The Former Trump Presidency Thread

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 9:40 am

Paingod wrote:I hope that in every future event where "Past Presidents" convene, he's not invited. I want whoever takes office next to make it their first step to say "Okay, here's a big list of everything Trump did. Reverse it" on day one. I want them to apologize to the world for our country's behavior in electing this narcissistic and dangerous moron and promise we'll do better for everyone.

I want to feel like I'm part of the country that can lead the free world, not a laughingstock nation that's trying to drive backwards down an escalator that's pushing us up towards progress.

Well, I don't think that they grant leave from Leavenworth to go to events like that, so that probably won't be an issue.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 10:10 am

Here's the president of the United States casually threatening to shut down the media for criticizing him.

Captain Caveman · Post by **Captain Caveman** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 10:52 am

Captain Caveman wrote:Every choice he makes is in service of his bottomless need to feel powerful and respected. His obsession with nukes is absolutely terrifying... he seems determined to provoke NK into an attack so he can justify laying waste to them.

I’m starting to fear that it’ll be a minor miracle if his presidency ends without an enormous calamity happening.

This is not making me feel any better:

https://twitter.com/nick_ramsey/status/ ... 7423167490

"General Kelly and Secretary Mattis have had conversations about if Trump lunged for the nuclear football, what would they do? Would they tackle him?"

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 10:54 am

I literally can only hope that we get a praetorian guard response like mad emperors of old if that happens.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 11:01 am

malchior wrote:I literally can only hope that we get a praetorian guard response like mad emperors of old if that happens.

Maybe we can get Nikolaj Coster-Waldau appointed to the Secret Service, at least before and between GoT season 8 filming. I know he's not actually Jaime Lannister...but it still seems like relevant experience.

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 11:06 am

Oh hey, just the POTUS threatening to shut down news organizations because he doesn't like what they're saying. No biggie.

With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!

Get bent, you orange chucklefuck.

EDIT: Holman obviously beat me to this, but his post didn't show up on my phone for some reason. Stupid mobile browsers...

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 11:55 am

Holman wrote:Here's the president of the United States casually threatening to shut down the media for criticizing him.

Nixon tried that. Ask him how it went.

Alefroth · Post by **Alefroth** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 12:25 pm

Max Peck wrote:
GreenGoo wrote:Mensa has come out and offered to host the IQ tests. Just FYI.
Oh, he was just joking.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders later insisted that Trump’s comment was “a joke and nothing more than that.”

“The president certainly never implied that the secretary of state was not incredibly intelligent,” Sanders said in Tuesday afternoon’s news briefing. She added that Trump has “100 percent confidence” in Tillerson and admonished reporters for taking the president’s comment so seriously.

“Maybe you guys should get a sense of humor and try it sometime,” she quipped.

At least you could tell when Obama told a joke, because people laughed.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 12:29 pm

tgb wrote:
Holman wrote:Here's the president of the United States casually threatening to shut down the media for criticizing him.

Nixon tried that. Ask him how it went.

If Nixon were held to the same low standard that Trump is being held to, he would have finished his second term and been fondly remembered as an overachiever.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 12:56 pm

Holman wrote:Here's the president of the United States casually threatening to shut down the media for criticizing him.

How else are we supposed to make America great again if the press keeps undermining our leader? Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Führer, baby!

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 2:30 pm

Holman wrote:Here's the president of the United States casually threatening to shut down the media for criticizing him.

https://twitter.com/waltshaub/status/918142380821417984

@waltshaub wrote:At what point? At the point when we cease to be a democracy.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 2:36 pm

Can you plead the 5th to an SIC? Can you plead the 5th and demand to testify?

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/10/politics/ ... index.html

(CNN)Former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page told CNN Monday he is going to plead the Fifth Amendment to keep from turning over a "vast array" of documents the Senate Intelligence committee requested, which he said is "beyond the charter" of the inquiry.
But Page demanded an opportunity to testify publicly before the panel, saying he offered to appear November 1 at the committee's open hearing on Russian attempts to influence the election through social media.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 2:44 pm

Paingod wrote:
Kraken wrote:Trump is evidently a genius at manipulating people and crushing opponents. Even if that doesn't equate to IQ, it's a mistake to underestimate him.
He's no genius. It's just that rational people have no defense against being steamrolled by complete fabrication raining down like hellfire. While they're spending energy trying to rebut and counter the first lie, Trump is pushing out his 4th fresh one while wearing that big, fat signature shit-eating grin. He's not a genius, he's just a mudslide of shit with financial resources.

And yet, he succeeds, despite the predictions from the day he announced his campaign. Being better at bullying and bullshit than anybody else is its own kind of genius. Getting away with openly cheating and lying on a daily basis is its own kind of skill.

I still hope that it catches up with him in the end, but the days keep slipping by and the show, improbably enough, goes on.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 2:45 pm

Lol. You can't have any documents, but let me tell you why I'm innocent, because if there's one thing we've learned about Drumpf's administration, is that they are ramrod straight when it comes to honesty.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 2:52 pm

Kraken wrote:
Paingod wrote:
Kraken wrote:Trump is evidently a genius at manipulating people and crushing opponents. Even if that doesn't equate to IQ, it's a mistake to underestimate him.
He's no genius. It's just that rational people have no defense against being steamrolled by complete fabrication raining down like hellfire. While they're spending energy trying to rebut and counter the first lie, Trump is pushing out his 4th fresh one while wearing that big, fat signature shit-eating grin. He's not a genius, he's just a mudslide of shit with financial resources.
And yet, he succeeds, despite the predictions from the day he announced his campaign. Being better at bullying and bullshit than anybody else is its own kind of genius. Getting away with openly cheating and lying on a daily basis is its own kind of skill.

I still hope that it catches up with him in the end, but the days keep slipping by and the show, improbably enough, goes on.

There's no arguing that he was successful. He clearly was. We can argue what it means that he won though.

If I win at roulette does that make me a genius at it?

This wasn't Drumpf's first timing running for president. Was he a genius the other times he tried and failed? What did he do differently this time around that he hadn't done in the past? Was it a conscious change in his strategy? Was it Russia's help that pushed him over the edge this time? Was it people like Rip that decided, finally, to burn things to the ground in their frustration? Did Drumpf decide to take advantage of it or was it the people who decide Drumpf was the one to burn everything?

He's good at generating attention, I'll give him that. Anything after that you're going to have to show me fundamental proofs of him behaving in certain ways to achieve certain goals. I'm not at all convinced he can manage a cause and effect relationship with his actions and outcomes.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 2:52 pm

LordMortis wrote:Can you plead the 5th and demand to testify?

I'm pretty sure you don't get to testify to your innocence, and then refuse to answer cross questions, but IANAFL.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 3:06 pm

LordMortis wrote:Can you plead the 5th to an SIC? Can you plead the 5th and demand to testify?

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/10/politics/ ... index.html

(CNN)Former Trump foreign policy adviser Carter Page told CNN Monday he is going to plead the Fifth Amendment to keep from turning over a "vast array" of documents the Senate Intelligence committee requested, which he said is "beyond the charter" of the inquiry.
But Page demanded an opportunity to testify publicly before the panel, saying he offered to appear November 1 at the committee's open hearing on Russian attempts to influence the election through social media.

Well, as a start, Fifth Amendment protections from turning over documents, as opposed to refusing to testify, is very limited. It's basically limited to situations where the production of documents would essentially constitute a self-incriminating statement - e.g., a government demand that you "produce all documents indicating that you committed tax fraud". So the odds that Page's Fifth Amendment claim would survive legal scrutiny are probably small in general.

I'm not sure the details on selectively using Fifth Amendment protections, but in general the law tends to frown on selectively using rights. Like, defendants get a lot of evidentiary protections in court that get waived if the defendant themselves puts the relevant topic at issue in the trial. It seems likely to me that the Fifth Amendment works the same way, but I am not 100% certain.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 3:44 pm

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 4:10 pm

Holman wrote:Here's the president of the United States casually threatening to shut down the media for criticizing him.

And he doubles down...

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 4:42 pm

At least it wasn't

Trump: "It's frankly disgusting the way the press is free to write whatever they want to write."

Which I wouldn't have put past him.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 4:53 pm

LordMortis wrote:At least it wasn't

Trump: "It's frankly disgusting the way the press is free to write whatever they want to write."

Which I wouldn't have put past him.

That would be genuinely clever word play. Trump don't roll that way.

Scoop20906 · Post by **Scoop20906** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 7:37 pm

Has he given up on blaming the leakers now?

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 9:03 pm

Holman wrote:
Holman wrote:Here's the president of the United States casually threatening to shut down the media for criticizing him.

And he doubles down...

Tripling down now. He's serious. He's floating the idea to see how it is received.

This is what the Founders feared.

RunningMn9 · Post by **RunningMn9** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 9:07 pm

What is happening is almost impossible to believe. And yet it continues on, every day with no relenting.

At this point I have to believe he’s trying to get fired.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 9:16 pm

Fox News perpetuated the conspiracy theory around Seth Rich’s murder. If they start pulling licenses, the Mangerine may not like what happens.

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 9:34 pm

Holman wrote:
Holman wrote:
Holman wrote:Here's the president of the United States casually threatening to shut down the media for criticizing him.

And he doubles down...

Tripling down now. He's serious. He's floating the idea to see how it is received.

This is what the Founders feared.

Rip - your take if Obama had done this with Fox/Fox News?

msteelers · Post by **msteelers** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 9:34 pm

hepcat wrote:Fox News perpetuated the conspiracy theory around Seth Rich’s murder. If they start pulling licenses, the Mangerine may not like what happens.

Does Fox News have a license? They don't broadcast over the air like NBC, CBS, and ABC.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 9:38 pm

NAFTA heading towards collapse. Trump would literally be the first President to be directly connected to a recession or possibly even a depression. This would be extremely destabilizing for business around the world and within the country. US Supply chains are structured around NAFTA. This is FUCKING INSANITY.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 10:02 pm

Pyperkub wrote: Rip - your take if Obama had done this with Fox/Fox News?

We don't even have to be partisan about this.

What if LBJ (or Nixon) had done it with CBS or the Washington Post? What if William McKinley had done it with William Randolph Hearst, or Andrew Johnson with Horace Greeley?

History would judge them as enemies of American freedom. History will do the same to Trump.

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 10:06 pm

Chairman of the FCC, Jessica Rosenworcel, had a good response.

Not how it works. See here: https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files ... asting.pdf …

I'm not sure which is more terrifying: the fact this shit is actually happening, or the fact that all his supporters are actively cheering it on.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 10:06 pm

I have a feeling his threats against the press will be the least of the terrible things Trump will be remembered for.

tjg_marantz · Post by **tjg_marantz** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 10:09 pm

Anyone expecting anyone who constantly justified Trump to now take a stand is in for a nasty surprise. Let's face it, truth is malleable in this day and age the likes we haven't seen in ages.

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 10:29 pm

So I posed the obvious hypothetical to a couple Trump supporting family members tonight: 9 months into his first term, Obama declares that he thinks Fox News lies and threatens to have them pulled off the air. Do you support that statement? And what is the difference between that and what Trump said today?

The response? "That's exactly what Obama did to the Second Amendment, and you liberals all sat by and did nothing."

There honestly are no longer enough goddamn

in the world.

Grifman · Post by **Grifman** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 10:31 pm

malchior wrote:NAFTA heading towards collapse. Trump would literally be the first President to be directly connected to a recession or possibly even a depression. This would be extremely destabilizing for business around the world and within the country. US Supply chains are structured around NAFTA. This is FUCKING INSANITY.

Well, it would be one may to be a one term president.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 10:39 pm

Holman wrote:
Pyperkub wrote: Rip - your take if Obama had done this with Fox/Fox News?

We don't even have to be partisan about this.

What if LBJ (or Nixon) had done it with CBS or the Washington Post? What if William McKinley had done it with William Randolph Hearst, or Andrew Johnson with Horace Greeley?

History would judge them as enemies of American freedom. History will do the same to Trump.

By an odd coincidence I just finished watching E5 of Ken Burns' The Vietnam War, in which LBJ was excoriating the press for printing lies. Even in those dark times, he never tried to suppress the press.

Now Trump's simmering war against freedom of expression is moving to the front burner. Despite all the times over the past few months that I've thought "this time he's gone too far"...this time he's gone too far.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 10:58 pm

Meanwhile, while everyone is focused on how much Trump hates the press...

Three weeks since Hurricane Maria, much of Puerto Rico still dark, thirsty and frustrated

Late each night, Rafael Surillo Ruiz, the mayor of a town with one of Puerto Rico’s most critical ports, drives for miles on darkened roads, easing around downed power lines and crumpled tree branches — to check his email.

At the wheel of his “guagua”— local slang for an SUV — he sometimes finds a spotty cellphone signal on a highway overpass, and there he sits, often for hours, scrolling through messages. During the day, with no working landline and no Internet access, he operates more like a 19th-century mayor of Yabucoa, orchestrating the city’s business in an information vacuum, dispatching notes scrawled on slips of paper — about problems such as balky generators and misdirected water deliveries — that he hands to runners.

On the other side of the mayor’s favorite overpass spot, one of the generators at the area’s biggest hospital has collapsed from exhaustion, and the frazzled staff have stopped admitting new patients. Deeper into the island’s mountainous interior, thirsty Puerto Ricans draw drinking water from the mud-caked crevices of roadside rock formations and bathe in creeks too small to have names.

“We feel completely abandoned here,” Surillo Ruiz said with a heavy sigh.

It has been three weeks since Hurricane Maria savaged Puerto Rico, and life in the capital city of San Juan inches toward something that remotely resembles a new, uncomfortable form of normalcy. Families once again loll on the shaded steps of the Mercado de Santurce traditional market on a Sunday afternoon, and a smattering of restaurants and stores open their doors along sidewalks still thick with debris and tangled power lines.

But much of the rest of the island lies in the chokehold of a turgid, frustrating and perilous slog toward recovery.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 11:11 pm

Pyperkub wrote:
Holman wrote:
Holman wrote:
Holman wrote:Here's the president of the United States casually threatening to shut down the media for criticizing him.

And he doubles down...

Tripling down now. He's serious. He's floating the idea to see how it is received.

This is what the Founders feared.

Rip - your take if Obama had done this with Fox/Fox News?

Haven't got a clue.

He would have been hailed by people criticizing Trump for doing it and condemned by those applauding Trump? That would be my guess.

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 11:19 pm

Rip wrote:Haven't got a clue.

He would have been hailed by people criticizing Trump for doing it and condemned by those applauding Trump? That would be my guess.

Let's ask the question more directly. You cool with the POTUS threatening to shut down media outlets because they say mean things about him?

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 11:34 pm

Skinypupy wrote:
Rip wrote:Haven't got a clue.

He would have been hailed by people criticizing Trump for doing it and condemned by those applauding Trump? That would be my guess.
Let's ask the question more directly. You cool with the POTUS threatening to shut down media outlets because they say mean things about him?

I'm not ok with him tweeting much of anything.

If I were to make one request of him it would to be stop tweeting shit.

JUST

STOP

!

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Wed Oct 11, 2017 11:37 pm

I get the "just stop tweeting" response from a lot of my Trump supporting friends, but I don't get it. Twitter's not the problem. He's the problem. It's a window into his mindset.

It's almost as if they're saying "Well if he'd just stop tweeting, then I wouldn't have to be embarrassed about supporting his insanity anymore because it would be hidden."