Trump Administration Meltdown Thread...

[Steve of phpBB]

Manafort's house raided by FBI

As someone pointed out on Twitter, warrants require probable cause and approval from a judge. So they have to have something concrete.

(Also, after nearly thirty years of this, I still can't type "probable cause". It's always "probably cause".)

[mister d]

Is this the first tangible act against a member / former member of the Trump admin? Feels like it.

[Pruitt]

Is this the first tangible act against a member / former member of the Trump admin? Feels like it.

Or the first one that we know about.

Hopefully not a rhetorical question, but is Trump crazy enough to hurl a nuke just t distract the public?

[mister d]

Absolutely concerned about that. "How can you investigate a sitting president during the nuclear holocaust???"

[The Sybian]

Is this the first tangible act against a member / former member of the Trump admin? Feels like it.

Pretty sure there were subpoenas and a raid on Flynn early on.

[Steve of phpBB]

Apparently the Trump folks are turning on Manafort.

https://twitter.com/NatEnquirer/status/ ... 0166177792

I don't think that's a good idea.

[Nonlinear FC]

We had a run. Some would say even a good run, at times. Ah well.

For those of us swampers within 35 miles of DC, it has been good knowing you all virtually.

Well, actually...

NK has range to hit as far east as Chicago. Or thereabouts. DC is out of range.

At least according to the helpful map CNN splashes every 12 minutes or so.

[Pruitt]

Apparently the Trump folks are turning on Manafort.

https://twitter.com/NatEnquirer/status/ ... 0166177792

I don't think that's a good idea.

This is the subheadline from the Enquirer piece:

Target in FBI-Russia probe also cheated with woman half his age!

They are talking about Manafort, right?

[Steve of phpBB]

Target in FBI-Russia probe also cheated with woman half his age!

They are talking about Manafort, right?

Heh.

[Johnnie]

https://m.imgur.com/ZYQplB5

[Pruitt]

https://m.imgur.com/ZYQplB5

Helps restore my faith in the American people!

http://www.avclub.com/article/giant-trump-chicken-staring-down-white-house-259256

[Pruitt]

Trump retweeted this.

https://twitter.com/TheFive/status/895451762122833921

[DaveInSeattle]

Trump retweeted this.

https://twitter.com/TheFive/status/895451762122833921

Quite a world when we are relying on the sanity of the Fucking NORTH KOREANS...

[Johnnie]

https://m.imgur.com/VLR7ys8

[The Sybian]

I usually try to avoid the "imagine if Obama said..." game, but I can't today. Thanking Putin for kicking diplomats out of Russia? At the same time, allowing a Russian spy plane to fly low over the Capitol Building, CIA HQ, the Pentagon, and his golf course? Hannity's head would have exploded, as he went on a tough guy rant about Obama being a pussy and letting Putin walk all over us. BTW, I'm pretty sure I saw it flying. I heard there was an Air Force jet, so I figured it was a commercial flight flying really low and on a Newark Airport pattern I've never seen before. But when I saw this picture, it sure looks like what I saw. I live directly between EWR and Bedminster, and I saw Marine One fly over a couple weeks ago. I've heard it a few times, too.

[Joe K]

I usually try to avoid the "imagine if Obama said..." game, but I can't today. Thanking Putin for kicking diplomats out of Russia? At the same time, allowing a Russian spy plane to fly low over the Capitol Building, CIA HQ, the Pentagon, and his golf course? Hannity's head would have exploded, as he went on a tough guy rant about Obama being a pussy and letting Putin walk all over us.

The problem with the "imagine if" game is that you're mixing up the independent and dependent variables. In other words, right-wingers don't think "Obama is a pussy because he did x, y and z," they think "Obama did x, y and z because he's a pussy." Take the Iran nuclear deal, for example, which is arguably the best accomplishment of his presidency. If Reagan, Bush or Trump negotiated that deal, GOP voters would support it and believe it was a great deal for the US, because they know those guys are "strong" and wouldn't cave to any Muslims. But since a Democrat negotiated it, the deal must be a cowardly act of appeasement. Because Democrats are necessarily pussies.* That's why even Democratic war heroes get smeared as cowards, and why any attempts by Dems to sound "tough" on foreign policy are bound to get them nowhere politically.

*As an example of this mentality I had a right-wing friend from high school who joined the Navy after college. A few years back he posted something on Facebook to the effect of "I don't respect liberalism because I can't think of any liberal ever who could beat me up." (Another friend of mine promptly responded by posting a photo of Muhammad Ali.)

[Johnnie]

First, I was like, "WTF, we let spy planes brazenly fly overhead?" Then I was like "Oh, this is a thing: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_on_Open_Skies" And then as terms of the START treaty, Russians could show up on base and inspect things. But all they really did was go to the BX and buy Levi's jeans. I love when major media outlets put alarming headlines out there to get clicks and intentionally mislead. That's where distrust in the media starts.

Second, this:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/sta ... 9734711298

is retarded. Unless he means a missile defense system. Because that does exist. Otherwise, everyone in Korea right now is going about their day and night while heavily relying on soju to have a good time. As is tradition.

[Pruitt]

The only good thing about this moron president is that he enjoys making other assholes squirm.

McConnell Put On Notice By Trump

[brian]

Also, military solutions for North Korea have been "locked and loaded" for 50 fucking years. It's not as if it hadn't occurred to the military before now that invading and/or bombing the fuck out of North Korea wasn't an option.

[degenerasian]

Also, military solutions for North Korea have been "locked and loaded" for 50 fucking years. It's not as if it hadn't occurred to the military before now that invading and/or bombing the fuck out of North Korea wasn't an option.

yes but that threat has never seem as real as it does now.
North Korea has always used it's missile capability as an insurance policy. If the West treats us bad and puts sanctions against us, we'll just launch a missile test and they'll back off. Well Kim has now run into a leader more insane than him. So what's the next step?

What will Kim do? Launch a bomb or open up relations?

[brian]

I don't think Kim is dumb or crazy enough to attack first. He's considered a God in his country and is happy with the status quo for the most part. He just enjoys trolling the west because the U.S. especially and especially more so under Trump is so easily trollable. Trump has the id of a 12-year-old and is incapable of turning the other cheek or any kind of statesmanship.

If his saber rattling gets some humanitarian relief or a bigger trade deal with China as a sop then even better.

The question becomes if the U.S. stages some kind of manufactured Gulf of Tonkin-like pretext for any kind of military action. I can't even imagine the potential carnage. The North has enough conventional bombs and missiles to kill 100,000 in Seoul, if not more. If he's really, really crazy I think he saves the nukes for Tokyo and not the U.S. (much less likely to make it that far successfully) or the RoK.

Despite their separation and political differences, I don't think Kim could nuke Koreans, but I absolutely believe Japan could be in trouble because of level of racism the Koreans feel for the Japanese. It would be a cruel irony if Japan remains the only nation to ever be attacked with a nuclear weapon.

[degenerasian]

I don't think Trump is dumb enough to attack first either so nothing will come of this. Sanctions have never done anything anyways, North Korea has ways to get around it. Fake flags, fake cargo etc...

You are right, North Korea sees itself as the rightful owners of South Korea, which it deems a made up country the bastards in the west created and continually protect. He would never kill what he believes to be his own people.

[P.D.X.]

I think he's entirely dumb enough and my main hope is that his advisors/congress can convince him that he's such a genius/great leader that he doesn't need to.

[brian]

https://twitter.com/colindickey/status/ ... 7771516928

[Joe K]

I know it's cool to blame millenials for literally everything, but attributing the actions of Kim Jong Un of all people to an entire generation is hilarious.

[brian]

I know it's cool to blame millenials for literally everything, but attributing the actions of Kim Jong Un of all people to an entire generation is hilarious.

I think it was a joke tweet.

[Rex]

Kim Jong Un gonna hit us as soon as he can find some locally sourced uranium

[Joe K]

I know it's cool to blame millenials for literally everything, but attributing the actions of Kim Jong Un of all people to an entire generation is hilarious.

I think it was a joke tweet.

No shit. I just find it ridiculous when older generations try to blame millenials for our screwed up politics, when they/we are the age group that was by far the least likely to vote for Trump.

[Jerloma]

Yeah, I think we have a large enough sample size now where we can just alleviate "I don't think Trump is dumb enough..." from our rhetoric under any context whatsoever.

[The Sybian]

I usually try to avoid the "imagine if Obama said..." game, but I can't today. Thanking Putin for kicking diplomats out of Russia? At the same time, allowing a Russian spy plane to fly low over the Capitol Building, CIA HQ, the Pentagon, and his golf course? Hannity's head would have exploded, as he went on a tough guy rant about Obama being a pussy and letting Putin walk all over us.

The problem with the "imagine if" game is that you're mixing up the independent and dependent variables. In other words, right-wingers don't think "Obama is a pussy because he did x, y and z," they think "Obama did x, y and z because he's a pussy." Take the Iran nuclear deal, for example, which is arguably the best accomplishment of his presidency. If Reagan, Bush or Trump negotiated that deal, GOP voters would support it and believe it was a great deal for the US, because they know those guys are "strong" and wouldn't cave to any Muslims. But since a Democrat negotiated it, the deal must be a cowardly act of appeasement. Because Democrats are necessarily pussies.* That's why even Democratic war heroes get smeared as cowards, and why any attempts by Dems to sound "tough" on foreign policy are bound to get them nowhere politically.

*As an example of this mentality I had a right-wing friend from high school who joined the Navy after college. A few years back he posted something on Facebook to the effect of "I don't respect liberalism because I can't think of any liberal ever who could beat me up." (Another friend of mine promptly responded by posting a photo of Muhammad Ali.)

I agree, but I think an even greater factor is FoxNews and the GOP constantly labeling the Iran deal "the worst deal in American history," or label the economy a disaster under Obama, and the military being decimated. No amount of experts explaining why the deal was beneficial can overcome a blanket label, especially when they are emotionally charged and fear inducing. Most of their base prefer an easy label to a nuanced discussion. Put up all of the Generals and experts explaining in detail, and that can't put a dent in "worst deal ever." Trump's brilliant blueprint for governing is "Make America Great Again" and "defeat ISIS so bad, their heads will spin. Believe me." For some reason, his supporters believe him. In a way, it's a brilliant strategy, because how can you argue against MAGA, or Defeat ISIS?

[Johnnie]

That year I spent in Korea was fun. I worked in the U2 squadron that I CANNOT CONFIRM OR DENY EXISTS and drank my weight multiple times over in soju.

The "threat" of NK was always there but the South completely disregards it. They are too busy with Kpop, public wi-fi, and 4D movie theaters.

There was even a point where Scrappy Don't started squawking and I'm reading Facebook and getting frantic texts about what's going on. Nothing. Literally nothing. Business as usual. I'm planning my weekend.

America overreacts to a point of stupidity. And the "news" doesn't help.

You'll know if bad things start happening because the U2s THAT TOTALLY DON'T EXIST THERE are reported to be gone and the Air Force subreddit has threads out the ass of base lockdown and the like. Until then, let the Orange Julius Caesar (h/t Larry Wilmore) and the Dear Leader argue like step siblings.

[EnochRoot]

Millionaire
Asshole
Golfing
Again

[DSafetyGuy]

Orange Julius Caesar (h/t Larry Wilmore)

Greg Proops also has several nicknames for him on his podcast. He debuted "Adolf Twitler" this week, to go along with Pineapple Pinochet, amongst others.

[brian]

Speaking of which, it was discussed in the TV thread, but the forthcoming Season Five of Arrested Development is supposedly taking dead aim on the Trumps. It's always been a bit of a veiled analog but I guess Hurwitz and Company are just saying fuck it at this point.

Speaking of which, this is happening.

https://twitter.com/davidcrosss/status/ ... 0236356608

[The Sybian]

I don't think Kim is dumb or crazy enough to attack first. He's considered a God in his country and is happy with the status quo for the most part. He just enjoys trolling the west because the U.S. especially and especially more so under Trump is so easily trollable. Trump has the id of a 12-year-old and is incapable of turning the other cheek or any kind of statesmanship.

If his saber rattling gets some humanitarian relief or a bigger trade deal with China as a sop then even better.

The bluster and saber rattling is actually a necessary function in maintaining the regime. The North Korean people are almost entirely insulated from the outside world, and in order for the Kim's to keep power, they need the people to believe the US is an evil monster intent on killing all of them, protected only by their benevolent super hero deity leader. To the extent that Dear Leader (or whatever Big Baby Kim goes by) allows the public to hear Trump, Trump's bluster plays perfectly into Kim's narrative.

[Joe K]

I don't think Kim is dumb or crazy enough to attack first. He's considered a God in his country and is happy with the status quo for the most part. He just enjoys trolling the west because the U.S. especially and especially more so under Trump is so easily trollable. Trump has the id of a 12-year-old and is incapable of turning the other cheek or any kind of statesmanship.

If his saber rattling gets some humanitarian relief or a bigger trade deal with China as a sop then even better.

The bluster and saber rattling is actually a necessary function in maintaining the regime. The North Korean people are almost entirely insulated from the outside world, and in order for the Kim's to keep power, they need the people to believe the US is an evil monster intent on killing all of them, protected only by their benevolent super hero deity leader. To the extent that Dear Leader (or whatever Big Baby Kim goes by) allows the public to hear Trump, Trump's bluster plays perfectly into Kim's narrative.

This is all true. And it's also a lot easier for Kim to portray the US/Trump as a monster when we did, in fact, inflict massive suffering on North Korea's civilian population with our bombings during the Korean War. Normalization of relations would probably be the best way we could help the North Korean people and weaken the Kim regime, but unfortunately that's not likely to happen anytime soon.

ETA: It's been estimated that as much as 20% of North Korea's civilian population died during the Korean War. That's a massive percentage of loss, and goes a long way towards explaining their hostility towards the US.

[sancarlos]

Orange Julius Caesar (h/t Larry Wilmore)

Greg Proops also has several nicknames for him on his podcast. He debuted "Adolf Twitler" this week, to go along with Pineapple Pinochet, amongst others.

Not sure if I've mentioned it before, but Greg Proops hails from the sprawling metropolis of San Carlos, California.

[Johnnie]

Orange Julius Caesar (h/t Larry Wilmore)

Greg Proops also has several nicknames for him on his podcast. He debuted "Adolf Twitler" this week, to go along with Pineapple Pinochet, amongst others.

Not sure if I've mentioned it before, but Greg Proops hails from the sprawling metropolis of San Carlos, California.

Man, those Trump insults are excellent. And I feel like I need to re-subscribe to his podcast.

I think another is Mango Mussolini and one for Polpot too, but I forget.

[Johnnie]

I don't think Kim is dumb or crazy enough to attack first. He's considered a God in his country and is happy with the status quo for the most part. He just enjoys trolling the west because the U.S. especially and especially more so under Trump is so easily trollable. Trump has the id of a 12-year-old and is incapable of turning the other cheek or any kind of statesmanship.

If his saber rattling gets some humanitarian relief or a bigger trade deal with China as a sop then even better.

The bluster and saber rattling is actually a necessary function in maintaining the regime. The North Korean people are almost entirely insulated from the outside world, and in order for the Kim's to keep power, they need the people to believe the US is an evil monster intent on killing all of them, protected only by their benevolent super hero deity leader. To the extent that Dear Leader (or whatever Big Baby Kim goes by) allows the public to hear Trump, Trump's bluster plays perfectly into Kim's narrative.

This is all true. And it's also a lot easier for Kim to portray the US/Trump as a monster when we did, in fact, inflict massive suffering on North Korea's civilian population with our bombings during the Korean War. Normalization of relations would probably be the best way we could help the North Korean people and weaken the Kim regime, but unfortunately that's not likely to happen anytime soon.

ETA: It's been estimated that as much as 20% of North Korea's civilian population died during the Korean War. That's a massive percentage of loss, and goes a long way towards explaining their hostility towards the US.

Kim is the Wizard of Oz up there, for sure. To beat them you have to wage a propaganda war that spoils the perception force fed to the public. So, as implied, when we get all chest puffy with them and talk shit or make fun of them (like Trump does or Rogen and Franco did) it does nothing but make everything worse and they just don't get it.

[degenerasian]

Im not sure what propaganda war is possible after 70 years. That's 3 generations of brain washing.
Unless Gorbachev is walking through that door, that regime is set.