Trump 37: Tweeting instead of Leading

[Cartmann99]

2 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

Prediction: on the way back he goes golfing in Mar-a-Iago. Gotta be some New Year shindig coming up.

Yup. 

Quote

Want to party with the president on New Year’s Eve? If you’re not a member of Mar-a-Lago, expect to pay, big league.

Club guests will pay a hefty $1,000 to ring in the New Year at President Trump’s private Palm Beach club, up from $750 last year and $575 the year before, according to Palm Beach sources.

Ticket prices for dues-paying club members also rose for the Dec. 31 party, but they did not rise as much as guest tickets did, sources said. This year Mar-a-Lago members will pay $650 for New Year’s Eve tickets, sources said, up from $600 last year and $525 the year before.

Just two years ago, tickets for members and nonmember guests were within $50 of each other.

But now nonmember guests planning to attend the upcoming event at Mar-a-Lago can expect to pay $250 more than last year, and nearly twice what they did two years ago.

The ticket prices don’t include a 20 percent gratuity and 7 percent tax, which can add another $270 to a $1,000 guest ticket.

That means a couple attending as guests can expect to fork over more than $2,500 for an evening of champagne, caviar and Trump.

Officials with the Trump Organization did not return an email and telephone call seeking comment.

Observers speculated that Mar-a-Lago hiked the nonmember ticket fees in a bid to discourage outsiders from coming to the party.

 

[47of74]

By the way did he spray on an extra layer of orange on to his bloated self beforehand? Sure as fornicate looks like it.

[GreyhoundFan]

 

[AmazonGrace]

He sure can motivate people

And this: 

 

[Howl]

Quote

Video posted to President @realDonaldTrump Twitter account reveals covert U.S. Navy SEAL deployment during #Iraq visit

This is absolutely the worst on so many levels.  The place of deployment and the personnel are closely guarded secrets because of the potential for use and abuse by enemies if the Special Ops people are captured. Even worse, they could become a target for capture.  This is a horrifying security breach.  

On the other hand, Newsweek is reporting on this breach in detail, with a picture of the Seal Team #5 Chaplain, along with his name.  From Malcom Nance in the same Newsweek article: 

Quote

“Operational security is the most important aspect of personnel deployments. The real names, faces, and identities, of personnel involved in special operations or activities, are usually a closely held secret in a combat zone,” Nance said. “Revealing them casually, through an unusual media exposure even if it’s the commander in chief, would prove a propaganda boom if any of this personnel are detained by a hostile government or captured by a terrorist group. There would be no denying who you are and what you do.”

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[AmazonGrace]

The great diplomat: 

 

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[Howl]

Dems and everybody, listen up! 

 

[onekidanddone]

3 minutes ago, Howl said:

Dems and everybody, listen up! 

 

So why won't this work with him and Putin? Shaming him by saying he is Putin's puppet hasn't worked. He still rolls over every time Vlaid blinks.

[AmazonGrace]

Shaming is why he keeps saying no one is tougher to Russia I think. Not that his words make any difference

 

[Alisamer]

I strongly suspect this is what happened.

Trump: Ugh! I hate it here! This house is a dump and it's cold! I'm supposed to be in Florida where it's warm! I want to go somewhere warm! Waaahhhh!

Random Staffer: I... have an idea. Iraq is warm, isn't it? And won't it look wonderful to go visit the troops! Your base will LOVE it!

Aside to other random staffer: Somebody call whoever's in charge of the base in Iraq and tell them to make sure the soldiers kiss his butt. Put a few boxes of MAGA hats on Air Force One to hand out before Trump de-planes.

Trump: Hm. OK. But we're stopping at Mar-A-Loco on the way back, for New Years! I'm the president, I do what I want! And I wanna play golf!

 

I strongly suspect Barron sees his grandparents far more often than his father. Which is probably a good thing - that child is showered in riches but always looks miserable. I hope he is smarter than his father and siblings.

Somebody somewhere has Trump's nuts in a vice. I'm not sure if it's a mob connection, or Putin, or what, but he owes somebody something big and hasn't been able to deliver, I think. All these lawsuits are just his everyday normal illegal activities - I feel like there's gotta be something bigger going on too.

[47of74]

 

I hope these soldiers get the book thrown at them for violating the rules against political activities in uniform. Can you imagine the live on screen crucifixion the Reich would have done if a soldier had done this for President Obama? And the soldier would have rightly gotten his or her ass handed to them back then.

[formergothardite]

7 minutes ago, Alisamer said:

, but he owes somebody something big and hasn't been able to deliver,

He owes someone bigly and they have something on him that will humiliate him and he is in terror of it being  released. 

I think he has probably be bothered by all the news that he didn't spend Christmas with the troops and he won't go see them over seas, so to help his image he went. Except being Trump he fucked it up. He can't even talk to children on Christmas Eve about Santa without being awful. 

Just now, 47of74 said:

 

I hope these soldiers get the book thrown at them for violating the rules against political activities in uniform. Can you imagine the live on screen crucifixion the Reich would have done if a soldier had done this for President Obama? And the soldier would have rightly gotten his or her ass handed to them back then.

 

I have a feeling nothing will happen, but it should. They should be punished for doing this. And how creepy is it to have a flag with the president's name on it? Pretty sure our founders are rolling over in their graves over that! 

[Howl]

3 hours ago, Alisamer said:

strongly suspect Barron sees his grandparents far more often than his father. Which is probably a good thing - that child is showered in riches but always looks miserable.

I think the grandparents and Melania are a rock to that child.  He's incredibly tall (closing in on 6') for his age (12, in 6th grade).  When I see him, it's obvious he just doesn't know how to be coordinated in a body growing that tall, that fast. He could also be a relatively normal 12-year-old who hates the spotlight and avoids it like the plague.

 

[CTRLZero]

Random observation:  I watched a snippet of the news where Trump was complaining to the troops that the democrats were against border security because of lack of funding for his wall.  Trump does know that the military are a mixed bag of republican, democrat and other, right?  I asked my husband (retired military) what he would do in a situation where his commander in chief was raving against a political party (or a religion, or ethnicity, or...).  He said if he was not required to be there, he might just wander back to the barracks for a nap.

Obviously, it's (supposedly) an honor to meet the president and the troops should show respect.  I guess I just wish Trump was a little smarter, respectful and diplomatic, but that will never happen. 

[laPapessaGiovanna]

tRumpy quiz of the year. I am scared by the fact that I got them all. It's pretty easy to cheat too. Just choose the most absurd option. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/dec/26/donald-trump-quiz-of-2018 

[Howl]

Well, many of the troops were not too impressed with Trump's demand to send active duty military to the US border. 

Although some have been sent home or rotated out, many are still there living in tents. 

Also, Mattis has incredibly strong support among active military, and when I say strong, it's around 90% with officers and definitely less among rank and file, but still strong.  They were likely not too happy over the Syrian pullout, triggering the Mattis resignation and then firing. 

[fraurosena]

Because of course, if there's a buck to be made of anything, they won't pass up the chance now, will they?

 

5 hours ago, formergothardite said:

And how creepy is it to have a flag with the president's name on it? Pretty sure our founders are rolling over in their graves over that! 

I'm highly suspicious if it was really their own flag. I would not be surprised one little bit if the presidunce took it with him and it was handed to them to hold for the photo op. Just like the MAGAt hats. Why would a military person have them there at work? There would be no purpose, as they couldn't wear them or something. 

[formergothardite]

Why are there even flags with his name on them?! I do not remember Obama flags or Bush flags. 

[GreyhoundFan]

"Trump flubs another routine presidential task"

Spoiler

President Trump has an uncanny knack for making a mess of simple, traditional functions every other president has managed to carry out with ease. Talk to a child about Christmas? Yikes — a “marginal” disaster. Go to Europe to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I? He skips one event rather than wilt in the rain and sulks through another. The worst anti-Semitic massacre in U.S. history? He whines about getting his hair wet and keeps campaigning. Visit the troops (finally) in Iraq? Oh boy.

Trump has the obnoxious habit of using American military personnel as props, an audience for highly partisan attacks. Every other person to hold the office has understood that the military must be beyond politics; the apolitical military is a critical difference between Western democracies and thuggish regimes. Worst of all, Trump deployed the troops at the border in pre-election stunt to rile up his xenophobic base. (He has even managed to insult the leader of the operation to kill Osama bin Laden, the highly esteemed retired Adm. William H. McRaven.)

As retired Rear Adm. John Kirby, a former spokesman for both the Defense and State departments, put it in November: “The United States military is not a voting bloc. It’s not a MAGA rally crowd. It’s not a plaything, and it’s most certainly not an arm of the Republican Party. Our troops, of course, must obey the orders of the commander in chief. They execute the military policy he sets forth. But their loyalty belongs to the American people and to the Constitution.”

So on his belated, first visit to a war zone, Trump once more flubbed a routine presidential task, politicizing his speech (complete with partisan attacks on Democrats on his favorite topic, the border) and even signing “Make America Great Again” hats for the troops, despite regulations prohibiting military personnel from engaging in political events. (“Per longstanding DoD policy, active duty personnel may not engage in partisan political activities and all military personnel should avoid the inference that their political activities imply or appear to imply DoD sponsorship, approval, or endorsement of a political candidate, campaign, or cause. Members on active duty may not campaign for a partisan candidate, engage in partisan fundraising activities, serve as an officer of a partisan club, or speak before a partisan gathering.”)

To make matters worse, he lied to the military men and women in attendance about the raise they received. ABC News reports:

“Is anybody here willing to give up the big pay raise you just got?” he surveyed the crowd. “Raise your hand please. Oh, I don’t see too many hands.”

He continued, citing numbers that have since been debunked and declared untrue.

"You haven’t gotten [a raise] in more than ten years," he said. "And we got you a big one. I got you a big one."

As the independent fact-checking site PolitiFact noted, the military has received a routine pay raise every year since at least 1961. The 2.4 percent increase that went into effect in 2018 was the largest since 2010, but they have continued apace every year.

Trump then falsely asserted that the pay increase was actually 10 percent, recounting phony conversations in which “plenty of people” tried to impose a smaller raise.

Trump also repeated his familiar charge that we are “suckers” for deploying the very people he was addressing in so many locations. That’s a real morale booster. He also told them he was in no hurry to pick a permanent defense secretary, their civilian leader, after firing the beloved Jim Mattis. And to top it off, he seemed to sneer at his military advisers in recounting how he ignored their advice regarding an immediate pullout from Syria.

All in all, it was the most cringe-worthy presidential visit to the troops in memory, a reminder that while Trump loves to talk about “his generals” and wrap himself in military pomp, he has never learned the basics of military culture and decorum, nor shown any understanding of the military ethic exemplified by career military men such as Mattis.

As in all things, the military for Trump is all about him; hence, his performances come across as tone-deaf and ham-handed, lacking the dignity and high-mindedness appropriate for such occasions. Leave it to Trump to make a visit to the troops look like a crass political campaign rally. He manages to defile just about every institution he touches.

Trump’s blunders will increase and become more serious as the last vestiges of adult supervision (Mattis, John Kelly) depart the administration. Democrats, especially veterans of the military and intelligence community who now serve in Congress, would be wise to tackle Trump’s abuse and misuse of our military. Someone needs to defend the reputation and honor of the military.

 

[AmazonGrace]

If you by any chance get a sane adult president again you won't know what hit you because this shit is normal now.

[Alisamer]

17 minutes ago, AmazonGrace said:

If you by any chance get a sane adult president again you won't know what hit you because this shit is normal now.

I've almost forgotten what it's like to have a president who just does his job, without causing 20 headlines a day. I kind of remember when the president used to only be in the news when something noteworthy or unusual was happening - the rest of the time he was busy, you know, working! You could sometimes go whole days, even weeks, without there being a headline about something the president has done or said. You used to be able to assume that the president was working for the best interests of the country, even if you disagreed with him on how to go about that. You used to be able to safely assume that the president could go overseas and meet other countries' leaders without insulting them. That the president could visit the troops without managing to accidentally reveal highly classified information. That the president would oppose Russia and North Korea, and support our long-term allies. That the news that the president has committed a crime, told a blatant lie, or had an extramarital fling was a really big scandal - not just a regular Tuesday. That the president could speak briefly to a child without managing to spill the beans about Santa.

I remember when Dan Quayle spelled a word incorrectly, and it was newsworthy. Now we have a president who appears to be functionally illiterate.

I now check the headlines daily, saying "oh god what did he do today?" I don't remember EVER saying that about a previous president, not even during the whole Monica Lewinsky thing, or in the worst bits of Bush 2.0's blundering.

I mean, politicians are politicians - but I expect a bare minimum of competence and class from a president. How in the world have we adjusted to this insanity so quickly?

[Cartmann99]

1 hour ago, fraurosena said:

Because of course, if there's a buck to be made of anything, they won't pass up the chance now, will they?

I don't want to give them any ideas, but I'm actually surprised that they haven't  done one of those fundraising campaigns where they offer to put your name on a brick if you donate enough money:

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... and if you donate at least five million dollars, your brick will be dipped in 24 karat gold and prayed over by the entire Trump family! You will also receive an autographed picture of President and Mrs. Trump standing next to your brick! A certificate of authenticity and a map showing exactly where your brick is located on the Trump Patriot Trump Liberty Trump America Trump Freedom Trump Wall ® is included for free at this donor level...

 

[fraurosena]

Sweet Rufus. The man is insane. The only thing he can think about is his bloody wall and blaming dems for not giving it to him. Will he let the shutdown drag on and on and on and on until he's removed from office? Or will he relent at some point? It's anyone's guess.