Shutdowns, military pullouts, and resignations: it’s Christmas and Trump thread 89

[TheClaws]

It’s chaos in Trump’s world, more so than usual, with #TrumpResign trending in Twitter after a number of key debacles: the pull-out of US troops from Syria, the resignation of General Jim Mattis, and the shutdown of the government over Christmas due to bipartisan disagreement over wall funding. (Those are just 3 issues.) The next few weeks will be rocky.

Previous thread: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3442038-But-When-the-president-does-it-that-means-it-is-not-illegal-Trump-thread-LXXXVIII

Who is writing those tweets? Because they are very cleverly written. I can’t believe it’s Trump. There is something called hi-lo writing, high interest, low reading level. It’s very skilled, and very effective.
www.writing-world.com/children/foster03.shtml
Apparently Hemingway achieves this effortlessly.
seattle.bibliocommons.com/list/share/205609413/674890317

Russian lawyer at Trump Tower meeting says she won’t come to U.S. to fight charges

news.yahoo.com/russian-lawyer-trump-tower-meeting-says-wont-come-u-s-fight-charges-193429528.html

I found this about the figures in Trump's tweets:
bipartisanreport.com/2019/01/12/trump-turns-off-morning-news-erupts-into-jealous-explosion-of-insanity/

(I tried to post this once already, so I hope it doesn't now appear twice.)

Aw, he’s all alone in the WH. a proper billy nomates then

If it’s all such an emergency why didn’t he accept the Democrats offer to give him wall funding in exchange for DACA?

The wall doesn’t make sense, but in an alternative universe where it did he would have really fucked up.

@Borntobe that's very interesting about the hi-low writing, appreciate the links👍
but do you really think it's been written by an expert, it just looks sort of word salad-ish to me?

This is the crux of our problem.

Sarah Kendzior Retweeted

Michael Fletcher
‏

@mefletcher54
14h14 hours ago
More
Replying to @Evan_McMullin
20 years too late. Trump should have raised flags in the 90s or even earlier. A shady businessman with ties to the Russian mob/Gov wasn't deemed a nat security threat. Wrong. A man who could not have passed a backround check was allowed to run and occupy the WH. Epic failure.

borntobe I think it’s the constraint of the tweet medium combined with Trump’s attempt to reach his base with vocabulary the majority will understand ( sad, terrible, bad, the constant use of asinine nicknames) that could give that impression. Some tweets do seem to be written by staffers, but the vast majority I would say are his, and I don’t think he gives much forethought to them either.

I imagine an interpreter probably has a good memory when it comes to what was said and by whom, anyhow.

www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/trump-has-concealed-details-of-his-face-to-face-encounters-with-putin-from-senior-officials-in-administration/2019/01/12/65f6686c-1434-11e9-b6ad-9cfd62dbb0a8_story.html?utm_term=.7ede42000d3a

I don’t understand what the rules are - anyone able to shed light on this?

Melissa McEwan
@Shakestweetz
It's extremely interesting to me that all these dusty, no-kidding stories about Trump being a puppet are coming out now.

In unrelated news (cough), we've just reached the point at which Pence can serve out the rest of this term & still be eligible to run for two more full terms.

What am I missing? Is this not treason?

Rachel Maddow MSNBC
‏Verified account @maddow
2h2 hours ago

I am at a point where nothing surprises me (at least I think I am). But this is just impossible. How is this a sustainable reality for a President of the United States.
National Security
Trump has concealed details of his face-to-face encounters with Putin from senior officials in administration Link to Washington Post

WTAF? (Sorry, but really.)

POLITICO
‏Verified account @politico

"Absolutely not," Lindsey Graham said when asked if he'd support having Marina Gross, the American translator in Trump's meeting with Putin, testify before Congress.

He said that precedent could prevent foreign leaders from wanting to meet with future U.S. presidents privately

Yet more WTAF? (Trump phones in for a rant to his mate Jeanine Pirro on Fox News last night.)

Philip Rucker
‏Verified account @PhilipRucker

America in 2019: The president, after spending the day tweeting alone in the White House, phones into a supporter’s Saturday night TV show and declines to say whether he is working on Russia’s behalf.

and

Maggie Haberman
‏Verified account @maggieNYT
2h2 hours ago

Maggie Haberman Retweeted Maggie Haberman

Just reiterating the president is calling into a friend's TV show to say prosecutors should look into someone because he has a personal battle with the person's son-in-law.

Maggie Haberman added,
Trump now urging prosecutors to investigate @MichaelCohen212's father again. Jeanine asks for the name of the father in law. This is a really stunning way for the president to target a private citizen.

The last series of tweets prompted my post - yes, the usual word salad - his style is easy to imitate - but I thought far too well organised (and spelt) to be the product of (his usual) disordered thinking. Agree that Twitter format works well for him.

Will the USA be able to tighten up on who is able, to run for president in future elections? Surely they can’t let Trump run in 2020

It seems that Trump's base are regarded as childlike uneducated and easily duped, so the phrase 'Trump's base' has become a euphemism for 'the dimwits' (?)

how long before everyone thinks like that and no one wants to be a part of Trump's base?

Will the USA be able to tighten up on who is able, to run for president in future elections? Surely they can’t let Trump run in 2020

Nope, the Constitution says that you must be age 35, a natural born citizen, and live in the United States. It doesn't even specify that the candidate not have a criminal record, so even if Scrotus were to be convicted of criminal conspiracy against the US tomorrow (blissful thought), he could still run in 2020.

we've just reached the point at which Pence can serve out the rest of this term & still be eligible to run for two more full terms.

The Constitution limits Presidents to two elected terms (8 years). But if a person becomes president other than by election (POTUS resigns, removed, or dies) and serves less than two years of that term, they can be elected two times and serve an additional 8 years.

It's never happened, but it could. Johnson served out Kennedy's term then was elected on his own in '64. He could have run in '68 but chose not to. The only POTUS to serve more than 8 years was FDR, and he was the reason they enacted term limits for POTUS.

McConnell knew - and Paul "this is how we know we are family" Ryan

twitter.com/benjaminwittes/status/1084421051579330560?s=21
Here's a question I posed on the emergency podcast yesterday which I am now posing more generally: If I were a senior FBI official and I had just opened a CI sub file on POTUS, one thing I would make damn sure of is that the Gang of Eight knew.

If the bureau leadership in fact briefed Congress, does that mean that Devin Nunes has known all this time about this? And Mitch McConnell?

twitter.com/dklabo/status/1084423410061582336?s=21
Yes. Remember Harry Reid went nuts after a briefing just before the election when Mitch refused to allow any read out from the briefing. They knew before the election.

Wordthe I think that for some the 'dimwit' label is a badge of honour because sets them apart from the 'educated elite'. Knowledge and expertise count for nothing especially when the elite is also associated with liberalism (equality and justice for all, even those who are not white, not heterosexual, not feminine and submissive enough), as well as with the intellectual and cultural traditions associated with Judaism.

It's McCarthyism for the 21st century.

(And if it does get to them, they will say it is 'fake news', part of a deep state conspiracy, or evidence that they are right about everything).

www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/01/13/fbi-cant-neutralize-security-threat-if-president-is-threat/?utm_term=.25c1ab6b9f30

Manu Raju
@mkraju
Lindsey Graham, asked about the NYT report that FBI investigated whether Trump worked for Russians, says on Fox: “To me, it tells me a lot about the people running the FBI ... what I want to make sure is: How did the FBI do that? What kind of checks and balances are there?”

I think that for some the 'dimwit' label is a badge of honour because sets them apart from the 'educated elite'.

Totally agree lion. They think they possess 'secret wisdom' of the 'wink, nod, finger aside the nose' type that we Dems/Liberals simply do not have because we have been so brainwashed by the evil Obama/Clinton/Sanders . We are 'sheeple following blindly'. They, on the other hand, see clearly that Scrotus has it right so them following him is 'a wise decision'.

You know, taken in another way, Graham's statement is remarkably non-committal. He didn't condemn it really. 'Tells a lot about the people running the FBI' could be taken either way in a pinch. His two questions could be taken as honest inquiry or condemnation.

Sounds like he's hedging his bets a wee bit.

Telling the interpreter not the reveal anything isn’t a problem per se, but taking the notes is, then not having these notes reside in any government repository for future reference. Did he destroy them? One thing is certain. The Soviets have kept a very detailed record.

Greg Miller
‏
Verified account

@gregpmiller
Follow Follow @gregpmiller
More
NEW: After closed door mtg with Putin, Trump took his interpreter's notes, told linguist not to reveal what had transpired to other administration officials. Pattern of concealing communications with Putin.