Trump's Card

[Tubby Isaacs]

Or, more accurately, Flake - like Corker, Ryan, Gowdy and others - wants to take over the disgusting party as soon as Trump has gone and doesn't want to piss off his future constituency.

Flake and Corker have surely said too much, not that talk gets anybody anywhere.

[ursus arctos]

WOM, erm, no.

Trump’s speech in 1987 forecast exactly the worldview that would catapult him to surprise GOP front-runner status in this year’s race. His speech was nativist and isolationist, an angry, gloomy rant about America losing out in a dangerous world. His message of failure—American failure—has been remarkably constant since that moment 28 years ago, with one twist: Back then, the sitting president wasn’t Barack Obama. It was Ronald Reagan.

[Lurgee]

Abe Lincoln:

"Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia, and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth (our own excepted) in their military chest, with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer. If it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us; it cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."

Eh, he could write pretty, that Lincoln.

[Amor de Cosmos]

"We stand now in the midst of a severe mental epidemic... a sort of black death of degeneration and hysteria, and it is natural that we should ask anxiously: "What is to come next?" — Max Nordau, 1895

[Lang Spoon]

I just want some last month in the job hack to straight out ask him if he’s got syph. In the words of that beautiful bastard LBJ, let’s see the fucker deny it.

[Wouter D]

the USA will cease to exist as a democracy before 2020...

This is in future tense because?

[ursus arctos]

[tee rex]

It's the reaction of the non-political that always intrigues me. A standard news report on the latest Trump fart will say something like "The President made the comments at a White House ceremony, where he was honouring the firefighters of Peoria / handing out high school spelling awards (etc)".

The ceremonial aspect of the Head of State requires public acceptance. (Of course it's conveniently left to the royals and Governor-Generals in our enlightened monarchies). And there are these clips of him saying "Mexicans smell bigly!" and an audience of worthy citizens standing there, smiling or looking unconcerned. Because they're in the White House! Cool!

I know there have been some boycotts, but still ... do they vet these people first? Does meeting the President override everything else? The seal, the tune, the setting, the portraits ... OK, OK, I'll accept the invitation. Close your ears and pretend it's Martin Sheen. Is that how it works?

[ursus arctos]

He does far less of that than any of his predecessors, much preferring preaching to the faithful at his “rallies” and hanging out with his enablers in Palm Beach or Bedminister.

To the extent that he does White House photo ops, the attendees are usually limited to true believers and/or those who benefit directly from the measure being promoted.

[Femme Folle]

I wish he had done this "Summit" a year ago.

[Nefertiti2]

https://twitter.com/ScottMStedman/status/1018961456098828289

[tee rex]

I just love this perfect illustration of Republican wishful thinking (or wind pissing):

South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, practically begged Trump’s team to drill this [evidence of interference] into the president’s head.

“I am confident former CIA Director and current Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, DNI Dan Coats, Ambassador Nikki Haley, FBI Director Chris Wray, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and others,” Gowdy said in a statement, “will be able to communicate to the President it is possible to conclude Russia interfered with our election in 2016 without delegitimizing his electoral success.” (Slate.com)

Of course you are, Trey.

[anton pulisov]

I'm not sure if there is much to the whole Russia thing and the Democratic red scare has been somewhat vomit inducing.

Having said that... My god Trump is a fucking idiot of the first order isn't he.

[N est à?]

Is that the royal we, WOM?

[delicatemoth]

OK, I'm really baffled now. What did Trump do yesterday that was so terrible? Why is everybody so vexed about this election interference stuff? Don't the US and other countries do that sort of thing routinely?

All the people screaming about 'treason' can do one, this isn't the 15th century.

EDIT - to be clear, there was nothing like this level of outrage regarding voter suppression in the 2016 Presidential election. That still seems a far bigger deal to me than Russia (or anyone) working in the interests of the candidate(s) they like best. A lot of the response now seems to be little more than "B-b-b-but RUUUUUUUSSSSSSSSIIIIIIIIAAAAAA!"

[Flynnie]

Russia is a perfect way to deflect any criticism of Hillary Clinton. Simple as that.

[anton pulisov]

While Putin is undoubtedly a piece of work, I'm quite uncomfortable about how many leading US politicians are referring to him as "the enemy". The world really doesn't need this kind of talk from one nuclear superpower to another.

Trump admires strong man leader types and loves to flatter them. Look at all the nice things he said about Duterte. He also is convinced that the US security establishment is against him and part of the imagined fake news conspiracy that wants to take him down. He put his foot in his mouth again yesterday. It's what he does. If he wasn't so fucking stupid he wouldn't have said what he said. But all his life he has said whatever the fuck he wants just to be a contrary bastard, the symbiotic media played along for the 'ratings' and it always worked out for him. So why would he change tack at age 71?

[ad hoc]

I'd say that the Russian thing is seen as the best way they can find to bring Trump down. It's clear already that him being a proto fascist is not constitutionally an issue which they can get him out on but the apparent fact that Putin has leverage over Trump and influenced the election in his favour is the thing they can use to get rid of him and make everything go back to normal.

I actually don't think it's what Flynnie thinks. I don't think it's especially enlightened, because a good democratic party would be using trump to highlight the fact that the system is utterly broken, not that he is an aberration.

[anton pulisov]

Isn't that essentially what Flynnie implied though? If one assumes that Hillary is a part of the broken system.

[MsD]

Putin is not or should not be "the enemy". However the narrative as pushed by Trump fans is that Russia and US have been on a war-like footing for years, but that Trump, uniquely, is building bridges.

[WOM]

Is that the royal we, WOM?

Ah! Dammit.

[NHH]

What Ad Hoc said. Corey Robin had a good piece in which he said:

Confronting the indecent Nixon, Roth imagines a better McCarthy. Confronting the indecent Trump, he imagines a better Nixon. At no point does he recognize that he’s been fighting the same monster all along — and losing. Overwhelmed by the monster he’s currently facing, sure that it is different from the monster no longer in view, Roth loses sight of the surrounding terrain. He doesn’t see how the rehabilitation of the last monster allows the front line to move rightward, the new monster to get closer to the territory being defended.

[ursus arctos]

I also agree with ad hoc's analysis, but don't discount how strongly "Russia" is seen as a Get Out of Jail Free card for many responsible for HRC's disaster of a campaign. This was especially obvious in early 2017, where it was being pushed incessantly by the Daous and Reines of this world.

[Tubby Isaacs]

I also agree with ad hoc's analysis, but don't discount how strongly "Russia" is seen as a Get Out of Jail Free card for many responsible for HRC's disaster of a campaign. This was especially obvious in early 2017, where it was being pushed incessantly by the Daous and Reines of this world.

Things have moved on a bit since 2017, haven't they?

[ursus arctos]

Not for them, unfortunately