What stupid shit has Trump done today?

[CRI]

twilight zone really. Helen Lewis would get on with CRI I recon.

You are having a laugh. Transphobic asshole.

 

[DotCommunist]

oh here its more than just one bloke ranting:

The Multnomah County Republican Party voted this week to use far-right milita groups as private security at events.

thats the beginnings of legitimacy. Not a good move at all.

 

[J Ed]

You are having a laugh. Transphobic asshole.

I'll say this for Helen Lewis - no history of having her household chores done by slaves.

 

[DotCommunist]

You are having a laugh. Transphobic asshole.

yeah for real, I really do hate trans people. Renowned for it. My intolerance is legendary. Reaching here a little m8

 

[J Ed]

yeah for real, I really do hate trans people. Renowned for it. My intolerance is legendary. Reaching here a little m8

I think CRI is referring to Helen Lewis.

 

[DotCommunist]

ah then I withdraw my lols. Didn't know HL was one of those- TERF?

 

[TomUS]

in your own link. OK its not the entire state legislature but voices like his gaining ground is legitimacy of a kind. Certainly such mouthings will encourage those nuts 'who will rid me of this troublesome priest'

What are you talking about? MY "link" is a video of an occupy protester being brutalized by Portland cops. Nowhere in this discussion is any state legislator mentioned. The only "voices like his gaining ground" is that of the Republican party county chairman hiring right wing militias.

 

[DotCommunist]

What are you talking about? MY "link" is a video of an occupy protester being brutalized by Portland cops. Nowhere in this discussion is any state legislator mentioned. The only "voices like his gaining ground" is that of the Republican party county chairman hiring right wing militias.

and this is the legitimacy I was talking of. Thats whats worrying, is it not? I for one would not be happy if some local Tory Party official started hiring Britain First as security (not that they would, these people are unarmed and incompetent). But hypothetically- its not a good look and a worrying move. But you thought I was endorsing that decision and condemning the left wing physical force activists. I was not.

 

[CrabbedOne]

In The National Review Junkie Running Dry

Some people simply cannot handle the fact that Donald Trump was elected president. One of those people is Donald Trump.
...

On Trump's craving for cable TV news.

 

[CrabbedOne]

On Bloomberg The Humbling of Rex Tillerson

...
Tobin Harshaw: In a sense, I think the main "character" of "Private Empire" is Exxon Mobil's corporate culture of discipline, accountability and spreading the gospel of capitalism. Tillerson's management of a corporate giant was his great credential for the job. Yet the state department is a mess: scores of jobs unfilled, mixed in its messaging, undermined by the president. The New York Times reported that foreign ambassadors can't even get phone calls returned from State. Is running a federal bureaucracy that different from running a corporation?

Steve Coll: It really is. Your effectiveness depends on how you motivate a career civil service that may look upon you with a jaundiced eye, and which may not even seem very accountable, compared to a corporate workforce. Also, you have to depend on others to build out your senior team -- you are dependent on the White House to approve nominations, and on the Senate to confirm. There’s an art to organizing these appointments well and quickly given that you may only be in office for four years. This has been a problem across the Trump administration but especially at State because Tillerson had no experience with the process and maybe even more so because the White House has been an obstacle.
...

Interesting interview going over how Trump's and Tillerson's business backgrounds are a pretty poor fit for government and actually thrash against each other.

 

[CRI]

Timeline: Trump’s Acts of Appeasement/Accommodation to Russia

Trump will probably weep with joy when he meets his heart's delight next week in Germany.

 

[CRI]

Very bad news. :-(

President Donald Trump has promised religious conservatives he will “get rid of and totally destroy the Johnson Amendment,” a part of the tax codethat bars churches from campaigning for or donating to specific political candidates. In a largely overlooked move, House Republicans have taken the most concrete step yet to make that promise a reality.

 

[Libertad]

End times soon come.

 

[a_chap]

You see? All the news/publicity is about Trump's bonkers tweets. And in the background he keeps doing his evil works.

We keep falling for the smokescreen tactics

 

[CrabbedOne]

You see? All the news/publicity is about Trump's bonkers tweets. And in the background he keeps doing his evil works.

We keep falling for the smokescreen tactics

 

[8den]

Just watch Buzz Aldrin's face.

That is the look of a man, who's circled in the moon in a tin box with three other men wearing diapers, going "this guy is fucking nuts"

 

[eatmorecheese]

Just watch Buzz Aldrin's face.

That is the look of a man, who's circled in the moon in a tin box with three other men wearing diapers, going "this guy is fucking nuts"

 

[CrabbedOne]

On AXIOS Trump overrules cabinet, plots global trade war

...
No decision has been made, but the President is leaning towards imposing tariffs, despite opposition from nearly all his Cabinet.

In a plan pushed by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, and backed by chief strategist Steve Bannon (not present at the meeting), trade policy director Peter Navarro and senior policy adviser Stephen Miller, the United States would impose tariffs on China and other big exporters of steel. Neither Mike Pence nor Jared Kushner weighed in either way.

Everyone else in the room, more than 75% of those present, were adamantly opposed, arguing it was bad economics and bad global politics. At one point, Trump was told his almost entire cabinet thought this was a bad idea. But everyone left the room believing the country is headed toward a major trade confrontation.

The reason, we're told: Trump's base — which drives more and more decisions, as his popularity sinks — likes the idea, and will love the fight.

The problem, according to top officials who argued strenuously that the move is ill-advised: The trade war wouldn't just affect China. The collateral damage would include a slew of allies, including Canada, Mexico, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Watch for: Trump was warned — and White House officials anticipate — that an affected industry like automakers is likely to seek a court injunction within hours of any tariffs on steel.

It may be against expert advice, it may destroy US jobs and make the US and its allies poorer but Trump and the shouty right wing media he feeds off has been banging on about trade imbalances for a couple of decades and a lot of his voters feel similarly aggrieved. But you can't tell if Trump will actually start a disastrous trade war because he changes his mind all the time.

 

[CrabbedOne]

Just watch Buzz Aldrin's face.

That is the look of a man, who's circled in the moon in a tin box with three other men wearing diapers, going "this guy is fucking nuts"

The guy 2nd from the left looks close to despair as well.

 

[8den]

He just tweeted this. Not a parody. Christ.

 

[DotCommunist]

I remember that. Its vince mcmahon and Trump takes him into the ring and shaves his head.

 

[8den]

I remember that. Its vince mcmahon and Trump takes him into the ring and shaves his head.

McMahon's wife is inTrump'ss cabinet.

 

[bluescreen]

Kayfabe.

Trump’s obsession with WrestleMania and fake drama

 

[8den]

So to clarify, The 45th President of the United States was a "guest" at Wrestlemania 23, and he's just posted a juvenile right wing meme of him assaulting CNN, made up from an actual "wrestling match" he fought in, 30 years ago.

 

[CrabbedOne]

On Politico How Rex Tillerson is wrecking the State Department

...
What is motivating Tillerson’s demolition effort is anyone’s guess. He may have been a worldly CEO at ExxonMobil, but he had precious little experience in how American diplomacy works. Perhaps Tillerson, as a D.C. and foreign policy novice, is simply being a good soldier, following through on edicts from White House ideologues like Steve Bannon. Perhaps he thinks he is running State like a business. But the problem with running the State Department like a business is that most businesses fail — and American diplomacy is too big to fail.

What is clear, however, is that there is no pressing reason for any of these cuts. America is not a country in decline. Its economy is experiencing an unprecedented period of continuous economic growth, its technology sector is the envy of the world and the American military remains unmatched. Even now, under Trump, America’s allies and enduring values amplify its power and constrain its adversaries. America is not in decline — it is choosing to decline. And Tillerson is making that choice. He is quickly becoming one of the worst and most destructive secretaries of state in the history of our country.

Has Tillerson behaving like a new CEO brought in to downsize State. The US at the best of times hasn't had a great diplomatic operation. The Septics have a lot of partisan appointments, rely on similarly partisan think tanks and have a thin permanent mandarin class. Under this administration it seems much of the latter at State is being sent to clear its desk into a bin bag and told to fuck off while new hires are blocked. The Think Tanks are being largely ignored as well. The political appointment remain 90%+ empty as well across the whole of government. After six months of Trump the US still doesn't really have an executive branch.

The thing is part of Trump's basic schtick is the US has greatly declined and just can't do stuff like it used to. This really may be the mission Tillerson's been given. Foggy Bottom literally as the swamp to be drained. Trump's wonder working businessman powers can Make America Great Again but this was to be mainly a domestic project. Shredding the evil works of Obama. Unlike Gen Mattis Trump's worldview doesn't see much need for the apparatus of diplomacy. What's the need for hundreds of regional experts when you are impatient with briefings and fly by the seat of pants? Geopolitics is just a series of bullying transactional deals that a playboy former Casino mogul can make in between long bouts of shouting at cable news and endless golfing. Of course the Casinos went bust when Trump tried to run them with no knowledge of the business.

After the bold and disastrously activist foreign policy of Bush Obama got accused of being too reticent. What team Trump is is an experiment in malign neglect of diplomacy by the world's only real superpower.

 

[DotCommunist]

Kayfabe.

Trump’s obsession with WrestleMania and fake drama

heh. Perhaps thats where trump learned to work a crowd.

 

[gosub]

Just watch Buzz Aldrin's face.

That is the look of a man, who's circled in the moon in a tin box with three other men wearing diapers, going "this guy is fucking nuts"

Thats weaponized satellites then. When what we need is method of clearing up space debris, he gives us stuff to much much much more.

 

[1%er]

It's OK you can all relax now, it looks like the Donald is going to pop-in and say Hi to the Brits while he is in Europe in July, don't worry about Brexit anymore Trump is going to make Britain, Great Britain again

Trump to the rescue

Just when you have a weak leader without a majority he will appear like the prodigal son wearing his kilt to save you from a tragic end and defeat from the European hordes, they'll make films about it in Hollywood in years to come. The Donald "Braveheart" Trump 21st century saviour of the British isles

 

[Libertad]

It's OK you can all relax now, it looks like the Donald is going to pop-in and say Hi to the Brits while he is in Europe in July, don't worry about Brexit anymore Trump is going to make Britain, Great Britain again

Citation?

 

[CRI]

So to clarify, The 45th President of the United States was a "guest" at Wrestlemania 23, and he's just posted a juvenile right wing meme of him assaulting CNN, made up from an actual "wrestling match" he fought in, 30 years ago.

And shedloads of people on social media are defending it.

We can't be too far away from him shooting someone on 5th Avenue, can we?