Donald Trump came late to the breakfast on gender equality at the G7 meeting.
Trump just disrespected women at a gender equality breakfast, and the women’s faces say it all: https://t.co/R1g85FQ1MI qua @YouTube
— Politics US (@Moonlog34195133) June 10, 2018
Then he gave a press availability before he departed the meeting early. It was fairly long for such things. Daniel Dale covered it with his usual thoroughness.
Trump thanks Trudeau and says, "The people of Canada are wonderful, it's a great country…beautiful country, I might add."
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) June 9, 2018
Most notable was this question and answer.
President Trump says he thinks he’ll know “within the first minute” if North Korea is serious about peace https://t.co/MVjRocxDyj pic.twitter.com/DIf6s1ELuC
— CNN (@CNN) June 9, 2018
Angela Merkel's office has released this photo taken today at the G7, which tells you a lot about how things went. pic.twitter.com/IXX6K3ayys
— David Mack (@davidmackau) June 9, 2018
As you might imagine, any number of variants on that photo are showing up on my timeline. Justin Trudeau gave Trump a framed photo of Trump’s grandfather’s, um, hotel.
Great moment between @JustinTrudeau and @POTUS when he gave him picture of the President’s grandfather’s hotel in Canada. #G72018 pic.twitter.com/mtl5c7QPB3
— Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) June 9, 2018
But then, once Air Force One was in the air, Trudeau said that Trump had insulted Canada and that their tariffs would go into effect July 1. I don’t know if Air Force One has wifi, or if the tweets came while they were refueling at Ramstein Air Force Base, but here they are.
Based on Justin’s false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our U.S. farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the U.S. Market!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2018
PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our @G7 meetings only to give a news conference after I left saying that, “US Tariffs were kind of insulting” and he “will not be pushed around.” Very dishonest & weak. Our Tariffs are in response to his of 270% on dairy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 9, 2018
And so on to the summit with Kim Jong Un in Singapore.
Peter Baker has a pretty good summary in the New York Times if you would prefer a narrative.
Cheryl Rofer
Here’s Trudeau’s news conference.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I now believe two things: That Trudeau giving him the picture of the whorehouse was, in fact, a troll.
Kim Jong Un is going to be his new bestest world leader friend.
Corner Stone
That’s like some Dark Lord master trolling shit, right there.
Cheryl Rofer
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
If it prevents nuclear war, this is a good outcome.
Another Scott
@Cheryl Rofer: +1.
Cheers,
Scott.
SiubhanDuinne
He is such an embarrassment, I can’t even just.
Ruckus
Why would anyone in their right minds think that drumpf would do anything but fuck this up? He’s not capable of doing anything correctly, the only possible outcome of anything he’s involved in is fucked up. He’s been this way his entire life. This isn’t new, isn’t stunning, OK it is stunning, in how bad it is. I said in a post below that he’s actually regressed in the last 18-24 months. He was acting like a spoiled 7 yr old but now, he’s acting like a spoiled 3 yr old.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Cheryl Rofer:
God, I wish we could have a leader like Trudeau again.
I can’t wait to vote this fucker out. I hope he loses Congress this fall just to see him act like the petulant asshole he’s shown himself to be in the picture above at the G7.
Dorothy Winsor
I went over to You Tube and have “Blame Canada” paying in the background. It was cheeriest thing I could think of to do.
Now I’ll go read Fredrick Backman’s new book.
Raoul
Lately it seems every day is Christmas Day for Vladimir Putin.
jl
If Trump wants to double or triple down on being an ignorant stupid toxic shithead in the last 4 and a half months before the midterms, I think it’s good timing. Only bright side to the mess I can see.
Corner Stone
@Cheryl Rofer: But it’s ephemeral. It means nothing from day to day or moment to moment. Trump is just as likely to get trolled into insulting KJU by some RUS bot as he is to do any other damned thing.
Dorothy Winsor
Also that woman Trump sort of pats on the shoulder at the breakfast is Christine Lagarde, the head of the IMF. I can’t imagine how she dumbs her English down enough for him.
ETA: If she tried to speak to him about tariffs, her head would explode.
rikyrah
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Of course, it was a troll. An excellent one, at that.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
Question: will economic impacts of the tariffs be felt by the time of the mid-terms?
Ruckus
@Ruckus:
And the real embarrassment is that the republican congress is just going along for the ride.
This may be a ridiculous question but has the entire republican party regressed to that of spoiled rotten 3 yr olds? Because I think it quite possibly has. Could they possibly collectively hold their breaths until they turn blue, because it would improve the country by about 5000%.
Corner Stone
@jl: The only bright side I can see is if common clay farmers get fucking buried in the next few months and are taking out punitive loans to stay afloat.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Cheryl Rofer: True. I still feel like trump will fuck things up, somehow. I just hope it’s short of a hot war.
@Raoul: and even more so, I think, whatever the Chinese equivalent of Christmas, and his birthday, rolled into one day, for Xi Jinping.
Cheryl Rofer
@Corner Stone: I think the G7 was particularly difficult for Trump. Powerful people who have their own power bases criticizing him. Kim will probably be unreadable to him, being smart enough to control his facial expressions, and will speak formally. There will be interpreters to slow things down. Trump will need a friend after all those mean people, women even!
All those should work in our favor. But yes, Trump is likely to do anything at any time.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Ruckus:
Haven’t the Republicans (aside from the brief period of the Cold War) always been suspicious and distrusting of international orgs/treaties/agreements? Weren’t they always more in favor of isolation?
jharp
I refuse to watch the videos of Trump speaking.
Corner Stone
@Cheryl Rofer: IMO, and I am not versed in NK anything, but ISTM that the most likely thing that will happen is NK and KJU will bury Trump in formality and protocol. That will frustrate him and cause him to lose any smidge of focus he ever would have had to begin with. He’s going to get rolled and trolled.
I just hope we’re not launching missiles at Canada by the time Trump gets back to his own bed in Mar A Lago in the next week.
Corner Stone
@jharp: The one today was as if Bonkers and Cray Cray got a truckload of heroin and then started playing Lie or Dare.
Cheryl Rofer
@Corner Stone: I think he will be rolled and trolled, but that the missiles are unlikely. The photo-ops will be great; presumably his lackeys have secured a golden room for them. What we need to worry about is what he will give up. Or say he’s giving up without meaning it.
Barbara
@Ruckus: They are afraid of their voters. It’s really that simple.
schrodingers_cat
@Ruckus: Its not a fuck up, he is delivering what Putin wants.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Barbara:
They should be more of afraid of us tbh; they’re going to lose their jobs
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Corner Stone: if there are enough pictures of him, and they give him a “very nice” gift, and tell him many times he is historic figure for agreeing to come, he won’t be able to cave fast enough. In return, KJU will promise to denuclearize at his earliest possible convenience. As somebody said on twitter last week, trump is buying a nuclear reverse mortgage.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
That picture of Merkal and Trump, just wow. Trump there looking like a petulant child, even Bolton has more dignity than Trump. And Trump’s base will love him for being a complete twat.
Cheryl Rofer
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: Yes. The Base is reading the picture as the Manly Trump standing up (um) to the bureaucratic Euros.
Another Scott
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: George Washington was an isolationist. The country, and the world, changed.
Trump and Bannon and their minions aren’t isolationists. They’re RWNJs who want to impose their view of economics, civil rights, government, and all the rest, on the rest of the mostly-democratic world. They’re being helped by Vlad who wants to destroy the sanctions and break up NATO and the EU so that he can squeeze Europe via Gazprom and Little Green Men.
Cheers,
Scott.
Suzanne
@Corner Stone:
We think alike. Not sure what that indicates about either of us.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Cheryl Rofer:
Wonder if they’ll still feel the same way when they can’t find any parts to their cars and prices at the grocery store are skyrocketing
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Okay, just do something to help the tigers, you fuckers
@Cheryl Rofer: James Woods is ecstatic. And somewhere Sean Young is yelling at her computer: “God dammit! I told you all he was the crazy one!”
chris
Here’s another pic of the Sitting Petulance. Looking at Justin’s grin I would love to know what Merkel said.
https://twitter.com/Rschooley/status/1005500670714175489
oldgold
From Paul Krugman:
He didn’t put America first; Russia first would be a better description. And he didn’t demand drastic policy changes from our allies; he demanded that they stop doing bad things they aren’t doing. This wasn’t a tough stance on behalf of American interests, it was a declaration of ignorance and policy insanity.
Trump started with a call for readmitting Russia to the group, which makes no sense at all. The truth is that Russia, whose GDP is about the same size as Spain’s and quite a bit smaller than Brazil’s, was always a ringer in what was meant to be a group of major economies. It was brought in for strategic reasons, and kicked out when it invaded Ukraine. There is no possible justification for bringing it back, other than whatever hold Putin has on Trump personally.
Then Trump demanded that the other G7 members remove their “ridiculous and unacceptable” tariffs on U.S. goods – which would be hard for them to do, because their actual tariff rates are very low. The European Union, for example, levies an average tariff of only three percent on US goods. Who says so? The U.S. government’s own guide to exporters.
True, there are some particular sectors where each country imposes special barriers to trade. Yes, Canada imposes high tariffs on certain dairy products. But it’s hard to make the case that these special cases are any worse than, say, the 25 percent tariff the U.S. still imposes on light trucks. The overall picture is that all of the G7 members have very open markets.
SiubhanDuinne
@jharp:
It doesn’t quite rise, technically, to the level of “speaking,” so you’re probably safe.
MobileForkbeard
@rikyrah: Earlier today, I was willing to believe it was a genuine gesture. Now… yeah, it’s a troll.
If Truno was a skilled politician, he could have made Trudeau look like a giant asshole and himself like a good, humble human being. But he can’t, because ehes awful at everything that isn’t threatening or bribing people.
JMG
I have to think that the intelligence services of the other G-7 countries are drawing up contingency plans for the tragic death of the 45th President of the United States. Polonium poisoning would be perfect. Everyone would blame Putin.
schrodingers_cat
@Cheryl Rofer: He is standing up to them by sitting down! What genius, such leadership. Wow.
/end MAGA impression
TS (the original)
@Enhanced Voting Techniques: Difficult to believe how ANY world leader could get himself into that position. Unheard of, in my lifetime, for a US President to be out of favor with such a group. They are done taking his sh!t – despite May tries to quiet things down
Platonailedit
Petulance. Corruption. Lying. Treason. A four-fer.
Well done, fucking ‘wwc’.
rikyrah
A family was separated at the border, and this distraught father took his own life
June 9 at 7:00 AM
chris
@JMG: With all this tariff talk I suspect American multinational corporations are probably making plans too.
Patricia Kayden
Accusing the Canadian Prime Minister of “acting meek and mild” is bizarre when you’ve initiated a trade war with his country for no dang reason. Why does Trump think that developed countries are going to tolerate his foolishness and not hit back?
rikyrah
Facts Do Matter
@WilDonnelly
ICE is torturing and killing detainees by withholding medical care. When the prisoner is in grave condition, then they are hospitalized and released from custody so when they die they are not listed as a death in ICE custody.
https://twitter.com/WilDonnelly/status/1005484732501676033
Patricia Kayden
@Cheryl Rofer: Wow. Lol!! There is nothing Trump can do to embarrass his base. It’s actually kind of hilarious in a sad way.
Patricia Kayden
@rikyrah: Just awful and heartbreaking.
Platonailedit
A magat, working for a russian owned steel mill, gives the president an A+ on everything from tax cuts to foreign policy, but he is not so sure about tariffs.
“We need tariffs, but when it starts to impact the company where you work … you’re thinking, well wait a minute, time out!”
Mike in NC
@Cheryl Rofer: Give up everything west of the Mississippi?
Patricia Kayden
@Cheryl Rofer: Oh Canada!!
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
I think we can blame Woodrow Wilson for that. Wilson was all for democracy in other countries but the United States and was the started the American, World Police thing.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Platonailedit: This is actually kind of sad. This is a 48 year old man.
then again, who knows, a photo op with a hard hat is right up trump’s alley, then he couldn’t pick the guy out of a line up four minutes later
Raoul
@Patricia Kayden: If Trump took time to think, he’d be a different man. All he cares about is the current moment and the chance to claim right now that he is winning.
Next week when it is obvious that we are being outmaneuvered by Canada, he will just stop talking about it, or he’ll lie more brazenly (the latter more likely).
Impacts be damned, can he appear to be the winner? And of course, he cannot grasp the concept of mutually beneficial agreements or ‘deals.’
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Cheryl Rofer: You’re assuming the Kim Jong Un will show up, the North Koreans will call meetings and just not show.
dmsilev
@MobileForkbeard:
The thing is, if Trump were a normal politician, Trudeau wouldn’t have felt the need to troll him like that. Nobody on the world stage trolled Obama, or even George W. Bush.
Ruckus
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
Well I can explain this properly or sarcastically. Actually now it ends up being the same.
Yes, conservatives have always had their heads up their asses. But they have never been able to understand that the world is interconnected far, far, far more than it has ever been and that it’s impossible for one country to feed, create, and produce everything they want to purchase with the money they steal. And it’s been this way since before this country existed. To produce things efficiently and reasonably cheaply producers have to become bigger and more specialized. Too big of course is just as bad as too small. Vietnam (and others) sews clothing, we do whatever it is that we do, and other countries are the same. At some point Vietnam will become too expensive and some other country will step in. World wide trade and commerce is not going to go away just because some neanderthals in this country want to stop it because it offends them for some asinine reason. Remember that there isn’t all that much stuff that can only be purchased from us. A lot of times it’s the most cost effective way for neighbors but it isn’t the only way.
GregB
The world is in turmoil because large numbers of people are susceptible to propaganda centered on selfishness, ethnic divisions and greed.
dmsilev
@Platonailedit:
Leopards eating faces, etc.
Cheryl Rofer
@?BillinGlendaleCA: There was a report that KJU’s staff people were on a Chinese plane, bound for Singapore. That’s not the Main Man, but encouraging.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@Cheryl Rofer: Yes, that the amazing part they don’t see it; s Merkel is totally dominating the scene and Trump curled up defensively. . It’s like his base is a just nothing but a collection of people various social skills disorders that they don’t understand normal human interaction. Trump has his teeth clenched so Trump is standing tall, and they ignore the rest of Trump’s body is practically in a fetal position,
rikyrah
WHAT.COULD.GO.WRONG?
THESE EVIL PHUCKS!!
Melissa McEwan
Verified account @Shakestweetz
*jumps up and down screaming* “U.S. authorities are transferring into federal prisons about 1,600 ICE detainees…in the first large-scale use of federal prisons to hold detainees amid a Trump admin. crackdown on people entering the country illegally.”
Corner Stone
@Raoul:
I wish we had a contingent of press from the Netherlands here in the US. Just dogging Trump’s ass about everything. “I’m sorry sir, but you have to answer these questions. And I’m not going to stop until we get an answer.”*
*speaking of which, I would still be beating the shit out of Trump “bodyguard” Schiller if he put hands on me to evict me out of a public Q&A.
Ruckus
@Barbara:
Well they should be afraid. They can’t reasonably deliver what they think their supporters want because in the first place it’s almost always against the law and just because this is their last hurrah doesn’t change that. And second they are no different than a lot of their voters.
@schrodingers_cat:
Well you know when the boss speaks………..
Can it be any more obvious that Putin owns drumpf?
Brachiator
@Ruckus:
It seems like only yesterday that press and pundits were sagely predicting that Trump would soon pivot and start to behave more “presidential.”
You are right that this is the way that Trump always has behaved. But I think it may be important to understand that Trump has shaken off all handlers and advisors and has firmly settled into Beast Mode. He is remaking the presidency in his image.
Also, the more he behaves this way, the more his supporters love it. Also, I am seeing that there are people who I would describe as techno-libertarians who also approve Trump acting as an “agent of chaos.” These include a lot of white males in the tech industry who believe that they are immune from anything stupid that Trump might do, and think it cool to see how establishment leaders can’t figure Trump out. They live out their “bad boy” fantasies through him.
Another Scott
Relatedly, … Reuters:
Let’s see. Kim will agree to some sort of framework for more talks about terms that aren’t quite defined. He’ll invite Donnie for a red-carpet tour of Pyongyang. He’ll have some giant parade – Donnie really, really likes parades – and let Javanka have talks about turning the Ryugyong Hotel into Trump Tower DPRK, maybe.
And none of it will go anywhere.
As long as Kim stops his nuclear tests and his missile tests, I’m good with it. Let him rejoin the community of nations. And Xi and Vlad can have more trade with him. But I don’t imagine that Moon and Abe and the rest will suddenly feel that they have to dump billions into Kim’s economy just because Donnie got a parade…
The substance will eventually matter. With luck, and with hard work, we can start having a sensible policy in the region again starting in January 2021, and can keep Donnie blowing up the world until then.
Cheers,
Scott.
Ruckus
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
They will just blame democrats for that as well.
The only truth to conservatives is that they can never be wrong. Ever. It really has turned into a fucking cult. I can’t believe I’m saying this but it’s far worse than scientology.
germy
jl
Since Trump’d demands make no sense and it is difficult to figure what what the hell he and his butt ignorant economic advisers are talking about, it is hard for our allies to respond, or defy, or give in to his demands. As far as anyone can tell, Trump thinks the VAT system of collecting a national sales tax is a trade barrier. It is completely wrong, and makes no sense.
It like a lunatic runs up to some people and starts raving nonsense. What do you do?
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@dmsilev:
There was that G30 conference were GW was clearly drunk so there was plenty of opportunity for the other leaders to make Bush look like a fool and they didn’t do anything.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@jl:
It’s like “The Canadians are a national security threat because ot the War of 1812” just something Trump pulled out of his south end. It wouldn’t be so bad if truly made no sense as policy.
Ruckus
@Brachiator:
Agreed.
I guess I’d ask, does it really matter what or why he’s so fucked up? And the answer to my question is no it really doesn’t. It might if it weren’t so serious, like say he showed up one morning in a dress. That he treats other countries like he’s treated other people his entire life is on an entirely different scale. It’s probably not even measurable, no one has ever been this bad without being a dictator of a rather small out of the way country. Not one with the GDP or military that we have.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Cheryl Rofer: I’m not saying KJU won’t be in Singapore, they just might not show up for the meeting; especially if they’re insulted. They’ve done this repeatably at the DMZ.
cain
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I wonder if Trump supporters are going to be all embracing of all Koreans now?
Platonailedit
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Yup. I give 50/50 chance that the world’s other nutter doesn’t show up and drives this nutter go even nuttier. I find Cheryl’s optimism misplaced, given the turd’s most recent history just a few hours back.
Ruckus
@jl:
Well normally you call the cops. But this time the cops that can help are all raving loons as well. What you do is hope the loon strokes out so you can get on with your life.
jl
After a clip of Trump talking, like a much more moronic version of W, about how he’ll know from that first minute magic whether he can deal with Kim, I saw a clip of Trump babbling about trade. Really hard to figure out what he means. Sounds like he wants a permanent and perfect bilateral trade balance of zero with every other country. Completely nuts.
Underneath the maliciousness, there are endless and thick layers of ignorance, stupidity and mental sloth.
Jeffro
@Ruckus:
Being the same as scientology (which you’re right, it is comparable) is enough. It really is that bad. May it all burn down quickly, and soon.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Brachiator:
Too bad (for them) those people aren’t in the majority. They aren’t immune either and will eventually feel the effects of this
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I thought there was a chance they would back out when Rudi started popping off, but after the NK intelligence chief’s visit and especially the Charlevoix farce, trump has made his desperation for this meeting, and how easy it is to manipulate him, so clear I can’t imagine why KJU wouldn’t show up. Trump has given him the upper hand.
TS (the original)
@chris: Everyone is smiling – or trying not to – in that photo except the president*
I miss Obama.
BC in Illinois
Today I went to the dictionaries (okay, dictionaries online; my real dictionaries are upstairs).
I wanted to explore the definition of the word “oaf.”
Some of these words seem perfectly cromulent to our present day.
James Powell
@Ruckus:
Scientology has better actors than the RW Trump Cult.
trollhattan
Nice knowin’ y’all but am relatively sure my liver isn’t outlasting this moron’s administration. Wait, I’ll take Jared’s! Peace, at last.
Ruckus
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
Of course they will. And they will still blame Hillary. Or President Obama. Or the guy on the corner with a sandwich board. Or all three.
They will never blame themselves nor the guy who lost the popular vote and fucked up everything he touched or talked about. They will blame everyone else except the faces in the mirrors. Because they can never be wrong. Just ask them.
The Dangerman
Too bad the matting for that Trump Hotel photo wasn’t a lovely shade of red.
Ruckus
@James Powell:
Yes they do. But does that make it a better or worse cult?
I’m going with conservatives are a worse cult. Bigger, meaner (OK not by much), just as stupid, and just as sure of their own self importance and place in the world. Fucking morons.
rikyrah
Oliver Willis
Verified account @owillis
People on the left need to get it through their skulls we’re opposing evil. It’s not just a set of polite ideas to be calmly debated. It is evil.
8:22 AM – 9 Jun 2018
Ruckus
@rikyrah:
Oliver knows his shit. It is 100% pure evil.
jk
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
Most likely, Trump needed a diaper change after that interaction.
@Raoul:
After 1 year in office, it’s obvious that Trump can’t rise to any fucking occasion. He’s a wildly insecure knuckle dragging neanderthal and I keep my fingers crossed every day that the planet can survive 3 more years of this maniac.
Ruckus
@jk:
Please! It’s only 2 1/2 yrs. Damn, don’t make it any worse.
Jeffro
I think it’s exciting that we are effectively now allied with Russia, North Korea, China, and Saudi Arabia. Oh, and Netanyahu. Fun times!
Looking in to Canadian real estate in the morning…
Jeffro
I wonder how long it will take before Western leaders start giving speeches directed at American companies/CEOs: “only you have the power to stop this clown, and you’d better do it soon”
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Ruckus:
Would a fist to the face make them more amenable to reality? Perhaps some good old fashioned waterboarding would make them see the error of their ways? Someone should kidnap a Trump supporter and try this. In the interests of science and good government.
//I kid. It probably wouldn’t work either.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
We can survive to fix this.
We can survive to fix this.
We can survive to fix this.
We can survive to fix this.
We can survive to fix this.
We can…
Ruckus
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
Look up cults.
To get out of a cult you have to have a come to something moment. It has to dawn on the participants that it actually is a cult. A political party has a cover for that, it can’t be a cult because it’s a political party. But it has become a cult, by the propaganda and the mass hysteria that surrounds it.
So the only way out is for the members to wake the fuck up. How likely is that to happen?
Cheryl Rofer
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Entirely possible.
J R in WV
Well, I expect the party of freedom and democracy to win the House of Representatives next fall, and perhaps the Senate. At that point I would hope to see impeachment hearings held in the House, even if the issue never comes to the floor.
Because if Impeachment is underway, no matter how slowly, no matter how halting, it ends Trump’s jolly trail of pardons right there. Because the power to pardon does have just that one exception, that one limitation, that one rule:
Cheryl Rofer
And I’m wondering if he’ll have his own interpreter there.
B.B.A.
@J R in WV: That just means an impeached official can’t be pardoned to reverse the impeachment. Clinton continued issuing pardons when he was impeached.
Nixon resigned before he could be impeached, which is how Ford was able to pardon him.
Mai naem mobile
Trumpov’s just jealous of Justin Trudeau. In Orange Moron’s tiny rotten brain Justin is in order of importance 1/better looking 2/younger 3/has a hotter wife 4/knows that Justin hasn’t squandered his inheritance like he has 4/Justin won his election without Putin 5/Did I mention Justin is better looking?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@B.B.A.: Clinton’s pardons were after his acquittal in the Senate.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Ruckus:
Well, it apparently happened to those who followed Hitler in Germany. It is possible.
?BillinGlendaleCA
A picture from The Huntington’s Chinese Garden(uses focus stacking).
Jeffro
Cole, seriously, did you just ask why the Nixon twitter reads like it’s Hunter S. Thompson?
You don’t see the high degree of similarity in those two??
M. Bouffant
@BC in Illinois: Dimbulb & cretin are good too.
Jeffro
Speaking of Twitter, McCain going in with the sharp knife on Trumpov: “to our allies…Americans stand with you, even if our president doesn’t”
He left off the * after president but other than that, nice!
?BillinGlendaleCA
OK, one more. Can anyone see the anomaly left over from the focus stacking?
Jay
@Patricia Kayden:
Treason Tribble’s “art of the Steal”, is to:
#1, launch an attack as the most irrational, arrogant, lying, violent, disrespectful asshole*, thus “establishing the bottom”,
#2, come back, off record, with supporting the most “benificial” possible outcome for all, ( no tariffs), thus “establishing the best possible outcome”,
Then, irrationally swinging between #1 and #2 with additional threats until the Contractor get’s tired, worn out emotionally and financially until they accept 30% on the dollar owed, or sticks it out to take 1% at bankruptcy.
Only works bilaterally, and doesn’t work in places like Canada, where a Contractor can simply file a lien against title, charge up to 36% a year in interest on what’s owed, and prevent refi, sale or bankruptcy until the debt is settled.
rikyrah
The Hill
Verified account @thehill
JUST IN: Trump threatens to end trade with all G-7 countries http://hill.cm/JTAh9Au
Another Scott
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Neato.
You were there the same time the Invisible Man was visiting!
Cheers,
Scott.
Chet Murthy
@Cheryl Rofer: Cheryl, thank you for this post. Over at LGM, lots of discussion of …. *stuff*. And somebody noted that it’d be delicious to have a painting in the McNaughton style, of that photo. Does anybody here know a painter who could pull that off (and might be interested)? I bet it’s worth $$$$ …… I’d sure buy a tshirt or two with that pic ….
P.S. I wonder if Google’s AI could create it? I’ll ask around …..
P.P.S. M4? You know anybody in the AI world who could answer that?
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@rikyrah:
I’m sure that will end well. We can’t fail in 2020. He must be defeated. Our very survival as a functioning state depends on it. Make that apart of any Democratic campaign.
SRW1
@dmsilev:
In one meeting Bush crept up on Merkel and gave her the famous shoulder massage. I suspect that if Trump tried anything of that sort she’d smack him.
Bess
@J R in WV:
I’d prefer the word impeachment not be uttered by Democrats until there is the ability to convict in the Senate.
Instead use the power of the majority to investigate the misbehavior of this administration and certain members of Congress. Make the investigations extremely professional, objective, and public.
Once enough senators agree to vote for conviction then start the impeachment process.
And at the same time do whatever is possible to blunt Trump’s actions. Refuse to fund his most egregious activities. Go after A-holes like Pruitt and Devos.
If Democrats gain control of the Senate then refuse to accept any unqualified candidates for open positions and refuse to fill any federal judicial openings unless Republicans agree to never pull their Supreme Court crap again. And then accept only exceptionally qualified and objective judges.
Steve in the ATL
@SRW1: at least the moron Bush only grabbed her shoulders
Gin & Tonic
@?BillinGlendaleCA: You mean the man with no face?
Gin & Tonic
@Cheryl Rofer: I wouldn’t be all that surprised if KJU has passable English.
Gin & Tonic
I don’t know why I’m still up when I have to get up at around 0430 to catch an 0659 airplane.
J R in WV
@Ruckus:
Actually, if you think about this situation for a moment, and what Putin has accomplished…
He bought a catastrophe, really. Because Trump can’t do what Putin needs done with suave and debonair skillz. Trump isn’t suave, can’t be, and will never be debonair again, if he ever was. If Putin had actually bought a politician capable of being President, we would be in big trouble.
But Putin bought an ass, incapable of negotiating a successful litter box change, who can’t even do things everyone around him wants him to do. Who can’t remember his script for getting things done. Who can barely speak his own language at this point.
Trump is demented, and ignorant of everything about being President, including international relations, political realities, the limits of his powers, strategy AND tactics, everything. He doesn’t even know how to run hotels and casinos, which are supposed to be his successful businesses.
His dementia is only going to get worse. His VP was selected by a man now under arrest for conspiracy, money laundering, tax fraud… does anyone believe Pence isn’t as deep into this conspiracy as anyone?
How does Putin make anything positive for Russia out of this? I mean, really, owning a dolt with rapidly increasing dementia, what’s that worth? Less than nothing.
Hang in there, everyone, this ride can’t last long, Trump is going to do even more outrageously stupid stuff in public, and eventually people, lots of people, Republican leadership people, are going to realize that he’s not competent to even be Trump any more. And hopefully, before then, Pence will be indicted, along with Pruitt, and Ross, and… well you get the point.
SRW1
@Gin & Tonic:
I heard KJU went to an international boarding school in Switzerland. I doubt they were teaching there in Korean or Schwyzerduutsch. It probably was English or French.
Jeffro
@rikyrah:
Sounds good! What say ye, GOP? America’s business community, you’re good with this, right?
A Democratic president could’ve done a tenth as much and would already be strung up as an “economic terrorist/traitor”?
Putin couldn’t be more proud.
Jeffro
@J R in WV: The chaos alone benefits Putin, don’t be naive.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Another Scott: I was surprised I didn’t see him while I was there.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Bess:
No, it’s not the job of the House to gauge the attitudes of the Senate. If there’s evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors, the House has a duty to Impeach.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Jeffro:
For now. Eventually Trump is going to do something that will fuck over Putin, because he’s mentally declining by the day. Putin will throw Trump under the bus so hard and fast his toupee will fly off his head.
Brachiator
@J R in WV:
Trump is too useful to the GOP for them to cut him loose. And he continues to be popular with the GOP base. He is also good for the right wing nut jobs and plutocrats who say they believe in limited government, but who will be just as happy with a crippled federal government.
However, if the Democrats can do well in the midterms, they might at least be able to slow Trump down.
Pence ain’t going nowhere without some evidence of criminal wrong doing. But I would love it if someone can dig up some dirt.
Platonailedit
One thing is pretty clear, the all powerful, all knowing, all seeing intelligence and law enforcement agencies are pretty powerless despite proofs of daily corruption, law breaking and other atrocities committed by the most corrupt man in the office. Hopefully the congress and the judicial wings of the system will and need to address this anomaly sooner than later. That is the only way forward.
Jeffro
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: He’ll never need to throw Trumpov under the bus…Trumpov will never cross him, and no matter what comes out of the Special Counsel’s investigation, Putin can just call it – you guessed it – #FakeNews. And 40% of the American voting public will live out their days believing Vladimir Putin over their own country’s intelligence services and a majority of its national elected officials.
Gvg
At least the pundits have quit predicting a pivot or that the idiot will become presidential in time for the next crisis.
My impression is they all know everything is going to be some kind of disaster and Trump will get rolled.
The President can’t normally just declare tariffs. Supposed to be for national security is my understanding. This Congress has let his stupid ideas go by so far but the threat to halt trade with all the other G7 countries has got to be too far. Hopefully he’ll just forget about. Maybe the summit will go bad enough he’ll have an excuse not to pursue it. If he really tried it, I imagine it would be at least stopped by lawsuits. Corporate America should hate him by now.
Really at this point I could be convinced he was secretly born in Russia. He has shown no loyalty to American interests.
Mike in NC
@SRW1: No doubt Kim speaks better
English than Trump.
Bess
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Screw duty. Republicans quit playing by the rules a long time ago. It’s time to play to win.
You do not want Trump to be able to run in 2020 claiming that those evil anti-American Democrats falsely charged him but he was proven innocent by the Senate.
Rile up voters against Trump. If Republicans aren’t willing to support conviction then let them go into their election carrying that burden.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Jeffro:
You can’t worry about that. You just have to keep working towards winning control of Congress to stop the worse of the Trump admin’s excesses. The real work towards improving this country won’t be until 2021 at the earliest. It’s a numbers game. We have to turn out like the GOP does at every level to win. If we do that, we will be able to fulfill our promises of better healthcare, education, and repealing the 2017 Tax Bill.
dww44
@jharp: As do I and as much as possible I avoid the audio.I simply cannot abide hearing or seeing the man at all. Wonder if any New Yorkers here felt that way about him before he decided to run for President. After all, he is, what we call in these parts, sort of a low rent- person with no substance and no class. Maybe a low rent with money but indisputably low-rent.
Steve in the ATL
@Gin & Tonic: because the siren call of Balloon Juice is irresistible
Jeffro
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: I think we’re in 110% agreement here, amigo!
Ruckus
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??:
A lot of the people in Germany were doing their duty and didn’t want to be shot. They weren’t necessarily believers. And it was a different time. They had lost a war 20 yrs prior and life wasn’t quite the same. Also the types of government at the time were not conductive to the same kinds of freedom that we have here now, no matter if they are as they should be here or not. They are still better than they were in the 20s and 30s in all countries. But yes Germany was in the clutches of a cult at the time. And the cult followed their leaders pretty much without question. And Europe was a much different place in the 20s and 30s than it is now. Hell it was different in the 70s than it is now. And the scale is different. I don’t know if that makes any difference. But the issues that led to the cult in Germany in the 20s/30s wasn’t trying to destroy their own country they were trying to steal other countries. The one we see now, here is trying to destroy their own country. Towards what end that might benefit themselves is difficult to see. Yes money but do you think they would be allowed to keep that money if they are fully successful?
Steve in the ATL
@Jeffro: I was told there is no math on the blog
Steve in the ATL
@Ruckus: keep that money? We don’t want them to keep their heads!
#FrenchRevolution
sukabi
@Jeffro: that may actually be happening…the WSJ had an editorial begging the Republicans to pass legislation taking away drumpf’s ability to impose tariffs and muck up trade deals.
Ruckus
@J R in WV:
I don’t think you’ve thought this out the way Vlad might have. And I will question that Vlad didn’t know what he was buying.
He wanted to screw the countries that he thinks is screwing him. But he really can’t because his is not the country that he thinks it is. Yes he sells natural gas to a good part of Europe. What else has he got? A few minerals, that are difficult to mine given where they are. So think about this from his standpoint. He gets a moron embarrass his major enemy, that he has no way of beating in any other way. He gets drumpf elected. He’s dealt with drumpf he knows drumpf is piss poor and a moron and that he will do exactly as he has done. Hell Vlad may have gotten the bargain of the century here, what did it actually cost him?
IOW Vlad can not get over on us if we have a halfway competent leader, or even a quarter competent such as GWB. He needs a moron. A moron who thinks he’s smarter than everyone else, who has the common sense of a brick, the knowledge of a turd and the skills that are less than anyone else who could possibly get elected. He probably spends most of his day rolling on the floor laughing his ass off. It wasn’t that hard, he just had to play his cards right. He won a poker hand in LV with a pair of duces. And one dunce.
Ruckus
@Steve in the ATL:
They can keep their heads. Someone has to hold the pikes they are sitting on. So we tie them to lampposts and the pikes to them…….. A twofer.
Brachiator
@sukabi:
Interesting. The WSJ is a Rupert Murdoch joint.
??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??
@Jeffro:
I agree with this agreement!
sukabi
@Brachiator: here’s the link to that thru RawStory
sgrAstar
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Bill, that photo is enchanting!
TeezySkeezy (formerly the T S you hate)
@Corner Stone: The common clay…you know…morons.
Matt McIrvin
@??? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ??: Today’s white Americans are more inherently Nazi than the Germans were. It took a lost world war and a global depression to turn them into Nazis. We happily did it during a boom.