THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY

[HairOfTheDog]

We'll have a new SoS by the end of the year. That's a generous guesstimate.

President Trump is proposing to cut the State Department by 30%. I think he and his team (including his son-in-law) want to weaken it because they want to directly control foreign policy and diplomacy. That's a mistake, in my opinion, but that sure seems to be the goal.

Tillerson doesn't seem to mind taking a back seat and letting his staff be cut drastically. That may be one reason he was appointed in the first place.

Do you think he'll quit or get booted?

[Duchess]

Do you think he'll quit or get booted?

I think he'll resign due to...something. Health, family, etc. I don't know what.

[Duchess]

That may be one reason he was appointed in the first place.

I meant to comment on this too.

Did you know that trump & Tillerson had never met before RT's nomination? He was nominated 2 wks. after trump met with Robert Gates, Tillerson is a client of his. It's said that trump liked him because RT was viewed as an unorthodox businessman who made bold deals and trump was drawn to that. If that's the case I don't see someone like that sitting back and letting trump & company call the shots. That's just my opinion of course.

[Duchess]

Reince Priebus told many people that the FBI had assured him that coverage into a trump/Russia probe was bullshit. This morning the director of the FBI testified that there is an investigation into collusion between the Russian government and the trump campaign. It began in July of 2016. Reince' pants are on fire.

[HairOfTheDog]

I meant to comment on this too.

Did you know that trump & Tillerson had never met before RT's nomination? He was nominated 2 wks. after trump met with Robert Gates, Tillerson is a client of his. It's said that trump liked him because RT was viewed as an unorthodox businessman who made bold deals and trump was drawn to that. If that's the case I don't see someone like that sitting back and letting trump & company call the shots. That's just my opinion of course.

I knew that Trump didn't have a long history with Tillerson, but wasn't aware of the connection with Gates.

I get the sense that Tillerson might have undisclosed personal or business motives for taking the SoS position, but really hope he can do a good job representing the interests of the American people and government professionally and wisely in any case.

Based on his tenure to date, I don't foresee him pushing back on Trump, Bannon, Kushner or anyone in the Trump inner circle. He strikes me as having signed up to lessen the importance of his position and his department when it comes to foreign relations and negotiations. But, he's only been in place for a couple of months, so you might be right that he'll turn out to be the personality type who won't take a backseat without pushing back. He's hard for me to read, so far.

[Duchess]

Dear America: Our president is under investigation by the FBI counterintelligence spooks. This is not normal. History will forever record that the director of the FBI said in an open hearing that Russia intervened in the election to help trump win. Ahahaha!

The hearing yesterday was interesting. Thinking that the president and his administration might be under investigation is waaaay different than actually hearing the FBI say they are. Two things I immediately saw was Democrats wanting to hear about the involvement of Russia and Republicans wanting to know about who did the leaking. They view that as the bigger crime. Carl Bernstein (Watergate) was moved to say, "I can state w/confidence that many intel members now decrying 'leaks' of classified info have themselves 'leaked' classified info knowingly." Fuckin' hypocrites.

Spicer says Trump golfing is different from Obama golfing because of "how you use the game of golf" to advance US interests. Sean's credibility is shot.

[BigMark]

WTF? Why would they assign this only to Black FBI agents?

[aussiefriend]

Payback!

[Duchess]

WTF? Why would they assign this only to Black FBI agents?

You goof. Spooks come in a few colors.

[HairOfTheDog]

I didn't watch the hearing with Comey and Rodgers yesterday, but watched portions of it when I got home last night. Surreal.

Trey Gowdy is really something else, in my opinion, and not in a good way. He wasted tons of time and tax-payer money with the never-ending Benghazi investigations when all of the questions had already been asked and answered, again and again. At yesterday's hearings, he implied that Obama, and Sally Yates, and others from the Obama administration were behind the Flynn leaks, with no proof whatsoever. Then, he told Anderson Cooper that anyone who thought that's what he was doing must be drunk or something. I wasn't drunk or anything. He is not an objective former prosecutor as he loves to contend, but instead a very biased partisan one.

Sean Spicer's attempts at the press briefing yesterday to minimize Flynn's and Manafort's roles in the Trump campaign were idiotic. Both men were hailed as "key advisers" by Trump and company and many of us watched their very high-profile and active roles in the campaign play out real time. Spicer's revisionist history was a weak attempt to distance the President from the two Trump advisers who've already been ousted due to undisclosed Russian and Ukraine influence. I agree that Spicer has no credibility whatsoever at this point.

[Duchess]

Trey Gowdy is really something else

I didn't even know who that condescending little bastard was before yesterday. In my mind he now sits next to Jason Chaffatz. I googled him when he hit my radar. The self righteous hypocrisy runs amok.

[HairOfTheDog]

Do you think he'll quit or get booted?

I think he'll resign due to...something. Health, family, etc. I don't know what.

I just read that Tillerson never wanted or sought the job and had planned to retire and spend time at his ranch with his grandchildren. Then......he was summoned to meet with President Trump for the first time.

Tillerson said he was shocked that Trump offered him the SoS job. But, he accepted it because his wife told him, "I told you God wasn't through with you yet."

Now, he says, he "serves at the pleasure of the President."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...State.html

[HairOfTheDog]

Weirder than Tillerson as SoS, to me, is the President's daughter now having classified clearance, an office in the White House, and open access to those running the government. However, Ivanka doesn't hold any official position like her husband does.

I'm not a fan of ruling classes comprised of unelected family members. It would have rubbed me equally wrong if Clinton had won and inserted Chelsea and her husband in such roles.

[BigMark]

Having someone you trust and understand assist you is very valuable.

[HairOfTheDog]

Yeah, but we're not talking about assistance choosing a tie, spelling the word 'tap', or providing a woman's viewpoint on the issues here.

We're talking about creating a position for his kid and giving her access to classified governmental matters. Trump already has a trusted cabinet of his choosing, presumably based on his opinion of their qualifications and loyalty, to assist him in running the country. Inserting family members who have no political experience and weren't elected by the people reeks to me of attempted dynasty-building.

I'm not losing any sleep over it. I just don't like it. Leading the U.S. government isn't like owning a company where one sometimes hands their kids key high-profile positions and grooms them to take over one day. President Trump is supposed to be focused on working for the American people, not building a political brand for himself and his kids.

[BigMark]

She seems focused, intelligent and loyal. I appreciate her trying to make America better.

[HairOfTheDog]

That's really sweet, Biggie.

A lot of Americans are intelligent, loyal, and dedicated to keeping America great. That doesn't mean we should be sitting in the White House with access to classified information.

Ivanka Trump and her husband are business/brand-minded people and ambitious power players. I don't think patriotism and loyalty to her dad are the only reasons they're in the White House (though I don't doubt she possesses those attributes, same as a lot of other people).

We just see it differently.

[Duchess]

She seems focused, intelligent and loyal. I appreciate her trying to make America better.

...and that deserves top level security clearance? Why would she need access to national security information? I don't ask this rudely, I'm genuinely curious.

[Duchess]

The Secret Service has requested (and been denied) an extra $60 million dollars for travel and protection in regards to the trump family. Work hard, Mockers, the trump's are depending on you.

[username]

So let me see if I understand this from the brief news reports I've heard today. Some guy on the committee investigating the Russian/Trump campaign potential connection went running over to the White House today and, without telling anyone on the committee, told Trump (who, along with his committee IS being investigated), the press and everyone that would listen that they might have found some tidbit of information that supports Trump's assertion that he was NOT being "wire tapped" but he was possibly under some sort of surveillance. So, he told one of the people being investigated likely classified information about the persons/group being investigated.

Is that about it?

Today may not have been Trump's fault but he IS going to get impeached. He's an unabashed liar saying things like Obama "wire tapped" him (without any evidence) and therefore Obama was a bad, bad, man. And later he had the nerve to say the quotes around wire tapped meant (duh) that he wasn't really talking about wire tapping, he was talking about any sort of surveillance/investigation. Okie-doke.

Seriously? More and more people are flat out calling him either a liar (check) or someone with mental problems (check!). He's either going to get impeached or killed; possibly under the direction of his own party. Bye Donald. Don't let the Oval Office door hit you in the butt on your way out.

I said up thread that I figured that they (intelligence) were looking at all angles for any wrong doing but also to see if the dots could be connected all the way from the Russians, through campaign members to the Donald. I won't be surprised if they find it.

He's a nut. Totally unfit.