Lets see if we can keep this thread a little more civil.

I found this interview very interesting.  A lot of soft balls thrown at Trump, he explained his back pedalling on his more extreme issues as a lot of his claims as opening bids for negotiation purposes.  Which .. whatever .. I still think that those are insincere claims he used to get elected.

He does now come across way more presidential then he did prior to the election.  A lot of his noise, yelling, and rhetoric has been scaled back.

Do respect this one though:

Quote

 

Lesley Stahl: Are you gonna take the salary, the president’s salary?

Donald Trump: Well, I’ve never commented on this, but the answer is no. I think I have to by law take $1, so I’ll take $1 a year. But it’s a -- I don’t even know what it is.

Donald Trump: Do you know what the salary is?

Lesley Stahl: $400,000 you’re giving up.

Donald Trump: No, I’m not gonna take the salary. I’m not taking it.

 

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-donald-trump-family-melania-ivanka-lesley-stahl/

11 hours ago, do or die said:

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/399129-giuliani-attacks-cohen-after-trump-tower-report-hes-a-pathological

As far as Rudy Giuliani calling ANYONE a pathological liar.....

😄

 

 

Hey being a pathological liar is a pre-requisite in order to work for Trump.

1 hour ago, do or die said:

The incompetence is simply breathtaking.

The thing that gets me is that there hasn't been a revolt within the Republican party yet... like are they OK being made a laughing stock on the world stage? Are they afraid that Trump is too big to fail? Cause I tell you the longer they let this go on the more they hurt their long term chances of maintaining power. The non ignorant are rapidly getting sick of Trumps ****. 

2 hours ago, 17to85 said:

The thing that gets me is that there hasn't been a revolt within the Republican party yet... like are they OK being made a laughing stock on the world stage? Are they afraid that Trump is too big to fail? Cause I tell you the longer they let this go on the more they hurt their long term chances of maintaining power. The non ignorant are rapidly getting sick of Trumps ****. 

I think the party thinks if they turn on Trump, the base turns on them and they are done.  Its not like Dems and Liberals will embrace Republicans just because they turn on Trump.  Their only hope of winning is to go with Trump.  They had a chance before to turn against him and make the Republican party a Moderate Right party, but they didnt.  It will likely take a complete disaster, such as Trump being impeached and possible jailed, an implosion of the Party for it to re-build without the alt-right White Nationalist garbage propping it up.

There is so much ground between the center and the current GOP.  If the Dems can hold off their own crazies and move towards the centre, they can gain a ton of traction.  Its there for the taking.

If the GOP gets clobbered in November, you'll start seeing the party turn on Trump because they will think he's poison and they wont want to lose in 2020.

3 hours ago, 17to85 said:

Hey being a pathological liar is a pre-requisite in order to work for Trump.

I find that particular statement to be inaccurate and outrageous as well as insulting. 

Sincerely,
Sarah Huckabee Sanders

4 hours ago, 17to85 said:

Hey being a pathological liar is a pre-requisite in order to work for Trump.

 

56 minutes ago, do or die said:

"Yeah, that's fair. One can totally ..."

*handed paper from off screen*

*Reading from paper*

"I find that particular statement to be inaccurate and outrageous as well as insulting."

Sincerely,
Sarah Huckabee Sanders

FIFY

4 hours ago, 17to85 said:

Hey being a pathological liar is a pre-requisite in order to work for Trump.

The thing with Rudy is, he's serving his current master.  Even though everything he says flies in the face of things he's previously said.  He's a great example of partisan hypocrisy.  If Obama was alleged to have done a fraction of what Trump has, Rudy and the boys would be demanding his head on a silver platter.  But saying that, even though Rudy is simply serving his master, he's doing a really poor job.  And he comes across as old and out of touch and non-credible.

Trump should have stuck with other lawyers or find ones now.  But as I recall, many lawyers declined to take him on.  Plus, he didnt like the advice others gave him.  Rudy is there for one reason - to fight Trump's fight.  He will never go to Trump with a settlement or plea deal.  Its all about fighting to the death.  And for that reason, they will lose.

15 hours ago, do or die said:

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/399129-giuliani-attacks-cohen-after-trump-tower-report-hes-a-pathological

As far as Rudy Giuliani calling ANYONE a pathological liar.....

😄

 

Just like there being a Trump tweet for everything, there is a Guiliani video for everything:

 

Giuliani is spinning so much his eyes have bugged out

Trump's trade wars are being quietly folded and put away.

Congress passed an exemption for many chinese products the other day. Then there was a "truce" with the EU.

which he ignores, or just lies about of course.

meanwhile existing markets for their ag products are slipping away.

Once gone, hard to get them back. probably impossible while Trump is around.

It's not easy getting countries like China to buy  your stuff. 

lol the other day someone smashed trump's star hollywood walk of fame. now there are two "russian soldiers" standing guard over it. you can see the pic here

https://digbysblog.blogspot.com/

Edited July 29, 20187 yr by Mark F

He sent out a bunch of tweets today. Attacking mueller.  Very clear he is desperate and has a very guilty conscience. 

 

4 minutes ago, The Unknown Poster said:

He sent out a bunch of tweets today. Attacking mueller.  Very clear he is desperate and has a very guilty conscience. 

 

Saw that, you think he's just about ready to do something real stupid, he just needs to get a push from the good folks at Fox and we could have a hell of a week.

...or more tweets from Michael Avenatti.   This guy is seriously trolling Trump.

Are they hoping trump eventually gets a new trial based on lousy legal representation? Rudy is really bad at this 

 

This is important. It basically confirms other reports that trump may have been in that meeting via speakerphone.  And also that they expect trump to be indicted (or at least to referred for charges) for conspiring with the Russians and obstruction.  

Their defence is collusion is not a crime. This is word play. The law isn’t collusion, it’s conspiracy.  Rudy is just trying to get the public consciousness to accept trump colluded  but it’s not a crime. Which ofcourse it is, but it’s called conspiracy. 

Edited July 30, 20187 yr by The Unknown Poster

15 hours ago, The Unknown Poster said:

He sent out a bunch of tweets today. Attacking mueller.  Very clear he is desperate and has a very guilty conscience. 

 

Desperate, yes. Guilty conscience, I'd say not so much. He has high levels of arrogance combined with ignorance, but he lives in an alternate reality of wealth where he does what he wants (remember the whole Billy Bush "grab em by the [you know what], I forced myself on her like a b*tch, you get to kiss them, do whatever - when you're a big star you get away with whatever" and his "I could shoot somebody in Times Square and my approval would go up 5 points" mentality). He is now feeling heat he can't buy his way out of like his past lawsuits, and it upsets his sense of superiority.

He has now flat out denied knowing about the Trump Tower meeting in advance. If Cohen taped the one meeting, got to think he taped many others, so if there is a tape of that session proving Trump DID know, then we finally have a direct contradiction that Mueller can act on and that COULD lead to impeachment for lying (still, it won't happen as long as Republicans hold the balance of power). Trump has always said "no collusion" as his go to, which isn't a 100% denial of his knowledge of meetings, just his spin that nothing of what happened ever benefitted him and his rise to the Presidency, so this flat out denial could sting worse.

And we saw his backtracking on his intelligence community flip-flop after the Helsinki disaster. He reads from a prepared script saying "I 100% percent believe the intelligence that the Russians meddled" then looks up and adds "among many others, who can say, quite possible, and none of it affected the race". His ego is so large and so fragile he cannot bring himself to even allow the possibility that his election win is tainted buy outside influence, and he is sinking himself because of it.

He has no conscience in my mind. He is a full blown egomaniac if not a borderline sociopath.

17 minutes ago, TrueBlue4ever said:

Desperate, yes. Guilty conscience, I'd say not so much. He has high levels of arrogance combined with ignorance, but he lives in an alternate reality of wealth where he does what he wants (remember the whole Billy Bush "grab em by the [you know what], I forced myself on her like a b*tch, you get to kiss them, do whatever - when you're a big star you get away with whatever" and his "I could shoot somebody in Times Square and my approval would go up 5 points" mentality). He is now feeling heat he can't buy his way out of like his past lawsuits, and it upsets his sense of superiority.

He has now flat out denied knowing about the Trump Tower meeting in advance. If Cohen taped the one meeting, got to think he taped many others, so if there is a tape of that session proving Trump DID know, then we finally have a direct contradiction that Mueller can act on and that COULD lead to impeachment for lying (still, it won't happen as long as Republicans hold the balance of power). Trump has always said "no collusion" as his go to, which isn't a 100% denial of his knowledge of meetings, just his spin that nothing of what happened ever benefitted him and his rise to the Presidency, so this flat out denial could sting worse.

And we saw his backtracking on his intelligence community flip-flop after the Helsinki disaster. He reads from a prepared script saying "I 100% percent believe the intelligence that the Russians meddled" then looks up and adds "among many others, who can say, quite possible, and none of it affected the race". His ego is so large and so fragile he cannot bring himself to even allow the possibility that his election win is tainted buy outside influence, and he is sinking himself because of it.

He has no conscience in my mind. He is a full blown egomaniac if not a borderline sociopath.

I dont think he'd be subject to impeachment for lying since he has not lied under oath.  Which is one of the reasons he's yet to meet with Mueller...once he does, he's far too likely to lie about something and then he's screwed.

But I think he does know he's guilty, he just might not agree with it, like you said.  He does what he wants and thinks he can do whatever he wants.  Like Nixon said, its not illegal when you're the President.  Unfortunately, that's not true.  Rudy's word games plus speculation that Trump might have been in the meeting via speakerphone are a problem.  I would believe fully that Trump believes there was nothing at all wrong with doing that.  And this "defense" is pushing that narrative.  

If Cohen is believed and there were several people at a meeting where Trump gave the go ahead for the Russian meeting, all they need is one other person to corroborate.   

Why all this "collusion is not a crime" stuff peddled first by Hannity, months ago...and now by Giuliani.

....if, as we are told on an hourly basis.....that there was "no collusion"?

  Could it be, that what I am seeing and reading is not what’s happening

25 minutes ago, do or die said:

Why all this "collusion is not a crime" stuff peddled first by Hannity, months ago...and now by Giuliani.

....if, as we are told on an hourly basis.....that there was "no collusion"?

  Could it be, that what I am seeing and reading is not what’s happening

I think its two-fold.  There is no law about collusion.  The legal issue is conspiring to commit a crime, not colluding to commit a crime.  The word "collusion" is thrown around because it describes the general acts of Trump and his campaign, not a specific crime.   If Trump or his people were aware that Russia was offering to hack the election or the DNC to help Trump, its conspiracy to commit a crime.  And then there is obstruction to cover that up.

I think the "collusion is not a crime" stuff is 1) to create a narrative that working with Russia (or anyone) for dirt on your opponent is simply politics and not criminal.  Rudy knows "conspiracy" is absolutely illegal but collusion is not a law so he's sort of saying the correct thing but he knows its just a word game.  What he really means is "getting dirt on your opponent isnt a crime".  They want the general narrative to be that they might have had meetings, might have accepted dirt, might have suggested to Russia to get that dirt and even timed its release but that's just politics as usual.

I think to what end, Rudy's intent is to create a public sense that sure they did that, but so what?  If he came out today and said "Trump conspired with Russia to hack the election to beat Hilary", he's screwed.  So they play these games to slowly release that as a general sense of reality.  They are, in essence, admitting it while at the same time, marketing their narrative that its no big deal.

And I think the second part might be to draw a line between collusion and conspiracy.  They know Mueller can't charge for collusion.  So when the report is released, if it has charges, indictments or allegations against Trump, none of them will be "collusion" and Trump can claim victory..."see, there is no collusion", "See, final reports shows NO COLLUSION".  And then their defense becomes "sure, we colluded, but we didnt conspire" while at the same time trading on their months of word games to say "this conspiracy charge is nonsense...as we said, collusion isnt a crime and its just politics" and it gives the base and the GOP something to rally around..."look, this is just politics as usual".

They will have made "collusion" so meaningless that by the time it becomes conspiracy, they're controlling the messaging.

It tells me that they absolutely expect to be charged or otherwise accused of conspiracy and obstruction.  They are mounting their defense already.  They will then say, if there is no collusion, there can be no conspiracy and if there is no conspiracy there can be no obstruction.

Im not legal eagle, but thats my take.  And its desperate.

Rudy ramps up the crazy and those bugged out eyes are scary af, he is all over the place and his head is staring to spin

Art of the deal 

 

 

'An iPhone would be a more coherent president ..."

 

 

here is the full segment- it's pretty bang on. Ode to the most deplorable potus.

 

 

Edited July 31, 20187 yr by wanna-b-fanboy

This is a good example of what I think Rudy is trying to do and why I think it’s a sign of desperation and a guilty conscience.  

In the meeting between Russia and Don Jr and Jared, Rudy made the distinction that trump was not physically there. That implies he was there via speakerphone which has been speculated.  So that’s not good. 

On Fox News Rudy admits there were other meetings but he trips all over himself.  He admits reported have come to him about these meetings but the news isn’t public yet.  He made it public.  They are trying to get in front of all damaging info.  But in a sense they are showing themselves. 

Saw Rudy this morning, tripping all over himself.

Pretty hard for people who are incapable of telling the truth, to look or sound truthful.   Compulsive spinning and lying, on the other hand.......

This is actually funny. The Koch brothers don't like trump 😂

Quote

 

President Trump has aimed his ire on Twitter at the Koch brothers, two of the conservative world’s biggest and best-known donors and fundraisers, calling them “globalist” and saying that “their network is highly overrated.”

Donald J. Trump✔@realDonaldTrump

The globalist Koch Brothers, who have become a total joke in real Republican circles, are against Strong Borders and Powerful Trade. I never sought their support because I don’t need their money or bad ideas. They love my Tax & Regulation Cuts, Judicial picks & more. I made....

....them richer. Their network is highly overrated, I have beaten them at every turn. They want to protect their companies outside the U.S. from being taxed, I’m for America First & the American Worker - a puppet for no one. Two nice guys with bad ideas. Make America Great Again!

 

 

 

 

course he's right about the tax cuts..... his idiot fans are probably cheering that two guys worth fifty billion or so got a tax break of a few million, while the idiots get zip. 

Kochs waited till the money came in, then turned on trump. LOL. 

course his base already hates the Koch brs, cause the brs are Jews.. so this is a ok. for "the base" Trump saud "globalists", but not Jew. yet. That could change fast.

Let the bloodletting begin.

Edited July 31, 20187 yr by Mark F