Washington sure is putting on an entertaining show as of late, as disconcerting a show that it is(more than usual). Something(s) bound to bust loose on a big(ger) level soon enough.
Lol yes, Trump is doing all this purposefully and wants the media attention.
It boggles my mind that people still don't get that Trump wants the Russian conspiracy to be kept going.
So I'll throw this out there, Trump is meeting the Russian Ambassador tomorrow.
Hmmm, suddenly that meeting just got a whole lot interesting.
Trump is playing the media and all of his opponents for fools, its literally election season again.
Well this is an entirely new spin, miraculously emerging tonight, of all nights. He wants the Russia investigation to keep going. The Alt-right trolling culture has truly reached it's peak.
And let's say in some lunatic world you are correct. That means he fired his FBI director for.....ratings?? Seriously?? A 70-year old man playing pranks on the level of an internet message board??
If you're wrong, you've convinced yourself that everything he does is a joke and, literally, nothing he says or does matters or can be criticized in any way (which I suspect is precisely what you are trying to convey). If you are right, he is a 70-year old man child without the emotional maturity to clean bathrooms at McDonald's, much less run the country.
Everything in politics done in publicity is with the intention of influencing people. Just because Trump is ridiculously good at getting into peoples heads that they cant stop talking about him, doesn't negate that fact. You can complain about it, but in the end your really obsessed over him. And isn't it a common argument that Trumps domination of the media helped him alot?
Lol yes, Trump is doing all this purposefully and wants the media attention.
It boggles my mind that people still don't get that Trump wants the Russian conspiracy to be kept going.
So I'll throw this out there, Trump is meeting the Russian Ambassador tomorrow.
Hmmm, suddenly that meeting just got a whole lot interesting.
Trump is playing the media and all of his opponents for fools, its literally election season again.
Well this is an entirely new spin, miraculously emerging tonight, of all nights. He wants the Russia investigation to keep going. The Alt-right trolling culture has truly reached it's peak.
And let's say in some lunatic world you are correct. That means he fired his FBI director for.....ratings?? Seriously?? A 70-year old man playing pranks on the level of an internet message board??
If you're wrong, you've convinced yourself that everything he does is a joke and, literally, nothing he says or does matters or can be criticized in any way (which I suspect is precisely what you are trying to convey). If you are right, he is a 70-year old man child without the emotional maturity to clean bathrooms at McDonald's, much less run the country.
Who the Hell knows what Trump is really thinking. I don't think he's as stupid as many want to believe but what's going on inside his head is a complete enigma to me. He resonates with a lot of people, for what that's worth. It'd be really nice if he had some sort of plan that he could actually explain though.
To me it looks like he just wants to continuously campaign and golf...
@vanatos Well, like he said, negative or positive, he likes the attn.
Russian ambassador huh, well, about time. Personally I would hope we could play better with Russia these days, after Obama gave them the cold shoulder. Better friends than enemies with that much force, or at least 'playing nice in the sandbox' without trying to throw out each others toys.
@vanatos Well, like he said, negative or positive, he likes the attn.
Russian ambassador huh, well, about time. Personally I would hope we could play better with Russia these days, after Obama gave them the cold shoulder. Better friends than enemies with that much force, or at least 'playing nice in the sandbox' without trying to throw out each others toys.
I just hope Putin's cat hasn't been playing in that sandbox!
@vanatos Well, like he said, negative or positive, he likes the attn.
Russian ambassador huh, well, about time. Personally I would hope we could play better with Russia these days, after Obama gave them the cold shoulder. Better friends than enemies with that much force, or at least 'playing nice in the sandbox' without trying to throw out each others toys.
Trump and China are now best friends and jointly working to solve North Korea.
If Trump can get on Russia's good side i think there's alot of good that can come out of it. I didn't think China would come over to Trump's side with his constant rhetoric against their currency manipulation, But hey if he can work the magic again i won't complain.
@vanatos Well, like he said, negative or positive, he likes the attn.
Russian ambassador huh, well, about time. Personally I would hope we could play better with Russia these days, after Obama gave them the cold shoulder. Better friends than enemies with that much force, or at least 'playing nice in the sandbox' without trying to throw out each others toys.
Trump and China are now best friends and jointly working to solve North Korea.
If Trump can get on Russia's good side i think there's alot of good that can come out of it. I didn't think China would come over to Trump's side with his constant rhetoric against their currency manipulation, But hey if he can work the magic again i won't complain.
Maybe inviting those dictators over for golf and drinks actually works...
@Balrog99 Hahhah, well he was trained in intrigue and such. 'Sure Pres. Trump, put your building blocks right 'Here'. I already did the soil testing, it's a mighty fine spot, no probs. Hehheh. One can only hope.
@Balrog99 Hahhah, well he was trained in intrigue and such. 'Sure Pres. Trump, put your building blocks right 'Here'. I already did the soil testing, it's a mighty fine spot, no probs. Hehheh. One can only hope.
Well Trump has the advantage in photo-ops against Putin. Trump's actually pretty damn tall, taller then Obama and Putin is much shorter.
The timing of these events makes the situation look worse than it probably is...but then this situation looks *extremely* bad given the timing.
Also, what a cowardly way to fire someone--you tell the media and the person being fired finds out because it pops up on television?
He also sent his personal, longtime bodyguard to deliver the letter to the FBI. In an envelope. Except Comey was in Los Angeles. And thought it was a joke when someone told him he had been fired. Look, we've seen this movie before. If there was smoke before on Russia, Trump just pointed to the smoke and said "I don't see any smoke here, do you see any smoke here??", which, of course, is now going to lead everyone willing to look right to where the fire is. There is no conceivable upside to firing Comey unless you think keeping him around to oversee the investigation is THAT much worse. Look at his surrogates on TV tonight, their #1 talking point was that we need to "move on from Russia". They can't even go through the motions of trying to mask it, mostly because it seems the entire West Wing staff was as blindsided by this as anyone else.
Is there ANY question that if Hillary Clinton was President right now, and James Comey had, hypothetically, again reopened her email investigation, and she had fired him the day after critical Senate testimony and merely HOURS before Grand Jury subpoenas were revealed, that Republicans wouldn't be in the process of starting impeachment hearings at this very hour?? That any of you would be giving her the same ridiculous pass that is being given to Trump about this?? You know for a fact you wouldn't. None of you would.
If Hillary Clinton fired Comey I'd still look at the evidence for the motive and not just because its Hillary Clinton.
If Hillary Clinton's Deputy Attorney General served under her political opponent, this Deputy is widely respected across the aisle in both parties, had 30 years of experience and wrote as a recommendation to remove Comey I'd give her the benefit of the doubt and in fact it would be necessary to do so because your own Attorney General's told you to do it.
If Hillary Clinton's Deputy Attorney General served under her political opponent, this Deputy is widely respected across the aisle in both parties, had 30 years of experience and wrote as a recommendation to remove Comey I'd give her the benefit of the doubt and in fact it would be necessary to do so because your own Attorney General's told you to do it.
You are talking about the guy Clinton had to fire because "he can no longer effectively lead the bureau and law enforcement community"
The Attorney General who then went on to say:
"Because of what I would term scurrilous attacks on myself and on my wife of 42 years, it has been decided by others, and now you know by the president of the United States, that I can no longer be as forceful as I need to be in leading the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I will speak out in the strongest terms about protecting it {the FBI} from being manipulated and politicized both from the inside and out."
That guy?
Or are you talking about the guy that waited 10 months before writing a letter to the president stating that what Comey did was wrong? Allowing Comey to keep working even though his "performance was so inappropriate for an FBI director that [he] doubts the bureau will ever completely recover?"
That guy?
Regardless of who said it, if it isn't said in a timely fashion, it is horrible optics.
no, Deputy Attorney General (Rod J. Rosenstein) assumed office on April 26, 2017.
Wrote a recommendation and gave it to the Attorney General and then that went to Trump.
He's also the nations longest serving Attorney, was voted 99-6 so basically both the Democrats and Republicans wanted him and served under Obama, Actually has a damn good record.
If Hillary Clinton fired Comey I'd still look at the evidence for the motive and not just because its Hillary Clinton.
If Hillary Clinton's Deputy Attorney General served under her political opponent, this Deputy is widely respected across the aisle in both parties, had 30 years of experience and wrote as a recommendation to remove Comey I'd give her the benefit of the doubt and in fact it would be necessary to do so because your own Attorney General's told you to do it.
All of which was what happened with Trump.
Given Trump spent months leading chants of "lock her up" are you really suggesting that he would be swayed by the neutral recommendation of a newly appointed deputy AG? That seems vanishingly unlikely to me compared to the possibility that Trump wanted and received a pretext (however threadbare) for firing Comey ...
Given Trump spent months leading chants of "lock her up" are you really suggesting that he would be swayed by the neutral recommendation of a newly appointed deputy AG? That seems vanishingly unlikely to me compared to the possibility that Trump wanted and received a pretext (however threadbare) for firing Comey ...
Well I don't know what your saying, Because regardless he was swayed by it even if you believe there is an alignment of interests.
The recommendation by the AG wasn't even for/against Hillary, One of the issue's was also that Comey publicly elaborated on the email scandal instead of going through due process which would have been quieter.
Which, at least politically, would have been more favorable to Hillary at the time.
At this time the democratic party needs to broaden its appeal to the working class, not focus on divisive issue's.
Sigh.
eh no. there needs to be more party discipline so anti-abortionists can't legitimately call themselves democrat and be democrat candidates. then a problem like this could not have happened.
The ridiculous thing about that story is that the litmus test of abortion rights has absolutely nothing to do with being the mayor of a city whatsoever.
It doesn't matter whether private citizens give Trump a pass on this Comey disaster, only whether Congress gives Trump a pass on it. At this time, I think it is highly unlikely that Congress is going to push for an Ken Starr-style investigation. I also wouldn't put too much hope that this is going to cause a lot of Republicans to lose their seats in 2018--some Republican voters are going to approve of Comey's firing specifically because he didn't push for criminal prosecution of Hillary.
The likelihood that Comey's firing was fast-tracked ahead of today's meeting between Trump and the Russian Foreign Minister is, in my opinion, "extremely likely".
@vanatos Hmm, speaking of wild mages, I always liked Neera's line 'since when does intent matter outside the courts?' I think Pres. Trump is finding out that his new spotlight is giving the courts the notion that THEY need to be looking at his intent more, OUTSIDE the court, hehheh. Welcome to the White House for the new CEO.
This video of Russian Foreign Minister's reaction to Comey's firing is.....unreal. Perhaps this is the way to total autocracy. Just do it brazenly right out in the open:
Now they are just straight up mocking us. I'm beginning to see exactly WHY the American Right has no problem with Russia. They want a strongman, they want authoritarianism. They may get it. Certainly the GOP Congress will follow Trump straight into the abyss.
Maybe Trump will resign, Pence become president and make Trump his Secretary of State. That way 'The Donald' can hob-knob and golf with foreign dictators at Mar el Lago all he wants and Pence can focus on things that matter. If that's too risky, Pence can make Trump the ambassador to Slovenia. I hear he's really popular there!
This is my nightmare. As bad as Trump is, a hardcore theocrat like Pence would be a million times worse.
Last May: Comey admits that the FBI is investigating the Clinton e-mail server issue. Last July: The FBI decides not to press charges against Clinton; some people got upset because making that sort of decision is not up to the Director. Last October (late): Comey announces that the FBI is reopening the Clinton e-mail server case
This April: Rosenstein confirmed as the new Deputy Attorney General after the previous one got fired for not throwing her support behind a travel/immigration-related executive order. This May (several events): ___Clinton admits that the reopening of the e-mail investigation the previous October was likely a major factor leading to her loss in the subsequent election. ___Comey admitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee last week that the idea that his investigation might have influenced the outcome of the election made him "mildly nauseous". It was also during this meeting when Comey "misspoke" about the amount of e-mail messages which may (or may not) have been forwarded to a laptop formerly owned by Huma Abedin's former husband Anthony Weiner. ___Federal prosecutors issued subpoenas to various associates of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn in connection with suspected Russian influence in last November's election. This happened only a few hours before.... ___Rosenstein and Session both write letters recommending that Comey be dismissed, advice Trump followed. In his official notice of termination one of the key factors said to lead to that decision is the way in which the Clinton e-mail server investigation was handled.
The probability that this firing was not politically motivated is exactly zero. The probability that Trump will resign over all this mess is also exactly zero. The probability that a special investigator is appointed to look into the entire matter is small but greater than zero. The probability that Trump winds up being impeached is extremely small but still greater than zero.
Comments
It boggles my mind that people still don't get that Trump wants the Russian conspiracy to be kept going.
So I'll throw this out there, Trump is meeting the Russian Ambassador tomorrow.
Hmmm, suddenly that meeting just got a whole lot interesting.
Trump is playing the media and all of his opponents for fools, its literally election season again.
And let's say in some lunatic world you are correct. That means he fired his FBI director for.....ratings?? Seriously?? A 70-year old man playing pranks on the level of an internet message board??
If you're wrong, you've convinced yourself that everything he does is a joke and, literally, nothing he says or does matters or can be criticized in any way (which I suspect is precisely what you are trying to convey). If you are right, he is a 70-year old man child without the emotional maturity to clean bathrooms at McDonald's, much less run the country.
Just because Trump is ridiculously good at getting into peoples heads that they cant stop talking about him, doesn't negate that fact.
You can complain about it, but in the end your really obsessed over him.
And isn't it a common argument that Trumps domination of the media helped him alot?
To me it looks like he just wants to continuously campaign and golf...
Russian ambassador huh, well, about time. Personally I would hope we could play better with Russia these days, after Obama gave them the cold shoulder. Better friends than enemies with that much force, or at least 'playing nice in the sandbox' without trying to throw out each others toys.
If Trump can get on Russia's good side i think there's alot of good that can come out of it.
I didn't think China would come over to Trump's side with his constant rhetoric against their currency manipulation, But hey if he can work the magic again i won't complain.
Also, what a cowardly way to fire someone--you tell the media and the person being fired finds out because it pops up on television?
Trump's actually pretty damn tall, taller then Obama and Putin is much shorter.
Is there ANY question that if Hillary Clinton was President right now, and James Comey had, hypothetically, again reopened her email investigation, and she had fired him the day after critical Senate testimony and merely HOURS before Grand Jury subpoenas were revealed, that Republicans wouldn't be in the process of starting impeachment hearings at this very hour?? That any of you would be giving her the same ridiculous pass that is being given to Trump about this?? You know for a fact you wouldn't. None of you would.
If Hillary Clinton's Deputy Attorney General served under her political opponent, this Deputy is widely respected across the aisle in both parties, had 30 years of experience and wrote as a recommendation to remove Comey I'd give her the benefit of the doubt and in fact it would be necessary to do so because your own Attorney General's told you to do it.
All of which was what happened with Trump.
The Attorney General who then went on to say:
"Because of what I would term scurrilous attacks on myself and on my wife of 42 years, it has been decided by others, and now you know by the president of the United States, that I can no longer be as forceful as I need to be in leading the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I will speak out in the strongest terms about protecting it {the FBI} from being manipulated and politicized both from the inside and out."
That guy?
Or are you talking about the guy that waited 10 months before writing a letter to the president stating that what Comey did was wrong? Allowing Comey to keep working even though his "performance was so inappropriate for an FBI director that [he] doubts the bureau will ever completely recover?"
That guy?
Regardless of who said it, if it isn't said in a timely fashion, it is horrible optics.
Wrote a recommendation and gave it to the Attorney General and then that went to Trump.
He's also the nations longest serving Attorney, was voted 99-6 so basically both the Democrats and Republicans wanted him and served under Obama, Actually has a damn good record.
The recommendation by the AG wasn't even for/against Hillary, One of the issue's was also that Comey publicly elaborated on the email scandal instead of going through due process which would have been quieter.
Which, at least politically, would have been more favorable to Hillary at the time.
https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2017-05-09/omaha-mayor-election-a-symbol-for-democrats
At this time the democratic party needs to broaden its appeal to the working class, not focus on divisive issue's.
Sigh.
It doesn't matter whether private citizens give Trump a pass on this Comey disaster, only whether Congress gives Trump a pass on it. At this time, I think it is highly unlikely that Congress is going to push for an Ken Starr-style investigation. I also wouldn't put too much hope that this is going to cause a lot of Republicans to lose their seats in 2018--some Republican voters are going to approve of Comey's firing specifically because he didn't push for criminal prosecution of Hillary.
The likelihood that Comey's firing was fast-tracked ahead of today's meeting between Trump and the Russian Foreign Minister is, in my opinion, "extremely likely".
I think Pres. Trump is finding out that his new spotlight is giving the courts the notion that THEY need to be looking at his intent more, OUTSIDE the court, hehheh. Welcome to the White House for the new CEO.
Now they are just straight up mocking us. I'm beginning to see exactly WHY the American Right has no problem with Russia. They want a strongman, they want authoritarianism. They may get it. Certainly the GOP Congress will follow Trump straight into the abyss.
Last July: The FBI decides not to press charges against Clinton; some people got upset because making that sort of decision is not up to the Director.
Last October (late): Comey announces that the FBI is reopening the Clinton e-mail server case
This April: Rosenstein confirmed as the new Deputy Attorney General after the previous one got fired for not throwing her support behind a travel/immigration-related executive order.
This May (several events):
___Clinton admits that the reopening of the e-mail investigation the previous October was likely a major factor leading to her loss in the subsequent election.
___Comey admitted to the Senate Judiciary Committee last week that the idea that his investigation might have influenced the outcome of the election made him "mildly nauseous". It was also during this meeting when Comey "misspoke" about the amount of e-mail messages which may (or may not) have been forwarded to a laptop formerly owned by Huma Abedin's former husband Anthony Weiner.
___Federal prosecutors issued subpoenas to various associates of former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn in connection with suspected Russian influence in last November's election. This happened only a few hours before....
___Rosenstein and Session both write letters recommending that Comey be dismissed, advice Trump followed. In his official notice of termination one of the key factors said to lead to that decision is the way in which the Clinton e-mail server investigation was handled.
The probability that this firing was not politically motivated is exactly zero. The probability that Trump will resign over all this mess is also exactly zero. The probability that a special investigator is appointed to look into the entire matter is small but greater than zero. The probability that Trump winds up being impeached is extremely small but still greater than zero.