The Trump Administration: A Clusterfuck in the Making

[JohnT]

He also said he got rid of Yelin because she was too short to lead the Fed.

[dasmoocher]

@dasmoocher

Another interesting Vox article.

Trump’s Washington Post interview shows a presidency that’s beyond satire

Trump’s Washington Post interview: Guts and rakes and nonsense. - Vox

Check out this ‘insightful observation’ from Trump :rolleyes::

Something something liquidity

Speaking of shoddy economics, this is Trump’s answer to a question about whether it’s appropriate for him to blame the Fed for the GM layoffs announced this week:

Originally said by Donald Trump
And I’m not blaming anybody, but I’m just telling you I think that the Fed is way off-base with what they’re doing, number one. Number two, a positive note, we’re doing very well on trade, we’re doing very well — our companies are very strong. Don’t forget we’re still up from when I came in 38 percent or something. You know, it’s a tremendous — it’s not like we’re up — and we’re much stronger. And we’re much more liquid. And the banks are now much more liquid during my tenure. And I’m not doing – I’m not playing by the same rules as Obama. Obama had zero interest to worry about; we’re paying interest, a lot of interest. He wasn’t paying down — we’re talking about $50 billion lots of different times, paying down and knocking out liquidity. Well, Obama didn’t do that. And just so you understand, I’m playing a normalization economy whereas he’s playing a free economy. It’s easy to make money when you’re paying no interest. It’s easy to make money when you’re not doing any pay-downs, so you can’t — and despite that, the numbers we have are phenomenal numbers.

I have basically no idea what Trump is talking about here, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t either.

Among other things, the idea that the goal of federal policy should be to “make money” is so childish as to be hardly even worth discussing. This whole word salad appears to be an intricate network of misunderstandings that follow from that core premise. The good news is it’s not clear that Trump can actually do any harm here.

[dasmoocher]

@JohnT

He also said he got rid of Yelin because she was too short to lead the Fed.

And Trump will be telling GM workers to blame Obama, Yelin, and current Fed Chairman in 3… 2… 1…

Because there are at least two incontrovertible facts about Trump above all else:

1. In Trump’s mind (what’s left of it), nothing is ever his fault.

2. Trump will not criticize Vladimir Putin.

[Slash1972]

And you all are worried? The President just said it - “we’re much more liquid”. That’s winning in my book.

[wguy123]

@dasmoocher

Check out this ‘insightful observation’ from Trump :rolleyes::

Originally said by Donald Trump
And I’m not blaming anybody, but I’m just telling you I think that the Fed is way off-base with what they’re doing, number one. Number two, a positive note, we’re doing very well on trade, we’re doing very well — our companies are very strong. Don’t forget we’re still up from when I came in 38 percent or something. You know, it’s a tremendous — it’s not like we’re up — and we’re much stronger. And we’re much more liquid. And the banks are now much more liquid during my tenure. And I’m not doing – I’m not playing by the same rules as Obama. Obama had zero interest to worry about; we’re paying interest, a lot of interest. He wasn’t paying down — we’re talking about $50 billion lots of different times, paying down and knocking out liquidity. Well, Obama didn’t do that. And just so you understand, I’m playing a normalization economy whereas he’s playing a free economy. It’s easy to make money when you’re paying no interest. It’s easy to make money when you’re not doing any pay-downs, so you can’t — and despite that, the numbers we have are phenomenal numbers.

Yowza! That indeed is the work of a very stable genius!

[Bryan_Ekers]

I’m picturing the 2020 concession call coming from “the Trump campaign headquarters” because it’s hard to picture it coming from Trump himself.

[Guest-starring_Id]

Crossing fingers time:

The senate will vote this week to nominate vote-suppressing republican judicial nominee Thomas Farr.
Flake said he’ll be a no, could the other no possibly be…

(not a usual source of mine but will suffice here):

Democrats and civil rights groups are holding out hope that Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) will join them in voting no. They have reason to be hopeful: In addition to being the lone African-American senator in his party, Scott holds the rare distinction of being a Republican senator who previously opposed one of Trump’s judicial nominees, circuit court pick Ryan Bounds ― and it was over Bounds’ racist writings in college. Scott’s vote tanked that nominee.

“I can’t imagine that if he opposed the 9th Circuit nominee based on his college writings that he could possibly vote for this nominee, whose entire career is aimed at African-Americans,” said D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), who leads the Congressional Black Caucus’ task force on judicial nominations. “So I am very hopeful, even though I have not had any indication from the senator’s office, that he is studying this and will try to make this vote consistent with his prior vote.”

[Guest-starring_Id]

Missed edit window -

ACK! - here’s the source.

[Snowboarder_Bo]

Ivanka Trump says ‘Lock her up!’ doesn’t apply in her case

[Buck_Godot]

@dasmoocher

Another interesting Vox article. It’s worth checking out just for the embedded YouTube clip of Colbert at the White House Correspondents dinner speech where he poked fun at Bush for trusting his gut and not his brain:

Back when there was the Colbert Report, there was always a portion of his audience who didn’t get the joke, and actually thought that the views presented by Colbert’s persona were actually intended to be taken seriously.

Those people are Trumps primary constituency.

[Gyrate]

@dasmoocher

Another interesting Vox article. It’s worth checking out just for the embedded YouTube clip of Colbert at the White House Correspondents dinner speech where he poked fun at Bush for trusting his gut and not his brain:

And we all know what guts are full of.

@JohnT

He also said he got rid of Yelin because she was too short to lead the Fed.

“We need someone in the position who can reach the money we store on the upper shelves!”

[kaylasdad99]

@Slash1972

And you all are worried? The President just said it - “we’re much more liquid”. That’s winning in my book.

So was that guy Emilio that Jesse put into the bathtub. Didn’t look like he won much of anything.

#breakingbadreferenceftw

[eschereal]

@wguy123

Yowza! That indeed is the work of a very stable genius!

needs croutons and parmesan

[dasmoocher]

@kaylasdad99

So was that guy Emilio that Jesse put into the bathtub. Didn’t look like he won much of anything.

#breakingbadreferenceftw

I don’t know what the latest news is on this, but on a more frightening and sober note there are reports that the Saudis may have done this to Khashoggi:

Jamal Khashoggi’s fiancée expresses “shock and sadness” over reports his body was dissolved in acid

Jamal Khashoggi's fiancée expresses "shock and sadness" over reports his body...

ANKARA, Turkey – The fiancee of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has expressed “shock and sadness” over unconfirmed reports suggesting that his body may have been dissolved with chemicals.

Hatice Cengiz said on Twitter late Thursday that Khashoggi’s killers had deprived his loved ones of conducting funeral prayers and burying him in Medina, Saudi Arabia, as he had wished.

Turkey says the Washington Post columnist, who was critical of the Saudi crown prince, was strangled and dismembered at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2 by a 15-member assassination squad.

Many observers, including some prominent U.S. lawmakers, suspect Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had some role in ordering the murder. Turkish officials have also suggested that the orders came from the highest levels of the Saudi royal family, but Ankara has repeatedly said it does not believe the crown prince’s father, King Salman, was behind the killing.

Media reports have suggested that Khashoggi’s body, which has not been found, could have been chemically dissolved.

But MSB has denied he was involved in the killing to Trump three times!, so it’s all good, right Trump?

[El_Kabong]

@dasmoocher

I don’t know what the latest news is on this, but on a more frightening and sober note there are reports that the Saudis may have done this to Khashoggi:

Jamal Khashoggi’s fiancée expresses “shock and sadness” over reports his body was dissolved in acid

Jamal Khashoggi's fiancée expresses "shock" over unconfirmed reports Saudi Arabia journalist's body dissolved in acid - CBS News

But MSB has denied he was involved in the killing to Trump three times!, so it’s all good, right Trump?

Vehemently, three times. I’m convinced.

[kaylasdad99]

@dasmoocher

I don’t know what the latest news is on this, but on a more frightening and sober note there are reports that the Saudis may have done this to Khashoggi:

Jamal Khashoggi’s fiancée expresses “shock and sadness” over reports his body was dissolved in acid

Jamal Khashoggi's fiancée expresses "shock" over unconfirmed reports Saudi Arabia journalist's body dissolved in acid - CBS News

But MSB has denied he was involved in the killing to Trump three times!, so it’s all good, right Trump?

In his culture, that’s enough to divorce the accusations, right?

[dasmoocher]

@kaylasdad99

In his culture, that’s enough to divorce the accusations, right?

I guess. As long as MSB keeps it his own country. We know Trump and his supporters don’t want Mooslims and their laws and terrorist culture in this country. Trump should try to ban them from coming to this country or something. Oh, wait.

[Try2B_Comprehensive]

Also, the polar ice caps are more liquid every year. Winning!

[Channing_Idaho_Banks]

@dasmoocher

I guess. As long as MSB keeps it his own country. We know Trump and his supporters don’t want Mooslims and their laws and terrorist culture in this country. Trump should try to ban them from coming to this country or something. Oh, wait.

This happened in Turkey.

[carrps]

@kaylasdad99

So was that guy Emilio that Jesse put into the bathtub. Didn’t look like he won much of anything.

#breakingbadreferenceftw

Oh, man, that was the first Breaking Bad episode I ever saw.

It left an impression