Mega-Thread: Trump Focused Discussion

[Breccia]

Schumer and Warner, ranking Democrats in the House and Senate Intelligence Committees, bemourn the loss of Coats and Gordon.

I'll skip to the end: they both agree that Trump pushed out decades of experience to satiate his ego.

Anyone who disagrees with that is free to read this or any of dozens of articles in which Trump jokes and laughs about his crowd size vs Beto's while visiting hospitals where some of the patients of the weekend's mass murders agreed to see him. But what you won't read is Trump admitting he blocked the FBI and DoJ from going after white supremacists, or see him sighing HJ 40, because that would make him look bad.

- - - Updated - - -

This Axios article brings up an interesting point about several key international issues:
1) India vs Pakistan
2) South Korea vs. Japan
3) NK vs. sanity
4) Brexit vs. No Brexit

They all have something in common: silence from the White House.

“None of these crises were made in America,” says Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations. “That said, we have made it worse in each case either by what we’ve done or what we haven’t done.”

“All of these situations argue for quiet American involvement,” Haass says. “You need the United States, behind the scenes, encouraging people to say and do things that are constructive and avoid saying and doing things that are not.”

“That’s old-fashioned foreign policy. This is an administration that doesn’t seem to do a lot of that.”

There have been times in the past where the US has been called to mediate, especially as part of a group. That's not happening. In the case of India vs. Pakistan, for example, Trump volunteered to mediate the Kashmir situation, and immediately afterwards, India made their move without informing US first. That's a slap in the face.

The US doesn't have to enter into every international situation, that's true. But refusing to even offer allies help is bad enough. Offering, and being snubbed, is...hey remember when Trump said the US was respected again? That doesn't look like respect. That looks like a snub.

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Reuters poll of economic experts increases the chance of recession next year from 35% to 45%. It's the highest result they've gotten yet.

Nearly 70% of economists responding to an additional question said the latest developments had brought the next U.S. recession closer.

“Certainly, escalating trade tensions through higher tariffs and restricted access to markets is hurting sentiment, increasing costs, damaging supply chains and weakening corporate profitability,” wrote James Knightley, chief international economist at ING.

“This then feeds through into consumer sentiment and spending more broadly in the economy with recession risks mounting.”

[RaoBurning]

Trump tweets, because of course he did, about...yes, this is apparently worth his time and attention, it's not like the Oval Office has other things to handle...about the guests CNN have had on.

Specifically, Tim O'Brien.

Just curious, but did you misspell every instance of O'Brien except the first on purpose as a joke and I'm just not getting it, or is there some other dark work afoot on MMO-C? I only ask because I'm quite fond of the name, and your post humor is usually much easier to decipher.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/l...l-anthem-trump

So the "Trump defense" comes into play for the second time following a violent attack.

Just in case anybody needs reminding, the vocab for today this administration is Stochastic Terrorism.

[Breccia]

Just curious, but did you misspell every instance of O'Brien except the first on purpose as a joke and I'm just not getting it

Um...no, that's probably a typo I just cut and pasted over and over.

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Q2 2019 GDP numbers expected to be revised --

"Yeah! I knew 2.1% was too low! MAGA!"

Down to 1.8%.

"Why?"

The economy grew at a 2.1% annualized rate in the second quarter, slowing from the first quarter’s brisk 3.1% pace. Growth is seen below a 2.0% rate in the July-September quarter.

But economists expect the government will lower its second-quarter GDP growth estimate to around a 1.8% rate later this month after a separate report from the Commerce Department on Thursday showed wholesale inventories were unchanged in June instead of rising 0.2% as reported last month.

The component of wholesale inventories that goes into the calculation of gross domestic product edged up 0.1% in June.

That suggested the pace of inventory accumulation was much slower than the government had assumed when it compiled its advance GDP report last month. The government is scheduled to publish its second GDP estimate for the April-June period on Aug. 29.

According to JPMorgan’s Silver, the June wholesale data implied inventories increased at a $66 billion rate in the second quarter, instead of the $71.7 billion pace estimated in the advance GDP report.

That means inventories chopped 1.0 percentage point from GDP, rather than the estimated 0.86 percentage point.

Some of the slowdown in inventory accumulation reflects a surge in consumer spending in the second quarter. Businesses are also carefully managing stock levels because of the darkening economic outlook.

"Ah! See! A surge in spending! MAGA!"

And it was still 2.1%. And could drop.

And there are few to no indicators that Q3 is going to be a ton better. Atlanta has revised their estimate UP to 1.9%.

I keep saying Trump won't be able to run on his record. Under the assumption that Q2 gets revised as stated and Q3 goes as predicted, that means Trump will be at risk of GDP being 2% for the year. Compare to his campaign rhetoric (the parts that weren't lies at least).

[Zaydin]

So who wants to see a picture of Donald Trump and Melania smiling with Trump giving a thumbs up while holding a baby whose parents were both murdered in El Paso trying to protect their child from the Trump supporting terrorist? A baby whose hand was broken when their mothers body fell on them.

Nobody? Too bad, because Trump did exactly that. The only thing Trump seems to excel at is fucking things up.

Bonus points: The baby was apparently already discharged from the hospital and BROUGHT BACK TO BE USED FOR TRUMPS PHOTO-OP.

[cubby]

So who wants to see a picture of Donald Trump and Melania smiling with Trump giving a thumbs up while holding a baby whose parents were both murdered in El Paso trying to protect their child from the Trump supporting terrorist? A baby whose hand was broken when their mothers body fell on them.

Nobody? Too bad, because Trump did exactly that. The only thing Trump seems to excel at is fucking things up.

Bonus points: The baby was apparently already discharged from the hospital and BROUGHT BACK TO BE USED FOR TRUMPS PHOTO-OP.

Wow. I mean - holy fucking shit. That is Hilarious in the darkest and most deplorable way possible (hopefully you see what I did there). Every day I think that felonious con-artist can't get any worse. And every day he proves me wrong.

[Zaydin]

Wow. I mean - holy fucking shit. That is Hilarious in the darkest and most deplorable way possible (hopefully you see what I did there). Every day I think that felonious con-artist can't get any worse. And every day he proves me wrong.

It's just another reminder that he has zero empathy. That's not just me saying that; workers at the El Paso hospital said it, too.

This level of callousness should be an impeachable offense of its own.

[Yetanothernewbie]

So who wants to see a picture of Donald Trump and Melania smiling with Trump giving a thumbs up while holding a baby whose parents were both murdered in El Paso trying to protect their child from the Trump supporting terrorist? A baby whose hand was broken when their mothers body fell on them.

Nobody? Too bad, because Trump did exactly that. The only thing Trump seems to excel at is fucking things up.

Bonus points: The baby was apparently already discharged from the hospital and BROUGHT BACK TO BE USED FOR TRUMPS PHOTO-OP.

Jesus H Fucking Christ.

[Zaydin]

Jesus H Fucking Christ.

It's a reminder that no matter how awful Trump is, he always finds a way to get even worse.

[Yetanothernewbie]

It's a reminder that no matter how awful Trump is, he always finds a way to get even worse.

You would think that there would be a level that he could not stoop to. But clearly there is nothing beneath him. And people will still defend this fucking monsterous simulacrum of a human being.

The U.S is fucked.

[Dontrike]

So who wants to see a picture of Donald Trump and Melania smiling with Trump giving a thumbs up while holding a baby whose parents were both murdered in El Paso trying to protect their child from the Trump supporting terrorist? A baby whose hand was broken when their mothers body fell on them.

Nobody? Too bad, because Trump did exactly that. The only thing Trump seems to excel at is fucking things up.

Bonus points: The baby was apparently already discharged from the hospital and BROUGHT BACK TO BE USED FOR TRUMPS PHOTO-OP.

He finds new dark corners to slither into and reveal to us. All he had to do was look sad for like two hours and he couldn't get that right.

[Templar 331]

Well, in this case, it's probably a compound issue.

1) Trump loathes oversight. He's a hypocrite for doing so of course, but he's tried to run the government through executive orders and National Security Lol. Asking the Senate to approve his choices is out of character, even as it's legally mandated

2) Trump is having harder and harder time finding people who are willing to work for him. His nominees are increasingly unqualified. I'm honestly a little surprised Ratcliffe wasn't a wife beater.

3) And Trump shows neither loyalty nor respect to people who have shown they deserve both. Gordon has proven she could do the job. She was rejected. And I was half-tempted to joke "she wasn't pretty enough" before realizing it had a 50/50 chance of being true.

Remember: the GOP still holds the Senate. They will pass just about anyone Trump puts up. The failure to fill seats is not the Senate's fault.

You are right on all of that but I should have been a little more clear in that the Senate wouldn't hold Trump responsible for failing to follow the law. So Trump really has no reason to care for empty positions in his administration, even though he can't fill them.

[Pannonian]

So who wants to see a picture of Donald Trump and Melania smiling with Trump giving a thumbs up while holding a baby whose parents were both murdered in El Paso trying to protect their child from the Trump supporting terrorist? A baby whose hand was broken when their mothers body fell on them.

Nobody? Too bad, because Trump did exactly that. The only thing Trump seems to excel at is fucking things up.

Bonus points: The baby was apparently already discharged from the hospital and BROUGHT BACK TO BE USED FOR TRUMPS PHOTO-OP.

This is not a photo op.

They're sizing the baby up to find the cage in the right dimensions for it. That's why they're smiling.

[BronzeCondor]

Probably to prevent a supply disruption.

Anyway, I'm glad there isn't a deal with China. Drawing an end to our trade relationship with them means, by definition, no deal ever.

Weaponizing the China-US New Cold War against Trump is to put short term priorities against longer term imperatives we absolutely cannot screw up on. The US needs to find itself unable to compromise with China on many issues. Only then will there be sufficient enduring incentive to build an exclusionary trade/security domain that has legs, and won't be undone by the next Democrat who looks that the New Cold War's price tag and gets cold feet, or the next Republican who tries to engage in Trump-style American-first nonsense.

The default position of folks strictly focused on trade relations is that the status quo ante was desirable and that there should be some kind of deal to get back to that. I think that's deluded and looks at things purely through the money domain. Once again, we need to (and are to) prioritize geopolitical power and position over trade benefits. Knocking China to its knees is more important than cheap TVs for Americans.

It's funny how some people still look at the "Trade War" discussions as a strictly economic related activity when it's actually something so much more. It's actually entertaining that China continues to entertain these talks when they know full well that the U.S. is not going to relent. Unless of course both countries understand it's time to decouple and are giving each other room to restructure for the short term. Otherwise, why continue the circus and charade?

[Paranoid Android]

President Trump again raises possibility of commuting Rod Blagojevich's sentence (link: https://cnn.it/2yMQ5FV) cnn.it/2yMQ5FV

Our fearless leader always on the job to fight unjustice, truth and the American way!

Oh for those who are not familiar with Rod Blagojevich, he was the former Governor of Illinois, who went to prison for 14 years of corruption charges. The main one was a true "pay for play" when he asked for money in order to get the Senator seat vacated by Obama when he was elected.

Trump was even quoted as to say, he believes the sentence Blago received was; "unfair".

Connection to Trump. Well of course this guy was on Celebrity Apprentice that might be as deep as it goes with this guy. Also reporting that Kushner has been pushing hard for this, for some reason. Plus we can throw in the theory once again, that he likes to show his hand that if you are corrupt, Trump will possibly pardon you.

Now Trump has received actual blowback and criticism that this deal is unlikely off the table.

Drain the Swamp!

[Breccia]

Mitch McConnell, still cowering inside his carapace, calls the mass media and social media "rigged" in an attempt to sound even more like Trump when caught breaking the rules.

Now let's be fair: selective enforcement of the rules is the very definition of "unfair".

But.

You lose some of the moral high ground when you're found breaking those rules yourself. Kaepernik, for example, was not protesting that he was arrested.

Basically, McConnell can complain all he wants that other people break the rules and aren't punished. He can't complain that he broke the rules and was punished.

Also, maybe there wouldn't have been a protest at your front door if you went back to Washington? I mean, "stab that motherfucker in the heart" is uncalled for, violence isn't the answer, but if he had just done his job like everyone else instead of taking a 5-week vacation while innocent people are shot, maybe this wouldn't have been an issue at all.

"That's victim blaming."

Mitch McConnell wasn't wearing a short dress when he was raped (and then forced to carry the child to term). Mitch McConnell saw dozens of Americans get murdered, was asked by people in both parties to cancel his vacation to deal with it, and said "No, I'm not going to do that". Didn't even say "I have a broken shoulder" to the best of my knowledge. He was called out on his behavior, which he did intentionally. Protest is an American right. ("Stab that motherfucker in the heart" is not)

Also, the victims were the people who were mass murdered. McConnell isn't the victim here.

[D Luniz]

So who wants to see a picture of Donald Trump and Melania smiling with Trump giving a thumbs up while holding a baby whose parents were both murdered in El Paso trying to protect their child from the Trump supporting terrorist? A baby whose hand was broken when their mothers body fell on them.

Nobody? Too bad, because Trump did exactly that. The only thing Trump seems to excel at is fucking things up.

Bonus points: The baby was apparently already discharged from the hospital and BROUGHT BACK TO BE USED FOR TRUMPS PHOTO-OP.

As one of the fox people said

They're not our children

I just don't think people even realized the full implications of what that mindset means.

[Breccia]

Too bad, because Trump did exactly that.

I'm going to wait for confirmation before running with that one. Even by Trump standards, that seems unnecessarily sociopathic. Also, why would the hospital allow this?

It could easily be true, I'm just going to wait before running with that ball.

[Breccia]

He's the President, random hospital staff won't just say "no" to him.

That's unethical. Rules are rules, even for Trump. You don't just hand an orphan baby to a stranger for a photo-op.

Again, waiting on confirmation. I would like to believe hospital staff knew better, plus again, I'd like to believe even Trump knew better. If this is verified, you get a public "I told you so Breccia" and I have to accept that.

[D Luniz]

https://twitter.com/alandete/status/...703031808?s=09

Looks like the grandfather confirmed it

[Dontrike]

Posted this in another thread, but I'm going to post it here, too. Since it ties into what Trump has said about it.

Walmart removing violent video game displays, signs from stores but still selling guns

Watch out! That cardboard standee of a soldier from Call of Duty is gonna get ya! But not the man with the actual gun you can get in isle fucking four.