What stupid shit has Trump done today?

[CRI]

More worrying tho -



About that “Deconfliction Zone” in Syria: Is the United States on Firm Domestic and International Legal Footing?

The escalating trend of hostilities between the U.S. military and pro-regime forces is deeply concerning. It raises the specter of a full-blown war among powerful militaries in Syria–between the United States and its partners on one side, and Syria, Russia, and Iran and their partners on the other. This is not an exaggeration. In the second exchange of fire, it was reported that “the US-supported forces also were forced to pull back when they were attacked by Russian aircraft.” In a region already devastated by years of brutal conflict, the security and humanitarian implications are evidently grave.

 

[CrabbedOne]

On CNN GOP congressman: Trump may lack language 'discipline' to avoid appearance of investigation interference

...
"I'm at the point where we also have to be real careful from the standpoint that we have a President that's not from the political class," the Arizona Republican said. "The learning of the disciplined use of language and what certain words mean in our context -- if you're not from this world you may not have developed that discipline."
...

The old the President is completely unqualified to be President and therefore looks guilty as Hell gambit.

 

[chandlerp]

Wow, that's fucking weak.

 

[CrabbedOne]

In The Week The meltdown of the Texas GOP

...
For a governor of Texas, of either party, the latter data point should set alarm bells clanging; particularly in a state with a skimpy safety net, a thriving private sector is a public policy priority. Abbott, however, has seemingly been preoccupied with politics. The sanctuary cities bill was not enough to appease Patrick, a former talk-radio host, so last week Abbott announced that he wants legislators to come back to Austin in July to tackle 20 items, including a "bathroom bill" similar to the one that elicited so much Sturm und Drang in North Carolina.

To national media observers, this might seem like business as usual. Texans, however, are increasingly dyspeptic about it, which is understandable, especially given the concurrent national context. President Trump might be a Republican, but his nominal agenda is seemingly optimized to mess with Texas; he wants to build a border wall and withdraw from NAFTA, both things most Texans oppose. The Texas GOP is hoping, clearly, that partisan loyalty, and their comparatively robust organizational infrastructure, will insulate their hold on power for the time being. That may be true — for awhile — but change is still afoot.

It may even be happening more quickly than Republicans think. Trump underperformed in Texas in 2016. Democrats, concurrently, made gains. They have continued to do so since then, including over the weekend, when San Antonio City Councilman Ron Nirenberg unseated the incumbent mayor, Ivy Taylor, in a runoff. The office is officially nonpartisan, but Taylor had labeled her opponent "Liberal Ron"; voters approved of that, by a 10-point margin.
...

Unemployment rising and the Trump agenda actually playing pretty badly for the bungling Texas GOP. Lordy, things are bad when Rick Perry retiring creates a relative shit show.

 

[CrabbedOne]

On The Hill Senate overwhelmingly passes Russia sanctions deal

The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly passed legislation imposing new sanctions on Russia and giving Congress the ability to block President Trump from lifting current penalties.

Senators voted 98-2 on the bill, which also includes new sanctions targeting Iran’s ballistic missile development, support for terrorism, transfer of weapons and human rights violations. Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) voted against the measure.

The legislation marks the Senate’s most significant check on the Trump administration’s foreign policy, which has flirted with lifting sanctions in an bid to entice Moscow into an agreement.

The bill now heads to the House, where it faces an uncertain future amid signs of pushback from the administration.
...

GOP Senators nearly all voting to tie a GOP Presidents hands over Russia sanctions. You'd think they were smelling a rat rather than just being concerned about Trump's gobby political naivety.

 

[DotCommunist]

Wow, that's fucking weak.

I actually like it. In so many words they just used the excuse that he's thick as shit and can't be blamed for having the IQ of a dorito. Its...refreshing

 

[CrabbedOne]

On The Hill Trump: Why is Clinton not investigated but I am?

The whataboutery defence, much favoured by seven year olds with not a leg to stand on.

Actually given Trump's character it's a bit odd that he hasn't insisted on pursuing Clinton for all those past crimes going back to Whitewater just to muddy the waters. He did promise to lock her up after all.

 

[teqniq]

 

[chandlerp]

he's in meltdown now

 

[CrabbedOne]

he's in meltdown now

He made me do it Miss!

 

[chandlerp]

despite having tweeted that he'd made up his mind to fire Comey before he was advised to.

 

[TomUS]

The orange clown has just announced America is going back to the bad old days concerning Cuba.....reversing Obama policy. He's speaking to a crowd of right wing Cuban Americans in Miami.

 

[CRI]

The orange clown has just announced America is going back to the bad old days concerning Cuba.....reversing Obama policy. He's speaking to a crowd of right wing Cuban Americans in Miami.

I was waiting for that one

Quite literally, his administration and the GOP congress must have a list of things achieved by the Obama administration, and are ticking them off, one by one, regardless of what they are.

 

[CRI]

Ah, of course.



Tweety Linky

 

[CrabbedOne]

On Politico Trump's drug price 'remedy' expected to be industry friendly

...
The administration is not discussing taking “broad action to curb drug pricing," analyst Terry Haines who follows Washington politics for investment bank EverCore ISI said Friday.

“If anything, the limited scope of the discussions should be good news for the pharmaceutical and bio industries and investors because nothing like sweeping action to curb drug prices is under discussion and the industry probably will not view the subjects of the Trump discussions … negatively. “

There are even some signs the administration proposals under discussion may help -- rather than harm the drug industry.

"Our industry sources indicate that pharma expects it has successfully shifted the dialogue from the high price of innovation to transparency and other parts of the supply chain,” Wells Fargo analyst David Maris wrote in a note to investors Thursday evening. “As such, several drug company executives have expressed the belief that Trump's drug price approach will not include drug re-importation and Medicare negotiation of drug prices."

The industry's growing confidence comes in part from the presence of key allies in the White House: Joe Grogan, OMB's director of health programs, is working on the executive order, according to multiple sources inside and outside of the government. Grogan spent the last five years as the head of federal affairs for Gilead Sciences — the drug company that helped ignite the drug pricing debate in 2013, when it set the price of a new hepatitis C treatment at more than $80,000.

He's not the only administration official who doesn't see eye-to-eye with Trump on drug pricing.

HHS Secretary Tom Price was part of the congressional effort to kill the Obama administration's last-ditch attempt to tackle drug pricing last year through a Medicare pilot that would have paid doctors less for some high cost drugs — such as some cancer treatments — administered in physician’s offices.
...

Remarkably swampy, Trump's campaign trail aspiration here does not seem to be surviving contact with a powerful lobby but that happened to hopey changey Obama as well. Obamacare turned out to be far more "industry friendly" than anticipated.

 

[CrabbedOne]

On The Hill EXCLUSIVE: Trump officials considered 'ultimatum' to Cuba

The Trump administration considered severing diplomatic relations with Cuba before deciding on narrower changes to former President Barack Obama’s policy, according to documents obtained exclusively by The Hill.

During a high-level National Security Council (NSC) meeting last month, officials weighed the possibility of issuing an “all or nothing” ultimatum to the Cuban government to improve its human-rights situation.

If the changes were not adopted by a set deadline, the U.S. would revert to its Cold War-era Cuba policy, wiping out Obama’s historic rapprochement with the Communist nation.

The step would have entailed sweeping measures, such as cutting off formal diplomatic relations, shuttering the U.S. Embassy in Havana and “stopping all bilateral engagement,” according to an NSC memo that was circulated to senior decisionmakers at key Cabinet agencies in advance of a decision on the policy change.

The U.S. also would have reinstated trade and travel restrictions on Cuba and may have set in motion a process to reclassify the island as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Another option listed in the memo was reinstating the “wet foot, dry foot” policy that allowed any Cubans who arrive on American soil to remain and seek permanent residency. But that possibility was never seriously discussed, according to a source familiar with the conversations.

U.S. law enforcement officials strongly objected to such a change out of concern it could spark a wave of Cuban migration, the source said.

It’s not clear if the recommendation to completely reverse Obama’s policy ever reached President Trump’s desk.
...

My bold, that that even got in a memo under this migrant hating administration is a little bizarre. So for that matter so is the idea that Cuban Human Rights was really going to float Trump's boat.

 

[CrabbedOne]

On MEE 'Donald Trump betrayed us': US cracks down on Iraqi Christian immigrants

...
Asked about the general atmosphere in the Chaldean community, Naoum said: “Fear, anger, dismay and betrayal.”

He explained that Iraqi Christians in Michigan overwhelmingly voted for Trump in the election - support that he said was vital to the Republican candidate’s slim victory in the state.

Trump won Michigan by fewer than 11,000 votes, while Chaldeans in the state are estimated to number more than 100,000 people.

Naoum said Chaldeans thought Democrats’ policies in the Middle East were “ineffectual”, so they listened to Trump, who portrayed himself as a strongman and promised to protect their communities in the homeland and the US.

“They bought it and they voted wholesale for Donald Trump,” Naoum told MEE.

He added that it is ironic that one of the Iraqi restaurants in Sterling Heights that was raided for immigrants had hosted a Trump victory party after the election. The northern Detroit suburb is home to a large Chaldean community.

“Donald Trump betrayed us,” Naoum continued. “These people are just dismayed. They didn’t think that people were going to be raided and deported en mass this way.”
...

Interesting idea that Iraqi Chaldeans might have swung Michigan for Trump. A group very worthy of refuge in the US. After all Uncle Sam managed to turn their ancient home into a rather hostile place.

Folk did tend to cherry pick from Trump's often inconsistent message. He did at one point accuse Obama of discriminating against Christian refugees in favour of Muslims. He clearly had a big problem with Muslims. That Trump wasn't keen on migrants and refugees in general probably should have been plain though. Mexicans after all are mostly good Catholics and were to be walled in while paying for the privilege. Trump was particularly clear that migrants who commit crimes were to be dealt with sternly and the law would be enforced. That ICE starts developing a "pretext to round up more brown people and kick them out” perhaps should not be a surprise.

 

[CRI]

USS Fitzgerald collision: Trump criticised for leaving key posts unfilled
Lack of navy secretary and ambassador to Japan could hamper communications in search for missing crew, says former official



Well, it's gone 7.30 am in Illinois now. Debating whether to ring my brother and find out which ship my nephew's stationed on, if he knows.

 

[stupid kid]

In The Week The meltdown of the Texas GOP
Unemployment rising and the Trump agenda actually playing pretty badly for the bungling Texas GOP. Lordy, things are bad when Rick Perry retiring creates a relative shit show.

Yeah I can confirm this all, it's worse than it sounds it terms of bad governance, but on the flip side, I feel like a lot of the Republicans actually like it this way. On a side note, as center right writers go, Erica Grieder is probably the best covering this state. I don't share her belief that Abbott is good at his job, but it's hard to disagree with her general point of view that of he's the sane one of the three main statewide positions of Gov, Lt Gov and AG.

Oh, and we're about to not have doctors any more. Or something. Without looking it up I can't tell you the status of the bill, but unless the statehouse passes something in the special session, on September 1st Texas will no longer have a medical licensure board, as it is under sunset review provisions (so it dies unless it's renewed). While I've joked about declaring myself a doctor on that day, I'm a bit unsure about what that actually means for current practicing professionals licensed under the board. Absolute fucking shambles that this bill had to be sacrificed at the altar of transphobia.

The state is going to lose the NFL draft if the Lt Gov gets his way on the bathroom bill. While it's hardly the only negative effect it would have the economy, it will be one of the most noticeably felt. It will also mark the state out as backwards ass hillbilly country when we have like 2 of the 5 biggest metros in the US.

On the positive side, the bill my wife wrote in 2014 got passed this session. Abbott signed it on Thursday. Bill to license autism treatment specialists signed into law

The bill, by Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr., D-Brownsville, will require licenses for applied behavior analysts, therapists most known for their treatment of autism. After easily passing in the Texas Senate on May 1, the bill also swiftly passed in the House on May 23 before heading to Abbott's desk.


"Because of the tireless work behind SB 589, our most vulnerable Texans who benefit from applied behavioral intervention -- such as children with autism, along with those with developmental, intellectual, and physical disabilities, and with brain injuries -- will now be protected by SB 589, which will reduce the probability and the possibility of them being harmed by unqualified practitioners," he said in a statement.

The real impact of this bill isn't really most of what's explained in articles, but it really clears the path for a lot more coverage of ABA by insurers and it makes it harder for both the state (through Medicaid MCOs) and private insurers to argue with doctors and behavior analysts about treatment levels or whether to treat at all. The lack of licensure meant that, to our knowledge, only 7 kids have ever received full time ABA treatment through Medicaid, even though we have potentially thousands of kids with autism who receive or are eligible for medicaid.

 

[CrabbedOne]

On Politico Week Four: The President Summons the Ghost of Roy Cohn

...
How well Cohn taught Trump the basics of media and legal warfare! Cohn acolytes like Trump learned the value of raising disagreements to disputes, disputes to legal threats, threats to lawsuits, and lawsuits to war, and war to burned-earth siege, a progression Trump has been playing on his smartphone's keypad for weeks. Cohn also taught Trump to shrug off IRS audits, deadbeat his personal debtors, lie whenever expedient, and file complicated, retaliatory lawsuits to pour sand in the gears of his opponents. “Over a 13-year-period, ending shortly before Cohn’s death in 1986, Cohn brought his say-anything, win-at-all-costs style to all of Trump’s most notable legal and business deals,” Politico's Michael Kruse wrote last year. “Cohn’s philosophy shaped the real estate mogul’s worldview and the belligerent public persona visible in Trump’s presidential campaign.”

he Cohn method was distilled in Ken Auletta's landmark 1978 Esquire profile. An unnamed law school classmate told Auletta that Cohn was “a formidable adversary not because he's a brilliant lawyer but because he will stop at nothing.” The same applies to Trump. Observing no limits has been Trump’s operational philosophy for as long as anybody can remember, one that informs his current legal defense and the conduct of his administration. Trump's new Cohn is his long-time personal lawyer Marc Kasowitz, who also feels unbound by reality. Following James Comey’s testimony, Kasowitz issued a Cohnian statement that made a mash of the chronology and the facts. As the Atlantic's Matt Ford wrote earlier this month, Kasowitz sought “to shift the investigative cloud away from his client and onto [Comey] the man all but accusing him of obstruction of justice—a task it does not accomplish.” Roy Cohn would be so proud!
...

But things didn't go so well for Roy in the end. A deep well of chutzpah will do that for you.

 

[Jessiedog]

This not my work. I picked it up from The Guardian's CIF - and the poster had picked it up from a cartoonist's website elsewhere.

Someone on the cartoonist website made a post that there was "Obviously no evidence whatsoever of any collusion".

Heh!

A poster by the handle of "Radish" responded thusley:

---------

"Yeah. I don’t know – it’s hard for me to see any U.S. ties to Russia…

except for the Flynn thing and the Manafort thing

and the Tillerson thing

and the Sessions thing

and the Kushner thing

and the Carter Page thing

and the Roger Stone thing

and the Felix Sater thing

and the Boris Ephsteyn thing

and the Rosneft thing

and the Gazprom thing

and the Sergey Gorkov banker thing

and the Azerbajain thing

and the “I love Putin” thing

and the Donald Trump, Jr. thing

and the Sergey Kislyak thing

and the Russian Affiliated Interests thing

and the Russian Business Interests thing

and the Emoluments Clause thing

and the Alex Schnaider thing

and the hack of the DNC thing

and the Guccifer 2.0 thing

and the Mike Pence “I don’t know anything” thing

and the Russians mysteriously dying thing

and Trump’s public request to Russia to hack Hillary’s email thing

and the Trump house sale for $100 million at the bottom of the housing bust to the Russian fertilizer king thing

and the Russian fertilizer king’s plane showing up in Concord, NC during Trump rally campaign thing

and the Nunes sudden flight to the White House in the night thing

and the Nunes personal investments in the Russian winery thing

and the Cyprus bank thing

and Trump not releasing his tax returns thing

and the Republican Party’s rejection of an amendment to require Trump to show his taxes thing

and the election hacking thing

and the GOP platform change to the Ukraine thing

and the Steele Dossier thing

and the Leninist Bannon thing

and the Sally Yates can’t testify thing

and the intelligence community’s investigative reports thing

and Trump’s reassurance that the Russian connection is all “fake news” thing

and Spicer’s Russian Dressing “nothing’s wrong” thing



so there’s probably nothing there

since the swamp has been drained, these people would never lie

probably why Nunes cancels the investigation meetings

all of this must be normal

just a bunch of separate dots with no connection."

----------



Heh!

And I'll add to that ...

The Trump, New York, Florida, real estate, money laundering thing

The Robert Mercer thing (important!)

The Alexander Nix, SCL, thing

The Cambridge Analytica thing

The Erik Prince (of BlackWater fame,) thing

The Barbados thing

The Samoa thing

The Lesotho thing

The BREXIT thing

The Erik Prince's sister, Betsy DeVos (Dominionism) (Currently US Secretary of Education) thing

The Twitter war thing

The micro/psyhco targeting thing

The massive, fake-news, bombardment of "dark" adverts on FaceBook thing

The 19 New York mafia Mob Bosses arrested two weeks ago thing

The 33 Russian Mafia Mob Bosses arrested in New York last week thing

And the whole fucking multitude of all the other fucking things, things, thing



Dig deep peeps. Do your fucking research. This thing (thing,) is the biggest fucking thing (thing,) to ever happen in the history of humanity, thing

Watergate was a kiddies fucking tea party (oops, what?) compared to this.

Follow the fucking money.

What do we think? What do we know? What can we prove?

What did HE know and when did he know it?


Personally? What do I think?

*puts on Southern accent*

Well, me???

Ahhhh just don't rightly recall Ma'am. Ahhhh just have no recollection of that Sir. Ahhhh can't say for sure that I remember that Ma'am. Ahhhh don't think so Sir. Well, ahhhh really just don't know Sir. Ahhhh sure wish I could recollect that Ma'am. Ahhhh'm sorry, I just don't know!


Edit to add: Oh and I forgot about the Philippines Duterte thing. Alexander Nix (see above, SCL,) was there in 2015. Thing!



Keep your eyes on Bobby Three Sticks (Robert Mueller III).


Oh Lordy!



Woof

 

[Jessiedog]

And as somebody else wrote ...


When I find myself in tweets of trouble
Mother Russia comes to me
An' whispers words of wisdom
Covfefe ... Cov-fe-fe.



Remember peeps. Don't forget. Be nice to each other.

G'night.



Woof

 

[Jessiedog]

"Crooked" Hillary Clinton spoke, many years ago (during the blowjobgate thing), of a "vast, right wing conspiracy".

She was correct. But she was only talking about the US (and Billy Boy). And she didn't (doesn't?) know the half of it.

There's actually a massive, global, alt-right conspiracy happening, right now - that's been in the works for decades - unfolding before our eyes. If only we'd care to take the time to take off our glasses (spectacles), remove the veil, peel off/back the layers, open the curtains, seek the truth.

There's an unholy congregation/confluence/constellation of a handful of hard-right, neo-liberal billionaires and financiers, teaming up with a cartel of Russian KGB/FSB/Mafia billionaires, co-opting the religious right wing (Dominionists), the creationists, the anti-public-educational-ists, the dumbed-down rednecks, the Tea Party-ers, the Brexiteers (see Aaron Banks and his Ukrainian connections), the Breitbarters (see Robert Mercer/Steve Bannon), the Alex Jones', fake news, InfoWar warriors, the climate change denial-ists, the anti-public welfare-ists, the anti-science-ists, the Ayn Rand-ists, the greedy fuckers ... and the whole, fucking shooting match!

And, no! I'm not a DrJazzz type. I'm just digging deep and connecting the dots.

Wake up peeps.

Do you want the Red pill or the Blue pill?

Follow the fucking money!

And watch Bobby Three Sticks.

Blessing all and sundry.

Sleep well.



Woof

 

[8den]

Trump is spending the weekend at Camp David, apparently, he has no meeting scheduled for the next sixty hours.

It's like watching a Greek Tragedy unfold in real time.

 

[bimble]

It's like watching a Greek Tragedy unfold in real time.

aptly, this afternoon in new york:
'This is violence against Donald Trump': rightwingers interrupt Julius Caesar play

 

[8den]

aptly, this afternoon in new york:
'This is violence against Donald Trump': rightwingers interrupt Julius Caesar play

Apparently, the "Alt Right" are now threatened by metaphor & simile.

 

[NoXion]

Mind you, I think that comparing Trump to Caesar is rather hard on old Jules.

 

[CrabbedOne]

Trump is spending the weekend at Camp David, apparently, he has no meeting scheduled for the next sixty hours.

It's like watching a Greek Tragedy unfold in real time.

I'm more reminded of a Punch & Judy show.

 

[8den]

I'm more reminded of a Punch & Judy show.

Some of the main themes of Greek tragedy are pre-destiny, hubris, and the gods punishing you into becoming an instrument of your own destruction.

Much of Trump's problems come not from the investigation, but into his blocking of the investigation, it's entirely possible there was no "Russia plot" but Trump's attempts to thwart and stymy that investigation could be the tools of his own destruction.

That's some Euripides level shit going on.

 

[Libertad]

That's some Euripides level shit going on.

Aristophanes innit.