What stupid shit has Trump done today?

[Idris2002]

Is Trump really going to give a speech about Islam in Saudi?

Its like hearing "Mr Sparky Mc Zippo, the famous arsonist, is going on a cruise across a lake full of petrol"

I wish I could reach through the monitor and shake your hand for this one.

 

[Wilf]

On Bloomberg Would You Let Trump Run Your Company?
Trump is an object lesson on how far heroic levels of bullshitting can get a fella. In his case right to the top. It's a very American ability not to be underrated and he is a master of spinning webs of deceit in an almost loveable way. This includes selling himself as a versatile Chief Executive Officer rather than a what he is basically a wealthy pratfall prone heir to a Real Estate empire. People who don't really understand how US politics works or even have much idea how you run a large enterprise were suckers for this. People just like Trump as we have to conclude now he himself appears not to know how to build an effective management team. His hiring is terribly patchy with highly respected men like McMasters rubbing shoulders hilariously awful critters like Dr Gorka PHD and his mentor Bannon. He's completely failed to staff large areas of middle management. Trump can be charismatic but is hopeless at comms. He rapidly gets tangled up in unfamiliar compliance issues. He falls back on kin as he always has as the owner of a family firm.

I think we are a long way out from impeachment votes, but it remains a distinct possibility (or some equally dramatic institutional crisis). The one thing you can be sure of is that he can't stop being Donald Trump - and that means he's going to keep pushing the Republicans closer and closer to the point where they cut him adrift.

 

[bimble]

Liberality, which since C14 had carried the sense of generosity, and later of open-mindedness, was joined by political Liberalism from eC19. Libertarian in 1C18 indicated a believer in free will as againstdeterminism (cf. DETERMINE), but from 1C19 acquired social and political senses, sometimes close to liberal.It is especially common in mC20 in libertarian socialism, which is not liberalism but a form ofSOCIALISM (q.v.) opposed to centralized andBUREAUCRATIC (q.v.) controls.



In the established party-political sense, Liberal is now clear enough. But liberal as a term of political discourse is complex. It has been under regular and heavy attack from conservative positions, where the senses of lack of restraint and lack of discipline have been brought to bear, and also the sense of a (weak and sentimental) generosity. The sense of a lack of rigour has also been drawn on in intellectual disputes. Against this kind of attack, liberal has often been a group term for PROGRESSIVE or RADICAL (qq.v.) opinions, and is still clear in this sense, notably in USA. Butliberal as a pejorative term has also been widely used by socialists and especially Marxists. This use shares the conservative sense of lack of rigour and of weak and sentimental beliefs. Thus far it is interpreted byliberals as a familiar complaint, and there is a special edge in their reply to socialists, that they are concerned with political freedom and that socialists are not. But this masks the most serious sense of the socialist use, which is the historically accurate observation thatliberalism is a doctrine based on INDIVIDUALIST (q.v.) theories of man and society and is thus in fundamental conflict not only with SOCIALIST (q.v.) but with most strictly SOCIAL (q.v.) theories. The further observation, that liberalism is the highest form of thought developed within BOURGEOIS (q.v.) society and in terms of CAPITALISM (q.v.), is also relevant, for when liberal is not being used as a loose swear-word, it is to this mixture of liberating and limiting ideas that it is intended to refer. Liberalism is then a doctrine of certain necessary kinds of freedom but also, and essentially, a doctrine of possessive individualism.


of course we could just link to the OED or mirriam-webster because they really are great when it comes to political definitions, much like wikipedia and your ole fave google

Where's this from then?
(and what does q.v. mean please?)

 

[Idris2002]

Where's this from then?
(and what does q.v. mean please?)

"qui vive", I think, but I'm not actually sure what it's meant to signify - this is the sort of thing Pickman's model would know, I think.

Oh, and unless I'm very much mistaken, DotCommunist is quoting from Raymond Williams' Keywords. Which is one of those books that, while you're reading it, makes you feel smarter than you are.

 

[Pickman's model]

"qui vive", I think, but I'm not actually sure what it's meant to signify - this is the sort of thing Pickman's model would know, I think.

quod vide, which is 'see the entry on this item elsewhere in the book'

 

[DotCommunist]

"qui vive", I think, but I'm not actually sure what it's meant to signify - this is the sort of thing Pickman's model would know, I think.

Oh, and unless I'm very much mistaken, DotCommunist is quoting from Raymond Williams' Keywords. Which is one of those books that, while you're reading it, makes you feel smarter than you are.

yes

I like it. I've got online etymology dictionaries for the other side of the coin, which is also a fantastic resource. I looked up the root of 'quack' for doctor the other day. Its no way near what I thought

 

[CRI]

Yes, people are still dying from lack of access.

Impeaching a President takes some time and I doubt if Trump is humble enough to resign of his own accord. What I hope will happen is that he hangs on for another year and a half. Then, the Republicans get creamed in the midterms, losing both House and Senate. Assuming that Pence eventually becomes President, he would do so with a Congress that won't allow him to push through his agenda. There's plenty of other damage that he can do, but we're stuck with a Republican in charge in some way for the next few years. If Trump manages to stay his full four years, he's likely so wounded that he won't be able to push anything major through either. <fingers crossed>

I like this vision. So long as things aren't funked up beyond repair on the meantime.

 

[Idris2002]

quod vide, which is 'see the entry on this item elsewhere in the book'

So, what is "qui vive" then, Master Pickman's? I fain would know.

 

[Pickman's model]

So, what is "qui vive" then, Master Pickman's? I fain would know.

on the alert or look-out

 

[Idris2002]

on the alert or look-out

And "Romanes ite domum" - how about that?

 

[bimble]

Not to be confused with Quo Vadis, which is a posh bar in soho, obvs.

 

[Pickman's model]

And "Romanes ite domum" - how about that?

it means 'there's an irishman taking the piss'

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

 

[bimble]

Bit dodgy isn't it that Time cover, as if some bloodthirtsty Eastern Menace were taking over the good ole innocent US of A.
This man (commenting on that image) puts it well;

 

[Buckaroo]

They've got Alan Dershowitz out now Trump is fucked.

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Pence places bet that Trump won't make it through his first term:

Pence Creates PAC ahead of 2018, 2020 Elections

 

[Mr.Bishie]

Pence places bet that Trump won't make it through his first term

Evens with PaddyPower at the mo!

 

[teqniq]

Donald Trump says he fired James Comey because he was 'unpopular'

'Unpopular' lol

 

[coley]

Feralhadley of course will now be able to tell us all about what he's done, how he has arrived at his thinking. Or maybe another homily about how he grew up tough once. Yeah, this is the stuff that got the last thread closed down.

Compromises. There is no compromise with power, Machiavelli knew this. Why on earth should it be granted from a position of power unless the hand is forced? That would of course mean things like working class militancy and not voting clegg. But y'know, everyone else is just cosplaying- you really are a plum. North of 40k pa deffo

What "working class militancy"? all we are left with is the chance to make the the odd representative protest, such as Brexit, we are fed up with the "we know what's best for you, metropolitan elite" but there is no alternative, so we take the to chance to put the boot in where possible in the hope of hurting the ME.

Trumps victory is different from Brexit, although there was the 'Brexit faction' people in decayed industrial heartlands 'taking the chance to "put the boot in" to the ME etc, but there are other major factors In play, things that don't factor in the UK, deeply serious racism/white supremacism, abortion, public Health care, restrictions on gun law, an absolute hatred of anything 'socialism related....back to health care''

Having a bit more spare time these days, I have taken an interest in the reporting by the US media, Fox News, Briefart etc whose leaders and comments sections leave you in need of a hot shower(as opposed to,the DM and other UK tabloids where a good scrub of yer hands would usually suffice)
But, even the WaPo and NYT leaves you with the feeling of an enormous gulf between U.K./European 'norms' and the US.
The 'common ancestry' that created the bond between the old and new world isn't being destroyed by an influx of latinos or the remnants of slavery but instead by the wealth of the 'established, but diminishing'.old order' determined to hold onto power until the last minute, and quite happy to use a sociopath and his deluded followers to achieve those ends.

 

[coley]

Jesus wept. This shit makes me so angry. I'm trying to keep people alive at work. Austerity is literally killing people and I have to read this when I get home.

No mental health support. Not enough ambulances, hospital beds, care home placements or other support. I'm doing all I can putting a plaster on a gaping wound.

I'm in the same situation as you, (but, 24/7) however I think ferrelhadley has a point, just he/she isn't making it as well as thy could.

 

[coley]

I think we are a long way out from impeachment votes, but it remains a distinct possibility (or some equally dramatic institutional crisis). The one thing you can be sure of is that he can't stop being Donald Trump - and that means he's going to keep pushing the Republicans closer and closer to the point where they cut him adrift.

"The GOP establishment" Look Don, ol buddy,we've cut you as much slack as possible,,we don't want to talk about impeachment, but you've done really well in the last few months with your property deals but our sponsors want their cut, you fucked up on Obamacare, ok big Pharma can take a hike, but the Tax cuts you promised??

 

[DotCommunist]

What "working class militancy"

precisely

 

[MrSpikey]

Trump having policy ideas in the ME is perhaps an exaggeration.

Weird. I always assumed "ME!" was the major underlying factor in his policy ideas.

 

[J Ed]

This is seriously unhinged. Birtherism like.

 

[bimble]

So Comey once tried to blend into the soft furnishings in the vain hope of avoiding Trump's attentions.

 

[CrabbedOne]

On The Hill Comey once tried to blend in with WH curtains to avoid Trump: report

That's James Comey a blue suited 6' 8" FBI director trying to blend in with the blue drapes in order to avoid a compromising Trump hug. Armando Iannucci could be scripting this.

 

[bimble]

you're going to have to get up earlier i'm afraid.

 

[teqniq]

 

[CrabbedOne]

On The Cipher Brief Inside Trump’s Long Game on Russia

...
TCB: What is the Trump Administration’s policy toward Russia? Despite accusations against Russia regarding interference in the election, as well as tough words from high-level cabinet members such as U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, the President himself has not echoed those sentiments. Do you think this is causing an incoherence in policy?

JK: No, I think U.S. policy as it pertains to Russia has actually changed. President Barack Obama’s policy began with the “reset” strategy with Russia which meant to improve relationships, and therefore, his policy throughout his eight-year tenure was largely one of engagement. The Trump policy, while we’re only 100 days in to the new administration, has shifted from simply engagement and diplomacy to a willingness to confront. I think that is a major policy shift and one that is warranted.
...

Though this policy shift may be due not to policy preferences but to Trump's big mouth making the Reset With Russia II he promised politically impossible.

In petulantly firing Comey Trump's got himself into a disastrous mess. All over his campaign's probably fairly trivial Russian connections. Anyone running for POTUS with a whit of sense would have never hired the likes of Flynn and Manafort. The twit magnified the problem by continuing to make pro-Putin noises after the fuss over the DNC hack. A competent politician would have offered full disclosure and distanced himself but Trump can't just fess up to bumbling and ends up looking shifty as Hell.

What Trump now needs a big distraction. With that airstrike up by al Tanf the US could be sliding into a war with Iran. In his now badly holed ship that can start looking like a lifeboat. This was always the danger with Trump: not so much malign intent but incompetence led recklessness.

 

[CRI]

House leaders worry more meetings secretly recorded

Can you spell paranoia? Is it too much to hope for a circular firing squad soon?