US Politics January 2018: "You All Just Got A Lot Richer"

sure, they could all revert to never-trumpism and support some polite looking godfearing midwestern white man who wants to ban abortions for president in 2020 or 2024. but they'd still have to deal with the fact that a huge portion of their base, maybe even the majority, clearly has more enthusiasm for a loudmouthed buffoon whose calling card is winning the race to the bottom before most others realized it was a competition. if trump doesn't run again, surely SOME other figure on the fringe will try to pick up where he left off, maybe ditching the Dumbest Person in the World bits and keeping the racism and xenophobia.

I'm not so sure anymore. I recall reading last year that the risk entailed in accurately tracing Trump crimes back through Felix Sater et al is compromising countless other investigations, blowing hard earned, decades-long deep covers, exposing too many global financial institutions, etc.

Is it possible that the oligarchic reach is so pervasive that to disrupt it would destabilize markets and upset governments on a scale that discourages investigation?

Drain the swamp!

so he's having some kind of kiss-the-ring summit in Camp David, to which Jeffy was not invited?

too oligarchical to fail

Is it possible that the oligarchic reach is so pervasive that to disrupt it would destabilize markets and upset governments on a scale that discourages investigation?

if that were true, wouldn't democrats be just as concerned about it as republicans? most of them seem perfectly willing to criticize trump. the simpler answer is that republican politicians really are the opportunistic, bootlicking assholes that they have always appeared to me, at least during my lifetime.

Maybe many of them are.

Lindsey Graham won 56% of the vote in '14 SC primary. The runner-up had 15%. The president's approval rating hovers around 37%. Graham will not face another challenge until 2020. '

I smell gay tape.

FWIW, I haven't seen much of this Never-Trumper rush to kiss boots myself. Pretty much all the usual suspects are usual-suspecting.

Anyway, the Wolff himself:

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/michael-wolff-reflects-a-wild-week-trumps-anger-i-have-no-side-q-a-1072106

And I have zero reason to doubt this is how it went down:

I literally think you go in there and say, "I'm writing a book," and they go, "Oh. A book." It's like a cloak of invisibility. And then also they would do this thing that would be like, "Oh, this is off the record." And I would say, "I would like to use it for the book." And they would say, "Well, when does that come out?" And I would say, "Next year." "Oh, oh, yeah, OK, fine."

Also, in response to a question about his sources apparently still in the WH and how Trump is allegedly reacting:

I hear that the president is very angry, or, let me be precise: I hear that he is truly bouncing off the walls.

I...like imagining this.

And I mean, is he wrong?

I remember when the Murdoch book came out and Murdoch's guy [former News Corp. marketing and corporate affairs exec] Gary Ginsberg, called me, furious, and said, "What is this? The book is all about him!" I said, "It's a biography." And Ginsberg says, "But it's so personal." That's when I realized, these guys don't just not read books — they don't know what books are.

Wasn't Graham a Never-Trumper? Yesterday he recommended Christopher Steele for criminal investigation.

I realize he has maintained a disapproving tone wrt Trump but this is pretty boot-kissy where it most counts

they could all revert to never-trumpism and support some polite looking godfearing midwestern white man who wants to ban abortions for president in 2020 or 2024.

I, for one, think abortions should have every right to run for president.

i read wolff’s book overnight and the only part which stretched credulity was bannon claiming that he didn’t drink

I've seen a couple of people insist that's the case before -- Haberman among them -- so who knows? Maybe he doesn't! Maybe he looks fucked up naturally.

i mean maybe he’s graduated from drinking regular-people alcohol and just drinks white spirit or huffs gasoline or something

palpatine didn't drink either afaik and he looked bad.

"Do you drink?" "Only to excess".

https://www.you.tube.com/watch?v=t7w5S3Saqog

one thing about trump’s tweets from earlier today dismissively mentioning the ‘reagan playbook’ that whoever wrote them seems to have overlooked is that reagan was in serious mental decline...

palpatine didn't drink either afaik and he looked bad.

along with the romney at dinner ambush picture, this is another iconic political photo of the 21st century, imo:

https://i.imgur.com/BBPCvZo.jpg

haunting

Think your question was just answered there, bizarro.

huh i just noticed for the first time that bannon’s wearing his usual two-shirts uniform there

bonny two-shirts

Two shirts, no trousers. :(

dorky piggin it

I believe Bannon said he doesn't drink

Bannon doesn't drink. He damages his brain by worshipping his own thinking.

Guys what happens if Bannon primaries Trump

Trump would trounce Bannon in the primaries. But they'd 100% control the discourse.

(l-r) donald j trump, stephen k bannon

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/avp/images/1/16/AVP_Whoever_Wins...We_Lose.jpg

Read the whole thread:

Spotted in the new Michael Wolff book about Trump: A Four Seasons breakfast featuring "Washington Post national reporter Mark Berman"

(I have never had breakfast at the Four Seasons, never actually been there) (but now I wonder if I can use this to go eat there and expense it?) pic.twitter.com/bWgVAwrEfj

— Mark Berman (@markberman) January 5, 2018

This book is poorly reported claptrap, and I'm seriously considering canceling my date tonight so that I can read my ePub :)

holy shit, it wasn't him but somebody with the same name!? omg, this changes everything!

This book is an addictive read

fun check-in. i've been away from politics-world for a week. all that's filtered through is something mark hammill said on twitter - there was something about a book, but all of this stuff about "gorilla channel" or whatever didn't make it as far out as i am.

mostly i avoid the president at this point because he is exceptionally stupid and incompetent, and while i'm grateful for that the underlying issues he raises will continue once he is gone, and i need to be mentally prepared to advocate for decisive action on those particular issues.

plus it will be important to continue talking about him when he's gone because people are going to want to forget him and pretend he never happened, and the less i talk about him now the easier it will be to carry the torch.

I’ve had to put up with the Fake News from the first day I announced that I would be running for President. Now I have to put up with a Fake Book, written by a totally discredited author. Ronald Reagan had the same problem and handled it well. So will I!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018

yeah, Ronald Reagan sure handled his senility well.

Are the Fake News Awards tomorrow? Smart of him to avoid conflict with the Golden Globes.

Hahaha

https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-am

(Bannon's openly bootlicking now.)

I don't think he'd like Fakebook, either.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmO0Bh4oHo0

Jake Tapper of Fake News CNN just got destroyed in his interview with Stephen Miller of the Trump Administration. Watch the hatred and unfairness of this CNN flunky!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 7, 2018

i hate to say it but tapper did just get bodied by a guy who could easily be mistaken for a face painted on an egg

also cool that trump's flunkies are now doubling down on trump being a genius

http://edition.cnn.com/videos/politics/2018/01/07/white-house-adviser-stephen-miller-full-interview-sotu.cnn

Fred Durst, can you help...stop the violence?

Please sir, just stop this manipulation and raise the bar. You have this wonderful opportunity to make our world better. We unmistakably need a role model and leader for the now, and the future. This isn’t the way.

— Fred Durst (@freddurst) January 7, 2018

i hate to say it but tapper did just get bodied by a guy who could easily be mistaken for a face painted on an egg

That's some fine weed there you're smoking.

i fuckin wish

srsly tho tapper came across like a peevish maiden aunt the whole way through and failed to land a single solid blow despite multiple openings, including two (2) recitations from miller that trump was a 'self-made billionaire'

Well suffice to say there's swathes of people out there not agreeing with you at all.

This Jennifer Rubin column is hilarious.

Trump’s emotional and mental limitations should debunk a number of rationalizations from his devoted cultists, who insisted he was the best choice in 2016, cheered his first year in office and continue to pretend he’s fit for office. He’s sounding presidential. No, he’s reading off a teleprompter, likely with very little comprehension. He’s playing four-dimensional chess with Kim Jong Un. No, he’s impulsively lashing out, with the risk of provoking a deadly clash. He’s a master manipulator when he shifts from position to position, sometimes in the same sentence. No, he likely doesn’t realize what contradicts what or remember what he originally said. His use of alternative facts is a brilliant scheme to control the press narrative. No, he’s incapable of processing real information and driven by an insatiable need for praise and reaffirmation.

Rubin was the queen of the Mitt Romney cult when he was running for president; I wonder what she'll do or say if/when Romney's elected to the Senate and becomes a reliable Trump sycophant?