Trump 43: King of Chaos

[thoughtful]

7 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Agent Orange, Angry Creamsicle, Boiled Ham in a Wig, Bribe of Chuck, Butternut Squash, Cheddar Boy, Cheeto Benito, Cheeto Mussolini, Cheeto Fuhrer, Cheeto Jesus, Cheeto-Dusted Bloviator, Cheeto-in-Chief, Cheez Doodle, Cheez Wiz, Cinnamon Hitler, Cheeto Christ Stupid Czar, Comrade Cheetolino, Corn Husk Doll Cursed by a Witch, Decomposing Jack O’ Lantern, Dehydrated Orange Peel, Fascist Loofa-Faced Shit-Gibbon, Fuckface von Clownstick, Gossamer-Skinned Bully, John Boehner’s Tanning Partner in Crime, Killer Klown from Outer Space, King of the Oompa Loompas, Orange Anus, Orange Back Gorilla, Pile of Old Garbage Covered in Vodka Sauce, Ronald McDonald Trump-Bozo, Sack of Gilded Lunchmeat, Screaming Carrot Demon, Tan Dump Lord, Tangerine Tornado, Tangerine-Tinted Trash-Can Fire, The Human Corncob, Xenophobic Sweet Potato, The Angry Cheeto, Captain Crunch, Deeply Disturbed Fuzzy Orange Goofball, Don of Orange, Great Orange Hairball of Fear, The Human Tanning Bed Warning Label, Last of the Mango Mohawkans, Orange Bozo, Orange Caligula, Orange Clown, Orange-Hued Self-Immolator, Orange Man, The Orange Messiah, Orange Moron, Orange Omen of Doom, Orange Toilet Bowl Crud Brought to Life as a Genital-Grabbing Golem, Orange-Tufted Imbecile Intent on Armageddon, Orange-Tufted Asshole, OranguTAN, President Goldman Sucks, Pudgy McTrumpcake, Putin’s Papaya-Flavored Pawn, Queer Orangutan, The Talking Yam, Thin-Skinned Orange Peel, Orange Dildo, and Orange-Flavored Shitgibbon.

Not one mention of Velveeta? If I was Kraft, I'd sue.

[smittykins]

Is Velveeta orange enough, though? 

Edited September 15, 2019 by smittykins
Remove rogue question mark

[fraurosena]

Well, having listened to fragments of AM Joy, I think I've found the origin of both tweets yesterday. There was a segment in which Joy was discussing the Dem candidates and reflecting back on the differences between Trump and Hillary. She said something along the lines of  "Well, we all know Hillary is quite intelligent, whereas Trump is, well... Trump." 

It explains the first tweet, reiterating that he's a stable genius, thank you. And it also explains his attack on Joy.

Do not disparage his intelligence, for you will feel the wrath of his tantrum-tweets! 

[fraurosena]

Of course Trump has to say something about the new Kavanaugh allegations (I posted them in his thread btw), complete with presiduncial riffle:

First of all 'liable' should be l'ibel'. 

Secondly, 'False Accusations without recrimination' should be 'Credible accusations without investigation'. The DOJ already came to his rescue.

And lastly, as to anybody trying to influence his opinions, he wouldn't be much of a judge if he let himself be influenced by anything other than the law...

[fraurosena]

Apparently the Kavanaugh allegations have really got to him. Is he afraid that his buddy on the Supreme Court won't be there protect him when the time comes?

 

[fraurosena]

Oh yes, he's rattled all right.

 

[Smoochie]

Somebody tweeted to him about her book, The Man Who Sold America: Trump and the Unraveling of the American Story and he went off.  For someone who never watches TV and then claims only fox, he seems to know what's happening on every other station ... I figure he's got a good 5 TVs on at any time!

[fraurosena]

There’s an attack on Saudi Arabia?

 

[GreyhoundFan]

36 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

There’s an attack on Saudi Arabia?

 

Yes, a series of drone attacks.

Spoiler

Oil prices jumped on global markets Sunday night after a wave of weekend drone attacks instantly erased half of Saudi Arabia’s oil production.

Brent crude on Sunday traded at $70.98 per barrel on oil futures markets, an 18 percent surge from Friday’s close of $60.15, before falling back to about a 12 percent increase. U.S. benchmark West Texas intermediate crude opened at $61.27 per barrel, a 12 percent climb, before easing to a 10 percent gain.

On Sunday, President Trump said via Twitter that he had authorized the release of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in a to-be-determined amount. He added that he told government agencies “to expedite approvals of the oil pipelines currently in the permitting process in Texas and various other States.”

The attack on Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure immediately knocked out 5.7 million barrels — or nearly 6 percent of the 100 million barrels a day the world consumes.

“A supply disruption on this scale is an extraordinary event,” said Pavel Molchanov, an oil analyst with Raymond James. “No single disruption on this scale has occurred in decades.”

U.S. oil prices have been trading in a belt between $50 and $60 a barrel in the past six months. Brent crude, the global benchmark, has been trading slightly above that range. Most oil companies and nations favor world oil prices in the $70 to $80 range, which allows a healthy profit without rattling the economy or sparking a rush for alternatives to petroleum.

Oil prices could spike in the next several days as a result of the attack on Saudi’s state-run oil company, Saudi Aramco, which is the second-largest oil producer in the world at 9.85 million barrels per day in August.

“The Saudis are scrambling to make repairs and keep the oil flowing,” said John Kilduff of Again Capital. “The response will determine how high prices go and for how long.”

A jump in oil prices is likely to weigh on an already-declining global economy, one beset by the U.S.-China trade war, White House sanctions against Iran and a decade-long economic expansion that shows signs of petering out.

On Sunday, Saudi officials said only a third of the affected 5.7 million barrels would be restored by Monday, leaving millions of barrels day offline indefinitely.

With oil giants Venezuela and Iran mostly absent from world markets, an extended Saudi supply disruption could force industrial economies such as the U.S. to tap emergency reserves. There are 1.5 billion barrels available in strategic reserves among industrial economies.

The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve currently holds 645 million barrels, equal to about one month of U.S. oil consumption.

“The good news is that there is more than enough oil in inventory to prevent fuel shortages,” Molchanov said. “There are not going to be gasoline lines like there were in the 1970s.”

Though Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the weekend blasts, the U.S. blames Iran for the “unprecedented attack on the world’s energy supply.” Tehran has denied responsibility.

The last time the world lost a comparable slice of its oil supply was during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. As a result, there was a substantial increase in global oil prices, but the process was a gradual because the war had been expected.

Oil prices result from a careful balance of supply and demand. Supplies have been mostly in balance this year, as U.S. production has made up for declines in Venezuela and Iran.

Even though the U.S. produces more oil than ever before — close to 12 million barrels a day — a disruption halfway around the world can send prices soaring on global markets.

But Americans are more insulated from dramatic swings because technological advances have increased domestic oil output and heightened efficiency, from automobile mileage to home heating. U.S. shale oil production has reduced domestic demand for Persian Gulf oil from 3 million barrels a day in 2003 to 1 million barrels now. The U.S. economy is far less dependent on manufacturing than it was during the big oil price spikes of the 1970s and ’80s.

Oil companies also are a smaller piece of the stock market. The energy sector comprised more than 20 percent of the Standard & Poor’s 500’s total value in the 1970s. Now it’s only 4.44 percent.

Oil prices have been relatively calm in recent weeks because of high production and slowing demand. But trade disputes, sanctions against Iran, and Venezuela’s internal meltdown have contributed to confusion in oil markets.

U.S. oil production has helped keep a lid on gasoline prices. Americans this month saw the lowest Labor Day gas prices in three years.

Saudi Arabia has been the industry’s great stabilizer, with $10 trillion worth of oil under its sands. But the kingdom and other members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries have been unable to limit production enough to keep prices within the sweet spot of $70 to $80 a barrel.

“This attack provides a stark reminder that geopolitical risk to oil supply is very real,” Molchanov said.

 

[AnywhereButHere]

Fuckstick is going to get us into a war with Iran. The question is, is it deflection from Kavanaugh or just for funsies. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2019/09/15/trump-says-us-is-locked-and-loaded-after-attack-on-saudi-oil-supply.html

Quote

President Donald Trump said the United States is "locked and loaded" after an attack on Saudi Arabia's oil supply, but his administration is waiting on Riyadh to determine who launched the strikes before proceeding on a course of action. 

"There is reason to believe that we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depending on verification," Trump said in a post on Twitter. 

...

Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for the attack, but the U.S. has pointed the finger at Iran. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Tehran of launching an "unprecedented attack on the world's energy supply."

 

[Dandruff]

I caught the news about the drone attacks very late last night and was following it.  Given the recent meeting with the Taliban that didn't happen, and Trump's subsequent threats, I'm concerned where all this may lead. 

I expect gasoline prices to spike shortly, along with a rush of people wanting to fuel up (which should drive prices even higher).

[fraurosena]

This threatening war with Iran serves one purpose, and one purpose only: to make Trump look good and above all, re-electable. Nothing like a good old war to heighten ones popularity.

Plus, in Trump's case, a war has the added bonus of deflecting from his imminent impeachment.

[fraurosena]

 

[fraurosena]

You scared, Mr. Presidunce? You sound scared.

1. They did not fail on either the Mueller Report or his testimony; both serve as grounds for the impeachment inquiry. You can repeat your denials all you want, it will not change reality.
2. They are not trying to build a case. You are enriching yourself. Promoting bedbug infested Doral, making Pence stay at Doonberry, accepting money from William Barr, accepting money from Repugliklans and foreign dignitaries that stay at Trump Hotel in Washington DC, making your security pay for golf carts  and to follow you around and their room and board at Mar-a-loco and Bedminster... shall I go on, or did you get the message yet?
3. Yes, you are losing money because you are POTUS. Nobody likes you, your brand is toxic. Self-respecting people and organizations do not want to be associated with the Trump name. Too bad, so sad. 
4. ...doing the best job that has been done in many decades? Best job at what? Golfing? Watching television? Tweeting? Or whatever the hell it is you do during executive time? 
5. You are far beyond? What does that even mean?
6. It's not simply somebody paying for a hotel room for the evening. It's somebody, plus his whole entourage. And it's not filling up the relatively small gas tank of a car. It's the humongous gas tank of an airplane. It's making everybody on that plane stay at your resort (and making them pay for their own food there). You may try to minimize how much you profit off of these things, but everybody sees right through your piteous attempt at gaslighting. Also, in corruption cases, like this one obviously is, it does not matter how high the amount paid (or what the quid pro quo) is. It's the corruption and profiteering itself that is egregious and grounds for impeachment.
7. Obama Netflix? Wut? Who exactly is the CRAZY one again?

[GreyhoundFan]

 

[fraurosena]

Cue some new trumped up scandal (see what I did there?) as a distraction.

8 Years of Trump Tax Returns Are Subpoenaed by Manhattan D.A.

Quote

State prosecutors in Manhattan have subpoenaed President Trump’s accounting firm to demand eight years of his personal and corporate tax returns, according to several people with knowledge of the matter.

The subpoena opens a new front in a wide-ranging effort to obtain copies of the president’s tax returns, which Mr. Trump initially said he would make public during the 2016 campaign but has since refused to disclose.

The subpoena was issued by the Manhattan district attorney’s office late last month, soon after it opened a criminal investigation into the role that the president and his family business played in hush-money payments made in the run-up to the election.

Both Mr. Trump and his company reimbursed Michael D. Cohen, the president’s former lawyer and fixer, for money Mr. Cohen paid to buy the silence of Stormy Daniels, a pornographic film actress who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump. The president has denied the affair.

It was unclear if the broad scope of the subpoena indicated that the office had expanded its investigation beyond actions taken during the 2016 campaign. A spokesman for the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., declined to comment.

The state prosecutors are seeking a range of tax documents from the accounting firm, Mazars USA, including Mr. Trump’s personal returns and those of his business, the Trump Organization. The subpoena seeks federal and state returns for both the president and the company dating back to 2011, the people said.

The investigation by Mr. Vance has been focused on $130,000 that Mr. Cohen paid Ms. Daniels, whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford, just before the election. Mr. Cohen pleaded guilty last year to breaking federal campaign finance laws and received a three-year prison sentence.

While the federal prosecutors who charged Mr. Cohen stated in a court filing in July that they had “effectively concluded” their inquiry into possible crimes committed by the company or its executives, Mr. Vance’s office is exploring whether the reimbursements violated any New York state laws.

In particular, the state prosecutors are examining whether the company falsely accounted for the reimbursements as a legal expense. In New York, filing a false business record can be a crime.

But it becomes a felony only if prosecutors can prove that the false filing was made to commit or conceal another crime, such as tax violations or bank fraud. The tax returns and other documents sought from Mazars could shed light on whether any state laws were broken. Such subpoenas also routinely request related documents in connection with the returns.

Democrats have insisted for years that Mr. Trump release his tax returns, which every modern presidential nominee has done before him. They contend that the president may be trying to conceal details of his actual financial worth, the source of his wealth and possible conflicts of interest involving his business partners.

Congressional Democrats have taken an aggressive approach, subpoenaing six years of Mr. Trump’s tax returns from the Treasury Department, as well as personal and corporate financial records from Deutsche Bank, Capital One and Mazars USA.

The president has fought back to keep his finances under wraps, challenging the subpoenas in federal court. He has also sued to block a New York state law, passed this year, that authorized state officials to provide his state tax returns in response to certain congressional inquiries. By tying up the requests in court, Mr. Trump’s team has made it diminishingly likely that Democrats in Washington will get the chance to review them before the election next year.

But it may be more difficult to fend off a subpoena in a criminal investigation with a sitting grand jury, as there is in Manhattan. It is possible the Trump Organization could try to negotiate with the district attorney’s office to narrow the scope of the subpoena.

Jay Sekulow, a lawyer for Mr. Trump, and Marc L. Mukasey, a lawyer for the Trump Organization, both declined to comment.

Asked whether the company would seek to quash the subpoena, Mazars USA said in a statement that it “will respect the legal process and fully comply with its legal obligations,” adding that the company was prohibited by its policy and professional rules from commenting on its work. The statement, however, did not directly address whether the company might take any legal action to block the subpoena.

Even if the Manhattan district attorney’s office is successful in obtaining the president’s tax returns, the documents would be covered by secrecy rules governing grand juries, meaning they would not become public unless they were used as evidence in a criminal case.

At the beginning of August, the state prosecutors also subpoenaed the Trump Organization, seeking documents related to the payment to Ms. Daniels and the reimbursement to Mr. Cohen. With few legal options, the Trump Organization has been complying with that subpoena.

Still, the company has derided the investigation by Mr. Vance, a Democrat, as politically motivated.

“It’s just harassment of the president, his family and his business, using subpoenas as weapons,” Mr. Mukasey said last month.

As part of its investigation, prosecutors from Mr. Vance’s office visited Mr. Cohen in prison in Otisville, N.Y., to seek assistance with their investigation, according to people briefed on the meeting, which was first reported by CNN.

Mr. Cohen also helped arrange for American Media Inc., the publisher of The National Enquirer, to pay Karen McDougal, a Playboy model who also said she had an affair with the president. Prosecutors in the district attorney’s office subpoenaed American Media in early August, as well as at least one bank.

The investigation is not the first time Mr. Vance’s office has focused on members of the Trump family or its business. In 2012, his office declined to charge two of Mr. Trump’s children, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr., in an investigation into whether they misled buyers interested in the Trump SoHo hotel-condominium project, a decision that resulted in criticism of Mr. Vance.

 

[Dandruff]

8 hours ago, fraurosena said:

This threatening war with Iran serves one purpose, and one purpose only: to make Trump look good and above all, re-electable. Nothing like a good old war to heighten ones popularity.

Plus, in Trump's case, a war has the added bonus of deflecting from his imminent impeachment.

I would think the most opportune time for him to have a war, in the context of potential reelection, would be early next year.  An earlier war, without clear indication (i.e., not from him) of just cause, would suggest to me that he's really panicking.

[fraurosena]

2 minutes ago, Dandruff said:

I would think the most opportune time for him to have a war, in the context of potential reelection, would be early next year.  An earlier war, without clear indication (i.e., not from him) of just cause, would suggest to me that he's really panicking.

With an impending impeachment, panic will be setting in sooner rather than later, I think.

[fraurosena]

Just because he doesn't like what the free press is reporting, he's calling for the resignation of reporters. Sweet Rufus, he's acting more like a despotic monarch with each passing day.

 

[AmazonGrace]

Nobody loves the Hispanics

 

[Audrey2]

8 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

Nobody loves the Hispanics

 

This makes me livid! There are Hispanics whose family has been in the area now known as the United States longer than the United States has been known as the United States. I know that Trump equates more recently arrived immigrants as Hispanics, but I know he will never acknowledge that there are Hispanics who have been here much longer than he and his family.

[Ozlsn]

On 9/17/2019 at 5:05 AM, Dandruff said:

I would think the most opportune time for him to have a war, in the context of potential reelection, would be early next year.  An earlier war, without clear indication (i.e., not from him) of just cause, would suggest to me that he's really panicking.

Possibly, but what would work best for Putin?  After all that's who's really calling it here.

On 9/15/2019 at 5:15 AM, GreyhoundFan said:

For some of the president’s evangelical supporters, Trump’s occasional use of the word “goddamn” is a bridge too far, even for a president whose behavior they’ve grown accustomed to excusing as they fervently support his policies.

Seriously these guys need to pull the fucking logs out of their eyes before complaining about the specks. Bunch of hypocrites.

[fraurosena]

I'm surprised. O'Brien seems to be somebody who has some experience for a change. He's worked for the G.W. Bush administration as a delegate for the UN General Assembly and has also worked as co-chairman of the Department of State's Public-Private Partnership for Justice Reform in Afghanistan. Trump previously considered him for Secretary of the Navy.

President Trump Names Robert C. O’Brien as National Security Advisor

Quote

President Trump on Wednesday announced that Robert C. O’Brien will replace John Bolton, whom Trump fired last week, as his new national security advisor. O’Brien is currently serving as a special presidential envoy at the State Department working on releasing hostages. Trump tweeted: “I have worked long & hard with Robert. He will do a great job!” Notably, O’Brien was asked to help Trump in his pet project calling for the release of rapper A$AP Rocky from Sweden after he was arrested in the alleged assault of a Swedish man.

So O'Brien's job interview was calling for the release of A$AP Rocky. Wow. What a way to get a job; a job as National Security Advisor, no less. 

 

[Dandruff]

I question the judgement of anyone currently willing to accept a high-ranking position under Trump.  Who wants to go down in history associated with this mess?  Alternative is to end up out on the street being insulted via Twitter.

OTOH, given the attrition rate of top advisors, the people now being offered these jobs may never have had such a chance otherwise.  Less to lose...in a way.

[fraurosena]

43 minutes ago, Dandruff said:

I question the judgement of anyone currently willing to accept a high-ranking position under Trump.  Who wants to go down in history associated with this mess? 

Very true. These people are either (racist) grifters or in some way beholden to Trump (or those pulling his strings). Nobody in their right minds would want to work for this train wreck of an administration, aka the Court of wanna-be king Trump.

Just look at Bill Barr, who was never exactly a nice person, but he was held in some regard by his peers. Now he's just Trumps fixer and will go down in history for what all the egregious things he's doing at the DOJ. Any credibility or good reputation he had before has slid down the drain right into the swamp.

O'Brien too will meet the same fate. Unless he strives to do good in his position, and tries to keep America as safe as he can under the abomination that is the presidunce, and blows the whistle as hard and loud as he can when he can. But I doubt it.