The Trump presidency

[CrabbedOne]

 

[Grandma Death]

True. I was thinking about face to face interviews; may have missed it but can't think of an instance where Trump has been sat in front of an aggressive insistent questioner.

Is it the case his team/and or trump wouldnt be interviewed by an aggressive interviewer rather than the networks being indifferent. Because Ive seen plenty of networks grill spicer, conway etc

 

[CrabbedOne]

How Trump expects anyone with any sand to take the NSC job with that useless pair on the committee escapes me.

 

[hipipol]

Being struck by the strange correlations between King Donald and George the Mad, I was going to try writing some daft stuff, did a dig, seems the King Donald stuff is widespread.. but I found this...

Cartoon: Mad King Donald

 

[mwgdrwg]

 

[kebabking]

How Trump expects anyone with any sand to take the NSC job with that useless pair on the committee escapes me.

straight-forward patriotism - someone will take the job so that he doesn't give it to one of the moon-howlers he likes to surround himself with.

there was something similar over here during the reign of Gordon I, Brown had so little interest in the Defence Secretary post - despite fighting two wars at the time - that he wouldn't put any of the people he rated, or needed to buy off, into it. Bob Ainsworth, who admitted to his staff that he didn't believe he was up to the job, openly told them he had taken it to prevent it going to anyone even less equipped, and much less interested in it, than him.

 

[CrabbedOne]

Very big NSC a symptom of the Presidential desire to micromanage other agencies. Oh dear, it's going to end up really, really large under Trumpski's paranoid rule.

Haass reckons there just isn't a Trump administration for Defence and Foreign Policy as yet.

 

[redsquirrel]

Who will be there to preserve our democracy by baiting Labour leaders over Jewishness now?

Or keep Romanian servants in a garage.

 

[bimble]

Lol; unfortunately...on this occasion...the same news is being carried by many other more reputable sources.

That story about the leaked memo saying that 100,000 national guard are going to be deployed to round up aliens: Interesting article here about how the truth of it is hard to pin down and how that in itself helps exacerbate the cycle of confusion and to weaken the chances of effective opposition to whatever they may do next.

"As with so many other incidents, it’s a Rorschach test for views on the administration. If you’re inclined to view the Trump team as bumbling and incompetent, then this shows their foolishness in not simply resolving the AP’s questions ahead of time, and suggests that Spicer is out of the loop on what’s going on inside the government. If you’re inclined to view the Trump team as evil geniuses, then it’s a brilliant gambit, suckering the AP into looking bad by reporting the memo, and only denying it after the fact, thus undermining trust in the media."

100,000 National Guardsmen Mobilized to Deport Immigrants? The Anatomy of a News Cycle

 

[CrabbedOne]

He's referring to this:

...
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s official spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia “remains committed to its international obligations, including under the INF Treaty.”

“No one has officially accused Russia of violating the INF,” Peskov noted.

The alleged treaty violation is likely to arise when Defense Secretary Jim Mattis attends his first NATO meeting in Brussels on Wednesday.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday, ahead of that meeting, that “compliance with arms control agreements is of great importance and especially when it comes to treaties covering nuclear weapons.”

“Any non-compliance of Russia with the INF Treaty would be a serious concern for the alliance,” Stoltenberg said.

The Russian’s missile also has stirred concern on Capitol Hill, where Sen. John McCain, the Senate Armed Services Committee chairman, called on the Trump administration to ensure U.S. nuclear forces in Europe are ready.

“Russia’s deployment of nuclear-tipped ground-launched cruise missiles in violation of the INF treaty is a significant military threat to U.S. forces in Europe and our NATO allies,” McCain, R-Ariz., said in a statement Tuesday. He said Russian President Vladimir Putin was “testing” Mr. Trump.
...

The reason such weapons are a particular red flag is the recent embrace of limited nuclear war in Russian doctrine.

 

[gosub]

Nine people flee U.S. border patrol to seek asylum in Canada

 

[CrabbedOne]

They are going to end up with Kellog.

 

[CrabbedOne]

...
The compliments of the guests, however, don’t come for free. Part of the appeal, for Trump, is that they’re all paying him. Last weekend, after delivering a joint statement on North Korea with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump stopped by a wedding at the club.

“They’ve been members of this club for a long time,” Trump said, referring to the bride's family. “They’ve paid me a fortune.” Since his election, Mar-a-Lago has reportedly doubled its initiation fee to $200,000.

And the fact that the club family doesn’t come for free is a running rib. At the party at Bedminster, Trump nudged his new chief of staff, Reince Priebus, to speak to the crowd. “These members are loaded, Reince,” he said. “He will work the room for campaign contributions. Don’t quote me!”

Kerrching!

 

[ruffneck23]

Nine people flee U.S. border patrol to seek asylum in Canada

The cunts took their bags the utter shits

 

[CRI]

That story about the leaked memo saying that 100,000 national guard are going to be deployed to round up aliens: Interesting article here about how the truth of it is hard to pin down and how that in itself helps exacerbate the cycle of confusion and to weaken the chances of effective opposition to whatever they may do next.

"As with so many other incidents, it’s a Rorschach test for views on the administration. If you’re inclined to view the Trump team as bumbling and incompetent, then this shows their foolishness in not simply resolving the AP’s questions ahead of time, and suggests that Spicer is out of the loop on what’s going on inside the government. If you’re inclined to view the Trump team as evil geniuses, then it’s a brilliant gambit, suckering the AP into looking bad by reporting the memo, and only denying it after the fact, thus undermining trust in the media."

100,000 National Guardsmen Mobilized to Deport Immigrants? The Anatomy of a News Cycle

Either way, it works, if only by making more people more confused, some more frightened, all more divided - great conditions for steamrolling more change through.

Another thought - did the leaker leak it because they were appalled by the thought of the National Guard being deployed like this and wanted to sound the alarm?

Or, was the leak authorised from high up? Was it throwing out an idea that might seem unthinkable to many so that when they announce their actual policy, folks will be relieved it's at least not as bad as their first idea, even if the policy is shit on a stick.

 

[CrabbedOne]

AKA "The Southern White House" which you can now become a member of for a mere $200,000.

This offer is valid only for limited time. Happy hour 6:00-7:00pm.

You can tell his granddad kept a brothel though somehow that's a more dignified form of pimping.

 

[CrabbedOne]

 

[ruffneck23]

Saw that earlier but I don't think it will make a difference, trump-r-us won't listen

 

[CrabbedOne]

On Politico Trump ignores 'the grown-ups' in his Cabinet

...
Flynn’s resignation marked a win for Mattis and Tillerson. An early Trump campaign supporter and the former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency with a penchant for indulging conspiracy theories, Flynn helped crystallize an early partnership between Mattis and Tillerson.

When Mattis met with Republican senators in January ahead of his confirmation hearings, Republican senators simply thanked him for his willingness to serve the incoming administration. His own confirmation assured, Mattis asked the senators to help Tillerson, whose nomination appeared less certain and who he thought might be an important ally in the Cabinet.

“He said, ‘You’ve got to get Rex [Tillerson] over the finish line for me,” one GOP senate staffer recalled, “because Flynn is crazy.”

But even with Flynn out of the way, the secretaries’ efforts to stabilize Trump's approach to foreign policy and to create greater autonomy for themselves within their respective departments are only just beginning.

Tillerson has tried to stay away from the West Wing infighting, sources say, and from the White House altogether. Next week, Tillerson will fly to Mexico, a nation Trump has already alienated more than any other, with Kelly. Tillerson was not present for Wednesday’s visit from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, leaving a day early for this week’s G-20 foreign ministers meeting in Bonn, Germany. Similarly, he missed Monday’s White House meetings with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and also skipped a lunch this week with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S.

Tillerson has quietly met with top officials at the State Department and reassured them he would listen to expert opinions and that he is writing his own remarks. He has pushed to bring people from outside the Trump orbit into the West Wing, one of these people said, but has received resistance from the White House, which doesn't want officials who have criticized the president taking jobs inside the administration.

Discussions are ongoing about several other spots, with White House officials weighing whether to approve the hires, several sources say. While he’s been away, White House staff has been interviewing potential State Department staffers, including Fox News anchor Heather Nauert, who visited the White House this week and is under consideration to serve as Tillerson’s spokeswoman, according to two West Wing sources.
...

What a clusterfuck.

I'm sensing deep insecurity here. Trump just isn't comfortable with the experienced talent that might make him feel inadequate. He's working mainly through kin and cronies.

The only bright spot is Trump's over promoted step-son Kushner at least knows he "doesn’t know" the ropes like these two grown ups.

 

[CRI]

Some interesting tributes to journalists who've been killed or murdered now on Twitter with the #NotTheEnemy hashtag.

Meanwhile, Trump camp is monetising his "survey" on "Mainstream Media Accountability."

 

[CrabbedOne]

Some interesting tributes to journalists who've been killed or murdered now on Twitter with the #NotTheEnemy hashtag.

Meanwhile, Trump camp is monetising his "survey" on "Mainstream Media Accountability."

I'm surprised that button isn't auto-checked.

 

[CrabbedOne]

 

[CRI]

 

[CRI]

House bill seeks social media reviews for all visa applications

Legislation proposed in the House of Representatives on Thursday would require federal immigration officials to inspect the social media accounts of visa applicants attempting to enter the United States.

Rep. Jim Banks, Indiana Republican, made his legislative debut in Washington this week by way of offering the Visa Investigation and Social Media Act (VISA) of 2017 — his first bill since being elected last year to represent the state’s 3rd congressional district.

Can't imagine this would be feasible without massively expanding the workforce processing visas and creating a huge backlog. This dude's from the same state as Pence, which doesn't see much in the way of foreign tourism, so I doubt he gives a shit about that. It wouldn't apply to countries that are part of the visa waiver programme, but I doubt that will be around for much longer, particularly of the Trump Team decide Ewe-rope isn't towing the line enough and coz moose lambs will try and get in that way.

 

[a_chap]

I managed to access the "Mainstream media accountability survey" today - it was not available when I tried the link a couple of days ago.

Keep in mind that, at work, part of mine and my team's job is to provide a consultancy service for and delivery of On-line Forms (all sorts, including on-line surveys) so I've seen many hundreds of the blighters.

Not that it will make any difference to anything but I have to get it off my chest and say that Trump's has to be the most-biased survey I've ever seen. Ever.

 

[bimble]

House bill seeks social media reviews for all visa applications

Legislation proposed in the House of Representatives on Thursday would require federal immigration officials to inspect the social media accounts of visa applicants attempting to enter the United States.

Rep. Jim Banks, Indiana Republican, made his legislative debut in Washington this week by way of offering the Visa Investigation and Social Media Act (VISA) of 2017 — his first bill since being elected last year to represent the state’s 3rd congressional district.

Can't imagine this would be feasible without massively expanding the workforce processing visas and creating a huge backlog. This dude's from the same state as Pence, which doesn't see much in the way of foreign tourism, so I doubt he gives a shit about that. It wouldn't apply to countries that are part of the visa waiver programme, but I doubt that will be around for much longer, particularly of the Trump Team decide Ewe-rope isn't towing the line enough and coz moose lambs will try and get in that way.

That does seem completely unworkable. Maybe it's another thing like the 100,000 troopers - a story that's headline grabbingly extreme and sort of half true (in that there's a memo saying someone has proposed it) .

 

[J Ed]

House bill seeks social media reviews for all visa applications

Legislation proposed in the House of Representatives on Thursday would require federal immigration officials to inspect the social media accounts of visa applicants attempting to enter the United States.

Rep. Jim Banks, Indiana Republican, made his legislative debut in Washington this week by way of offering the Visa Investigation and Social Media Act (VISA) of 2017 — his first bill since being elected last year to represent the state’s 3rd congressional district.

Can't imagine this would be feasible without massively expanding the workforce processing visas and creating a huge backlog. This dude's from the same state as Pence, which doesn't see much in the way of foreign tourism, so I doubt he gives a shit about that. It wouldn't apply to countries that are part of the visa waiver programme, but I doubt that will be around for much longer, particularly of the Trump Team decide Ewe-rope isn't towing the line enough and coz moose lambs will try and get in that way.

Seems easy enough to be to run a basic filtering system with algorithms. Totally feasible, though I can see how someone who has totally ignored the extent of mass surveillance expansion would think otherwise.

 

[CRI]

That does seem completely unworkable. Maybe it's another thing like the 100,000 troopers - a story that's headline grabbingly extreme and sort of half true (in that there's a memo saying someone has proposed it) .

Unfortunately, it is true. This announcement is from the congressman's own website. Details of the bill introduced yesterday in the House will be published here. It's still got to go through the processes to become law, but it shows that not all the bizarro xenophobic impractical policies are coming from the executive. Plenty Republicans in the House and Senate are on the same page.

 

[CRI]

I managed to access the "Mainstream media accountability survey" today - it was not available when I tried the link a couple of days ago.

Keep in mind that, at work, part of mine and my team's job is to provide a consultancy service for and delivery of On-line Forms (all sorts, including on-line surveys) so I've seen many hundreds of the blighters.

Not that it will make any difference to anything but I have to get it off my chest and say that Trump's has to be the most-biased survey I've ever seen. Ever.

Wish I could say I'm surprised, but its very purpose is to produce "alternative facts" to those resulting from independent polls, so well . . .

 

[CRI]

That does seem completely unworkable. Maybe it's another thing like the 100,000 troopers - a story that's headline grabbingly extreme and sort of half true (in that there's a memo saying someone has proposed it) .

Banks sounds "charming," but typical of most Republican politicians.

Among his positions, Banks supports a strong national defense system, market-based healthcare reform, religious freedom, pro-life legislation, pro-gun legislation, and restriction of tax increases.

As a (state)senator, Banks has voted in favor of amending abortion regulations, repealing ISTEP testing, requiring drug testing for certain welfare recipients, and prohibiting unauthorized entry on industrial or agricultural properties. He voted against measures such as authorizing certain undocumented students to receive in-state tuition, authorizing funding for a mass transit system in Indiana, and expanding Medicaid.