The Former Trump Presidency Thread

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Mon Oct 15, 2018 11:04 am

Chaz wrote: ↑Mon Oct 15, 2018 11:03 am
Octavious wrote: ↑Mon Oct 15, 2018 10:59 am I think Trump has made a huge mistake with the handling of the Saudi Arabia crap. I actually think this one could turn out very bad for him especially if real evidence comes forward. For the president to offer up a crazy conspiracy theory just blows my mind. When he can't sink any lower he always still finds a way.
I think you're drastically underestimating the Trump admin and the GOP's ability to completely ignore or handwave evidence of things. Trump has already said that selling arms to Saudi Arabia is way more important to America than whether or not they killed some non-US citizen journalist overseas. Even if evidence comes out, he'll just say that it's not real, not from a credible source, and who cares anyway?

Listen, the Saudi king firmly said that he didn't know anything about it. What more do you want?

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Oct 15, 2018 11:05 am

No one will care except for democrats. And they'll do something stupid which allows Trump to divert attention yet again.

Kurth · Post by **Kurth** » Mon Oct 15, 2018 11:09 am

Octavious wrote: ↑Mon Oct 15, 2018 10:59 am I think Trump has made a huge mistake with the handling of the Saudi Arabia crap. I actually think this one could turn out very bad for him especially if real evidence comes forward. For the president to offer up a crazy conspiracy theory just blows my mind. When he can't sink any lower he always still finds a way.

Not sure if my sarcasm detector is malfunctioning again, but are you being serious? How is this going to turn out poorly for Trump? Think about all the crazy shit that has happened here and how little that crazy shit has moved the needle. Why do you think anyone here is going to give a rat’s ass over Saudi Arabia torturing and killing one of their own.

You heard Trump: It happened in Turkey. Not a U.S. citizen. We have business with the Saudis. QED.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Mon Oct 15, 2018 11:09 am

From the 60 Minutes interview last night:

“What I said [was] the person we’re talking about didn’t know the year, the time, the place,” Mr. Trump said. “I was just saying she didn’t seem to know anything. And you’re trying to destroy a life of a man who has been extraordinary.”

“I didn’t really make fun of her,” the president said, adding that he thinks he treated her with respect.

“I’m not going to get into it because we won,” he concluded. “It doesn’t matter. We won.”

tl;dr - stiggin it.

I know this is the policy. It's just amazing to hear it actually stated by the PotUS regarding a woman's claims of sexual assault. The truth? Doesn't matter. We won.

El Guapo · Post by **El Guapo** » Mon Oct 15, 2018 11:18 am

Kurth wrote: ↑Mon Oct 15, 2018 11:09 am
Octavious wrote: ↑Mon Oct 15, 2018 10:59 am I think Trump has made a huge mistake with the handling of the Saudi Arabia crap. I actually think this one could turn out very bad for him especially if real evidence comes forward. For the president to offer up a crazy conspiracy theory just blows my mind. When he can't sink any lower he always still finds a way.
Not sure if my sarcasm detector is malfunctioning again, but are you being serious? How is this going to turn out poorly for Trump? Think about all the crazy shit that has happened here and how little that crazy shit has moved the needle. Why do you think anyone here is going to give a rat’s ass over Saudi Arabia torturing and killing one of their own.

You heard Trump: It happened in Turkey. Not a U.S. citizen. We have business with the Saudis. QED.

I inclined to agree with you, although one factor pointing in the other direction is that the guy was working for the Post. Ergo, the media cares about the story, and is more likely to press Trump on it, keeping it in the news.

Of course, the only potential accountability left is the midterms, so with almost any of these stories it's mainly about whether it will boost or hurt GOP chances in the midterms.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Mon Oct 15, 2018 11:30 am

“It doesn’t matter. We won.”

There's a bit of brief honesty that sums up just about everything moving forward in the last decade leading to today and beyond.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Mon Oct 15, 2018 11:55 am

That whole Stahl interview was depressing and some of the realpolitik we saw on display was brutal. To wit the below.

60 Minutes Interview wrote: STAHL: What are your options? Let’s say [the Saudis] did. What are your options? Would you consider imposing sanctions, as a bipartisan group of senators have proposed?

TRUMP: Well, it depends on what the sanction is. I’ll give you an example: They are ordering military equipment. Everybody in the world wanted that order. Russia wanted it, China wanted it, we wanted it. We got it.

STAHL: So would you cut that off —

TRUMP: Do I — well — I tell you what I don’t want to do. Boeing, Lockheed, Raytheon, all these com— I don’t want to hurt jobs. I don’t want to lose an order like that. There are other ways of — punishing, to use a word that’s a pretty harsh word, but it’s true.

Analysis: The amoral, despicable part of him is literally saying that even if we don't take the blood money, our competitors will happily do so. That is absolutely true but we used to have some semblance of values. Now we are in a race to the bottom folks and we'll happily win that race!

His remarks (paraphrasing) on Russia "those assassinations aren't in our country!" and on North Korea "he is bad but I like him so let's move past the whole dictator thing" should be condemned but won't probably won't be. Nearly everything he said last night would have resulted in a complete meltdown in the past as a existential conflict with our entire national identity. Now they are pretty much ignored. We never hit bottom and that should terrify us.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Mon Oct 15, 2018 11:57 am

Octavious wrote: ↑Mon Oct 15, 2018 10:59 am I actually think this one could turn out very bad for him especially if real evidence comes forward.

For the thousandth time with this guy, this is a perfectly logical thought that will be proven to be completely wrong.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Mon Oct 15, 2018 12:04 pm

malchior wrote: ↑Mon Oct 15, 2018 11:55 am That whole Stahl interview was depressing and some of the realpolitik we saw on display was brutal. To wit the below.

60 Minutes Interview wrote: STAHL: What are your options? Let’s say [the Saudis] did. What are your options? Would you consider imposing sanctions, as a bipartisan group of senators have proposed?

TRUMP: Well, it depends on what the sanction is. I’ll give you an example: They are ordering military equipment. Everybody in the world wanted that order. Russia wanted it, China wanted it, we wanted it. We got it.

STAHL: So would you cut that off —

TRUMP: Do I — well — I tell you what I don’t want to do. Boeing, Lockheed, Raytheon, all these com— I don’t want to hurt jobs. I don’t want to lose an order like that. There are other ways of — punishing, to use a word that’s a pretty harsh word, but it’s true.
Analysis: The amoral, despicable part of him is literally saying that even if we don't take the blood money, our competitors will happily do so. That is absolutely true but we used to have some semblance of values. Now we are in a race to the bottom folks and we'll happily win that race!

It's even worse than that. He's using the arms deal as cover. It's really about the family business. He doesn't give a shit about jobs. He only cares about his personal net worth.

I'd also argue that is not open and shut that the Saudis would dump the US to deal with Russia or China so easily. They want out stuff, it's better. And they certainly don't want the stink of Syria that comes with a Russian deal. Obviously this administration could tear down decades of Saudu dimplomacy pretty quickly but the we aren't there just yet.

malchior · Post by **malchior** » Mon Oct 15, 2018 12:13 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Mon Oct 15, 2018 12:04 pm It's even worse than that. He's using the arms deal as cover. It's really about the family business. He doesn't give a shit about jobs. He only cares about his personal net worth.

No doubt that is true but the cover story would be un-American (pre-2017).

I'd also argue that is not open and shut that the Saudis would dump the US to deal with Russia or China so easily. They want out stuff, it's better. And they certainly don't want the stink of Syria that comes with a Russian deal. Obviously this administration could tear down decades of Saudu dimplomacy pretty quickly but the we aren't there just yet.

I agree and sanctions might even stop those countries as well from selling arms in. The Saudi's want our stuff not just because it is better but also because it is compatible with everything they own already. I was more interested in how he was selling it but underneath it is a realpolitik current that if it came down to it they have buckets of cash and have local/regional problems they need to solve.

Octavious · Post by **Octavious** » Mon Oct 15, 2018 1:36 pm

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Mon Oct 15, 2018 11:57 am
Octavious wrote: ↑Mon Oct 15, 2018 10:59 am I actually think this one could turn out very bad for him especially if real evidence comes forward.
For the thousandth time with this guy, this is a perfectly logical thought that will be proven to be completely wrong.

I know maybe I was just crazy this morning. If the Dems had any balls or talent on spin they would be having a field day with this.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Mon Oct 15, 2018 5:07 pm

This thread has made it to page 420. Is that a record? Regardless...everybody smoke now!

Default · Post by **Default** » Mon Oct 15, 2018 7:01 pm

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Tue Oct 16, 2018 12:50 am

I understand it that he died by accident shortly before/after being questioned.

Nothing to see here.....

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Oct 16, 2018 6:43 am

I’m hoping you’re being facetious, but you have defended some of Trump’s more radical words before. So I’m not sure.

milo · Post by **milo** » Tue Oct 16, 2018 3:49 pm

Alefroth · Post by **Alefroth** » Tue Oct 16, 2018 8:46 pm

Deficit increases 17% to $779B, McConnell blames entitlements.

Not sure threatening Social Security and Medicare three weeks before the mid-terms is all that wise.

Grifman · Post by **Grifman** » Tue Oct 16, 2018 10:13 pm

Alefroth wrote: ↑Tue Oct 16, 2018 8:46 pm Deficit increases 17% to $779B, McConnell blames entitlements.

Not sure threatening Social Security and Medicare three weeks before the mid-terms is all that wise.

I would run an ad with this contrasting the tax cuts with the spending cuts until the end of time.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Oct 17, 2018 9:21 am

Alefroth wrote: ↑Tue Oct 16, 2018 8:46 pm Deficit increases 17% to $779B, McConnell blames entitlements.

Not sure threatening Social Security and Medicare three weeks before the mid-terms is all that wise.

First study I could find from 2018

https://wallethub.com/edu/states-most-l ... ment/2700/

Kentucky number 2 when it comes to being dependent of the Fed. McConnell and Rand are the biggest liars ever when it comes to federal tax theft but only Kentuckians can vote for them and they bring home of the pork while making them feel good about fiscal talk.

Fuck them.

And while I am at first actual link was from 2017

https://taxfoundation.org/states-rely-most-federal-aid/

Link 3

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/ar ... rs/361668/

Take your pick when interpreting numbers or go search for yourself. The stories have been the same for over a decade when I first became interested in such things and began to really learn who was actually walking the talk.

Remus West · Post by **Remus West** » Wed Oct 17, 2018 9:54 am

Make sense that the states where more people rely on federal aid would be more open to politicians telling them its bad. Whether they are reliant on it or not themselves they are more likely to know an example of someone misusing it and then presume others are doing the same.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Wed Oct 17, 2018 10:15 am

Bust unions, lower wages, get government contracts, let the feds feed the starving populace. Seems to work. As a bonus, the contracts come with tons of personal perks to assuage the conscience.

You know what is really awesome? Walmart employees get like $6.5B in federal assistance so Walmart can pay them less. And Walmart gets over $18B in food stamp purchases alone. Doesn't include medicere, Medicaid, DME, pharma, etc. It's like Kentucky in corporate form.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Wed Oct 17, 2018 10:19 am

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Wed Oct 17, 2018 10:15 am Bust unions, lower wages, get government contracts, let the feds feed the starving populace. Seems to work. As a bonus, the contracts come with tons of personal perks to assuage the conscience.

You know what is really awesome? Walmart employees get like $6.5B in federal assistance so Walmart can pay them less. And Walmart gets over $18B in food stamp purchases alone. Doesn't include medicere, Medicaid, DME, pharma, etc. It's like Kentucky in corporate form.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed Oct 17, 2018 10:43 am

Quote and edit are different buttons.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Wed Oct 17, 2018 10:50 am

Aw, crap. I always hit quote first so I don't accidentally edit someone else's post (do that once and you don't do it again

). Sometime I actually mean to edit and I'll catch it and clean up on the back end. Not this time I guess.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed Oct 17, 2018 10:51 am

Best Practices: Using a Separate Account for Admin Tasks

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Wed Oct 17, 2018 10:57 am

Thank the lord I'm not adminning an exchange or DNS server then.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Thu Oct 18, 2018 9:19 pm

link

(The reference is to Greg Gianforte assaulting reporter Ben Jacobs during the special election in 2017.)

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Thu Oct 18, 2018 9:44 pm

Drumpf knows all, and sees all, and takes credit for all.

Enough · Post by **Enough** » Thu Oct 18, 2018 11:12 pm

That whole Twitter thread is bonkers.

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Octavious · Post by **Octavious** » Fri Oct 19, 2018 1:33 am

I seriously loath anyone that supports this piece of crap. Even if it's friends and family. Each day is more depressing than the last. I think I will lose my mind if the Dems don't take the house. FYI his approval ratings are going up not down. I think he was right about being able to just murder someone in the street and nobody would care.

GungHo · Post by **GungHo** » Fri Oct 19, 2018 4:09 am

Octavious wrote: ↑Fri Oct 19, 2018 1:33 am I seriously loath anyone that supports this piece of crap. Even if it's friends and family. Each day is more depressing than the last. I think I will lose my mind if the Dems don't take the house. FYI his approval ratings are going up not down. I think he was right about being able to just murder someone in the street and nobody would care.

Yeah, Living Colour needs to rewrite Cult of Personality to include trump. Clearly he's in that group. Scary

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Fri Oct 19, 2018 6:28 am

Enough wrote: ↑Thu Oct 18, 2018 11:12 pm That whole Twitter thread is bonkers.

Yeah, Daniel Dale (@ddale8) has dedicated himself to live-blogging all of Trump's public appearances. He's excellent.

Someday his Twitter threads should be collected and published as a history of this era.

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Fri Oct 19, 2018 9:45 am

So there's this. Not that it matters.

TL;DR: Trump intervened directly in the FBI building plan (have a developer build them a campus, and then swap their old location to the developer). The developer would very likely have put in a beautiful hotel that would be in direct competition with Trump's own new hotel a block away. Plan's been in the works for how long? Everyone's on board? Can't have that. Investigation difficulty: Everyone in the White House has been directed to remain silent on this.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Fri Oct 19, 2018 10:40 am

Octavious wrote: ↑Fri Oct 19, 2018 1:33 am I think he was right about being able to just murder someone in the street and nobody would care.

It's not that nobody would care, it's that nobody with any power would do anything meaningful about it.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Fri Oct 19, 2018 10:51 am

Paingod wrote: ↑Fri Oct 19, 2018 9:45 am So there's this. Not that it matters.

TL;DR: Trump intervened directly in the FBI building plan (have a developer build them a campus, and then swap their old location to the developer). The developer would very likely have put in a beautiful hotel that would be in direct competition with Trump's own new hotel a block away. Plan's been in the works for how long? Everyone's on board? Can't have that. Investigation difficulty: Everyone in the White House has been directed to remain silent on this.

More spending a ton of taxpayer money to get a little more money to Trump.

Trump "was directly involved with the decision to abandon the long-term relocation plan and instead move ahead with the more expensive proposal to construct a new building on the same site, and thereby prevent Trump Hotel competitors from acquiring the land," wrote Democratic Reps. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, Gerry Connolly of Virginia, Dina Titus of Nevada, Peter DeFazio of Oregon and Mike Quigley of Illinois.

I see Quigley every so often and never really want to talk to him. Next time I'm going to grill him on this one. Supportingly, of course. This kind of obvious graft is just too bold.

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Fri Oct 19, 2018 10:55 am

LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Fri Oct 19, 2018 10:51 amMore spending a ton of taxpayer money to get a little more money to Trump.

Why on earth would he care? He'd spend $1m in taxpayer dollars to get a free ice cream cone. Two scoops, of course.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Fri Oct 19, 2018 11:01 am

Paingod wrote: ↑Fri Oct 19, 2018 10:55 am
LawBeefaroni wrote: ↑Fri Oct 19, 2018 10:51 amMore spending a ton of taxpayer money to get a little more money to Trump.
Why on earth would he care? He'd spend $1m in taxpayer dollars to get a free ice cream cone. Two scoops, of course.

No, I'm saying is that just more of the same. I don't expect him to care. Spend $1b for a $300k return. No biggie.

I'd guess this is something in the range of dozens to a hundred million of our dollars spent to protect his shitty hotel from competition.

I mean I get that this is how politicians work but we are approaching train barron levels of malfeasance.

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Fri Oct 19, 2018 11:10 am

This should shock no one. Trump was selling access via that hotel since winning the Republican nomination.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Fri Oct 19, 2018 1:55 pm

Zarathud wrote: ↑Fri Oct 19, 2018 11:10 am This should shock no one. Trump was selling access via that hotel since winning the Republican nomination.

I particularly liked when the ethics dude had his "services no longer required" when he mentioned it.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, sums up how the GOP are much worse than the Dems currently.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri Oct 19, 2018 4:10 pm

GreenGoo wrote: ↑Fri Feb 02, 2018 12:53 am Money's nice. Being alive is nicer though. Clean air, clean water, corporate responsibility, these are things that are needed for quality of life for the general population and must be balanced against wealth generation for that same population.

Presidential memorandum

President Trump, along with local leaders Congressman Devin Nunes and Congressmen David Valadao, met in Arizona for the signing of a Presidential Memorandum.

The White House says the memorandum would reduce regulatory burdens and improve water reliability, while protecting endangered species.

The president has directed the Secretary of the Interior and the Secretory of Commerce to streamline regulatory processes and remove unnecessary burdens.

The administration says this new process will provide certainty for California farmers who need more water to restore farmlands crippled by drought and regulation.