-Bill Auction and they can crash the entire US economy."

A bit of googling comes up with two time frames relative to Saudis investment in US: one is April 2016 and the other is mid September of this year. 

From Bloomberg, May 30, 2016 

The Untold Story Behind Saudi Arabia’s 41-Year U.S. Debt Secret: How a legendary bond trader from Salomon Brothers brokered a do-or-die deal that reshaped U.S.-Saudi relations for generations.

Sept. 9, 2018 The Start Of Saudi Arabia’s Power Play