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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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brown water
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Hugo Stiglitz

Hugo Stiglitz 23367

Posted
Posted

Sessions told White House that Rosenstein’s firing could prompt his departure, too

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/sessions-told-white-house-that-rosensteins-firing-could-prompt-his-departure-too/2018/04/20/911ca994-44c7-11e8-bba2-0976a82b05a2_story.html

 

Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently told the White House he might have to leave his job if President Trump fired his deputy, Rod J. Rosenstein, who oversees the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, according to people familiar with the exchange.

Sessions made his position known in a phone call to White House counsel Donald McGahn last weekend, as Trump’s fury at Rosenstein peaked after the deputy attorney general approved the FBI’s raid April 9 on the president’s personal attorney Michael Cohen.

Sessions’s message to the White House, which has not previously been reported, underscores the political firestorm that Trump would invite should he attempt to remove the deputy attorney general. While Trump also has railed against Sessions at times, the protest resignation of an attorney general — which would be likely to incite other departures within the administration — would create a moment of profound crisis for the White House.

In the phone call with McGahn, Sessions wanted details of a meeting Trump and Rosenstein held at the White House on April 12, according to a person with knowledge of the call. Sessions expressed relief to learn that their meeting was largely cordial. Sessions said he would have had to consider leaving as the attorney general had Trump ousted Rosenstein, this person said.

 

Another person familiar with the exchange said Sessions did not intend to threaten the White House but rather wanted to convey the untenable position that Rosenstein’s firing would put him in.

A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to comment.

Rosenstein’s status remains uncertain, but the pressure he is facing seemed to subside after last week.

Last summer, when it appeared Trump was going to fire Sessions or pressure him to resign, Republican lawmakers and conservative advocacy groups rallied to Sessions’s side and warned the president not to move against him.

Trump had told senior officials last week that he was considering firing Rosenstein, who was confirmed by the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support last year. Since then, alumni of the Justice Department have rallied to Rosenstein’s defense.

As of Friday afternoon, more than 800 former Justice Department employees had signed an open letter calling on Congress to “swiftly and forcefully respond to protect the founding principles of our Republic and the rule of law” if Trump were to fire the deputy attorney general, special counsel Robert S. Mueller III or other senior Justice Department officials. The group MoveOn.org has sought to organize nationwide protests if such an event were to occur.

Rosenstein, on behalf of the Justice Department, is set to argue a sentencing case, Chavez-Meza v. United States, before the Supreme Court on Monday. Appearing before the high court has long been a professional goal, people close to Rosenstein say.

A senior administration official said Sessions does not like the way Rosenstein has been treated by the president and had expressed such concerns for months. He has regularly sought guidance from the White House about Rosenstein’s standing with the president and asked about his interactions with Trump, this official said.

But Sessions has had little ability to do anything about it, given his own shaky standing with Trump for recusing himself from the Russia investigation, this official said. Trump has, at times, referred to Sessions as “Mr. Magoo” and Rosenstein as “Mr. Peepers,” a character from a 1950s sitcom, according to people with whom the president has spoken.

The relationship between Sessions and Rosenstein — and their staffs — has been strained at times over the first year of the Trump administration. But people familiar with Sessions’s thinking say that he has said several times that he would find it difficult to remain as attorney general if Trump fired for no good reason the veteran prosecutor in Baltimore that Sessions chose to be his deputy. The two men, along with Solicitor General Noel Francisco, were spotted in February dining together at a restaurant near the Justice Department, generating some speculation that they were attempting a display of solidarity.

Rosenstein, the Justice Department’s No. 2 official, is tasked with running the day-to-day operations of the sprawling agency of 113,000 employees who work for the FBI; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Bureau of Prisons; U.S. attorneys offices; and Main Justice, the agency’s headquarters. But from the time he was confirmed in May of last year, the investigation into possible coordination during the 2016 presidential campaign between Trump associates and agents of the Russian government has overshadowed everything he has done.

James M. Trusty, a partner at Ifrah Law and a friend of Rosenstein’s, said the deputy attorney general “went into the job with a pretty fatalistic view,” but he “probably didn’t know it was going to be this much of a storm.”

“I remember him joking at his going-away party that nine months was the average tenure for the deputy attorney general,” Trusty said.

A wall of photographs outside Rosenstein’s fourth-floor office at the Justice Department illustrates the high-stress and political nature of the deputy attorney general’s position. President Barack Obama’s first deputy attorney general, David Ogden, stepped down from the job after less than a year. One of President Bill Clinton’s deputy attorneys general, Philip B. Heymann, lasted 10 months.

Trusty, who said he had spoken with Rosenstein about three weeks ago, said Rosenstein had kept his views on the situation largely private and had not sought surrogates or anyone else to press his case.

“I think he tends to view things in a very long-range way, kind of a this-too-shall-pass philosophy about the slings and arrows that will come at you,” Trusty said.

A month after Rosenstein became deputy attorney general, he was criticized for his role in the firing of FBI Director James B. Comey. Rosenstein wrote a critical memo lambasting Comey for his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation, and the White House later used the document as a pretext to remove the FBI director. After a few days, though, Trump said he was thinking about the Russia investigation when he fired Comey. Comey has said in recent days he believed Rosenstein “acted dishonorably” and could not be trusted.

At that point, Rosenstein was overseeing the Russia investigation because Sessions had recused himself. On May 17, about a week after the Comey firing, Rosenstein announced that he had appointed Mueller as special counsel to conduct the Russia investigation.

Rosenstein took the action without first consulting Sessions and notified him when he was at the White House meeting with Trump. The decision took Trump by surprise and greatly angered him.

A person close to the White House and the Justice Department said Sessions has “vacillated, I think, from being concerned about the deputy leaving or being fired and recognizing that Rosenstein has not been a friend of either him or the department.”

During the past year, Rosenstein has been involved in several policy issues in the Justice Department, as well as complex prosecutions involving cybercrimes and the first charges against Chinese-based fentanyl manufacturers and distributors.

But Russia continues to consume his days. This week, two of Trump’s top legislative allies and leading members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus met with Rosenstein and pressed him for more documents about the conduct of law enforcement officials involved in the Russia probe. They warned him that he could face impeachment proceedings or an effort to hold him in contempt of Congress if he did not satisfy Republican demands for more documents.

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Fozzz

Fozzz 152

Posted
Posted
39 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Not the same as disarmament. He's not giving up his nukes.  

When are the three American prisoners coming home?

They won’t ever disarm, and it would certainly be more than Obama ever accomplished. 

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retread

retread 2951

Posted
Posted
45 minutes ago, longhornmatt said:

 Instead they just give you the miracle survival food in a bucket.  A fucking bucket. Like what animals eat slop out of.  Because fuck you, and you’ll still buy it.

The bucket can also double as a chamber pot (maybe even a bidet with some improvisations) and a basketball goal when nuclear winter subsides for a day or two. 

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WhatTheBuck

WhatTheBuck 28943

Posted
Posted
13 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

If the AG and DAG go in one swoop it would be political suicide for Trump and the GOP.  Stupid Watergate indeed.

Trump has done tons of shit that should be political suicide. I don't think Sessions' threat would stop him from firing Rosenstein. 

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Hugo Stiglitz

Hugo Stiglitz 23367

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, WhatTheBuck said:

Trump has done tons of shit that should be political suicide. I don't think Sessions' threat would stop him from firing Rosenstein. 

Trump can only last for so long, the GOP would take the biggest hit initially.  The political consequences aren’t all about Trump.  

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Francisco 2.0

Francisco 2.0 32636

Posted
Posted

https://www.cnn.com/2017/06/30/health/teen-birth-rate-prenatal-care-2016/index.html

Quote

n the United States, teen-aged moms are increasingly rare. In 2016, the teen birth rate dropped 9% compared to the previous year, a new government report published Friday found. This record low for teens having babies continues a long-term trend. 

The birth rate among teen girls has dropped 67% since 1991, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, which presented preliminary data for 2016 based on a majority (99.9%) of births.

But Obama.

http://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/384208-trump-admin-announces-abstinence-focused-overhaul-of-teen-pregnancy

 

Quote
The Trump administration will shift federal funding aimed at reducing teen pregnancy rates to programs that teach abstinence. 
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Friday the availability of grants through the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, (TPPP) a grant program created under former President Obama that funds organizations and programs working to reduce teen pregnancy rates. 
Trump's HHS announced, however, that unlike under the Obama administration, grants will be geared toward organizations that teach abstinence education to teens instead of the comprehensive sex ed approach the previous administration supported. 
In a funding announcement released Friday, the administration announced two tiers of funds for the TPP program. 
In the first, grantees would have to follow one of two abstinence programs to receive funding. 
One of the programs uses a "sexual risk reduction model," which is designed to reduce sexual risk behaviors. 
The other program uses a "sexual risk avoidance model," which teaches teens to avoid sex completely. 
"Projects will clearly communicate that teen sex is a risk behavior for both the physical consequences of pregnancy and sexual transmitted infections; as well as sociological, economic and other related risks," the funding announcement reads. "Both risk avoidance and risk reduction approaches can and should include skills associated with helping youth delay sex as well as skills to help those youth already engaged in sexual risk to return toward risk-free choices in the future." 
 

 

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WhatTheBuck

WhatTheBuck 28943

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15 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

Trump can only last for so long, the GOP would take the biggest hit initially.  The political consequences aren’t all about Trump.  

Trump and the GOP have already given us ample reason for why we should already be there. I don't think Trump is going to fire Rosenstein and the Republicans in Congress appear to be discouraging him. But if he decides to do it then I think he'll do it and would be happy for the chance to replace Sessions at the same time. Hopefully we won't have to test my assumption. 

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WhatTheBuck

WhatTheBuck 28943

Posted
Posted (edited)
49 minutes ago, retread said:

 

Quote

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has already rescinded guidances meant to protect students against sexual assaults on campuses and black and transgender students against bias.

It's like the members of his cabinet are competing with one another to see who can be the biggest asshole. 

Edited by WhatTheBuck
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FondrenRoad

FondrenRoad 4378

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, burntorangebongos said:

Buying their shit is donations....as in tax shielded "donations"? Holy fuck, it is too bad the IRS can't do shit about this. These people are slimballs. No wonder they support Trump since he is one of their own kind.

Hell, its probably a triple dip.

Tax free purchase of ingredients. Tax write off of all costs for giving away the slop bucket.  Full 175 donation to fund Bakker's plane, I mean charity. 

But IRS targets conservative charities!!

Edited by FondrenRoad
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Fudge Nuggets

Fudge Nuggets 19487

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

If I were a better troll, I'd call the 800 number and see if "that big food bucket was safe for me because of my dibeedus"

We need that dude that used to call into Aggieline or whatever they call the post-game show on the Fightin' Texum Bullfrog radio network to get up on this.

Stiggy could give him a script and shit.

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Pods

Pods 7638

Posted
Posted
11 minutes ago, burntorangebongos said:

I know right? Raw dogger in chief is probably in for at least a half dozen abortions at his age. I'd bet the Broidy one is really on him. Oh well, can't let anything the Obama administration did go undone especially if it was working.

 

We're going to find out. The lawyer for that playmate is the same one Cohen used for Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougall. He is now cooperating with the probe into Cohen. 

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atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 90692

Posted
Posted

His obsession this week with his poll numbers (among other obsessions) is very fascinating.  It shows either that he doesn't have friends/confidantes around him who tell him to shut up, or he doesn't listen to them.

It reminds me of a roommate I had.  He/his girlfriend apparently measured his dick when they were banging.  When I got back to the apartment that evening, I was drinking a Coke or something, and he just blurted out "hey, we measured my dick and it's six inches long!  No wonder she likes it!"

I damn near spit my drink out.  Just so you understand, the look on his face was one of somebody who is proud of themselves.  

All I could think was "how in the hell can you be proud of such a small dick?"

I did not have the heart to tell him that he actually had a small dick, and I didn't want to ruin the possibility that his girlfriend had no experience and thought it was a nice dick, or worse, that she was lying to him and pretending to enjoy it.

Just like I didn't break that guy's bubble and tell him that six inches is small, nobody is telling Trump that most of the poll numbers, including the ones he boasts about, are actually crappy.

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atomheartbevo

atomheartbevo 90692

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, FondrenRoad said:

How did evangelicals and survivalists start to overlap anyway?  Aren't they supposed to get taken away in the rapture while the rest of us struggle to survive?

Far too many people are focused on these two groups and their history over the past 5 years, when a part of me thinks they should be looking back to the early 1980s.  Look at the era from around 1981-1986

  • 1981 - Ronald Reagan takes office and is pushing to really ramp up the Cold War.  
  • 1981 - Country Boy Can Survive was released (Hank Williams Jr), and other similar songs with that same bent, along with plenty of patriotic songs (God Bless the USA was released in 1984).
  • 1981 - The whole "survivalist" pulp/book movement kicked into high gear - 1981 saw the launch of one of the better series, at least research-wise, The Survivalist series by Jerry Ahern.
  • 1983 - The Day After on ABC scared the shit out of a lot of people.
  • Military thrillers positing a war or at least heavy tension between US/NATO and the Soviet Union were extremely popular (Tom Clancy is a good example - Hunt for Red October was in 1984, Red Storm Rising in 1986)
  • Red Dawn was in 1984 

What else was happening during the above era?  The rise of televangelists.  They were already out there on satellite and cable TV in the 70s when the cable industry deregulated, but the 1980s saw an explosion in cable TV access and subscribers, allowing the televangelists to reach everywhere for far cheaper.  It's not a coincidence that Pat Robertson started the second network on basic cable in 1977.

And in mid-1980, CNN started, bringing world events into our homes 24/7, which made plenty of people somewhat paranoid.

Probably not related, but I just find the timing interesting.  The survivalist stuff was huge in the 1980s.  As a kid in Jr. High, I was collecting a lot of the pulp books in the early 90s when they were cheap as hell in the used book stores (Survivalist, Wingman, Doomsday Warrior, etc.).  I couldn't buy a Playboy, but nobody cared I bought that stuff.

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F250

F250 29214

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, Hugo Stiglitz said:

Late night tweet from a completely innocent man currently under criminal investigation 

 

LOL I've been drinking so it took me a minute to figure out he meant special counsel. I was wondering who the fuck was on this special council

 

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