The 45th POTUS - Donald J. Trump

[bune]

At first glance, reporting on this seems oddly limited to mostly right wing media.

That's not a very good spy ship if we found it.

[McParadigm]

At first glance, reporting on this seems oddly limited to mostly right wing media.

That's not a very good spy ship if we found it.

This actually happens frm time to time (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/ ... atic-talks). What makes it interesting are:

A. The timing
B. Right wing media leading the pack in headlining it

[Bi_3]

I'm not sure it's really opinion. The Trump administration knew about that Flynn had mischaracterized the call since last month. He stayed in the position until yesterday. They expressed support for him until basically yesterday afternoon. They weren't going to do anything about it until public pressure made that no longer an option. If they were going to do something about it, they would have done it when they found out he had lied about the call.

Or the FBI was still investigating. Or waiting for an intelligence briefing on why the spooks were allowed to listen in on an American citizen's call (FISA warrant?) and what else might be there. Or any of 1 million other things. No one here has any idea what is going on behind those doors. My point is not that Flynn deserves the benefit of the doubt, he should never have been nominated and god help us if Pertraeus is the replacement, but this thread is reaching FreePer levels of rapidly spit internet rumors and see what sticks, so maybe let's try and keep the primary sourced facts separate from what we wish they were.

Eh, maybe. I'd say that arguing that the administration was acting on the merits when they knew about the mischaracterization for weeks and only canned Flynn after all the details got leaked to the public is giving them a fairly massive benefit of the doubt. I can't really blame anyone if they're not willing to do the same, given this admin's awfully loose relationship with honesty thus far.

fair point. Maybe I am just suffering from 'fucking sick of this administration already' syndrome.

[wease]

At first glance, reporting on this seems oddly limited to mostly right wing media.

That's not a very good spy ship if we found it.

This actually happens frm time to time (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/ ... atic-talks). What makes it interesting are:

A. The timing
B. Right wing media leading the pack in headlining it

Weren't they testing missiles yesterday?

[Strat]

Everything is going exactly as expected for a Trump administration.

what a shit show

Walter Shaub, the director of the ethics office, wrote in a letter to the White House that there is "strong reason to believe" Conway violated ethics standards and that disciplinary action is warranted. He suggested that the White House open an investigation.

[wease]

Everything is going exactly as expected for a Trump administration.

what a shit show

Walter Shaub, the director of the ethics office, wrote in a letter to the White House that there is "strong reason to believe" Conway violated ethics standards and that disciplinary action is warranted. He suggested that the White House open an investigation.

Boy, they're on the ball, aren't they?

Of course she violated ethics standards. She's shilling products for the president's daughter who may or may not be an official WH staffer.

[wease]

I missed Comey announcing his retirement this AM.

[Birds in Hell]

There have been 45 executive orders or presidential memoranda signed, which may seem like a lot but lags President Barack Obama’s pace. More crucially, with the notable exception of the travel ban, almost none of these orders have mandated much action or clear change of current regulations. So far, Trump has behaved exactly like he has throughout his previous career: He has generated intense attention and sold himself as a man of action while doing little other than promote an image of himself as someone who gets things done.

Trump poses a challenge to decades of tradition and precedent. He is masterful as conflating words and actions in a way that enrages and alarms his opponents and exhilarates and excites his supporters. It’s more important than ever to distinguish what is from what isn’t. Understanding the difference between what this president says and what he does is one of the only things that will keep our public debate from plunging ever deeper into the hall of mirrors.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/ ... ing-214775

Good article with some perspective.

This is great, Strat - very worthwhile reading.

[McParadigm]

I missed Comey announcing his retirement this AM.

You mean the secret service guy (Clancy)?

[McParadigm]

(CNN)Republican Sen. Rand Paul said Tuesday an investigation into the resignation of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn would be excessive and it would not make sense to investigate other Republicans.

"I just don't think it's useful to be doing investigation after investigation, particularly of your own party. We'll never even get started with doing the things we need to do, like repealing Obamacare, if we're spending our whole time having Republicans investigate Republicans. I think it makes no sense."

[Strat]

(CNN)Republican Sen. Rand Paul said Tuesday an investigation into the resignation of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn would be excessive and it would not make sense to investigate other Republicans.

"I just don't think it's useful to be doing investigation after investigation, particularly of your own party. We'll never even get started with doing the things we need to do, like repealing Obamacare, if we're spending our whole time having Republicans investigate Republicans. I think it makes no sense."

Fuck you rand paul

Dan Rather

Watergate is the biggest political scandal of my lifetime, until maybe now. It was the closest we came to a debilitating Constitutional crisis, until maybe now. On a 10 scale of armageddon for our form of government, I would put Watergate at a 9. This Russia scandal is currently somewhere around a 5 or 6, in my opinion, but it is cascading in intensity seemingly by the hour. And we may look back and see, in the end, that it is at least as big as Watergate. It may become the measure by which all future scandals are judged. It has all the necessary ingredients, and that is chilling.

When we look back at Watergate, we remember the end of the Nixon Presidency. It came with an avalanche, but for most of the time my fellow reporters and I were chasing down the story it rumbled along with a low-grade intensity. We never were quite sure how much we would find out about what really happened. In the end, the truth emerged into the light, and President Nixon descended into infamy.

This Russia story started out with an avalanche and where we go from here no one really knows. Each piece of news demands new questions. We are still less than a month into the Trump Presidency, and many are asking that question made famous by Tennessee Senator Howard Baker those many years ago: "What did the President know, and when did he know it?" New reporting suggests that Mr. Trump knew for weeks. We can all remember the General Michael Flynn's speech from the Republican National Convention - "Lock her up!" in regards to Hillary Clinton. If Hillary Clinton had done one tenth of what Mr. Flynn had done, she likely would be in jail. And it isn't just Mr. Flynn, how far does this go?

The White House has no credibility on this issue. Their spigot of lies - can't we finally all agree to call them lies - long ago lost them any semblance of credibility. I would also extend that to the Republican Congress, who has excused away the Trump Administration's assertions for far too long.

We need an independent investigation. Damn the lies, full throttle forward on the truth. If a scriptwriter had approached Hollywood with what we are witnessing, he or she would probably have been told it was way too far-fetched for even a summer blockbuster. But this is not fiction. It is real and it is serious. Deadly serious. We deserve answers and those who are complicit in this scandal need to feel the full force of justice.

[BurtReynolds]

Ugh it's impossible to read that without hearing Dan rather's obnoxious, haughty voice. Stay retired, corporate news ass clown.

[Norah]

But what about the words he actually said?

[Jorge]

Sounds a bit excessive

[McParadigm]

The "all over the map" Republican response reportedly comes down to a lack of party leadership. White House can't really set the strategy here, Ryan and others pushing perserverence while others are starting to fear disaster. No one wants to put themselves too far out there.

[Norah]

Even if you read it in that voice?

[BurtReynolds]

But what about the words he actually said?

Does he ever say anything of substance? It's just the opinion of an actor (he was always trying to channel Walter Cronkite but failing). And if Watergate was a 9, then we've had a dozen 10s since then. No president would resign over another Watergate these days.

Basically what I'm saying is: Dan rather sucks and Tom Brokaw rules.

[Strat]

Shut up burt

[BurtReynolds]

Shut up burt

Even Ted Koppel pwns Dan "I suck balls" Rather.

[wease]

I missed Comey announcing his retirement this AM.

You mean the secret service guy (Clancy)?

Yes.