The Trump Presidency: Part 18

[Skeptic Ginger]

Obviously, not as much fun.


The motorcycle police absolutely love that duty.

The first time I got to do it was for Vice President Mondale. I was driving a van for the press that flew with the Vice President I got lectured very sternly by an older staffer to drive carefully in my lane, and under no circumstances talk to the reporters or turn on the radio. The reporters jumped into the van and they turned on the radio and immediadely started talking and joking with me.

What was I supposed to do?

I take it the cat was away then?

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

Pretty stupid.
NO secret that both parties, when in power in the White House, reward big political supporters with cushy Ambassadorships but they don't make it so painfully obvious. It's usually done with a wink and a nod.

And it's a third, not a half like Trump's appointments (heard today on CSPAN discussion), and I always thought those political favor appointments were in little inconsequential countries with pleasant climates and tourist attractions.

Usually the professionals in the State department take the important roles. Ambassador to the EU, for example, would never be a political reward like Sondland's is. This hot-seat he's now in shows you why.

Also, Pompeo is really screwing up. From Cookie's MSNBC link, several experts noted how bad it was he wasn't supporting State Department employees. Terrible for morale.

 

[acbytesla]

I take it the cat was away then?

Yep. the cat was in another car.

 

[Minoosh]

Also, Pompeo is really screwing up. From Cookie's MSNBC link, several experts noted how bad it was he wasn't supporting State Department employees. Terrible for morale.

I would have been shocked if Pompeo had stuck up for his employees. As far as I can tell, Trump thinks the State Department shouldn't exist. IIRC Rex Tillerson didn't know what the department was for either. Being hostile to State is what Trump expects in a secretary of state. Hostile, or at least clueless.

 

[Aridas]

This is pretty weak tea. The hands of every modern president are absolutely drenched in blood. It's unavoidable so long as the US continues to operate as an imperialist power.

Trump's grave sin, at least as far as neoliberals are concerned, is that his killing the wrong people and is generally uncouth about it. They prefer Obama's gentlemanly style when it comes to making policy decisions that result in the large scale death.

Mmm. And for people like me who don't consider themselves neoliberals, it's not really that he has blood on his hands. It's why he has blood on his hands, and yes, to a lesser extent, whose blood, especially when it's the blood of allies, children, and US civilians living peacefully in the US that he's getting killed with no redeeming value involved.

Nah, that's just a lie he thinks the suckers will buy.

It's nigh impossible to tell one way or the other, I think.

I would have been shocked if Pompeo had stuck up for his employees. As far as I can tell, Trump thinks the State Department shouldn't exist. IIRC Rex Tillerson didn't know what the department was for either. Being hostile to State is what Trump expects in a secretary of state. Hostile, or at least clueless.

Looks like Trump's mad at Pompeo for letting the State employees testify in the first place, rather than going along with his total stonewall strategy.

To poke at some other things...

CNN: GOP lawmakers were 'shaken' by David Holmes' testimony

Getting their lying defense retreats blown out of the water over and over is certainly reason for concern, after all.

Mina Chang resigns from Trump's State Dept. after her wildly embellished resume gets fact checked

...Wow. Fake Times cover, fake degrees... Where was the vetting?

Emails show Mick Mulvaney, Rick Perry knew of push to get Ukraine to open investigations

More confirmation.

This YouTube video may be of some value or interest to some here. Why I Left the Republican Party! VOTER SUPPRESSION

Not really much in the way of surprises for those who have been paying attention, of course.

 

[Stacyhs]

>snip<
This YouTube video may be of some value or interest to some here. Why I Left the Republican Party! VOTER SUPPRESSION

Not really much in the way of surprises for those who have been paying attention, of course.

I've said this for years! Whenever I hear a Republican claim to belong to the "Party of Lincoln", I want to throw something at him.

 

[Darat]

I've never really bought polling as reliably indicative. Too many people simply don't respond to polls.

Yeah, that's true of 44% of all people polled.

 

[Andy_Ross]

Trump Tweets

At my meeting with Jay Powell this morning, I protested fact that our Fed Rate is set too high relative to the interest rates of other competitor countries. In fact, our rates should be lower than all others (we are the U.S.). Too strong a Dollar hurting manufacturers & growth!

Nancy Pelosi just stated that “it is dangerous to let the voters decide Trump’s fate.” @FoxNews In other words, she thinks I’m going to win and doesn’t want to take a chance on letting the voters decide. Like Al Green, she wants to change our voting system. Wow, she’s CRAZY!

 

[thaiboxerken]

Trump wants it to be decided by the election in 2020, which he and the rest of the Trumpublicans are rigging with the help of Russia and other foreign entities......

 

[TofuFighter]

I don't know. That's a pretty big ass.

But with a reputation for being as tight as they come.

Yeah, that's what I got too. Wasn't what I was looking for. Still not the image I wanted, but good anyhow.

This one?

 

[turingtest]

Trump Tweets

At my meeting with Jay Powell this morning, I protested fact that our Fed Rate is set too high relative to the interest rates of other competitor countries. In fact, our rates should be lower than all others (we are the U.S.). Too strong a Dollar hurting manufacturers & growth!

Nancy Pelosi just stated that “it is dangerous to let the voters decide Trump’s fate.” @FoxNews In other words, she thinks I’m going to win and doesn’t want to take a chance on letting the voters decide. Like Al Green, she wants to change our voting system. Wow, she’s CRAZY!

This is predictable, but Pelosi didn't actually say what Trump has attributed to her. In fact, it appears to be a paraphrase by a Fox news reporter of Pelosi's words (and a missing of her point). Here's what Pelosi actually said-

The facts are uncontested- that the President abused his power for his own personal, political benefit, at the expense of our national security interests.

The weak response to these hearings has been 'let the election decide.' That dangerous position only adds to the urgency of our action, because the President is jeopardizing the integrity of the 2020 elections.

IOW, that the "danger" is in letting the issue of election interference be decided by an election that has been interfered with, rather than on evidence brought forward in an entirely proper Congressional investigation as to whether it has been by a President who benefits from (and instigated) that interference.

But "let the voters decide" has a nice, idealistic ring to it, the sort of simplistic framing Republicans like to turn to when it's convenient for them. McConnell used it initially as his rationale for blocking Obama from picking a Supreme Court justice in a presidential election year; later, when asked if he would still stick to that position if a vacancy occurred during Trump's final year before an election, he shifted ground- now his rationale is along the lines of allowing Trump, rather than the voters, to decide on the vacancy because the GOP would still have control of both the Presidency and the Senate in 2020 (before the new President/Senators would take office in 2021). (See here, for instance)

So the standard has shifted from an ideal (let the voters decide) to the necessary condition under which that decision could be ignored (we can still do it, whatever the voters say, because we still have the power). As has been famously said, "if it weren't for double standards, they would have no standards at all."

 

[pgwenthold]

And it's a third, not a half like Trump's appointments (heard today on CSPAN discussion), and I always thought those political favor appointments were in little inconsequential countries with pleasant climates and tourist attractions.

Usually the professionals in the State department take the important roles. Ambassador to the EU, for example, would never be a political reward like Sondland's is. This hot-seat he's now in shows you why.

Also, Pompeo is really screwing up. From Cookie's MSNBC link, several experts noted how bad it was he wasn't supporting State Department employees. Terrible for morale.

The funny thing is that Junior went to twitter to exclaim that Trump was elected to get rid of people like those career diplomats.

Apparently, he was also elected to give those diplomat positions to multi-millionaires who give lots of money to the GOP. That's what is called, "Draining the swamp."

 

[The Great Zaganza]

The whole system of selling Ambassadorships depends critically on the clueless buyers getting to rely on the expert staff of career diplomats to get the actual work done whilst they get to hold the cucumber sandwiches and talk about their accomplishments.

 

[Trebuchet]

But with a reputation for being as tight as they come.



This one?
[qimg]http://www.internationalskeptics.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=1275&pictureid=12302[/qimg]

Yes, that's it! Thank you very much. I first saw it in a reply to Trump's Twitter.

 

[Trebuchet]

The funny thing is that Junior went to twitter to exclaim that Trump was elected to get rid of people like those career diplomats.

Apparently, he was also elected to give those diplomat positions to multi-millionaires who give lots of money to the GOP. That's what is called, "Draining the swamp."

Not just to the GOP. Sondland, in particular, gave a million dollars to Trump's inauguration fund, where there's no public accounting. Much of that fund is thought to have gone into Trump's pocket.

 

[acbytesla]

But with a reputation for being as tight as they come.

I didn't realize he was a tight end. I thought he was a wide receiver.

 

[acbytesla]

Not just to the GOP. Sondland, in particular, gave a million dollars to Trump's inauguration fund, where there's no public accounting. Much of that fund is thought to have gone into Trump's pocket.

Yeah, the Trump inaugural was something special. Their committee raised an insane amount of money and most of the festivities were held at Trump's hotels which charged attendees 4 to 5 times normal costs, sometimes more. They overcharged for everything. It's a great way to funnel money into your own pocket.

 

[ponderingturtle]

Yeah, the Trump inaugural was something special. Their committee raised an insane amount of money and most of the festivities were held at Trump's hotels which charged attendees 4 to 5 times normal costs, sometimes more. They overcharged for everything. It's a great way to funnel money into your own pocket.

And then the unspent money that just vanished.

 

[The Man]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...nd-mike-pompeo


Another distraction with no thought to the larger consequences, and Pompeo enables it. What the Hell is going on over there?

Ah the old law hindering peace gambit. 'Dang nab it if it weren't for these pesky laws we'd have peace by now!'. Heck, Pompeo eating anything other than sandwiches made from **** "has not advanced the cause of peace" either. So why not try the **** sandwiches diet first?

To paraphrase Ben Franklin.

'Those who would give up the rule of law, to purchase a mere prospect of peace, end up with neither law nor peace.'

 

[Giordano]

Yeah, the Trump inaugural was something special. Their committee raised an insane amount of money and most of the festivities were held at Trump's hotels which charged attendees 4 to 5 times normal costs, sometimes more. They overcharged for everything. It's a great way to funnel money into your own pocket.

The only thing they did not do was to print and distribute price lists describing how much each ambassadorship, cabinet position, policy position, etc. would cost. Or perhaps they did??