President Trump

[WWFS]

Trump authorized the release of all text messages relating to the Russia investigation, sans redaction, of James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, and Bruce Ohr.

This is in spite of the advice or recommendation of his own counsel, the intel committee, and law enforcement.

This could get interesting. The Mango Mussolini is only declassifying "selected" documents, that obviously put him in the best light.

I'm waiting to see if

a) The DoJ and FBI push back.

b) If any members of Congress will push back using their own declassification powers, and reading other documents into the congressional record.

[Ignatius Reilly]

Did Stormy Daniels just describe Trump's junk as looking like Toad from Mario Kart?

Narrator: "She did".

Well, now we know. Say "Hi!".....

[Bellyhungry]

Did Stormy Daniels just describe Trump's junk as looking like Toad from Mario Kart?

Narrator: "She did".

Well, now we know. Say "Hi!".....

The interweb will never be the same ever again.

[pudubny]

This could get interesting. The Mango Mussolini is only declassifying "selected" documents, that obviously put him in the best light.

I'm waiting to see if

a) The DoJ and FBI push back.

b) If any members of Congress will push back using their own declassification powers, and reading other documents into the congressional record.

He has justified this with a statement that he wants "total transparency", although the Page FISA warrant is apparently heavily redacted. I think that statement will come back to haunt him.

[ManFromMoffat]

Rump on Florence:

"One of the wettest we've seen, from the standpoint of water."

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1042197168533241856

[pudubny]

I just finished the Woodward book. A few things stand out.
-Trump asks tough questions about old assumed truths. I think that's positive. He's right to ask "why are we paying for South Korean defence". He doesn't like the answers he gets but it's a legitimate question. In general, why is the US paying to defend so many countries?
-on Afghanistan he asks "how do we win?", the Generals don't have a strategy to win. So let's "get out". No, the generals are convinced Afghanistan will again become a hotbed of international terrorism. That idea should be challenged more.
-Woodward paints Trump as sympathetic on several immigration issues including DACA. The hardliners like Miller and Bannon don't let any bi-partisan deal go unchallenged.
-Trump's former lawyer John Dowd doesn't think Meuller has anything on collusion. Meuller wants to know the President's "intent" for firing Comey and wants Trump to testify. The best Meuller can hope for is Trump purjures himself like so many others before him. Dowd recommended Trump not testify to avoid this trap. According to Dowd, the WH has shared everything they have been asked for to Meuller.
-Trump believes if he renegotiated the trade deals with various countries, manufacturing will return to the US. This is contrary to virtually all economists except for those closest to Trump. Navarro being one.
- their is little structure or organization to Trump's WH. Surprise. But Trump seems to like pitting people against one another to avoid "group think".
-the book only goes up to the time Dowd resigns as his lawyer and Porter leaves as assistant. So it's not as current to many new players. Hicks is still employed when the book finishes.
-overall, an interesting read. I think Woodward tries to give Trump the benefit of the doubt that he challenges old ideas very well. He holds people accountable but has several personality traits that get in his own way.

[ManFromMoffat]

I agree, periodically questioning long-assumed positions is a good thing. Beyond that, ...

[Bellyhungry]

Trump threw Sessions under the bus in a The Hill interview:

https://thehill.com/hilltv/rising/40...mpression=true

“I don’t have an Attorney General. It’s very sad,”

"“And then he went through the nominating process and he did very poorly...."

[Ignatius Reilly]

Speaking of sad things and people, I've just learned from Twitter that Maryland has no statute of limitations for attempted rape.

So..... Kavanaugh may not only miss out on getting into SCOTUS, he could be criminally liable for what he's allegedly done back in high school.

Bummer for him....

[Bellyhungry]

FEMA Will Test an Emergency System That Lets President Trump Send You Text Alerts

http://time.com/5397524/fema-emergency-system-trump-text/?xid=time_socialflow_twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=time&utm_source=twitter.com

The test is scheduled to be on Oct 3. There is no way one can opt out apparently.

In other words, on Oct 3, all Americans with cell phone will receive a pic of:

[ace in the hazard]

FEMA Will Test an Emergency System That Lets President Trump Send You Text Alerts

http://time.com/5397524/fema-emergency-system-trump-text/?xid=time_socialflow_twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=time&utm_source=twitter.com

The test is scheduled to be on Oct 3. There is no way one can opt out apparently.

In other words, on Oct 3, all Americans with cell phone will receive a pic of:

“If you separate this from the politics and personality of any individual president then this is a great idea and an amazing use of technology to reach everybody if they’re in harms way,” Karen North, director of the Annenberg Digital Social Media program at the University of Southern California told NBC.

“A system like this seems necessary in an era where most people are disconnected from ‘live’ media like radio and television,” UCLA communications professor Tim Groeling told NBC. “Broadcast-based emergency alert systems … have remained professional and impartial over decades.”

Who wants to bet how long it takes Trump to start using this to send his own personal propaganda across the nation?

[Bellyhungry]

Kavanagh's SCOTUS chance is likely done...

- Polling is not in favor of him (31 in favor, 33 don't know, 36 oppose)
- The accuser is a doctor/professor. A professional woman carries a lot of weight in terms of credibility, rightly or wrongly
- Trump has not defended Kavanagh with fervor. Instead he made statements like 'If she shows up and makes a credible showing, that will be very interesting, and we'll have to make a decision." In fact, Trump defended Moore with more rigor than he does with Kavanagh
- #MeToo movement. Last thing Trump wants to do is to draw more attention to the optic of women being assaulted given the baggage that is already hanging over his head

[Arthur Dailey]

Speaking of sad things and people, I've just learned from Twitter that Maryland has no statute of limitations for attempted rape.

So..... Kavanaugh may not only miss out on getting into SCOTUS, he could be criminally liable for what he's allegedly done back in high school.

Bummer for him....

Although a supporter of Womens Rights and MeToo (philosophically), if we were all to have our actions from 30+ years ago scrutinized by professional investigators, then who would be left to cast the first stone?

[Pimento Cheese]

Although a supporter of Womens Rights and MeToo (philosophically), if we were all to have our actions from 30+ years ago scrutinized by professional investigators, then who would be left to cast the first stone?

I guess the flipside to that is that, in this case, there is a woman whose experience was so traumatic that she suffered from PTSD and was in therapy, so, she's had to live with the consequences of his actions, and perhaps he should too.

I know what you're saying -- I think we've all probably thought about a time when we were in high school or college and got a bit handsy before a stop sign went up, but I think we're talking about cases where men didn't acknowledge the stop sign or acted without caring about stop signs, whereas most of us would see a stop sign and know that little willie wasn't going to come out to play that day. In the Kavanaugh case, he is alleged to have put his hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming, and he was so forceful that she feared he would accidentally kill her. I think that goes quite a bit beyond anything most of us have ever even approached doing.

And I know you agree with all of that and it's really the passage of time you're talking about, but, to repeat how my post started, only one of them has had to live with that incident in the years that have passed. That, and the degree to which she says she was traumatized, play into my thinking here. It doesn't strike me as a situation where he got a little frisky and had no idea she was so scared; the second you have to put your hand over a person's mouth so no one can hear them screaming, you've probably got a good idea that you've gone a tad too far.

[Bern]

Although a supporter of Womens Rights and MeToo (philosophically), if we were all to have our actions from 30+ years ago scrutinized by professional investigators, then who would be left to cast the first stone?

I think this a dangerous attitude to take, particularly for a life long SCOTUS nominee. The US have already ignored Anita Hill on a current SCOTUS member. They should ensure a similar mistake is not made that would likely threaten law that the majority of women feel is a fundamental right.