Trump, June 2017: From [Covfefe] with Love

aaaand about that testimony:

President Donald Trump could invoke executive privilege to prevent fired FBI director James Comey from delivering his scheduled testimony before Congress next week, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway suggested Friday.

Conway first told ABC’s “Good Morning America” that the Trump team would be “watching with the rest of the world” to see what Comey said in his congressional testimony.

Then, asked directly if Trump would use his presidential authority to block Comey’s testimony, Conway hedged: “The President will make that decision.”

good luck w that

isn't that exactly what landed Nixon before the SC

DO IT, TRUMP!!!

yeah, do it!

I am so completely adamant about my innocence that I will do everything in my power to prevent the possibility of my official exoneration.

Meantime...

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-flynn-turkey-exclusive-idUSKBN18T276

Robert Mueller, the special counsel investigating possible ties between the Trump election campaign and Russia, is expanding his probe to include a grand jury investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn, three sources told Reuters.

The move means Mueller’s politically charged inquiry will now look into Flynn’s paid work as a lobbyist for a Turkish businessman in 2016, in addition to contacts between Russian officials and Flynn and other Trump associates during and after the Nov. 8 presidential election.

Federal prosecutors in Virginia are investigating a deal between Flynn and Turkish businessman Ekim Alptekin as part of a grand jury criminal probe, according to a subpoena seen by Reuters.

Alptekin’s company, Netherlands-based Inovo BV, paid Flynn's consultancy $530,000 between September and November to produce a documentary and research on Fethullah Gulen, an exiled Turkish cleric living in the United States. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan blames Gulen for a failed coup last July.

Alptekin, an ally of Erdogan, told Reuters he hired Flynn to provide research on how Gulen is “poisoning the atmosphere” between Turkey and the United States.

Gulen has denied any role in the coup and dismisses Turkey’s allegations that he heads a terrorist organization.

Bernie interview:

Is Trump in his eyes an autocrat, or does he simply fail to understand the constitutional limits of the presidency? "The answer is both," Sanders replies. "I think he has authoritarian tendencies. The fact that he feels comfortable with authoritarians like Russian President Vladimir Putin, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and others around the world, suggests to me that he is an authoritarian-type personality." Trump, says Sanders, is also working "hand in glove" with the "billionaire class to move this country in a very oligarchic direction."...

The essence of his argument is that he doesn't want people to believe that (impeachment talk) is just a political attack on Trump and that he wants to bring Republicans along. "If Bernie Sanders says something, people say, 'Well, you don't like Donald Trump.'" That, he adds, is why it's a good thing that former FBI Director Robert Mueller has been appointed as special counsel. "You have somebody who a lot of people respect," says Sanders.

In his opinion, would the Democrats be making a mistake by focusing solely on Russia? If everything is about Russia, says Sanders, many people will say: "Hey, all of that is interesting, but you know what? I can't afford health care. I don't have a job. My kid can't afford to go to college. Why don't you pay attention to our needs?"

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/interview-with-bernie-sanders-about-donald-trump-a-1149427.html

the "if they would just let him do his thing" argument, the narrative that he is being hamstrung by the swamp/deep state is already being constructed

Forsooth; indeed it was thusly foretold before the election. Resistance on the part of entrenched elites was expected, and continually saying so is a common means of managing expectations. "It's going to take more than 100 days to dismantle an infrastructure of corruption dating back to the New Deal; jeez, guys."

If everything is about Russia, says Sanders, many people will say: "Hey, all of that is interesting, but you know what? I can't afford health care. I don't have a job. My kid can't afford to go to college. Why don't you pay attention to our needs?"

otmfm, Bernie

the biggest problem is that the dems have a valid excuse for not passing helpful legislation, bcz they don't have control of the House, the Senate, or the Presidency, but the same people bernie cites above as asking those questions will not accept even valid excuses. this is why somebody in the dems needs to think about a gingrich-style 'contract with america' in lieu of the fact that no one pays attention to party platforms any more. it needs to be specific and it needs to be simple for voters to grasp.

I feel like a juicy newsbomb has dropped every Friday around COB for the last few weeks, so I'm gonna be pretty disappointed if it doesn't happen again today.

i could use a break tbh

leakers gonna leak

and the tweakers gonna tweak tweak tweak

The president told mainline Protestant pastors he did great with evangelicals. Then asked if they were Christian. https://t.co/XghYKhQxIc pic.twitter.com/g4JrOvbYhP

— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) June 2, 2017

"I see you have two eyes, a mouth. Are you some sort of dog? Or a bird, maybe?"

In his opinion, would the Democrats be making a mistake by focusing solely on Russia?

I guess that would be a mistake if ... it were even remotely a possible thing Democrats might do? In fact there seems to be a swarm in all directions, besides Russia a constant stream of "GOP is trying to take away your health insurance" + "Trump is an incompetent idiot whose only policy goal is to be flattered" + "give money to this special election candidate" and "Trump doesn't think climate change is real" etc. and etc. I think they're doing a good job keeping a lot of balls in the air and they're doing a good job focusing on the many aspects in which Trump admin's priorities are broadly unpopular

Yeah I don't know anyone whose only beef with Trump is Russiastuff.

It's more like, hit him on all fronts with whatever ammunition comes to hand.

That he's so committed to giving people more reasons to think there's something fishy there (re Russia) is on him.

CNN and MSNBC seem to be covering Russia more than is warranted, and the right has managed to equate those networks with the Democratic Party, so that may explain some of that thinking. I was flipping between the two last night while waiting for the Finals to start and there was plenty of Russia talk even though Paris really should have been the only story.

from what I've read and heard, actual Democratic candidates like Quist and Ossof seem to be wisely leaning very heavy on health care in making their case.

obvs. Quist is past tense now.

Brett Stephens hire was a++++++ NYT... =|

another good one from der spiegel

http://cdn3.spiegel.de/images/image-1149622-640_panofree-qfwb-1149622.jpg

I guess that would be a mistake if ... it were even remotely a possible thing Democrats might do? In fact there seems to be a swarm in all directions, besides Russia a constant stream of "GOP is trying to take away your health insurance" + "Trump is an incompetent idiot whose only policy goal is to be flattered" + "give money to this special election candidate" and "Trump doesn't think climate change is real" etc. and etc. I think they're doing a good job keeping a lot of balls in the air and they're doing a good job focusing on the many aspects in which Trump admin's priorities are broadly unpopular

This is all well and good but at some point they're gonna need to do better in their own platform than "15$ min wage in eight years" (lol) if they want anyone to actually show up

or as Jon Schwarz put it last October

Democrats: "Nothing's free kids we'll never have free healthcare or free college or a living wage or hey how did Trump become president"

— Jon Schwarz (@tinyrevolution) February 20, 2016

make that 2/16

they're gonna need to do better in their own platform than "15$ min wage in eight years" (lol) if they want anyone to actually show up

Why? Trump had nothing except "I'm not like those liberal pansies", and he beat 15 Republicans and a Democrat.

I mean, he did say "everything will be great for you and everyone will have well-paying jobs and be rich and everything will be free," I guess, but he was just lying, but the point can't be "Democrats should lie more," can it?

its pretty safe to say that trump's administration has shattered the belief that lying has consequences

Have you read the Democratic Party's platform?

https://www.democrats.org/party-platform

Has anyone?

Yeah, their "reign in Wall Street" angle is super credible.

https://www.rt.com/usa/378616-dnc-votes-corporate-lobby-money/

I guess i'm not sure what point you're making, DJP; is the point that Dem candidates should be talking more loudly about the policy stuff in that platform? To a first approximation it looks pretty similar to what I hear them saying: rich people should pay their share, women should have rights, etc.

oh and the health care language in their platform is bullshit

Trump had his wall with mexico, paid for by mexico. He had his muslim ban and killing the families of isis fighters. He had his bullshit promises about fabulous healthcare for everyone to replace obamacare. He had pulling out of nafta, tpp, and the paris climate accord, and naming china a currency manipulator. Trump had his list of anti-abortion supreme court nominees.

Trump's positions were crap piled on crap as high as he could reach, but they were often very specific, acted like catnip for his base, and he repeated them over and over in simple, clear language.

Why do you think the health care language in their platform is bullshit?

are these guys gonna amount to something or nah? http://www.peoplescoalition.us/peoples-coalition/

For all the niceties about "health care being a right", major establishment Dems like Clinton and Pelosi have actively stated that true universal health care isn't one of the party's goals and/or is never gonna happen. Universal care (as opposed to "universal access") is still, from what I can tell, a fringe goal w/in the party, though hopefully that's changing due to sheer public outrage. xp

Your objection, then, is that health care should be free and the Democratic party does not support that? Or am I misunderstanding you?

Is Trump most useful as a reagent?
Seems to be causing a lot of reactions that might actually eventually get something more positive done.

Er, yeah? xp

("Free" as in paid for by the state, of course, nothing's free)

every day i try to look for positive patterns in all this, like maybe Comey's testimony will knock him down. Or Kushner will get charged with something and flip on his father in law. Or that McKinley had a secretary named Trump and vice versa.

Not even Nordic countries has 'true universal health care', btw.

Trump's campaign holding a 'Pittstburgh not Paris' rally. At Lafayette square. That's dumb.

every day i try to look for positive patterns in all this, like maybe Comey's testimony will knock him down. Or Kushner will get charged with something and flip on his father in law. Or that McKinley had a secretary named Trump and vice versa.

― nomar,

Make arrests. Stir the shitstorm.

Stare into the tv static looking for patterns all you like. In the end, you'll only wind up getting sucked into some paranormal nethervoid in your bedroom closet.

thread here

Is this the time for me to leak the gossip I know about Melania Trump or should I wait. (And I'm serious btw.)

— Monica Byrne (@monicabyrne13) June 1, 2017

tl;dr Donnie is a literal cuck

fwiw, while it is tempting to say that "health care should be free", saying so plays into the hands of opponents of single-payer because ordinary people know health care costs a lot of money and "there is no free lunch". you have to point out it will be paid for, but differently than now.

damn the agreement that if he lost they would get divorced
wild thread

i heard something else about trump from a 100% reliable source... something JUICY and EMBARRASSING... that proves once and for all that he is BAD and NOT GOOD......... this is going to be so amazing, when i reveal this info.... should i do it?????

wow look, trump is toast: woman shuts down Donald with gossip sure to derail his presidency.