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

the president is working against the constitution of the United States
This surely is the other side of the coin presented by Kellyanne doofus?
or rather it is the truth hidden within her lie ....something like that

Yes, that was what it made me think. I mean, if being loyal to the constitution is being disloyal to the president, what else can we believe?

certainly there is disloyalty between Trump and the constitution KA Doofah has just spun it to suit the Trump agenda

with the shutdown meaning the govt is dysfunctional, and since a dysfunctional govt is a central feature of the failed state...
well, does that mean Trump has turned the USA into a failed state, aka a 'shithole'?
(no offense intended to any Americans)

Its because under the Trump presidency it's about loyalty to Trump not the constitution. It's like the mob.

It's also about creating a narrative that says the FBI is biased against Trump so when Mueller reports they can argue that it was all set up by the bad actors in the FBI to bring down the President.

And they likely will get away with it.

under the Trump presidency it's about loyalty to Trump not the constitution

Which is of course how the Mueller investigation got started.

Trump asked Comey for personal loyalty as head of the FBI. Comey didn't give it. Trump sacked him and said on TV that it was because of the FBI investigation into Russian interference in the election.

Rosenstein appointed Mueller to lead a investigation by the DoJ's Special Counsel Office, into Russian interference in the election.

www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/here-are-18-reasons-why-trump-could-be-a-russian-asset/2019/01/13/45b1b250-174f-11e9-88fe-f9f77a3bcb6c_story.html?utm_term=.00de90d57692

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/01/14/like-i-said-puppet-hillary-clinton-doubles-down-trump-russia/?utm_term=.6ad11d486b6d

I guess he ... tried? But if I went to the White House, I’d like lovely food. Especially if I was an athlete. They don’t eat rubbish food, do they?

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Aaron Rupar
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@atrupar
56m56 minutes ago
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This White House pool report is like a scene out of Idiocracy

Here we go

the recent New York Times story about the FBI opening a counterintelligence investigationn^ into President Trump after he fired former FBI Director Jim Comey. It adds to my unease, not about President Trump but about the FBI.
https://www.lawfareblog.com/inspector-general-should-review-fbi-counterintelligence-probe-trump

The penultimate paragraph in this story (by Tom McCarthy in the Guardian) caught my eye:

Trump says 'I never worked for Russia' as attorney general pick vows to protect Mueller

"A serial liar, Trump has in the past mischaracterized his dealings with Russia in particular, denying he had business interests in the country when he was in negotiations to build a tower there and claiming a campaign meeting to get dirt on Hillary Clinton from a Russian source was in fact about adoptions."

I think this is the first time I've seen Trump openly described as a liar in the mainstream media - are they finally giving up on all the "misstatements", "demonstrable falsehoods", "misleading claims", "unconfirmed accusations", etc?

Trump's lawyers rebuffed request for Mueller interview in recent weeks

edition-m.cnn.com/2019/01/14/politics/trump-interview-mueller-request/index.html

Honestly.

Courier Journal
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Verified account

@courierjournal
9h9 hours ago
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Rand Paul, one of the fiercest political critics of socialized medicine, will travel to Canada to get hernia surgery www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/2019/01/14/rand-paul-neighbor-attack-senator-have-surgery-canada/2568200002/ …

Laura Barrón-López
@lbarronlopez
New: TIM RYAN will stand up and provide official notice of his introduction motion to censure Steve King right after votes. That starts a two-day clock after which the resolution becomes privileged and available to be brought up for a vote. Ohio Republican Dave Joyce is cosponsor

And

Manu Raju
@mkraju
McConnell goes further than Trump, who has been silent on Steve King controversy. “There is no place in the Republican Party, the Congress or the country for an ideology of racial supremacy of any kind. .. Rep. King’s statements are unwelcome and unworthy of his elected position”

Also McConnell:

hillreporter.com/yes-this-photo-of-mitch-mcconnell-and-a-confederate-flag-does-appear-to-be-real-20293

A long read but worth it.

www.nybooks.com/articles/2018/10/25/suffocation-of-democracy/

Mueller Probes an Event With Nunes, Flynn, and Foreign Officials at Trump’s D.C. Hotel

www.thedailybeast.com/mueller-probes-an-event-with-nunes-flynn-and-foreign-officials-at-trumps-dc-hotel

At Trump’s Inauguration, $10,000 for Makeup and Lots of Room Service

www.nytimes.com/2019/01/14/us/politics/trump-inauguration-spending.html

The headline doesn’t convey that there were big payments made to brad parscale, trump Towers etc

Trump Discussed Pulling U.S. From NATO, Aides Say Amid New Concerns Over Russia

www.nytimes.com/2019/01/14/us/politics/nato-president-trump.html

A thread on why the nato news is not really news

mobile.twitter.com/olgaNYC1211/status/1085037497040670720

Barr sent or discussed controversial memo with Trump lawyers

edition-m.cnn.com/2019/01/14/politics/barr-mueller-letter/index.html

Matthew Miller
@matthewamiller
The details of this are stunning. In addition to discussing his memo with Trump’s personal attorneys, Barr also shared or discussed it with Kushner’s lawyer. There is no world in which he doesn’t need to recuse.

Also extremely strange Barr sent it to Noel Francisco. He has no role in the Mueller probe at all, but would’ve overseen it had Rosenstein been fired.

Renato Mariotti
@renato_mariotti
Barr should recuse, and he should not be confirmed if he is unwilling to commit to follow the guidance of career ethics officials.

With May’s deal being voted on today, some similarities between our current political situation and America’s:

• Boris Johnson now talking about the “deep state” trying to thwart Brexit
• disproportionate response to immigration events - see Sajid Javid coming back from holiday early for the small number of immigrants crossings the sea and declaring it an emergency

With May’s deal being voted on today, some similarities between our current political situation and America’s:

• Boris Johnson now talking about the “deep state” trying to thwart Brexit
• disproportionate response to immigration events - see Sajid Javid coming back from holiday early for the small number of asylum seekers crossing the sea and declaring it an emergency a la caravan style
• a brexiteer yesterday suggesting that Theresa May should suspend parliament until April to guarantee Brexit will go through
• one branch of government trying to override another and prevent

the usual checks and balances

• a desire by some members of parliament to leave even non EU entities such as the ECHR that will leave us more vulnerable as a country

Differences include:

• we don’t have an investigation into illegal foreign intereference and there appears to be very little political will for this
• ineffective opposition that aren’t asking difficult questions

There are lots more but those seem the most pertinent ones that come to mind this morning!

Proud.

Is that his lunch?

mobile.twitter.com/selectedwisdom/status/1084498964114821120