Cont: The Trump Presidency 11: Insert something funny

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NPR recently re-ran a segment on the political humor of the Smothers Brothers. In the last show they read a letter from former President Johnson which said, in part:

”It is part of the price of leadership of this great and free nation to be the target of clever satirists. You have given the gift of laughter to our people. May we never grow so somber or self-important that we fail to appreciate the humor in our lives."
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Compare to President Trump expressing confusion over the legality of mocking a president:
…[Saturday Night Live] is all nothing less than unfair news coverage and Dem commercials. Should be tested in courts, can’t be legal? Only defame & belittle! Collusion?
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ETA
I just found this quote
Isn’t it a shame that someone can write an article or book, totally make up stories and form a picture of a person that is literally the exact opposite of the fact, and get away with it without retribution or cost,”
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Hey, **** head, you’ve built your entire political career on that philosophy and you had no retribution or cost. I so hope this jackass lives long enough to be publicly humiliated by the electorate, Congress, and the courts.
 
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Except for the fact that it would look like a Trump win, , too, think that Trump could get his wall money, but it has a sunset for 2020.
Given just the legal battles to get people to build the wall on their land, he won't get anything done.
 
Regnad Kcin said:
I said

Wall! Huh!
Good god, y'all!
What it is good for?
Absolutely nothing! (Say it again)

Wall! Huh!
Lord, Lord, Lord...
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing!
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Even by your standards, that's good

:thumbsup:
 
US government partially shuts down over border wall row

A partial US government shutdown has taken effect after US lawmakers failed to break a budget impasse.

Mr Trump, who has to sign off any deal, is insisting at least $5bn (£4bn) in funding be included for his long-promised wall along the Mexican border.

Lawmakers adjourned last-minute talks on Friday evening.

In the absence of an agreement, funding for about a quarter of all US federal agencies lapsed at midnight (05:00 GMT Saturday).

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46657393
 
Reports that Trump wants to fire Fed chairman Jerome Powell and install someone that will take orders directly from the White House.
 
acbytesla said:
Except the bill would be fixed in the conference, so they would have to pull it off over the House when they vote on the final bill as well.
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Yeah, it was just a crazy idea. It stemmed from the notion of including some "wall" budget in the continuation but only a tiny token amount, e.g. a couple of thousand dollars. The idea would be that Trump can have his "win" by getting some wall budget, but that it would be an entirely useless amount that went nowhere. Then I tried to turn it into a joke. But jeeeeeze! With this White House, what used to be a har-de-har joshing sarcasm is now becoming cold, hard reality!
 
Bloomberg's opinion on the Fed Chairman.
Any attempt by Trump to push out Powell would have potentially devastating ripple effects across financial markets, undermining investors’ confidence in the central bank’s ability to shepherd the economy without political interference. It would come as markets have plummeted in recent weeks, with the major stock indexes already down sharply for the year.
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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ss-firing-fed-s-powell-after-latest-rate-hike

So we count on Trump to actually publicly talk up the idea of sacking Powell, and there will be good odds he will even try it.
 
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Norman Alexander said:
Bloomberg's opinion on the Fed Chairman.https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...ss-firing-fed-s-powell-after-latest-rate-hike

So we count on Trump to actually publicly talk up the idea of sacking Powell, and there will be good odds he will even try it.
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From the linked article:
Such a move would represent an unprecedented challenge to the Fed’s independence. Though he was nominated by the president, Powell was thought to be insulated from Trump’s dissatisfaction by a tradition of respect for the independence of the central bank.
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I'm not sure that Trump has respect for any of the traditions that have kept the government running more or less smoothly over the 50 years or so. After all, he knows tech, ISIS, trade...better than anyone. I'm sure the federal banking system is on that list, too.
He made the decision to leave Syria and Afghanistan despite the advice of Mattis, a man with vast knowledge of military affairs, and others. I think it's 50/50 that he will fire Powell.
 
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FenerFan said:
From the linked article:


I'm not sure that Trump has respect for any of the traditions that have kept the government running more or less smoothly over the 50 years or so. After all, he knows tech, ISIS, trade...better than anyone. I'm sure the federal banking system is on that list, too.
He made the decision to leave Syria and Afghanistan despite the advice of Mattis, a man with vast knowledge of military affairs, and others. I think it's 50/50 that he will fire Powell.
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Exactly. And respect for the tradition of operation implies fore-knowledge of same plus heeding advice of experts in the fields. Clearly Trump is clueless and determined to remain ignorant, and is prepared to foolishly act on that basis. An ignorant, narcissistic, spoiled toddler.
 
timhau said:
Can he? Is there a procedure for getting rid of the Fed chair mid-term? And isn't the chair chosen from the Fed board? The last rate hike was unanimous.
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According to Morgan Stanley , no he can't.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2018/11/29/trump-cannot-fire-federal-reserve-chair-jerome-powell-morgan-stanley.html

But Forbes says yes he can.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/patrickwwatson/2018/09/06/how-trump-could-fire-powell-and-rebuild-the-fed/amp/

To me, it appears that there is a provision that would let Trump fire Powell. Probably all hell would break loose. However, I wouldn't put anything past someone as unfit for his job as Trump.
I think it's bad enough that it is even a topic of discussion.
I wonder whose job it is to explain to Trump why it would be a really bad idea. As Norman Alexander posted, Trump is clueless and seems to have little interest in learning from those who are not.
The resignation of Mattis and the letter he wrote really bring home the fact that electing Trump was a monumental mistake. At this point, it's not a matter of whether or not Trump will damage the country, it's how bad the damage will be.
 
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Talking heads on TV remind me that the stock market has fallen 12% in the short time since "I am tariff man". At some point, do the pro-business types start muttering -- maybe we should consider the 25th?

This has reached a whole new level of OH ****. Only the most impermeable of the cultists don't see how unhinged he is. Right? One can hope. It's on my xmas wish list next to pony.
 
With volatility indexes really high even before news of the possible Fed chair firing I can only imagine the chaos when the stock market reopens after several days of people digesting just how messed up everything is at the moment.



I wouldn't be surprised if we see something on the level of Black Monday.
 
Fast Eddie B said:
I’m quite torn on this.

In the 1960’s I was quite anti-war. I was all for ending the Vietnam War and bringing the boys home. 58,000 dead in a foreign land seemed like enough.

Obama campaigned on ending the Mideast wars. I was disappointed that after 8 years we were still bogged down over there. I did not vote for McCain because of a comment that we’d be over there for 100 years if that’s what it took.

So I have to be sure I’m not slamming Trump for something just because he’s Trump.

I’m not convinced that our presence in the Mideast is worth the blood and treasure we’ve invested so far, much less continuing with no end in sight.

So, like I said, conflicted. And ready to listen to arguments from both sides.
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Excellent post. I feel similarly.

But ... whatever we think about the choice to withdraw troops, it's pretty clear that Trump has gone about this in typical, ego-maniacal, "I alone can fix it" fashion. According to press reports, the pentagon was blind-sided. That's just weird. Then we superimpose Trump's servile attitude towards Russia. That's weird on steroids. Putin can barely contain his glee. All punctuated by Mattis' stunning resignation letter.

I think it's safe to say that no matter where you fall on stay/leave, the way he's going about things is unhinged to an extraordinary degree.
 
varwoche said:
Talking heads on TV remind me that the stock market has fallen 12% in the short time since "I am tariff man"...
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This is what has always scared me about Trump in the White House. His football league, his airline, his casinos, they all got off to pretty decent starts. But Donnie had to keep "doing things" and eventually they all failed spectacularly. There's a reason no bank in North America will fund any venture of his.

When it comes to the national economy, however, there's too much riding on it to take a chance with our Imbecile-in-Chief screwing it up. Except we're already past that point. Well past it. :(
 
Only in the strange universe that Rudy occupies...

Giuliani said:
The president and his lawyers are upset about the professional prosecutors in the Southern District of New York going after a non-crime and the innuendo the president was involved
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... is a tape recording of Trump discussing the particulars with Cohen innuendo.

It's not easy being a Trump water-carrier.
 
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