Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[hack]

That is far less damage than if it weren't to happen. Damage was already done. Time to mitigate.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Trump makes untrue claims; extracts flattery from his Cabinet; throws media out of room when they try to ask questions; same shit, 'nother day

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/12/trump-makes-bizarre-claims-at-press-event-as-cabinet-members-take-turns-praising-him.html

[SeattleLionsFan]

Then there is this. Why on earth would the Senate be scared of the people seeing their proposal? Aren't they trying to make life better for people?

https://www.axios.com/senate-gop-wra...81.html

[Ghengis Jon]

Trump makes untrue claims; extracts flattery from his Cabinet; throws media out of room when they try to ask questions; same shit, 'nother day

Here's Chuck Schumer's video mocking the Cabinet's ass sucking.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/schumer-mocks-trump-cabinet-meeting

[Whitley]

Then there is this. Why on earth would the Senate be scared of the people seeing their proposal? Aren't they trying to make life better for people?

https://www.axios.com/senate-gop-wra...81.html

Link is 404'd.

[froot loops]

According to Trump BFF Chris Ruddy, Trump is considering firing Robert Mueller.

[SeattleLionsFan]

Maybe this one will work? https://www.axios.com/senate-gop-wra...mpaign=organic

It's an axios piece about how the Senate isnt gonna show anyone the healthcare bill before they pass it.

[hack]

According to Trump BFF Chris Ruddy, Trump is considering firing Robert Mueller.

At that point, and if he gets away with it, I'm on board with GJ's giant meteor idea. I don't agree that it's a constitutional crisis, because the constitution allows it, and a constitutional crisis as I understand it is when it's being violated. But it's certainly a failure of the constitution to do what it is supposed to do. We'd need a new one that accounts for people and Congress being unwilling to do their jobs.

[Da Geezer]

The more this administration is bogged down and distracted by non-governance issues, the better off we'll be IMO.

That's the plan.

Otherwise, tax cuts and regulatory reform could be expected to pass in some form.

[froot loops]

They could try not lying continuously about meeting these Russian fellows.

[The Oracle]

Gonna say, if the stupidest administration in our history could just stop shitting all over themselves, it'd help. But they can't and won't.

[froot loops]

Can't stop, won't stop

[iam416]

While talent is indeed an asshat, as a legal scholar and with respect to the question, did DJT obstruct justice in firing Comey, he is spot on and is joined by several other lawyers with considerable reputations as constitutional authorities.

I heard one of them on the NPR evening news Friday night and then found this WaPo article (yes, I made sure no one had posted this link as I have carefully read the last 4 or 5 pages of posts on this issue) linked below.

Like talent, I'm in no way endorsing Trump - he was and is now the king of asshats. But I am getting tired of the assertions everywhere, including here, that there is incontrovertible truth, facts, that support the position that Trump obstructed justice .... and those of you here that will try to back peddle on those positions, forget it. It's pretty clear that in your name, it is written.

We should now all be prepared to begin to entertain the notion that, like Bill Clinton was accused of being the Teflon President, Trump will enjoy that characterization as well. That is because he will escape unscathed from the charges of obstruction, build a case that the deep state is out to get him, and continue to strut about like the ridiculous peacock he has become.

Good post, Jeff.

[hack]

Last summer was too early for the Hitler comparisons, and so was last fall, and throughout winter. I still think Trump is a kleptocrat and not an autocrat, and that this is only a constitutional crisis if you define that term quite widely. But the worriers keep pointing out that he behaves as an autocrat does, and they are right more than they are wrong. At some point though, if you want to live in a proper modern democracy, it'll be appropriate to decide you don't need a court verdict or an investigation's outcome to tell you what to think. I personally don't think he has to rise to autocrat before I think it's time to be alarmed. If he does fire Mueller, I don't agree with many that that's the end of democracy. He already fired Comey and Yates. Firing Mueller would just be more of what we already have. Kleptocracy is bad enough. Everyone has to have their own standard, but as citizens and voters we all should be thinking about what exactly our own personal red lines are. You're all Americans. Complacency is for Canadians.

[iam416]

There's little doubt in my mind that lots of folks have near zero fealty to the language of any laws and merely want the ends. I happen to think process and statutory and constitutional language matter. That's not a particularly popular opinion in some echo chambers as they prefer to make it up to suit their ends and then chastise others for being undemocratic.

WRT DJT, folks are, of course, entirely free to make their own decisions and vote his party out of office in 2018 and him out in 2020. I will certainly be voting against him in 2020 if I have that opportunity. That's the process. What I or anyone else on this thread thinks a statutory term like "obstruction of justice" should mean is not.