The Former Trump Presidency Thread

BooTx · Post by **BooTx** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 6:23 pm

Moliere wrote:Trump supporters don't have a monopoly on political ignorance.

Maybe not, but they own the orange properties and blue properties, the railroads and utilities, and the majority of the houses and hotels. And now they have all the get out of jail free cards.

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 7:35 pm

I have no problems with Oligarchs, as long as they don't pretend they're "self-made" and owe nothing to the society they benefit from. I think the American founders expected that the Oligarchs would have a responsibility to the "People" and be made accountable by the vote, with limitations to protect basic liberties and interests.

Trump fails those principles on so many levels.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 7:59 pm

Holman wrote:
Grifman wrote:
Holman wrote:The goal is oligarchic rule by a privileged elite that knows best. This has been the logical destination for right-wingers ever since Goldwater and then Reagan declared government itself the enemy.
If you are going to make this accusation, then there's very little difference between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to this. A lot of the "oligarchs" were Clinton supporters - Wall Street, Silicon Valley, legal profession, billionaires - these were all big Democratic donors. Neither party is necessarily of or for the people in many ways.
Sure, sure. There are elites on both sides, and they have all the money and make most of the policy.

But only one party is fully dedicated to voter shaming and the promoting of racial/religious baiting to regain power. That's the key difference, and it's the one that matters most in the American context.

Mortoned.

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 8:35 pm

Rip wrote:
Holman wrote:
Grifman wrote:
Holman wrote:The goal is oligarchic rule by a privileged elite that knows best. This has been the logical destination for right-wingers ever since Goldwater and then Reagan declared government itself the enemy.
If you are going to make this accusation, then there's very little difference between Republicans and Democrats when it comes to this. A lot of the "oligarchs" were Clinton supporters - Wall Street, Silicon Valley, legal profession, billionaires - these were all big Democratic donors. Neither party is necessarily of or for the people in many ways.
Sure, sure. There are elites on both sides, and they have all the money and make most of the policy.

But only one party is fully dedicated to voter shaming and the promoting of racial/religious baiting to regain power. That's the key difference, and it's the one that matters most in the American context.
Mortoned.

Snowflake.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 10:14 pm

https://twitter.com/davidmackau/status/ ... 4380530688

Post by **ImLawBoy** » Tue Jul 18, 2017 10:35 pm

Zarathud wrote:But the article DOESN'T limit itself. Sure, these examples are mostly trivial nonsense but it is used to draw broader strokes about criticism of Trump.

I object to THAT overarching bullshit. Very strongly.

I think you're reading too much into it. Sure, they say that this does provide insight into "the Resistance", but that's true. I also don't think that those of who strongly oppose Trump disagree with any of the four personas they list (i.e., that he's an international embarrassment, he has tyrannical tendencies, he's a bullying baby, and he's a buffoon). The personas are accurate, and the article doesn't dispute them. It merely shows how quite a few of the lies told about Trump are related to these personas.

Zarathud wrote:I have said time and time again that I will give Trump only the respect he gives others. Trump was all over the Obama birther lies. Trump exists in the "fake news" memes. Trump owes his very political existence to playing these tricks on others. You must take what you dish out. So I have no problem with mocking him as #fakepresident.

I'm not going to join in with the silly photos, except to laugh occasionally. As we have always done in R&P.

That's all well and good, but I don't see what it has to do with this discussion or this article. Are you saying it's OK to tell lies about Trump because he's a bad person and the ends justify the means? Or that any article that discussing lies about Trump without also discussing his lies is inherently a bad article?

Zarathud wrote:If you think comedians and satirists aren't allowed to exaggerate, you're wrong. Nero may not have literally fiddled while Rome burned, but it concisely illustrates what was going wrong at the time. Small handed vulgarian may similarly stand the test of time.

Of course comedians and satirists are allowed to exaggerate. But if they use a specific example of something to make a point, and they get the facts of that specific example wrong, then they're doing a bad job and deserve to be called out on it. Putting aside the immaturity and homophobic overtones for a moment, I don't have a problem with Colbert saying that Trump's mouth is Putin's cockholster. It's exaggeration, but it's used to make a point about Trump's apparent subservience to Putin, and everyone knows it's not the literal truth. When you spend 3 minutes excoriating Trump for misattributing a Nigerian poem as an "Irish proverb", including commenting that Trump called it an "Irish proverb", when Trump never actually called it an "Irish proverb", well, that's a different scenario. In that case, being a comedian doesn't forgive you for getting the basic facts wrong.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:17 am

This has got to hurt the core demographic.

Harley-Davidson Spirals Down, Announces U.S. Layoffs, Builds Factory In Thailand

https://seekingalpha.com/article/408859 ... y-thailand

Shares of Harley-Davidson (NYSE:HOG) dropped 10% on Tuesday morning after the company reported second-quarter earnings and were down nearly 6% at the end of the day. Almost everything was bad.

Retail sales by its dealers in the US fell 9.3% in Q2, compared to a year ago, to 49,668 motorcycles. They were "down more than we anticipated," the company said. And with "soft sales across most markets," sales by its dealers globally fell 6.7%.

More of its customers are getting financially distressed, hence there are rising delinquencies and losses on its loan book. This issue has also raised its ugly head once again for automakers and other consumer lenders.

Archinerd · Post by **Archinerd** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:26 am

But it's "Made in America" Week!

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:32 am

Archinerd wrote:But it's "Made in America" Week!

Is it really? Or are you joking? If it is the week needs a new PR person. I've never heard of it.

....

Edit

...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/pl ... 4c254a4845

Oi.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:59 am

Yup...ZERO Ivanka Trump branded products are made in the U.S.A.

Zero.

But hey, that's fake news, right?

Idiots.

Grifman · Post by **Grifman** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 10:25 am

Holman wrote:But only one party is fully dedicated to voter suppression and the promise of racial/religious supremacy to maintain power. That's the key difference, and it's the one that matters most in the American context.

Yes, but that wasn't the argument you were making

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 8:51 pm

It is a rough time to be an honest man in government.

tjg_marantz · Post by **tjg_marantz** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 9:08 pm

Paywall

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Dogstar · Post by **Dogstar** » Wed Jul 19, 2017 10:54 pm

It's a rough time to be Jeff Sessions...

"Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself, which frankly I think is very unfair to the President," Trump said, referring to himself. "How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, 'Thanks, Jeff, but I'm not going to take you.' It's extremely unfair -- and that's a mild word -- to the President."

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 6:35 am

He sure loves burning bridges, doesn't he? Is there anyone he won't turn on? Well, anyone not related to him?

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 7:19 am

hepcat wrote:He sure loves burning bridges, doesn't he? Is there anyone he won't turn on? Well, anyone not related to him?

Putin and representatives of Putin?

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 8:03 am

Dogstar wrote:It's a rough time to be Jeff Sessions...

"Jeff Sessions takes the job, gets into the job, recuses himself, which frankly I think is very unfair to the President," Trump said, referring to himself. "How do you take a job and then recuse yourself? If he would have recused himself before the job, I would have said, 'Thanks, Jeff, but I'm not going to take you.' It's extremely unfair -- and that's a mild word -- to the President."

"I hire the dude for one job and THEN he says he can't do it??"

It's clear that Trump thinks the AG's whole job is to protect him from the investigation. Sessions' replacement will have no illusions about that.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 8:32 am

Tell us what word is better than "extremely unfair", here Don, you whiny piece of shit. It's his favorite word! My very whiny 10 YO girl uses that word less.

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wonderpug · Post by **wonderpug** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 8:52 am

LordMortis wrote:
hepcat wrote:He sure loves burning bridges, doesn't he? Is there anyone he won't turn on? Well, anyone not related to him?
Putin and representatives of Putin?

They get turned on by Trump all the time.

Freyland · Post by **Freyland** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 8:57 am

wonderpug wrote:
LordMortis wrote:
hepcat wrote:He sure loves burning bridges, doesn't he? Is there anyone he won't turn on? Well, anyone not related to him?
Putin and representatives of Putin?

They get turned on by Trump all the time.

Eww?

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 9:20 am

Carpet_pissr wrote:Tell us what word is better than "extremely unfair", here Don, you whiny piece of shit. It's his favorite word! My very whiny 10 YO girl uses that word less.

You say that so often! I wonder what your basis for comparison is.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 9:37 am

Also from the NYT interview (from which I think we still don't have a full transcript):

Trump accuses Comey of trying to use the Steele Dossier against him "for leverage." (Presumably he's saying Comey was blackmailing or threatening him so that he could keep his job.) But how can the dossier work as leverage if, as Trump has claimed, it's all fake?

Also, for some reason he repeats trivia he obviously heard on his Paris trip, but he gets it hilariously wrong, apparently believing Napoleon I (who invaded Russia) and Napoleon III (who redesigned Paris) were the same person.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 10:00 am

I wish that was just because he had recorded an episode of Drunk History.

gilraen · Post by **gilraen** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 10:03 am

Holman wrote:Also from the NYT interview (from which I think we still don't have a full transcript):

Trump accuses Comey of trying to use the Steele Dossier against him "for leverage." (Presumably he's saying Comey was blackmailing or threatening him so that he could keep his job.) But how can the dossier work as leverage if, as Trump has claimed, it's all fake?

Also, for some reason he repeats trivia he obviously heard on his Paris trip, but he gets it hilariously wrong, apparently believing Napoleon I (who invaded Russia) and Napoleon III (who redesigned Paris) were the same person.

I read portions of that interview (since people are posting them on Twitter), I don't think I can stomach reading the entire thing, my brain might melt. The fact that he doesn't comprehend the difference between Napoleon Bonaparte and Napoleon III is to be expected. But try making sense of this gem: "And [Napoleon's] one problem is that he didn't go to Russia that night because he had extracurricular activities, and they froze to death" - WTF?

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 10:07 am

Trump was all like...Russia is *the destination* for extracurricular activities. Duh. Don't waste time and let winter get you brah.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 10:10 am

Oh, and also he insists that the FBI Director reports to the POTUS and to no one else, and that the next one will understand this better than Comey or McCabe.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 10:16 am

Holman wrote:Oh, and also he insists that the FBI Director reports to the POTUS and to no one else, and that the next one will understand this better than Comey or McCabe.

This is easy to parse. Sessions is his personal lawyer. The FBI Director is his head of security. Zincke runs the Trump coal mines and natural gas fracking operations. Carson manages Trump's slummier real estate properties. Price is fucking useless. Tillerson is the special counsel to the Putin partnership interest. No one knows what the hell Perry is up to but no one cares. De Vos runs the newly re-branded Trump U. Mnuchin heads the Trump Treasury making sure that government funds are expediently distributed to Trump family trusts in a fair and consistent manner.

PLW · Post by **PLW** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 10:38 am

Holman wrote:Also from the NYT interview (from which I think we still don't have a full transcript):

Trump accuses Comey of trying to use the Steele Dossier against him "for leverage." (Presumably he's saying Comey was blackmailing or threatening him so that he could keep his job.) But how can the dossier work as leverage if, as Trump has claimed, it's all fake?

Also, for some reason he repeats trivia he obviously heard on his Paris trip, but he gets it hilariously wrong, apparently believing Napoleon I (who invaded Russia) and Napoleon III (who redesigned Paris) were the same person.

This is pretty close to a full transcript. I think it's all we'll get.The whole thing was interesting. He continues to come off as a guy who has no idea how little he knows.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 10:47 am

But the Russians have great fighters in the cold. They use the cold to their advantage. I mean, they’ve won five wars where the armies that went against them froze to death. [crosstalk] It’s pretty amazing.

He really does come across as a Russia fanboy in every interview, debate or meeting, doesn't he?

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 11:30 am

hepcat wrote:
But the Russians have great fighters in the cold. They use the cold to their advantage. I mean, they’ve won five wars where the armies that went against them froze to death. [crosstalk] It’s pretty amazing.
He really does come across as a Russia fanboy in every interview, debate or meeting, doesn't he?

Someone should point out to him that if the Russians rely on watching their enemies freeze to death, then he should get cracking on global warming before it strips them of their greatest military strength.

tgb · Post by **tgb** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 11:35 am

Holman wrote:
Also, for some reason he repeats trivia he obviously heard on his Paris trip, but he gets it hilariously wrong, apparently believing Napoleon I (who invaded Russia) and Napoleon III (who redesigned Paris) were the same person.

You just wait until he has to replace Kushner and chooses Napoleon XIV

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 10:23 pm

As part of American first, here's some good news - the Trump administration lifted the foreign guest worker visa cap:

On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security raised the cap on H-2B visas for foreign guest workers from 66,000 visas per year to 81,000.

Wait for it...

On Thursday — just three days later — Trump’s properties told the Department of Labor that they wanted approval to hire 76 guest workers using those visas.

... the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, said it wanted to hire 15 housekeepers for $10.33 an hour; 20 cooks for $13.34 an hour; and 35 servers for $11.88 an hour. The Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida, was asking for six cooks to hire for $13.34 per hour. These requests are published in a database updated by the Department of Labor.

Chaz · Post by **Chaz** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 10:37 pm

But...wait...isn't his thing that there aren't enough jobs for Americans? That we need to make more, and cut back the number of immigrants who keep taking them? But now you're telling me that we need an extra 15,000 foreign workers to fill jobs because American's can't/won't take them? I need him to explain this to me with pictures.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Thu Jul 20, 2017 11:48 pm

Chaz wrote:But...wait...isn't his thing that there aren't enough jobs for Americans? That we need to make more, and cut back the number of immigrants who keep taking them? But now you're telling me that we need an extra 15,000 foreign workers to fill jobs because American's can't/won't take them? I need him to explain this to me with pictures.

We don't need them. He does.

President Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida has asked permission to hire 70 foreign workers this fall, attesting — in the middle of the White House's “Made in America Week” — that it cannot find qualified Americans to serve as cooks, waiters and housekeepers.

Those requests were made to the Department of Labor in recent days and posted online Thursday.

Lemme guess...there are a lot of qualified Russians available. Ex-Spetsnaz make great cooks and waiters.

Now, the Labor Department — which reports to Trump — must make decisions that will affect two for-profit business that the president still owns.

Moliere · Post by **Moliere** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 12:26 am

A new interview reveals Trump’s ignorance to be surprisingly wide-ranging

Nobody knows everything, and certainly nobody who’s ever sat in the Oval Office has entered with a complete mastery of all the varied issues that land on the desk of the president of the United States.

But reading the transcript of Donald Trump’s recent interview with three New York Times reporters, two things stand out. One is the sheer range of subjects that Trump does not understand correctly — from French urban planning to health insurance to Russian military history to where Baltimore is to domestic policy in the 1990s to his own regulatory initiatives. The other is that Trump is determined, across the board, to simply bluff and bluster through rather than admitting to any uncertainty or gaps in his knowledge.

It’s an approach that’s certainly commonplace among Trump’s cohort of rich Manhattanites. People who’ve spent years surrounded by flatterers and lackeys eager to get their hands on their money tend to come away with an inflated sense of their own domains of competence. But precisely because the demands of the presidency are so unimaginably vast, it’s a frightening attribute in a chief executive.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 12:00 pm

Breaking news says that Spicey has left the building! He resigned apparently due to a clash over the hiring of Anthony Scaramucci as Communications Director.

Captain Caveman · Post by **Captain Caveman** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 12:07 pm

malchior wrote:Breaking news says that Spicey has left the building! He resigned apparently due to a clash over the hiring of Anthony Scaramucci as Communications Director.

I know I shouldn't, given the continuous lying and all, but I can't help feeling kind of bad for him.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 12:12 pm

they bought their tickets...they knew what they were getting into...

Octavious · Post by **Octavious** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 12:16 pm

Spice Out!!!!!!!!!!!! Man SNL is losing a lot of content from this move.

Carpet_pissr · Post by **Carpet_pissr** » Fri Jul 21, 2017 12:17 pm

malchior wrote:Breaking news says that Spicey has left the building! He resigned apparently due to a clash over the hiring of Anthony Scaramucci as Communications Director.

Yeah, I can imagine I would "clash" with my employer as well when they introduced me to my replacement.