Trump's Card

[Satchmo Distel]

There seems to be uncertainty as to whether Trump has to comply while his appeal is in process.

[ursus arctos]

There is no way he will, and I would be very surprised if any court compelled him to do so.

[ursus arctos]

And the court just stayed implementation of its order pending appeal, which is not at all unusual or unexpected.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

yeah, his brain may be turning to paste in his head, but he keeps saying "You should check out Mike Pence's calls to the Ukraine, which were all perfect." which sounds like "Enjoy serving under president pelosi impeachment traitors" to me.

[anton pulisov]

The strategy is to manufacture reality, undermine truth and facts as a cloak for abuse of power, and to get enough people to either believe or play along.

Sounds like a bog standard US government, to be honest.

[Incandenza]

The president is On One today

[URL]https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1181232249821388801[/URL]

[Sporting]

The president is On One today

[URL]https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1181232249821388801[/URL]

That can't be the real McCoy, surely?!

[WOM]

Is this what a breakdown looks like? I witnessed one once, and it looked a lot like this...

[ursus arctos]

Do you believe the FT?

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https://www.ft.com/content/b2cfd37a-...0-3b065ef5fc55

Writing on Twitter on Monday, Mr Trump acknowledged that Kurdish fighters had fought with the US, but said that they “were paid massive amounts of money and equipment to do so”. “They have been fighting Turkey for decades,” he added. But later, he seemed to accompany his green light with a warning: “If Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey,” he tweeted.

[caja-dglh]

Remember back when we wondered how to tell which tweets were Donald versus his handlers?

[Amor de Cosmos]

According to AdeC jr that tweet was just read out in the HoC.

[Guy Profumo]

That can't be the real McCoy, surely?!

God willing. We will prevail. In peace and freedom from fear and in true health.

[Lang Spoon]

Well if this isn't 25th Amdt stuff nothing is.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Yeah, you'd think so. But how many in Congress have the balls or the conscience to demand it.

[Guy Profumo]

Can they not just apply the Paul Merton doctrine?

[Lang Spoon]

This means??

[Guy Profumo]

Get someone who is a comedian to denounce him as being, and I quote, "bonkers in the nut"

[ursus arctos]

Just to be clear, Congress has no role in the activation of the 25th Amendment.

And given that the Cabinet has been increasingly reduced to absolute loyalists willing to "go down with the ship", it seems even less likely than it did in the first half of his term.

[The Awesome Berbaslug!!!]

Are any of them permanent appointees?

[Amor de Cosmos]

Just to be clear, Congress has no role in the activation of the 25th Amendment.

And given that the Cabinet has been increasingly reduced to absolute loyalists willing to "go down with the ship", it seems even less likely than it did in the first half of his term.

Given the turnover in cabinet positions over the past three years, (see link below) I wonder how loyalty is measured? Also you know what they say about rats and sinking ships.

[ursus arctos]

Loyalty is measure by fealty to the leader. Nothing else is relevant.

And no matter how bad it gets, I don't see it reaching Pence plus a majority of the Cabinet, which is what the Constitution requires. If a majority of the GOP Senators somehow turn, I see resignation as being more likely than either conviction following impeachment or resort to the amendment.

TAB, there aren't as many acting Cabinet members as you might think. Most of the turnover has been in non-Cabinet posts like Chief of Staff, National Security Advisor, DNI etc.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Who could convince him to resign though? Who does he genuinely listen to... Ivanka?

[ursus arctos]

Mebbe. Mebbe Hannity or donors like Adelson and the oil and coal guys.

But my calculus is based on him preferring resignation to impeachment and removal or the 25th Amendment.

Though it is true that his increasingly extensive legal exposure after leaving office should not be discounted.

[anton pulisov]

There's always continuity with the past but I think it would be hard to view the Trump administration as just more of the same. It's hard to encapsulate, but there's much more denying facts that are already known as opposed to suppressing facts that deserve to be known.

I dunno, this far into his own first term, Bush II had already killed a few hundred thousand Iraqis off the back of a complete lie.

[Satchmo Distel]

Bush at least pretended to be nation-building whereas Trump is burning down every territory that has a Muslim in it, unless it's controlled by someone he can bribe (or can bribe him).

Bush had some Muslim alliances; Trump has the Saudis (honorary whites in his perverse worldview) and...?