Here’s how the Trump White House opened the press briefing today, as the fallout from the Wolff book continues to eclipse even the Day of the Tan Suit as a media inflammation event:
Sarah Huckabee Sanders began the briefing by introducing a “special guest,” and then Trump’s hideous orange visage loomed on screens placed on either side of her. He read a script in which he bragged about the stock market, took credit for bonuses workers have recently received, etc.
Trump is in the White House today. He could have strolled down to the briefing room and made a statement in person. But that would require the ability to make a coherent statement live and the discipline to avoid going ape-shit at reporter questions. Since Trump possesses neither of these abilities, they went with the Wizard of Oz approach.
I think Trump is deeply rattled by this Wolff thing, and the White House staff is afraid he might do something embarrassing in front of civilians, like humping a flag or smearing poop on the drapes. What a bizarre time we live in!
Open thread!
Aimai
Yup. Things will get weireder.
dr. bloor
Big Brother has really let himself go.
dmsilev
I kind of wonder how they’re going to manage the State of the Union. Body double? Drug cocktail? Say ‘screw it’ and go back to the original “send Congress a letter” approach?
dr. bloor
@Aimai: He’s going to make Max Headroom sound like FDR before this whole thing winds down.
Mike J
Brian Stelter @brianstelter
Breaking: @MichaelWolffNYC’s “Fire and Fury” will now be released TOMORROW. Four days earlier than expected.
Yutsano
@dmsilev: Oh I think he gives the SotU. It’s what the reaction will be after that that will be telling.
Mnemosyne
Much as I hate the guy, George W Bush had the right take way back in January of last year:
Emerald
I do wonder how long the Rs will continue to defend this catastrophic idiot. They got their tax increases. Is the possibility of slashing Medicare and Social Security enough of a lure to keep them going?
Gin & Tonic
@Mike J: I guess his attempts at prior restraint weren’t very fruitful.
Brachiator
Long ago, a number of people suggested that some political opponent should go after Trump hard, mocking him and questioning his abilities and even his sanity. Trump brags about being a counter-puncher, but is easily riled up, and becomes unhinged if he doesn’t get a periodic round of butt kissing.
Who knew that the best jabs would come from his former allies and advisors? More! More! I haven’t had so much fun since watching Luke Skywalker give Kylo Ren Jedi wedgies.
Oh, man. We are just a couple of days into the new year. It’s gonna be a long 2018.
Mike J
@Gin & Tonic: Trump asked him for a copy. He can get one tomorrow.
Ryan
Not at all creepy.
http://www.treknews.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Image-3.jpg
ChrisS
Now he’s telling the senators that he wasn’t really serious about an actual wall.
Barbara
@Mike J: Gotta preempt those motions for a TRO. Notice how they announced just as most courts are ready to stop accepting in-person filings. Bookstores must have been screaming for copies.
Emerald
@Mike J: But can he read it?
MattF
Well, judging by the three year old who was at our Thanksgiving dinner, Trump could
1) take his clothes off and run around naked
2) pretend to go poopie
3) refuse to swallow his food and just keep chewing.
Mnemosyne
@Brachiator:
The shoulder brush made me LOL. ?
Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)
@dr. bloor: A comparison between Stalin and Trump provides perhaps the clearest difference between “asshole in its purest form” and “100% incorruptible douchebaggery.”
Mnemosyne
@Brachiator:
OT, but have you seen the Emo Kylo Ren Twitter account? It makes me LOL at least a couple of times a week.
MattF
@dmsilev: Didn’t Nixon just skip it one year?
Droppy
You know those dreams you have where they just get weirder and weirder and you feel like you are either the only sane mind in a crazy world or an insane mind in a world which will never make any sense to you, and just when it can’t get any stranger, the upside-down airplane comes out of the toilet and the raccoons dance in tutus and your aunt is talking to your boss about tortellini. That’s what’s happening, right? And I’m going to wake up any second, right?
ruemara
I think it’s time to either place bets on a coronary or a public dementia outburst.
schrodingers_cat
OMG you should put a trigger warning before putting up a twin visage of Doll Hair Doll Hands.
Bill Arnold
At an otherwise boring new year’s eve party, I heard (from my favorite wingnut, and an advocate of single payer) the latest Hillary Clinton rumor, a resurrection of the rumor that she has been suffering from “subcortical vascular dementia” since 2013. Since she debated circles around Trump in 2016 and was pretty sharp during the campaign, probably not or at least not obviously affecting her competence. This seems like it might be particularly vile orchestrated projection by Trump allies to cover for stories about his diminishing mental capacity, just guessing of course.
Here’s a source link (twitter! with image of … a document!!! – I’m not a doctor but the language is sloppy) – https://twitter.com/TheRealJuIian/status/945140198324629504
It’s been published on a few right wingnut sites. Search on “subcortical vascular dementia” “hillary clinton” to find them.
Anyway, yes, Trump is deeply rattled for sure. (This is not making me sleep better.)
Steve in the ATL
@Emerald:
Is this a serious question? These pendejos would set their children on fire to destroy Medicare and Social Security.
dmsilev
@Mike J:
The Streisand Effect is a law of nature.
d58826
Der Fuhrer really stepped in it thisd time
Poke an unstable nuclear power which is the prime transit route for US supplies to Afghanistan.
https://twitter.com/search?q=pakistan%20trump&src=tyah
Brachiator
@Mnemosyne:
Oh, yeah! Very droll stuff.
dm
@dmsilev: Oh. A Friday document dump, then. Just not the usual “hope people don’t notice”, kind.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
I predict this coming now;
* Republican Congress critters praising a video of Trump.
* Trump upgrading from Twitter to twice a week prime time broadcasts of recordings of Trump ranting for a full hour how the system is rigged against him.
* The State of the Union being a video of Trump in a fake wrestling match with a Hillary Clinton look alike.
* A video of Trump debating another video of Trump in the 2020 election.
germy
Emerald
@Brachiator:
My fave Twitter account is “A Bear.” He is a single bear, writing about his life in the forest, and makes me at least smile several times a day.
(Can’t figure out how to link it, but it’s easy to search.)
scott (the other one)
@Mike J: I do not say this lightly: LOL!
Barbara
@d58826: On balance, I doubt if it’s a good move for anyone, but I am going to wait until Adam tells me what to think about this.
germy
@Emerald:
jl
I guess Trump needs to brag about something. But performance of S&P500 and NASDAQ indexes almost identical since Trump inaugural compared to last year of Obama’s presidency. And from what I read, about half to worker bennies announced by large corporations have been planned since long before the passage of the tax scam.
Economically, there has been no significant or substantial change since Obama left office. Though some signs labor market conditions are stalling. Anyway, some things to remember next time you hear media talking heads prattling about the supposed ‘Trump boom’.
schrodingers_cat
@d58826:
You mean like the one headed by Doll Hands?
d58826
@Barbara: Will be interesting to get his take.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Only thing I wonder about is what this trump all on his own, while Kellyanne and Papa Kelly clenched their jaws and whispered, “Pick your battles, pick your battles…”, or were Jethrene and Jared in there telling him, “Aces idea, Chief! O’Bummer wishes he could have thought this up! Tell you what, why not two TeeVees! More of you to admire!”
Mnemosyne
@Bill Arnold:
Here, I’ll translate for you: “That bitch is crazy!”
You’re welcome.
d58826
@schrodingers_cat: hopefully all of his babysitters have taken away all sharp objects
The Ancient Randonneur
Fallows says it’s been an opeen secret all along:
The Dangerman
@d58826:
hopefully all of his babysitters have taken away
all sharp objectsthe nuclear buttonFTFY.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I can’t remember where I read or saw it a couple of days ago, but (on the strength of that authority) a Chinese general recently told a closed conference of high-ranking officials– military, intelligence and civilians– that the trump presidency was a great gift to China. In that long Politico piece on how appalled and scared or allies and neighbors are, Latin American governments are looking more and more across the Pacific instead of north. I”m sure the Canadians are doing the same.
danielx
Or vice versa. Either way, that’s what I call desecration.
Mnemosyne
@The Ancient Randonneur:
I’m not even sure it counts as a secret at all. Everyone who doesn’t have their head stuck up the ass of Fox News knows the book is accurate, because we’ve seen all of this shit happening in real time.
The only thing this book is doing is making the media figures who were trying to gaslight us look like the morons they are.
feebog
He is a coward, as are almost all bullies. Too cowardly to face reporter’s questions, too cowardly to even show up and make a simple statement with no questions.
Another Scott
@Mnemosyne: The press loves it because it’s something written down that they can point to – they don’t have to take sides or stick their necks out and do any actual work. Cut and paste is perfect for them these days.
Grrr….
Cheers,
Scott.
? Martin
@dmsilev: Yeah I had no interest whatsoever in reading this book until lunch yesterday, but now I do.
And all of this is consistent with the gossip going around NYC 30 years ago about Trump. And I’ll bet anything that the Wolff book reads very much like the Steele dossier.
Mnemosyne
Also, can we mention how fucking bizarre it is that the press secretary refers to the President of the United States as a “special guest” at a press briefing INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE?
Seriously, what the everloving fuck?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
anybody see this? I’m wondering what exactly would be the basis of the suit
schrodingers_cat
@Mnemosyne: Every day he is in the WH he is pissing away American prestige and soft power on the world stage. Thanks never HRC, BS bros and Rs.
The Ancient Randonneur
@Mnemosyne: Agreed. Fallows starts with several introductory paragraphs discussing the so-called open secret of sexual harrassment in the workplace. In particular he writes about the worst offenders. He does make it clear how he defines “open secret”:
Mnemosyne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Damn it, I knew I should have invested in popcorn futures last November. ? ?
The Ancient Randonneur
@schrodingers_cat: BTW never got a chance to say thanks for the tip on the series Samvidhaan. It was fascinating to see Indian history protrayed from an Indian point of view.
? ?? Goku (aka The Hope of the Universe) ? ?
Stupid Big Brother
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I’ve seen a few reporters comment that Wolff had a visitor’s badge as opposed to a press badge in the White House, I assume meaning he had greater and less supervised access
Bill Arnold
@schrodingers_cat:
Pakistan does worry people. (“long-beards” used to be the phrase) I don’t know the current state of central control over their nuclear weapons. Here’s the latest open access document found in a quick search, 2010:
Managing the Danger from Pakistan’s Nuclear Stockpile
But with short-flight-time missiles in Pakistan and India things might have changed.
Immanentize
@Bill Arnold:
For me, teaching the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as part of my class next semester, Trump is education gold! Just teach from the headlines!
But I worry about any fallout….
Phylllis
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: There’s a long read in this week’s New Yorker that addresses that as well.
MattF
@Mnemosyne: Could I interest you in a carefully hedged combination of popcorn and uranium futures?
El Caganer
@d58826: I dunno – I think somebody in his administration is jerking his chain on this. He’s too stupid and ignorant to have any opinion of his own on Pakistan…..unless somebody in its government makes fun of him.
schrodingers_cat
@The Ancient Randonneur: You should also look up Bharat, Ek Khoj, by the maker of Samvidhaan. It is based on Nehru’s Discovery of India.
ETA: You said Indian history from Indian POV, what was your earlier exposure to Indian history if you don’t mind my asking.
Gin & Tonic
@Immanentize: I hope I’m not too forward, but could I get a copy of the syllabus? You can get it to me via Adam. This is a subject I’ve followed for a long time.
Feel free to tell me to pound sand, or to register for your class if I want it.
Just One More Canuck
@Emerald: also on facebook
Mike in NC
Does man-baby still get handed a scrapbook twice a day filled with “favorable” news stories? Maybe they’ll change that to three times a day, weekends included.
schrodingers_cat
@Bill Arnold: Pakistan is pretty unstable but Doll Hands has introduced a lot of instability and uncertainty in our foreign policy as well.
Jeffro
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: @Phylllis: The Trumpov presidency* most certainly is a huge, huge gift to China, which was going to be problematic for the U.S. for the next 2-3 decades under the best of circumstances.
I highly recommend Everything Under the Heavens: How the Past Helps Shape China’s Push for Global Power by Howard French. A very coherent review of the ebb and flow of Chinese ambitions across the centuries, as well as the current push to assert itself as a, if not *the*, world power.
schrodingers_cat
@Jeffro: Ancient civilizations have long memories, we never forgive nor forget.
mai naem mobile
@El Caganer: nah,he’s got Indians that the Trump kids are working on deals with and he’s trying to curry favor with them. Fucking moron.
The Ancient Randonneur
@schrodingers_cat: Thank you. I’ve put it on my watchlist.
SFAW
@Immanentize:
Nonsense. You’ll get glowing reviews.
ruemara
@Mnemosyne: The whole metric is of a tv reality show. once you get that, the insanity makes sense.
SFAW
@schrodingers_cat:
Central/western MA is an ancient civilization? Who’d’a thunk?
eric
@Gin & Tonic: I was thinking the same thing….
MisterForkbeard
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: He could probably sue Trump for the “lost his mind” comment, as well as the insinuation that he was awful at his job and didn’t really help the campaign at all, citing that this would harm his future prospects. He can also show that they were retaliatory, by citing Trump’s very approving prior comments.
Phylllis
@Jeffro: The article makes that point, but is a bit cautious in declaring any outright victory for China. Lots to chew on in it.
SFAW
@Ryan:
Except Lying Littledick is a member of the Obsidiot Ordure, which is not quite as efficient/effective as the original.
mai naem mobile
Dolt45’s face looks all swollen. The right eye more than the left. I wonder if he’s got heart failure and this is an exacerbation of it. He might be getting less blood to his brain. It could just be a side effect to some psych/anti anxiety meds they shoved into him yesterday. He just didn’t look well.
schrodingers_cat
@SFAW: Well, I was born in India. Also too, compared to the rest of the United States, the Commonwealth is indeed, ancient.
ETA: What can I say, I contain multitudes.
Mnemosyne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Holy.
Forking.
Shirtballs.
?
Bill Arnold
@Phylllis:
From the POV of many in the rest of the world, the best possible outcome of a Trump presidency would be (a) substantially diminished worldwide US influence (b) a less interventionist (and less (often) evil) US national security establishment (military, CIA, and etc). Or, roughly, partial but not total collapse of the US empire. The very much less good outcomes, well, let’s not go there, please.
FWIW I think this sort of habitual (mentally lazy? :-) America-hating is misguided, especially since there are plenty of nasty (e.g. selfishly nationalist) countries (and corporate entities) eager to fill any power gap e.g. China. But it is common.
Sab
@Emerald: I love that bear.
Immanentize
@Gin & Tonic: of course! But I have to finish it first. Next week remind me, OK?
SFAW
@schrodingers_cat:
Yes, I know.
Immanentize
@SFAW: sometimes teaching? it’s magnetic but then all the electricity goes put of the room.
SFAW
@Immanentize:
My, aren’t WE optimistic?
[Meaning: I guess you’re assuming Lying Littledick will NOT nuke DPRK, Singapore, and Chappaqua before then.]
Brachiator
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
In Mother Russia, politician read from teleprompter. In Trump Land, teleprompter reads you!
Immanentize
@SFAW:
In that one area, optimism is the only path of sanity.
SFAW
@Immanentize:
Maybe if U tried using a new, clear syllabus? Or am I just fishin’?
SFAW
@Immanentize:
Oh, I left that path a long time ago.
different-church-lady
Oh dear… this means he’s dead and we have three years of CGI Trump ahead of us…
Brachiator
@schrodingers_cat:
Most ancient civilizations have come, gone and been forgotten. Nor are many of them as continuous as some like to claim.
Or, as The Poet wrote:
Humanity, though, is a flowing river, bubbling, evolving along with the rhythm of the universe.
Jeffro
@Phylllis: I have it up right now – thanks for the suggestion !
schrodingers_cat
@Brachiator: You don’t have to take everything I say so literally. All I am saying is that Indians or the Chinese have not forgotten how Europeans treated them in the colonial era.
Bill Arnold
@mai naem mobile:
According to The Book (allegedly), D. Trump likes to eat megameals of McDonald’s food because he’s afraid of poisoning.
Oops. To be fair, lack of physical (or mental) exercise probably doesn’t help.
Seriously, the part of me that cares about him as a fellow member of clan Homo sapiens sapiens, thinks that he really should resign, for health reasons, so that he can focus on recovering his health. (I’m quite serious here.)
Ksmiami
@Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD): fuck man Stalin was at least a 1000 times smarter and more coherent than the Orange douche
different-church-lady
@Ksmiami:
And for that we can all give thanks.
Ksmiami
@mai naem mobile: good the sooner the better
schrodingers_cat
@Brachiator: As for continuity, Chinese and Indian languages have extremely long histories and are used even today. Tamil, Sanskrit being the oldest in India and still in use and understood. Various Prakrits like Marathi, are over a thousand years old.
ETA: Being ancient and what not doesn’t make them better in anyway since stupid unfortunately seems universal.
Gin & Tonic
@Bill Arnold:
I don’t have one of those parts.
Ksmiami
@Gin & Tonic: he’s not really human actually- just a redundant use of protoplasm
Brachiator
@schrodingers_cat:
Sorry. I was not trying to single you out. I saw the comment before I noted who the author was.
Fair enough. It will be interesting to see how this is actually reflected in world events.
mike in dc
I’m starting to believe that Trump will never do another open-ended presidential press conference again, even if (god forbid) he serves through 2024. Nor is he likely to consent to a tv interview by a non-Fox interlocutor. If he really is repeating himself every 10 minutes, a simple one hour interview would permanently puncture the bubble.
trnc
Sometimes I start reading a post without seeing who posted, but as soon as I saw “hideous orange visage,” I knew it was BC.
Stay awesome, Betty.
mike in dc
@schrodingers_cat: Of course not. That also applies to Asian memories of the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere and to African memories of European colonialism(which ended later than it did for India and China).
Shana
@Yutsano: I wonder who the Dems will have giving a statement afterwards.
NCSteve
Did they play “Trumpiana, ’tis for Thee” before or after?
trnc
SNL could just replay the Candidate Buckwell skit with Alec Baldwin from 20 years ago and superimpose a DT hairpiece.
trnc
@Bill Arnold: We can safely say that DT resigning would improve a LOT of peoples’ health outcomes.
Doug R
@dmsilev:
I think it’s all adding up to pre-taped address.
Doug R
@Mnemosyne: The shoulder brush was almost as funny as the shoulder toss.
WaterGirl
@mai naem mobile: I thought the most frightening thing we’ve heard from Wolff was the last line of the article I read today. Something about an overly made-up Trump failed to recognize several people he knew as they came in to his NYE party. And they are all pretending he is just fine!!!
The only way the Repubs turn on him is when they realize that they are starting to look like fools.
edited: Look like fools to the casual observer, not just people like us.
J R in WV
Well, today’s little victory was getting our snowtires mounted on the AWD VW mini suv. And the guy at the tire shop said that even though this is the 3rd year for these snowtires, they look good for this winter and at least one more.
This is wonderful news, as good snow tires mounted on wheels are not cheap at all. These are Blizzack tires by Bridgestone, taller and narrower than the summer tires we took off, which is why there are wheels for the snowtires. They push through deeper snow better than wide tires, and lift the vehicle a tiny bit, so you are less likely to push snow up in front of you.
Yesterday I did a huge shopping trip, dry beans / lentils / rice, canned goods, 40 pounds of dog kibble 20 pounds of cat kibble, etc. Also a 12 pack of Sierra Nevada IPA and a bottle of rum for the wife. I already had a pretty good supply of bourbon. And::: no snow today, well, 3/4 of an inch – but really cold.
Citizen Alan
@schrodingers_cat:
Hell, there are plenty of Iranians around today who were alive when the CIA assassinated Mossedegh and replaced him with a puppet dictator, a fact of which 99% of Americans are totally ignorant.
Doug R
@Ksmiami:
Ren & Stimpy.
Chip Daniels
@dmsilev:
A wetworks commando team headed by Erik Prince on a no-bid contract will kidnap the animatronic double from the Hall of Presidents as a stand in.
Although the Disney folk would be perfectly happy to offer their services, Prince and co. will use explosions and open fire on crowds of innocent passersby because, well, that’s what they do.
Their payment will be a C-130 filled with palletloads of shrinkwrapped 100 dollar bills.
After the SOTU, the cable news shows will gush about how presidential Trump looked, and how human he sounded.
George
@dmsilev: Perhaps someone else has mentioned this already, but at the upcoming State of the Union address, Trump will give a speech that Van Jones, Chris Cillizza, and Chuck Todd will say makes him look presidential. Fareed Zakaria will say that “Trump became President tonight.”
Ksmiami
@George: don’t sweat it – they’re just confirming they’re tickets on the Tumbrel ride
Bonnie
Someone needs to ask Sanders how she can lie to the American people day after day and still call herself a born again Christian. Of course, she may be in hell already and not realize it.