What in the Beelzefuck? Trump cried about Sessions recusing himself because he thought Sessions wasn’t being loyal. He doesn’t know how to provide cover for jack shit. This was just pure visceral Trump drama, not some calculated attempt to divert the media’s attention. Bannon can’t even criticize Trump without kissing his ass.
Putin, on the other hand, knows how to channel fear of conspiracies.
Russkie tongue planted firmly in cheek. In agreeing with Trump’s delusions, he’s tacitly admitting he’s got his fingers manipulating Trump’s puppet strings.
Well, you could have provided a holy fuck link for that,
I have already spoken to three US presidents. They come and go … they may have some ideas. Then people with briefcases arrive, well dressed, wearing dark suits, just like mine, except for the red tie, since they wear black or dark blue ones. These people start explaining how things are done. And instantly, everything changes.
That is some prime paranoia feedstock.
um, The people who lost the elections do not want to admit that they really lost, that the one who won was closer to the people and better understood what ordinary voters want. They are absolutely reluctant to admit this … When they do, I think it will be easier for us to work.… Let them argue among themselves, so they can prove … who sets a better policy for the country.
Sorry, but this is just creepiness. How much is Vlad controlling, anyway?
Guns will be allowed in the new Tennessee state office building but not hand-held signs. Why?
The policy, which Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, and House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville, approved Dec. 14, expressly prohibits “hand-carried signs and signs on hand sticks” because they “represent a serious safety hazard.”
Guns - totally safe. Signs - you could put your eye out!
Family values! … when the parents get thrown in prison for minor offenses and used for slave labor, instead of wasting money on foster care, the kids work alongside their parents!
Saving taxpayer money and returning us to traditional American family ties and work ethic.
Donald Trump ran on: Stopping the wars in the Middle East
(expanded the drone war 440% and we’re now at 8 military interventions counting Niger, authorized continuing the Afghanistan war for a 17th year when he absolutely didn’t have to)
Standing up against Wall Street, eliminating tax loopholes
Gave Wall Street the biggest tax cut in history, *added tax loopholes.
Ending outsourcing of jobs, opposing free trade deals
Outsourced 90,000 jobs in his first year - stopped the TPP immediately after entering office, but it was pretty much dead already - now trying to reinsert the provisions of the TPP into the NAFTA “renegotiation.”
And on and on it goes…
Barack Obama ran on:
Ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
Expanded us from those 2 wars to military interventions in 7 different countries. Massively increased drone strikes over Bush era levels. Dropped so many bombs in 2015 and 2016 we literally ran out.
Closing Guantanamo Bay, ending torture:
Still open - when the CIA torture report got plastered all over the news, revealing atrocities, Obama basically shrugged and said “that’s in the past, we should focus on the future” and did nothing to prevent it from happening more.
Restoring privacy, ending NSA spying:
NSA spying massively expanded under his administration, NDAA passed, more whistle-blowers persecuted under the Espionage Act than any other administration in history.
…and on and on. Obama had his moments where he stepped outside of the acceptable continuum of economic and foreign policy (Cuba, Iran, the stimulus programs) just as Trump has had a couple moments where he has as well in his own gross way (The travel ban, gutting federal agencies, etc).
But each did a 180 on economic and foreign policy not long after assuming office. I’m not saying a group of cigar-smoking suits pulls the President aside the day after Inauguration and plays a video of the JFK assassination taken *from the grassy knoll, and asks “Any questions?” BUT it’s not paranoid to suggest that every President falls in line with what the establishment wants.
Or doesn’t, at their own peril. For Dijit, the constant threat of impeachment I am sure is the stick… personally enriching himself via inflicting damage on everyone else, as was done in the tax bill, is the carrot. Obama, who knows? I’m sure re-election was a big limiting factor in his first 4 years, and he did a fair bit of personal enriching himself, he was just less blatant about it.
By the time he actually got around to trying to do anything worthwhile he’d lost the supermajority and couldn’t sneeze without the Republicans signing for it in triplicate.
You could argue that politicians are just full of shit, and to that I’d have to agree… but completely reversing yourself on virtually all your campaign promises and pissing off your base isn’t compromise or making the best of your situation - it’s something you’re forced into.
It might be less paranoid to just note that you DON’T KNOW what the reality of the situation is until you’re actually in the big chair and getting full intelligence reports, and you don’t know what the Congress you’re dealing with is going to look like, necessarily, until the election is over. Campaign rhetoric is aspirational. Actual presidential actions are reality-based (usually…Trump is a bit of a test of that).
“Nobody knew [health care] [The Middle East] [taxes] [Israel] [legislation] [North Korea] [Iran] [border security] could be so complicated.”
…No… we all knew. Because we’re not arrogant fucking blowhards who overestimate their intelligence and ability by a factor of 10, as most willfully ignorant and functionally illiterate people tend to do.
(link to article with vid of Bernie Sanders laughing his ass off when he hears this quote from Twitler on the submit of healthcare).
That analysis depends on the highly questionable premise that Trump cared about his campaign promises.
He wasn’t “forced” to reverse himself on those promises; he just didn’t care two cents about any of them. It was just stuff he said to get what he wanted. That’s how he’s conducted himself his entire life: say what people want to hear and while they’re paying attention to the fantasy that you’ll help them or do mutually-lucrative business with them, grab the cash and the headlines. Then do whatever you want!
(The only exception to this general rule is the ‘putting Hillary in jail’ promise. Vindictive grudge-holder that Trump is, he genuinely would like to fulfill that particular promise.)
I don’t think, if he weren’t being investigated by Meuller over the Russia thing, that he would even be thinking or talking about Hillary. Hillary is just a deflection from the investigation problems.
I agree that Hillary is being used as a deflection–but at the same time, Trump genuinely dislikes her and would enjoy seeing her humiliated and, if possible, jailed. If there were no Russia investigation, Trump would still be using Hillary to get reactions from his rally crowds. She’s a reliable topic for getting his fans excited and happy and applauding and cheering.
She’s also an uppity woman who said bad things about him. And she freaking beat him in the popular vote–a fact that keeps coming up, deny it though Little Donnie may. He doesn’t cope well with that sort of thing. (And he is joined by many Republicans who have their own issues with uppity women.)
That was part of what gave Trump mass appeal - he was the Rorschach Candidate. On most issues he’d have completely contradictory stances, often in the same week, sometimes in the same speech, and as I recall there were even a few instances where he contradicted himself within the same sentence.
People read into him what they wanted to read into him. People desperate for us to end the wars and focus on domestic affairs lauded his America First promises. People who wanted lots more dead Muslims, and piss themselves over terrorism that’s 99.999999999% likely never to affect them or anyone they know, focused on his promises to be a savage maniac setting the world on fire.
