US Politics Thread |OT| SAD TRUMP

[Great Rumbler]

President Trump has decided to remove H.R. McMaster as his national security adviser and is actively discussing potential replacements, according to five people with knowledge of the plans, preparing to deliver yet another jolt to the senior ranks of his administration.

[Nola]

Anyone seen this?


Trump is making insane decisions but at least they are his own.
President Clinton at this point would've been the puppet of her handlers.

 

Together the 73 donors contributed $1.7 million to Trump and groups supporting him, according to a POLITICO analysis of Federal Election Commission records, and $57.3 million to the rest of the party, averaging more than $800,000 per donor.

Donors also represent 39 percent of the 119 people Trump reportedly considered for high-level government posts, and 38 percent of those he eventually picked, according to the analysis, which counted candidates named by the transition and in news reports.

While campaign donors are often tapped to fill comfy diplomatic posts across the globe, the extent to which donors are stocking Trump’s administration is unparalleled in modern presidential history, due in part to the Supreme Court decisions that loosened restrictions on campaign contributions, according to three longtime campaign experts.

[benjipwns]

no puppet no puppet you're the puppet

[curly]

 

He meant literally because she secretly died during that "fainting" episode back in 2016 and Huma has had her on a string ever since.

[benjipwns]

The Trump administration is finalizing a plan to combat the opioid crisis that will call for changing mandatory minimums for drug traffickers and include language urging prosecutors to seek the death penalty as an option for drug dealers in fatal opioid overdose cases, a White House source confirmed to CBS News.

Trump’s plan to use the death penalty in some cases found at least one fan among congressional Republicans: Rep. Chris Collins of New York, one of the president’s most consistent cheerleaders. “I’m all in on the capital punishment side for those offenses that would warrant that,” he said when asked about the plans Thursday afternoon. “Including drug cases. Yep.”

[benjipwns]

EVERYTHING IS SEEMINGLY SPINNING OUT OF CONTROL, NATIONAL SOCIALIST DEMOCRATS AND NANCY PELOSI HARDEST HIT

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/15/conservative-democrats-midterms-conor-lamb-466544

Conor Lamb’s triumph in Trump country is being heralded by conservative Democrats as a major victory in their ongoing turf battle with the far left — and an object lesson on the kind of candidates the party needs to promote and win to take the House in November.

The 33-year-old Marine veteran personally opposed abortion (while backing abortion rights), described a $15 minimum wage as “high” and ran an ad showing him doing target practice with a machine gun — none of which sit well with the ascendant Democratic base.

“He didn’t run on an identity politics, one-size fits all message,” said Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.), co-chairman of the Blue Dog PAC, the fundraising arm for the conservative Democratic coalition. “He ran on the Blue Dog message.”

For the Blue Dogs, Lamb’s successful center-left campaign is proof that the Democratic Party’s “big tent” mentality is still a winning electoral strategy, despite an aggressive push from liberals for candidates that more closely adhere to the progressive purity made popular by the likes of Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

But while liberals have praised Lamb’s win, they’ve also been quick to caution that his message shouldn’t be copied by Democrats across the House map.

Facing a barrage of GOP attacks deeming him “Nancy Pelosi’s little lamb,” Lamb went up with an ad underscoring his opposition to the Democratic leader. Other candidates in red-tinted districts are expected to replicate the strategy in the coming months.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/14/democrats-likely-to-disavow-pelosi-lamb-pennsylvania-417425

Now other Democratic hopefuls are looking to adopt Lamb’s strategy — he repeatedly and bluntly disavowed the Democratic leader — in their own competitive races. It raises the prospect of a slate of Democratic hopefuls running against the party’s House leader as they try to neutralize one of the GOP’s go-to attacks — a pillar of Republicans’ plan to keep the House majority in November.

A half-dozen Democratic House members and candidates told POLITICO in interviews that they had been closely monitoring how Lamb handled the Pelosi attack. In one notable ad, the 33-year-old Marine faced the camera and called the claim that he’s a clone of the Democratic leader “a big lie. I’ve already said on the front page of the newspaper that I don’t support Nancy Pelosi.”

The “Pelosi problem” became such an issue last summer following Jon Ossoff’s narrow loss in the special election in Georgia that several Democrats openly pondered trying to replace Pelosi mid-Congress. Calls for a regime change eventually died down, but some Democrats say privately they will push for new leadership in November — whether the party wins a majority of House seats in the midterms or not.

For those Democrats, the more candidates that come out against Pelosi — and win their races — the better chances they have of forcing the California Democrat, who has led the caucus for 15 years, to step down.

“The horse is out of the barn now. It’s already happening,” said one House Democrat.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/15/dan-lipinski-obama-chicago-democrats-465858

The idea that Lipinski — who voted against the Affordable Care Act, Obama’s signature achievement, and declined to endorse Obama’s reelection in 2012 — would try to use the former president’s image resurrected such deep feelings of betrayal that the group of former staffers and supporters quickly assembled for a news conference to call out the congressman for what they called hypocrisy.

“It’s time to reveal the truth, Congressman Lipinski,” said Obama’s 2008 national field organizer Jon Carson. “You are no Barack Obama.”

...

But once the ad reached mailboxes in the district this week, it drew strong reactions. Over Twitter on Wednesday night, former Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod called the move “galling.”

In fact, Obama loyalists were so steamed that 10 former aides and volunteers stood in Axelrod’s old offices for the Thursday news conference — the very place they said Michelle and Barack Obama made their decision to launch a 2008 presidential bid.

...

Organizing for Action National Finance Committee member John Atkinson recalled watching the roll call vote in 2010 with “tears streaming down my face,” from the pride he felt in the moment the landmark health care act passed.

Then, he pivoted to the congressman.

“I was stunned to watch Dan Lipinski vote to deny 20 million Americans the very coverage that he and I both enjoyed, while defying a president and members of Congress who put their careers on the line to pass this health care reform in this country,” Atkinson said. “We will not allow Dan Lipinski’s hypocrisy to stand.

“Congressman Lipinski was never a supporter of President Obama when he needed him most,” he said.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/15/california-democrats-disaster-2018-ballot-465460

One day after Democrats claimed victory in a closely watched Pennsylvania special election, a potential disaster reared up in California.

In a state that’s central to the battle for control of the House, Democrats emerged from a filing deadline late Wednesday resigned to the possibility that no Democratic candidate will appear on the November ballot in several key House races.

[curly]

that's way too much politico for one post

[benjipwns]

that's way too much politico for one post

implying there's a proper amount of politico in a post

[benjipwns]

i actually had two different sources initially for the Lipinski and California stories and i could have chosen a very different path

i refused because you guys don't even realize the discussion that's actually being had

[curly]

I remember when politico was young and people would complain about how terrible it was, now we've given up because the print industry is not walking through that door.

[Raist]

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I'm running.

[close]

For office? 

[benjipwns]

It's not so much that it's terrible, it's that Politico always has been and forever will be a rumor mill for intentional leaks by politicians with agendas. Whenever I read one I go in with the assumption that it's a hitjob or a puff piece for someone.

That's a little thing called journalism. Not surprised a Peterson-Hitchens-Trump supporter would try to undermine efforts at protecting democracy from dying in darkness.

[curly]

It's ok, he's running as Cesare Borgia, a white data analyst who worked for the DNC.

Sure if you consider Italians white 

[warcock]

I really haven't explored the macro-economic underpinnings of this idea, but as fleeting thought i wonder sometimes whether our extremely bloated healthcare expenditures are actually desired by finance and other sectors as a driver of domestic consumption. I mean the house wife thought process is if we spent as much as France and got their outcomes we could funnel the savings to other fiscal supply side policies or redistribution.  We are providing an excuse for gov't to borrow vast amounts of money at near negative interest rates to prop certain industries up.  Let the poors and illegals default, lel.

It's ok, he's running as Cesare Borgia, a white data analyst who worked for the DNC.

Sure if you consider Italians white 

[Nola]

I mean if I’m understanding your thoughts correctly, yeah, sort of.

Certainly the people grabbing a piece of the roughly 750 billion annually in waste and redundancy in the healthcare sector certainly appreciate the inefficiency and fuckery of our system. As do the growing sector of collection agencies that feed off the debt people accumulate from medical bills they can’t pay. Or the completely inefficient and mountainous bureaucracy of administration in healthcare. Or even the care providers themselves that thanks to their leverage in a fractured system and powerful controls on the supply side of doctors in the market, get higher reimbursement rates than anywhere in the world for basically everything in healthcare.

I mean it’s 18% of GDP and based on other countries there is probably room to knock that down a good 4-7% and actually improve coverage and outcomes. Lots of people that rely on the inefficiency would be hurt in that process.

I’m not sure what one is thinking about when they say “finance sector” but there are certainly a ton of interests that don’t want to see this sector changed, which is probably the largest reason healthcare reform is so difficult. There is basically nothing you can touch that won’t have a powerful billion dollar set of interests from that sector ready to fight tooth and nail against that reform.

[Nola]

https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/974450928714747906

Always expected, but still fun to see nonetheless.

[Nintex]

https://twitter.com/nowthisnews/status/974450928714747906

Always expected, but still fun to see nonetheless.

ThisNow doesn't get it.

Kim Jong Un wrote Donald a letter he'd give up his nukes.
That's what different. Had he written that letter to Obama, the response would've been a bit of the same.

[kingv]

I always have trouble telling when Nintex is being semi-serious and using 9th level sarcasm.

[Nintex]

https://twitter.com/jdawsey1/status/974644773368803328

 

[Nintex]

https://twitter.com/JaxAlemany/status/974693091063025664

[ToxicAdam]

Maybe ...  Omarosa was the glue holding everything together? 

[Nintex]

I always have trouble telling when Nintex is being semi-serious and using 9th level sarcasm.

Both sarcasm and admiration.

Just over 2 years ago I read headlines like:
- Putin installs missiles in Stalingrad
- ISIS eyes Baghdad
- Europe shocked by terror

Now it's:
- Donald Trump's lawyer paid off a porn star
- Donald Trump announces SPACE FORCE
- Economy doing pretty well

To quote the movie his crackhead Treasury Secretary produced: "Everything is awesome"

I don't know what the madman did, but the world economy is actually running again. We've never had this much business in the 5 years I'm at this company.
Trump wasn't the only factor in this but I think that him sucking up all the oxygen in the room has made the rest of the world somehow more productive and profitable.
For a long time it really felt like the economic crisis/depression would never end.

You can't really claim: "Bush tanked the economy!" or "Obama saved the economy!" and say: "Trump's actions have no effect on the economy whatsoever" at the same time.


Also MENTAL GYMNASTICS OLYMPICS

Kelly also defended HUD Sec. Ben Carson, who is under pressure for spending $31,000 on a furniture set. Kelly said $31,000 sounds like a lot of money, but to put it in context he asked a reporter how much they think the chair they’re sitting on costs. Kelly said it’s probably worth hundreds of dollars but it will last a long time. He rationalized Carson’s $31,000 outlay by saying the table could last for 80 or 100 years.

[kingv]

I don’t really see anything inconsistent. The same people that say Trump doesn’t deserve credit for the economy also say that that Obama’s didn’t deserve credit for how shitty the economy was for most or almost all of his first term.

[Nola]

Listen, I don't really have any evidence that supports it, but you gotta admit, ever since RuPaul's Drag Race started snatching hearts and dreams, US and global GDP has been positive once again. My company has never had as much work as it does today.

[Nintex]

I don’t really see anything inconsistent. The same people that say Trump doesn’t deserve credit for the economy also say that that Obama’s didn’t deserve credit for how shitty the economy was for most or almost all of his first term.

I never really understood the admiration for Obama in his first term. I mean, he fucked up by letting the bankers go without punishment and having as much as a cronies government as his predecessors after running on hope and change.
Hillary Clinton pushing Barack to "liberate" Libya because Sidney Blumenthal told her it would be good for her image takes the cake.

It took until the second term until I felt like he was getting into the job. Telling the GOP to fuck themselves and signing EO's to get things moving.

Also huge credit for John Kerry for keeping the peace as much as he could when Arab warlords and Ukrainian oligarchs wanted NATO to engage with the Russians and Clinton, Bush and all the other candidates were pouring gasoline on the foreign policy dumpster fires. One-upping each other in terms of how fast from the first day in office they'd be on the ground in Syria shooting down Russian Migs. Trump calling them out for warmongering and calling them crazy for starting a war over Syria was really something.

Listen, I don't really have any evidence that supports it, but you gotta admit, ever since RuPaul's Drag Race started snatching hearts and dreams, US and global GDP has been positive once again. My company has never had as much work as it does today.

The fun thing is, and almost every economist will tell you this that the state of the economy has little to do with 'facts'. The economy can be in a dump when people feel it is, or thriving when people think it is.
Which is why when the shit starts floating in the drains it's usually too late to stop it. The Big Short made this point perfectly.

[Nola]

The fun thing is, and almost every economist will tell you this that the state of the economy has little to do with 'facts'. The economy can be in a dump when people feel it is, or thriving when people think it is.
Which is why when the shit starts floating in the drains it's usually too late to stop it. The Big Short made this point perfectly.

No one will tell you that.

But yes, confidence and how it is manifesting itself is a very important variable in economic health. I don't think that is coming as a surprise to anyone.

[Nintex]

https://twitter.com/GideonResnick/status/974777782801707008

Fired while taking a dump. This season of The President just got more crazy!

Will McMaster survive the elimination round? Is John Kelly safe himself? Will the boss finally send his daughter and her husband home after repeated failures?
How will the family handle the divorce of the eldest son? Has Kim called yet to discuss the deal? Will Mueller present his case? Who will be daring and 'bolt(on)' to join the administration?

How will the Bacon Fetish of Trump Jr. Impact the administration.

Tune in next week. Mo - Fri 24/7 on MSNBC, Fox News, CNN and all other networks and social media outlets.
And weekends live from the Mar-a-lago resort in Florida.

[benjipwns]

Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe Friday night, following an internal review that concluded McCabe violated Justice Department policies and was not forthcoming with investigators probing FBI actions before the 2016 presidential election.

Sessions said Justice Department officials determined that "McCabe had made an unauthorized disclosure to the news media and lacked candor − including under oath − on multiple occasions."

"The FBI expects every employee to adhere to the highest standards of honesty, integrity, and accountability," the attorney general said in a statement.

The dismissal days before McCabe was set to retire will significantly reduce the 21-year FBI veteran's pension and delay it for years.

[Joe Molotov]

He was only two days away from retirement and also too old for this shit.

[benjipwns]

"Hey guys, I want to get rid of this McCabe dude, but not have any problems with him down the road that we haven't properly foreseen."
"I know, fuck with his pension."

[team filler]

Rexit!!

[Trent Dole]

They're so evil and so so stupid.

[Nintex]

TRUMP: THE PRESIDENCY
Episode 6 - Season 4 - Fuck the FBI

Trump: "What can we do about this McGabe character, ideas people"
Mnuchin: "We could block his bank account"
Carson: "We could..."
Trump: "Yes Ben?"
Carson: "I'm sorry I fell asleep"
Sessions: "We could have him arrested and torture him at Gitm..."
Kelly: "What are you guys doing?"
Trump: "Shut up Jeff, err nothing John, go check on Mike, we're just having a chat about tomorrows Fox and Friends appearance of Steven here no one is going to Gitmo, believe me"
Kelly: "Gitmo? Ok, don't stay up late guys, big day tomorrow"
Trump: "How about we fire him?"
Mnuchin: "He's retiring, so that won't work"
Hicks: "We can send him a fruit basket if he's retiring"
Trump: "Hope? Pack your things, You're FIRED!"
Sessions: "Retiring eh? Now that's something we can use hehehehehehe"
Trump: "I like the way you're thinking Jeff. Does he get a pension? Let's fuck with that. Let's fuck with his pension. Let's fuck his pensions brain out. How do we do that?"
Mnuchin: "That's really evil Donald. Like pulling someone's income away after he's had a full and successful career and the only job available would be CNN commentator"
Trump: "I know, I came up with that all by myself. Also we should have a Space Force"

[Nintex]

Team Trump is now going after Mueller

https://twitter.com/woodruffbets/status/975008116805898240

I feel like we're close to the end game. 

[kingv]

I feel like going out of the way to fuck with the lives of the people who worked for you is a great way to get dragged heavily.

McCabe is probably thinking about all of the things Trumpand Sessions  did that are newsworthy

[kingv]

Also interesting was Felix Sater confirming that Trump was doing business with a sanctioned Russian Bank during the campaign.... isn’t that... a crime?

[Joe Molotov]

I bet when Comey held his Butter Emails press conference, he wasn’t picturing the entire FBI brass getting fired within the next two years by Trump.

[Nintex]

Deep state begins Twitter war with Donald Trump

https://twitter.com/JohnBrennan/status/974978856997224448

 


The CIA went from shipping surface to air missiles to Mujaheddin in Afghanistan to bring down the Soviet Union to sending angry tweets to Trump. 

[Nola]

Also interesting was Felix Sater confirming that Trump was doing business with a sanctioned Russian Bank during the campaign.... isn’t that... a crime?

Between that and Azerbaijan it is hard to imagine Trump escaping his presidency without some major criminal action coming to light about his business activity. And maybe arguably it already has?

It really seems like the guys shtick was that he would seek out corrupt partners, look the other way, and act complicit with his licensing and developments overseas, where other developers would be wise enough not to play so close to the sun.

[agrajag]

I mean, he's not in the CIA anymore and he is employed by the Resistance MSNBC

[Nola]

Also am I understanding this right, McCabe is getting fired according to the DOJ because he allowed agents to speak to the media about the investigation into the Clinton Foundation? Which contributed to the negative press around her in the closing period of the campaign.

So we’re basically right back to the Comey strategy of thinly attempting to fire a person for obvious political and self-serving reasons and pretending that we give a shit about how Hillary was treated by the FBI.

[agrajag]

Good guys Trump and Sessions punished McCabe for not being fair to Hillary

[kingv]

Also am I understanding this right, McCabe is getting fired according to the DOJ because he allowed agents to speak to the media about the investigation into the Clinton Foundation? Which contributed to the negative press around her in the closing period of the campaign.

So we’re basically right back to the Comey strategy of thinly attempting to fire a person for obvious political and self-serving reasons and pretending that we give a shit about how Hillary was treated by the FBI.

Like suing stormy Daniels, this is fully distinguished mentally-challenged , and will involve a lot of embarrassing? Possibly illegal, shit coming to light in discovery during the lawsuit. Pure unfiltered communications between Trump and sessions, probably including calling in Sessions, Kelly, and bunch of other people to testify will make this full fuckery.

The stormy thing is maybe even dumber, because he basically just admitted he lied by suing her. And again, he can be forced to testify. My guess is Donald just drops the shot.

[kingv]

https://twitter.com/ap/status/975054348400111618?s=21

[CatsCatsCats]

I’m starting to think there’s a plot to embarass Americans out of participating politically

[seagrams hotsauce]

Can't embarrass a population into political apathy when they can't feel shame and don't give a shit anyway

[warcock]

The fun thing is, and almost every economist will tell you this that the state of the economy has little to do with 'facts'. The economy can be in a dump when people feel it is, or thriving when people think it is.
Which is why when the shit starts floating in the drains it's usually too late to stop it. The Big Short made this point perfectly.

No one will tell you that.

But yes, confidence and how it is manifesting itself is a very important variable in economic health. I don't think that is coming as a surprise to anyone.

I don't know who you haven't been reading but...

[TakingBackSunday]

Mueller is gonna be fired by May.

[sinxtanx]

Why would Mueller be fired by May? That shit don't fall under British jurisdiction.

*clears throat*

[thehunter116]

Why would Mueller be fired by May? That shit don't fall under British jurisdiction.

She has to send some type of message to Putin. 

[Nintex]

https://twitter.com/Comey/status/975065073575219200

lol

How...

How do they keep stepping into the Trump WWE ring.
Why do they all make the same mistake.
Do they still not understand?

 

[Nintex]

 
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/975163071361683456

[thehunter116]

First time he's used Mueller by name.

[Nintex]

https://polldaddy.com/poll/9962275/?view=results

[Nola]

https://twitter.com/Comey/status/975065073575219200

lol

How...

How do they keep stepping into the Trump WWE ring.
Why do they all make the same mistake.
Do they still not understand?

 

What mistakes are “they” making?

Comey is going to sell a fuck ton of books and that tweet is probably going to end up being the easiest ROI of any pre-interview circuit blitz.

[Nola]

Also, this probably has some influence on why Trump is crying on the internet again.

https://twitter.com/maggieNYT/status/975180037359095808

[curly]

https://twitter.com/virgiltexas/status/975146163845214208

[Nintex]

https://twitter.com/Comey/status/975065073575219200

lol

How...

How do they keep stepping into the Trump WWE ring.
Why do they all make the same mistake.
Do they still not understand?

 

What mistakes are “they” making?

Comey is going to sell a fuck ton of books and that tweet is probably going to end up being the easiest ROI of any pre-interview circuit blitz.

The mistake is that they're going to Twitter to 'fight' him. Now Fox and Friends can air a show on Monday saying how unprofessional it is for law enforcement or government officials to trash a President on Twitter.
Next up CNN will do a Comey interview for his book and a very serious thing turns into a shit flinging contest on TV.

Trump thrives on chaos. He wants the Mueller investigation to turn into a subplot of his show so it loses credibility and he has almost succeeded in doing that.
As soon as former CIA directors and such sign-up to Twitter just to send him an angry tweet he is close to turning this thing into an:
"Us (hard working people)" vs. "Them (D.C. Swamp and fake news)"

If Comey's goal is to sell books, that's a good strategy. If his goal is to get rid of Trump, not so much.

[HardcoreRetro]

Why would Mueller be fired by May? That shit don't fall under British jurisdiction.

*clears throat*

(Image removed from quote.)

Damn, look at the size of Wakanda.

[Joe Molotov]

https://mobile.twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/975350027169206273

HARDENED DEMOCRATS