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The Trump Presidency: Part 17

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Wherever you are in the world, you should try to remember these times. They are like the JFK assassination, Neil Armstrong walking on the moon, the Cuban missile crisis, the resignation of Richard Nixon, the fall of Saigon and 9/11 - they are events in history that you will always remember where you were and what you were doing.

Y'all could be about to witness something never before seen, the total psychological meltdown of an American president. I say this because, as I have stated here before, I spent a number of years living with a malignant narcissist - and what is happening to him now is a pattern I have seen before; I know what he is about to go through, and I never thought I would say this, but I almost feel sorry for him - almost.

We are living in interesting times - remember them.
 
This is Anderson Cooper's segment tonight, the first few minutes when a reporter asked Trump "Can you just make clear right here, What did you want President Zelensky to do in regards to Joe and Hunter Biden". Trump doesn't answer of course and is reasked the same question and then says "You talkin' to me?!" and it gets worse from there. It is excruciating to watch.
 
JoeMorgue said:
They really do seem to be trying to land on some sort of "You can't investigate us until you can already prove we've done the thing you are going to investigate us for" argument, like some insane Real Politika version of Jabba's ole' "I refuse to start the discussion until you already agree I'm correct" game.
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That sentiment was floated re the Mueller report as well.
 
acbytesla said:
Is it just me?
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It's not just you. I went to a coffee shop after work last week to unwind with an iced coffee and to read a chapter in the very interesting book I'm reading. They had the local cable news channel on, just like they always do, and I half-heard the broadcaster say something about switching to...something. Turned out it was Trump. Speaking live at...the UN? They picked him up in the middle of naming forty or fifty countries. Why? His administration had made terrific trade deals with them all -- best trade deals probably in history -- yet the "Fake News" won't tell the story. He went on and on like this. Economy the strongest its ever been. Military too. America never as prosperous or as well-respected as it is today. Thanks to "me." But the Fake News refuses to report it. They don't want the people to know. He spoke without pause for fifteen or twenty minutes -- all delivered in a flat monotone -- and he sounded nuts. I had to leave. It was making my skin crawl.
 
dmaker said:
The President of Finland did say very quietly something to the effect of I believe this question was for me. I would have to review the footage to be positive.

Trump certainly appeared to be in distress. I couldn't stop smiling.
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Symptoms suggestive (actually classic signs) of mania or drugs or both:

Pressured speech, flitting from topic to topic, snort/sniffing to catch his breath.
 
newyorkguy said:
It's not just you. I went to a coffee shop after work last week to unwind with an iced coffee and to read a chapter in the very interesting book I'm reading. They had the local cable news channel on, just like they always do, and I half-heard the broadcaster say something about switching to...something. Turned out it was Trump. Speaking live at...the UN? They picked him up in the middle of naming forty or fifty countries. Why? His administration had made terrific trade deals with them all -- best trade deals probably in history -- yet the "Fake News" won't tell the story. He went on and on like this. Economy the strongest its ever been. Military too. America never as prosperous or as well-respected as it is today. Thanks to "me." But the Fake News refuses to report it. They don't want the people to know. He spoke without pause for fifteen or twenty minutes -- all delivered in a flat monotone -- and he sounded nuts. I had to leave. It was making my skin crawl.
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They won't allow news channels at the VA waiting rooms any more. Apparently it was generating too much stress and arguments among the waiting patients. And for that, I'm thankful. I recently saw my first ever complete episode of Matlock while I was waiting for my appointment. Mostly harmless.
 
phiwum said:
There is no transcript for such phone calls because they are not recorded. This has been policy since 1974. (I've read a lot of articles recently and can't point immediately to my source on this, but I believe it was a Post article I read this morning.)

This memo, presuming it has not been edited and that the ellipses aren't hiding anything important, is as good as there is.

This is a continuation from Part 16, which has been closed for length. Posts from previous parts may be freely quoted here.
Posted By: KMortis
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I'm not convinced this is true for International calls to heads of state. This call did not take place in the Oval Office. It took place in the situation room. There would have been translators and apparently advisers including the Secretary of State. This is the kind of call that is at least in other administrations planned out and discussed with staff after.

Nobody thought the President was going to extort the Ukraine leader.
 
I think I noticed that, they no longer have CNN on the TV in the Primary Care waiting room at John J. Peters. (To give them credit, my recent 'wait' was probably less than three minutes.)

Many people, including people who know a lot more than they can say, are hinting Donnie may be on the verge of a real meltdown. To me that's terrifying to consider. I truly hope "they" (whoever "they" are) have the boy on a tight leash. Because if he ever completely and suddenly loses it, Donnie is capable of who-knows-what. :eek:
 
acbytesla said:
I'm not convinced this is true for International calls to heads of state. This call did not take place in the Oval Office. It took place in the situation room. There would have been translators and apparently advisers including the Secretary of State. This is the kind of call that is at least in other administrations planned out and discussed with staff after.

Nobody thought the President was going to extort the Ukraine leader.
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Highly likely the whole audio conversation was digitally recorded, including all the clicks, pauses, translator interchanges, uhms and errs, repeated questions, side-chats and all the stuff that probably goes on in these sorts of calls. Plus Trump not making sense most of the time. It was from this the transcript was "constructed" by cutting out all the crap and fluff. Chances are high there was a lot of combining Trump's fragments into vaguely coherent sentences as well. Would have taken a LOT of work on that!
 
dudalb said:
She said she is sure Rudy's legal advisors gave him the standard advice;if you are indicted or issued a subpoena or any legal summons, keep your mouth shut. Don't talk about it. It will only hurt you.
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That makes sense. However I can see another potential legal issue. If Rudy is claiming he was engaged as an agent of the State Department he cannot simultaneously claim legal privilege with Trump as his client. That means, at some point he has to, himself, characterise his documents as either being for Trump as the client or as an agent of the US government. I think he just worked that out and thus engaged his own lawyer.

The other weird thing was that CNN suggested Mike Pence is being sent on trips to keep him away from the current Trump problem. CNN did not say whether this was Trump's idea or Mike Pence's own political advisors. I wonder if Pence's own advisors are cleaning up Pence in case he becomes president and needs to look different to Trump to win 2020.
 
Quick question about Rudy: I understand it is illegal for someone not duly authorised to do so to negotiate on behalf of the US government. Something to do with the US Civil War? Anyway, that's why there is a US State Department - they are assigned to do all this sort of stuff. And the State Dept officers involved in foreign negotiations are all (supposedly) fully vetted with appropriate security clearances, etc., before they start the job. And they are closely monitored and it is all (supposedly) working to a very clear plan and very strict procedures. They are professionals at this.

So, question: Has Rudy been officially vetted and is he a member of the State Department staff? If not, why hasn't he been arraigned for breaking this rather important law?
 
acbytesla said:
Is it just me? I can't bear any more listening to this psychotic unhinged moron's rants. We're going to have to hear this nutjob rage for another year.
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You hope it's only a year.

smartcooky said:
Y'all could be about to witness something never before seen, the total psychological meltdown of an American president.
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I have the popcorn waiting. I do hope you're right.

The big question is, who will he nuke?

ETA: Dumb question. California, of course.
 
A man approaching a Congressional Aide to inquire how to proceed on a matter of administrative appeal in interacting with an executive agency (one of the most basic functions of a Congressional office) is now, in the fevered minds of some, the cold open to the latest Mission: Impossible film.
 
So here's what I'm trying to figure out:

Mueller does a whole investigation on whether Russia meddled in the 2016 election, and concludes they did, but that they couldn't conclude collusion because the Trumpet campaign was not coordinated enough to actually facilitate collusion. So the trump spends his time proclaiming that there was no collusion.

In response, what does he do? He goes right out and tries to make an arrangement with the Ukraine to get them to mess with our elections.

What I am trying to decide: is it bravado, believing that the Mueller report shows that they can get away with anything? Or is he just that stupid, with basically no clue what collusion actually means?
 
pgwenthold said:
So here's what I'm trying to figure out:

Mueller does a whole investigation on whether Russia meddled in the 2016 election, and concludes they did, but that they couldn't conclude collusion because the Trumpet campaign was not coordinated enough to actually facilitate collusion. So the trump spends his time proclaiming that there was no collusion.

In response, what does he do? He goes right out and tries to make an arrangement with the Ukraine to get them to mess with our elections.

What I am trying to decide: is it bravado, believing that the Mueller report shows that they can get away with anything? Or is he just that stupid, with basically no clue what collusion actually means?
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Yes. These are not mutually exclusive.
 
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