Red Mosquito

Biff Pocoroba wrote:When I was younger it always seemed the Democrats were as organized as a herd of cats and that the Republicans at least had their crap together. But now, my goodness how the Republicans have become balkanized. Then again the GOP isn't exactly the party of St. Reagan anymore and certainly not the one I grew up with. Both parties are broken from the inside.

You're in such great shape

This is would make such a good 80's comedy.

Washington Post wrote:The challenge for President Trump’s attorneys has become, at its core, managing the unmanageable — their client.

He won’t follow instructions. After one meeting in which they urged Trump to steer clear of a certain topic, he sent a tweet about that very theme before they arrived back at their office.

He won’t compartmentalize. With aides, advisers and friends breezing in and out of the Oval Office, it is not uncommon for the president to suddenly turn the conversation to Russia — a subject that perpetually gnaws at him — in a meeting about something else entirely.

And he won’t discipline himself. Trump’s legal team, led by Marc E. Kasowitz of New York, is laboring to underscore the potential risk to the president if he engages without a lawyer in discussions with other people under scrutiny in widening Russia inquiries, including Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and senior adviser.

Ted Danson: At least we got him to stop talking about that one thing.
Steve Martin: We sure did.
Rick Moranis (offers phone): Uh, guys?

Soundtrack: oom, bow bow (chicka chicka)

What a weird person:

Is this a concerted effort by European leaders to fuck with Trump?

This link is to the White House's records of the public comments on Trump's voter integrity commission. May I draw your attention to Page 6: https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whiteh ... 1-2017.pdf

lol

How the hell did we miss this? From CNN, though reported elsewhere

President Donald Trump's long-promised border wall will have "openings" to see through, he said Wednesday night, acknowledging what his Homeland Security team has said is a necessary design feature of any such barrier.
"One of the things with the wall is you need transparency," Trump said.
"You have to be able to see through it. In other words, if you can't see through that wall -- so it could be a steel wall with openings, but you have to have openings because you have to see what's on the other side of the wall."
Experts have noted that with potentially violent cartels looking to smuggle people, drugs and other illicit goods into the US, it's essential that agents have visibility on their movements.
Trump offered another example.
"As horrible as it sounds, when they throw the large sacks of drugs over, and if you have people on the other side of the wall, you don't see them -- they hit you on the head with 60 pounds of stuff? It's over," Trump said. "As crazy as that sounds, you need transparency through that wall."

Biff Pocoroba wrote:How the hell did we miss this? From CNN, though reported elsewhere

President Donald Trump's long-promised border wall will have "openings" to see through, he said Wednesday night, acknowledging what his Homeland Security team has said is a necessary design feature of any such barrier.
"One of the things with the wall is you need transparency," Trump said.
"You have to be able to see through it. In other words, if you can't see through that wall -- so it could be a steel wall with openings, but you have to have openings because you have to see what's on the other side of the wall."
Experts have noted that with potentially violent cartels looking to smuggle people, drugs and other illicit goods into the US, it's essential that agents have visibility on their movements.
Trump offered another example.
"As horrible as it sounds, when they throw the large sacks of drugs over, and if you have people on the other side of the wall, you don't see them -- they hit you on the head with 60 pounds of stuff? It's over," Trump said. "As crazy as that sounds, you need transparency through that wall."

The daily show did a segment on this. I thought it was pure comedy. Then i looked it up. sure enough, its pure comedy.

"Mr. President, we think one of the best ways to get the public back on our side is to make them feel we're being open and honest. In the next couple weeks, try to discuss government transparency wherever possible."
"I've got the perfect thing!"

Has the other shoe fallen?

I know I've said it before, but I really think Shep Smith does not get enough credit.

Even Fox News is saying something isn't right. Surely something will come from this c

Meh. Unless someone finds hard evidence of Trump colluding to effect votes at the ballot box level, then none of this will amount to a hill of beans. Even if some conversation were to come out that amounted to "Trump asked Russia to help spread disinformation," so what? The "witch hunt" accusations are sounding more rational to me with each passing day.

tragabigzanda wrote:Meh. Unless someone finds hard evidence of Trump colluding to effect votes at the ballot box level, then none of this will amount to a hill of beans. Even if some conversation were to come out that amounted to "Trump asked Russia to help spread disinformation," so what? The "witch hunt" accusations are sounding more rational to me with each passing day.

And even then.

Even if Trump colluded with Russia, it's not at all clear that this a violation of law. There are several theories of how he could be prosecuted, but none of them is a perfectly clear shot. And he almost certainly has immunity from criminal prosecution as a sitting president. There will not be a prosecution of Donald Trump while he is a sitting president.

Trump Jr. is in deeper doo-doo, sure, but even there... it's not 100% clear that what he did is technically against the law. Kushner clearly broke the law when he lied about all this shit on the forms you fill out to get a security clearance and his legal future is a little dimmer. Until you recall that Trump will 100% absolutely pardon him before he leaves office. And the power to pardon is absolute, there is nothing anyone can do.

Trump will almost certainly not be impeached unless the Dems win in 2018. The republicans are just never going to do it. If that changes it will be because things have happened that are not currently on our radar screen. But if the Dems win in 2018, it almost certainly will happen. But then the Senate has to vote to remove him from office. And I think that's another slim to none chance. It's possible but nothing we've seen from the GOP indicates that it's likely. Unless between then and now the GOP sees Pence as a lesser liability.

The only good news is Bob Mueller. He doesn't need to recommend prosecution to congress or anyone else. He is empowered to bring prosecutions under his own authority. And he is going to bring them like the hammer of God. We're going to find out what went down here because of him and it will further accelerate the implosion of the Trump administration in all but name. Trump insiders will be charged. Trump will pardon them but it will privately horrify a lot of the Republicans in congress even further, setting the stage for impeachment in 2019. Trump will try to fire Mueller but Mueller has defenses: he can only be fired by Rosenstein or his replacement, and only for cause. There will be a legal battle. Even if Trump succeeds in removing Mueller, he can't fire the whole FBI, and the investigation will continue one way or the other.

The darkest part of the whole thing, to me, is the power of pardon. It's a necessary tool, I understand that. But it sucks in this particular case. There's a very real chance that Trump pardons anyone involved, especially anyone in his family. It's possible that Trump can pardon himself. The SCOTUS would have to weigh in on that, I think. But it's possible. Even if he can't, we could see the same thing we saw with Ford and Nixon. Pence would most likely pardon Trump.

It's actually not just possible, but LIKELY, that at the end of this, Trump is impeached by not removed (just like Bill Clinton) and that some lowly middle-men become patsies and take the fall for all the rich white assholes in power. Be ready for Trump, his family, his close allies, to never face prosecution. Everyone can and probably will be pardoned. Trump and his name and his legacy and all his illegal dealings remain intact. The kids get the fortune and the future and not one of them sees jail time.

There's a real world scenario here where all of this is just a four year long distraction. Sure his name is damaged. Sure he's angry and hates that he'll be remembered as the worst President in the history of America. But what are the real world consequences? Likely, nothing.

durdencommatyler wrote: The darkest part of the whole thing, to me, is the power of pardon. It's a necessary tool, I understand that. But it sucks in this particular case. There's a very real chance that Trump pardons anyone involved, especially anyone in his family. It's possible that Trump can pardon himself. The SCOTUS would have to weigh in on that, I think. But it's possible. Even if he can't, we could see the same thing we saw with Ford and Nixon. Pence would most likely pardon Trump.

FWIW, Article 2 Section 2 of the Constitution has:

"...[the President] shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment."

Simple Torture wrote:

durdencommatyler wrote: The darkest part of the whole thing, to me, is the power of pardon. It's a necessary tool, I understand that. But it sucks in this particular case. There's a very real chance that Trump pardons anyone involved, especially anyone in his family. It's possible that Trump can pardon himself. The SCOTUS would have to weigh in on that, I think. But it's possible. Even if he can't, we could see the same thing we saw with Ford and Nixon. Pence would most likely pardon Trump.

FWIW, Article 2 Section 2 of the Constitution has:

"...[the President] shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment."

Well, now that's interesting... But still a bit irrelevant. Because he could pardon them before he's impeached (IF he's impeached). And if he's impeached and removed, Pence or Ryan or whomever else takes over could and probably will issues pardons to all parties.