Reality sucks

I hope you are having fun.  If not, check this out:

Conversations with some officials who have briefed Trump and others who are aware of how he absorbs information portray a president with a short attention span.

He likes single-page memos and visual aids like maps, charts, graphs and photos.

National Security Council officials have strategically included Trump’s name in “as many paragraphs as we can because he keeps reading if he’s mentioned,” according to one source, who relayed conversations he had with NSC officials.

Trump likes to look at a map of the country involved when he learns about a topic.

I also like maps.

Unfortunately, we are finding out that happy talk is not enough to fix an economy.  Eventually reality sinks in.  Just a few weeks after Trump touted Ford’s agreement to return a few jobs to America, they announce a 10% cut in their workforce:

Ford Motor Co (F.N) plans to shrink its salaried workforce in North America and Asia by about 10 percent as it works to boost profits and its sliding stock price, a source familiar with the plan told Reuters on Monday.

A person briefed on the plan said Ford plans to offer generous early retirement incentives to reduce its salaried headcount by Oct. 1, but does not plan cuts to its hourly workforce or its production.

The move could put the U.S. automaker on a collision course with President Donald Trump, who has made boosting auto employment a top priority. Ford has about 30,000 salaried workers in the United States.

Ford picked a good time to announce this jobs cut, as the President seems a bit . . . distracted.

Today I heard a report that White House aides offered the following two defenses:

1.  That’s just the way the President talks–he wasn’t trying to obstruct justice.

2.  Why didn’t Comey go to the authorities with this information back in February?

If that’s all they’ve got, then they are in big trouble.  The first point tacitly accepts that the story is true (which anyone with half a brain already understands.)  And the first point makes the second point moot, even if it wasn’t easily disposed of with Comey’s likely claim that he was trying to shield the rest of the FBI from intimidation.

There is no full court press from the White House that Comey is lying, which is quite revealing.

Yet in some ways the Trump scandal seems much less serious than Watergate.  Nixon seemed highly intelligent, devious and dangerous.  Trump just seems like a buffoon.

Yesterday, a commentator (I think it was Matt Lewis) said that Trump was basically a child—which seems right to me.  He might not have even known he was committing obstruction of justice, although the fact that he told others to leave the room suggests that he knew he was crossing some sort of line.  But here’s one case where “innocence” in the sense of child-like doesn’t really help very much.  It makes him seem less evil than Nixon, but also far less qualified to deal with foreign leaders.  He’s obviously not even close to being qualified to be President.  So should he be removed through impeachment or the 25th amendment?  Either way, he’s got to go.

But he also seems like the sort of guy who will try to bring down the Republican Party if they don’t support him.  Even during the campaign, it was obvious that the GOP had a tiger by the tail.  If they had stiffed him at the convention he would have told his supporters to not vote for the GOP nominee.  I don’t see any scenario where 2018 is not an historic GOP disaster.  Any tax cut for the rich is going to be repealed in two years or four years, it’s just a matter of time. And if it’s President Sanders, the rich will see even higher taxes.

In other words, I told you so.

PS.  Last October I was premature with this prediction:

We are currently in the circular firing squad phase.  I eagerly await the “Hitler was so pissed the generals let him down that he decided to destroy Germany when he knew that he was going to lose” phase.

But I still think that’s coming.  When a political party has been naughty, there’s a high price to pay.  And the GOP has been very, very naughty.

PPS.  Some anti-Trump people claimed that I was too complacent in claiming that America’s democracy was strong enough to push back against Trump authoritarian tendencies.  I think we are seeing a pretty strong pushback already.  Even if Trump stays in office, he will be on a very short leash—Congress will not tolerate any more of this stuff (and I’m not even sure he’ll survive this.)


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92 Responses to “Reality sucks”

  1. Gravatar of Christian List Christian List
    17. May 2017 at 14:03

    So he got dyslexia and ADHD as well. Few decades ago quite some people would have said he’s an idiot and mentally retarded but in our new world he qualifies as “individual with special abilities” who can become anything, even POTUS. That’s progress, I guess.

  2. Gravatar of Matthew Moore Matthew Moore
    17. May 2017 at 14:10

    Even if Trump goes, will Trumpism?

    I find it interesting that the Brexit vote has totally shot UKIP’s fox, who were wiped out in recent local elections. Democracy in action?

    What repositioning by the Dems or Republicans would prevent a similar demagogue (or worse, a competent one) from emerging?

  3. Gravatar of JMCSF JMCSF
    17. May 2017 at 14:25

    Grabbing popcorn for this with extra butter…https://i.imgur.com/jDdT8EA.png

  4. Gravatar of Peter Peter
    17. May 2017 at 14:30

    Unfortunately, I think you’re giving the Republicans too much credit in terms of going along with impeachment. I haven’t seen any evidence that even a Watergate-level offense from Trump would even warrant a stern word from more than a couple safe-seat conservatives, much less meaningful votes against him. His poll numbers are abysmal, but *without* the people who still approve of Trump no matter what, there aren’t any Republican seats left. He just split the party too well.

  5. Gravatar of Scott Freelander Scott Freelander
    17. May 2017 at 14:38

    Well said. This is largely how I see it.

  6. Gravatar of Matthew Waters Matthew Waters
    17. May 2017 at 14:41

    I’ve seen a couple of people say “Nixon definitely knew what he was doing with the break-in. Trump has no idea what he’s doing.” And that’s true.

    But I’m scratching my head as to how that is a defense of obstruction of justice. Being bad at covering up a murder is not a defense of murder.

  7. Gravatar of Student Student
    17. May 2017 at 15:15

    Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy — made a politically explosive assertion in a private conversation on Capitol Hill with his fellow GOP leaders: that Trump could be the beneficiary of payments from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

  8. Gravatar of Student Student
    17. May 2017 at 15:15

    This may accelerate

  9. Gravatar of Scott Freelander Scott Freelander
    17. May 2017 at 15:24

    Now a special prosecutor has been named. This is the beginning of the end for Trump.

  10. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 16:14

    Comey said under oath that Trump did not ask him to halt any investigation – 5/8/17

    https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/864936480958959616

  11. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 16:17

    Wikileaks Revealed MSNBC, CNN, Politico, HuffPo, ABC, Bloomberg, New York Times and More All Regularly Dined With, Submitted Questions For Approval From AND Have Martial/Familial/Employment Ties With The DNC and High-Ranking Democrats.

    http://archive.is/WGYPA

  12. Gravatar of Student Student
    17. May 2017 at 16:18

    No amount of twitter or YouTube will help now freedom… this just got real. At this point I hope you are right tho, cuz this is might get nutty.

  13. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 16:20

    Victor Thorn everyone. He researched the Clintons, had access to damaging emails about them, and exposed their scandals. On August 1, 2016, he was found shot in the head. His death was ruled a suicide, though he had recently stated, “If I’m ever found dead, it was murder. I would never kill myself.”

    https://i.imgur.com/5AbWpsR.png

  14. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 16:24

    Student:

    This isn’t about youtube or twitter, these are merely vehicles that are used to completely demolish the fake news you keep being brainwashed into believing has any credence

    It doesn’t

    It is the beginning of the end most definitely, for the DNC, the MSM, and perhaps even the deep state

    Your confidence is so misplaced that you might as well be talking through a megaphone backwards

  15. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 16:26

    Student:

    When the facts of Seth Rich’s murder reach the mainstream, and they will, it will blow your mind at how deep the rabbit hole goes

    You are so clueless

    Every week there is a “this is the end of Trump” clickbait title, and I eagerly awaited the truth, but every time, EVERY TIME, it turns out false and fake

    This time is no different

    Shit is about to go down and you are going to be very surprised

  16. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 16:28

    Hillary Clinton:

    “If that Fucking Bastard wins, we ALL hang from nooses.”

  17. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 16:29

    WaPo put out the Fake Trump story 1 hour after the Seth Rich story broke to distract from it.

  18. Gravatar of msgkings msgkings
    17. May 2017 at 16:30

    @Christian List: wait a second, you were a big Trump supporter during the election, are you saying you regret your choice?

  19. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 16:32

    And just for extra spiciness for Sumner, who predicted but did not predict but kind of did predict a recession for the UK after Brexit:

    UK unemployment rate falls to 4.6% — lowest in 42 years.

  20. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 16:33

    http://www.wnd.com/2017/05/deafening-silence-in-washington-after-dnc-murder-bombshell/

  21. Gravatar of msgkings msgkings
    17. May 2017 at 16:33

    Oh good, MF, I love surprises!

  22. Gravatar of Scott Freelander Scott Freelander
    17. May 2017 at 16:33

    I’m going to drink some champagne tonight to celebrate the beginning of the end of Trump.

    I can’t stand Pence, but he’s apparently sane, much brighter than Trump, and would conduct much better foreign policy.

  23. Gravatar of msgkings msgkings
    17. May 2017 at 16:36

    @Matthew Moore:

    I’m not too worried about “Trumpism” outlasting the man himself. I don’t really think there is such a thing. And the man himself is sui generis, a regular pol running with the same “platform” would get nowhere, especially without being able to run against Hillary.

    Basically Trump exposed a big nativist wing of the party, and that nativism will surely continue to be a factor, but without the charisma of Trump it won’t matter much going forward. Yes I did say charisma, hate him or not, the guy is entertaining and compelling. Much better candidate than president (Hillary would have been the opposite).

  24. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 16:36

    Executive order 13,526 WRITTEN BY OBAMA states that the president can share classified info with whomever he wants to. Because he is the head of the executive branch it is the right of the president to classify or declassify info as he sees fit, no law against it.

    https://www.archives.gov/isoo/policy-documents/cnsi-eo.html

    Oopsy!

  25. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 16:37

    You know why the FBI didn’t seize the DNC servers? Because they weren’t hacked and they knew from the start that Seth Rich was the source.

  26. Gravatar of Matthew Waters Matthew Waters
    17. May 2017 at 16:43

    The Comey response highlighted was specifically about whether the AG or other senior DOJ officials pressured the FBI to drop an investigation. The context was all about the relationship between the DOJ and FBI. Certainly I do not think Sessions pressured Comey at all. Sessions was asked to leave the room.

    If Comey has contemporaneous memos and, especially if there are tapes, then you don’t get to call all that fake news. Strangely, the White House hasn’t even denied either the existence of tapes or whether Comey was pressured.

    You know, probably because it’s true. You have to honestly be lacking logical thinking to see the “fake” Washington Post story as written in within an hour. I guess you think these liberals are far smarter than I think they are. They’re able to run pedophile rings, murder plots and fabribicate stories out of thin air, all without leaving real evidence.

    You’re seriously suffering from paranoid delusions MF, I don’t know what else to tell you. I just wanted to respond about the Comey testimony, which you’d have to comfort to not be about the DOJ specifically.

  27. Gravatar of Matthew Waters Matthew Waters
    17. May 2017 at 16:44

    Should be “contort,” not “comfort” in the last sentence.

  28. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 16:54

    The FBI publicly ended the Flynn investigation on Jan 24th. The Comey memo is dated mid Feb. There would be no reason for Trump to ask for a “stop” to the investigation if there wasn’t one to stop. Thus the memo must be fake. WaPo is fake news

  29. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 17:04

    Trump has removed all main players standing in way of RICO indictment of the Clinton Foundation. Lynch, Yates, Comey and Bharara. No wonder Gowdy is giddy and Dems want impeachment.

  30. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 17:05

    Joe Capone, owner of bar where Seth was last seen alive, was in Oval Office 4 days before the murder

  31. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 17:09

    Seth Rich’s dry cleaner was just subpoenaed by the DOJ. It’s about to get very uncomfortable for the Dems.

  32. Gravatar of Benjamin Cole Benjamin Cole
    17. May 2017 at 17:11

    In terms of the American economy, living standards for people who work, and foreign entanglements, Pence could be worse than Trump.

    Be careful what you wish for.

  33. Gravatar of Student Student
    17. May 2017 at 17:20

    I am ok with mentally stable, average to slightly above average intelligence, and mentally stable.

  34. Gravatar of Student Student
    17. May 2017 at 17:21

    Did I mention mentally stable…

  35. Gravatar of Matthew Waters Matthew Waters
    17. May 2017 at 17:39

    The FBI only cleared Flynn of wrongdoing with regard to the telephone call. Flynn did not disclose $600k given to him by Turkey’s government.

    Pence has a sense of shame and is not overly petty and vindictive. President Pence would absolutely be far, far better.

  36. Gravatar of Greg DeLassus Greg DeLassus
    17. May 2017 at 18:46

    “I can’t stand Pence, but he’s apparently sane, much brighter than Trump, and would conduct much better foreign policy.”

    Exactly right.

  37. Gravatar of Bob Murphy Bob Murphy
    17. May 2017 at 18:50

    For someone who thinks the president is largely irrelevant, he seems to occupy a lot of real estate around this blog…

    Scott wrote: “In other words, I told you so.”

    Ahh, now it begins to make more sense…

  38. Gravatar of Greg DeLassus Greg DeLassus
    17. May 2017 at 18:58

    “So should he be removed through impeachment or the 25th amendment? Either way, he’s got to go.”

    This is a small point, but I just want to remind everyone what the XXV amendment entails. The Cabinet gives the Congress written notice that the President cannot discharge his duties, at which point the Vice President takes over the President’s duties, but the VP does not become President. Rather, the President remains President, waiting in the wings until he *is* able to resume his duties. At that point, the President merely needs to give written notice to Congress that *he* feels that he is able to discharge his duties, and he comes back into office, unless two thirds of both houses of Congress vote to keep the VP in charge. Even then, the President is still waiting in the wings, and Congress can bring him back at a moment’s notice by a simply majority vote.

    Imagine what that would mean, in this incredibly tense political situation. If Pres. Trump is impeached, that is it—he is out, VP Pence *becomes* President, and there is no going back. If he is removed by the XXV amendment, however, then Pres. Trump is always lingering in the background, and malcontents in Congress can organize and threaten to bring Pres. Trump back into power.

    I just cannot see that situation working out. It is probably better than the status quo, but only just. Impeachment is much the better and cleaner solution. Let VP Pence become President, so that he can act with confidence and not feel at all times that if he gets on the wrong side of 50% of Congress, they might replace him with Pres. Trump at any instant.

  39. Gravatar of Greg DeLassus Greg DeLassus
    17. May 2017 at 19:22

    Incidentally, removal by impeachment requires a simple majority in the House to impeach and 2/3 in the Senate to remove.

    By contrast, the XXV amendment requires 2/3 in *each* house of Congress.

    Given that the House is the more “populist” of the two chambers right now, one has to imagine that it will be the more resistant of the two to removal. Therefore, the option that requires 50%+1 in the House seems much more plausible than the option that requires 66.6%.

  40. Gravatar of Benjamin Cole Benjamin Cole
    17. May 2017 at 19:39

    Personally, I am disappointed Inspector Clouseau was not chose as special counsel, rather than Robert Mueller.

    Does anyone think Mueller is a match for Boris Badinoff?

  41. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 19:54

    “National Security Council officials have strategically included Trump’s name in “as many paragraphs as we can because he keeps reading if he’s mentioned,” according to one source, who relayed conversations he had with NSC officials.”

    Hahahaha fake news

  42. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 19:56

    “Today I heard a report”

    Hahahaha more fake news

  43. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 19:58

    “Trump authoritarian tendencies”

    Hahahaha, hilarious this is the adjective now being used, after 8 years of Obama, and dodging the huge bullet with Clinton losing

    Sumner, why don’t you just admit you wanted crooked Hillary to win the general election?

  44. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 20:00

    SETH RICH WAS MURDERED BY THE AUTHORITARIAN DNC

  45. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 20:01

    If what the President allegedly said is obstruction of justice, what is erasing emails, hammering phones and bleaching your server?

  46. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 20:08

    @3:34:48, Comey: “I’m talking about a situation where we were told to stop something for a political reason, that would be a very big deal. It’s not happened in my experience.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jz8ug1UY-2k&t=12887

  47. Gravatar of msgkings msgkings
    17. May 2017 at 20:12

    “Sumner, why don’t you just admit you wanted crooked Hillary to win the general election?”

    MF, this is one of the many reasons why you are the board clown here. Sumner stated clearly over and over he wanted her to win.

  48. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 20:15

    Some coward spoofed my name

    This comment about dry cleaners:

    Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 17:09

    Was not from me

    Since Benjamin and Student posted soon after that bogus comment, I would not be surprised it was one of them

    You ought to be ashamed of yourselves

  49. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 20:18

    Murphy wrote:

    “For someone who thinks the president is largely irrelevant, he seems to occupy a lot of real estate around this blog…”

    Well Trump was a real estate tycoon, so it’s not a surprise he’s living rent free in the head of Sumner

  50. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 20:29

    Matthew Waters

    No, YOU are suffering from paranoid delusions, such a projection from you!

    “The Comey response highlighted was specifically about whether the AG or other senior DOJ officials pressured the FBI to drop an investigation.”

    Hahaha, nice try, that is all fake news

    The investigation was over

    Any “pressure” would have gone right to Comey, nobody has come forward from the FBI to Comey, who would have said so, or else he would have lied again

    “The context was all about the relationship between the DOJ and FBI.”

    No it isn’t, the context the whole time has been to impeach Trump because he pressured Comey

    “If Comey has contemporaneous memos”

    Hahaha, “if”

    Which are fake so far, since they contradict the timelines, and even if true would have implicated Comey for failing to report being pressured at the time, which is punishable with disbarrment, but yeah, keep faking

    “and, especially if there are tapes”

    Hahaha, “if”

    “Strangely, the White House hasn’t even denied either the existence of tapes or whether Comey was pressured.”

    They haven’t “denied” aliens existed on Earth either, they must think aliens exist on Earth

    “You know, probably because it’s true.”

    The mental gymnastics from you psychos is a sight to behold

    “You have to honestly be lacking logical thinking to see the “fake” Washington Post story as written in within an hour.”

    You have to have a cognitive impairment to not know this after being presented with proof, and with the proof being available

    “I guess you think these liberals are far smarter than I think they are.”

    No you worship them, I loathe them

    “They’re able to run pedophile rings, murder plots and fabribicate stories out of thin air, all without leaving real evidence.”

    There is evidence! You are just in a state of massive denial, called cognitive dissonance.

    It is less about being smart and more about having incredible political power, which is exactly the biggest threat to liberty to you and everyone on this blog, you’re just completely and totally brainwashed

    You won’t be able to find the evidence in the CIA-WaPo, or CBS, or MSNBC, or the many other deep state connected propaganda arms of the democrat crime family, you just don’t understand the gigantic war against nationalism and capitalism, you are ASLEEP

  51. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 20:33

    Scott Freelander:

    “I’m going to drink some champagne tonight to celebrate the beginning of the end of Trump.”

    That explains Hillary being drunk every night since the election

    I am laughing my arse off at how utterly clueless so many of you are, it is absolutely incredible, this really is an insane asylum

    The noose is tightening against the deep state, and the murderers and pedophiles will be brought to justice, and it won’t be from the almost completely corrupt MSM (arm of CIA and deep state), it will be from the real journalists today, the leakers and hackers

  52. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 20:40

    Matthew Waters:

    “The FBI only cleared Flynn of wrongdoing with regard to the telephone call. Flynn did not disclose $600k given to him by Turkey’s government.”

    The FBI cleared Flynn of RUSSIA COLLUSION, the basis for the whole fake media/deep state narrative

    Hillary Clinton colluded with the Russians to sell them US Uranium

    John Podesta failed to disclose ownership in a Russian state owned energy company

    John Podesta’s brother was paid to lobby on behalf of a Russian state owned bank against sanctions

  53. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 20:41

    Uh oh, I think this is it, everyone, I completely turn around and admit that the end of Trump is near

    I just found this proof of Trump colluding with Putin:

    https://i.imgur.com/1vEimSE.jpg

  54. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 20:43

    And in the spirit of fair and balanced, which I got from this blog (I am not laughing right now), here is an infographic of all of Trump’s history making scandal filled Presidency:

    https://i.imgur.com/hdKdu6u.jpg

  55. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 20:45

    The MSM must be trusted as they are not hypocrites

    https://i.imgur.com/rQQqLb9.jpg

  56. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 20:46

    SETH RICH murder has similarities To Clinton body count victims

    http://100percentfedup.com/seth-rich-murder-has-chilling-similarities-to-clinton-body-count-victims/

  57. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 20:48

    Dennis Kucinich tells Hannity that it was the WaPo and Obama deep state operatives staging a coup against Trump.

    And Kacunich is a Democrat.

  58. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 20:49

    Mark Dice: “My best friend’s sister’s boyfriend’s brother’s girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who said he saw the #ComeyMemo”

  59. Gravatar of Scott Freelander Scott Freelander
    17. May 2017 at 20:54

    Major.Freedom,

    You listen to Alex Jones, don’t you? If these criminal scandals you mention are true, why isn’t Trump’s Justice Department investigating them?

  60. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 21:00

    Scott Freelander:

    No, I do not listen to nor read Alex Jones

    “If these criminal scandals you mention are true, why isn’t Trump’s Justice Department investigating them?”

    They are, you just aren’t personally told every detail, because if you know it, everyone knows it, and you don’t play your entire hand when you’re dealing with world powers like this

    ————————-

    Acting FBI Director McCabe Testifies Under Oath on May 11, 2017, “There has been NO EFFORT to impede our investigation to date.”

  61. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 21:02

    President Putin “ready to provide recording” of White House talks between foreign minister Lavrov and Trump

    WaPo fake news about to be obliterated

    again

    Amazon, its parent company, accepted $600 million from the CIA. Interestingly enough the WaPo says there is no reason to disclose this conflict when they report on the agency.

  62. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 21:07

    FBI’s Robert Mueller was successfully pressured to take out CIA head Petraeus – Hillary Clinton email from advisor https://wikileaks.org/clinton-emails/emailid/12336#efmAWKAfX

    https://twitter.com/wikileaks/status/865016269602508801

    If there’s one thing the deep state is good at, it’s pressuring kid touchers to join their cause.

  63. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    17. May 2017 at 21:09

    https://imgur.com/NzaeKFZ

  64. Gravatar of Larry Larry
    17. May 2017 at 21:23

    Trump may very well not finish his term, but if they pull the trigger now, they risk something awful in Trump’s base. There is no reason for urgency. If he rolls back a few more regs, so what. The most important thing is to maintain faith in a bunch of people who are going to be brutally disappointed when ithe change comes.

  65. Gravatar of Tom Brown Tom Brown
    17. May 2017 at 23:31

    I just wrote a comment elsewhere with a similar idea: people like Erick Erickson (who were #NeverTrump, ate crow after the election and became “give the guy a chance” Republicans, and are now fast losing patience) are openly calling for Trump to resign (which means, in practice, getting Ivanka to convince her father that America is not living up to his splendiferous greatness and should be fired immediately, so he can move on to much more important responsibilities, like “running” the new Pre-Teen Miss Megaverse contest, including surprise inspections of their dressing rooms (of course)). But whether he goes willingly or kicking and screaming, it’s not going to shut him and his cultists up. So Erickson’s hopes for a successful Pence follow-on presidency will be frustrated by a petty, vindictive Trump, who will not hesitate to keep the tweets flowing and his cultists maximally riled up. And who’s going to catch the brunt of that abuse? Why Mike Pence and the Republican Party of course! You think Trump is going to refrain from criticizing his successor? No way!!

    O/T: I caught a glance or two recently of some moronic tin-foil-hattery regarding Seth Rich in the comments here, like what scumbag Sean Hannity pushes when he’s not on his knees fellating his orange god-king. You might enjoy this rant on the subject: http://soopermexican.com/2017/05/18/when-sean-hannity-ignored-pleas-of-the-family-of-a-murdered-man-to-absolve-russians/

  66. Gravatar of Scott Freelander Scott Freelander
    18. May 2017 at 05:44

    I know 2/3 to convict in the Senate seems steep, but remember that Senators need to run state-owned, and nearly half are Democrats. Only need a majority in the House to impeach. I have little doubt most members of Congress prefer Pence as president.

    I don’t think it’s unlikely that at some point, after more damning info about Trump is released and more bad behavior from Trump, Congressional leaders and Pence will tell Trump it’s over and Pence will offer him a pardon to step aside. Trump will resign. He’s too lazy to be president anyway and misses his old life.

  67. Gravatar of Scott Freelander Scott Freelander
    18. May 2017 at 05:44

    State-wide, not state-owned

  68. Gravatar of ssumner ssumner
    18. May 2017 at 06:22

    Bob, You said:

    “For someone who thinks the president is largely irrelevant, he seems to occupy a lot of real estate around this blog…”

    Of course I never said he was largely irrelevant. I said he was less important than most people assumed.

    And why can’t I have a bit of fun mocking people who were wrong about Trump?

  69. Gravatar of Scott Freelander Scott Freelander
    18. May 2017 at 07:53

    Major.Freedom,

    I doubt word of those investigations that are that news worthy would be kept secret, especially in light of all the leaks coming out of of the administration. You will find that you’ll never hear anything about such investigations, because they don’t exist.

    You are wasting your time on conspiracy theories.

  70. Gravatar of Jason Odegaard Jason Odegaard
    18. May 2017 at 07:58

    Major.Freedom,

    Does President Trump help the cause of libertarian anarchism?

  71. Gravatar of Scott Freelander Scott Freelander
    18. May 2017 at 08:04

    This David Brooks piece seems to sum Trump up well:

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/opinion/trump-classified-data.html?src=me&mtrref=www.nytimes.com&assetType=opinion&_r=0

  72. Gravatar of Greg DeLassus Greg DeLassus
    18. May 2017 at 09:01

    “Does President Trump help the cause of libertarian anarchism?”

    That was my question. How does a long-standing anarcho-capitalist come to be so enthusiastic about such an obvious statist?

  73. Gravatar of The Original Gordon The Original Gordon
    18. May 2017 at 09:10

    “Does President Trump help the cause of libertarian anarchism?”

    I posted on this in another thread. The slogan of Anarchists for Trump is, “At least he didn’t socialize our money”.

  74. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    18. May 2017 at 14:27

    Sumner wrote:

    “Of course I never said he was largely irrelevant. I said he was less important than most people assumed.”

    1. That is an undefinable and impossible to measure claim, i.e. it is anti-scientific. Heads you win, tails others lose. You are in fact speaking to your own perceptions. What you are saying in reality is that you hope and wish Trump is less important than what you subconsciously and distressingly believe to be true. It is why Trump is living in your head rent free all the time. Post after post after post. For someone who is “less important than most people believe?”

    “And why can’t I have a bit of fun mocking people who were wrong about Trump?”

    Have you shown that? Where?

    ————————

    Freelander’s, Student’s, and Benjamin’s heads explode:

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-05-18/comey-admits-under-oath-obstructions-investigations-never-happened

    ————————-

    Scott Fteelander:

    “I doubt…”

    Oh I know you must! It is really all you have.

    ” investigations that are that news worthy would be kept secret”

    You are assuming the old times apply. They do not. You are in a new world now. You need to evolve and adapt. Don’t be a curmudgeon anti-technology senior in a world of high tech socisl media. The world today appears to be moving past you.

    What is “newsworthy” is not the standard for whether something is published or not. It hasn’t been that for a number of years. Especially since 2013 when Obama legalized government propaganda, I.e. LIES, to be pushed through media institutions. Stay frosty.

    “You are wasting your time on conspiracy theories.”

    No, what I am posting is all evidence based.

    YOU are wasting your time on conspiracy theories. You are completely on the wrong side of reality. Everything you have written here is all fake news.

    Wikileaks has a 100% accuracy track record in over 10 years of operation. No other media outlet even comes close to that, not your precious fake news sources, and certainly not Sumner’s preferred source of freaking Buzzfeed.

    ———————

    Jason Odegaard:

    “Does President Trump help the cause of libertarian anarchism?”

    Of course not, but he is the biggest political fighter against the biggest attackers against libertarian anarchism, namely the entrenched, i.e. deep, state.

    I think it is very reasonable to assume that had Ron Paul been elected, things would have been very similar in terms of domestic policy at least in terms of intent and goals. Trump has been signing EOs to deregulate the shit out of US industry. I have not seen Paul criticize Trump’s domestic policies much if at all, only his foreign policies, and Paul is the most principled libertarian oriented ex-politician alive today.

    From my vantage point, the state is the biggest most corrupt, immoral and deatructive institution ever created by mankind. It is going to one day, however long it takes, be viewed the same way we now view ancient cannibalistic warmongering tribal life. Perhaps even more pronounced because liberty has an exponential effect, not linear.

    The reason why I continue to appear as though I am defending Trump (I’m not) is because my focus is on the biggest threat, the deep state. The evil that goes on in the shadows will blow your mind if you knew what was going on like I do. Of course even I don’t have all the information, just what is leaked, but if the leaks are any indication of the day to day life, then holy shit are we living in a world with absolute evil, I mean evil that you try to imagine but can’t until you learn about it. We’re talking the ritualistic sacrifice of infants and babies. You think this cannot be true? That our dear leaders have become enlightened? We are living among gigantic crime syndicates that can only exist because of intellectuals who portray them as absolutely needed and vital to human happiness and harmony.

    Once you have become red pilled, you will never look at the world the same way again.

  75. Gravatar of Brian Brian
    18. May 2017 at 14:42

    Trump is not going to defend his campaign against the accusation of collusion with Russia. He said this:

    “there is no collusion between — certainly myself and my campaign, but I can only speak for myself and the Russians”

    If Trump thinks the Trump campaign is indefensible it seems malfeasance will be discovered.

    The quote is from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/05/18/trump-to-hold-news-conference-at-white-house-as-political-crisis-deepens/?utm_term=.a1226ec9ac89

  76. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    18. May 2017 at 15:26

    The WaPo complains about Trump warning Russia of laptop bombs, while having written an article a year earlier encouraging Obama to share Intel on Syria with Russia.

  77. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    18. May 2017 at 15:26

    Brian, the WaPo is fake news

  78. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    18. May 2017 at 15:26

    The NYT claims Comey wrote a memo accusing Trump of obstruction, while on-video and under oath testimony directly from Comey has him unequivocally stating that nobody asked him to stop the investigation.

  79. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    18. May 2017 at 15:37

    Julian Assange: “Whistleblowers go to very significant risks. There’s a 27 year old who works for the DNC who was shot in the back, murdered…”

  80. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    18. May 2017 at 15:39

    Reuters admits: “No Evidence of Collusion” between Trump and Russia

    But they bury it six paragraphs down after suggesting there is collusion

  81. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    18. May 2017 at 15:42

    More than 7 Million voter registrations are duplicated in multiple states

    http://freebeacon.com/issues/7-million-voter-registrations-duplicated-multiple-states/

  82. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    18. May 2017 at 15:44

    Apropos of this blog

    https://i.imgur.com/J5ERES9.jpg

  83. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    18. May 2017 at 15:47

    Wikileaks, who knows what is really going in the deep state, has a message:

    https://i.imgur.com/EwZizkF.jpg

  84. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    18. May 2017 at 15:48

    One of the few based Democrats in Washington

    https://i.imgur.com/u9fjEoc.jpg

  85. Gravatar of Brian Brian
    18. May 2017 at 17:52

    Major.Freedom, the quote is on video.

  86. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    18. May 2017 at 19:08

    Brian, the WaPo is fake news also for NOT publishing crucial, relevant information, on purpose

    No one is disputing the video

    There has not been any evidence of anyone “colluding” with the Russians during the campaign, the fake news is over, it’s done

    The murder of Seth Rich is the important story, it has evidence, and relevance

  87. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    18. May 2017 at 19:14

    I predict that the DNC-fake news-CIA complex will manufacture the lie that Seth Rich was a Russian spy or informant, and was killed by Russian agents to prevent him from exposing the “Russia hacking”

  88. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    18. May 2017 at 19:21

    I predict a Seth Rich false flag operation

    It happened during the campaign with the inciting of violence at Trump rallies

    It happened with the 15 women alleging sexual assault

    It happened with the hundreds of fake hate crimes since after the election

    It happened with the Comet pizza shooter whose dad worked for Hillary, and was himself a crisis actor with an IMDB page (which has since been scrubbed)

    Someone pretending to be a Trump supporter will be arrested for doing something crazy in relation to Seth Rich and this whole story is going to be treated as “dangerous fake news”.

    They will use the guy’s parents as scapegoats and have someone approach their house, or something else.

    Standard tactic from the communist Alinsky playbook.

  89. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    18. May 2017 at 19:51

    It’s also likely that Comey doesn’t survive much longer. The Dems will off him (“car accident”) to make the fake news circus go into overdrive. Stay tuned.

  90. Gravatar of Brian Donohue Brian Donohue
    19. May 2017 at 04:15

    You wrote:

    “Some anti-Trump people claimed that I was too complacent in claiming that America’s democracy was strong enough to push back against Trump authoritarian tendencies.”

    You meant:

    “Some anti-Trump people claimed that I was too complacent in claiming that America’s governing establishment was strong enough to push back against Trump’s democratic/demogogic tendencies.”

    People see what is going on. The people voted Trump into office, knowing what he was like. Maybe it is a good thing that the establishment can rein in democratic/demogogic tendencies, but let’s not get all Orwellian with our language here, Scott.

  91. Gravatar of Major.Freedom Major.Freedom
    19. May 2017 at 20:13

    And AGAIN a poster pretended to be me

    This post:

    18. May 2017 at 19:51

    Was not written by me

    Whoever is doing that, you are a loser

  92. Gravatar of ssumner ssumner
    20. May 2017 at 05:50

    Brian Donohue, The way the Trump supporters have had to fall back on nutty tinfoil hat conspiracy theories as their last line of defense just makes me . . .

    SAD!

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