The Former Trump Presidency Thread

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Sun Apr 01, 2018 4:13 pm

Smoove_B wrote:This is his Easter Sunday message on social media? Bloviating on NAFTA, the Mexicans and DACA? Who on earth still defends and supports this clown?

Unfortunately too many do, Smoove... too many. (insert sad face)

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Sun Apr 01, 2018 5:32 pm

I presume he's running amok because everyone else took the day off (not that there are many handlers left anyway). I wish we could just politely ignore his rants the way one ignores a petulant child, but one never knows which ones will become full-blown tantrums and which will be forgotten in a day or two.

And yeah, I'm always dismayed at how his fan base laps this stuff up.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Sun Apr 01, 2018 7:09 pm

He feeds hate and fear. That’s always going to find an eager audience in the deplorables of our society.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Sun Apr 01, 2018 8:19 pm

He’s America’s pure unadulterated id, saying the things that some Americans think but were either embarrassed or afraid to say out loud. But if the President says these things he’s telling it like it is and they finally have the freedom to tell it “like it is”.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Sun Apr 01, 2018 10:08 pm

At Easter Sunday, my extended family spent time denouncing Alt Right insanity and our state legislature rather than attacking the Democrats of Congress with vague anger. You can't even begin understand how huge that is.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Sun Apr 01, 2018 10:49 pm

$iljanus wrote: Sun Apr 01, 2018 8:19 pm He’s America’s pure unadulterated id, saying the things that some Americans think but were either embarrassed or afraid to say out loud. But if the President says these things he’s telling it like it is and they finally have the freedom to tell it “like it is”.

Which explains why people find it acceptable to attack the survivors of a mass shooting.

Honest to fuck, children not wanting to be slaughtered is less sacred than owning a pistol.

You guys are seriously broken.

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Sun Apr 01, 2018 11:05 pm

#notmyid

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 1:20 am

Smoove_B wrote:I feel like we're at the point where even if you completely ignore anything he's done politically while in office, if you are a Trump supporter that thinks spending ~21% of your time golfing is terrific, then you're an idiot.

I am hoping some day there's a true accounting of how his time was spent, because it feels like maybe he's working 20-25 hours a week in his official capacity. The rest of the time is spent Tweeting, golfing and watching Fox news.

Hey, I'd love to spend 21% of my time golfing!

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 7:14 am

Unhinged.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/sta ... 2303980544

Mexico has the absolute power not to let these large “Caravans” of people enter their country. They must stop them at their Northern Border, which they can do because their border laws work, not allow them to pass through into our country, which has no effective border laws.....

RunningMn9 · Post by **RunningMn9** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 7:43 am

So Mexico both has a problem in that dirty immigrants are flooding across their southern border on their way through their northern border to steal US jobs, while simultaneously their border laws work? What a goddamn idiot.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 9:11 am

It's worse. He's not saying they have great border security, he's saying Mexico is letting them through because they know where they're going. He's calling Mexico an enemy again.

...wait...that still makes him an idiot. Never mind.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 9:14 am

Pyperkub wrote: Mon Apr 02, 2018 1:20 am
Smoove_B wrote:I feel like we're at the point where even if you completely ignore anything he's done politically while in office, if you are a Trump supporter that thinks spending ~21% of your time golfing is terrific, then you're an idiot.

I am hoping some day there's a true accounting of how his time was spent, because it feels like maybe he's working 20-25 hours a week in his official capacity. The rest of the time is spent Tweeting, golfing and watching Fox news.
Hey, I'd love to spend 21% of my time golfing!

Melania is hoping for 100 percent. She already has a meal ticket named Barron. Now her primary goal in life is keeping the fat ass orange guy off her.

pr0ner · Post by **pr0ner** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 9:38 am

More unhinged, in the followup to the tweet malchior posted:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/sta ... 8530789380

He suggests ending the filibuster over this issue? Holy shit.

Plus there were tweets praising Sinclair Broadcasting and blasting Amazon this morning.

tjg_marantz · Post by **tjg_marantz** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 10:07 am

He has risen.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 10:20 am

He really is a two-bit dictator in toddler form. Only given our current barely-functioning government, two-bit might be enough to pull it off.

Captain Caveman · Post by **Captain Caveman** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 10:22 am

And now he’s tweeting attacks at the FBI again. Quite a morning for him. Just a continuous stream of Fox News misinformation and conspiracy theories.

Thankfully, Fox News has been losing employees recently. Unfortunately, they’re joining the administration.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 10:26 am

Maybe he's not a member of Amazon Prime?

President Donald Trump's presidential campaign spent more than $150,000 on purchases from Amazon, the company now facing his ire amid claims it doesn't pay its fair share of shipping costs and taxes.

A report by CBS News digging into Federal Election Commission records found that in 2015 and 2016 the campaign spent $158,498.41 in 379 transactions classified as office supply purchases. The committee continued after the election to spend money on the website, purchasing more than $2000 in 2017.

$158K+ in "office supplies"? Does that include tarps and rags for mopping up, err dusting?

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 10:33 am

Zaxxon wrote:He really is a two-bit dictator in toddler form. Only given our current barely-functioning government, two-bit might be enough to pull it off.

WALL NOW! NO COLLUSION! CROOKED HILLARY! TWO SCOOPS ICE CREAM!

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 10:33 am

YOURE THE PUPPET!

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 10:35 am

NO DACA! FAKE NEWS! I MADE A POOPIE!

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 10:37 am

I just want to say I feel honored to be in the same company as Pope Francis and President Roosevelt.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 10:37 am

Smoove_B wrote: Mon Apr 02, 2018 10:26 am $158K+ in "office supplies"? Does that include tarps and rags for mopping up, err dusting?

When everything has to be gold leaf it gets pricey.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 10:42 am

Smoove_B wrote:I just want to say I feel honored to be in the same company as Pope Francis and President Roosevelt.

I've been meaning to change up my signature since it's getting a bit wordy. But your wise words will always remain! (it's also one line long and doesn't take much space...)

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 11:27 am

The tweets today indicate the man is cracking like an egg. Something is definitely going on here.

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 11:33 am

The problem is that even if he goes off the deep end and completely returns to campaign level of nutso, that's bad. Nobody with the power to do so is going to stop him. At best, they might push back against him, and then it just gets more likely that he'll fire them. I'm betting that his ongoing process of replacing staff with dedicated yes-men will just have a snowball effect. Instead of multiple voices saying "That's not a good idea, sir," it'll just be one or two, with everyone else agreeing with him. That makes him more likely to think "Well, everyone else agrees with me except that guy always telling me no. Let's get rid of him, because he's obviously the crazy one."

God help us once Bolton gets in there.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 11:38 am

One of these days, I'm going to read a $iljanus post without continuing into the signature and trying to figure out the relevance of the Pope to the discussion.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 11:39 am

Also did anyone catch that the Russian news service broke a story that Trump invited Putin to visit him at the White House?

https://twitter.com/GlennKesslerWP/stat ... 6377847810

Glenn Kessler wrote:Why would this White House let the official Russian news agency announce a presidential invitation to a summit?

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 11:41 am

Blackhawk wrote: Mon Apr 02, 2018 11:38 am One of these days, I'm going to read a $iljanus post without continuing into the signature and trying to figure out the relevance of the Pope to the discussion.

Ditto!

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 11:45 am

More detail on the "summit" with Putin. So not only did he congratulate him...he rewarded a thug with a sit down.

https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/980825338782531584

David Frum wrote:So it was true. On his "do not congratulate" congratulations call to Putin in wake of nerve agent attack in UK, when all NATO was imposing sanctions, Trump invited Putin for a White House visit. "Nothing further to add"! https://

Sepiche · Post by **Sepiche** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 11:57 am

malchior wrote: Mon Apr 02, 2018 11:39 am Also did anyone catch that the Russian news service broke a story that Trump invited Putin to visit him at the White House?

Drumpf and his lackeys at least seem to understand that the the optics of Drumpf constantly rewarding Russia and cozying up to Putin look really bad, but rather than not doing those things they just choose to keep them from the public. One wonders why they think these things are worth doing given those optics.

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 12:10 pm

They're (well, the Trumps anyway) are used to operating in a world where most people don't care what they're up to, so you can get a long way with NDAs, ignoring, and not talking about things you're doing.

Now they're operating in a setting where the entire world cares very deeply about what they're getting up to, and denials and no comment will only get you so far. Admittedly, it's gotten them WAY farther than I would have thought possible, but still.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 12:25 pm

In addition, we're now learning that the U.S. expelled various Russian personnel but did not reduce the size of the Russian diplomatic mission (as Britain and other allies did, and as Russia did when expelling our people).

This means the Russians can just slot new people into the old positions. It's like Trump's move was calculated to look like a response without inconveniencing Putin in any serious way.

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 12:30 pm

I heard a mention in a podcast somewhere along the line that it's possible/likely that expelling the diplomats was a way for him to kind of get around the sanctions law he's refusing to enforce without actually doing anything to Russia. But I haven't really looked into it too deeply.

Fitzy · Post by **Fitzy** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 1:04 pm

malchior wrote: Mon Apr 02, 2018 11:39 am Also did anyone catch that the Russian news service broke a story that Trump invited Putin to visit him at the White House

Voice and electronic communication are good, but sometimes an asset just has to meet their handler in person to deliver information.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 1:30 pm

Sepiche wrote: Mon Apr 02, 2018 11:57 am
malchior wrote: Mon Apr 02, 2018 11:39 am Also did anyone catch that the Russian news service broke a story that Trump invited Putin to visit him at the White House?
Drumpf and his lackeys at least seem to understand that the the optics of Drumpf constantly rewarding Russia and cozying up to Putin look really bad, but rather than not doing those things they just choose to keep them from the public. One wonders why they think these things are worth doing given those optics.

This isn't the first time Putin has embarrassed Trump with the truth.

Remember the pics of Trump laughing it up with Lavov and Kislyak in the Oval Office (the meeting where Lavrov mocked the previous day's Comey firing and where Trump casually gave away classified info about Syria that ruined important Israeli operations)? Those were released by Russian state media, and they revealed Kislyak's presence even though the White House had not mentioned him being involved at all. (Kislyak was already a suspicious character due to Trump campaign lies about contacts with him in 2016.)

Putin isn't afraid to troll Trump with embarrassing revelations. A little reminder of that from time to time probably goes a long way.

$iljanus · Post by **$iljanus** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 2:57 pm

Zaxxon wrote:
Blackhawk wrote: Mon Apr 02, 2018 11:38 am One of these days, I'm going to read a $iljanus post without continuing into the signature and trying to figure out the relevance of the Pope to the discussion.
Ditto!

I know, I know but I don't know what to purge! Except for the semen warning, that stays.

gilraen · Post by **gilraen** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 3:11 pm

Spoiler:

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 3:17 pm

This is a common theme, but can you even begin to imagine the Fox News screeching if Obama ever made comments like Trump is making about a company? There would be endless howling about how the POTUS has absolutely no business influencing the free market like that.

Yet it's all perfectly OK when Trump does it.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 3:23 pm

We keep having comments like this come up, and I'm guilty, too. But the answer is settled. Yes, I can imagine the reaction, and no, the conservative media, voters and politicians have forever lost the right to bitch about any of these topics, from anyone, ever again for the duration of their lives.

The next acceptable conservative complaints about appropriate behavior from a President or Presidential candidate will come due 17.9 years after November, 2016. So that's what, October, 2034? At that point young folk first eligible to vote in 2018 can again bitch.

Until then, nope.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Apr 02, 2018 4:08 pm

ABC News

Videos of local news anchors reading the seemingly same script in a segment decrying "biased and false news" on Sinclair-owned TV stations is raising questions about the media company after the videos attracted attention online.
...
Many viewers saw similarities in the language used in the various segments that aired on the local stations over the past few weeks with the rhetoric that President Donald Trump has used to slam the mainstream media.

Trump is now wading into the debate himself, voicing his support for Sinclair this morning on Twitter.
...
The practices by Sinclair Broadcast Group, the country's largest broadcaster, have been subject to media scrutiny in the past weeks and months over what critics say are efforts by the company to promote a conservative agenda. Sinclair currently owns 31 stations affiliated with ABC.
...
CNN first reported on March 7 that Sinclair called for stations to air an "anchor delivered journalistic responsibility message."

The segment prompted local anchors and individuals who work at the stations to anonymously tell CNN senior media correspondent Brian Stelter how they found it "manipulative" and that people were "uncomfortable doing it."

Livingston responded to CNN about the promo message, saying that such messages "are very common in our industry" and that this particular promo "addresses the troubling trend of false stories on social media, and distinguishes our trusted local stations as news destinations where we are committed to honest and accurate reporting."

The segments were slated to air in March after the publication of the CNN story.

When they did, a video director at website Deadspin made a supercut of various local anchors at different Sinclair stations reading the near-identical script.

https://twitter.com/Deadspin/status/980175772206993409

The anchors conclude the 60-75 second segment by encouraging viewers to comment on their website if they see a segment on their channel where “our coverage is unfair.” The CNN report stated that internal documents noted how Sinclair corporate would “monitor the comments and send replies to your audience on your behalf.”