The Trump Presidency: Part 18

[Skeptic Ginger]

...

And another thing..... The whole "the DNC server was taken from the USA to Ukraine" thing has to be rubbish - it just brilliantly shows up the total cyber-ignorance of Trump and his minions. Why on earth would anyone take the high risk of physically trying to smuggle a server out of the country, when they could just mirror that server to another server anywhere in the world, then destroy the original.

Yeah, why not just unhook the thing from the pipes?

 

[Aridas]

I see the divide between homogeneity and heterogeneity.

Republicans want to divide the country into US and THEM.

Democrats are much more comfortable with diversity.

I would suggest that that's not quite the case. White supremacists are projecting that image and hijacking the Republican Party to serve their interests. The more usual authoritarian Republican are much more likely to be just following along with the "conservative" crowd, rather than actually holding a particular opinion there. Republican politicians are very much into divide and conquer tactics, though, given that they generally already know that what they are pushing cannot survive an actual "fair" fight.

I'm rather in line with the democracy vs. oligarchy view, myself, though.

Other stuff, then.

The DOJ says executive branch officials can't testify without White House lawyers. They're wrong

The OLC is pumping out more politically motivated BS that's pretty much in opposition to reality, in short.

Republicans pour money into barrage of anti-impeachment calls to House Democrats

“The fact that the calls to congressional offices, estimated to number 11,000, were partly intended to jam the phone lines of House Democrats—potentially thwarting access to government offices—was described at a recent dinner of more than a dozen Republican aides, advisers and elected officials, known as the ‘Off the Record’ dinner,” The New York Times reports. “Officials with the Republican National Committee told others at the dinner about the calls, suggesting they were automated and indicating that the aim was to tie up the phones in Democratic offices, according to two people briefed on what was said.”

Republicans - working hard to abuse the system to the point where it can't work. Just one more symptom of their lack of respect for democracy.


Former Republican congressman stuns with commentary on his party's lack of courage and morality

DAVID JOLLY: These are the moments where my anger is somewhat palpable because you've just got to be honest. These are, in today's Republican Party, spineless politicians rotten to the core without virtue. Without any level of human integrity, devoid of self-respect, self-reflection, without courage, and without the moral compass to recognize their own malevolence.

If only these weren't the words of a former congressman rather than a current one. If only they weren't so true.

 

[newyorkguy]

Trump Tweets

So sad to see what is happening in New York Oklahoma where Governor Cuomo Stitt & Mayor DeBlasio Holt are letting out Criminals, some hardened & bad, onto the sidewalks of our rapidly declining, because of them, city state. The Radical Left Dems Right GOP are killing our cities states.

Fixed that for you, Donnie.

More than 400 inmates across Oklahoma were being released from prison Monday in what the governor's office calls the largest single-day mass commutation in the nation's history...The state has the highest incarceration rate in the country. Link

 

[acbytesla]

More than 400 inmates across Oklahoma were being released from prison Monday in what the governor's office calls the largest single-day mass commutation in the nation's history...The state has the highest incarceration rate in the country. Link

Fixed that for you, Donnie.

I was going to write about the irony of this having read that story about Oklahoma yesterday. Thanks for posting this NY.

 

[newyorkguy]

Maybe I should be numb to it by now, but after fifty years of Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, I still find it hard to believe -- really hard to believe -- that we have wound up with a president who conducts himself the way Trump does. Trump's basic dishonesty, his total lack of anything even approaching decency or integrity, it's absolutely shameful.

 

[acbytesla]

Maybe I should be numb to it by now, but after fifty years of Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, I still find it hard to believe -- really hard to believe -- that we have wound up with a president who conducts himself the way Trump does. Trump's basic dishonesty, his total lack of anything even approaching decency or integrity, it's absolutely shameful.

It stuns me that some people still support this turd. In all fairness, it stunned me that anyone would support him to begin with. Trump has been competing for the world's biggest liar for 30 years. He HAS NEVER EVER had a reputation for telling the truth. And it's not like it's been hard to prove his lies and general untrustworthiness.

 

[quadraginta]

I’m worried that they’ll never be able to finish if Trump keeps piling it on. Maybe that’s what Trump wants to do, run out the clock. Surely more will come.

I still have a suspicion that Senate GOP leaders already have something that could ruin Trump. Just a hunch that ex-staffers of the highest level have been quietly briefing senators and they are sitting on it for the time being. It’s a fantasy, I know, it sounds plausible to me.

Of course they already have something. Them.

They could just go to Trump and tell him that there are more than enough Republican Senators who have decided that they've had all they were going to put up with, and that if an impeachment vote came to trial those Senators have stated that they would do their job and honor their obligations to the nation and vote against him.

That the best thing he could do would be to resign and get a blanket pardon from Pence. There's precedence for that.

"It's like this, Mr. President. Would you rather say 'I quit.', or would you prefer us to say 'You're fired.'"'?

But that would require some pittance of moral fiber and courage on the part of GOP politicians, and they've pretty much eliminated any such qualities from their party.

 

[smartcooky]

Trump Tweets

So sad to see what is happening in New York where Governor Cuomo & Mayor DeBlasio are letting out 900 Criminals, some hardened & bad, onto the sidewalks of our rapidly declining, because of them, city. The Radical Left Dems are killing our cities. NYPD Commissioner is resigning!

I saw the tweet and wondered what was behind it.

From what I have seen:
- The release of the '900 criminals' involves the removal of bail conditions (which are often seen as discriminatory) from people awaiting trial, and not people who have been convicted
- The measure is targeted mostly at people with either misdemeanor or non-violent felonies. (There are claims that it impacts violent offenders too, but I don't see any evidence)
- A judge can still override things if they feel they will not show up for trial
- It is true that the NYPD commissioner is resigning. But it appears to be totally unrelated to this new law. (Instead it may have more to do with friction caused by the handling of a case where a policeman had harmed a suspect.)

https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2019/11/05/trump-de-blasio-on-ny-bail-reform/
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-new...ted-announce-his-resignation-sources-n1076141

It stuns me that some people still support this turd. In all fairness, it stunned me that anyone would support him to begin with. Trump has been competing for the world's biggest liar for 30 years. He HAS NEVER EVER had a reputation for telling the truth. And it's not like it's been hard to prove his lies and general untrustworthiness.

The degree to which Trump and his minions and assorted disciples are willing to turn themselves inside out, pretzel fashion, into order to distort the truth into the false narrative they want, is truly, staggeringly breathtaking!

 

[Norman Alexander]

The degree to which Trump and his minions and assorted disciples are willing to turn themselves inside out, pretzel fashion, into order to distort the truth into the false narrative they want, is truly, staggeringly breathtaking!

They are simply following the directives of the US Department of Propaganda, aka Fox & Friends.

 

[The Man]

....


Republicans pour money into barrage of anti-impeachment calls to House Democrats



Republicans - working hard to abuse the system to the point where it can't work. Just one more symptom of their lack of respect for democracy.

So now they've gone from phishing tactics to DDoS attacks.

Scamming and cyber vandal attacks are now the hallmarks of republican values. Lately those aren't even the worst ones, like kids in cages as a deterrent or let's bring back as much pollution as we can while seeing how many people we can get off health care. Whats next, let's bring back leaded gasoline?

Former Republican congressman stuns with commentary on his party's lack of courage and morality



If only these weren't the words of a former congressman rather than a current one. If only they weren't so true.

As a current and 40 year republican, my party is basically dead to me now.

 

[dudalb]

An interesting perspective:

https://www.salon.com/2019/11/04/robert-reich-the-real-divide_partner/

I think it's pretty natural somebody pretty far to the left would take that line.
Also interesting that Reich buys into the classic Marxist "Middle class will dissepear" line of thought.

 

[dudalb]

Maybe I should be numb to it by now, but after fifty years of Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obama, I still find it hard to believe -- really hard to believe -- that we have wound up with a president who conducts himself the way Trump does. Trump's basic dishonesty, his total lack of anything even approaching decency or integrity, it's absolutely shameful.

A statement by a refugee from Nazi Germany comes to mind, when he was asked as to how a highly civilized country like Germany could be taken over by somebody like Hitler:

"Hitler found a way to appeal to the schiwinehund that lies buried in every German".

 

[dudalb]

Trump is going to make a lot of hay about the shootings of the Mormons in Northren Mexico.
I just hope he does not decide to send troops in...

 

[Norman Alexander]

As a current and 40 year republican, my party is basically dead to me now.

It might be fair to say that these fascist vandals hold to none of the official Republican Party values either.

 

[Stacyhs]

It stuns me that some people still support this turd. In all fairness, it stunned me that anyone would support him to begin with. Trump has been competing for the world's biggest liar for 30 years. He HAS NEVER EVER had a reputation for telling the truth. And it's not like it's been hard to prove his lies and general untrustworthiness.

It stuns me whenever I see one of his rallies. The attendees must have a combined IQ in the double digits.

 

[The Shrike]

I was a young, conservative Republican type until I figured out what Reaganomics was actually about. But that's beside the point.

I think Republicans are wrong with respect to balance of power in states versus federal gov't; generally hawkish foreign policy; military build-up to the detriment of other elements of society; deregulation; tax cuts for the purpose of tax cuts; etc. But that's okay. Disagreements are fine. We can gather evidence, make our cases, submit things to vote, etc., and that's how our Republic remains representative of the diverse attitudes among its citizens.

But I never thought that – like as a feature not as a bug – our Republican brothers and sisters were evil until 2016. Evil is a loaded term, but basically I mean so corrupt in clinging to power that they'd hitch their collective wagon to such as obvious criminal as Donald effing Trump. I never through I'd see my fellow "these colors don't run" patriots selling out their country and the Constitutional principles they'd been trumpeting at us for decades to defend Donald effing Trump. It never crossed my mind that the day would come that our GOP would disparage veterans, decorated military brass, DOJ, FBI, and the rule of law . . . to help freaking Vladimir Putin have his way in his lust for power in Europe and the Middle East.

It's a disgusting betrayal of what it has always meant to me to be an American.

 

[Stacyhs]

I was a young, conservative Republican type until I figured out what Reaganomics was actually about. But that's beside the point.

I think Republicans are wrong with respect to balance of power in states versus federal gov't; generally hawkish foreign policy; military build-up to the detriment of other elements of society; deregulation; tax cuts for the purpose of tax cuts; etc. But that's okay. Disagreements are fine. We can gather evidence, make our cases, submit things to vote, etc., and that's how our Republic remains representative of the diverse attitudes among its citizens.

But I never thought that – like as a feature not as a bug – our Republican brothers and sisters were evil until 2016. Evil is a loaded term, but basically I mean so corrupt in clinging to power that they'd hitch their collective wagon to such as obvious criminal as Donald effing Trump. I never through I'd see my fellow "these colors don't run" patriots selling out their country and the Constitutional principles they'd been trumpeting at us for decades to defend Donald effing Trump. It never crossed my mind that the day would come that our GOP would disparage veterans, decorated military brass, DOJ, FBI, and the rule of law . . . to help freaking Vladimir Putin have his way in his lust for power in Europe and the Middle East.

It's a disgusting betrayal of what it has always meant to me to be an American.

Well said. It's good to hear this from a conservative who hasn't sold his soul to Trump.

 

[Minoosh]

But that would require some pittance of moral fiber and courage on the part of GOP politicians, and they've pretty much eliminated any such qualities from their party.

Not necessarily. In my dreams it would be plain electoral math. But backing Trump is kind of a sunk cost to some folks. They've backed him this far, why change now? That's why I'd like there to be revelations that firmly put him beyond the pale in the eyes of more conservatives.

 

[timhau]

Yeah, why not just unhook the thing from the pipes?

Remember, we're talking about someone whose cybersecurity advisor is Rudy Giuliani.

 

[Aridas]

Sondland reverses himself on Ukraine, confirming quid pro quo

In his revised testimony, released Tuesday by House impeachment investigators, Sondland said that during a Sept. 1 meeting in Warsaw, Poland, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky raised his concerns to Vice President Mike Pence about the suspension of military aid.

Sondland, Trump’s ambassador to the European Union, added that he later told Andriy Yermak, a top Ukrainian national security adviser, the aid would be contingent on Trump’s desired investigations.

“After that large meeting, I now recall speaking individually with Mr. Yermak, where I said that resumption of U.S. aid would likely not occur until Ukraine provided the public anti-corruption statement that we had been discussing for many weeks,” Sondland wrote in his addendum, which was released alongside a nearly 400-page transcript of his testimony.

It's so convenient that he can now recall it, after his testimony was repeatedly contradicted.