Trump, July 2017: Tweet more

Fun times

Translator Anatoli Samochornov declined to comment on if he was at the meeting https://t.co/9VWqQXsBIV pic.twitter.com/27xutT5qLZ

— Miriam Elder (@MiriamElder) July 14, 2017

Wait, he was the interpreter at a panel I moderated in Jan at the Brooklyn Library. He was very pro-Trump and pro-Putin. https://t.co/OH03x6oiF8

— Julia Ioffe (@juliaioffe) July 14, 2017

The number of people in that Trump Jr meeting will eventually exceed the number of people it's possible to fit into that room, that hotel, the city of New York, the contiguous land mass of North America, all continents, islands, and Antarctica, the solar system... it's like a J.G. Ballard short story.

But not one of his better ones.

ashes to ashes, clown car to clown car

i was there

this makes me nervous

the so-called moderate republican senators need to hang together or they will surely hang separately. as soon as McConnell has it down to just two solid nays and two ambivalent holdouts the pressure on the last two holdouts will be enough to easily crack their resistance and he'll get his doomsday bill passed with pence's tie-breaker.

idk. call me pollyanna but the window to just breeze this through with no political consequences has long since passed, the attention is on this thing, these cats know their constituents HATE what's in the bill, and nothing added since the last version really offers much cover past maybe one soundbite like "well we got funding for opiod treatment which is so important to folks in this state" --- ok sounds good but, like, then you're outta material and your imagined future challenger is running a hundred ads a day about how senator schmoe's vote took health care away from thousands of voters with cancer and down's syndrome, etc etc., all to give WALL STREET BILLIONAIRES (or even HOLLYWOOD CELEBRITIES) a big tax cut. they've lost even the cheap flimsy cover that this will do something about the supposed "death spiral" since the collins/murkowski opponents have explicitly said wow, this bill actually has nothing at all to do with solving the Very Real Concerns We Have With The ACA. they've sketched out an honorable retreat in other words. and for the "moderate" holdouts from purple states virtually all the bill offers electorally is being able to say "I repealed ObamaCare," the crowd-stirring value of which is inversely proportional to how far your state is from solid red.

i hate when caek gets nervous

As of today, newly naturalized citizens of the USA are still receiving official letterhead congrats from Obama:

My British-born husband takes his oath of citizenship today. In the packet for new Americans, the welcome letter from POTUS is from Obama. 😂 pic.twitter.com/O56cMj0hhx

— Aisha Sultan (@AishaS) July 14, 2017

Sweet, I'd want to throw mine out otherwise (also lol)

BREAKING: In rare joint letter, insurers say Cruz amendment "unworkable in any form" and will lead to "widespread terminations of coverage." pic.twitter.com/hrtKIshIcd

— Topher Spiro (@TopherSpiro) July 15, 2017

Meantime, Pence is following the money

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/07/14/pence-joins-gop-pac-fundraiser-240583

icymi, NY Times is charmed by Yam's "banter"

"I'm a tremendous fracker."

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/14/us/politics/trump-media-reporters.html

oh thank god. now will people finally shut up about how this stupid bill is the sole result of a conspiracy by the eeeeeevil insurance companies? jesus christ.

Welcome to 2017. Trump ecstasy pills exist:

http://i.imgur.com/EN9ghG1.jpg

And a user review

It's a great pill, the greatest pill you have ever used. The other pills are LOSERS. SAD. #MakeMyPupilsGreatAgain
All the fake news channels say XTC is bad for you but it's great, the best feeling I have had in years, it's even better than grabbing them right by the pussy. And the best part is Mexico will pay for it.

i hate the universe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew7EalI5tiI

wasn't it kind of implied that kasich speaking out against senate bill is pretty indicative of how portman will vote? any little ray of hope is needed i guess :(

Their political calculations are starting in effectively different universes, even if both are from Ohio. Kasich is effectively disassociated from D.C. politics, including whatever the Congress does about the ACA. He's allowed to stand aside and make vaguely moderate pronouncements without having to expend political capital by committing to any specific actions. Portman would be bombarded with negative publicity from the right if he was seen as responsible for killing the Republican effort to repeal the ACA.

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/449480/donald-trump-russia-witch-hunt-narrative-hard-believe

broken clocks

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4027315/donald-trump-begs-theresa-may-to-fix-a-warm-welcome-for-his-state-visit-and-says-he-wont-fix-a-date-for-it-until-he-knows-hes-going-to-get-a-better-reception/

He really is the worst on pretty much every conceivable level.

McCain having eye surgery and spending next week at home recuperating is not good news for McConnell. No repeal vote next week, probably.

you're blind, Mr. Magoo

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/poll-finds-trump-standing-weakened-since-springtime/2017/07/15/2decf03a-68d2-11e7-9928-22d00a47778f_story.html

President Trump’s standing with the American people has deteriorated since the spring, buffeted by perceptions of a decline in U.S. leadership abroad, a stalled presidential agenda at home and an unpopular Republican health-care bill, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Approaching six months in office, Trump’s overall approval rating has dropped to 36 percent from 42 percent in April. His disapproval rating has risen five points to 58 percent. Overall, 48 percent say they “disapprove strongly” of Trump’s performance in office, a level never reached by former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and reached only in the second term of George W. Bush in Post-ABC polling.

Almost half of all Americans (48 percent) see the country’s leadership in the world as weaker since Trump was inaugurated, compared with 27 percent who say it is stronger. Despite the fact that Trump campaigned as someone skilled at making deals that would be good for the country, majorities also say they do not trust him in negotiations with foreign leaders and in particular Russian President Vladimir Putin.

And so on.

that's funny, i was just about to post this, with the caption "they still think he's doing a great job":

http://i.imgur.com/cle1Wz3.png

http://i.imgur.com/GeL8T5h.png

that second table doesn't include daily polls from after the shocking donald jr revelations. those are sure to drop his approval ratings among republicans from 85% to maybe 82% or so, a devastating blow

depressingly true. but fwiw there is that thing of the "strongly approve" percentage substantially declining since inauguration, among republicans, which gets camouflaged in the combined "approve" figures...

So far, there’s little sign that the president’s approval rating with Republicans is in danger of eroding. Earlier this month, a congressional source told me, Democratic strategists looking at a Republican-held swing district that is expected to be in play in next year’s midterm elections were shocked when a private poll they conducted showed that Republican support for Mr. Trump in the district is even stronger now than it was on Election Day.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/15/opinion/sunday/no-one-cares-about-russia-in-the-world-breitbart-made.html

xpost

hope you're right!

We're not going to see a reassessment of Trump among Republicans till the stock market tanks. Thanks to his planned trade war (and overall crazy, 2000-esque overvaluations in tech sector) its inevitable.

Have wondered if Don Jr missed the significance of what the idea of adoption represented in terms of Russia since hearing it was one of Putin's responses to sanctions being imposed to clock U.S. adoption of russian children. So what had been brought up with adoption being a synecdoche of a wider subject to be discussed was just met with blank indifference by somebody unable to connect dots that the other side might have expected to be a lot clearer.

i'm sure half-scoop is very concerned about the plight of russian orphans. i'm wondering, now that we've seen emails from half-scoop himself proving that comey was 911% justified in investigating russian collusion, is it possible he gets his old job back, and forget about christopher wray?

Who wants that job? Comey is writing a book.

Don Jr., man: sometimes talkin' adoption is not talkin' adoption, you moron. The fact that there was a quorum, including other higher-ups, demonstrates others knew the issue was more ... complex, even if Dum Jr. didn't.

that second table doesn't include daily polls from after the shocking donald jr revelations. those are sure to drop his approval ratings among republicans from 85% to maybe 82% or so, a devastating blow

I am currently idly speculating that the value of Russia story is not the thing itself, but rather what it does to the yam's fragile mental stability. I've given up hoping it will turn up anything actionable, but I love how much it bothers him. It's possible the siege mentality will goad him into some misstep that not even Hannity will defend. Not holding my breath, but it hovers as a possibility.

http://pushtrumpoffacliffagain.com/

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-idUSKBN1A10Q9

Secret Service "allowed" nothing, their two jobs are investigating financial crimes and protecting the politicians they're assigned to. God what hilarious logic - them being there just proves that the politicians they were protecting were going to be there.

Yeah, that is pretty funny logic. The Secret Service I imagine allows most things, except things that could get the president or his family killed.

Trump lawyer:

I wonder why the Secret Service, if this was nefarious, why the Secret Service allowed these people in.

Because they weren't carrying weapons?

Sounds like Jr. has secured some top-notch legal counsel.

5d chess looking more like 1D checkers played w/ Monopoly pieces

Re: Trump numbers, reportedly he is faring very poorly in counties that Obama won but he flipped.

He was not the droid they were searching for.

LOL, secret service statement throws DJTJ under the bus. does that conflict with mission statement?

The Nixon comparisons hit the next level.

A spokesperson for U.S. Senator Dean Heller confirms an investigation is underway following a break-in at his Las Vegas campaign office.

— George Knapp (@g_knapp) July 16, 2017

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/07/poll-trump-historically-unpopular-at-six-month-mark.html

uuggghhh

But the people who matter most to Trump are sticking with him, with 82 percent of GOP voters approving of his performance. (Among independents, it’s a dismal 32 percent.) He still does well among white Evangelical Protestants (61 percent approval) and white men without a college degree (55 percent). Trump’s handling of the economy also isn’t a disaster: Forty-three percent approve of it compared to 41 percent who disapprove and 16 percent who are unsure.

Yeah, not surprising at all re economy. I keep saying that! A major, undeniable fuckup there is what would break the spell -- and would you want that?

Meantime, Mike Flynn, surfer.

https://apnews.com/45e07fcaf920466eb64a76fa118b1d36/Flynn-returns-to-hometown,-surfing-in-respite-from-scandal

82% is kinda shockingly low for GOP approval of a GOP POTUS, innit? Like, one of the few things they have going for themselves is mindless solidarity. Things like Graham threatening to introduce an alternate healthcare bill show some definite chinks developing in that armor.