Monday, June 4, 2018

Over the weekend, Trump declared an autocracy

BEDMINSTER TOWNSHIP, NJ - NOVEMBER 20: (L to R) Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani stands with president-elect Donald Trump before their meeting at Trump International Golf Club, November 20, 2016 in Bedminster Township, New Jersey. Trump and his transition team are in the process of filling cabinet and other high level positions for the new administration.  (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

On Saturday, the New York Times published information from a letter that had been sent by Trump’s attorneys to the special counsel’s office. In the letter, Trump’s legal team asserted not just that Trump can’t be prosecuted for obstruction, but that it’s impossible for Trump to obstruct—because Trump has the ability to nip any investigation in the bud. And should Trump not act quickly enough to prevent the start of an investigation, he can always act retroactively by pardoning anyone caught up in its findings. 
Under this interpretation, Trump need not respond to a request for an interview by the special counsel. Or a subpoena from the grand jury. Or … anything at all. He is utterly exempt from legal actions.
If reporting around the letter seemed most focused on Trump’s ability to shrug off the Russia investigation, Trump’s principle public representative on these matters, Rudy Giuliani, went forth over the weekend to clarify the limits of Trump’s legal authority. What Giulani made clear is … there aren’t any. The interpretation of the White House is that Trump is not only immune from providing testimony, but based on a conversation Giulani held with the Huffington Post, Trump is completely above legal recourse. So far above it that he can do anything he wants. READ MORE

KY valedictorian rick-rolls graduation crowd with wise-sounding Trump quote (that was from Obama)

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 10:  President-elect Donald Trump (L) talks after a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama (R) in the Oval Office November 10, 2016 in Washington, DC. Trump is scheduled to meet with members of the Republican leadership in Congress later today on Capitol Hill.  (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Oh, Trump voters. You are so very predictable. You love to hate everything about President Obama, despite his wildly successful two terms, both of which were largely scandal-free. Well, except for the manufactured ones and the straight up conspiratorial ones aimed at smearing him.
That makes this moment all the more hilarious. A high school valedictorian in Bell County, Kentucky, was giving his speech to his peers and their proud parents when he dropped a wise quote from Donald J. Trump. From USA Today:
"This is the part of my speech where I share some inspirational quotes I found on Google," Bowling said in his speech. "'Don't just get involved. Fight for your seat at the table. Better yet, fight for a seat at the head of the table.' — Donald J. Trump."
The crowd burst into applause.
"Just kidding," Bowling said. "That was Barack Obama." READ MORE

TRUMP PART XC

Sunday, June 3, 2018

TRUMP PART LXXXIX

A MUST-READ op ed by John Brennan

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 23:  Former Director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) John Brennan testifies before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence on Capitol Hill, May 23, 2017 in Washington, DC. Brennan is discussing the extent of Russia's meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and possible ties to the campaign of President Donald Trump.  (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
that went live at the Washington Post  website at 7:42 this morning.  Titled John Brennan: I will speak out until integrity returns to the White House, it is written from the perspective of someone who was a career intelligence official, who was in the Oval Office multiple times in the presidencies of Clinton, Bush 43, and Obama, and who views himself as not at all a partisan.
After starting with his first experience of visiting the Oval as a 35 year old CIA officer in 1990, and explaining his respect for the office of the Presidency, Brennan offers this paragraph:
Over the next quarter-century, I returned to the Oval Office several hundred times during the administrations of Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. The jitters that accompanied my first Oval Office visit dissipated over time, but the respect, awe and admiration I held for the office of the presidency and the incumbents never waned. The presidents I directly served were not perfect, and I didn’t agree with all of their policy choices. But I never doubted that each treated their solemn responsibility to lead our nation with anything less than the seriousness, intellectual rigor and principles that it deserved. Many times, I heard them dismiss the political concerns of their advisers, saying, “I don’t care about my politics, it’s the right thing to do.” READ MORE  OR ENTIRE OP ED PIECE HERE 

'It was like talking to a toddler’: mother of school shooting victim recounts her meeting with Trump
US President Donald Trump (2nd R) waves as he arrives with US Senator Ted Cruz (4th L), R-Texas, and Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in Houston, Texas, on May 31, 2018, to meet with those affected by the Santa Fe high school shooting. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP)        (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

On Thursday, Donald Trump met privately with some of the parents of students killed at Santa Fe High School in Texas on May 18. Reporters were not allowed inside for the meeting, but some of the parents that met with Trump spoke publicly afterward. According to the Associated Press, they reported a range of experiences. For example, one parent felt Trump showed “sincerity, compassion, and concern on making our schools safer across the nation,” while another mother felt … underwhelmed by the encounter.
Rhonda Hart, whose 14-year-old daughter, Kimberly Vaughan, was killed at the school, told The Associated Press that Trump repeatedly used the word ‘wacky’ to describe the shooter and the trench coat he wore. She said she told Trump, “Maybe if everyone had access to mental health care, we wouldn’t be in the situation.”
Hart, an Army veteran, said she also suggested employing veterans as sentinels in schools. She said Trump responded, “And arm them?” She replied, “No,” but said Trump “kept mentioning” arming classroom teachers. “It was like talking to a toddler,” Hart said. READ MORE

Whoopi Goldberg sets Roseanne Barr straight on her fake news and fake apologies

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After Roseanne Barr started a garbage fire in her boat and then the boat sank, she’s been doing what a narcissist does. She has been wildly (not) apologizing to people on line, while also attempting to throw everyone in the world under the bus, blaming everyone and everything for her shitty opinions about the world. The first thing she’s gone about doing is looking into every “liberal” person employed by her now former network, ABC, and seeing if she can “whatabout” them. She came up with retweeting all of her “supporters” most crazy false equivalencies and bigoted conspiracy theories. And she also retweeted a completely doctored and previously debunked fake image of The View host Whoopi Goldberg, at a march, sporting a t-shirt that shows an image of Donald Trump blowing his brains out with a gun, that says “Make America Great Again.”  READ MORE
https://youtu.be/4hbm0XspKIU