Trump 45

[GreyhoundFan]

He's fired another IG who had the temerity to do their job. The most recent, the IG for the State Dept, angered him by opening an investigation into Pompeo retaliating against career employees. "Trump’s slow-motion Friday night massacre of inspectors general"

Spoiler

The Friday news dump — also known as the Friday night news dump — is a political trick with plenty of precedent. Wait till the vast majority of the news business clocks out for on the week, and announce something you’d rather they not cover as much. People won’t be reading as much news at that point anyway, and perhaps it’ll be dismissed as old news by Monday morning.

Few are as blatant about using this tactic, though, as the Trump White House.

News broke late Friday night that Trump had removed the inspector general for the State Department, Steve Linick. It’s the third time in six weeks that such a move has been announced on a Friday night, with each inspector general having done something to pretty obviously alienate Trump. The unprecedented spate of removals has reinforced how Trump is rather obviously seeking to undermine independent oversight of his administration — and the timing of each of them only reinforces that.

Let’s run through each one (with a fourth thrown in that occurred on a Tuesday and was less obviously politically motivated).

State Department inspector general Steve Linick

The action: Fired

When he was removed (first report): Friday, May 15, at about 10 p.m.

What he did:

Issued a report in August 2019 that alleged that leaders in the State Department had mistreated and harassed staffers and accused them of disloyalty to Trump.

Gave the House’s impeachment inquiry into Trump documents detailing Ukraine disinformation.

Was allegedly investigating “misuse of a political appointee at the Department to perform personal tasks for [Secretary of State Mike Pompeo] and Mrs. Pompeo,” according to a Democratic aide.

What Trump has said: Retweeted this tweet suggesting Linick should have come forward earlier if he had such information about Ukraine:

Replaced with: Stephen J. Akard, a former Foreign Service officer and former aide to Vice President Pence dating back to his days in Indiana

Acting Health and Human Services inspector general Christi Grimm

The action: Removed in favor of a permanent replacement

When she was removed (announcement): Shortly after 8 p.m. on Friday, May 1

What she did: Issued an April report finding “severe shortages” of coronavirus testing kits, delays in results and “widespread shortages” of equipment like masks.

What Trump has said: Of her report, Trump said on April 6, “It’s just wrong. Did I hear the word ‘inspector general’? Really? It’s wrong. And they’ll talk to you about it. It’s wrong.” He added on Twitter the next day:

Replaced with: Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Weida

Intelligence community inspector general Michael Atkinson

The action: Fired

When he was removed (first reported): Friday, April 3, around 10 p.m.

What he did: Forwarded the Ukraine whistleblower complaint to Congress after finding it to be “credible” and “urgent.” The complaint, which was overwhelmingly confirmed by impeachment witnesses, led to Trump’s impeachment.

What Trump has said: Trump repeatedly attacked the whistleblower complaint as being without merit and part of an alleged partisan campaign to remove him as president. After removing Atkinson, he specifically cited that action.

“I thought he did a terrible job. Absolutely terrible. He took a whistleblower report, which turned out to be a fake report … and he brought it to Congress with an emergency. Not a big Trump fan, that I can tell you.”

He also questioned Atkinson’s actions:

Atkinson later alleged in an extraordinary letter that he had been targeted for dong his job appropriately.

And finally, in a non-Friday night announcement ...

Acting Defense Department inspector general Glenn Fine

The action: Removed in favor of a permanent replacement

When he was removed: Tuesday, April 7

What he was set to do: Oversee the Trump administration’s handling of the new $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package, which was signed into law a week and a half earlier.

What Trump has said: “We have a lot of IGs in from the Obama era,” he said the day of the announcement. “And as you know, it’s a presidential decision. And I left them, largely. I mean, changed some, but I left them. . . . But when we have, you know, reports of bias and when we have different things coming in. I don’t know Fine. I don’t think I ever met Fine.”

Replaced with: Environmental Protection Agency Inspector General Sean W. O’Donnell, who would serve in an acting capacity at Defense until the announcement of a permanent replacement.

 

Of course, the Repugs went crazy the one time Obama fired an IG:

 

[GreyhoundFan]

I wonder if Twitler's buddies will find a way for taxpayers to pay the ransom.

 

[GreyhoundFan]

Another great Lincoln Project video. Brace for more rage-tweeting from a cranky toddler.

 

[47of74]

Every time I think I can’t hate this fucker any more...

Quote

President Donald Trump on Sunday dismissed his predecessor as “grossly incompetent,” a day after former President Barack Obama said leaders weren’t “even pretending to be in charge” amid the coronavirus pandemic.

When pressed further, Trump added: “Look, he was an incompetent president. That’s all I can say. Grossly incompetent.”

Why don’t you try looking in a ducking mirror if you want to see an incompetent President you orange piece of shit. 

[GreyhoundFan]

I sincerely hope it does backfire all over the orange menace: "Trump’s attempts to smear Obama could backfire spectacularly"

Quote

President Trump’s increasingly frantic attempts to smear former president Barack Obama reek of panic. As disgusting as these efforts are, they are likely to backfire, perhaps in spectacular fashion.

Late last month, according to widely published reports, Trump’s campaign aides presented him with internal polling that showed him losing to presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the key swing states. The aim was to get Trump to curtail his unhinged daily novel coronavirus briefings, and he grudgingly complied. But he also launched an all-out attack on Obama and his legacy — a gambit that should cause GOP candidates nationwide to lose sleep.

Polls show the Republican Party in danger of losing not only the presidency but also the Senate in November. A key element of the party’s strategy for remaining in power is using the made-up specter of “voter fraud” to depress Democratic turnout. You will recall that if Hillary Clinton had squeezed just a total of 80,000 more votes out of three Democratic strongholds — Milwaukee, Detroit and Philadelphia — she would now be campaigning for reelection and Trump would be just another Twitter troll.

In those cities, and across the nation, African American turnout in 2016 was lower than Democrats had hoped for and expected. But there is one political figure who has demonstrated an unprecedented ability to bring black voters to the polls in tidal-wave numbers: Obama.

In 2008, Obama’s historic triumph, the rate of black voter turnout nationwide essentially equaled white turnout for the first time in history. In 2012, black turnout actually exceeded white turnout, 66.6 percent to 64.1 percent, according to an analysis by the Pew Research Center. But in 2016, while white turnout inched higher, black turnout fell to 59.6 percent — the first decline in a presidential election in two decades.

I’m not going out on a limb by positing that there is a unique and enduring bond between African American voters and the first African American president. When Trump yells “Obamagate!,” he’s strengthening that bond, not weakening it, and motivating black voters to turn out in the fall for Obama’s loyal wingman, Biden.

There are analysts who see Trump’s renewed focus on Obama as a move in some game of three-dimensional political chess that we mere mortals cannot comprehend. I find it hard to understand how anyone can construe Trump’s tirades and tweets as anything resembling a strategy. I see, at best, a familiar tactic: He seeks to drag opponents down to his level. He cannot compete with Biden on the basis of ideas, integrity or performance, so he seeks to pull him into the gutter — hence the elaborate attempt to concoct a scandal involving Biden’s son Hunter.

That didn’t work out so well for Trump — he got himself impeached for leaning on the Ukrainian president to announce an investigation into Biden, and failed to drive Biden, the potential opponent he most feared, out of the race. So now Trump is going to try the same move with Obama?

One of the questions Biden faces is whether his eight-year service as Obama’s vice president will be enough to activate and turn out the entire Obama coalition: not just black voters but also other minorities, young people, urbanites and women. Polls indicate that Biden is already doing just fine with these Democratic constituencies — and history suggests that bringing Obama into the race will only help Biden do better.

But Trump is a know-it-all who is almost impossible to disabuse of boneheaded ideas: Climate change is a hoax; China pays his tariffs; the coronavirus will magically go away. Trump is also racist, and on some level it may be impossible for him to accept that a black man had a successful, scandal-free eight years as president while he has presided over a shambolic mess and faces the likelihood of a humiliating defeat.

So maybe his Obama obsession is not even tactical, but instead purely personal. Maybe Trump just cannot abide the fact that Obama is a Nobel laureate, respected around the world, while he has had to endure being snickered at by world leaders and portrayed as hapless and ignorant by the “fake news” media he claims to hate yet compulsively devours. Increasingly, his imagined victimizer is Obama himself. Trump even tries to blame Obama for his own administration’s botched response to a disease that did not exist when Obama was in office.

I thought everyone knew you don’t tug on Superman’s cape. But apparently Trump still thinks you can get somewhere by spitting into the wind.

 

[Dandruff]

30 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

I sincerely hope it does backfire all over the orange menace: "Trump’s attempts to smear Obama could backfire spectacularly"

I hope so too.  And, unlike Biden, I think Obama could (if he wanted to) briefly sink toward Trump's level and get some real licks in without it costing him.

[AmericanRose]

2 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

I sincerely hope it does backfire all over the orange menace: "Trump’s attempts to smear Obama could backfire spectacularly"

Trump's base is truly lost. They believe Obama had scandals (but you know the Deep State covered for him) and will be arrested any day now. They believe Clinton is participating in some sort of satanic child sex death ring. They think Bill Gates and George Soros are conspiring to control the population and bring about the 'New World Order'. Nothing will reach them -- they refuse to accept facts (they can't, that would mean Trump is not, actually, their savior, and they just can't let that go. I have no doubt if he doesn't win re-election they will call rigged.

But I think being associated with Obama will help Biden, and Trump going after Obama certainly isn't going to help him. His racist base already wasn't going to vote for Biden.

Out of curiosity, I looked at election turnout for previous years. I gotta say, it's pretty damn shameful we had a turnout of 73.8% during the Civil War. It's pretty much all been downhill since 1900. I guess Americans are getting more complacent / discouraged.
I bolded the Democratic candidate and placed the winner on the left side. 2008 was the biggest turnout since 60.9% in 1968... hopefully people see how dangerous Trump is, and we can do better in 2020.

Spoiler

2016    Trump v. Clinton, 55.7%
2012    Obama v. Romney, 54.9%
2008    Obama v. McCain, 58.2%
2004    Bush v. Kerry, 56.7%
2000    Bush v. Gore, 51.2%
1996    Clinton v. Dole, 49.0%
1992    Clinton v. Bush, 55.2%
1988    Bush v. Dukakis, 50.2%
1984    Reagan v. Mondale, 53.3%
1980    Reagan v. Carter, 52.6%
1976    Carter v. Ford, 53.5%
1972    Nixon v. McGovern, 55.2%
1968    Nixon v. Humphrey, 60.9%
1964    Johnson v. Goldwater, 61.9%
1960    Kennedy v. Nixon, 62.8%
1956    Eisenhower v. Stevenson, 60.6%
1952    Eisenhower v. Stevenson, 63.3%

 

[formergothardite]

5 hours ago, AmericanRose said:

Trump's base is truly lost.

They really are. There is no reaching them. There is no point in trying to reach out to them and win them over because they are cult members and Trump is the leader they worship. The GOP isn't a political party anymore, it is a cult. 

This lady I used to work with ignored all social distancing rules, went to hang our with friends from her church and now is in the hospital. She gave it to her daughter who is also really sick. Her husband is spending his days posting on FB insane stuff about how this is all a scam by the democrats to ruin the economy and undermine Trump. If his wife and daughter getting this virus isn't enough to snap him into reality then nothing is. 

I do hope that people are motivated to go out in droves and vote. Because if trump wins again and the GOP has control of the senate/house, then our country won't exist in another four years. 

[GreyhoundFan]

 

[AmericanRose]

4 hours ago, formergothardite said:

They really are. There is no reaching them. There is no point in trying to reach out to them and win them over because they are cult members and Trump is the leader they worship. The GOP isn't a political party anymore, it is a cult. 

This lady I used to work with ignored all social distancing rules, went to hang our with friends from her church and now is in the hospital. She gave it to her daughter who is also really sick. Her husband is spending his days posting on FB insane stuff about how this is all a scam by the democrats to ruin the economy and undermine Trump. If his wife and daughter getting this virus isn't enough to snap him into reality then nothing is. 

I do hope that people are motivated to go out in droves and vote. Because if trump wins again and the GOP has control of the senate/house, then our country won't exist in another four years. 

Yep. I knew pretty much from the beginning that if it didn't affect them, it was a hoax created by Democrats to damage Trump. And when it did begin to affect them, it was planned by Democrats to hurt Trump. That a virus can't discriminate... well, they believe they're the majority and Democrats cheat whenever they win, so. When you believe Democrats are actually eating babies, rigging elections doesn't seem so bizarre.
Next time Mom tells me it's not about Republican or Democrat, I'm going to ask her why she votes Republican down ballot, then.

[47of74]

Got a new one to work into the rotation now. 
 

 

[JMarie]

Someone coined a new catchphrase for Trump: transition to greatness. Let's see how often it gets worked into whatever he says.

 

[47of74]

Speaker Pelosi certainly knows how to push Fuckopotamus buttons....

 

 

[JMarie]

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/tiffany-trump-graduates-georgetown-law-031207637.html

Tiffany Trump graduated from law school last Saturday.  Neither her father nor her three older half siblings acknowledged it on Twitter.  Maybe they're unfamiliar with this means of communication???

[GreyhoundFan]

I'm surprised there hasn't been a twitter meltdown over this:

 

[smittykins]

Give it time...

[47of74]

PresidentPlump and/or Fuckopotamus should totally be in the next thread title. 

[AmericanRose]

Trump deleted his initial tweet, which read:
"Michigan sends absentee ballots to 7.7 million people ahead of Primaries and the General Election. This was done illegally and without authorization by a rogue Secretary of State. I will ask to hold up funding to Michigan if they want to go down this Voter Fraud path!"

Big difference there, Trumpy boy. I also feel as though monitoring every state's (oh who am I kidding, he just cares about the 'swing states') elections is an authoritarian move.

Of course, he's still wrong. But his supporters will see it and not question.

[GreyhoundFan]

So apparently the Mango Moron said this yesterday:

 

Northam replied:

 

And the wonderful Alexandra Petri wrote the following satirical column: "I am a simple potato guardian who needs my Second Amendment rights"

Quote

“We’re going after Virginia with your crazy governor. … They want to take your Second Amendment away. You know that right? You’ll have nobody guarding your potatoes.”

— President Trump, to farmers assembled at the White House

I am a potato guardian. This is the only life I have known. Here is my tale, one no doubt familiar to you, just as the concept of a person who guards potatoes in Virginia is familiar.

Day 1

It is a cold February day, and the new crop of potatoes is just in the ground, an average of six weeks before the last frost. I am in Virginia, the well-known home of potato farming. To guard the potato is a sacred duty, which I have studied since my days at Au Groton, a boarding school for people who aspire one day to protect potatoes. I have my weapon, and I have my training. I settle at the edge of the field with my carbine on my knees and prepare for a long spring.

Day 2

It rained today. I kept my eyes on the potatoes, just as I knew that they would be keeping their eyes on me.

I walked the perimeter of the field. This will be a good crop, if I can only keep it safe for the 75 to 135 days that potatoes require. I must keep it safe.

Day 3

As I walked today, I saw something move just at the corner of the field. But by the time I got there, it was too late. There was a footprint in the soft, slightly acidic soil. A boot, not mine. I think the potato raiders will be here soon. I think they are making their preparations. I must make mine.

Day 4

No sign of the raiders today. At midday, the farmer’s daughter brought me a glass of milk. “You looked thirsty out there,” she told me. I took it from her hands and thanked her. “And you have been sent to guard the potatoes?” she asked. I shrugged. I am a potato guardian of few words. I let my eyes speak for me. “What an interesting life,” she said. “Do you get lonely?” I told her I did not.

But the question has stayed with me. Lonely? Do I get lonely? No. I have the potatoes. And I have my Second Amendment rights. I do not need anything else.

Day 5

The farmer’s daughter brought me another glass of milk and watched me as I sipped it. I think it is too late to tell her that milk is not a good drink when you are hot in the middle of the day. I think we have gotten into a pattern now, which I regret. She is nice. She has kind eyes, like I imagine a potato would have, though she only has two, which is low for a potato.

After drinking the milk, I dozed a little, and when I awoke there were more footprints at the edge of the field. I must be more vigilant. If I do not protect the potatoes, who will?

Day 6

I planted a trap at the corner of the field where the footprints keep appearing. It was hot and tiring work, and the farmer’s daughter brought me another glass of milk. “I guess all you have is milk,” I said, in what I hoped was a pointed way, but she did not seem to understand what I was getting at. “Yes,” she said. “We have lots of milk, thank heaven.”

“Good,” I said, but I did not really think it was good.

Day 7

Last night there was a frost. I am glad the potatoes are sleeping sound and warm below a blanket of two inches of soil. I went to check the trap at the edge of the field. There was something in it, a boot. The boot was bigger than mine, but not by much. I followed the tracks as far as they went, to the edge of the woods. I should mention that there are woods here in Virginia, where I guard potatoes. That must be where the potato raiders come from.

“Did you catch him?” the farmer’s daughter asked, at midday.

“No,” I said. “But be on the lookout for someone with a very muddy sock.” I took a sip of the milk she had brought.

I bet the raider comes back tonight. You can’t get far with one boot. Not here in the potato fields of Virginia. I reset the trap and put the boot next to it. As bait.

Day 8

No movement at the trap. But there are footprints at the edge of the field. New ones, with sneaker treads. This potato raider must own multiple sets of footwear, which complicates matters a little.

I got a call from an old friend from potato guardian training. He washed out; people were always taking potatoes from under his nose, and he was a laughingstock among us. Now he works in finance. He asked if I had heard the news about the governor and what he was planning to do. I said I hadn’t, so he told me. I can’t believe the governor would come for our Second Amendment rights. No potato will be safe then. It’s monstrous.

The farmer’s daughter brought me my milk right after this conversation, but I told her in a forbidding tone that I was not thirsty.

Day 9

A small success! I spent an uneasy night after the news about the governor, tossing and turning at the edge of the field of my precious charges. Toward dawn, I saw a shadowy figure prowling at the edge of the field. I got up, and he did not see me creep toward him. I leaped at him and caught him by the leg. As we tussled, several potatoes fell out of his jacket. Jacket potatoes. He wriggled his foot free of his boot and ran away. Now I have two boots. I do not know what his footwear situation is; it seems complicated.

I was very glad to have my Second Amendment rights, although, come to think of it, I did not use my carbine at all in this encounter.

Then I woke up. I am bewildered. Was it all a dream, or did I catch a potato raider, however briefly? I went to look for the boot, but there was nothing there.

Day 10

I am still unsure what is reality and what is dream. The potatoes will slumber another two months, but I cannot rest. The farmer’s daughter did not bring me any milk today. Instead her father came out to my corner of the field and said that I had to get off his property and that there was no such thing as a potato guardian.

“Don’t be like that, Cyrus!” I said. “The president knows about me. I am for sure a real thing that exists.”

He said his name wasn’t Cyrus and I had to get away from there. I packed up my things and slung my carbine over my shoulder. I said goodbye to the potatoes and set off.

Day 11

When I was almost to the Maryland border, I received a call from Cyrus. During the night, someone took all the potatoes. Cyrus was sobbing so hard I could scarcely make out his words.

“I should not have doubted you,” he said. “You are real, and the need for you is real, and the need for protecting your Second Amendment rights is the realest of all.” I could tell that all the starch had gone out of him. “I will be sure to write to my governor at once! Please, come back, and guard the new crop.”

“I would like that, Cyrus,” I said. “But I go where the potato calls.” And I continued over the border toward another state, with a new motto. Live Frite or Die. The spuds needed me, and I could not look back.

 

[WiseGirl]

Because it's all about making $ he really is a fuckopotamus.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-french-connection-trump-family-trusts-are-invested-in-hydroxychloroquine-maker/ar-BB12he2q?ocid=sf

[Botkinetti]

I know trump is dumber than dirt but I do wonder if he is actually taking hydroxychloroquine. In order to make money I believe he would say he was taking it because then his followers would too. I would also believe that his handlers are giving him something innocuous and telling him it is the drug. 

[Alisamer]

2 hours ago, Botkinetti said:

I know trump is dumber than dirt but I do wonder if he is actually taking hydroxychloroquine. In order to make money I believe he would say he was taking it because then his followers would too. I would also believe that his handlers are giving him something innocuous and telling him it is the drug. 

Maybe they need to switch the sugar pills with some valium.

I know life is unfair, but it's astonishing how nothing at all ever seems to stick to Trump. He manages to get away with crimes, he lies constantly, he takes a medicine that has killed people, he refuses to wear masks, and yet nothing harms him. Other people, they get called out, punished for their crimes, get sick, die, but the orange one is like teflon. It's patently unfair that he can claim to be taking this medicine that has killed people, with no apparent adverse effects. 

I'm beginning to believe he really might be the antichrist.

And I really don't want to see how he would handle a second term. Knowing he can't run for re-election and therefore no longer has to make even minimal attempts to be presidential - who knows what he'll do? Best scenario is he moves permanently to Mar-A-Lago and golfs all day, no longer pretending to even work. More likely he tries to stay on permanently as president and abuses power like crazy. 

[AmazonGrace]

Man not smart strikes again

 

[WiseGirl]

I do love Aunt Crabby.

 

[JMarie]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-complains-fox-news-is-doing-nothing-to-help-him-get-reelected/ar-BB14qK1G?ocid=spartanntp

Quote

President Trump on Thursday complained that Fox News was not doing anything to help him and other Republicans get reelected in November.

"Sure, there are some truly GREAT people on Fox, but you also have some real 'garbage' littered all over the network," Trump tweeted.

He singled out contributors Chris Hahn, Richard Goodstein and Donna Brazile, all of whom have ties to the Democratic Party. He also targeted news host Neil Cavuto, who recently spoke critically of Trump's decision to take hydroxychloroquine, and Juan Williams, who is also an opinion contributor for The Hill.

"They repeat the worst of the Democrat speaking points, and lies," Trump tweeted. "All of the good is totally nullified, and more. Net Result = BAD! CNN & MSDNC are all in for the Do Nothing Democrats! Fox WAS Great!"

The president's tweet offers a window into the role he believes the news network should play in his political career, and it marks yet another escalation of his recent attacks on Fox News. Trump in late April tweeted that he wanted an "alternative" to the right-leaning news network.

Thursday's tweet came shortly after Trump landed in Michigan to tour a Ford factory. Fox News typically plays on television screens aboard Air Force One during flights.

Despite his criticisms, Trump still conducts interviews with the network more than any other. He recently called into "Fox & Friends" and sat down with Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo.

Trump regularly targets Fox hosts like Cavuto and Chris Wallace while praising and amplifying the work of opinion hosts like Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity and Jeanine Pirro, all of whom lavish the president with praise and excoriate his critics.