Donald Trump Presidency-Day One

[Jericho]

Just...Awesome!

http://www.gettrumpybear.com/

[buttslinger]

Just...Awesome!
http://www.gettrumpybear.com/

My Christmas list-
DONE!!!

[Stavros]

I wake up to find that the President has rebuked Theresa May with the astonishing advice 'Don't focus on me' when that seems to be what he needs most. There are arguments that these tweets were a diversion from the problems he is having getting his tax proposals through Congress, that he is deflecting any discussion of the claims he has sexually harassed women over many years, and that he is bunkered down in Washington reviving the 'birther controversy', and repeating the claim he won the popular vote in the election, while Mueller gets closer and closer.

Whatever the truth, this has been a remarkable moment in Anglo-US relations, as I can't think of another time when a US President has been so disrespectful of our Prime Minister, and became a partisan supporter of such an extremist group as Britain First. In the context of events earlier this year some will add it to the list confirming his preference for White Supremacist groups over others, or claim he is messaging his core voters, but I now wonder if even these voters are becoming tired of the routine tactic of 'stoking the fire' when in reality it does not produce anything that can be pointed to as an achievement. I don't suppose most Americans care one way or the other who Britain First is and like the President who tweeted the wrong Theresa May before having a second go, know little about Theresa May, but there used to be at least some sense of decency in the US-UK relationship, whether it is a 'special' one or not. That has ended. The US has abandoned human rights, and far from promoting democracy around the world, is tacked on to the tails of anti-democratic dictatorships and autocracies the President approves of, either because they give him money, or because their leaders 'get things done'. The only thought that gives comfort is that this idiot will one day leave the White House and never return, the sooner the better.

[broncofan]

http://thehill.com/homenews/media/36...e-has-dementia

Take this with a few giant tablespoons of salt, but we have no way of evaluating it. His judgment is bad, his speech has changed over the years, but whether he has dementia or how quickly he's deteriorating, I don't know. Just thought it was interesting if Scarborough has heard that from people close to Trump.

[Stavros]

Whether or not the President is literally or metaphorically demented, the important thing for me is the varied reaction to the re-tweets and the extent to which those responsible have dodged the key element in all this. I understand that for the British government the anxiety lies with those productive relationships with the USA in security and intelligence matters, NATO and politics at that level, which they do not want to undermine by becoming more involved with a dispute over tweets -I suspect May and her advisers just dismiss this as typical of the moron in the White House about which they can do nothing until he goes.

But when the BBC interviews the official cretin Sebastian Gorka or the tv channels and radio bring on Ann Coulter or apologists like the southern lady Mosbacher or Sarah Sanders, it is clear their agenda is skewed toward their definition of 'Islamst terrorism'. But the real impact is not Islam at all, but the extent to which fringe groups on the right have been empowered to the extent that they see the President as their ally, a situation that would have been unthinkable before, the only conceivable parallel being Regan's visit to Bitburg in 1985.

So Jada Fransen's twitter account has grown and she has appealed directly to the President to help her in her court case, while the American extremists like Robert Spencer, the KKK and Breitbart have all used this to legitimize their toxic politics of hate. Indeed whe Robert Spencer is quoted on his website saying
“The real question is not whether this or that video is accurate, but whether there is a problem with jihad terror and Islamic supremacism in Britain and elsewhere.”
-The words are almost identical to those used by the President's spokesperson Sarah Sanders, exposing not a gap between the Presidency and White Supremacists, but just how close to each other they are.

And thus we reach a point where the truth is no longer relevant, that a broader campaign is under-way that will use all and any means necessary to broadcast its message, in this case facilitated by a country that used to defend democracy and human rights. What else can explain this garbage? -
Perhaps most alarmingly, the outpouring of Islamophobic remarks triggered by the US president was not confined to the extreme margins of public life. The unofficial fan page for Judge Jeanine Pirro, the Fox News and NBC celebrity, was also full of toxic comments praising Trump and warning Britain that it was about to become a Muslim state.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...ht-racism-hate

[broncofan]

I agree with every word here...the dementia thing is at this point a frivolous side note, but in no way removes culpability or even explains the bigoted vituperation emanating from his twitter account. The Britain First scandal does explain the de-sensitizing effect that his behavior has on the American public, as it is almost as though we are taking cues on how appalling his behavior is from the international reaction. We have seen behavior like this that pushes the norms on an almost daily basis, from Muslim-bashing to bashing of Hispanics, to attacks on free press, to sentencing recommendations on twitter, to other attacks on the judiciary, to attacks on the independence of the justice department. For the British, the Britain First party is a known entity and so maybe the shock is immediate...there is no testing of norms or process of wondering whether there is accountability for the man's words and actions.

Later today I'm going to read about Flynn, which surely is part of the next news cycle on Trump.

[buttslinger]

Step back and look at this mess.
Every other Nation in the World has downgraded our standing, except Russia and Saudi Arabia,
I remember Reagan had full blown Alzheimers his last year in office, and nobody noticed,
but in Trump's case, he really does believe he's the only one who matters, he's said so.
Dementia is like the fifth worst flaw in his head.......
I can only hope, here on my 3,000th post, that the childlike nature of the months leading up to the election left childlike easy to unover mistakes, and Gen Mikey J Flynn is singing like a caged canary.
I don't think Bob Mueller wants to be a "player" in all this, but you gotta figure he's the guy right in the middle conducting not only the investigation, but real-time events happening in the Halls of Congress. There has to be a certain amount of red blooded personal revulsion he feels for Trump and what's he's done to his beloved FBI. I hope so.

[bluesoul]

michael flynn just pled guilty to lying the F.B.I. what else does anyone need to realize this idiot in charge is fucking retarded?

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/01/u...stigation.html

[broncofan]

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/01/o...takeaways.html

This is another new york times article, but a slightly less factual article and more of a legal analysis. The article argues that in addition to the lying to the fbi charges, there is other leverage against Flynn out there. As a result, he is going to be very cooperative with Mueller. What he has to offer Mueller (in addition to info on Kushner) is that Trump himself directed him to make contact with the Russians to basically conduct foreign policy to undermine a sitting President. There is also more evidence in this vein that Flynn interfered with U.S. foreign policy respecting the UN resolution against Israel for illegal settlements.

It also bolsters the obstruction charges against Trump if Flynn has direct information on them, we will no longer have to speculate on Trump's state of mind when he spoke to Comey or his confession to Lester Holt. Instead, we will have an accuser, a man who he reportedly obstructed justice on behalf of.

Therefore, no email evidence, no financial deals, no underlying conspiracy, just good old-fashioned abuse of power and rogue foreign policy. It doesn't mean these other things aren't out there. But why shouldn't obstructing justice and undermining the foreign policy of a sitting President be enough for impeachment?

Edit: please don't respond to the last rhetorical question by reminding me of the Republican Congress...I very much appreciated the optimistic tone of this article.

[Stavros]

The BBC 2 Newsnight programme tonight claimed that there were only three people on the transition team higher than Flynn: the President-Elect, the Vice-President Elect, and Jared Kushner. The latter is already rumoured to be about to board the bus back to New York, Tillerson also in the process of being 'let go' before or after Christmas. But can this shambles be dismissed as the work of amateurs? Surely a transition team is given clear legal advice on what it can and cannot do. Also, Obama was explicit- he advised the President-Elect not to give Flynn a job, which suggests the FBI/CIA had concerns about him. That the President-Elect ignored the advice is precisely an example of resentment trumping reason, because anything Obama said was wrong, though it turns out he was right all along. Yet again, it is the lies, and the ease with which people in positions of authority tell them that undermines their legitimacy. And we are still just scratching the surface.