The Trump presidency

[Johnny Canuck3]

Nicest Whiskey and Coke is made with good bourbon.

 

[camouflage]

Russia election interference may be 'act of war', says Nato

See, the plot moves forward.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

I like how certain newspapers have started spelling NATO as Nato.

It's like the Usa, the Ussr, the Uk, the Cia etc.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Over the past weeks, Palmer Report has been reporting on the mysterious round-the-world gallivanting of Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev, who spends most of his time at his home in Monaco but has a habit of flying into whatever city Donald Trump happens to be visiting at the time. And thanks to an exposed multibillion dollar money laundering scheme on the part of a bank that’s closely tied financially to both Rybolovlev and Trump, we think we know why.

Dmitry Rybolovlev, who keeps flying in to meet Donald Trump, owns Russian money laundering bank

 

[CrabbedOne]

On FP Trump’s Military Buildup Threatens to Gut U.S. Coast Guard

...
The Office of Management and Budget is targeting roughly 10 percent budget cuts for the tiny and always cash-strapped military branch. One Republican lawmaker now warns those cuts could cripple the under-resourced and overstretched Coast Guard’s efforts to protect 95,000 miles of American coastline and U.S. interests abroad, playing an especially big role in interdicting drug smugglers.

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), member of the House Armed Services Committee, railed at Trump’s budget plans.

“It’s nonsensical to pursue a policy of rebuilding the Armed Forces while proposing large reductions to the U.S. Coast Guard budget,” he wrote in a letter to the president Thursday. Cutting the Coast Guard’s budget would “serve to the detriment of U.S. national security and create exposures that will most certainly be exploited by transnational criminal networks and other dangerous actors,” he wrote.

The $1.3 billion cut to the U.S. Coast Guard in fiscal year 2018 includes a directive to scrap the building of a $500 million ship, the newest National Security Cutter (NSC).
...

So $1.3 billion is about 5% of Trump's precious Mexican border wall while he seems to have overlooked bad hombres in boats.

Has Trump not heard the counter terrorism mantra "Mumbai Style Attack"?

You'd think his main focus was just making a song and dance of persecuting dusky folks to amuse his base and not US security at all.

 

[J Ed]

The Basic Formula For Every Shocking Russia/Trump Revelation – The Young Turks

The basic formula for every breaking Trump/Russia story is essentially as follows:

1. The New York Times or Washington Post releases an article that at first blush appears extremely damning.
2. Anti-Trump pundits and Democrats react reflexively to the news, express shrieking outrage, and proclaim that this finally proves untoward collusion between Trump and Russia — a smoking gun, at last.
3. Aggrieved former Clinton apparatchiks *connect the dots* in a manner eerily reminiscent of right-wing Glenn Beck-esque prognostication circa 2009.

4. Self-proclaimed legal experts rashly opine as to whether the new revelation entails some kind of criminally actionable offense. (Recall the now-laughable certitude that felled National Security Advisor Mike Flynnviolated the 200+ year old Logan Act.) This latest version is the certitude that Jeff Sessions committed perjury, when that at the very least is highly questionable.


(Probably best to at least read the relevant statute first.)

5. The notion of Russian “collusion” being key to toppling Trump becomes further implanted in the minds of the most energized Democratic activists, as evidenced this time around by a troupe of protesters who showed up to the Department of Justice headquarters brandishing trademarked “Resist” placards, chanting “Lock Him Up,” and (as usual) hyperventilating about Putin. As I’ve written before, Trump/Putin theories are increasingly the top concern that plugged-in “Resistance” types bring up at the highly-charged town hall meetings that have received so much attention of late.


6. Pointing out these glaring flaws in the latest anti-Russia frenzy is immediately construed by cynics as “defending Trump” or “defending Sessions” when it most assuredly is not. At least in my own case, it’s a defense of not getting enraptured by irrational hysterics to further short-term political aims.

7. People who’d spent the past 12 hours frothing at the mouth gradually come to realize that their initial furor was probably overblown, and that a more sober look at the actual facts at hand reveal that the anti-Trump chorus probably got ahead of itself…again.


8. Democrats who sought to capitalize on the uproar end up looking extremely foolish.


9. It becomes “normalized” (that new favorite buzzword!) to cast any meetings or contacts with Russian officials as inherently sinister. Rather than just a basic function of a Senator’s ordinary duties, meeting with “The Russians” is increasingly viewed as evidence of nefarious intent, and perhaps participation in a grand global conspiracy.

10. Political ineptitude and clumsiness (as was very probably the case with Flynn) gets interpreted as something more calculated than it really is. Sessions could’ve avoided this ridiculous controversy by saying something to the effect of: “I did not meet with any Russian officials in my informal capacity as Trump campaign surrogate, but I did speak with Russian officials over the course of my ordinary Senatorial duties.” The problem is, such an admission would’ve probably blown up into a big political snafu; Democrats would’ve seized on it as evidence of Russian collusion. So Sessions tried to lawyer himself out of trouble with an ambiguous comment during sworn testimony. This allowed him to sneak through the confirmation process, but created an even bigger political storm later.

11. A Trump official’s least egregious quality ends up being portrayed as his most egregious quality. There were any number of reasons to be highly worried about the presence of Mike Flynn in the Trump administration, from his bellicose posture toward Iran, to his outlandish views on the alleged threat posed by Islam. Conversing with the Russian ambassador about reducing tensions would very clearly not have been on the “reasons to be worried about Flynn” list. Likewise, Jeff Sessions is a troubling figure for a whole host of reasons, ranging from his hawkishly retrograde attitude about Drug Prohibition to his dicey history on racial matters. That he spoke to the Russian Ambassador in September 2016 would not be on the “reasons to be worried about Sessions” list.

12. The overall political climate gets further degraded and warped without any commensurate upside.

13. Repeat.

 

[belboid]

I like how certain newspapers have started spelling NATO as Nato.

It's like the Usa, the Ussr, the Uk, the Cia etc.

They often have for acronyms (which none of your alternative list are), it's been a widely used practice for decades.

 

[CrabbedOne]

In The Star The complete list of all 114 false things Donald Trump has said as president

And that's just publicly. He's a man is rarely visited by the Truth Fairy. He really needs to wear one of these.

 

[CrabbedOne]

On Newsweek THE TRUMP-PUTIN HONEYMOON IS OVER

...
What will Moscow do? Most probably, revert to the anti-American stance that became its trademark after President Barack Obama’s reset collapsed. It may expand warfare in Ukraine and provoke a U.S. response that could result in both a military buildup in Eastern Europe and an exacerbation of the nuclear arms race.

It may attempt to return to naval bases in Vietnam and Cuba, resuming its Cold War posture.

It is likely to crack down further on domestic dissent, as it did in banning opposition politician Alexei Navalny from running for president in 2018 by slapping him with a suspended five-year sentence on bogus charges.

Moscow is also likely to buttress its ties with Iran, whose airspace it is already using for bombing Syria. Russia is interested in further OPEC cuts of oil production to drive prices up, so its friends in Tehran and Caracas will tend to do its bidding. Iran and Venezuela are the founding members of OPEC, oil-price hawks due to abysmal economic management at home, and have deep ties to Moscow while sharing its goal to drive oil prices as high as possible.

The Kremlin is also likely to watch the back of Trump’s main adversary, China, expecting reciprocity from Beijing. (This presupposes a high degree of political-military cooperation between Moscow and Beijing in Central Asia.) However, China may want to bargain with the United States, as Beijing is ceasing to import North Korean coal, thus signaling to Washington it may be interested in a deal. It remains to be seen if Russia wants to cooperate.
...

Being rebuffed over START renewal and Flynn's departure to be replaced by McMasters seems to have sparked a great deal of disappointment in Moscow.

 

[CrabbedOne]

In The Moscow Times It’s Time to Make Nuclear Arms Control Great Again

...
Moscow finds itself in a bind. It does not want nuclear arms control to dominate the agenda with Trump. It considers this to be the crucial flaw of the Obama-Medvedev “reset,” when Russia was “cheated” into concessions on issues of interest to the U.S., while Moscow’s priorities — NATO enlargement and Russia’s “right” to a post-Soviet sphere of influence — were ignored. Moscow is intent on rectifying this with Trump by linking everything into a “grand bargain” where Russia’s interests in Ukraine and European security would crowd out nuclear issues.

There is also little appetite in Russia these days for further nuclear reductions. Moscow considers a robust nuclear posture indispensable to Russia’s security. Going lower than 1550 deployed strategic warheads, as Obama proposed in 2013, is too risky, the Kremlin believes.

The fact that Russia may have purposefully violated the INF Treaty by allegedly deploying a long range ground-launched cruise missile highlights Russia’s lack of interest in strategic arms control and its focus on non-U.S. contingencies — i.e. China. These missiles cannot be used in any nuclear mission not already covered by the existing arsenal of nuclear sea-launched and air-launched missiles.

That said, Moscow has little choice but to try to constrain the unilateralist Trump administration with legally binding arms control agreements. This will require further cuts in strategic and even non-strategic weapons (a longstanding U.S. concern).

Russia isn’t thrilled by that idea, but it could be convinced. Lifting U.S. sanctions on Russia in return for drastic nuclear cuts — an idea Trump has previously proposed — would make the deal palatable to the Kremlin.

My bold, I doubt that's even within Trump's gift.

 

[coley]

In The Star The complete list of all 114 false things Donald Trump has said as president

And that's just publicly. He's a man is rarely visited by the Truth Fairy. He really needs to wear one of these.

Doesn't matter, his base relies largely on Twattweets for their 'news'

 

[CrabbedOne]

In Harpers The Emigrants

...
But we were confronted all at once, as if by a lightning strike from fair skies, with the news that the High Royal State Ministry had decided that we must leave our residence in the Kingdom of Bavaria. We were paralyzed with fright; our happy family life was tarnished. My wife has been overcome by anxiety, and my lovely child has become sick.

Why should we be deported? This is very, very hard for a family. What will our fellow citizens think if honest subjects are faced with such a decree — not to mention the great material losses it would incur. I would like to become a Bavarian citizen again.

In this urgent situation I have no other recourse than to turn to our adored, noble, wise, and just sovereign lord, our exalted ruler His Royal Highness, highest of all, who has already dried so many tears, who has ruled so beneficially and justly and wisely and softly and is warmly and deeply loved, with the most humble request that the highest of all will himself in mercy deign to allow the applicant to stay in the most gracious Kingdom of Bavaria.

Your most humble and obedient,

Friedrich Trump

Trump's draft dodging granddaddy would have understood extreme vetting.

Fails to mention he made good across the pond as an brothel keeper rather than as a barber. You might think the fondness for skipping service and alternative facts may be genetic but he was also a striver.

He went back to New York opening a barber shop on Wall St at one point. Did well in real estate though his style was rather cramped by Germans often being regarded as enemy aliens during WW1. All rather ironic really given the grandson's posturing on immigration.

 

[gosub]

I like how certain newspapers have started spelling NATO as Nato.

It's like the Usa, the Ussr, the Uk, the Cia etc.

Cia looks more appropriate though, less shouty

 

[agricola]

They often have for acronyms (which none of your alternative list are), it's been a widely used practice for decades.

One would imagine it is also not unrelated to the widespread practice of sub-editing being contracted out to the lowest bidder as well.

 

[gosub]

In Harpers The Emigrants
Trump's draft dodging granddaddy would have understood extreme vetting.

Fails to mention he made good across the pond as an brothel keeper rather than as a barber. You might think the fondness for skipping service and alternative facts may be genetic but he was also a striver.

He went back to New York opening a barber shop on Wall St at one point. Did well in real estate though his style was rather cramped by Germans often being regarded as enemy aliens during WW1. All rather ironic really given the grandson's posturing on immigration.

With good reason : http://www.historynet.com/world-war-i-intrigue-german-spies-in-new-york.htm, which was partially used to justify the internment of US Japanese in WW2

 

[ferrelhadley]

Dead cat on table
Donald Trump accuses Obama of 'wire-tapping' his office before election

 

[CrabbedOne]

In Wapo In leaked document, the case for Trump’s ‘Muslim ban’ takes another huge hit

...
As I have reported, the evidence is mounting that Bannon and Miller view the ban as part of a much broader, long-term demographic-reshaping project. Miller let slip in a recent interview that the ban isn’t just about national security, but also about protecting U.S. workers from foreign competition. And the Los Angeles Times reports that Bannon and Miller have privately argued that the ban is in keeping with the need to combat immigration by people who “will not assimilate”:

Inside the West Wing, the two men have pushed an ominous view of refugee and immigration flows, telling other policymakers that if large numbers of Muslims are allowed to enter the U.S., parts of American cities will begin to replicate marginalized immigrant neighborhoods in France, Germany and Belgium that have been home to plotters of terrorist attacks in recent years, according to a White House aide familiar with the discussions.​

Thus, the ban is of a piece with the long-term goals of protecting American workers from economic competition and preventing European-style immigrant communities (which incubate terror plotters) from developing here. Bannon and Miller could argue that these arguments are partly about national security, too. But this is a case that centers on long-term demographics. That does not support the administration’s case for the immediate ban, since DHS has concluded that “extreme vetting” can’t screen out the threat of radicalization later. If anything, those larger motives undermine the case for the ban, by throwing its stated short-term motive into doubt.

It’s time for the Trump administration to kill the ban — the case for it is collapsing — and forthrightly debate this larger argument.

Really the whole security thing here is just a pretext. The US already has rigorous refugee screening processes to mitigate any risk from refugees. There are also many identifiable security benefits from the existing policy. Muslim communities in the US are better integrated than European examples which are plagued by far harsher attitudes to immigrants than prevalent in the great American melting pot.

It's clear what the Breitbartian tendency are pushing for is more like a stealthy restoration of the old immigration colour bar. They are even going after the high skilled Asian labour that drives US Tech industries. They very evidently really don't care if it has side effects that actually increase US domestic terrorist threats. It's the politics of being white and Christian becoming a minority US identity in the face of demographic changes that's accelerated by immigration. It's unfortunately genuinely popular with part of the GOP base.

 

[Yossarian]

Dead cat on table
Donald Trump accuses Obama of 'wire-tapping' his office before election

Trump had been a little saner on Twitter this week, looks like the intern in charge of taking his phone away when he's cranky must have been sleeping on the job...

 

[coley]

Trump had been a little saner on Twitter this week, looks like the intern in charge of taking his phone away when he's cranky must have been sleeping on the job...

Misdirection/deflection, it's the name of the his game, trying to divert the press away From his Russian problems.

 

[coley]

In Wapo In leaked document, the case for Trump’s ‘Muslim ban’ takes another huge hit
Really the whole security thing here is just a pretext. The US already has rigorous refugee screening processes to mitigate any risk from refugees. There are also many identifiable security benefits from the existing policy. Muslim communities in the US are better integrated than European examples which are plagued by far harsher attitudes to immigrants than prevalent in the great American melting pot.

It's clear what the Breitbartian tendency are pushing for is more like a stealthy restoration of the old immigration colour bar. They are even going after the high skilled Asian labour that drives US Tech industries. They very evidently really don't care if it has side effects that actually increase US domestic terrorist threats. It's the politics of being white and Christian becoming a minority US identity in the face of demographic changes that's accelerated by immigration. It's unfortunately genuinely popular with part of the GOP base.

Make America great ( and white) again.

 

[J Ed]

Trump had been a little saner on Twitter this week, looks like the intern in charge of taking his phone away when he's cranky must have been sleeping on the job...

Well he is right though, isn't he?

 

[Yossarian]

Well he is right though, isn't he?

Did Obama really illegally wiretap the Trump Tower phones during the campaign? Sounds more like Trump is just parroting some crap he read on the Daily Caller or whatever.

 

[teqniq]

True or not what coley said.

 

[J Ed]

Did Obama really illegally wiretap the Trump Tower phones during the campaign? Sounds more like Trump is just parroting some crap he read on the Daily Caller or whatever.

What does 'wiretap' mean?

In terms of metadata, we already know that the NSA collect everything, outsourcing to GCHQ whatever is illegal within US jurisdictions.

As for actual speech recording... we don't know. Clearly information on Trump administration people is being recorded and leaked, that's how we found out about Flynn.

NSA Won’t Say If It Automatically Transcribes American Phone Calls in Bulk

His tweet is wrong in a couple of instances though, it probably isn't illegal and it isn't like Watergate. It is very much worse. As Daniel Ellsberg has pointed out. Obama has helped to construct, and has handed over to Trump, the most invasive and all pervasive system of mass surveillance ever devised.

 

[coley]

Well he is right though, isn't he?

The FBI has a warrant to listen in to Russians, the fact that they obtained tapes of Trumps team phoning up said Russians doesn't imply they had tapped their phones, rather that Trumps team were indiscreet ( and as thick as pig Shyte) for making these calls.
It's all coming out in the wash, and the Tangerine twat is obviously running scared.

 

[J Ed]

The FBI has a warrant to listen in to Russians, the fact that they obtained tapes of Trumps team phoning up said Russians doesn't imply they had tapped their phones, rather that Trumps team were indiscreet ( and as thick as pig Shyte) for making these calls.
It's all coming out in the wash, and the Tangerine twat is obviously running scared.

The NSA record all electronic communications, and may well record all phone conversations, to me that's a bigger and much more worrying scandal than communications with Russian officials. If Flynn and Sessions hadn't lied they would have nothing wrong, on that score alone.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

They often have for acronyms (which none of your alternative list are), it's been a widely used practice for decades.

I believe it to be more common with British papers - with a touch of sloppy editing thrown in.

For instance: NASA.

A US-born NASA scientist was detained at the border until he unlocked his phone

Nasa officials set up 'rogue' Twitter account to resist Donald Trump

 

[teqniq]

 

[gosub]

Well he is right though, isn't he?

Not really, but Obama didn't think it through. Trump was clearly breaking the Logan Act, but nothing was going to get done about it in the time frame ...and once Trump took office nothing would be done

 

[J Ed]

Not really, but Obama didn't think it through. Trump was clearly breaking the Logan Act, but nothing was going to get done about it in the time frame ...and once Trump took office nothing would be done

How many people do you think have been prosecuted under the Logan Act?