T1B

88 wrote:
Trump has balls. A firing like this should be done at 4:45 on Friday night before a three-day weekend, when 2/3's of the country goes on a bender. Not on a Tuesday afternoon. Orange honeybadger, that mofo.

88 wrote: A firing like this should be done at 4:45 on Friday night before a three-day weekend, when 2/3's of the country goes on a bender. Not on a Tuesday afternoon. Orange honeybadger, that mofo.

88 wrote:A firing like this should be done at 4:45 on Friday night before a three-day weekend, when 2/3's of the country goes on a bender. Not on a Tuesday afternoon.

Goober McTuber wrote:If Trump decided to fire Comey for the way he handled Hillary's email kerfluffle, he logically would have fired him in January. But of course there's nothing terribly logical about our Embarrassment in Chief.

The White House just can't get its story straight about why President Trump decided to fire FBI Director James Comey.

When the move was initially announced -- just before 6 p.m. ET on Tuesday night -- the White House pointed to a memo written by deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein that made the case that Comey had lost support of the organization with his handling of the investigation into the private email server maintained by Hillary Clinton.

"I cannot defend the Director's handling of the conclusion of the investigation of Secretary Clinton's emails, and I do not understand his refusal to accept the nearly universal judgment that he was mistaken," wrote Rosenstein. "Almost everyone agrees that the Director made serious mistakes; it is one of the few issues that unites people of diverse perspectives."

From the jump, it seemed odd that Comey's actions in and around the Clinton email server investigation were the impetus for this move. After all, while Trump had been openly critical of the Director's decision not to bring charges against Clinton, he had also heaped praise on Comey when the investigation was re-opened in late October due to the discovery of another trove of emails.

"It took guts for director Comey to make the move that he made," Trump said of Comey's decision at an Oct. 31 rally. "It took a lot of guts."

As Tuesday turned to Wednesday, the story coming out of the White House began to change. Trump himself said after a photo op with, wait for it, Henry Kissinger, that Comey had been let go "because he wasn't doing a good job."

Later, deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that the real reason for Comey's dismissal was the "atrocities" he had committed against the chain of command by openly acknowledging in Congressional testimony last week that he had not told the attorney general -- Loretta Lynch at the time -- what he would say on July 5 when he announced his findings in the Clinton case.

So, which is it? And did Trump, who huddled with Rosenstein on Monday, ask the deputy attorney general to write a memo to justify the firing? Or did Rosenstein do it of his own accord without Trump's knowledge? (There are conflicting reports on that coming out of the White House.) And did Trump turn on Comey relatively recently -- maybe starting with his testimony to Congress on May 3 -- or had he been considering getting rid of Comey from the first day of his presidency as Huckabee Sanders said? (There are conflicting reports on that too.)

What the ever-changing stories trying to explain why Trump did what he did suggest is that no one either knows or wants to talk about the real reason that Trump moved on Comey.

And that reason appears to be, according to scads of reporting in CNN and elsewhere, that Trump was angry at Comey -- for not being enough of a company man, for seemingly undercutting his 2016 victory, for dismissing the ideas that President Obama had surveilled him in the campaign, for continuing to push on the Russia investigation when Trump wanted him to spend more time on the number of leaks coming out of the intelligence agencies.

This line, from a piece by CNN's Jeff Zeleny and John King, is particularly revealing:

"Several people familiar with the decision say the President grew increasingly frustrated at Comey after his congressional hearing last Wednesday when he testified that he was 'mildly nauseous' over the idea that he helped sway the election."

Trump, we know, spends a lot of time talking about and thinking about his 2016 election victory. And nothing makes him angrier than when he believes someone is trying to either lessen or take credit for what he accomplished in that race. That, in Trump's mind, is the one unforgivable sin.

The firing of an FBI director is always going to be a big deal that merits explanation. That the White House has offered so many -- and they all appear to be either contradictory, half true or misinformed -- makes this an even bigger deal.

Why? Because, as of right now, it appears that the president of the United States fired the director of the FBI because he was angry at him for not doing exactly what Trump wanted him to do. And that should be very concerning. To everyone. Other than drooling mongoloids like Sirgulpaload.

Sirfindafold wrote:

sigh,

sin,

mikey, mcgoober and bsmacked

.

Donald Trump promised a White House like no other when he pulled the biggest upset in presidential history to become the 44th man to hold the job. Man has he delivered.

From his Twitter feed to his dinner guests (Ted Nugent, Kid Rock and Sarah Palin -- all in one night!), the Trump White House has looked, and run, like nothing we've ever seen before.

But, even by Trump's standards, the last 24 hours has been surreal. In fact, the last day feels more like a reality TV show -- storyline twists and turns, surprise guest appearances -- than it does anything resembling a semi-normal day in political Washington.

Let's start with the present moment and then rewind.

The White House press pool was called into the Oval Office just before noon eastern time for what they expected to be a photo op between Trump and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov since the two men were scheduled to huddle earlier today.

But it wasn't Lavrov they found sitting with the president! It was Henry Kissinger, best known for his role as Secretary of State to President Richard Nixon!

Reporters asked Trump about the firing of FBI Director James Comey. Trump responded, briefly, that Comey was simply "not doing a good job." It was apparently lost on Trump that the last 16 hours had been dominated by comparisons between Nixon's "Saturday Night Massacre" -- where he jettisoned the independent counsel investigating Watergate -- and Trump's decision to part ways with Comey. Either that or Trump was pulling the greatest troll move ever by having Kissinger there when he took his first questions from reporters about the Comey firing. (I'm not ready to rule that option out.)

Speaking of Lavrov, he didn't make the Kissinger photo op but that doesn't mean we didn't see him. Shortly after the meeting with Trump, the Russian news agency TASS put out a series of pictures of the gathering. But, wait! There was a special guest with them.

In the event you have been under a pile of coats for the last 2 years or so, the guy next to Trump is Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. Yes, the same Sergey Kislyak at the center of the FBI investigation into deposed national security adviser Michael Flynn. (Flynn lied to Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of his conversations with Kislyak.) And, yes, the same Sergey Kislyak who Attorney General Jeff Sessions forgot he had met with -- twice -- during the 2016 presidential campaign, a memory lapse that led him to recuse himself from the ongoing Russia investigation.

Before meeting with Kislyak and Lavrov -- and Kissinger -- Trump was watching cable TV. And lots of it. He tapped out a series of tweets regarding Comey and the way the firing was being covered beginning with this one right at 7:10 a.m. ET: "The Democrats have said some of the worst things about James Comey, including the fact that he should be fired, but now they play so sad!"

The Trump Twitter barrage, which included several more tweets about Comey as well as a trio of tweets attacking Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal, came to an end at 8:57 a.m. with this missile aimed at CNN: "The Roger Stone report on @CNN is false - Fake News. Have not spoken to Roger in a long time - had nothing to do with my decision."

(Trump has previously insisted he doesn't watch CNN because it is "fake news." He apparently has reconsidered that decision. Welcome back, Mr. President!)

Then, finally, go back to 6 p.m. ET last night when Trump shocked the world -- and, apparently, much of his administration and Congress -- when he jettisoned Comey with a letter hand-delivered to the FBI by his former bodyguard. (That sentence, in and of itself, is surreal.) The letter, which was four short paragraphs, included this amazing line: "While I greatly appreciate you informing me, on three separate occasions, that I am not under investigation, I nevertheless concur with the judgment of the Department of Justice that you are not able to effectively lead the Bureau."

If Aaron Sorkin had written a "West Wing" episode with this many twists and turns, misdirections and shocking surprises, everyone in the writer's room would have rolled their eyes. Except this isn't a drama; it's real life. Or maybe reality life.

Welcome to the Trump White House.

BSmack wrote:Meanwhile POTUS wants to party like it's 1963.

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/ ... rs/526386/

schmick wrote:

Papa Willie wrote:Last week, liberals were wanting to have Comey executed. This week they want his cock buried in their shit vents.

Weird.

Exactly, Trump could cure cancer and the dimocucks would bitch about population

88 wrote:Its a catapult, right? Catapults were invented about 400 years before Poppie's hero got skewered.

I'm not saying that Trump's decision to shit-can an electromagnetic launch system for aircraft is a good idea or not. I don't know so much about such things.

But I do know that complexity breeds failure. And failure during war is usually a bad, bad thing.

Furthermore, I am not aware of high failure rates of steam-driven aircraft catapults. Is this some sort of problem that has been plaguing U.S. aircraft carriers since WWII?

Another thing I know is that the Pentagon is a god-damned money wasting good old boy's network. If you want to get pissed, read about Palantir (long read, but very interesting):

http://fortune.com/palantir-pentagon-trump/

The DOD is a great place to start draining the swamp. And electromagnetic catapult systems might just be the tip of the iceberg.

88 wrote:I'm not sure what to make of this. The Dims wanted Comey's ass for his handling of the Clinton e-mail debacle. But now they are going to cry foul. The Repukes will want someone from their team who can be "trusted" to support the entrenched Establishment, and will thus hate whatever schmuck Trump trots out. More theater.

Trump has balls. A firing like this should be done at 4:45 on Friday night before a three-day weekend, when 2/3's of the country goes on a bender. Not on a Tuesday afternoon. Orange honeybadger, that mofo.

Papa Willie wrote:Oh how precious! The lil' bitter midget's back!

Sirfindafold wrote:Trump did it just so we could watch the limp-wristed, pussy-hat wearing, snowflake liberals like mikey, McGoober, sucmonkey, diego, screwey, etc....etc... melt.

Thank you Mr. President




good times.

Papa Willie wrote:Now do me a favor. Take a look at his Twitter page (https://twitter.com/CillizzaCNN?ref_src ... r%5Eauthor), and then tell me if you think he's biased to the left or right.

Papa Willie wrote:

Goober McTuber wrote:

Papa Willie wrote:Now do me a favor. Take a look at his Twitter page (https://twitter.com/CillizzaCNN?ref_src ... r%5Eauthor), and then tell me if you think he's biased to the left or right.

You do me a favor and point out any glaring mistakes in what he wrote.

You don't see it, do you?

(CNN) — Like most little boys, Donald Trump can be disarmingly honest, as when he once said, "When I look at myself in the first grade and I look at myself now, I'm basically the same. The temperament is not that different." The trouble is that the first grader is now President of the United States, and his temperament is on display for the world to see.

Unpredictable, impulsive and immature, Trump acts in a way that would be expected of a 6-year-old boy, but is terrifying in a man whose moods dictate decisions carried out by adults on behalf of the most powerful nation in the world.

Trump's dismissal of FBI Director James Comey offers a sterling example of the childish -- and reckless -- Trump style. When Comey broke with bureau tradition and spoke negatively about Trump's rival in the election, though initially he was criticized by candidate Trump, he was later praised -- and effusively. Over and over again, the soon-to-be-president described how Comey had done the right thing in criticizing Hillary Clinton. Comey remained in Trump's good graces after he was inaugurated, and Trump's team expressed confidence in him up until last week.

As CNN's John King and Jeff Zeleny reported, the change in Trump's feelings about Comey were evident to a friend who spoke with him last weekend and noticed the President was "white hot" over Comey's recent testimony on Capitol Hill. Comey had said he felt "mildly nauseous" about the possibility of having affected the November election. This, and continued investigations into possible connections between Trump's associates and Russians who meddled in the election, were causing a presidential temper tantrum.

Like many a 6-year-old, the stewing President chose to act on his feelings. Within days he had signed a letter dismissing the director. But instead of doing the adult thing and firing Comey face-to-face, Trump sent his former personal bodyguard Keith Schiller to deliver it to Comey's office -- while Comey was away in Los Angeles.

Schiller's last star turn involved bullying newsman Jorge Ramos out of a Trump rally. Long a human security blanket for Trump, Schiller now hangs out at the White House. His appearance at FBI headquarters signaled that the buddies -- Trump and Schiller -- were in charge of this power play.

Like a boy who plays with matches and sets the back yard on fire, Trump has been surprised by the effects of his actions. He expected Democrats who resented Comey's election season performance to applaud the firing. Of course, this thinking ignores the fact that Comey was in charge of investigating Russia's influence on the election and very real concerns about providing stable leadership to the American people. The FBI is so vital an agency that directors receive 10-year appointments precisely because they shouldn't be fired on the basis of presidential pique.

In the aftermath of the President's incendiary act, we have seen the adults around him scramble to put out the fire. White House spokesman Sean Spicer reportedly met with his staff near bushes on the White House grounds while nearby reporters sought comment, and Kellyanne Conway was dispatched to offer on-air gobbledygook to CNN's Anderson Cooper. At one point, she complained to Cooper that people "are looking at the wrong set of facts."

The struggle of the administration officials tasked with cleaning up the Trump/Comey debacle resembled the frenzied effort of parents who do whatever they can to shield fellow diners when a child has a meltdown in a restaurant. They know they have lost control of the situation, but there's not much you can do once the meatball has sailed across the room and the spaghetti has been dumped on the floor.

White House officials have tried to cover the mess with shifting explanations. First it was a sudden loss of confidence. Next it was a long-simmering dissatisfaction. And, most recently, Trump told NBC's Lester Holt it was because Comey was a "showboat." But the equation doesn't add up.

Fortunately, the President himself, true to first grader form, can't help but give us clues to his process.

In his first tweet about the controversy, he taunted "Cryin' Chuck Schumer" and complained that the New York senator had gone from Comey critic to defender. Hours later he was at it again, tweeting that Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal "cried like a baby" during a previous and unrelated controversy. In the tweet, which was written as Blumenthal spoke on CNN, he called the senator "Richie" and said, "He should be the one who is investigated." Next he's going to say, "I'm rubber, you're glue..."

Watching Trump this week recalls the days when he was a tabloid sideshow in New York City, and his antics energized headline writers who couldn't get enough of his boy-in-daddy's suit behavior. In the most notable example, Trump became a source in the war of scoops over his divorce from his first wife Ivana.

But now the man is President, and he seems incapable of controlling his temper even if, in the long run, maturity would serve the country's interests. If you want proof, just consider the report from Time magazine on Trump's odd White House habits, including the fact that he got extra dessert when he dined with the magazine's writer. A grown-up, upon getting two scoops of ice cream when others at the table only received one, would quickly fill his companions' dishes. A child, who sees every moment as an opportunity to demonstrate he is the special boy, would, as Trump did, just wolf it down.

The solution to the problem posed by the fact that we have a first grader in the Oval Office lies in whatever systems exist to take decisions out of his hands. The courts have already acted to thwart him on his proposed ban on Muslim visitors to the United States, and Congress possesses the power to moderate other initiatives. Next must come special counsel to run the Russia investigation, who could be appointed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

Rosenstein was the author of a critical memo that the White House is citing to justify Comey's dismissal. By all accounts, he is an adult who understands the need for a credible investigation of Russia's meddling in the 2016 election. He should act before he's hit by a meatball.

Goober McTuber wrote:Here's some more reading material for my fat, cognitively-challenged friend.

(CNN) — Like most little boys, Donald Trump can be disarmingly honest, as when he once said, "When I look at myself in the first grade and I look at myself now, I'm basically the same. The temperament is not that different." The trouble is that the first grader is now President of the United States, and his temperament is on display for the world to see.

Unpredictable, impulsive and immature, Trump acts in a way that would be expected of a 6-year-old boy, but is terrifying in a man whose moods dictate decisions carried out by adults on behalf of the most powerful nation in the world.

(CNN) — Donald Trump's latest crisis -- over his reported disclosure of highly classified information to Russia -- is giving voice to a question whispered privately in Washington during weeks of political turmoil: Is the President up to the job?

"This isn't really about the power of the President. He has the power to do this," former CIA Director Michael Hayden said on "CNN Tonight" Monday. "This is more about the person of the President and the performance."

The new storm engulfing an already beleaguered White House is so potentially damaging because it stretches far beyond the simple personal standing and reputation of the President.

The rumpus, first reported by The Washington Post, has national security, intelligence and international implications that White House attempts to knock down the story on Monday night conspicuously failed to address. It's even possible that lives could be at risk, considering that the information Trump reportedly shared was related to an ISIS terror plot against civil aviation -- currently the most urgent terrorist threat to the United States -- and emanated from a sensitive intelligence sharing agreement with a foreign agency.

Once again, the credibility of the White House political operation and the efforts of its communications operation to keep up with an inexperienced President's chaotic leadership style are on the line.

"We are seeing the results of him being a bit undisciplined, impulsive, instinctive and intuitive, little patience for preparation and little patience for process," said Hayden. "When he goes off script like this (it is) ultimately destructive of his own purposes."

Here's why:


1. The competence question

There are few commodities as important to presidents as a reputation for competence. Once public confidence in a commander-in-chief's capacity to do his job wanes, their political decline can be brutally swift, as President George W. Bush and Jimmy Carter could attest.

That's why this story may end up being so damaging to Trump.

Earlier uproars that buffeted the White House, over the President's inflammatory tweets and a litany of falsehoods over his inaugural crowd size, could be put down to Trump's idiosyncratic freewheeling style. Critics saw his firing of FBI Director James Comey as evidence of more worrying autocratic instincts.

But the report that Trump shared top secret information about an ISIS terror plot with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the Oval Office last Wednesday -- the morning after the Comey firing -- poses a more searching question about whether the President can be trusted with the gravest responsibilities that come with his office and whether he understands the implications of discussing America's most carefully guarded secrets with a US adversary.

As those questions rattled through Washington Monday night, the White House was in a bunker mentality. And even allies who have been supportive of the administration so far are now casting huge doubt on its credibility.

"They are in a downward spiral right now and have got to figure out a way to come to grips with all that's happening," said Republican Sen. Bob Corker, who is viewed as a sober and restrained influencer on Capitol Hill.

"The chaos that is being created by the lack of discipline is creating an environment that I think — it creates a worrisome environment," Corker said.

There is not much doubt that of all the dramas that have battered this administration, the new Russia intelligence saga is the most dramatic.

Alan Dershowitz, professor emeritus at Harvard University, said Trump is safe from criminal prosecution or impeachment because a President has the power to declassify intelligence.

But he offered a stunning assessment of the gravity of the situation.

"This is the most serious charge ever made against a sitting president of the United States. Let's not underestimate it," he told CNN's Erin Burnett.

But Trump hit back early Tuesday, implicitly dismissing arguments about his competence by arguing that he had made a strategic decision to share intelligence with his Oval Office guests.

"As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety. Humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism," Trump wrote on Twitter.

Former CIA Director Leon Panetta, however, told CNN's "New Day" that a lack of discipline by the President was causing him to make rash decisions.

"The President of the United States cannot just do or say or speak whatever the hell he wants. That's just irresponsible. So you need to have some people that sit down with the President before he goes into a meeting and say these are the lines you cannot cross because it relates to the security of our country," Panetta said.


2. The Intelligence angle

There have already been several reports that allied intelligence agencies, fearful of the administration's capacity to guard the most sensitive secrets, have been wary about sharing top secret information with the United States.

Those concerns are now likely to multiply.

The Washington Post said in its report, major details of which were confirmed by CNN, that Trump had told the Russians about information provided by a US partner agency in an intelligence-sharing agreement that was so sensitive details were withheld from allies and restricted even within the US government. The consequences of that could hardly be more serious, former CIA case officer Bob Baer told Burnett.

"The President, by revealing this to the Russians, has lost control of this information. It's going to go to the Syrians, It's going to go to the Iranians — Russian allies," Baer said.

"The ability to protect that source whoever he is, wherever he is has been seriously undermined ... If a CIA officer had revealed this information to the Russians, he would be fired instantly."

The White House on Monday blasted the reports as "false." National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said that Trump did not compromise any sources and methods.

But while the identity of the country that provided the US with the information is not publicly known, it is unlikely to be too hard for the Russians, with their highly sophisticated intelligence agencies, to work out where it came from. That leaves open the possibility that vital intelligence, key to protecting American lives, may not be available to US clandestine services in future.

Lawmakers and intelligence officials are already warning that disclosing this type of information could harm US efforts to counter an ISIS plot to place explosives in laptops and other electronic devices to evade airport security.


3. The political hit

One reason why Trump is so politically vulnerable to Monday's reports is that he anchored much of his campaign on lambasting Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton over her handling of classified information.

But now he appears to have acted in way that is just as much, if not more, injurious to American secrets as Clinton's private email scheme, exposing him to accusations of hypocrisy.

Republicans meanwhile are getting strung out by the constant chaos raging around the Trump presidency — and that they are constantly forced to address, to the detriment of their once-in-a-generation chance to use Republican majorities on Capitol Hill to enact a conservative agenda.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said sardonically Monday: "Can we have a crisis-free day? That's all I'm asking."

The big unknown for the White House is whether the latest Trump-triggered crisis is so significant that it wreaks political damage of greater magnitude than he has so far experienced.

It could be that the latest drama is so explosive that it opens up space between the administration and Republican leaders who have so far stood firm behind Trump. House Speaker Paul Ryan notably put out a statement seeking more information on Monday's development, but did not rush to back the President. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell kept his own counsel.

It's probably still too early to assess how the constant controversies impact Republican prospects heading into the 2018 midterm elections. But as the political calendar grinds through summer, vulnerable lawmakers may begin thinking of their own skins more than the fate of the Trump administration.

That point may not be here yet, but it will not be far off if things keep going badly for the White House.

The fast moving developments of Monday night into Tuesday also again called into question the credibility of the White House -- which was already compromised by its shifting explanations for the firing of Comey. Both McMaster and his deputy, Dina Powell, used the word "false" to describe the Post's reporting. Yet Trump's tweets appeared to validate at least parts of the story.


4. The Russia question

If suspicion was rampant in Washington about the President's links to Russia before, it is going to go into overdrive now.

Already the pictures of Lavrov and Kislyak yukking it up with Trump pointed to a political gaffe by the White House. Now, Democrats are using Trump's apparent intelligence lapse to renew calls for a special prosecutor to probe allegations of Russian election-meddling and possible collusion with the Trump campaign — and to hike pressure on Republicans on the issue.

"What we know is that it is a very, very serious threat to our national security and safety, and that's why my hope is that Republicans and Democrats will come together in favor of an independent investigation through a special prosecutor and through an independent commission," Connecticut Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal said Monday on CNN.

"Make no mistake: this kind of serious grave threat really requires a national response, putting country above politics."

At the very least, Monday's bombshell will renew intense curiosity about why Trump, unlike almost everyone else in Washington, does not seem to be as wary of Russia and its motives.

"It's the Russians -- we have been going through all this stuff," CNN senior political analyst David Gergen said. "Why is he giving information to the Russians of all people?"


5. The international angle

Monday's explosive disclosures erupted at a time when the President is preparing to take his first steps on the world stage. He will leave Friday for a trip to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Italy and Belgium.

That was always going to be an onerous test to such an inexperienced commander-in-chief. Now, Trump will be under even more intense pressure to counter perceptions abroad that he is out of his depth in the Oval Office and to reassure foreign leaders that America remains a force in the world under his leadership and can be relied upon to keep allies' secrets.

It is not just the reputation of the President himself that is on the line. The credibility of the United States, the most powerful nation in the world and the guarantor of Western security, is being publicly eroded.

Ultimately, it comes down to Trump himself and his attitude toward his job.

"He is very inexperienced, this is an absolutely new world to him," Hayden said. "If I fault him for anything, it's not that he's inexperienced -- he doesn't have humility in the face of his inexperience."

Papa Willie wrote:

Papa Willie wrote:Actually, it was the only picture of you & Goobs together that I had. All that grass is gonna fuck you up, buddy.

Derron wrote:

Sirfindafold wrote:Trump did it just so we could watch the limp-wristed, pussy-hat wearing, snowflake liberals like mikey, McGoober, sucmonkey, diego, screwey, etc....etc... melt.

Thank you Mr. President




good times.

At least is bodes well for the next 4 years of entertainment value watching the libs melt