The Trump Card...

[muttly]

Hilarious Fake News fail by CNN's Chris Cillizza.
CNN Claims No One Called Trump-Putin Meeting 'Secret.' CNN's Own Transcripts Prove That's a Lie.

 

[Turtle]

I don't think Chris Cilliza or Jim Acosta watches CNN.

 

[davekc]

Trump needs to fire Mueller and shut this whole witch hunt down.
Mueller Expands Probe to Trump Business Transactions

Probably but it would provide a lot of ammo for the dems if he does. Part of me wonders if there is a strategic benefit for having him hang on in these investigations.

 

[muttly]

Trump needs to fire Mueller and shut this whole witch hunt down.
Mueller Expands Probe to Trump Business Transactions

Probably but it would provide a lot of ammo for the dems if he does. Part of me wonders if there is a strategic benefit for having him hang on in these investigations.

Yes it would, but so what? I heard Rush talk about this today. What we have NOW is the largest Democrat opposition research apparatus ever against a sitting President with the Special Prosecutor and all his Clinton and Obama lawyers along with their assistants sifting through every crevice of Trump's businesses dealings like the Miss Universe pageant and land sales to anyone with a Russian bloodline. Tax returns, etc And this will go on with no end in sight probably for the next 2 to 4 years. And continual leaks dripping out to the Washington Post and The New York Times trying to undermine Trump's presidency. I say shut it down. A ridiculous witch hunt about nothing and it's going to distract and undercut anything a duly elected President wants to accomplish.
Yep, the Dems in Congress calling it treason and pushing for impeachment, the Fake News media, who will negatively report ANYTHING Trump does, they can pound sand. Fire Mueller

 

[ATeam]

 

[ATeam]

... What we have NOW is the largest Democrat opposition research apparatus ever against a sitting President with the Special Prosecutor and all his Clinton and Obama lawyers along with their assistants sifting through every crevice of Trump's businesses dealings like the Miss Universe pageant and land sales to anyone with a Russian bloodline. Tax returns, etc And this will go on with no end in sight probably for the next 2 to 4 years.

This is why many people thought it wise for Trump to fully divest himself from his business interests when he was elected. If there was no way for him to profit from his actions as president, the conflict of interest concerns would have less traction if not be totally resolved.

I realize other presidents have profited from their public service in the form of book deals, speaking fees, foundation contributions, etc. That does not make it right. When we elect a public official and vest the powers of that office, it is to serve us, not him or her.

 

[ATeam]

Once again, we see headlines based on unnamed sources; this time about Trump thinking about pardoning himself. I hate unnamed source reporting.

That said, this is not the first time the notion of a president pardoning himself has risen. Setting aside the irresponsible headlines, what are your thoughts about Trump pardoning himself, his family and operatives for any past crimes they may have committed or future crimes they may commit?

My prior reading on the topic suggests he has the power to do that under the constitution. Would Trump be wise to use this power?

 

[OntarioVanMan]

... What we have NOW is the largest Democrat opposition research apparatus ever against a sitting President with the Special Prosecutor and all his Clinton and Obama lawyers along with their assistants sifting through every crevice of Trump's businesses dealings like the Miss Universe pageant and land sales to anyone with a Russian bloodline. Tax returns, etc And this will go on with no end in sight probably for the next 2 to 4 years.

This is why many people thought it wise for Trump to fully divest himself from his business interests when he was elected. If there was no way for him to profit from his actions as president, the conflict of interest concerns would have less traction if not be totally resolved.

I realize other presidents have profited from their public service in the form of book deals, speaking fees, foundation contributions, etc. That does not make it right. When we elect a public official and vest the powers of that office, it is to serve us, not him or her.

Do you really think the American people are that stupid to believe that divesting would really make a difference?
or are you referring to just the appearance of non conflict?

We had a Prime Minister once that owned Canada Steamship..the freighters that use the St Lawrence Seaway exclusively....The waterways are Federal operated ...hence the conflict...so he hands over control to his son.....But I'd love to hear dads "advice" at Sunday dinner...

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Its getting harder all the time to understand the Chief....throwing Sessions under the bus..."Had I known you recluse yourself I'd never have picked you for the job." It wasn't that you were the best choice but one he thought would support his cause....Nice going Donald...one of the few that really support you and BAM....totally embarrass the guy....BUT to Sessions credit he has handled himself well....

 

[davekc]

Its getting harder all the time to understand the Chief....throwing Sessions under the bus..."Had I known you recluse yourself I'd never have picked you for the job." It wasn't that you were the best choice but one he thought would support his cause....Nice going Donald...one of the few that really support you and BAM....totally embarrass the guy....BUT to Sessions credit he has handled himself well....

Yep. Sessions handled that better than expected. But again, nothing more than a distraction. Actually much to do about nothing.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Nothing... he literally told Sessions only reason he got the job was not for his ability to do said job but to just back up the boss

 

[muttly]

Sessions shouldn't have recused himself. He had a couple contacts with Russians while he was a sitting Senator( like other Senators do) so he recuses himself from anything to do with Russia to try to appear fair and impartial and handed off to a deputy that buckled easily from the constant whining from Dems to appoint a Special Prosecutor. Sessions recusing himself started a chain of events where now we have a Special Prosecutor looking at Trump's business dealings with a Russian from 10 years ago. If Sessions didn't recuse himself, he could have stayed strong and chose not to have a Special Prosecutor. Instead we could have had, after the Comey firing, a new FBI chief that could have looked at this Russian thing in a fair and objective way.

 

[Turtle]

Yep. Sessions handled that better than expected.

Trump and Sessions know each other very well, and Sessions knows not to overreact to Trump's venting.

I also think Sessions didn't need to recuse himself, but understand why he did. If he didn't, the press and the Dems would be leveling charges of conflict of interest and that Sessions was protecting Trump. But now that he has, there's no one to put any kind of restraint on the special prosecutor, one with no time limit and an unlimited budget, which by definition and by mandate is a fishing expedition that requires a catch of some kind. If a prosecutor digs long enough and hard enough he will find something. I think it was Tucker Carlson who correctly noted that if Mueller wants to, he can turn Trump buying dinner at a restaurant in Moscow during the Miss Universe pageant into a money laundering case.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

I agree Sessions did the best thing he thought for himself at the time to stay away from Conflict ... any way you spin it ... this was almost pre ordained to happen

 

[Turtle]

I agree Sessions did the best thing he thought for himself at the time to stay away from Conflict ... any way you spin it ... this was almost pre ordained to happen

That's why seven days before leaving office Obama changed the order of succession at the DOJ, to stack the deck against Trump if Sessions recused himself. Obama removed Dana Boente, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, from the line of succession, and instead put in the US Attorney of the District of Columbia in that spot, followed by the US Attorneys for the Northern District of Illinois and the Central District of California, all three of course being Obama appointments and unabashed liberals.

The US Attorney of the District of Columbia is Channing Phillips, who was first hired into the D.C. U.S. Attorney's Office in 1994 by none other than the esteemed right reverend Eric Holder. He is a former senior adviser to Attorney General Holder, and he stayed on to work under Obama's next AG Loretta Lynch before Obama appointed Phillips as D.C.'s U.S. attorney in 2015. That's the guy who would be in charge, at least temporarily, if Sessions recused himself while the country would be waiting for the Senate confirmations of the Deputy and Associate Attorneys General. And his acting Deputy and Associate would be the aformentioned attorneys from Chicago and Los Angeles.

The eleventh executive order signed by Trump on February 9, 2017, which was done quietly and without fanfare, explicitly reversed Obama's shenanigans and put things back the way they were.

So right before leaving office, among other things, Obama performed a little gerrymandering at the DOJ, changed the way that intelligence information can be shared among the various intelligence agencies and added an army of people who has access to classified information, making Obama a true blue, genuine POS.

 

[ATeam]

Sessions was the first senator to come out in support of Trump and he did so far earlier than others. Like many high-profile Trump supporters, he took a lot of heat for doing so. Why would Trump rebuke of Sessions like he did? One explanation is Trump's narcissism. This is not the first time Trump has rebuked or diminished a close supporter. He did it to Bannon. He did it to Spicer (long before Spicer left). Blaming others for bad outcomes and taking people down a notch is a narcissistic behavior characteristic. I think this is less about Sessions, and less about Session's decision to recuse than it is about Trump's narcissistic ways.

That said, I admit it's difficult to know for sure because it's difficult to know what's truly in another person's mind. That's especially so with Trump because even when he tells us what's on his mind, it is not uncommon for him to reverse himself.

Does Trump want Sessions out? I think not. If he did, all Trump would have to do is ask Sessions to resign. That's why I'm going with the narcissistic explanation. Trump's downing of Sessions was more of a spontaneous impulse than anything else, I believe. I would not be surprised to see Trump come out with glowing support of the man in the future.

 

[ATeam]

This week's prize for the most brilliant political move in Washington goes to new White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci. In his press conference yesterday, on national TV, he said multiple times, "I love Donald Trump" (or variations like "I love the president"),

Better than most, it seems, Scaramucci knows how to appeal to Trump's narcissistic instincts and he is unabashed in doing so. That is already paying off. Instead of reporting to the chief of staff as is traditional in an administration, this communications director will report directly to Donald Trump.

 

[ATeam]

There is speculation in the press that Preiebus is on his way out as Trump's chief of staff. Before it was even known who Trump's first chief of staff would be, it could be expected that person would leave. When Priebus goes, I would not attribute a great deal of significance to it. It is common for modern presidents to turn over their chiefs of staff. Here's the number of chiefs each president had during their terms:

Obama: 5 (in office 8 years)
G.W. Bush: 2 (in office 8 years)
Clinton: 4 (in office 8 years)
G.H.W. Bush: 3 (in office 4 years)
Regan: 4 (in office 8 years)
Carter: 2 (in office 4 years)

 

[Turtle]

I'm at the TA in Sparks, NV. I arrived Thursday night and when I awoke on Friday I found a note on my Sprinter's windshield informing me that there is no overnight parking, and that if I'm still here in 24 hours I will be towed. The store manager is off until Monday, and the corporate offices in Westlake are closed until the same day. But a call to the District Manager resolved the problem.

The question is why would they put such a note on a clearly marked expedite vehicle, especially in light of TA/Petro's corporate familiarity the expedite industry, including the particular needs of cargo vans to sometimes have to sit a few days between loads? It seems they have lumped me in with the various random pickup trucks and cars belonging to transients and others who would like to use truck stop parking lots for long term parking.

One explanation is they are unfamiliar with expediting in general, and expedite cargo vans in particular, what with Sparks not exactly being a hotbed of expedited cargo vans. Another explanation, and one I think makes the most sense, is Trump's narcissism.

 

[ATeam]

Another explanation, and one I think makes the most sense, is Trump's narcissism.

You can count on me to run everything Trump does and does not do through the narcissism filter. Trump is a super narcissist. I believe this personality characteristic defines his world view and explains his his deeds.