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Donald Fires FBI Director who's investigating Russian Election Hacking

https://www.nytimes.com/podcasts/the-daily

I listened to their July 20th one. It was incredible. In it the Times interviews Trump. He bashes Sessions, says that he wouldn't have hired him if he had known that he'd recuse himself. He bashes Mueller and claims that he has conflicts of interest. He accuses Comey of committing felonies and denies that they ever had a 1 on 1 conversation. Which is really weird, since Sessions seems to have agreed with Comey's testimony on this.

Trump then warns Mueller to NOT look into Trump's finances. Why's that? Could it be because Trump knows that there's some dirty stuff in his taxes? Mueller can access Trump's taxes in secret without him knowing just as long as he gets a judge to sign off on it. Rumor has it that Trump is now looking to pardon family members, discredit Mueller, even fire him!

If Trump fires Mueller, it'll be the most blatant obstruction of justice and abuse of executive power since Nixon fired special prosecutor Cox. It'll certainly beg a response from this Congress. But will this Congress fight back? Or will they trample the laws and let the president walk all over them?

This is a great summary for those who don't have time to listen to the Trump interview in the link above:

http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/wa...ad-for-trump-outside-legal-team-1005413443605
 
Spicer has resigned

http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/21/politics/sean-spicer-resigns-anthony-scaramucci/index.html

(CNN)White House press secretary Sean Spicer resigned Friday morning, multiple White House officials said, capping off a rollercoaster six-month tenure as the chief spokesman for a White House besieged by a steady drumbeat of controversy.

Spicer's resignation came after New York financier and former Trump campaign fundraiser Anthony Scaramucci accepted the position as White House communications director, a move Spicer adamantly opposed. His resignation came in spite of President Donald Trump's request that he remain in this position, a White House official and top GOP advisers said.
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The Thriller said:
https://www.nytimes.com/podcasts/the-daily

I listened to their July 20th one. It was incredible. In it the Times interviews Trump. He bashes Sessions, says that he wouldn't have hired him if he had known that he'd recuse himself. He bashes Mueller and claims that he has conflicts of interest. He accuses Comey of committing felonies and denies that they ever had a 1 on 1 conversation. Which is really weird, since Sessions seems to have agreed with Comey's testimony on this.

Trump then warns Mueller to NOT look into Trump's finances. Why's that? Could it be because Trump knows that there's some dirty stuff in his taxes? Mueller can access Trump's taxes in secret without him knowing just as long as he gets a judge to sign off on it. Rumor has it that Trump is now looking to pardon family members, discredit Mueller, even fire him!

If Trump fires Mueller, it'll be the most blatant obstruction of justice and abuse of executive power since Nixon fired special prosecutor Cox. It'll certainly beg a response from this Congress. But will this Congress fight back? Or will they trample the laws and let the president walk all over them?

This is a great summary for those who don't have time to listen to the Trump interview in the link above:

http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/wa...ad-for-trump-outside-legal-team-1005413443605
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Brian Beutler, senior editor at The New Republic, is of the opinion that, regardless of whether Trump pardons himself, or has Mueller fired, the Republican Congress will not confront the President. I guess I lean toward that direction myself, but all hell will surely break loose nonetheless. Where it actually ends may be anyone's guess. It seems likely, whether we like it or not, that we are going to find out...

https://newrepublic.com/article/143984/were-brink-authoritarian-crisis

"In a more rule-bound environment, Mueller’s interest in opening Trump’s books would probably be checkmate for the president. Quite apart from the question of whether his campaign conspired with Russian intelligence to sabotage Hillary Clinton’s campaign, it is widely suspected that a peek under the hood of the Trump organization will reveal serious financial crimes. Assuming that informed speculation is correct, and assuming our system of checks hasn’t broken down, Mueller would uncover the wrongdoing and bring down a president, or Trump would fire Mueller and Congress would step in to edge Trump out.

But at the moment there are no reliable sources of accountability. None."
 
babe said:
mystic libs are reading the tea leaves again, or doing ritual NDEs in some kiva I suppose.

I wouldn't want the job, and nobody with no skin in the game will take it.

Best wishes to Trump and Scarrie. It takes a lot of nerve to just not let libs roll you and dump you in some ideological ditch nowadays.
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Difficult for a president to have much support or credibility when he undermines his own press secretary's message.

I think Spicer's resignation is a sign that he's fed up with the incompetence of his boss.

Right from the opening weeks, Sean has claimed the sky to be blue only to be undermined by Trump tweeting, "The sky isn't blue, it's red. I guess one could say I love the Reds. Oh btw don't look at my tax returns, it'll definitely not reveal any sleazy dealings with Russians. It's all fake news! #witchhunt"
 
Red said:
Brian Beutler, senior editor at The New Republic, is of the opinion that, regardless of whether Trump pardons himself, or has Mueller fired, the Republican Congress will not confront the President. I guess I lean toward that direction myself, but all hell will surely break loose nonetheless. Where it actually ends may be anyone's guess. It seems likely, whether we like it or not, that we are going to find out...

https://newrepublic.com/article/143984/were-brink-authoritarian-crisis

"In a more rule-bound environment, Mueller’s interest in opening Trump’s books would probably be checkmate for the president. Quite apart from the question of whether his campaign conspired with Russian intelligence to sabotage Hillary Clinton’s campaign, it is widely suspected that a peek under the hood of the Trump organization will reveal serious financial crimes. Assuming that informed speculation is correct, and assuming our system of checks hasn’t broken down, Mueller would uncover the wrongdoing and bring down a president, or Trump would fire Mueller and Congress would step in to edge Trump out.

But at the moment there are no reliable sources of accountability. None."
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George Will, hardly a liberal by any standards, agrees. He doesn't think this worthless republican congress would act to impeach trump even if he essentially does what Nixon did, fire the special prosecutor.

What recourse would our country have if the GOP refuses to exercise legal and necessary action against a blatant illegal and authoritarian action by the executive? Trump will have melted down every constraining legal authority offered by the constitution and will have ascended to a dictator throne never before seen by a president in this country.

And what happens in 2020 if he's defeated or after 2024? Will he abdicate the White House? Or will he continue?

God help us if republicans in congress refuse to act if/when trump fires Mueller. Other than assassination (clearly I'm not advocating for), there literally isn't anything left to do to relieve him of power.

http://www.msnbc.com/the-last-word/...otally-beholden-to-donald-trump-1005187651606
 
This is still a thing?

Red said:
“There’s been so much negative coverage of this administration — arguably, rightfully so — that it’s hard for most people to know what counts,” Usher said. “News junkies are obsessed with it, but a lot of others are going to tune it out.”

Or blame the messenger.

One conservative radio host, Robert Leonard, told CNN’s Brian Stelter that his conservative friends in Iowa “are very angry — they think the Trump/Russia deal is a coup attempt by the media. They don’t understand why the media is trying to oust our duly elected president.”
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I've been in this camp since shortly after the election. The media is flashing their bias like a teenage girl showing extra cleavage and *** for dirty attention. Combine that with bleeding hearts going full retard on the refusal to be an adult first front and it's hard for me to sympathize with any leftist policy. But, like guns, they created a push back situation that created Donald.

If the left could just act like adults for once or the republicans stop being such hardasses....
 
Stoked said:
I'd like to see you reconcile this with your support of the President. Coherently please.
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look if i have to chose between 10% liberty or 20% freedom i prefer 20% liberty!

hillary and bernie are less then 10% liberty.

trump is against globalism. globalism is the worst form of government! the most anty liberty form of government!

so yeah is he perfect no? but he is closer to liberty than the laternative.

he wants to tax les. which shrinks government means more liberty!

lots of things of him lean to liberty!


you might say he is anti press. no he is anti fake news. cnn is blackmailing lying all the time

he is pro 2nd amendment which means more liberty!

i do have legitimate criticism against him

for example tariffs! i think that is not liberty minded. so yeah their you have it bro.
 
So we know from his tweets and NY Times interview last week that Trump has both pardons and undermining Mueller's investigation on his mind. Opinions vary as to whether a President can pardon himself, with some even arguing that should he do that, or pardon staff and family, those pardons themselves could be viewed as obstruction of justice. Most seem to be concluding a President cannot pardon himself, comparing it to the impossible situation where a judge would sit as both defendant and judge in their own trial.

In the meantime, Trump revamped his communication staff. The elevation of Anthony Scaramucci to WH Communications can be seen as the Fox-Newsification of the WH Communications apparatus. WH sources indicate Trump was enraptured of Scaramucci due to the latter's forceful defense of the President on Fox, and especially since Scaramucci was the subject of the CNN discredited attempt to link him with Russia, a charge which Scaramucci refuted, leading to the resignation of 3 CNN reporters. That would naturally impress Trump.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politic...-fox-newsification-of-the-white-house/534519/

"Spicer’s fall and Scaramuccci’s rise are the latest—and perhaps most significant—signs that the Trump White House has abandoned whatever vision it once had of trying to shape press coverage through diplomacy and dealmaking, and has chosen instead to go all in with its made-for-cable-news culture war against the Fourth Estate."

I think Scaramucci will be a very visible attack dog for Trump. The daily press briefings are no longer televised, still another blow to transparency by Trump, but Scaramucci is telegenic in his presentation and will likely be more visible that the Press Secretary.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...056e768a7e5_story.html?utm_term=.8710bc335846

"Having the communications director serve as on-camera spokesperson seems an apt metaphor for Trump’s disdainful view of the press. In his mind, reporters do not exist to press him for answers on behalf of the American people but to communicate whatever message Trump chooses to give the American public.

While recent White House practice has been to hold off-camera briefings, it seems the Scaramucci era will be televised. Taking advantage of his considerable television skills was the point in hiring him. But reporters need to be careful to not be lured into providing a platform for a Trump propaganda show simply because a White House official is willing to go on camera. It is more likely that Scaramucci will use the press room lectern to communicate whatever he chooses, not sincerely engage in answering reporters’ questions. At that point that room is no longer the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room. it’s a television set, with a “White House” plaque behind Scaramucci as an attractive prop."

Here's the results so far:

Scaramucci's very first interview was with Breitbart News. The WH will no doubt continue the practice of mostly talking with friendly news outlets(though The NY Times is second only to Fox as far as who Trump let's interview him), and the usual tweetstorms, permitting direct access to the public. In this first interview, Scaramucci praised Breitbart:

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/07/22/scaramucci-praises-breitbart-first-interview-240848

"Scaramucci said he is aiming to get Trump's unfiltered message through to his supporters via the president's Twitter feed, bypassing mainstream outlets that Trump often calls "fake news" while hoping to de-escalate what Scaramucci sees as unfairness and bias in the media.

"We have enough outlets, whether it's Breitbart, the president's social media feed, all of the different apparatus that we have, where people will allow us to deliver our message to the American people unfiltered," Scaramucci said. “We’re having a rough time with the mainstream media, but last time I checked during the campaign we were having a rough time with the mainstream media and the people see through it."

Scaramucci is also vowing to stop any leaks that originate within the WH itself:

http://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-...ill-take-drastic-action-to-stop-leaks-from-wh

And, surprise, surprise, Scaramucci has stated that Trump is still not sure that Russia interfered in the 2016 election! I did see a survey recently that claimed some 50% of Trump voters do not believe Trump Jr. met with the Russians, even after Trump Jr. admitted he did. So, this is quite the impenetrable alternative universe that some Trump supporters are living in...

http://www.businessinsider.com/scaramucci-trump-not-sure-russia-interfered-in-the-election-2017-7

Bottom line I believe: continued all out war on the 4th estate, the free press, with threats of pardons and the firing of Mueller hanging over everything....
 
While new Communications Director Scaramucci was repeating Trump's doubts that the Russians interfered in the 2016 election, the Aspen Security Conference was held in Colorado. There, former Director of Intelligence James Clapper and former CIA director John Brennan were highly critical of Trump's doubts, as well as Trump's attacks on the American intelligence community:

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/07/21/donald-trump-russia-spy-officials-aspen-security-forum/

ASPEN — "Two former top intelligence officials harshly criticized President Donald Trump on Friday for not standing up to Russia for meddling in the presidential election, one of them wondering aloud whether the president’s real aim is to make “Russia great again.”

Former National Intelligence Director James Clapper and former CIA Director John Brennan didn’t hold back their anger about Trump’s past disparaging comments about the intelligence agencies and their assessment that Moscow deliberately interfered in the election and tried to sow discord in the United States.

Asked if he thinks Trump takes the threat from Russia seriously enough, Clapper said he wonders sometimes if the White House agenda is about “making Russia great again.” The comment played off Trump’s campaign slogan “Make America Great Again.”

At that same Aspen conference, the NSA chief vowed that he would "not violate my oath" to the American people:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/midst-russia-probe-nsa-chief-vows-violate-oath/story?id=48795503
 
franklin said:
This is still a thing?



I've been in this camp since shortly after the election. The media is flashing their bias like a teenage girl showing extra cleavage and *** for dirty attention. Combine that with bleeding hearts going full retard on the refusal to be an adult first front and it's hard for me to sympathize with any leftist policy. But, like guns, they created a push back situation that created Donald.

If the left could just act like adults for once or the republicans stop being such hardasses....
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Apart from possible collusion, or complete lack of collusion, apart from even addressing that aspect, I have been in a camp that views Russian interference as a cyber act of war. I do believe it does not have to involve lobbing missiles at Washington to constitute an act of war. If it interferes with our free elections, it interferes with our sovereignty as a nation, and as such, that is a type of attack on our democracy and our nation. I've basically felt that way since July of 2016. At some points, I only suspected collusion might exist among top campaign aides with ties to Russia. I felt it quite possible that Carter Page, Mike Flynn, and Paul Manafort could have reasons for being a bit too friendly with Russia, without any of that landing on Trump's doorstep. With Trump's latest musings involving pardons and undermining Mueller, I'm not so sure about Trump himself anymore. And, in any event, I can well imagine why he might fear Mueller delving into his finances and that of his family.

But, regardless of the collusion issue that is the focus of the liberal media, the first bottom line for myself has always revolved around Russia's attack on our democracy. I'm aware of our own interference, via the CIA, in the internal affairs of other nations. I can acknowledge that without feeling that I therefore have to let Russia off the hook. Knowing that Trump met for one hour with Putin, in front of all our allies at a dinner, while ignoring our allies, and from descriptions, being very friendly with Putin during that hour, and with no American translator, and having told Putin that "it's an honor to meet you", all that does indeed go up my butt sideways. I cant help but find it disgraceful, given Putin's interference in our election. Whether the Trump campaign actually helped him, from that point of view is a separate issue. I want to know the full extent of Russian involvement and how to prevent future attacks. So yes, for me, that is "still a thing". I do indeed take their attack very seriously. And I'm glad Congress has just slapped further sanctions and made them "Trump proof", so to speak.
 
Sorry Red.

unreadable witch hunt hate mongering is un-American.

I hope Trump fires Mueller for his obvious conflicts of interest and for going outside his authority.

So your media is out of step with Americans and reality. Nobody wants to hear about this Russia crap. We are going to have some improved options in medical care. Free choice in health Co-op plans, medical savings accounts. Competitive plans among insurers, and more freedom in the hands of providers for innovation and more effective service and treatments. Thousands of bureaucrats back on the streets looking for real jobs.
 
babe said:
I hope Trump fires Mueller for his obvious conflicts of interest...
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Mueller has no conflicts of interest. At least none that I've heard/seen. Trump's accusations of such are infantile, to say the least.
 
babe said:
Sorry Red.

unreadable witch hunt hate mongering is un-American.
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Nope riding the president's **** is un-American. Only two presidents get that privilege Washington and Lincoln. Washington because without him it's likely that American never became a thing and Lincoln because without him it's likely that America would have stopped being thing. Get off Trump's dick not only is it un-American, it's gross.

I hope Trump fires Mueller for his obvious conflicts of interest and for going outside his authority.

So your media is out of step with Americans and reality. Nobody wants to hear about this Russia crap. We are going to have some improved options in medical care. Free choice in health Co-op plans, medical savings accounts. Competitive plans among insurers, and more freedom in the hands of providers for innovation and more effective service and treatments. Thousands of bureaucrats back on the streets looking for real jobs.
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Naive much? Lol
 
babe said:
Sorry Red.

unreadable witch hunt hate mongering is un-American.

I hope Trump fires Mueller for his obvious conflicts of interest and for going outside his authority.

So your media is out of step with Americans and reality. Nobody wants to hear about this Russia crap. We are going to have some improved options in medical care. Free choice in health Co-op plans, medical savings accounts. Competitive plans among insurers, and more freedom in the hands of providers for innovation and more effective service and treatments. Thousands of bureaucrats back on the streets looking for real jobs.
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Well, babe, it's truly beyond my comprehension as to how you can continue to defend this guy, but if hate mongering is un-American, then yesterday your hero reached new lows in his own well-honed hate mongering themes: you know, the hate he delivers about Obama, and Clinton, about a free press, etc., etc. His typical campaign rally hate mongering, in other words. Oh, but wait a sec. Not so typical after all. He delivered his un-American hate at the Boy Scout Jamboree. He politicized a Boy Scout Jamboree.

What a class act, no? Well, not so much methinks. Kinda un-American I think you could say...

http://www.npr.org/2017/07/25/53924...e-thin-line-between-openness-and-recklessness

""Know your audience" is usually the first rule of public speaking. But that doesn't really seem to matter all that much to President Trump.
Trump became overtly political in yet another setting that some are seeing as crossing the line — in a speech to the Boy Scouts.

Ironically, Trump began his remarks Monday night promising not to talk about politics.

"Tonight, we put aside all of the policy fights in Washington, D.C., you've been hearing about with the fake news and all of that," Trump said at the Boy Scouts National Jamboree in West Virginia. "We're going to put that aside. And instead we're going to talk about success, about how all of you amazing young Scouts can achieve your dreams, what to think of, what I've been thinking about. You want to achieve your dreams, I said, who the hell wants to speak about politics when I'm in front of the Boy Scouts? Right?"

Apart from using "hell" in front of an audience of thousands of minors, Trump did not stick to that promise. His speech quickly became political.

"You know, I go to Washington," Trump said, "and I see all these politicians, and I see the swamp, and it's not a good place. In fact, today, I said we ought to change it from the word 'swamp' to the word 'cesspool' or perhaps to the word 'sewer.' "

Not exactly the message of how to affect constructive change through politics. Trump was just getting warmed up."

CNN listed the 29 "most cringe worthy highlights"

http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/25/politics/donald-trump-boy-scouts-speech/index.html

Not surprisingly, former Boy Scouts condemned the speech. He really reached a new low in my eyes yesterday. And I probably did not think that was possible, but behaving this way in a speech to the Boy Scouts(Yes, I know they're not perfect) really is pathetic. Just pathetic. You can watch the whole 35 minute speech here as well, but have your barf bag handy:

https://www.usnews.com/news/nationa...ndemn-president-donald-trumps-jamboree-speech
 
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At first, it actually confused me that Scaramucci was messaging that Trump still was not convinced that Russia interfered in the 2016 election. But it's actually easy to see why Trump is doing this. IMO, there are two purposes to saying the President is not sure Russia interfered in the 2016 election. One, to keep the Russian narrative and investigation at bay by suggesting it may not be real. And two, to reinforce in his followers minds that it may be fake news perpetrated by a press that is the enemy of the people.

Keep the Russia narrative and investigation at bay, in public perception, by questioning its validity, and create and sustain severe doubt about the story among his supporters. In the latter case, create and maintain an alternative reality where Russia did not interfere in the election. Lie by calling the news "fake". If you repeat a lie often enough, it gets believed. Pretty basic strategy. Create an alternative reality and from the perspective of the fake narrative generated by that alternative reality, label the truthful news as fake news.

Amazing how many people can be conned by this strategy. Amazing how hard it becomes for many to actually detect/recognize this strategy as the con job that it is. And its chief offensive weapon is to label the truth a lie. Or call it fake. According to babe, "nobody wants to hear about this Russia crap". But the inoperative word there is "nobody". Some folks do indeed want to know, some do not. I would never say "everybody" is interested in the history that is unfolding in our lifetime pertaining to the 2016 election, but to say "nobody" is interested is equally untrue. Some people do not want a President to be above the law. That's the part that babe, and people who think like babe, do not understand at all. Some people are absolutely fine with a President who is above the law. But many are not.

Once the lie and alternative reality is in place, those who believe the lie never give the truth a fighting chance to be believed. It can be blocked out immediately without a second thought. The truth can gain no traction once the alternative reality is fully accepted. This is what makes the divisiveness so intractable, and this is why healing from that divisiveness will be such an enormous problem. Unless Trump himself explains to his followers the nature of his con. Only if he comes clean, can his followers be freed from their alternative world. And he does not strike me as the kind of man who comes clean.

In the meantime, who believes for a second that the leak stating Sessions discussed the campaign with the Russian ambassador was not in fact leaked on Trump's own orders? And yet Trump lashed out against the leak. Devious! He's going after Sessions, and Mueller will be next. If he succeeds, he will be above the law. Which, as we know, is just fine with some people. People who don't respect our country at all, IMO.

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/07/25/lindsey-graham-jeff-sessions-trump-criticism-240935
 
Manafort cows; provides documents in exchange for subpoena being lifted.

Trump continues to hound Sessions.

Mueller appears unphased by it all.
 
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