The Trump Presidency – 2016

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

Only calling on reporters that personally knew a gold star family was bush league.

So is calling a gold star family liars. The faux-patriotism from an office that has shown nothing but contempt for the military is pathetic.

[Drake]

My FB feed is full of liberal folks praising W's speech from earlier today like a bunch of fanboys, and conservative folks saying things like, "other than the "white" part (in calling out white supremacy), okay. All supremacy is bad."

Would not have predicted this turn of events 10 years ago. It's like Jimmy Carter opposite day.

[JPhillips]

Bush was raising funds for Gillespie, who has gone to a full time MS13 and Confederate statues campaign. If he's so worried about nativism, maybe he could say something about that.

[thesloppy]

Originally Posted by Drake

My FB feed is full of liberal folks praising W's speech from earlier today like a bunch of fanboys, and conservative folks saying things like, "other than the "white" part (in calling out white supremacy), okay. All supremacy is bad."

Would not have predicted this turn of events 10 years ago. It's like Jimmy Carter opposite day.

Earlier today I read a conservative praising Trump for protecting all of the poor Southerners on Welfare, which brought up a few questions for me: A) What? B? WHAT??

[CrescentMoonie]

Literally everything is a con.

Retired ‘Navy SEAL’ praising Trump on Fox News was a fake - The Washington Post

[Autumn]

Originally Posted by Drake

My FB feed is full of liberal folks praising W's speech from earlier today like a bunch of fanboys, and conservative folks saying things like, "other than the "white" part (in calling out white supremacy), okay. All supremacy is bad."

Would not have predicted this turn of events 10 years ago. It's like Jimmy Carter opposite day.

All supremacy is bad. Like there are many other kinds of supremacy? It amazes me that the right wing could complain for years that Obama wouldn't say "fundamentalist islamic terrorism" but they can't mouth the words white supremacy.

[Warhammer]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

The fact that he can willingly work for a man who has denigrated others in his position, as a gold star parent, causes me lose nearly all respect for him.

I'm curious, what can someone do then?

We tell people to get active, and try to make a difference, yet this guy, because he works for Trump and is trying to make a difference, you lose respect for him?

[Edward64]

I don't doubt Kelly's good intentions. I am grateful he is in there right now. There is no doubt that he is a tempering force and if there is an armed conflict/escalation with NK, I certainly feel alot better with him there helping make decisions (regardless of Trump's Twitter bluster).

I do think the Congresswoman being in the same room during the call indicates some sort of setup. She was going to find something wrong with what Trump said one way or another.

I can easily believe Trump flubbed his words (e.g. Kelly said it much better) but in this case, I really don't think Trump meant to be insulting.

[corbes]

Originally Posted by Drake

My FB feed is full of liberal folks praising W's speech from earlier today like a bunch of fanboys, and conservative folks saying things like, "other than the "white" part (in calling out white supremacy), okay. All supremacy is bad."

Would not have predicted this turn of events 10 years ago. It's like Jimmy Carter opposite day.

Reminds me of this segment from Aziz Ansari's SNL monologue:
Aziz Ansari Stand-Up Monologue - SNL - YouTube

[mckerney]

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by Edward64

I can easily believe Trump flubbed his words (e.g. Kelly said it much better) but in this case, I really don't think Trump meant to be insulting.

I agree that this is the most likely interpretation, but for God's sake, just apologize and offer condolences. The wife apparently was greatly upset by the word choice. Why is the President still ranting about the fairness of the reaction?

[I. J. Reilly]

[The White-Minstrel Show](White Working-Class Populism & Conservatism Are Incompatible | National Review)

Thought some of you would like this essay by Kevin Williams, a lot of food for thought.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

The wife apparently was greatly upset by the word choice.

Or was paid off to be. Or was previously inclined to be & this is just being used since it's available.

I had a pretty good notion of the situation before Kelly spoke. I have a darned good one now.

[jeff061]

As much as I hope for Trump to suffer from some type of fatal ailment... I don't get the building furor over what happened in Niger, just like I didn't get it in Bengazi.

These are people doing dangerous things in dangerous politically sensitive areas. They know this. Despite our best efforts, sometimes shits going to happen. It was clearly an intelligence failure and sloppy contractors(if that part proves to be true), I'm sure the military is going to review in order to mitigate the possibility of the same errors happening again.

For how active our special forces have been for the past several years, I'm surprised this hasn't happened more.

Trying to pin it directly on Trump(or Hilary) really rings hollow and irrelevant.

[jeff061]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Or was paid off to be. Or was previously inclined to be & this is just being used since it's available.

I had a pretty good notion of the situation before Kelly spoke. I have a darned good one now.

I doubt she was paid, I'm sure she wasn't a fan and wasn't taking the call with an open mind. Was looking for a reason to re-enforce her perception of him.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by jeff061

As much as I hope for Trump to suffer from some type of fatal ailment... I don't get the building furor over what happened in Niger, just like I didn't get it in Bengazi.

These are people doing dangerous things in dangerous politically sensitive areas. They know this. Despite our best efforts, sometimes shits going to happen. It was clearly an intelligence failure and sloppy contractors(if that part proves to be true), I'm sure the military is going to review in order to mitigate the possibility of the same errors happening again.

For how active our special forces have been for the past several years, I'm surprised this hasn't happened more.

Trying to pin it directly on Trump(or Hilary) really rings hollow and irrelevant.

Agree with you for the most part. Its just Dems paying back for Benghazi.

I would like to see the timeline of events for Niger. I don't doubt there were some misses, mistakes made.

[RainMaker]

Sun-Sentinel got a cop of Wilson's speech that Kelly spoke about the other day that showed Kelly lied about what she said. So Kelly lied about a member of Congress to discredit the widow of a service member killed.

Frederica Wilson 2015 video shows John Kelly got it wrong - Sun Sentinel

Do these people not understand that there are cameras at everything these days?

[jeff061]

The only people that care about him lying are not the people he's pandering to. Facts are just opinions after all.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Or was paid off to be.

Your modern GOP.

[RainMaker]

Sanders: "If you want to go after General Kelly, if you want to go after a four-star Marine General, that’s highly inappropriate."

— Christina Wilkie (@christinawilkie) October 20, 2017

Again, a tweet for everything.

General John Allen, who I never met but spoke against me last night, failed badly in his fight against ISIS. His record = BAD #NeverHillary

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 29, 2016

[chinaski]

New executive order signed today:

Presidential Executive Order Amending Executive Order 13223 | whitehouse.gov

This EO allows the federal government to recall into service any retired member of the Regular Army, Regular Navy, Regular Air Force, or Regular Marine Corps.

Just another step in going to "war" with NK to distract from his ever growing list of fuckery. What happened to "A Vote for Hillary is a Vote for War"?

[BBT]

Hadn’t seen that part of the speech from Gen Kelly. I retract my earlier post commending him. Sad to see him allowing himself to be used as a pawn by this administration.

[BBT]

Originally Posted by chinaski

New executive order signed today:

Presidential Executive Order Amending Executive Order 13223 | whitehouse.gov

This EO allows the federal government to recall into service any retired member of the Regular Army, Regular Navy, Regular Air Force, or Regular Marine Corps.

Just another step in going to "war" with NK to distract from his ever growing list of fuckery. What happened to "A Vote for Hillary is a Vote for War"?

Sorry for the DOLA.

Being able to recall retired troops has always been something the president has been able to do, going back to the beginning of our country. The original order was signed under Bush after 9/11 and he actually did recall troops, but there’s been laws on the books for some time.

This order is a bit confusing, but I’m not sure it means anything. Looks like he’s delegating authority of recalling retirees to each of the branch secretaries, but he’s also limiting them to their budget and not allowing them to exceeed it.

Bush got a lot of heat for the recall so Trump’s trying to ensure that if troops get recalled, he’s not the one doing it to avoid the heat and he’s also ensuring that the branches don’t go crazy if they do have to recall...which the military tends to do if given the chance. Considering the lack of fanfare on this one, guessing this was one Kelly slipped in.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by BBT

Sorry for the DOLA.

Being able to recall retired troops has always been something the president has been able to do, going back to the beginning of our country. The original order was signed under Bush after 9/11 and he actually did recall troops, but there’s been laws on the books for some time.

This order is a bit confusing, but I’m not sure it means anything. Looks like he’s delegating authority of recalling retirees to each of the branch secretaries, but he’s also limiting them to their budget and not allowing them to exceeed it.

Bush got a lot of heat for the recall so Trump’s trying to ensure that if troops get recalled, he’s not the one doing it to avoid the heat and he’s also ensuring that the branches don’t go crazy if they do have to recall...which the military tends to do if given the chance. Considering the lack of fanfare on this one, guessing this was one Kelly slipped in.

Could be in relation to Niger. Maybe they need some more air support over there and this allows them to be more flexible in case something bad happens with NK.

[Draft Dodger]

Originally Posted by Drake

My FB feed is full of liberal folks praising W's speech from earlier today like a bunch of fanboys, and conservative folks saying things like, "other than the "white" part (in calling out white supremacy), okay. All supremacy is bad."

Would not have predicted this turn of events 10 years ago. It's like Jimmy Carter opposite day.

Remember when W was, like, the worst president anyone could imagine? Puppet of Cheney, violator of human rights, pushed us into a stupid war that is still getting Americans killed, botched Katrina response, mortgage crisis, automotive crisis...etc. You saw 1/20/08 bumper stickers everywhere.

After 10 months of Trump the dude looks like Abraham fucking Lincoln

[PilotMan]

No, he's still the worst. Trump sucks, but Bush had 8 years to fuck up.

[Marc Vaughan]

I love that Trumps tweets about the UK this morning have been reported as 'hate crimes' over there

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

No, he's still the worst. Trump sucks, but Bush had 8 years to fuck up.

W is the absolute worst for me because of the Iraq War and the Great Recession. Trump hasn't reached that level of suckitude yet but obviously he still has time. To me he's been pretty impotent so far (like on the health care issue). Much more bark than bite.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

W is the absolute worst for me because of the Iraq War and the Great Recession. Trump hasn't reached that level of suckitude yet but obviously he still has time. To me he's been pretty impotent so far (like on the health care issue). Much more bark than bite.

I can't blame the Recession on Bush. Luck of the draw.

Trump is clearly the worse in my lifetime.

[JPhillips]

Everything's a con.

In the hours after President Donald Trump said on an Oct. 17 radio broadcast that he had contacted nearly every family that had lost a military servicemember this year, the White House was hustling to learn from the Pentagon the identities and contact information for those families, according to an internal Defense Department email.

The email exchange, which has not been previously reported, shows that senior White House aides were aware on the day the president made the statement that it was not accurate — but that they should try to make it accurate as soon as possible, given the gathering controversy.


Not only had the president not contacted virtually all the families of military personnel killed this year, the White House did not even have an up-to-date list of those who had been killed.

The exchange between the White House and the Defense secretary’s office occurred about 5 p.m. on Oct. 17. The White House asked the Pentagon for information about surviving family members of all servicemembers killed after Trump’s inauguration so that the president could be sure to contact all of them.

[BBT]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Could be in relation to Niger. Maybe they need some more air support over there and this allows them to be more flexible in case something bad happens with NK.

I don’t think it would be Niger, not big enough in scope. May be gearing up for Korea though. Only thing is that if that’s what it’s for, I’d expect Trump to make a scene about it to show strength. Unfortunately, I think that’s the direction we’re heading; question is when.

[JPhillips]

If we start a war in Korea it may take one hundred years to repair the damage to our global standing. It will easily be the single worst decision ever made by a sitting president.

[NobodyHere]

Eh, depends upon the circumstances

Removing an asshole dictator(not Trump) won't cause anyone to cry except China

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Eh, depends upon the circumstances

Removing an asshole dictator(not Trump) won't cause anyone to cry except China

I think you greatly underestimate the loss of life that would be involved in removing said dictator. We wouldn't be able to do it alone and that entire region would be great impacted.

Everyone wants KJU removed from power. No one thinks is worth doing or it would have been done already.

[NobodyHere]

Again, depends on the circumstances

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Eh, depends upon the circumstances

Removing an asshole dictator(not Trump) won't cause anyone to cry except China

The hundreds of thousands in South Korea and Japan that would die would cause some tears. Not to mention massive political and economic instability.

[Edward64]

I don't dispute the great loss of life.

I do think US Presidents would initiate actions (precision strike, war etc.) against NK if they believe there was an imminent threat to the US regardless of innocent SK civilian lives lost.

I support this and think most of US support this. It's just that the devils in the details and most of us differ on where to draw the line and how we define "imminent threat".

With Trump, we know he's the type of guy to "jump the gun" but that's why Kelly and Matthis is reassuring to me.


With that said. I know why US is in SK but I don't know why we are still in the front lines at the DMZ. SK is strong enough of a nation, has great wealth, can buy all the weapons they need etc. and the US can be the supporting cast.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Sun-Sentinel got a cop of Wilson's speech that Kelly spoke about the other day that showed Kelly lied about what she said. So Kelly lied about a member of Congress to discredit the widow of a service member killed.

Frederica Wilson 2015 video shows John Kelly got it wrong - Sun Sentinel

Do these people not understand that there are cameras at everything these days?

Looks like he was wrong. I'm still not believing he lied intentionally, doesn't seem like his nature, in that part of the speech he was just parroting what was given to him.

I'm more inclined to believe someone gave him (or wrote) that into his speech intentionally and that person lied.

Kelly should have not gone there with the congresswoman. If he stopped at the first part, I think the matter would have subsided.

Have to google to see if any of Kelly's friends have leaked any info on what Kelly thinks about his "lie".

[Edward64]

Here's the WH explanation so far.

Fact-checking the John Kelly-Frederica Wilson controversy - CBS News

The Orlando-Sentinel on Friday posted video from the 2015 dedication in which, at least from what the Sun Sentinel claims was the entire speech, Wilson does not mention having had any role in securing funding for the building.

The White House on Friday "absolutely" stood by Kelly's comments, as White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders put it. But Sanders also suggested Wilson's comments weren't necessarily on stage, saying Wilson "had quite a few comments that day that weren't part of that speech and weren't part of that video that were also witnessed by many people that were there."

It does really sound to me that Trump just flubbed his lines. I'm giving Trump a pass on this.

Mr. Trump asked him how to make the calls. "He said to me, 'What do I say?'" Kelly recalled. The chief of staff told Mr. Trump that there wasn't anything he could do to lighten the burden on the families, and he went on to relate what Gen. Joseph Dunford, his closest friend, told him when his son was killed: "'He was doing exactly what he wanted to do when he was killed. He knew what he was getting into," Kelly said, "by joining that 1 percent. He knew what the possibilities were because we're at war. And when he died -- in the four cases we're talking about, Niger, and my son's case in Afghanistan -- when he died, he was surrounded by the best men on this Earth: his friends."

And that, Kelly said, was "what the president tried to say to four families the other day." In that phone call, Kelly said, Mr. Trump told Myeisha Johnson that her husband was "a brave man, a fallen hero" and "he knew what he was getting himself into because he enlisted."

[Edward64]

And now for some humor. I like the Boehner and Bannon ones best.

Speaker Paul Ryan Roasts President Trump at Al Smith Dinner - NBC News

"Every morning, I wake up in my office and scroll Twitter to see which tweets I will have to pretend that I didn't see later," said Ryan, who is often asked what he thinks about Trump's controversial tweets. For months, he responded by saying he didn't respond to the president's tweets.

"I know last year at this dinner Donald Trump offended some people with his comments, which critics said went too far. Some said it was unbecoming of a public figure and that his comments were offensive. ... Well, thank God he's learned his lesson."

"I'm from Wisconsin. It's a great state to visit in the fall. Looking back, someone should have told Hillary Speaking of which, I got Hillary's new book. This sums up today's politics perfectly. She took eight months, writing 10 hours a day, to explain what happened in 512 pages. The president explained it in a tweet. Hash tag, I won."

"Everyone will report what happened here tonight differently. Breitbart will lead with 'Ryan slams the president amongst liberal elites.' The New York Times will report 'Ryan defends the President in a state Hillary won.' And the president will tweet, '300,000 at Al Smith dinner cheer mention of my name.'"

"Every afternoon, former Speaker John Boehner calls me up. Not to give advice. Just to laugh."

"I learned how to handle insults. Steve Bannon said I was born in a petri dish at the Heritage Foundation. This is amazing — no one knew Steve believed in science."

"I know why Chuck [Schumer] has been so hard on President Trump. It's not ideological. Chuck is just mad he lost his top donor."

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Have to google to see if any of Kelly's friends have leaked any info on what Kelly thinks about his "lie".

Haven't found any inside accounts of Kelly's reaction yet.

But did come across this article on a Sanders briefing. She seems to be turning into a Spicer, becoming more combative. Herself insulting a congresswoman seems inappropriate, she didn't need to go there.

Not that I really blame her, its a very tough job and can certainly understand how it can warp you always defending lies, inaccuracies, exaggerations etc. I'd spend my one year and then leave for bigger and better things.

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/20/politi...ate/index.html

Sanders told reporters it was "highly inappropriate" to debate the chief of staff over his statement, given that he is a retired four-star Marine general.

"If you want to go after General Kelly, that is up to you," she said. "If you want to get into a debate with a four-star Marine general, I think that is something highly inappropriate."

Kelly erroneously claimed Thursday that Rep. Frederica Wilson, a Florida Democrat, had taken credit for funding a new FBI building in Miami. Kelly's comment, which was meant to defend President Donald Trump's condolence call that upset the family of a fallen solider, was disproved by a video of Wilson's speech.

After her comments about the propriety of contesting Kelly's statements caused a stir, Sanders said in an email comment to CNN: "Of course everyone can be questioned. But after witnessing General Kelly's heartfelt and somber account, we should all be able to agree that impugning his credibility on how best to honor fallen heroes is not appropriate."
:
:
Sanders said the chief of staff stands by his comments despite the video.

"Absolutely," she said at the briefing, adding that Wilson -- who is known for regularly wearing colorful cowboy hats -- is "all hat, no cattle."

Sanders added that Kelly's interpretation was developed by "a few comments that day that weren't part of that speech and weren't part of that video." White House aides did not respond when CNN asked if they could make those examples public.

[Thomkal]

JFK assassination: Trump to allow release of classified documents - CBS News

[BBT]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

The hundreds of thousands in South Korea and Japan that would die would cause some tears. Not to mention massive political and economic instability.

Number would actually be in the millions, possibly tens of millions. Seoul has almost 52 million citizens and would be devastated if war broke out. American military loss of life would be in the tens of thousands almost immediately.

There is no way to surgically strike North Korea as our intelligence doesn't know where all the artillery sits and we don't have a network of spies in the country that can provide good intel. Most of the artillery is hidden in mountainous regions where they've dug holes to hide it to avoid satellite detection. North Korea also has a million+ man army sitting right near the DMZ and numerous operatives throughout South Korea and Japan that would immediately attack key targets if North Korea is attacked. I'd say that we'd eventually win, but 1) I don't know if we would if other entities engage (China/Russia) and 2) No one would really "win" if war broke out, especially if Nukes start getting set off.

We stayed initially in order to deter China from gaining a strategic foothold. Over time, our role changed to deter North Korea and South Korea from attacking each other and destabilize the region (thoughts were that any war would include China and Japan and possibly the Soviet Union). Now we are there to deter the nuclear threat of North Korea.

[CrimsonFox]

So Steve Bannon is calling George W Bush the most destructive president. My brain simply cannot handle this.

[whomario]

To live in a world where GW Bush is coming out looking like an elder statesman. Has anybody ever done more for his predecessor's public standing than Trump is currently doing ?

Originally Posted by BBT

Seoul has almost 52 million citizens
.

Not to take away from your post in general, but that number is the number of citizens for the whole country. About half those live indeed in the larger metropolitan area of Seoul (crazy enough) with about 10 in the "city proper".

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

JFK assassination: Trump to allow release of classified documents - CBS News

Two things there.

1) The law actually requires the release of those documents, but allows the Executive to redact those which might still have national security repercussions.

2) From the articles I've read, there's some confusion as to whether any of those documents will be held or redacted for the aforementioned national security reasons.

A whole bunch are almost certainly coming, but that's pursuant to an act of Congress from the '90s, not a magnanimous thing that Trump is doing for his conspiracy theorist buddies.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by SackAttack

Two things there.

1) The law actually requires the release of those documents, but allows the Executive to redact those which might still have national security repercussions.

2) From the articles I've read, there's some confusion as to whether any of those documents will be held or redacted for the aforementioned national security reasons.

A whole bunch are almost certainly coming, but that's pursuant to an act of Congress from the '90s, not a magnanimous thing that Trump is doing for his conspiracy theorist buddies.

Yep knew all that, besides Trump loves a good conspiracy, and like Obama's "birther" one, he will proudly proclaim that he ordered the release of the documents while not mentioning of course that the law required them.

[NobodyHere]

WHO is even more incompetent than Trump. That wasn't a question.

Robert Mugabe's WHO appointment condemned as 'an insult' - BBC News

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Edward64

With that said. I know why US is in SK but I don't know why we are still in the front lines at the DMZ. SK is strong enough of a nation, has great wealth, can buy all the weapons they need etc. and the US can be the supporting cast.

Both SK and Japan are vital pieces of land in that part of the world. They keep China in check and are the first lines of defense in a war with either China, North Korea, or Russia. It's why Cuba would have been so important to the Soviet Union.

If we choose not to be on the front lines, why would SK need us at all? At that point we lose a vital piece on the map and likely add another country to the nuclear club.

I do think it's fair to wonder whether 30k is too much though. Whether we could streamline it to save money. But I do think the presence prevents NK from fucking with SK and China from positioning themselves better in the region.

[RainMaker]

More of that swamp draining.

Why Has the E.P.A. Shifted on Toxic Chemicals? An Industry Insider Helps Call the Shots - NYTimes.com