The Former Trump Presidency Thread

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 4:48 pm

Paingod wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 4:41 pm I'm guessing someone got a conscience after McCain passed.

I dunno, I'm more cynical. Feels more like CYA-planning for post administration. If your goal is to keep Trump calm and restrained, writing an op ed in the NYT about how you are undermining Trump doesn't seem like the smartest thing to do.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 5:04 pm

https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status ... 51328?s=19

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 5:12 pm

It's easy to publish this tell-all just days after Woodward told all.

I too find it easy to be cynical. But won't it be interesting to learn that the writer is one of the parade of loyal "Woodward is lying!" quotes that Trump has been shopping around?

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 5:16 pm

Just for giggles, though...

https://twitter.com/danbl00m/status/1037428190166347776

Thread

AWS260 · Post by **AWS260** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 5:37 pm

Holman wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 5:16 pm Thread

It was the Mulan analogy that gave him away.

RunningMn9 · Post by **RunningMn9** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 6:10 pm

What in the actual fuck.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 6:11 pm

RunningMn9 wrote:What in the actual fuck.

We live in strange times.

Dogstar · Post by **Dogstar** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 6:18 pm

I find this whole thing to be deeply unsettling. I think Smoove said that to mentally accept what is in Woodward's book is true is to acknowledge how deeply in the shit we are as a country, which is... I lack the words. To acknowledge that the Op-Ed is real means that you know there are people who are doing what it spells out but are willing to believe that they should abrogate their duty to the Constitution and the rule of law to steer the ship. That even with Senate approval, we don't really have an elected government. There's so much about that from a Constitutional level, from a legal level, to a moral level, that's not cool it's staggering.

And yet I talk about some of this with my friends, and it gets mostly shrugged off amidst kids going back to school, the latest thing at work, that the economy is fine, and it's just DC being DC. I'm at a loss trying to find proper perspective. Is it me that doesn't get it?

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 6:20 pm

It's impossible to believe the anonymous contributor is Pence. He has everything to lose by alienating Trump's base.

Plus a couple have people have recalled this tidbit from an earlier article about White House leakers:

"To cover my tracks, I usually pay attention to other staffers' idioms and use that in my background quotes. That throws the scent off me," the current White House official added.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 6:20 pm

Of course it's deeply unsettling. Skirting past it can be a coping mechanism. And of course a large swath of the populace is simply not paying attention, as a large swath always isn't paying attention.

Shocker: Trump isn't taking the op-ed well.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 6:22 pm

Holman wrote:It's impossible to believe the anonymous contributor is Pence. He has everything to lose by alienating Trump's base.

Plus a couple have people have recalled this tidbit from an earlier article about White House leakers:

"To cover my tracks, I usually pay attention to other staffers' idioms and use that in my background quotes. That throws the scent off me," the current White House official added.

And of course it's not Pence. He's the one person in the Trump admin whose job cannot be in jeopardy, as he doesn't answer to Trump.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 6:26 pm

Zaxxon wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 6:20 pm Shocker: Trump isn't taking the op-ed well.

No, he isn't:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/sta ... 7269514240

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 6:35 pm

Tough to disagree with Frum here...

This is a Constitutional Crisis.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 7:12 pm

If I weren't worried about, you know...civilization...it'd be nice to know that this shit goblin is pretty much suffering every day in agony. He is President and no one respects him. Everyone is out to get him. He deserves no less.

msteelers · Post by **msteelers** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 7:19 pm

Zaxxon wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 6:35 pm Tough to disagree with Frum here...

This is a Constitutional Crisis.

That sums it up nicely. We have methods to deal with a president like Trump. Secretly working against him from inside the administration is not one of them.

Needless Hamilton reference wrote:If there's a fire you're trying to douse, you can't put it out from inside the house. I'm in the cabinet. I am complicit in watching him grabbing at power and trying to kiss it.

RunningMn9 · Post by **RunningMn9** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 7:21 pm

Short of someone coming forward and admitting that they did it, and then resigning on their way to Mueller's office to drive a nail through this shit bag's heart, I have a deep unease that this continues to set up a *spectacular* fake news narrative. Maybe it's just my own paranoid nature.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 7:55 pm

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/sta ... 4433070080

Trump wrote:Does the so-called “Senior Administration Official” really exist, or is it just the Failing New York Times with another phony source? If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!

"National Security purposes?"

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 8:10 pm

Holman wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 7:55 pm https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/sta ... 4433070080

Trump wrote:Does the so-called “Senior Administration Official” really exist, or is it just the Failing New York Times with another phony source? If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!
"National Security purposes?"

Hurting Trump’s fee-fees is now a threat to national security, apparently.

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 8:27 pm

If I squint, I could actually agree that an executive staff actively working against the interest and will of the elected President could constitute a national security risk.

Of course, in this case, the whole admin is a national security risk, so I don't really know where I'm at.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 8:47 pm

AWS260 wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 5:37 pm
Holman wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 5:16 pm Thread
It was the Mulan analogy that gave him away.

I have never even heard of the word "Lodestar" before. How many times do you think the word gets used in an year (written/spoken) in America, across the entire population? I feel like it must be Pence and maybe 2 other people who use it at all, let alone in such a high profile anonymous written text.

Obviously that's not true, but to the best of my knowledge I have NEVER seen that word before, and I consider myself fairly literate, although not well read any longer.

I'm just learning now that it means "guiding star" in general or as a synonym for Polaris. I'm not saying that I know all words in the English language, but finding out that "lodestar" is used by the VP at the same time that it was used by an anonymous source in the WH is enough to convince me without a doubt.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 8:50 pm

Holman wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 6:20 pm It's impossible to believe the anonymous contributor is Pence. He has everything to lose by alienating Trump's base.

Plus a couple have people have recalled this tidbit from an earlier article about White House leakers:

"To cover my tracks, I usually pay attention to other staffers' idioms and use that in my background quotes. That throws the scent off me," the current White House official added.

Sure, maybe. Seems too clever by half, but in theory our governments (yours and mine) are made up of (at least some of them!) top men (and women).

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 8:52 pm

Zaxxon wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 6:22 pm And of course it's not Pence. He's the one person in the Trump admin whose job cannot be in jeopardy, as he doesn't answer to Trump.

Presumably he wants to continue to work in politics after this term is over. Which way that makes him lean, I have no idea, but I can see both paths are possible routes for him. He only needs Drumpf's base to secure his nomination. After that the likes of Em2 can safely be ignored (which is why they elected Drumpf in the first place, because they hated that they were irrelevant, hence the burn it down mentality) as there is NO WAY drumpf's base votes for a dem. They either get behind him or they don't vote.

Trent Steel · Post by **Trent Steel** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 8:57 pm

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 9:01 pm

malchior wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 7:12 pm If I weren't worried about, you know...civilization...it'd be nice to know that this shit goblin is pretty much suffering every day in agony. He is President and no one respects him. Everyone is out to get him. He deserves no less.

Every time he bleats it makes me a little happier. It's never enough though. Until he's in jail, or blows his own brains out, or is publicly humiliated in a final, unrecoverable way, it will never be enough.

His entire entry in the history books needs to be presented as a warning to future generations. Anything more I'll be displeased. I do not want to hear about scholars studying him (not even as that one time the US almost wasn't) or that there are experts on him or that grad degrees are being given out on the subject of the political science of Drumpf.

He's bad enough that I'd practically support sanitizing history by removing his presence. He and the shamwow guy should have equal standing in history.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 9:05 pm

GreenGoo wrote:
Presumably he wants to continue to work in politics after this term is over.

That should* already be impossible.

* - in a world where the populace isn't compromised. Shit.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 9:06 pm

RunningMn9 wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 7:21 pm Short of someone coming forward and admitting that they did it, and then resigning on their way to Mueller's office to drive a nail through this shit bag's heart, I have a deep unease that this continues to set up a *spectacular* fake news narrative. Maybe it's just my own paranoid nature.

I think the real danger here is that drumpf is so bad that he has created a precedent where people work outside the constitution to undermine him. And many people are going to be fooled into thinking that's a good idea, on both sides of the aisle.

The ends do NOT justify the means here. I'd only accept this sort of thing if it meant tackling him when he tries to push the nuke button, and that would be a one time emergency event the ramifications of which would immediately be dealt with, not as general operating philosophy for an entire term. I mean, wtf?

It's unconstitutional, and as it turns out, just a way to contain the problem while they all remain in power.

This is no different than covering up (damage control) corruption to "save the republic". Intentions might be good, but it's still illegal, and what happens the next time when intentions aren't good?

Kurth · Post by **Kurth** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 9:34 pm

GreenGoo wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 9:06 pm
RunningMn9 wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 7:21 pm Short of someone coming forward and admitting that they did it, and then resigning on their way to Mueller's office to drive a nail through this shit bag's heart, I have a deep unease that this continues to set up a *spectacular* fake news narrative. Maybe it's just my own paranoid nature.
I think the real danger here is that drumpf is so bad that he has created a precedent where people work outside the constitution to undermine him. And many people are going to be fooled into thinking that's a good idea, on both sides of the aisle.

The ends do NOT justify the means here. I'd only accept this sort of thing if it meant tackling him when he tries to push the nuke button, and that would be a one time emergency event the ramifications of which would immediately be dealt with, not as general operating philosophy for an entire term. I mean, wtf?

It's unconstitutional, and as it turns out, just a way to contain the problem while they all remain in power.

This is no different than covering up (damage control) corruption to "save the republic". Intentions might be good, but it's still illegal, and what happens the next time when intentions aren't good?

Agreed 100%. It’s actually cowardice disguised and presented as bravery. These people are OT doing the country any favors, and I think history will not treat them well.

RunningMn9 · Post by **RunningMn9** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:03 pm

If the Op-Ed is legit (and again I find myself struggling to accept it, and I know I don’t have much ground to stand on, just don’t want to accept that this is happening), I am 100% in agreement that this is some straight bullshit.

If you think the President is an amoral, intellectually bankrupt disaster - your duty isn’t to enable it to the degree that you can get policy wins while preventing Armageddon. *IF* you believe what you wrote, your duty is to work within the Constitution to end this Presidency.

You aren’t a hero for working in the shadows to realize this bag of shit’s worst conspiracy fever dreams. No matter what Brit Hume says.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:16 pm

GreenGoo wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 8:47 pm
AWS260 wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 5:37 pm
Holman wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 5:16 pm Thread
It was the Mulan analogy that gave him away.
I have never even heard of the word "Lodestar" before. How many times do you think the word gets used in an year (written/spoken) in America, across the entire population? I feel like it must be Pence and maybe 2 other people who use it at all, let alone in such a high profile anonymous written text.

Obviously that's not true, but to the best of my knowledge I have NEVER seen that word before, and I consider myself fairly literate, although not well read any longer.

I'm just learning now that it means "guiding star" in general or as a synonym for Polaris. I'm not saying that I know all words in the English language, but finding out that "lodestar" is used by the VP at the same time that it was used by an anonymous source in the WH is enough to convince me without a doubt.

Perhaps it just means that the Op-Ed writer follows Merriam-Webster on the twitters:
https://twitter.com/MerriamWebster/stat ... 8237160449

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:21 pm

Max Peck wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:16 pm
Perhaps it just means that the Op-Ed writer follows Merriam-Webster on the twitters:

Nice catch. That seems reasonable, but it still seems weird that it's a Pence go-to word (or at least his speech writers). It's hard to imagine that the anon writer was influenced by both Pence and Webster as two separate sources of the word.

If you are trying to simulate Pence, then you already have his speech history to go by. If you're just using a noteworthy word that Webster just introduced you to a week ago, then it seems incredibly coincidental that it ALSO happens to be a Pence go-to word.

In any case, nice catch.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:23 pm

RunningMn9 wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:03 pm If you think the President is an amoral, intellectually bankrupt disaster - your duty isn’t to enable it to the degree that you can get policy wins while preventing Armageddon. *IF* you believe what you wrote, your duty is to work within the Constitution to end this Presidency.

You aren’t a hero for working in the shadows to realize this bag of shit’s worst conspiracy fever dreams. No matter what Brit Hume says.

Yup. This.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:25 pm

https://twitter.com/JoshhTerry/status/1 ... 00160?s=19

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:27 pm

If you're trying to confuse people as to your identity, you borrow from multiple sources. Unless your goal is to frame Pence, of course.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:40 pm

I am so clueless lately. What is the Avon Barksdale Crew, and separately, what is the second tweet referring to about "standards"?

I really don't want to have to do a google search every time something is posted here. If I'm supposed to know what any of that is about, I don't.

Zaxxon · Post by **Zaxxon** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:41 pm

Get thee to a computing device post-haste and binge The Wire, you uncultured barbarian.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:46 pm

Blackhawk wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:27 pm If you're trying to confuse people as to your identity, you borrow from multiple sources. Unless your goal is to frame Pence, of course.

Sure. Have the people doing the analyzing identified any other likely culprits (i.e. other sources being borrowed from)? Or are you suggesting the anon op-ed is misleading us into thinking it's Webster? Or what? Or is your comment just a statement of fact with no specific reference to the op-ed? Like, advice for all the future leakers out there?

I'm not being a dick (well, only because I'm confused), if I'm missing something then tell me please.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:48 pm

It's from The Wire. Barksdale was the capo of a drug syndicate, and Stringer Bell was the smart guy keeping the business afloat. The implication is that the NYT is being used for a criminal syndicate's politics.

Jolor · Post by **Jolor** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:56 pm

Zaxxon wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 6:35 pm Tough to disagree with Frum here...

This is a Constitutional Crisis.

+ 1 & in full agreement

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:57 pm

Zaxxon wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:41 pm Get thee to a computing device post-haste and binge The Wire, you uncultured barbarian.

Yeah, I don't watch tv unless there are animated cartoon animals involved. Or a morty.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Wed Sep 05, 2018 11:00 pm

Kraken wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:48 pm The implication is that the NYT is being used for a criminal syndicate's politics.

Lol, people are holding my hand and I think I get it and then I read this.

How is does this implicate that the NYT is being used for a criminal syndicate's politics?

I get everything else, I think.

I'm gonna bail for awhile, get a good night's sleep and see if things make sense in the morning. Well, probably not, but that's what I should do.