One other thing to bear in mind – Trump is dreading the overseas trip https://t.co/FoEfQGlOrZ
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) May 16, 2017
I honestly half-expected the trip to be cancelled by now, except that Trump’s handlers probably look forward to it as a chance to get away from getting yelled at by the same reporters. (And no doubt the GOP ‘leadership’ looks forward to lecturing us about how Politics stops at the water’s edge, now that it’s not a Black guy and a Democrat wearing the ‘President’ label.) From the Washington Post, “Trump will have to navigate diplomatic land mines abroad. Here’s how he’s preparing“:
… In the days leading up to Trump’s high-risk debut on the world stage — a nine-day, five-stop, four-nation tour — the Oval Office has morphed into a graduate seminar room, with a rotating roster of policy experts briefing the president.
Or that was the original plan…
Trump’s advisers say the president understands the stakes and is taking his preparation seriously. His team deliberately scaled back his public schedule in the two weeks leading up to his planned Friday departure, even though much of his time last week was eaten up by the Comey drama and talks about shaking up his West Wing staff.
Trump’s carefully choreographed trip begins in Saudi Arabia, where he will meet with Muslim partners from across the Arab world and beyond to seek alliances in combating Islamic State terrorists. From there, he heads to Israel to underscore the United States’ commitment to Israel and the Jewish people. He also will meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Trump then travels to Rome, where he is scheduled meet the pontiff and discuss religious freedom and human rights issues. Trump will attend a summit of NATO leaders in Brussels, followed by a meeting of the Group of Seven nations in Sicily.
The trip, say outside foreign policy gurus, has other benefits for Trump, as well. Unlike in the United States, it is doubtful that Trump will directly encounter protesters in Saudi Arabia, because the kingdom’s strict laws restrict public dissent; in Israel, because he enjoys a warm relationship with the government; and at the summits in Belgium and Italy, because security measures will create a wide perimeter around him most of the time…
Trump is soliciting counsel from some outsiders such as Kissinger but has largely kept his circle confined to real-world practitioners and administration insiders — a reflection of the White House’s view that input from academic experts, authors and other thought leaders is less valuable because they have not achieved practical success.
Top White House officials are sensitive to the portrayal of Trump as a know-nothing novice when it comes to foreign policy, pointing out that he has traveled the globe many times as a real estate mogul with properties on several continents…
He’s been to five-star hotels and premium golf courses on several continents, carefully surrounding himself with his usual posse of relatives, grifters, and yes-men. Yeah, the President (or the guy impersonating one) famously travels in a “security bubble”, but that’s not gonna protect him from shocks ranging from jet lag to the recalcitrance of other leaders on their home turf.
Useful tweetstorm from Loren deJong Schulman, formerly Senior Advisor to National Security Advisor Susan Rice:
Don't underestimate fatigue. Foreign travel schedules are packed, and even minor jetlag can be a huge shock to the system.
— Loren D Schulman (@LorenRaeDeJ) May 13, 2017
Our foreign counterparts know this, and they've been studying the president. Assume MANY surprise asks will be made in Trump's meetings.
— Loren D Schulman (@LorenRaeDeJ) May 13, 2017
So don't assume angry Euro protests. The exception will be during motorcade movements. And it will be unlike much of his presidency to date.
— Loren D Schulman (@LorenRaeDeJ) May 13, 2017
(Click on any of the tweets above to see the whole chain.)
Again: Trump is not a man who does well in new situations, or when presented with new information. Sure, ‘he thrives on chaos’, but only when he’s the one creating it…
So, Trump will surely be tired and cranky by the time he get to Rome. What are the odds he gets into a fight with the Pope?
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) May 17, 2017
germy
He should fly coach.
(we flew coach to Europe a few years ago – actually “coach plus” – and I wanted to kill myself after the experience. We loved the actual European vacation, but the airline experience was hellish from beginning to end)
JPL
The President is giving a commencement address at the Coast Guard Academy. I wonder if he can keep on script.
MattF
Trump habitually goes to familiar places and wants to be surrounded by familiar faces. Lengthy foreign travel + multiple goals + lazy + ignorant doesn’t bode well.
Mustang Bobby
Isn’t it usually when the leader is on a foreign trip that a military coup happens back home?
schrodingers_cat
@germy: Try going to India. Jet lag usually puts me in such a bad mood that it takes me at least 2 days to recover. 4 or 5 hour layover in Europe is the worst. Your body is telling you its night while its early morning in Europe then. The whole airport is bustling with activity and all you want to do is sleep.
Mike J
@JPL: Didn’t he propose cutting the USCG budget by a third?
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
I can’t wait to see how he fucks us all over on his amazing, wonderful, super-good trip. What fun this is going to be for all of us.
Elizabelle
Perfect musical accompaniment. World Party. Ship of Fools, from 1987.
opens with:
We’re setting sail to the place on the map
from which no one has ever returned
Drawn by the promise of the joker and the fool
by the light of the crosses that burned.
Drawn by the promise of the women and the lace
and the gold and the cotton and pearls
It’s the place where they keep all the darkness you need.
You sail away from the light of the world on this trip, baby.
You will pay tomorrow
You’re gonna pay tomorrow
You will pay tomorrow
The chorus: (and this is our role):
Save me. Save me from tomorrow
I don’t want to sail with this ship of fools. No, no
Oh, save me. Save me from tomorrow
I don’t want to sail with this ship of fools
I want to run and hide right now
Avarice and greed are gonna drive you over the endless sea
They will leave you drifting in the shallows
Or drowning in the oceans of history
Traveling the world, you’re in search of no good
But I’m sure you’ll build your Sodom like you knew you would
Using all the good people for your galley slaves
As you’re [sic] little boat struggles through the warning waves, but you don’t pay
Read more: World Party – Ship Of Fools Lyrics | MetroLyrics
Morzer
@Mustang Bobby:
Not with jack of all trades McMaster of none in charge.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
I wonder if we could somehow get word to… Putin that we’d be endlessly thankful if he were to kidnap Princess Manbaby and whisk him off to his retirement dacha in Moscow…
artem1s
so they are back to doping him heavily?
does anyone really think he will do better than Mitt? unless he is doped up the entire time, he’s going to spend every moment telling everyone within earshot how he could do ‘it’ better.
schrodingers_cat
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): I have to join the chorus of women who don’t like this stupid princess meme. He is all yours, your demographic voted in the highest numbers for him. So thanks but no thanks, with this princessing. The pu$$y grabbing cretin is not a woman.
rp
This line struck me as funny. Not sure how warm his relationship with Israel is at the moment after the Russia leak and the comment that the Wailing wall isn’t part of Israel. But even putting that aside, has the writer ever met any Israelis? There are plenty who hate Netanyahu and Trump and won’t be shy about expressing themselves.
Elizabelle
So that’s how he’s gonna do it.
Sean Spicer will be left behind on the tarmac, in Saudi Arabia or wherever der Trump feels is best …
GregB
@Mustang Bobby:
Ceaucescu made his final trip to visit the Ayatollah in Iran as his country was collapsing at the end of the Cold War.
hovercraft
Been there done that, keep up people, he already has his sheeple hating the Pope for saying that his immigration policies are not Christian. The only way for Francis to redeem himself is to declare him Arch Bishop of America at the very least r to abdicate and decree that Twitler is the new Pope. The Vatican has way more gilt and real gold and treasures in it than the White House, and the job has a lot more ceremonial than president, and he gets to wear lots of fancy hats!
Nicole
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.): Prince Manbaby. He’s not a woman; he’s on your XY team, no matter how much you’d like to pretend otherwise.
schrodingers_cat
@rp: I know two Israelis who are naturalized American citizens, they both hate him with the power of a thousands suns. One of them actually grew up in a kibbutz.
sdhays
A couple thoughts occur to me:
I really wonder how much the first and the second part of that sentence are related. Would Comey still be FBI Director (at least this week) if they had let him out of the house?
And regarding Trump’s fatigue during this trip: didn’t he “famously” fly back to NYC or Mar-a-Lago every day of the campaign because he had to sleep in his own gilt bed?
But Trump’s word isn’t his bond, it’s his fart. They had better focus on getting him to divulge information that he can’t take back.
Elizabelle
Hmmm. In full, from the WaPost.
amk
Didn’t he get into fight with the pope even from within murkkka?
Fair Economist
@rp:
That’s actually true. The Wailing Wall is in East Jerusalem and so is part of the Occupied Territories. Israel certainly *wants* it to be part of Israel (along with all the rest of the OT, it seems) and it’s impolitic to *say* it – but it’s true.
Roger Moore
Instead, he’s going to be facing hostile foreign reporters who aren’t going to be nearly as deferential to him as the American media is. I can see why he’s not looking forward to it.
amk
@Elizabelle: He should have listened to muckavaney.
Aleta
They’re going with ‘trigger the Christians’ like they did in the campaign to save his support. The speech at Liberty (did he really read their football game schedule or is that parody?); the Great Religions theme of the trip announced by McMasters.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
I’d like to think that the Pope might take the opportunity to beat the shit out of him while saying “what the fuck is the matter with you, you skeezy fucking jackoff…”
hovercraft
@MattF:
Remember back in the campaign he always flew back to his own bed, which I’m sure is now in the WH, and all his travels have been to his own properties where he controls everyone, this will be his first foray into a place where he can’t just fire anyone who gives him the side eye. He had hoped to be able to make this triumphant trip with accomplishments, popularity and the respect of the world, instead he will slink out of town as the most unpopular president this early evah! Evah! Even fucking Shrub coming off of the Supreme Court heist was more popular than this bozo, apart from Mitch’s own court heist, he’s done nothing, nada except sign either illegal EO’s that the courts have shut down or meaningless ones to make him feel as though he doing stuff, and no one respects him who is not paid to pretend they respect him, okay maybe his thug Schiller respects him, and that’s it. Fortunately for him foreign leaders have to be polite to him, but I bet no one will be clamoring to personally drive him to the airport or stand next to him in photos.
Elizabelle
Skimming along, with the WaPost website:
I wish the judge from his trial could send that psychopath back to jail for a spell, because it clearly did not work the first time, save for removing him from polite company.
Corner Stone
@Elizabelle: Too bad he was elected in 14 and not 12.
Roger Moore
@Mike J:
Yes, to pay for a border wall- as if the Coast Guard doesn’t to anything about illegal immigration.
jacy
I think this trip is not going to go well. Trump doesn’t like to be managed and doesn’t do well in circumstances outside of his control. There are so many opportunities for disaster.
Personal note — I spend yesterday at the doctor because I’ve been increasingly really unwell. Something has gone disastrously wrong with my thyroid, but we’re not sure what yet. (I had a parathyroid tumor previously, which necessitated removal of 90% of that and a portion of my thyroid). So lots more labwork and scans in my future, and in the meantime, back to antidepressants and sleeping pills. On the upside, after being awake for some 36 straight hours, the meds knocked me out last night and I got the first uninterrupted night’s sleep in about 5 weeks. Going to try to do that again tonight.
Corner Stone
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: If he caught him a good first shot with one of those solid gold crosses it probably wouldn’t take much after.
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
Using his team’s reasoning, I should be an expert on Brexit ramifications because I’ve been to London twice.
Also too: goddammit, “ask” is not a noun.
Это курам на смех
I’ll take embarrassing the U.S. for $500, Alex. He can’t restrain himself from making intemperate remarks.
GregB
Is Trump planning any stops at Euro-Disney or Hooter’s Budapest?
rp
@Fair Economist: Yes, but that’s not relevant to my point. And it’s more than “impolitic” to say that to Israel. Kinda like making an off the cuff comment that the US is willing to revisit the One China policy and Taiwan.
Elizabelle
WaPost: and now Wal-Mart is suing Big Tuna.
hovercraft
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
Julia Ioffe was saying last night that the Russian media is mocking us, laughing at the chaos that’s going on, and saying that we are just using Russian interference as an excuse for our electing a buffoon. She added that most Russians know that nothing works in Russia and the accusation that their incompetent government could pull something like this off is inconceivable so they see all this as American propaganda to excuse our electing Twitler.
Cathie from Canada
Yeah, and what do you bet that if Trump survives the trip without declaring war on the Vatican or tripping up the podium during the G7 group photo, that the US press will declare him “presidential” once again?
rikyrah
The whole thought of him giving a speech in a majority Muslim country..
shudder…shudder..
Corner Stone
But that’s just it. There was no urgency for him to fire Comey, unless he knows how dirty he is and fears someone is about to say it out loud. He could have easily focused on his trip, pushed Comey to the backburner, and not wasted a minute on it.
rikyrah
@jacy:
Sending you positive thoughts
Anonymous At Work
@hovercraft: Um…I would ask Josh Barro if he meant a figurative fight with words or a literal slap-fight/fist-fight (Trump/Pope) first. Pope, KO, in the first, paying 5-3.
Jack the Second
@sdhays: Yeah, I’m not worried about Trump promising foreign leaders anything. Like he’s going to actually remember what he says, let alone follow up on it?
MattF
@Elizabelle: The difficulty seems to be that canned tuna doesn’t sell very well any more. I stopped buying it years ago.
rikyrah
Comey Kept a Paper Trail of His Conversations With Trump
by Nancy LeTourneau May 17, 2017 8:00 AM
When I saw this on Twitter a few days ago, I remember thinking that, if true, things could get very interesting.
Miller was right, according to the latest bombshell dropped by the New York Times (and corroborated by several other news outlets).
Here’s the story: according to a couple of associates of former FBI Director James Comey, he kept a paper trail of every conversation he had with Trump. They told the NYT about a meeting that was documented in one of them. On February 14th, the day after Trump was forced to fire Michael Flynn, Comey was at the White House for a terrorism threat briefing. After it concluded, the president asked everyone but Comey to leave the Oval Office. Here’s what happened next:
hovercraft
@Fair Economist:
Of course it’s true, but so is the fact that Bibi and the Likudniks are fascists and the settlement policy is designed to steal as much of Palestine as possible so that if they are ever forced to negotiate, they will be negotiating over how much of the prime stolen lands they have to give back vs going back to the “67 border. That’s all true but a president and his administration are never supposed to say that out loud. Jimmy Carter is a hated man in Israel for a reason.
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
@rikyrah: It’ll be one long, embarrassing terrorist recruitment speech.
MattF
@rikyrah: We’re all getting lessons in how to survive in a snakepit.
Peale
@Anonymous At Work: even without a lung, the Pope could just rope a dope our most healthiest leader ever to exhaustion in 90 seconds.
schrodingers_cat
@Anonymous At Work: Wasn’t this pope a bouncer at a bar? Plus he has taken on drug lords. T on the other hand…My money is on Pope Francis.
Aleta
@jacy: Hope the drs figure this out soon and you feel better.
Elizabelle
@jacy: Ah, best to you. Hope whatever turns out benign and easily rectified.
@MattF: Yeah. I still love canned tuna for the occasional sandwich and for salads, but the product quality has declined. It looks more like substandard fish trending towards cat food some days. Plus, concern about mercury, one sandwich at a time, over a long lifespan …
If more dolphins live to swim healthily, that’s good.
ArchTeryx
@Mustang Bobby: True warlords are constantly paranoid about what is happening back home when they’re on one of their military adventures abroad. But Trump is anything but a “warlord”, and there isn’t gonna be a military coup here while he’s traveling abroad. Just a totally different dynamic.
Это курам на смех
@hovercraft:
True, but not true. Behind the scenes his minions are working effectively to gut environmental and work safety regulations, unseparate church and state, starve the poor, and allow the cops to murder at will. The all trump all the time media circus masks these attacks on our most important protections.
rikyrah
*Sheera Frenkel reports on the response in Israel.
“We have an arrangement with America which is unique to the world of intelligence sharing. We do not have this relationship with any other country,” said the officer, who spoke to BuzzFeed News on condition of anonymity as he was not granted permission to speak to the press.
“There is a special understanding of security cooperation between our countries,” they said. “To know that this intelligence is shared with others, without our prior knowledge? That is, for us, our worst fears confirmed.”
“There has to be trust for this sort of arrangement. I cannot speak for Israel’s entire security apparatus, but I would not trust a partner who shared intelligence without coordinating it with us first,” said the officer.
hovercraft
@Roger Moore:
I don’t think that’s the part that’s bothering him, after all he knows he can handle the media, just look how well he done so far. He’s sad that his reception will not be what he hoped it would be, he hoped by now any talk of protests would have died down. How much you wanna bet that he’s been looking back to how the black usurper was received on his first overseas trip, all the talk about the excitement the massive cheering crowds, he knows all that because Barrack just refuses to stop living in his head. He still doesn’t understand how the hell Obama made it all look so easy. Perhaps someone can point out to him how Obama went from looking young and fresh, to a middle aged grey haired man in just a couple of years.
rikyrah
NATO is scrambling to tailor next meeting to Trump—asking heads of state to speak 2-4 mins b/c of his attention spanhttps://t.co/perCj3M19S pic.twitter.com/6KtWyAvemv
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 17, 2017
rikyrah
If true, this is nuts: Officials insert Trump’s name into briefings to keep him focused enough to read them.https://t.co/fB18eXKsXs pic.twitter.com/t6jeJTpmEe
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) May 17, 2017
rikyrah
Watch @JoyAnnReid connect the dots showing Pence is up to his neck in Trump’s Flynn scandal https://t.co/N4PF38FeNz pic.twitter.com/iregtCEgqF
— Raw Story (@RawStory) May 17, 2017
GregB
@rikyrah:
Whom the God’s will destroy, they first drive mad.
ArchTeryx
@Roger Moore: Yep. Outside of the Beltway Bubble, they actually ask real questions and not just softballs, and they don’t accept patent bullshit for answers – they ask followups.
And foreign analysis shows don’t just limit their guest lists to Republicans (or conservatives), either.
hovercraft
@jacy:
Good luck with your lab results, I hope it’s nothing too serious. And good luck getting some uninterrupted sleep insomnia is the worst.
rikyrah
‘You probably don’t leak the worst memo first’: Ex-DOJ official predicts Comey has more dirt on Trump. https://t.co/nGW7FlbbWi pic.twitter.com/z269szmD4n
— Russell Drew (@RussOnPolitics) May 17, 2017
cintibud
@Elizabelle: Perfect! Great song, even more fitting now.
rikyrah
Independent senator raises specter of Trump’s impeachment
05/17/17 08:42 AM—UPDATED 05/17/17 09:34 AM
By Steve Benen
Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) does not have a reputation as a partisan bomb-thrower. He’s one of only two independents in Congress, and he’s widely seen as someone with a moderate, even-keeled temperament.
And with this in mind, when CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked the Maine senator yesterday whether he believes Donald Trump may soon face impeachment proceedings, King’s answer raised more than a few eyebrows.
satby
@jacy: hoping for the best for you jacy!
hovercraft
@Anonymous At Work:
I’ll take those odds, Francis in the first round, despite Twitler being a “great” athlete, did you know tht he was the best baseball player in the State of NY back in the late sixties. Some might want to mention Mantle, Yogi and a few others, but hey it was actually Twitler but he didn’t want to play professionally, he had bigger fish to fry.
Achrachno
@ArchTeryx: “there isn’t gonna be a military coup here while he’s traveling abroad.” Ahhh. You’re no fun.
The Moar You Know
Bullshit. That fucker has never prepared for anything even once in his life, and it shows.
Thor Heyerdahl
I still remember the words of my university senator from 20 years ago (who also served as a protocol advisor for international visits).
You haven’t really travelled to another country until you’ve been in a grocery store and post office and also experienced the local phone company. Travelling from the airport to the Hilton to the airport to the Hilton is not really travelling.
Mnemosyne
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
Ahem. He’s Pampered Prince Manbaby. As SC said, Trump is a man who got elected primarily by other men. You don’t get to shove him off the man boat and pretend he’s not one of you now.
ET
Trump may have a big security barrier in Israel, but the bigger issue there will be explaining to the Israelis why he blew their intelligence. If I were them I would have a top person – maybe even the top person – point blank tell him why Israel will no longer share intelligence with the US.
I will also say that while SA and other places may have laws in place re public dissent or big security perimeters, press in other parts of the world aren’t as beholden to the established relationship as it exists in the US. And it is so much easier to be mean to someone that isn’t one of them than it is when it is their leader(s). I will say I expect a lot of bad press out of this be in in our papers or in foreign papers because the nature of the man won’t change because he doesn’t feel he needs to change.
Aleta
People rotating in and out will make an even less stable comfort zone:
-Politico
Dave
@Mnemosyne: Princeling should be the agreed upon term.
hovercraft
@Это курам на смех:
I know he’s already done terrible harm in so many ways, but he wants a BIG WIN. We all know that what Session and Pruit and the rest of them are doing is doing irreparable harm to millions, but the doesn’t satisfy him, they are not getting headlines, to him the headline is the payoff, the signing ceremony, and he’s not had any of those, that’s why he held a Rose Garden celebration for the ACAH thing after it passed just one house. SAD!
different-church-lady
Chaos for the goose is chaos for the gander. Enjoy what you deserve, you asshole.
Elizabelle
@GregB:
But that would be us. For some time now.
Yarrow
CNN just showed a few minutes of various Republican leaders in the House talking about their committees. Apparently the Republican talking point of the day is, “We’re working hard on all these other things. Don’t look over there at Russia and Trump!”
Various other talking points appear to include:
– Why didn’t Comey make Trump’s request public when it happened?
– We are TOO investigating!
– We did TOO ask for memos. Stop asking about that!
Saw the very end of Schumer speaking in Congress. He was saying Republicans need to put country before party. Good for him.
different-church-lady
@Aleta:
CHANGE THE LOCKS WHILE THEY’RE GONE!
Raoul
@Это курам на смех: “I’ll take embarrassing the U.S. for $500, Alex. He can’t restrain himself from making intemperate remarks.”
Ahem:
Me, I’ll take Colossal Fuckups for $1,000
Mnemosyne
@Dave:
I like “Pampered Prince” as well. Gives it a nice alliteration.
Patricia Kayden
@jacy: Sorry to hear. Hope it’s not anything too serious and that you feel better soon.
Yarrow
@Это курам на смех:
This is true. I’m torn on whether his replacement would be better in this regard or worse. A competent Republican could get all sorts of legislation passed, which would be much worse in many ways.
Patricia Kayden
@Elizabelle: That’s a great song for a time like this. When it came out, I assumed it was anti-Reagan/Thatcher. I’d add “Ball of Confusion” by the Temptations to the mix.
Aleta
I’m glad TPM is raising the involvement of Kushner in Comey’s firing, because K is rotten to the core.
bemused
@Elizabelle:
Better yet, his staff will leave him behind.
hovercraft
@The Moar You Know:
Not true, they are too preparing him.
“Mr President only bring up your landslide win and inaugural crowd size once during the meeting, okay, just once. Even if they ask you about your great triumph do not offer to give them a gilt framed picture of your electoral map. Yes I know that Melania had them especially made up, but perhaps you could save them for your donors, not foreign heads of state. ”
“Mr. President don’t tell him that his wife is hot, or that if this was back in the old days you would totally grab her pu$$y, that is not seen as a compliment, and please don’t ask President Macron what he sees in his wife.”
” Yes I know she’s 24 years older than him, but referring to her as an old bat will not go over well.”
There’s a lot of preparation going on, not the type we are used to, but still a lot of preparation.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
ETA: Yes, Norah O’Donnell has a little American flag in her twitter. I guess so nobody thinks she’s Irish or Canadianite or a Russkie or something.
Patricia Kayden
@Aleta:
This is so abnormal that I am speechless. How is it a good thing that the White House Occupant has no set policies but is easily influenced by “the most recent person he’s spoken with”? Trump is horrific on so many different levels that years after he’s gone, we’ll still just be finding out how unqualified he actually was.
germy
Yarrow
@jacy: Sorry to hear you’ve got yet more health worries. Hope the testing brings good news and it’s something easy to treat.
hovercraft
@Mnemosyne:
I think that if they could babies would also object to that characterization. At this point we should all just accept that no category wants him characterized as one of them, I feel sorry for the Gibbons, but even they can take comfort in the fact that he’s in his own category, I’m not aware of any other Shitgibbons in existence.
ArchTeryx
@Achrachno: Much as I wish Trump is going to get the General Woundwort treatment, in our world it ain’t gonna happen.
(People have asked me what fascist leader Trump reminds me most of, and I tell ’em General Woundwort from Watership Down. Woundwort started out a visionary leader, but ended up just like Trump: A cunning, narcissistic egomaniac that made everything all about him, and it ended up being his downfall. When he attempted to “Wag the Dog” to salve his wounded ego, he had the bad luck to pick a warren with Plot Armor to go up against. After his attempted military adventure ended in blood and tears, the more moderate leaders under him took over and led his warren to much better times. Would that that happens to us, too).
different-church-lady
@Raoul: If they don’t behead the dude in the middle of the speech it’ll be a win for him.
Davis X. Machina
Remember the huge crowds — the biggest crowds he ever saw, a million in Alexandria, they said — that were everywhere Nixon went during his June 1974 Egypt trip?
He was out two months later.
schrodingers_cat
@hovercraft: Babies are cute and they don’t know any better. A 70 year old man has no such excuse. He is not cute. At all.
rp
@Yarrow: I’d be thrilled to see him replaced with Pence because I don’t buy the argument that Pence (or even Ryan) would be more effective and therefore more dangerous. That’s true if he’d been elected instead of Trump, but Pence would have little power if he takes over after Trump resigns or is impeached. He’d be Ford x1000.
clay
@Corner Stone: If Tillis doesn’t recover, wouldn’t the Dem governor of North Carolina appoint his replacement?
(Not that I’m hoping for his death, mind you. But, perhaps, for him to realize that the high-stress stakes of Washington during the Trump era isn’t good for his health, and that he should spend more time with his family…)
Raoul
@GregB: I visited Prague last year, and my lovely little 6 room hotel tucked into an appt building was three floors above a Hooters. Place looked deserted every time but one that I went past. It always looked a bit forlorn, way over lit, and my general reaction was “Why?!?”
I get that some of our more timid US travellers might want a familiar place to eat. I’ve always assumed that was what Hard Rock Cafe’s were for. But really, it takes a bit of effort* to get to Prague, you want wings and a crap draft beer? There is a segment of US travellers I’ll never understand.
*germy: I fly econ+ to Europe 3-4 times per year (hey, Sweden is $519 r/t from Minneapolis this Aug-Oct, Zurich was $600 in Feb, so why the heck not). Sure, it isn’t luxury. But I don’t really mind, except the time I had Elbows McFidget in the seat next to me. Ah, well, it sounds like your actual time in Europe was good!
Kay
@Aleta:
Pence tweeted a photo of Erdogan meeting with Team Trump. When someone pointed out that Erdogan had his son in law at the table, just like Trump, Pence deleted the tweet.
GOP professionals know the nepotism and appearance of corruption is damaging. They’re ashamed of it, which means Democrats should flog the hell out of it.
different-church-lady
@Patricia Kayden:
I dunno. We need to ask this question of the 64 million dumb-fucks who wanted him.
Raoul
@Kay: Are there screen grabs? I’d be happy to tweet/RT Pence’s little twitter moment.
hellslittlestangel
Every foreign leader on this trip to the state chef: Hey, what’s our most disgusting national dish?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
There are Subways, and now Chipotles, in Paris, and last time I was there I swore the Burger Kings outnumbered the McDo’s, as BK seems to be fading here.
clay
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: So who’s leaking to stick the shiv into Kushner? Bannon or one of his acolytes, presumably.
amk
@hovercraft: how about pampered puppet?
schrodingers_cat
@hellslittlestangel: Steak with ketchup?
hedgehog the occasional commenter
Agree with everyone upthread who said Francis could take out Dolt 45 without even trying. I’d pay to see that.
/random venting/ Idiot sitting behind us at the favorite pizza joint was expounding to his companion on how Dolt is a student of Sun Tzu and had obviously studied The Art of War and is playing the long game. Fortunately we’d just paid the bill and were leaving, although I had to force myself to keep walking so as not to punch said idjit in the neck….it may have been worth it…(“Christ on a wonton, dude, he probably thinks Sun Tzu is a Chinese buffet!!”)
Kay
@Raoul:
Maybe you can get it thru here:
Jim Parene
Off topic. However, 45* as an athlete brought back a reaction I had upon first working at the new Yankee Stadium.
When I went into the new Monument Park, I was outraged that the plaque dedicated to Steinbrenner was twice the size of Ruth’s, Mantle’s, Maris’, Yogi’s etc., etc.
ArchTeryx
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I know that while I might occasionally go for a bite in a “familiar” place in a foreign country, I’m mostly there to experience THEIR cuisine and do it as much as I possibly can. And few places have food that rivals France’s. Learning some French cooking all by itself is a reason to go there to visit my sister some day.
japa21
@schrodingers_cat: No sane person would put ketchup on steak.
different-church-lady
Well, isn’t this FUCKING PRECIOUS!
YOU DUMB RUBES ARE STILL DUMB AND STILL RUBES.
hovercraft
I guess it’s time to go to the ma-tresses.
Trump Readies Supporters to “Go into the Trenches and FIGHT BACK” against the U.S. Govt.
Via GOS
Text of Trump e-mail:
You already knew the media was out to get us.
But sadly it’s not just the fake news… There are people within our own unelected bureaucracy that want to sabotage President Trump and our entire America First movement.
Steve Bannon was right when he said “If you think they’re going to give you your country back without a fight, you’re sadly mistaken. Every day is going to be a fight. That is the promise of Donald Trump.
They don’t want it to be America First. They want it to be Special Interests first to enrich themselves all while the citizens of our country remain an afterthought.
We have no choice but to completely DRAIN THE SWAMP. President Trump has already started cleaning house, but every day will be an uphill battle — and we need to be prepared to go into the trenches to FIGHT BACK.
schrodingers_cat
@japa21: Isn’t that how T likes it, though? Well done and with ketchup?
Personally, I like mine with chimichurri (sp?) and medium rare.
germy
MCA1
@Elizabelle: I hope he’s alright and recovers fully.
Then I hope Democrats repeatedly point to him as someone who, were he a regular citizen instead of a member of Congress, and AHCA became law, would be dropped by his insurer and tagged with a pre-existing condition for the rest of his life because of this episode, whatever it turns out to be.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I worry about all this coming to a head too soon wrt 2018, then I note that Paul Ryan isn’t just an overrated fraud, he’s actually far dumber than I thought he was even last week
trollhattan
@different-church-lady:
Move the White House to an undisclosed location, tell him “We’re looking for it, sir” when he gets back.
hovercraft
@amk:
That works for me, also too Putin’s Puppet, that not only impugns his manhood, it makes him subordinate to another man, he’ll hate it.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
“when experiencing chest pains and the taste of copper in his mouth, the Senator reached for the Dial-A-Preacher app on his smart phone. ‘Prayer is free!’, he reminded the crowd.
trollhattan
@rp:
Ridding ourselves of Trump removes the entire family and various sycophants. Win.
Kay
I’m off to what was supposed to be a town hall but they’re now calling a “protest rally”- I don’t know if it’s just a faction who like that phrase better. Probably! :)
I like both those things so they can call it whatever they want.
MCA1
@different-church-lady: Someone should point them to today’s news from Ford that they’re laying off 10% of their U.S. workforce on Hair Furor’s watch.
japa21
@schrodingers_cat: Proves my point. Trump is not sane.
different-church-lady
@MCA1: Someone should point them to a cliff and tell them there’s a job just beyond it.
Oh, wait, Trump already did that…
hovercraft
@amk: @Mnemosyne:
Okay babies may be insulted and I don’t like impugning any animals but this man is really something else. So perhaps a sockpuppet:
This Is How Trump’s NatSec Aides Get Him To Pay Attention To His Briefings
It appears that four months into his presidency, Donald Trump hasn’t developed any keener of an interest in his daily national security briefings.
According to a report published Wednesday by Reuters, Trump is more likely to read national security briefing materials if his name is mentioned in as many paragraphs as possible.
Unnamed officials who have briefed the President and others familiar with his learning processes told the publication that Trump still prefers one-page memos and visual aids.
One unnamed source told Reuters that since Trump “keeps reading if he’s mentioned” in briefing materials, officials on the National Security Council have learned to insert the President’s name into “as many paragraphs as we can.”
The New York Times had reported a day earlier that three anonymous administration officials agreed they couldn’t publicly offer the most honest defense of Trump’s disclosure of highly classified information during a meeting with top Russian diplomats in the Oval Office: that he is simply too ignorant of — and uninterested in — how the intelligence in his briefings is gathered to divulge it on purpose.
That slapdash admission adds dimension to Trump’s Tuesday tweet in which he copped to sharing “facts” with the Russian diplomats.
National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster offered a similar, albeit more flattering, defense of Trump from the White House briefing room on Wednesday.
“The President wasn’t even aware where this information came from,” McMaster said. “He wasn’t briefed on the source or method of the information either.”
This motherfu**ing moron is going to be the death of people.
MCA1
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I mean, at what point will the press just start laughing at this nonsense? Someone should have yelled out “One scoop or two, Mr. President?” after Ryan shoveled that pile of horseshit.
Someone needs to break the bubble here and note for these Republicans that we’re aware they have no clothes, so we can get on with things.
Raoul
@The Moar You Know:
Staff: You could f*k up a lot on this trip.
Trump: No, you all could.
Staff: Whelp.
NotMax
@Aleta
That would be this scumbucket Michael Anton:
Raoul
@Aleta: Looks like Elizabelle’s prediction near the top might come true. These knives-out, battling factions within his staff are planning to continue their turf wars while sealed in a 747 over the Atlantic. Brilliant!
Raoul
Maybe Trump is really the Pampers® President? Ties in with his urge to be on-brand at all times.
rikyrah
Republicans change their tune on the mishandling of classified info
05/16/17 04:17 PM—UPDATED 05/16/17 05:32 PM
By Steve Benen
On July 5, 2016, then-FBI Director James Comey said Hillary Clinton wouldn’t be indicted over her email server protocols, but Comey nevertheless said the former secretary of state had been “extremely careless” in the way in which she handled classified information. For Republicans, that criticism was a launching pad.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), for example, almost immediately said Clinton’s “mishandling of classified information was disgraceful and unbecoming of someone who aspires to the presidency. There is simply no excuse…. Her actions were grossly negligent, damaged national security and put lives at risk.”
Asked today about Donald Trump sharing highly sensitive secrets with Russia, Rubio said the president’s careless is “less than ideal,” but the Florida Republican added, “It is what it is.”
Hmm. It’s almost as if Rubio has two entirely different standards. [Update: See below]
Two days after Rubio’s Clinton condemnation, House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) called for intelligence agencies to deny Clinton intelligence briefings for the rest of the campaign season. The message was straightforward:
……………….
And yet, here we are, six months after the election, learning about a Republican president sharing classified information with a foreign adversary – for reasons that are still unclear – generating widespread yawns from many GOP lawmakers.
The American electorate just endured more than a year in which it was told repeatedly that putting sensitive information at risk was the single most important issue in the presidential election – it was the one thing Republicans pretended to care the most about – to the point that it could literally be the basis for impeachment.
I don’t want to alarm anyone, but I’m starting to think that maybe, just maybe, the GOP’s apoplexy wasn’t on the level.
Anonymous At Work
@hovercraft: The bet was for anyone who thought Trump could take Francis with decent odds. My money is on Francis by KO in the first round.
And I think the question is legitimate. When meeting with foreign dignitaries, Trump might be stuck in rooms with actual journalists asking actual questions and following them up. I can see him literally losing it, all of it, and going off the handle.
rikyrah
@Kay:
can’t wait to read your recount of the event, Kay :)
Yarrow
@Raoul: And imagine the pressure on anyone who isn’t along for the trip. The IC will definitely use Trump’s being out of the country to increase pressure on anyone still here.
rikyrah
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Oh no, Boo.
Oh no, ZEGK.
Geeno
@Dave: Agree – I like the “Princeling” construction as well. It conjures an image of a dilettante playing at government which I feel is appropriate.
Lizzy L
Trump is not going to argle-bargle with the Pope. I’m guessing there will be no one-on-one encounter, but if I’m wrong, and there is, Trump will be submissive and ingratiating and he’ll lie about it later. Also, Papa Frank could totally take him. Just sayin’.
Corner Stone
@clay: My initial thought was have the D Gov appoint someone, then run full out for election in 2018 and maybe secure a blue D Senate seat in this cycle for 6 more years in a tough state. Having a D-Sen in NC until 2020 works also for any short term agenda but I just didn’t think we would be able to scrape up enough D Senate additions to flip the Senate in 2018 so we would need a D in there as long as possible.
hovercraft
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
So I hope he’s okay, but seriously doesn’t he think calling for medical help would have been better? If you believe in that sort of thing, don’t you also ascribe to “God Given Talent”, the people who invented the phone, App, medical innovation that will hopefully keep you alive, did so with God’s help FFS!
hovercraft
@Lizzy L:
It’s an official visit, so I think there is a one on one, but all Papa has to say is that he needs a translator there to translate bullshit to Spanish or Italian.
bemused
I’m wondering if any WH staffers are thinking they made a yuuge mistake signing on the Trump team. Whatever they thought would be beneficial to them can’t be worth the hideous work atmosphere dealing with off the wall Trump, each others’ dueling agendas and daily crises and dramas. Lawrence O’Donnell pointed out that 48 people in Nixon WH went to jail and it’s probably too late for lawyering up to help those who have aided and abetted Trump’s unlawful and impeachable actions.
I think they are too stupid and arrogant to think they might have to bear any repercussions. If any had an ounce of sense, they wouldn’t have jumped on the Trump train in the first place.
rikyrah
Trump allies come up with the wrong response to the Comey bombshell
05/17/17 10:57 AM
By Steve Benen
The day after Donald Trump fired his national security advisor, Michael Flynn, he reportedly had a private chat with then-FBI Director James Comey. According to a memo Comey wrote at the time, the president said, “I hope you can see your way clear to letting this go, to letting Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope you can let this go.”
That, of course, sounds remarkably similar to obstruction of justice, leaving the White House to try to come up with some kind of defense. As of last night, Trump’s communications team released a statement – no official wanted to put his or her name on the document – that said, “[T]he president has never asked Mr. Comey or anyone else to end any investigation…. This is not a truthful or accurate portrayal of the conversation between the president and Mr. Comey.”
This morning, however, reporters started hearing a slightly different defense. NBC News’ Marianna Sotomayor noted on Twitter this morning:
Achrachno
@ArchTeryx: “in our world it ain’t gonna happen” I know you’re right, but you’re smashing my dreams. I need something to cling to. It isn’t much, but it’s all I’ve got.
scav
The poo-flinging princeling is so media-focused that I’m not sure massive protests not in his immediate view wouldn’t sting (not that he’ll admit to it, bien sûr). Plus, think of the opportunities for a suite of compare crowd-size photos of the public reception given Obama v. DerDonnie on their respective world tours.
Mike in NC
Unless he does something spectacularly awful — like taking a steaming dump on the floor of the Sistine Chapel — Trump’s foreign boondoggle will be declared a smashing success by our media.
ruemara
@rikyrah: On the one hand, glad to hear him talk about impeachment. On the other hand, so the corruption was ok with you? The severe incompetence? The installation of neonazis and the collusion with Russia? You fucking doofus.
@Yarrow: Actually, no. You can’t the evil and eviller sides to agree any more. And he’s already gotten a lot of damage done with his EOs precisely because of that.
ruemara
@germy: My prayer is he gets the treatment he’s voted for others who were poor & sick.
Kenneth Kohl
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
That would be quite a sight. What is it in the original Latin? ;)
Miss Bianca
@jacy: Late to the party, just wanted to say sorry to hear about your thyroid issues. I’ve been dealing with them myself since I was 18, and had to have a partial thyroidectomy while I was still in grad school, because a mysterious (non-cancerous, thank God) growth kept recurring. Will keep good healing thoughts in my head for you!
BC in Illinois
@germy:
Senator Tillis was running in a charity race to supply guide dogs to people in need. Good for him.
The race was sponsored by the American Council for Life Insurers – a lobbying group. (Think John Hancock, Nationwide, MetLife, etc.) The ACLI describes it as “an invitational race for teams representing the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial Branches of the Federal Government and the Media.”
So it’s a PR event for the insurance industry. (Whose top headline on their home page is, “Tell the US Labor Department: Delay the Fiduciary Requirement.” That is, their top priority is to stop the Labor Department from requiring financial advisors to act in the best interest of their clients.)
I wish Senator Tillis well in his recovery. A 5k can be brutal, when the temperatures are near 90 degrees.
Miss Bianca
@different-church-lady: Enough, enough, ENOUGH about Trump voters and their “economic anxiety.” How they could be stupid enough to believe a TV conman and still be able to even HOLD a fucking job continues to amaze me.
germy
@ruemara:
I agree. Slap him with a big bill for the helicopter and hospital stay. It’d confuse the hell out of him. “You mean this stuff costs me??”
Corner Stone
@germy: “My God! I wasn’t even here for a full day! $40,000!!? And the ambulance ride cost $3000!? I don’t have that kind of money! I only make $175K a year!”
The Lodger
@Jim Parene: As long as Steinbrenner was around, Trump wasn’t the most hated member of the ownership class in NY. So he owes that to Steinie’s memory.
Mnemosyne
@Mike in NC:
The soft bigotry of low expectations will come through for him again.
TenguPhule
@GregB: They’re sixty million Americans behind schedule.
scuffletuffle
Discuss religious freedom my fat fucking ass…
Captain C
@artem1s: Which advisor
hasgets to hold his blow?Captain C
@JPL: If by “on script” you mean “Memememememewaaaaaaaheveryone’ssomeantomeI’mthegreatestever!!!!”
Then yes.
momus
Will DT request political asylum in Saudi Arabia or fly on to Moscow from there?
Captain C
@Nicole: Or Princeling Manbaby, as I prefer. It emphasizes the immaturity and puppet strings.
The Lodger
@hovercraft: This is like the Bundys getting off because the Oregon jury didn’t believe they were smart enough to engage in a conspiracy.
greennotGreen
I like the title of this open thread for my message. My wonderful, generous, loving sister, greennotGreen, has moved on to the next stage in her journey. I watched and held her hand as she drew her last breath. I had talked to her all morning (about politics, of course). I will sure miss our “daily briefings.”
CZanne
… Oh, @greennotGreen… Thank you for your presence in our lives. Warm Jedi hugs for GnGSister, BIL, Niece, puppers, birdies and mom. Thank you so much for sharing with us and please let us know if we can do anything — casseroles may be a bit difficult (though overnighting frozen is possible), but anything else, we can probably figure out.
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
@greennotGreen: The world is better for gnG having been in it. My sympathies to you, and to all who knew and loved her and were loved by her.
Just One More Canuck
@greennotGreen: my deepest condolences
greennotGreen
(gnG’s sister) I would like to take the time to respond to each comment. So many wonderful sentiments expressed. Perhaps another time, as I am completely drained at the moment.
FWIW, my family has decided to provide BJ with gnG’s identity when the obituary is published.
Thank you to everyone on BJ for your support in this difficult time.