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Donald Trump 2018

TheFlyingBoat

By TheFlyingBoat
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M12BH
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SInce y'all seem to be my clearinghouse for all things political, let me tell a story.  A couple of them, actually.  Three, if you want to be specific. When I was 14 I went with a family frien

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Tuco

Tuco 5,093

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Now would be a good time remind folks that Richard Burt was a highly paid lobbyist who was lobbying on behalf of Nord Stream II.  He helped write the Mayflower Speech, in which Trump laid out the need for more cooperation with Russia.  Burt also worked with Sessions on national security white papers. 

So, yeah, it's a little weird that Trump is singling out the original Nord Stream. 

https://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/donald-trump-campaign-lobbyist-russian-pipeline-229264

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Hugo Stiglitz

Hugo Stiglitz 23,367

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4 minutes ago, Tuco said:

Now would be a good time remind folks that Richard Burt was a highly paid lobbyist who was lobbying on behalf of Nord Stream II.  He helped write the Mayflower Speech, in which Trump laid out the need for more cooperation with Russia.  Burt also worked with Sessions on national security white papers. 

So, yeah, it's a little weird that Trump is singling out the original Nord Stream. 

https://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/donald-trump-campaign-lobbyist-russian-pipeline-229264

The reason Trump went after Germany is simple, to please Putin.

Trump made sure his rhetorical attack on Germany was on camera.  He even tweeted out the footage himself so his master could observe his work.

Putin wants the NATO allies to turn on each other.  Trump calling out Germany might lead to other countries having their own grievances with Germany.

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Tuco

Tuco 5,093

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1 minute ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

The reason Trump went after Germany is simple, to please Putin.

Trump made sure his rhetorical attack on Germany was on camera.  He even tweeted out the footage himself so his master could observe his work.

Putin wants the NATO allies to turn on each other.  Trump calling out Germany might lead to other countries having their own grievances with Germany.

I'm guessing Putin wants Nord Stream II built, probably more than any German politician.  And, unlike NATO, it might not withstand the pressure of international scrutiny.

There are a lot of ways to read the data here. One is that Trump needs to get some decent cover ahead of some accusations.  If there is something about to come out that implicated him with Gazprom, attacking a Gazprom asset would provide a reasonable defense.  Another possibility is that Putin has prioritized damaging our relationship with NATO as more important than Nord Stream.  Another possibility is that Trump is just too stupid to understand the ramifications of his attack.  Another possibility is that Trump was not beholden to Putin or Gazprom in the first place. (Hey, it's still possible...maybe.)

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DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt

DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12,301

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1 minute ago, Tuco said:

I'm guessing Putin wants Nord Stream II built, probably more than any German politician.  And, unlike NATO, it might not withstand the pressure of international scrutiny.

There are a lot of ways to read the data here. One is that Trump needs to get some decent cover ahead of some accusations.  If there is something about to come out that implicated him with Gazprom, attacking a Gazprom asset would provide a reasonable defense.  Another possibility is that Putin has prioritized damaging our relationship with NATO as more important than Nord Stream.  Another possibility is that Trump is just too stupid to understand the ramifications of his attack.  Another possibility is that Trump was not beholden to Putin or Gazprom in the first place. (Hey, it's still possible...maybe.)

you're trying to make sense of the actions and words of a borderline retarded person. no need to do that. he's just a fucking idiot that says whatever comes to mind.

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 106,899

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Random anecdote: I’m on vacation with some family, including someone who works in an aerospace facility (as in, part of their group is involved in active operations). One of my cousin’s co workers calls him over to see one line of a classified discussion (actually physically blocked the rest of his screen, so he could see just the one line). Someone in his group was pretty pissed: “Six months of operational planning...trashed by a fucking tweet.”

The ops teams aren’t big trump fans.

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Hugo Stiglitz

Hugo Stiglitz 23,367

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1 minute ago, Tuco said:

Another possibility is that Putin has prioritized damaging our relationship with NATO as more important than Nord Stream.  Another possibility is that Trump is just too stupid to understand the ramifications of his attack.

Both of these are likely.

 

2 minutes ago, Tuco said:

One is that Trump needs to get some decent cover ahead of some accusations.

Yeah, not so much...Trump gives Putin a verbal hand job every week.  

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Tuco

Tuco 5,093

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Just now, DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt said:

you're trying to make sense of the actions and words of a borderline retarded person. no need to do that. he's just a fucking idiot that says whatever comes to mind.

I accounted for that in the third option.

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Tuco

Tuco 5,093

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8 minutes ago, Mojo Hand said:

It's this.  He'll just change positions again when Putin complains. 

It's not just an off the cuff remark.  I'm guessing that Bolton is driving it.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/06/01/u-s-close-to-imposing-sanctions-on-european-companies-in-russian-pipeline-project-nord-stream-two-germany-energy-gas-oil-putin/

From June 6th...

 

Quote

The friction was apparent during German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas’s visit to Washington last week, which included tense exchanges between officials from both sides — over the Iran nuclear deal, trade, and the Nord Stream project.

National Security Advisor John Bolton and other top U.S. officials see the project as a threat to the United States and European security and are determined to stop it, the source said.

“Everything is on the table. … The administration is taking a whole of government approach to stopping the Nord Stream project.”

----

Congress passed strict sanctions legislation on Russia last summer in part to tie Trump’s hands on policy toward the Kremlin. But until recently the White House had downplayed the need for more economic sanctions over the pipeline.

“If the White House is serious now about targeting Nord Stream 2, that would be a remarkable change,” said Tim Boersma, an energy expert at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy.

----

The sanctions would affect several companies, including Wintershall Holding and Uniper of Germany; Engie of France; Royal Dutch Shell, an Anglo-Dutch oil company; and Austria’s OMV. Nord Stream 2 has secured nearly all the permits it needs for the $11 billion project from countries around the Baltic.

“Certainly, the only one who can stop Nord Stream 2 now is the United States via sanctions,” said one European diplomat who works on energy issues. “If there is no dramatic step from the U.S. government, Nord Stream 2 will be built.”

 

So, I'll add a couple of other possibilities:

5. This is more about the impending trade war than NATO.  If the EU doesn't back off retaliatory sanctions, Trump will fuck hard with their companies involved in this.

6. Burt's check bounced.

 

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lemonlime

lemonlime 5,503

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Just now, jimmyjazz said:

No, this is scripted.  It breeds discord back home in the states.  "See, he's not pro-Russia, he's anti-Russia!  Look at what he said about Germany!!!"

Bingo.  There's no actual danger of the dotard stopping Germany from importing Russian oil.  And it's not like Putin cares what the Russian public thinks of Trump.  This is all about gaslighting Americans. 

Especially since there's no way in hell Trump even knew where Germany got its oil from; he was told to say this.

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Dropout

Dropout 355

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Misdirection and create chaos. Has clearance to say these things so he can point to something as him being tough on Russia while he’s having his secret Putin meetings. All the while Germany really has no choice. If they did they wouldn’t be pulling energy from Russia in the first place. It’s Germany who’s the Russian puppet. Right...

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Dropout

Dropout 355

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He’s a caged monkey. Trump being compromised is painfully obvious to everyone to the point the plan has to change. It’s not smooth sailing. The American people aren’t lying down or taking it up the ass like they perhaps thought we would. This isn’t Russia. The walls are closing in.

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Chooky

Chooky 13,340

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3 minutes ago, longhornmatt said:

At one point I was convinced he had to be compromised by Russia.  But as time goes on and we see more examples every day of how clueless he is, the more credence I give to the possibility that he honestly just might be so ignorant and easily influenced that Russia manipulates him without even really having compromised him.  It may be as simple as the Russians just being the first ones to appreciate how easy a mark he is if you push the right buttons.

It's a conundrum.  I've always thought that there's no way someone could have that deadly combination of weak vanity satisfied by trivial flattery and brain dead idiocy.  But there he is.  Then he's redeemed the other way when I remember the kind of moral decay and character flaws it takes for someone to lie on a daily basis.  Is he awful enough to dismantle the country's strengths just because he got dipped in shit by a maniacal enemy regime?  Yes?  Is he dumb enough to just not know any better?  Yes.  

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Hugo Stiglitz

Hugo Stiglitz 23,367

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The Commerce Department on Wednesday took a major step to loosen its restrictions on the controversial Chinese telecommunications company ZTE Corp., signing an escrow agreement that paves the way for the firm to continue doing business with U.S. companies.

The move came under pressure from President Trump, who had told Chinese leader Xi Jinping he would help ZTE after the company was met with severe restrictions for violating U.S. sanctions.

The Commerce Department in April announced severe penalties against ZTE, punishment for violating sanctions by selling products to Iran and North Korea and then lying about its practices to federal investigators. Among other things, ZTE was barred from doing business with U.S. companies, a move many in the U.S. and China believed would serve as a death sentence for the firm.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/trump-administration-takes-major-step-to-help-chinese-firm-zte/2018/07/11/e898cd2e-852c-11e8-9e80-403a221946a7_story.html

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Pods

Pods 7,637

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35 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

Unbelievable 

 

Unconscionable. I knew they'd do it, but that's taking complicity to 11.

For the record, this is why people say public statements by Collins, Corker, Flake are just talk and get pissed at them. They run their mouths in public, but they jump right in to vote for whatever the GOP tells them to vote for when it's nut cutting time. They are in a position to DO SOMETHING, but choose to virtue signal and watch Trump rapidly dismantle our institutions and norms. They have shown that they are not going to be part of the solution. 

The only solution to this problem is utterly overwhelming anti-Trump turnout in 2018. 

Edited by Pods
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Biff Tannen

Biff Tannen 46,166

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7 minutes ago, Pods said:

Unconscionable. I knew they'd do it, but that's taking complicity to 11.

The ONLY solution to this problem is overwhelming anti-Trump turnout in 2018. 

Wow.  I didn't realize it would be up for a vote so fast.  If midterms don't drastically change the tide, it may be over.

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GSU&UT

GSU&UT 1,799

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22 minutes ago, Pods said:

Unconscionable. I knew they'd do it, but that's taking complicity to 11.

For the record, this is why people say public statements by Collins, Corker, Flake are just talk and get pissed at them. They run their mouths in public, but they jump right in to vote for whatever the GOP tells them to vote for when it's nut cutting time. They are in a position to DO SOMETHING, but choose to virtue signal and waste all of our time. 

The only solution to this problem is utterly overwhelming anti-Trump turnout in 2018. 

Hydraulic press for 'em.

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Hugo Stiglitz

Hugo Stiglitz 23,367

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9 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

I think he's creeping a lot closer to a Nixon-style Saturday Night Massacre.

Here’s the line of succession 

An executive order on March 31, 2017 replaced the Feb. 9 order as follows: 

  1. The Attorney General
  2. The Deputy Attorney General
  3. The Associate Attorney General (vacant as of 4/11/18 at 6:39 pm EST)
  4. US attorney for Eastern Virginia
  5. US attorney for Eastern North Carolina
  6. US attorney for Northern Texas 

Here's the order: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-executive-order-providing-order-succession-within-department-justice/

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Nice Guy Eddie

Nice Guy Eddie 13,731

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SIAP posted.  Spicer has surpassed 100 books in the pre-sale. 

Event of the year alert for any DC folks:  you can get VIP access to the book launch for $1000.  You do get 4 tickets so only $250 each.   You just need to find 3 other people willing to go....   https://www.tickettailor.com/events/rigwilllc/171431#

The low end tickets are $30 which includes a book and party ticket.   

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triplehorn

triplehorn 2,664

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57 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

Here’s the line of succession 

An executive order on March 31, 2017 replaced the Feb. 9 order as follows: 

  1. The Attorney General
  2. The Deputy Attorney General
  3. The Associate Attorney General (vacant as of 4/11/18 at 6:39 pm EST)
  4. US attorney for Eastern Virginia
  5. US attorney for Eastern North Carolina
  6. US attorney for Northern Texas 

Here's the order: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/presidential-executive-order-providing-order-succession-within-department-justice/

 

Brace for DAG Rosenstein to be fired and have this stooge Benczkowski placed in charge of Mueller investigation.

 

hourglass.gif

 

 

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Bozo_Casanova

Bozo_Casanova 26,851

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That more people voted on that for Trump over either Bush tells you exactly where the Republican party is right now.

That’s a tough call. The president has two major functions. Bush was a far better head of state, but an absolute disaster as Head of Government. Trump is the worst head of state we have ever had, but it remains to be seen whether his actions as Head of Government will have the long lasting negative historical consequences as those of Bush, both in terms of the Iraq war* and the 2001 and 2003 Bush stimuli, which changed the trajectory of our finances from eventual contraction of debt to to permanent structural debt expansion**. Trump is only halfway there, in that his stimulus will be as costly as those***, but he hasn’t led millions of suffering people into human calamity.

 

Yet.

 

*in about 2005-6 on Hornfans I argued that the Iraq war was our version of the Boer war a signal event of the end of Empire and the true off-ramp of the American Century. Several people who are here on Surly now thought that was ridiculous, and that ultimately our work would yield a secular pro-western ally in the Middle East.

 

**Many of those same people also argued in 2001 and 2003 that the Bush stimulus tax plans would pay for themselves, that efforts to rolls them back were “class warfare”, and that they would ultimately reduce the deficit and subsequently the debt.

 

***This same group**** argued that the 2017 Trump tax stimulus would pay for itself, that current Democratic candidates arguing to rolls them back are engaging in “class warfare”, and that the cuts will ultimately reduce the deficit and subsequently the debt.

 

****This group is called Republicans. They are not in any sense conservative. They expand the debt with bad stimulus, spend profligately on military headcount, and elected Donald Trump.

 

 

 

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