The Trump presidency

[coley]

i think this is what the term gallows humour was invented for...

Trump is very obviously not suited to the role, you wouldn't expect him to be able to carry out simple instructions like 'take this bag of chips across the road, give them to that man in the red coat, and come back' without fucking up at least two of them - so being responsible for 10,000 nukes is just way out of his league - but our almost certain, and not far off fiery death brought on by a fit of thin-skinned piqué should not stop us finding this chaos deeply amusing.

And let's not forget his newest bestest friend, BiBi, who has his quivering finger on the 'Sampson option' jokes and jollity all round

 

[coley]

i am confident it will descent to the 208,314th in line, which is me.

Fair enough. Marginal improvement on the present incumbent

 

[coley]

knowing little of American politics...

i know Pence has opinions that don't find a great deal of favour in these parts, but is he in terms of his character made from the same stuff as Trump - thin-skinned, conspiraloon etc.. or is he a bit more traditional Republican who merely sees Trump as a vehicle, and possible a vehicle he might be able to steer under a bus, for Pences own policies?

Hopefully a BYD EV bus ( Chinese design and owned, but built in America) gives Pence a head start in repairing Sino/US relations

 

[coley]

Pence is scarier than Trump. He actually believes sincerely in stuff and can form sentences to express his beliefs.

But won't his abilities to speak coherently undermine the deep core Trump base?

 

[krtek a houby]

Pentagon might propose sending ground troops to Syria - CNNPolitics.com

 

[coley]

Anybody read the tweets from Trump's loyal supporters? Some truly horrific stuff. Even when the guy is impeached, that hatred isn't just going to dissipate.

Did read a bit, worse that the Guardian remoaners

 

[coley]

That was actually the bit that struck me as most implausible - given that he is a 'hands-on' sort of perve (grabs 'em by the et cetera et cetera), could he really have got his rocks off just by looking?

Wasn't it that he got his rocks off by just watching the bed Obama and his missus slept in being despoiled?

 

[coley]

I don't agree with this. That rage is far more dangerous with Trump in power – racists in charge of justice, religious nuts setting civil rights agendas, climate-change deniers in charge of the environment, etc. Trump needs to go by any means necessary, as quickly as possible.

Aye, but in the aftermath you will need a security/ police force that can identify Trump supporters as a threat equal to that of a person of colour driving a posh car.

 

[coley]

I thought I'd gone too far posting a whimsy about a coup before breakfast. Middle of the day you lot have moved on to civil war. by this evening...

Everything's possible before UK breakfast time

 

[coley]

He's certainly your man if you want a nice little war.

No way, Trump wants the YOUGEST WAR,
As befits an idiot dressed in the weirdest uniform I ever did see, just before he discovered his debilitating draft dodging condition.

 

[coley]

It's nice to have a poster on urban that actually seems to know what they are talking about and doesn't just get involved with childish spats with other posters. Keep it up, I'm sure I'm not the only one who enjoys reading your posts.

True, but informative as he is....I keep on digging me bunker deeper after reading his posts, where's his daftness Casually Red when you need him

 

[coley]

Trump blaming Flynn's resignation on the "unfair" press... says he's a really great guy. If that's the case, why did he have to go?

Coz the Buffoon is as thick as two short posts?

 

[Casually Red]

I like Elizabeth Warren and her position on banking reform etc. a lot more than I like the president she's attacking - and the Cherokee thing just seems like a bullshit point to be attacking her on, since believing you have a trace of Native ancestry is really common in states like Oklahoma. How many Irish people go around thinking they might have survivors from the Spanish Armada among their distant ancestors?

The point is how many of them chase votes on the issue and refer to themselves as a minority over it.

The actual context, pointed out time and time again but ignored . She's a bullshitting politician .

 

[Casually Red]

Should you ever muster the courage to actually travel to the US [and if they let you in], try this little experiment. Go to the Navajo Nation. Monument Valley is a nice tourist spot nearby; but before you do that, go to one of the Navajo towns: Kayenta, or Chinle, maybe. Stop your car near a group of Navajo people that includes men and women. Get out, and yell across the street at one of the women: "Hey Pocahontas!"

See what happens.

Record your experience.

Report back to us, soon as you can.

Yes but in this context , that of Elizabeth warren, I might as well walk into a bar in Southie on st Patrick's day wearing a fucking head dress carrying a totem pole . She's as much an Indian as I am .

 

[Casually Red]

Your right. Im sure most native americans are just totally cool with her being referred to as "pocahontas" - totally respectful and not a derogatory insult at all. No siree.
And if somebody claimed african heritage, he could call them "chicken george" and that would be fine too.

He could call her Rachel Dolezal . It'd be a very good comparison .

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

He could call her Rachel Dolezal . It'd be a very good comparison .

But you see, if Trump had started tweeting about 'Nigger Dolezal', the fact that she isn't black wouldn't make it any less offensive.

 

[Casually Red]

And it wouldn't make it any less completely made up and pulled out of your bum hole either

Shut up

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

As part of intelligence operations being conducted against the United States for the last seven months, at least one Western European ally intercepted a series of communications before the inauguration between advisers associated with President Donald Trump and Russian government officials, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation.

U.S. allies also intercept Russia-Trump adviser communications

In history, this is where Congress steps in. During the Vietnam War, Watergate and the Iran-contra scandal, when a president’s actions or policies crossed the line, Congress investigated and held the White House to account. The time has come for it to do so again.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/15/...nvestigate-mr-trumps-ties-to-russia.html?_r=0

 

[hipipol]

Out of the box thinking for an out of his head president
A Neuroscientist Explains Why Donald Trump Needs LSD

Its probably the only hope.....

 

[bimble]

You will see this most of the time when he meets foreign leaders - it was the same when May met him. These prepared remarks stand out more with him than other presidents because there is such a contrast between his wooden performance during this part of the show and how he is when answering questions and rambling on about himself and his perceived enemies.

Apart from him saying that he doesn't give a monekys about 2 state or 1 state solution in Israel-Palestine, this is the best bit from yesterday's Q&A. Worth a read:

 

[CrabbedOne]

What most ME analysts think as far as I can tell.

The Peace Process has long been a charade that the US wastes far too much energy over. Gone are the times when the Pals and Israelis were the central problem in MENA.The Israelis are not interested. They are safe beyond any reasonable expectations from decades ago and mainly worry about HA and Iran. Turkish-Kurdish relations alone dwarf this squalid squabbling over turf. Something the US might actually be helpful with.

The unfortunate thing with Trump is he still seems to think there is an Israeli-Pal deal there to be brokered while simultaneously seeming to think a Crusade against Islam a fine idea. Not a even remotely popular idea with Israeli security folk.

 

[Kaka Tim]

Maybe blathering about how many electoral college votes he got is his comfort blanket he reaches for everytime he feels uncomfortable - like grabbing his dick of something.
If Melania walked in on him shagging a goat and was all "what the fuck are you doing!!??" He probably reply with "you know it was great victory we won. really great. one of the best. It shows that the people are really behind me. totally behind me. I got a lot of support in this."

 

[hipipol]

He has no control at all and will continue to spout whatever is on the top of his head - and it will be as contrived to obfuscate and confuse as the bizarre hair arrangements - causing mayhem and risk wherever he goes.
He has dedicated a few seconds thought to the problems of the world between tweet frenzies - I doubt he has the powers of concentration beyond that needed to whip out 140 characters of bile every few mintues
We have seen his ilk before....

 

[CrabbedOne]

Maybe blathering about how many electoral college votes he got is his comfort blanket he reaches for everytime he feels uncomfortable - like grabbing his dick of something.
If Melania walked in on him shagging a goat and was all "what the fuck are you doing!!??" He probably reply with "you know it was great victory we won. really great. one of the best. It shows that the people are really behind me. totally behind me. I got a lot of support in this."

He seems nearly as exercised by reality show ratings.

 

[bimble]

Spare a thought for the scriptwriters at House of Cards. Must be very odd to be them.

 

[not-bono-ever]

Trump's F-35 Calls Came With a Surprise: Rival CEO Was Listening

A pre inauguration Chump making unscheduled calls to senior defence programme military bod about the Lockheed contract whilst the CEO of Boeing is present- Boeing being lockheeds defence competitor and sworn enemy.

Is Chump able to understand about confidentiality and the lost art of keeping a secret? fucking hell

 

[CrabbedOne]

In The WSJ Spies Keep Intelligence From Donald Trump on Leak Concerns

...
Rep. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.), the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, said he has heard concerns from officials about sharing especially sensitive information with Mr. Trump.

“I’ve talked with people in the intelligence community that do have concerns about the White House, about the president, and I think those concerns take a number of forms,” Mr. Schiff said, without confirming any specific incidents. “What the intelligence community considers their most sacred obligation is to protect the very best intelligence and to protect the people that are producing it.”

“I’m sure there are people in the community who feel they don’t know where he’s coming from on Russia,” Mr. Schiff said.
...

Spooks leak concerns that swampy Trumpski may be leaky while officially fiercely denying any such information has been withheld.

Interesting to consider how another paranoid President worked with an intelligence community he distrusted.

Stumbled upon Did Nixon Even Read the CIA’s Daily Briefs?

...
That Nixon may not have read the PDBs was a point that CIA historian David Robarge made in his presentation at a recent Nixon Presidential Library conference. Presidents Kennedy and Johnson had been regular consumers of the CIA’s daily briefing paper; Kennedy in particular gave feedback to the Agency. The situation changed greatly, however, when Nixon became president. According to John Helgerson’s fascinating study, Getting to Know the President: Intelligence Briefings of Presidential Candidates, 1952-2004, CIA officials who worked at a special transition office in Manhattan soon learned from Kissinger, the newly appointed national security adviser, that “the president-elect had no intention of reading anything that had not at first been perused and perhaps summarized by one of his senior staff.” (p. 68).

During the transition, the CIA sent Nixon envelopes filled with PDBs and other reports, but they simply piled up. Nixon had not read them and his secretary soon returned them. Some of that probably reflected the new president’s animus toward the CIA; since his defeat in the 1960 presidential election he had believed the CIA had mishandled the “missile gap” by overestimating Soviet capabilities, which had worked to Kennedy’s advantage in the campaign. To tailor the PDBs to Nixon’s liking, CIA officials tried to get a sense of his preferences from his close advisers. Accordingly, the CIA double-spaced the text and put it on legal size paper (reflecting Nixon’s professional background). But the Agency never received feedback from the president; it would only come from Kissinger.

What is known is that for Nixon the “primary vehicle” for receiving intelligence information was Henry Kissinger, who essentially acted as the president’s chief intelligence officer. Consistent with what CIA officials had been told about Nixon’s working methods, every working day he would receive a memorandum from Kissinger, prepared by the White House Situation Room staff, to which was appended the PDB and sometimes other documents that Kissinger thought Nixon needed to see. Kissinger’s cover memo, usually around 3 or 4 pages long, summarized the events and developments that he believed Nixon would want to know about, including the most recent events not covered by the briefing material. Sometimes there was a connection between the information summarized in the cover memo and the PDBs, but sometime, it seems, there was little relationship between the two.
...

Think how powerful this MO made Dr K but it's also a efficient filter put in place by a President easily capable of digesting the PDB. Nixon wasn't tired of experts he valued them. Trump would rather watch cable news and Infowars.

My bold, a very Trumpian campaign grudge though. The "liberal" JFK beloved of the press had out hawked Tricky Dicky to finesse a win by a gnat's cock involving an impressive spectrum of dirty tricks. He used to boast his daddy said he could not afford to buy him a landslide. Nixon, a very chippy man who claimed his political start was financed by poker winnings from a stint in the WWII navy, was very bitter. He was never comfortable in the Georgetown elite that was the natural home of the wily Boston patrician.

...
The “Georgetown dinner party” is by now a faded cliché, but a half century ago, what was said at Georgetown dinner parties really did matter. In the early days of the Cold War, the nation’s capital was smaller and more insular, and a mostly liberal elite living in Georgetown saw themselves as arbiters of America’s new role in the world. In many ways they were. Alsop’s regular guests included Frank Wisner, chief of covert operations at the CIA; George Kennan, the State Department official who conceived the Containment Doctrine; and Charles Bohlen, the State Department’s lead Sovietologist.

From his earliest days—when he arrived in 1947, the Washington Post deemed him to be “the Greenest Congressman in Washington”—Nixon bitterly resented what he called “the Georgetown Set.” Even before his first Georgetown party, he regarded Alsop and his crowd, which included Katharine Graham, the owner of the Washington Post, as snobbish and out to get him. Nixon could appear paranoid, but in this case he was not wrong. Nixon’s fall from power had many causes, but it was propelled in no small part by his poisonous relations with the sort of people who attended the “Sunday Night Supper.”
...

Like Trump an outsider that the establishment sniffed at.

 

[ruffneck23]

Republican judge calls for Trump's impeachment: 'Each new day is nightmare'

beginning of the end ?

 

[Pickman's model]

Republican judge calls for Trump's impeachment: 'Each new day is nightmare'

beginning of the end ?

 

[Treacle Toes]

Republican judge calls for Trump's impeachment: 'Each new day is nightmare'

beginning of the end ?

Not sure former judges of any political flavour carry that much sway to be honest.