This from the guy who has traveled to Florida what - every damn weekend since he's been in office?

Less than 24 hours left in the 30 days Trump promised to give "the generals" to get their plan to defeat ISIS to his desk.

 Red_Dragon wrote: 
Yes, that's how it starts.  It's also ironic how often he likes to use the term "fake news", since fake news substantially contributed to his being elected.

“The news is fake because so much of the news is fake,” 

This is some seriously fascist demagoguery folks.

How long can this go on?

 Red_Dragon wrote: 
Why is Trump so cosy with the Russians? This might help to explain it:

The Trump Organization also has significant financial ties to Russia. In a 2008 speech, Trump's son, Donald Trump, Jr., told a real estate conference: "Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/white-house-leaks-russia-michael-flynn-intelligence-five-eyes-1.3985073

Late-night perusal of my twitter feed ... just a sampling of his press conference Thursday. And a CL ad offering to pay people to go to a rally at the airport...


 
 

 ojibwe wrote: 
It's for realz? Pretty funny. A president can't make the press Go Away, so it's invariably a good idea to have at least a civil relationship with reporters. That survey feels like it was written in crayon by Sarah Palin, then edited by some long-suffering adult. 

"22. Do you believe that if Republicans were obstructing Obama like Democrats are doing to President Trump, the mainstream media would attack Republicans?" 



Republicans obstructing Obama?!? OMG that would never happen!

That question lost me in a maze of paranoia. Dick Nixon would surely approve. 



"25. Do you believe that our Party should spend more time and resources holding the mainstream media accountable?"

Our Party! Ein Land, ein Volk, ein Kombover! The journalists will be held accountable...in our camps! 
 

 ojibwe wrote: 
Careful you don't step in it.
 
 

 ScottFromWyoming wrote: 
That is a hot steaming mess. 

 Steely_D wrote: 
"He can't do better because of others' incompetence."

It's always going to be someone else's fault...until the shit really hits the fan and he can't credibly shift the blame. I think that'll be the point when things start collapsing for him. With Dubya it was Hurricane Katrina, which changed people's perspective on 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq.  


"A few minutes ago on FOX I heard the contention that the problem with the intelligence departments are the mid-level managers who aren't concerned with the Constitution, but with trying to set "trip wires" (really said that) designed to sabotage the current administration. The answer was to fire all mid-level intelligence personnel."


Apparently FOX isn't considering the federal regulations in place blocking the mass termination of employees for political reasons. It is troubling, though, that we didn't hear about the apparently numerous and lengthy contacts between Trump campaign personnel and Russian intelligence agents until after the election. But hey, Anthony Weiner apparently sexted an underage girl and there were Clinton campaign emails on his laptop and some of them might have been classified so we got to hear about that 10 days before the election because...tell me again why? 

A shame that Clinton didn't win, if only so we could see Comey get his ass fired so hard on Day 1.

When in the White House, the GOP typically tries to implicitly assert that the presidency is the primary repository of federal authority, and by extension the president as the embodiment of that authority enjoys powers and privileges not subject to the other branches of the government (aka the Imperial Presidency). Nixon tried that on during Watergate when he claimed that executive privilege allowed him to refuse the special prosecutor's demands for the White House tapes. Reagan tried to claim that Congress's attempt to force him to testify about the Iran-Contra scandal would demean the dignity of his office. Bush used a similar claim to testify privately about 9/11 (Uncle Dick was there with him during the testimony, no doubt to hold his hand and occasionally lend some needed coherence. IIRC they were allowed to testify without taking an oath). 

Trump is sorta trying that now in claiming that leaks about his campaign staff and Flynn are treasonous. The leaks are embarrassing to Trump, so they must be hostile to the presidency and therefore treasonous! Good luck with that reasoning. The Republicans are mostly trying to turn the controversy about a campaign's secret relations with Russia into a controversy about government leaks. That's not going to fly either. 

Trump’s weakness is the fault of the close relationship he, his campaign, and his supporters have had with Russia. The illicit conversation between Russia’s ambassador and former National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn about easing sanctions, as well as the recently uncovered conversations between members of President Trump’s staff and Russian intelligence during the campaign, have Trump’s administration on the defensive.

 ScottFromWyoming wrote: 
What the fuck was that? Holy cow. Pathetic.

Signed, Willis Bender

I promise you haven't had so many laughs as you will when you take the Trump/Pence Mainstream Media Accountability Survey. Use slippery.email for this one, folks.

Trump family’s elaborate lifestyle is a ‘logistical nightmare’ — at taxpayer expense

 kcar wrote: 
If failure, or at least clumsy inability, is the inevitable future there are two choices: "Sorry, but I did the wrong thing there. I'll try to do better."
or
"Everyone else is the problem here, and you can expect not much more from me since they're holding me back."

An example today, and we can certainly start a list: when he made the wrong statement about his electoral college vote count (a dead cat that he still swings around from three months ago), and was told he was wrong, he replies that he was "given that information." Him being wrong is someone else's fault.

With a nation on the upswing after the horrible W years, it's irrational to talk about the nation being a "mess." But it's his only out. He can't do better because of others' incompetence.

A few minutes ago on FOX I heard the contention that the problem with the intelligence departments are the mid-level managers who aren't concerned with the Constitution, but with trying to set "trip wires" (really said that) designed to sabotage the current administration. The answer was to fire all mid-level intelligence personnel.

An interesting, but ludicrous idea: bringing in a fresh intelligence team for each administration because the previous team is basically treasonous.

 black321 wrote: 
I wouldn't say that the media is over-analyzing Trump's comments. Like everyone else, the media is trying to divine the administration's agenda and policy positions. Normally at the beginning of a presidency, there's a fair amount of confusion as administration officials contradict each other or struggle to get on the same page. But with this administration, it's all flowing out of Trump's mouth, and he's saying mutually contradictory things about a policy from one day to the next. The chaotic, fact-dodging and Trump-centric spirit of this press conference was his presidency (so far) in a nutshell. 

And Republicans are getting antsy: 


G.O.P.’s Grand Visions for Congress Now Look Like a Mirage


WASHINGTON — Congressional Republicans, who craved unified control of the government to secure their aggressive conservative agenda, have instead found themselves on a legislative elliptical trainer, gliding toward nowhere.

...

At this point in Barack Obama’s presidency, when Democrats controlled Washington, Congress had passed a stimulus bill totaling nearly $1 trillion to address the financial crisis, approved a measure preventing pay discrimination, expanded a children’s health insurance program, and begun laying the groundwork for major health care and financial regulation bills. President George W. Bush came into office with a congressional blueprint for his signature education act, No Child Left Behind. 

...

The inactivity stems from a lack of clear policy guidance — and, just as often, contradictory messages — from the Trump administration, which does not appear to have spent the campaign and transition periods forming a legislative wish list. 

 

"I inherited a mess"—what a bunch of bull$hi^. Trump's the dumpster fire here. The man's head is filled with trash. 

 kurtster wrote: 
It's not clear what Comey's been up to - if he's just bumbling around or actually has some agenda (probably something in between).  Obviously, he's not supposed to divulge much about active investigations and all, but still, there does seem to be "something really wrong there".