US Politics Thread |OT| SAD TRUMP

[curly]

https://twitter.com/jamescdownie/status/1037441482469335043

 

https://twitter.com/jamescdownie/status/1037449953419902977

[kingv]

It’s Sanders that wrote that.

She’s the only person in the WH that can see everyone coming and going. How else is she going to pull papers off of his desk?

What’s humorous about Trump is the degree that he isn’t REALLY the President. To the point where the People around him essentially just openly ignore the shit he says. It’s kind of interesting on a lot of levels, really.

It makes me think that the crazy shot he says on Twitter, that’s actually what he would be dp My if he could find people to follow all of his orders, but he can’t. Like he tries to fire Sessions and then McGahn just won’t do it, or he tries to withdraw from NAFTA but no one will draw up the paperwork.

Theoretically, I can think that the could hire sycophants that will just follow orders, but practically, I’m not sure that these people actually exist in the pool of applicants to a WH job.

I think there aren’t many, if any true-blue trumpets in the WH. They are either misguided into thinking they are saving America, or have their own agenda which might sometimes be his agenda, but is not necessarily his agenda.

[Joe Molotov]

https://mobile.twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1037464177269514240

No thanks, we’ve got enough

[Mandark]

https://twitter.com/jodikantor/status/1037429850682867714

From a NYT reporter.

[kingv]

I’d believe it was Pence.

He is very clearly there for his own reasons

[Nintex]

It's also someone who'd rather stand-up publicly than plot behind the scenes.
So that kinda rules out say Mike Pompeo or John Bolton.

[Boredfrom]

https://mobile.twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1037464177269514240

No thanks, we’ve got enough

[Phoenix Dark]

It's clearly Benji, folks. Funny how he's posted here for years yet no one knows his last name.

also
https://twitter.com/byrdinator/status/1037443443142868996

[Maiden Voyage]

Kellyanne wouldn't surprise me, but, at this point, no one really would. I suspect we'll know with the next ouster.

[Joe Molotov]

https://mobile.twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1037485664433070080

Sonny Perdue is sweating bullets right now

[team filler]

[curly]

It's clearly Benji, folks. Funny how he's posted here for years yet no one knows his last name.

if it was benji he would have gone off-topic two sentences in and ended with a detailed history of the 1848 election

[Maiden Voyage]

I think the odds a cabinet-level official wrote the op-ed are pretty slim, and the likelihood Pence wrote it are basically zero.

On sheer numbers alone, there are just too many deputy assistant secretaries who are plausible candidates and could be described as senior officials.

https://twitter.com/MattGlassman312/status/1037448170664615936

[Maiden Voyage]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/05/politics/donald-trump-mystery-op-ed/index.html

Don McGahn
We know the White House counsel is a short-timer -- planning to leave in the fall. We also know that McGahn has clashed with Trump repeatedly in the past -- refusing Trump's order to fire special counsel Robert Mueller. And McGahn has already shown a willingness to look out for the broader public good, sitting down for more than 30 hours with special counsel Robert Mueller's team to aid their investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Dan Coats
The Director of National Intelligence is very much a part of the long-term Washington establishment, having spent not one but two stints in the nation's capital as a senator from Indiana. Coats has also shown a tendency to veer from the Trump songbook. Informed of Trump's plans to invite Russian president Vladimir Putin for a summit in the United States this fall, Coats said "That is going to be special" -- a line that drew the ire of the President.

Kellyanne Conway
I think it is uniquely possible that someone willing to pen an op-ed this bold and critical of Trump -- and in the paper he hate-loves more than any other -- might take significant measures to cover their tracks. And Conway is someone who has survived for a very long time in the political game. And not by being dumb or not understanding which way the wind blows. Plus, there is the X-factor of her husband -- George -- whose Twitter feed regularly trolls Trump.

John Kelly
The chief of staff has clashed repeatedly with the President and seems to be on borrowed time. Kelly sees his time in the job as serving his country in the only way left to him. Might he view exposing Trump in this way as a last way to be of service?

Jeff Sessions
Sessions sticks out as a possibility for a simple reason: He's got motive. No one has been more publicly maligned by Trump than his attorney general. Trump has repeatedly urged Sessions to use the Justice Department for his own pet political concerns. And this week, Sessions found out that Trump has referred to him as "mentally distinguished mentally-challenged" and mocked his southern accent, according to a new book by Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward. Sessions is also someone who spent two decades in the Senate prior to being named attorney general by Trump after the 2016 election.

James Mattis
The defense secretary has been Trump's favorite Cabinet member. But the quotes attributed to Mattis in Woodward's book are VERY rough on Trump, though Mattis quickly denied that he ever said them. And if anyone has less to lose than Mattis -- he is a decorated military man serving his country again -- it's hard to figure out who that would be. Plus, Mattis is an ally of John Kelly (see above) and Rex Tillerson, the former secretary of state that Trump ran out on a rail.

Fiona Hill
Hill, a Russian expert who joined the Trump administration from the Brookings Institution, a DC think tank, might have reason to so publicly clash with Trump. She is far more skeptical about Russia's motives than Trump -- and was notably left out when Trump and Putin huddled on the sides of the G20 meeting in Germany in 2017. She was a close adviser to national security adviser H.R. McMaster, who was removed from the White House. And, she was also reportedly mistaken for a clerk by Trump in one of her earliest meetings with him on Russia.

Mike Pence
The vice president is all smiles, nods and quiet, deferential loyalty in public. Which of course means that he has the perfect cover to write something like this in The New York Times. Pence is also ambitious -- and there's no question he wants to be president. But would taking such a risk as writing this scathing op-ed be a better path to the White House than just waiting Trump out?

Nikki Haley
The United Nations ambassador is, like Pence, one of Trump's favorites. She is also, however, someone deeply engaged on the world stage and a voice of concern when it comes to how the President views Russia and Putin. Haley, again like Pence, is ambitious and has her eye on national office. Would this service that goal?

Javanka
The combination of Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump -- Javanka! -- writing this op-ed would be right out of a soap opera. But that is sort of a perfect way to describe the Trump administration, right? Ivanka Trump said she would work to make her voice heard to her father, but there's little evidence he's listened much to her or her husband. Might this be a bit of revenge?

Melania Trump
To be clear, I don't think the first lady did this. But her willingness to send messages when she is unhappy with her husband or his administration is unmistakable. ("I really don't care. Do U?") And, if you believe this administration and Trump are governed by reality shows rules, then Melania writing the op-ed is the most reality TV thing EVER.

[Maiden Voyage]

The majority of that list is utter horseshit, btw.

[Maiden Voyage]

https://www.weeklystandard.com/michael-warren/these-are-the-four-people-most-likely-to-be-behind-the-anonymous-new-york-times-op-ed-from-the-resistance-inside-the-trump-administration

(1) Larry Kudlow
Trump’s relatively new chairman of the National Economic Council, Kudlow took over for Gary Cohn, the former Goldman Sachs executive who couldn’t abide the president’s affinity for tariffs. Since coming to the White House, Kudlow has struggled to fit his free-market views on trade and a few other issues into the administration’s more active approach to economics.

As a way of establishing his credentials as a more traditionally Republican critic of Trump, the NYT author cites several positive developments of the administration, including “effective deregulation, historic tax reform, a more robust military, and more.” Kudlow, who served in the Reagan administration and has been around movement conservatism for decades, would conceivably find these Reagan-era policy goals the most worthy of praise.

Plus, there are some similarities between the piece’s language and Kudlow’s own writings. “The root of the problem is the president’s amorality,” writes the anonymous official. “Anyone who works with him knows he is not moored to any discernible first principles that guide his decision making.” Here’s what Kudlow wrote in his 1998 book: “If we stick with what I call first principles, which is morality and ethics, some spiritual guideline which was present at the creation with the founders . . . then this country is unstoppable.”

(2) Kevin Hassett
The chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, Hassett, like Kudlow, comes from the conservative media-policy world. He worked at the American Enterprise Institute for two decades, where he focused on fiscal policy, before coming to the White House last year. Another likely person to focus on the more traditional areas of deregulation, tax reform, and a strong military, Hassett also has a record of being pro-immigration. It’s notable that among the administration's "accomplishments" the op-ed does not mention is anything regarding immigration, a signature issue for the president.

Hassett is also a prolific op-ed writer who once wrote regularly for National Review Online and has written for several other publications, including the Times. And this mysterious essay, as Carlos Lozada notes, has the markings of a seasoned op-ed writer.

There’s also the interesting ending of the op-ed, which puts the focus on the late senator John McCain and “his example— a lodestar for restoring honor to public life and our national dialogue.” Hassett was once an adviser to both of McCain’s presidential campaign, including the role of chief economic adviser on his 2000 bid for the Republican nomination.

(3) Dan Coats
The elder Hoosier statesman who serves as director of National Intelligence is at the end of a career in politics and government service. Coats would have little to lose professionally if he wrote the op-ed and was outed. And he might be motivated to speak out given the way President Trump spoke dismissively of him and the intelligence community after the summit with Vladimir Putin.

Coats was a conservative Republican in Congress who also has diplomatic experience as the ambassador to Germany. The op-ed writer’s focus on foreign policy suggests he may be someone with an interest in, and involvement with, the subject in the Trump White House. The more specific focus on the administration’s Russia policy suggests Coats, a critic of Putin while in the Senate, could be frustrated enough with moments like what the op-ed describes as Trump’s reluctance to expel Russian spies.

There are enough folksy word choices (“Don’t get me wrong,” for one) to recall the writing style of politicians, and particularly politicians of Midwest stock, such as Coats.

(4) Mike Pompeo
Could the secretary of state, who is currently traveling in Pakistan, really write such a harsh assessment of the president he serves? Pompeo has been closer to Trump than most Cabinet officials, starting from his days as CIA director. And the former Kansas congressman is in the midst of guiding the president’s most important diplomatic efforts in North Korea and elsewhere.

As someone fond of, and thought fondly of, by CIA agents, Pompeo could be particularly irked by the suggestion by Trump and his supporters that a “deep state” is at work against the president. The correction of the internal resistance to Trump, the op-ed writer protests, is no “deep state. It’s the work of the steady state.”

And in Congress, Pompeo compiled a straightforward conservative record on military spending, trade, and taxes—although there’s little in his public profile to suggest he’s particular to the op-ed’s libertarianish “free minds, free markets” worldview.

[curly]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/05/politics/donald-trump-mystery-op-ed/index.html

of course cillizza is the author

[kingv]

It's clearly Benji, folks. Funny how he's posted here for years yet no one knows his last name.

also
https://twitter.com/byrdinator/status/1037443443142868996

That is his 10 commandment chess move.

Slob on Trumps knob in public while being the shadow president of the Deep States of America in secret.

[TakingBackSunday]

I think its probably someone that doesn't really have a big name.

[Pwnz]

Kudlow fits. He's not completely insane and he can't help but rant in public.

[shosta]

The entire article consisted of "We're trying to ignore Trump when he does something insane, but generally speaking we're in support of the administration's proposals and policies." It was a self indulgent piece of writing meant to reassure the author about being part of this white house, probably written hastily in embarrassment after yesterday's preview of Woodward's book - not some covert missive from a brave resistance figure written deep behind enemy lines. In short, he can go fuck himself, I don't care about his excuses, and I hope when something inevitably goes horribly wrong he feels ashamed enough to kill himself or something.

[shosta]

this is why I only read the intercept and fark.com now

[Human Snorenado]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/opinion/trump-white-house-anonymous-resistance.html

“He’s calling from inside the house!!!!”

Basically...

[FStop7]

This op-ed is a trip.  “Yo guys, we can totally keep this nut job in check.  We got this.”

[Human Snorenado]

"Our boss is a murderer that broke into your house but we managed to distract him after he only killed your pets, you're welcome"

[benjipwns]

(Image removed from quote.)

How the hell did 16.5k people think Wu was a good candidate?

Source is here btw: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/09/04/us/elections/results-massachusetts-primary-elections.html

She had a good message, said the right things, and kept most of her previous drama (which would likely be general election sinkers) under lock and key. Also, this is crazy times, where being active in politics is somehow considered a detriment if you're a newcomer, so maybe the opposite held true here.

That race in particular is a good sign of two things IMO: 1. that career politicians still have a place in MA if they do their jobs right, and 2. that progressivism is still thriving, maybe not in this race itself, but Wu locked up a good chunk of the vote by pretty much just saying (what I believe are) the right things and doing not much else.

We often like to pretend otherwise, but she also was the only female name on the ballot. Or more accurately maybe because of her last name, the only non white-male name on the ballot.

I can't imagine more than half of her voters know who she is or even what she was campaigning on (being a "cyber security expert", no, really) outside of maybe some third hand info that she was the "progressive" challenger. And that might be pushing it considering she didn't get around to "Medicare For All" until like last week or so. Her Boston area news coverage was pretty limited to last year when she announced, and then her fight with the Boston Globe last week.

She spent almost $200,000, $100,000 of which was self-financing. The other challenger guy basically self-financed everything. For what it's worth it caused Lynch to spend almost $400,000, though he still has $1.4 million in cash on hand.

I hope she runs for governor or something, although she promised 2020. Directly challenging Trump and the DNC outside of Twitter might be a bit too difficult I think. I guess that leaves challenging Ed Markey for his Senate seat? Maybe she can become the new Lyndon LaRouche?

[benjipwns]

Lyz Lenz gets to the questions Mandark wants answers to: The mystery of Tucker Carlson

TUCKER CARLSON IS SHOUTING when he tells me he isn’t shouting. The barrage of his voice has been relentless throughout the interview.

“I don’t want to be John McLaughlin yelling at people. Why would I want to do that? I don’t need to do that,” he insists. “I actually don’t think the audience likes that. I don’t like it. But the idea that I win debates because I yell louder, it’s, like, absurd.”

“I didn’t say you win because you shouted. I just said there is a lot of shouting.”

“There is not a lot of shouting. I do the show every night. I know what’s on it.”

“Okay,” I say, “but you are shouting right now.”

“It’s because I talk loud. I was shouting before.”

I am confused. “You were definitely shouting before. That’s why this is funny,” I say laughing nervously. “Because you are like, “I AM NOT SHOUTING!”

Carlson then tells me how he is the loudest person in the restaurant. Just ask his family. I mean, sure he was shouting, but he’s a loud guy, okay?

We’ve moved from denial to acceptance in less than a minute. It’s pure Tucker Carlson, a move I’ve seen hundreds of times in the over 40 hours of Tucker Carlson Tonight clips I’ve watched on Fox News in recent months. Reporters go on his show believing they’ll be discussing health care or Donald Trump’s mental health, only to be met with the question, “Do you think you are practicing journalism?”

Reeling guests stumble and fall. “Answer the question,” Carlson demands. “Answer the question!” But the question is unanswerable.


WHAT HAPPENED TO TUCKER CARLSON? People in media ask themselves this question with the same pearl-clutching, righteous tone they use when discussing their aunt in Connecticut who voted for Trump.

Ask Tucker Carlson whatever happened to Tucker Carlson, and he gets upset.

“Who thinks I’ve changed?” he demands. I didn’t want to give up any of my sources, a few of whom still count him as a friend, so I stammered out my editor’s name.

“Uh, Kyle Pope,” I said.

“Is Kyle kind of dumb?” Carlson responds.

(Editor’s note: Arguable.)

[bluemax]

(Image removed from quote.)

How the hell did 16.5k people think Wu was a good candidate?

Source is here btw: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/09/04/us/elections/results-massachusetts-primary-elections.html

https://twitter.com/Spacekatgal/status/1037309367220162560

[benjipwns]

wow, same unfortunate problem as Hillary had

[benjipwns]

https://twitter.com/Spacekatgal/status/1037524682705125376
https://twitter.com/Spacekatgal/status/1037527149849272320

edit: oh my god, sorry beaks but this one is just too...

https://twitter.com/Spacekatgal/status/1037305394740305922

[team filler]

 

[Trent Dole]

edit: oh my god, sorry beaks but this one is just too...

https://twitter.com/Spacekatgal/status/1037305394740305922

[brawndolicious]

What is her reason for running for political office?

[Maiden Voyage]

What is her reason for running for political office?

GamerGate

[benjipwns]

What is her reason for running for political office?

"I stood up to the alt-right during GamerGate and I'll stand up to them in Congress too."

mirror of the ad quote is from, plus confusion about what powers members of the House have

https://twitter.com/Spacekatgal/status/833127658582065152

https://twitter.com/Spacekatgal/status/957031908990472192

[close]

[Maiden Voyage]

That Op-Ed is old now, this is the new conspiratorial hotness:


Mike Pence needs to step it up.

[benjipwns]

The only explanation for the back-and-forth came from a Democratic aide speaking on condition of anonymity, who said Wednesday night that some in the party "have reason to believe that a conversation happened and are continuing to pursue it."

...

Marc Kasowitz, founder of the Kasowitz firm, briefly represented Trump in the Mueller investigation last year before bowing out and has continued to represent the president in a defamation lawsuit filed against him by former “Apprentice” contestant Summer Zervos. The firm has represented Trump in multiple other cases over the past decade.

And it’s a vast firm, with more than 250 lawyers on staff whom Harris may have been referring to. More clues may emerge as soon as next week, with the California Democrat saying during the hearing that she would follow up on the matter in the form of written questions for Kavanaugh.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

be a hero

[close]

[Maiden Voyage]

You know I never understood why poeple loved her so much and wanted her to run for president in 2020. But after watching her today....holy fuck sign me up for Harris 2020

-unbiased Reddit user cohengoingrat

[kingv]

The entire article consisted of "We're trying to ignore Trump when he does something insane, but generally speaking we're in support of the administration's proposals and policies." It was a self indulgent piece of writing meant to reassure the author about being part of this white house, probably written hastily in embarrassment after yesterday's preview of Woodward's book - not some covert missive from a brave resistance figure written deep behind enemy lines. In short, he can go fuck himself, I don't care about his excuses, and I hope when something inevitably goes horribly wrong he feels ashamed enough to kill himself or something.

I don’t think it’s really all the surprising that a Republican supports Republican policies... but I’m not really sure how much of these “policies” Trump really has any control over at this point or maybe even cares or aware.

Sometimes you feel like the Democrats are being hyperbolic about the level of babysitting being done to Trump and then you read this and think that maybe they are actually underselling it. Like did Trump create executive time, or did his staff come up with it so that they could get things done

[Joe Molotov]

The Kavanaugh hearing is getting pretty wild. Booker's leaking documents from committee about Kavanaugh's ummm...shaky support of RvW and then telling GOP senators if they wanna do something about it, then bring it on. Not that it'll matter in the end, I'm sure he'll still get confirmed.

[Boredfrom]

Is still good that he does this.

[kingv]

I think a narrative is being established that
 1) Kavanaugh is not who he claims to be and is being evasive.
2) may be part of a play at obstruction of justice by a President under investigation for federal crimes
3) Republicans are supporting him despite knowing both of those things, and are in fact covering it up.
4) Kavanaugh is against certain things that certain Republican Senators have claims to be for in the past, putting them in a tough spot two months before an election.


It sort of remains to be seen how well the D’s can actually fully substantiate those points, but that seems to be the plan

[Phoenix Dark]

Not a fan of the NYT op-ed. On one hand I understand the logic, but on the other hand there is something cowardly and even sinister about unelected officials sabotaging a president. Yea Trump is trash, but he's the president. If he is this mentally and morally unfit for office, officials should step forward and argue for his removal. The other argument is that since they can't get rid of him with the 25st amendment (which only sidelines a president for a few weeks while congress decides what happens next), this person was forced to do this as his only means of warning the American people (and more importantly, congress) of what is happening. I guess...but still, not a fan.

We're basically relying on a handful of "patriots" to save us from an unstable president. What if they fail? What if, by writing this op-ed, this person ends up helping Trump consolidate power by purging suspected disloyal members of his admin. If you were truly working to save the republic, why would you say anything? Lots of questions.

[agrajag]

That NYT article just gives fuel to all the deep state conspiracy bs.

[Joe Molotov]

I mean, I’m loving it on a sheer fuckery level. But as far as the meat of it goes, it’s just another in a long line of “adults” that were going to save us from Trump. Assuming they’re even actually doing anything other than covering their ass when they’re inevitably forced to look for post-Trump employment (the book deals and CNN gigs write themselves).

[agrajag]

Exactly, they aren't doing shit. They are just making themselves feel/look better. They should be resigning and condemning him in droves, if they are such heroes.

[Nintex]

Harris seems to have been given some sort of information. 

[Skullfuckers Anonymous]

https://mobile.twitter.com/ScottWalker/status/1037746406298136577

 

[Nintex]

I haven't figured out what is dumber yet.

Throwing a hissy fit because people don't stand when a song plays

- or -

Kneeling to protest a leader you don't like

Huntsman denies to have been the op-ed writer, so does Sarah Sanders
https://twitter.com/USEmbRuPress/status/1037751354507309063

[Steve Contra]

It's definitely the first, but what is really dumb is not having any idea why players are kneeling despite constant media attention since 2016

[benjipwns]

It's definitely the first, but what is really dumb is not having any idea why players are kneeling despite constant media attention since 2016

Benghazi?

[Steve Contra]

It's definitely the first, but what is really dumb is not having any idea why players are kneeling despite constant media attention since 2016

Benghazi?

That and Hillary's emails which makes Trump's opposition weird but whatever.

[Skullfuckers Anonymous]

I haven't figured out what is dumber yet.

Throwing a hissy fit because people don't stand when a song plays

- or -

Kneeling to protest a leader you don't like

What about spending millions of taxpayer dollars to advertise the military industrial complex at a sports event?

[Mandark]

I haven't figured out what is dumber yet.

Throwing a hissy fit because people don't stand when a song plays

- or -

Kneeling to protest a leader you don't like

Perfect Nintex post: acting above the fray and calling other people dumb while somehow fucking up the most basic facts of the story.

Is this a Dorian Gray situation and you have a portrait of yourself that's getting smarter?

[Brehvolution]

https://mobile.twitter.com/ScottWalker/status/1037746406298136577

 

Why do you hate freedom, scott? Also, shut the fuck up scott.

[Phoenix Dark]

Tariffs are fucking various business fields in Wisconsin right now and Walker is actually pretty unpopular/losing in polls. I hope this is the year he finally falls.

[kingv]

His bitmoji is a lot more handsome than he is and doesn’t even really look like him.

[benjipwns]

If only Trump would just LOCK HER UP already, the NFL players could get back to RESPECTING OUR TROOPS which is what standing with your hand on your heart during the anthem obviously and clearly means.

[Nintex]

https://twitter.com/NPR/status/1037807908690358272

https://twitter.com/SenateMajLdr/status/1037775037695229952

 

[Great Rumbler]

Ryan's off to a cushy K Street job in Janauary anyway, of course he isn't going to do anything about this.