Jump to content

Donald Trump 2020


Francisco 2.0

Recommended Posts

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2020/01/donald-trump-disastrous-encounter-with-the-constitution-very-stable-genius

 

Quote

On March 1, 2017, nearly six weeks after President Trump had raised his right hand and swore to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, he struggled to read aloud the words of the founding document. A film crew had come to the White House to record the new president reading a section of the Constitution. Trump chose to participate in the HBO production because he did not want to forgo the chance to be filmed for history, and he knew that as the sitting president he would be the documentary’s most important character.

 

Quote

The documentary, titled The Words That Built America, was directed by Alexandra Pelosi, a daughter of House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. Her conceit was that the country was starkly divided after the ugliness of the 2016 campaign, but the founding documents remained a unifying force for the nation’s factions. Pelosi and her team had a novel and distinctly bipartisan hook: All six living presidents, as well as six vice presidents, would join in reading the Constitution on camera, and other political figures and actors would read portions of the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence. Each performance would be edited to create a lively, unabridged reading of the treasured documents that have united the nation for more than two centuries.

 

Quote

On March 1, Pelosi and her crew arrived at the White House, and as they were getting ready in the Blue Room, Trump entered the opulent parlor, which sits at the center of the residence’s first floor and opens onto the South Portico. The Blue Room, distinguished by its French blue draperies and gold wallpaper, is steeped in history. It was where President Grover Cleveland and his wife exchanged wedding vows in 1886, and every December the White House’s primary Christmas tree is erected at the center of the oval-shaped room.

 

 

Spoiler

On this day Trump seemed stiff and uncomfortable. Though he was technically in his own home, he did not greet his guests. Rather, he stood waiting for someone to approach him. Pelosi moved in to thank Trump for participating in this special history project, but he appeared to have no idea who she was, apparently not briefed on her political lineage or her role as the director. The president asked for some water, and with no staff bringing any to him, Pelosi handed him a bottle of Aquafina from her purse. “I’ve been into the White House,” Pelosi later said of visits to see previous presidents. “There are always protocols. Here there were no rules, no protocol.” She added, “There’s so much wrong with the whole thing. I’m thinking, Isn’t there someone who’s supposed to guard what he’s eating and drinking?”

Meanwhile, a White House staffer gave the other crew members instructions about what they could and could not do with the president. The very first rule was for the makeup artist: Do not touch the president’s hair. On his face, light powder only. The next instruction was for the technical crew: Could they make the lighting a little more orange? The president preferred a warm glow on camera. The mention of “orange” struck some in the room as an odd choice. Outside the bubble of the White House, late-night TV show hosts and cartoonists had been mocking the perpetually orange hue of Trump’s skin.

Pelosi had let presidents and vice presidents choose the portion of the Constitution they wanted to read. Many were wary of reading the section on the rules for impeachment or foreign emoluments. Trump had selected the opening of Article II, the part of the Constitution that addresses a president’s election and the scope of his or her power. It would normally have been the perfect selection for a president—but was an ironic one for Trump, who had spoken of his desire to exercise his executive power as much as possible, including by threatening Congress and challenging the judiciary.

With LED lights on stilts in front of him, Trump took his seat. “You’re lucky you got the easy part,” Pelosi told him cheerfully. “It gets complicated after this.” But the president stumbled, trying to get out the words in the arcane, stilted form the founding fathers had written. Trump grew irritated. “It’s very hard to do because of the language here,” Trump told the crew. “It’s very hard to get through that whole thing without a stumble.” He added, “It’s like a different language, right?” The cameraman tried to calm Trump, telling him it was no big deal, to take a moment and start over. Trump tried again, but again remarked, “It’s like a foreign language.”

The section, like many parts of the Constitution, was slightly awkward—an anachronistic arrangement of words that don’t naturally trip off the tongue. Members of the crew exchanged looks, trying not to be obvious. Some believed Trump would eventually get it, but others were more concerned. The president, already bristling about his missteps, was getting angry. He chided the crew, accusing them of distracting him. “You know, your paper was making a lot of noise. It’s tough enough,” Trump said.

“Every time he stumbled, he manufactured something to blame people,” another person in the room recalled. “He never said, ‘Sorry, I’m messing this up.’ [Other] people would screw up and say, ‘Ohhhh, I’m sorry.’ They would be self-effacing. He was making up excuses and saying there were distracting sounds.… He was definitely blaming everyone for his inability to get through it. That was prickly, or childish.” Though stiff, he eventually made it through without any errors.

Trump presented a stark contrast to many other readers, including the Supreme Court associate justice Stephen Breyer, who read as if he knew the full text by heart, and Senator Ted Cruz, who “knew it from beginning to end” as a result of performing dramatic readings of the Constitution as a high school student, according to Pelosi. “Donald Trump is a celebrity and he came to perform,” she said. “He had not practiced it beforehand. I don’t think anyone would show up to read the Constitution without practicing it first.”

Whatever the reason for Trump’s discomfort with the reading, several watching agreed on this much: He behaved like a brooding child, short-tempered, brittle, and quick to blame mystery distractions for the mistakes. “I didn’t expect this, but I felt sorry for him,” another witness said. “When [Vice President] Pence is reading it, when [former vice president [Dick] Cheney is reading it, I knew they knew the Constitution. And I thought, Before he got this job, he really should have read it.”

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Today the President is in Switzerland. No schussing and slaloming over moguls, however. (Little hard to imagine, but quite entertaining)

He will be in various meetings throughout the day, bored out of his mind given that he never reads the briefs.

Given that the Senate will commence with the proceedings today at 1:00 EST I believe, Trump will be able to follow along for awhile as he is 7 hours ahead of EST, correct?

If you have time to call or email your Senators' offices and give them your opinion, please do! Takes but a moment, and many voters assume someone else is doing it for them.

If you are in Texas, the numbers for the DC offices are:

Ted Cruz (202) 224-5922 Here is a contact link if you prefer written: https://www.cruz.senate.gov/?p=form&id=16

John Cornyn (202) 224-2934

I have found if the lines are busy that contacting one of the local offices is another way to leave an opinion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Mrs Whiggins said:

Today the President is in Switzerland. No schussing and slaloming over moguls, however. (Little hard to imagine, but quite entertaining)

He will be in various meetings throughout the day, bored out of his mind given that he never reads the briefs.

Given that the Senate will commence with the proceedings today at 1:00 EST I believe, Trump will be able to follow along for awhile as he is 7 hours ahead of EST, correct?

If you have time to call or email your Senators' offices and give them your opinion, please do! Takes but a moment, and many voters assume someone else is doing it for them.

If you are in Texas, the numbers for the DC offices are:

Ted Cruz (202) 224-5922 Here is a contact link if you prefer written: https://www.cruz.senate.gov/?p=form&id=16

John Cornyn (202) 224-2934

I have found if the lines are busy that contacting one of the local offices is another way to leave an opinion.

He will absolutely be following it. Up until the wee hours of the morning sniffing adderall to get the early Fox News feedback. 

im sure he floated the idea of not going to Davos so he could be in Washington for the start of this. 

Edited by heso
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, heso said:

He will absolutely be following it. Up until the wee hours of the morning sniffing adderall to get the early Fox News feedback. 

im sure he floated the idea of not going to Davos so he could be in Washington for the start of this. 

I believe that was under discussion with the talks he had with McConnell prior to setting the calendar. The idea was how to maneuver for the SOTU on February 4th.

A reminder that not including $$ on the side, your senators are provided an income of $174,000. Until this day when there will be a 12 hour session, these men and women have not been passing much in the way of legislation so, again, make them earn that salary today and call or write. If everything is transactional, then try for a pound of flesh perhaps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Chooky said:

Lev Parnas 5 years before he wilted like cafeteria lettuce and almost wept in front of Rachel Maddow

EOsRIxpUEAEb_nS?format=jpg&name=small

Each time one of these photos of Parnas and the other guy with Donald or other members of his family.....I start laughing out loud in public because of the scene in Airplane II where the Lieutenant tells Shatner that the shuttle is being flown by Ted Stryker.  
"You know him sir?"

"I've never heard of him.  (dramatically pauses)  That's not exactly true, we were like brothers."

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The president asked for some water, and with no staff bringing any to him, Pelosi handed him a bottle of Aquafina from her purse. “I’ve been into the White House,” Pelosi later said of visits to see previous presidents. “There are always protocols. Here there were no rules, no protocol.” She added, “There’s so much wrong with the whole thing. I’m thinking, Isn’t there someone who’s supposed to guard what he’s eating and drinking?”

 

I had my chance and I let it go. I had my chance and I let it go. If I ever get another chance like that, I'm going to grab it and not look back.

Edited by High Plains Drifter
Link to comment
Share on other sites

18 hours ago, Message Board User said:
 
My guess is this was similar to the Clark's Grand Canyon "viewing" in National Lampoons Vacation. "Ok let's go."

No, he was thinking how lame this memorial is, and how his is going to be a colossus of marble and gold. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

huh?

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/iranian-mp-puts-3m-bounty-president-donald-trump-head-200121160535164.html

 

Quote

An Iranian legislator on Tuesday offered a US$3m reward to "anyone who kills" US President Donald Trump to avenge the assassination of top general Qassem Soleimani.

American disarmament ambassador Robert Wood dismissed the reward as "ridiculous", telling reporters in Geneva it showed the "terrorist underpinnings" of Iran's establishment.

Ahmad Hamzeh, a little-known member of parliament, offered the bounty on behalf of the people of Kerman, the hometown and final resting place of the revered Soleimani, who was killed in an American drone strike in neighbouring Iraq on January 3.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Trump will take advantage and use our tax dollars to beef up security at his private properties. 

That reminds me: the deadline to provide the documents totaling his Secret Service cost at all of his properties is February 3, the day prior to the SOTU. Bet someone has their Sharpie out on that one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest
This topic is now closed to further replies.


×
×
  • Create New...