Since no one can stop talking about Trump and Comey, I’ll add this
I try to apply logic to the situation, and this is what I come up with.
Comey was until recently the head of the FBI, appointed by Obama to universal praise as an honest and fair broker. But beginning last summer, with his press conference re the Hillary Clinton emails, and continuing right up to the day he was fired, Comey was criticized heavily by both parties for a series of decisions that showed a lack of competence and an amount of rule- and protocol- and precedent-breaking that was unacceptable.
Sometimes his decisions seemed to favor one side and sometimes the other, but there were major criticism from both sides. So even now, with all the brouhaha following the firing, no one (or very few people) seems to be saying there weren’t plenty of valid reasons for Trump to have fired Comey. Nor is anyone seeming to say that Trump didn’t have the legal right, the executive power, to fire Comey.
What is being questioned are his motives for the firing, and whether he is being truthful about those motives. Legally, however, he had the cause (as both sides agree, if they’re being honest about it) and he had the power (as both sides agree, if they’re being honest about it).
So, does it matter that he also may have been angry at Comey for a host of reasons other than those stated for the firing? Would it even matter whether Trump—as the left maintains—dearly wished to impede the Russian-connection investigation by Comey’s firing, if in fact Comey’s firing doesn’t impede that investigation at all?
It would certainly matter in political terms if that was Trump’s intent. Whether it would matter legally I’m not sure, although it would definitely matter if enough members of Congress felt it did, and therefore decided to impeach and convict him.
But Trump’s motives, and whether there was an intent to impede the Russian-connection investigation, are purely speculative at this point. The left, Democrats, and the MSM are acting as though these things are a given, but they are not. What we do know is that—as Trump now admits—it wasn’t Rosenstein who sparked Comey’s firing, it was Trump himself:
Trump on Comey: “He’s a grandstander, a showboat” it was my decision
So now Trump is owning up to the fact that he was the impetus for the decision to fire Comey. As Ace writes:
Rosenstein’s role, I’m thinking, was to write a memo informing Trump whether he had justification or cause for termination of Comey. He did this, I would guess, at Trump’s direction, or at Sessions’ request (who, if involved at all, probably was just relaying Trump’s order).
So Rosenstein researched it and rendered an opinion that yes, Trump could fire Comey, and did have cause to do so.
If he wanted to fire him, that is — if he wanted to fire him, he had cause.
But that’s not the same as Rosenstein himself initiating this or directing it or “recommending” it.
So I’m glad that this shabby, poorly-thought-out decision to suggest that Rosenstein Did It is behind us.
Well, it’s not behind us. It will be Maddow’s Top Story for three months.
But at least no one will feel compelled to try to support a claim that seemed pretty implausible almost from the beginning.
If this can be called a lie — I’m not sure it’s a “lie,” straight-up, but more of a manipulation or insinuation/implication by careful wording — it’s a dumb one.
However, I doubt the firing will impede any investigations at all. It might even rev them up. As several people have pointed out, Andrew McCabe (I’ve read somewhere that he’s a Democrat, although I can’t seem to find any information on that at the moment) is now in charge of the FBI as Acting Director. Trump will need to choose a new director, and we can be quite sure that his choice will be greatly scrutinized for objectivity and rectitude before it is approved.
Here’s another question, a more general one: if an FBI director opens an investigation that involves a sitting president or advisors or aides to that president (the latter was true about the Russian investigation so far), does that FBI director then become immune from firing, no matter how egregious his/her errors have been? That would not be a good idea, either. So, although Comey was doing things that deserved firing, how and when could he have been fired by Trump without its provoking a maelstrom of criticism?
On his podcast yesterday, Andrew Klavan gave what I thought was a plausible explanation, pointing out that Trump often dithers before firing people. He cited prior examples of Corey Lewandowski, Paul Manafort and even Michael Flynn. Trump waits until either the pressure becomes irresistible or he becomes sufficiently angry with the intended victim. In addition, the DAG’s memo provided some considerable support.
As Comey says himself in his “farewell” letter, the president may fire the FBI director at any time, for any reason or for no reason at all. That’s good law; whether it’s good politics is another question.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/read-james-comeys-full-farewell-letter/
It’s a dumb one? Do people recall exactly who voted for Hussein Obola twice. “Dumb” would just be the right water temperature for the target audience.
I have distrusted Comey since his infamous explanation for not indicting HRC. The director of the FBI simply informs the AG of the results of the investigation and he/she makes the decision to prosecute or not prosecute. Comey provided cover for HRC and Lynch. He has shown us that he is untrustworthy. Trump should have fired him on day one.
The FBI has been a political mess for a long, long time with politics and screw ups between field agents and professional ladder climbers and of course politicians. I read Danny Coulson’s book ‘No Heroes’ and he describes a lot of behind the scenes crap with Ruby Ridge, Waco and even trying to handle the OKC bombing. He talks about the suits, at the time especially the guys who wore suspenders and never wanted to risk their suck up positions on the power ladder.
I think Comey fit right in and I am sure his staff of attendants are going nuts trying to figure out if there will be any stink coming their way as they all played the power chess game of professional career weasels. I think Comey made his statement in October as a cover his ass comment in case there were enough Republicans in the senate to call for an investigation after the election and he had no idea at all that Hillary might be defeated, much less that he might play a part.
Now we have a totally new game with an improve quarterback, Trump who makes up his plays on the fly and so far its been working. He made the press nuts last year being outrageous and breaking the rules and he has shown us that he’s not going to change.
So far I like what he has actually done because I don’t mind if he ruffles a ton of feathers or if some day he comes dancing out singing “I am the model of a modern Major General”. Trump is just being Trump and he will keep on being Trump as long as he can which might last the full four years. At least I hope so and I advise onlookers on both sides to get a sense of humor and try to enjoy the show.
Wasn’t the first time he said YOUR FIRED and it won’t be the last.
I have distrusted Comey since he appointed his friend Patrick Fitzgerald to investigate the Valerie Plame case. Fitzgerald quickly learned that Plame’s identity was leaked by Richard Armitage at the state department. Fitzgerald also decided that no laws were broken, but rather than end the investigation, Fitzgerald sought and received permission from acting AG Comey to continue the investigation to look into potential mishandling of classified information. Fitzgerald finally indicted Libby for perjury, obstruction of justice and making false statements. No crime had been committed, so what was the point? It was politics. Patrick Fitzgerald was really after Vice President Richard Cheney, and he wanted Libby to reveal or manufacture evidence that could be used to convict Cheney of something. Comey went along with the fishing expedition.
McCabe has to go, too.
His WIFE received $650,000 ish for her campaign from the Clinton Crime Family…
At the SAME TIME McCabe was personally in charge of e-mail-gate.
The Russian Connection will peter out to nothingness.
Guccifer is already in prison.
BTW, Comey was NOT stopping the leaks.
Note that during the Soetoro maladministration there were no leaks coming out of the White House.
As for FAKE NEWS, the Bezos Post and NY Times are cranking it out at quite a clip.
Firing the guy in charge of the investigation likely impedes it, though it doesn’t likely stop it.
After Nixon had Cox fired, the Watergate investigation continued of course. Indeed, one could even argue that it accelerated.
But that doesn’t change the fact that the firing was an example of Nixon “using the powers of his high office…in a course of conduct or plan designed to delay, impede, and obstruct the investigation…” (Art. 1 of Articles of impeachment).
“Now we have a totally new game with an improve quarterback, Trump who makes up his plays on the fly and so far its been working.” – OldTexan
On the fly???
Most of the facts as outlined by Rosenstein have been known for some time.
That leans more towards dithering than decisiveness, and it is likely more from a position of a personal pique / animus than any rationale his underlings may have come up with.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/447545/democratic-hypocrisy-hysteria-dont-make-trump-right
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Working???
Depends on how one chooses to measure that.
trump hasn’t been anywhere as effective as he claimed he could single-handedly be, nor did he meet his 100-day “Contract with the American Voter” (remember, he is the one who set this expectation).
https://assets.donaldjtrump.com/_landings/contract/O-TRU-102316-Contractv02.pdf
Most critically, trump hasn’t widened his appeal much, if anything, beyond his core supporters. Evidently, he (and some of his advisors) don’t think he needs to.
There are, and will be consequences for that, whether we choose to believe so or not at this time.
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As imperfect as Comey was, it’s not all on him, either.
Suspect that most folks would probably have a hard time navigating those same circumstances.
“In the past year, he’s been repeatedly called in to play referee for partisan fights that should have been addressed in forums other than law enforcement.
Keeping the FBI out of national politics requires a wiser, more prudent, and more ethical group of political leaders.” – Jim Geraghty, whose article gives a good rundown of the challenges Comey faced…
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/447495/comey-firing-blame-hillary-huma-abedin-weiner-obama-administration-first
Honestly hard to see that we have those kind of leaders in positions of power today, left or right.
I read somewhere that Trump was also upset that Comey wasn’t investigating the links. This may be fake news, but it does upset me. Nobody seems to be talking about the unmaskings or the leaks. If I were running anything, I would definitely want to know which members of my team were trying to subvert my work.
“does that FBI director then become immune from firing, no matter how egregious his/her errors have been? That would not be a good idea, either. – Neo
Agree. The dems are blowing it way out of proportion.
But why wait so long, and why “lie / manipulate / insinuate / imply with careful wording”, dumb ones or not, about it?
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“So, although Comey was doing things that deserved firing, how and when could he have been fired by Trump without its provoking a maelstrom of criticism?”
Never seen a politician on either side to not take the opportunity to make hay, whether they are ethically stretching their case with hyperbole or are within the realm of reality.
A leader makes the case, builds support, and moves forward, as there always will be criticism. It is the leader’s job to size up the controversy an issue may create, and how to navigate it.
But, trump is a different character. He seems to value creating a reaction. He seems to put little value in truth, consistency, and credibility (outside of the number of people in the Mall, or polls in his favor).
trump and the left’s hysteria seem to have a symbiotic relationship. They each feed off of and feed into each other.
Taking the bigger picture, is he really much of a victim in all this?
Meant “unethically stretching” above.
This story is quickly reaching ‘tune out’ phase for me where the media go so over the top and hysterical that I just can’t follow it any more. And in this case it’s even some of the rightward media.
Too much.
Manju — Do you actually think Comey was “leading the investigation?” He was out there pounding the pavement in his size 25 brogans interviewing witnesses? He was pouring over bank statements and financial reports? He was sitting in a car on a stake-out? Seriously? Do you have any idea how many layers there are between the Director and the actual investigation?
The agents doing the investigation are organized into teams or squads. The teams are led by Assistant Special Agents in Charge. The Assistant Special Agents in Charge report to Special Agents in Charge. The Special Agents in Charge report to Assistant Directors. The Assistant Directors report to Executive Assistant Directors. The Executive Assistant Directors report to the Deputy Associate Deputy Director or the Associate Deputy Director. The Deputy Associate Director and the Associate Director report to the Deputy Director. The Deputy Director reports to the Director.
Now, how much impact do you think firing the Director has on the investigation?
Media is completely hysterical and will not rest until Trump is impeached and that will never happen.
News of the day is that Trump told Lester Holt that he owns no real estate in Russia nor has he borrowed from a Russian bank. Nothing! Years ago a Russian overpaid him for real estate. BFD.
His lawyers are sending a “certified letter” to Sen Graham re the above. This is a perfect example of Trump’s imprecise speaking. He didn’t mean an USPS certified letter but rather a legal opinion letter with certification by the lawyer that the facts are true. Media went nuts about the certified letter misspeak.
Nothing here.
I am going to say this one time and one time only, Big Maq why the hell are you here on this blog? I love Neo’s topics and we have a great time discussing them and then you pop up and scold us because we see things differently and I guess you are trying to tell us how bad Trump is when we are mostly enjoying him doing a lot of things he said he would do and I am so glad we don’t have Hillary.
Big Maq are you a glass half empty fellow or do you wish Hillary had won because it came down to one or the other and yes, Trump does make it up on the fly and he got elected doing the nutty stuff and he is not going to change. I know we are not supposed to attack others on this blog but, Big Maq you kind of remind me of the little bugs that bite the inside of my forearms when I am working in my garden, not really in pain but I do get irritated.
Sorry Neo but I don’t like being scolded.
I know one thing for certain. When this Russia thing turns out to be nothing, then independents and those only casually interested in politics will be livid at the MSM and Dems.
OldTexan –
If you don’t like what BigMaq (or other not-on-the-Trump-train guys like me) are saying, you know you don’t have to read their comments.
One thing I like about this blog is the hostess is extremely thoughtful and fair and there are all types. The vast majority of the people who post here are either pro-Trump or in the “we’ll see” optimism camp.
It takes all kinds to have a good conversation. I for one like BigMaq’s posts (and not just because I almost always agree with him)
Cornhead: “News of the day is that Trump told Lester Holt that he owns no real estate in Russia nor has he borrowed from a Russian bank. Nothing! Years ago a Russian overpaid him for real estate. BFD.”
You may be right that Trump is clean concerning Russia. How should I know?
But he could sure put this to bed with full financial disclosure. The statement above is not that. And, as I’ve said many times, it’s not like Trump’s word is his bond or anything.
What are his financial liabilities? The statement above could be true if he doesn’t, for example, owe money to a Russian “bank”. See how this works? Maybe he owes money to some other Russian institution that isn’t technically a bank. Or the Russian Mob. Or a consortium of rich Putin financiers?
Now what I just said was all made up out of whole cloth. But the reason this still lives is because the President of the United States has opaque finances and a shrouded financial history, has been known to owe vast amounts of money in the past, and refuses to even release his taxes, let alone a statement of his full financial liabilities, so we don’t really know who he owes, do we?
The man hasn’t even really divested from his business, even now as the President of the United States. Nor released his taxes as he said he would (not that I ever believed him because, as I said above, it’s not like he’s a man of his word)
I don’t think any of this is good.
Bill:
A real lawyerly opinion letter would cover all types of lenders.
Trump did the federal election financial disclosures but not his tax returns. I have always thought he didn’t do so because a moron like Chris Hayes would pick out a single K-1 out of a stack and go nuts.
&&&&&
If we had cable TV and social media at the time of Watergate there would have been an armed attack on the White House.
There is no Trump-Russia connection. It is a thoroughly fabricated claim made by Democrats after the DNC and Podesta emails showed Democrats to be a party of corruption. linked to Trump’s remark that Putin was worthy of respect or something along those lines.
Oh, and the anti-capitalist argument that Trump had investments in Russia, the extent of which his enemies have never stipulated.
The Dems, historically the craven non-anti-Soviet party, the Better Red Than Dead crowd, are off and running, using any possible tactic to fool the American public into letting them get back into power.
Too bad Bill wasn’t as suspicious of Obama, Holder, Lynch and Reid as he is of Trump.
Griffin: “This story is quickly reaching ‘tune out’ phase for me where the media go so over the top and hysterical that I just can’t follow it any more.”
You know, I think that’s part of the point. Beat people into submission by flogging them with bullshit. You get tired of fighting after a while.
Like Bill, Ive never been a fan of Trump and think that guy is the most horrible thing that has happened to conservatism, but anymore, I doubt there ever was a conservative candidate now a-days, that could ever rise above the onslaught. I think Trump just hastens the demise of the Republic.
Richard Saunders Says:
May 11th, 2017 at 8:16 pm
Manju – Do you actually think Comey was “leading the investigation?” … Do you have any idea how many layers there are between the Director and the actual investigation?…
Now, how much impact do you think firing the Director has on the investigation?
***
I knew there were some layers, but that list looks positively geologic.
However, no matter how many layers an investigation percolates through, the Director can cap the well at any time, as we saw with Obama’s deep-sixing of Iran’s terrorist investigations and other things.
Glad he fired him but of course the feeding frenzy of the left leaning press will continue. My friends on FB are having a meltdown over the dictator firing the FBI Director (who they admit they didn’t like) and doing it to impede the Russia investigation. Sometimes I just think people have lost their minds. From what I can tell, this Russia thing is a big fantasy and they turning over every rock to make it seem credible.
I think the Dems should just get work on fixing the country and building their party back. I am not a Democrat any longer but it is sad to watch a great American political party commit suicide in this way. On the other hand, maybe not! Screw’em! They’ve lost their minds!
Glad he fired him but of course the feeding frenzy of the left leaning press will continue. My friends on FB are having a meltdown over the dictator firing the FBI Director (who they admit they didn’t like) and doing it to impede the Russia investigation. Sometimes I just think people have lost their minds. From what I can tell, this Russia thing is a big fantasy and they turning over every rock to make it seem credible.
I think the Dems should just get work on fixing the country and building their party back. I am not a Democrat any longer but it is sad to watch a great American political party commit suicide in this way. On the other hand, maybe not! Screw’em! They’ve lost their minds!
Well golly jee, I am not a Trump fan. However, he in all his weirdoness, deserves a bit of space. He has done some good things, and some weird things. Firing Comey was not weird or dangerous, it was merely ill timed. Comey should have been fired on day one.
“how and when could he have been fired by Trump without its provoking a maelstrom of criticism?”
How and when could Trump scratch his nose without its provoking a maelstrom of criticism, along with calls for a special prosecutor and impeachment hearings?
Richard Saunders Says:
Do you actually think Comey was “leading the investigation?
He was the director of the FBI, so its accurate to describe him as “the guy in charge of the investigation”. I don’t know to what extent he was involved in its execution, but he recently started taking daily briefings and apparently wanted additional funds to ramp things up.
Now, how much impact do you think firing the Director has on the investigation?
The Trump admin thinks it will have an impact:
Now, there’s a charitable and uncharitable way of reading the above. But lets put the former aside and just assume they meant that firing Comey will have a positive impact on the Russia Investigation.
If we make that assumption however, we can’t then turn around and argue that since firing the Director has no impact, Trump is not attempting to obstruct.
I have written this before, but I think Comey was, in his mind, trying to make the best of a very bad situation with regards to Hillary Clinton. Comey knew that the DoJ would never in a million years bring a case to court. He knew this because the DoJ had completely hamstrung the investigation from the very start with inappropriate immunity agreements and lack of actual subpoenas for evidence. Given that, he knew the DoJ would sit on any report he handed over to the DoJ along with the evidence within it. To this day, I think the final straw that forced him into the July 5th press conference was the Lynch-Clinton meeting that was accidentally revealed to the public.
Now, I also think what he did was actually wrong- it was never his decision to prosecute or not, and he should have simply handed over the report and kept his mouth shut, or if that was too good for to do, he should have handed over the report and immediately resigned his office without comment.
If Trump said he used Charmin 4-ply, it would be drummed up into the scandal that will lead to his impeachment. I basically ignore the noise any more.
I wonder how many people here are in the Mensa and Prometheus levels of IQ, and how many are just short of it.
I don’t believe race or IQ is destiny, like many on the Alt Right, but it is an interesting test and factor in human behavior.
I love Neo’s topics and we have a great time discussing them – OldTexan
Agree.
“I am so glad we don’t have Hillary.”
Agree.
“Trump does make it up on the fly”
Agree.
“he got elected doing the nutty stuff and he is not going to change”
Agree, mostly… read on.
“we are mostly enjoying him doing a lot of things he said he would do”
Agree, if “a lot” doesn’t mean “most” but is closer to “some”.
trump, and this Congress, have done a number of laudable things, most notably getting thru a conservative SCOTUS appointment.
But, if we are being honest, he did waaaaay over promise, has fallen rather short on his written “promises”, has reversed himself on some key campaign arguments (in a good way IMHO, but they were/are reversals nontheless – they were unrealistic to begin with and many of us here argued for and against them and that proposition), and, critically, hasn’t built his support much beyond his base.
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“Big Maq are you a glass half empty fellow or do you wish Hillary had won because it came down to one or the other”
BOTH were awful choices. I didn’t accept the proposition that the choice was binary, as there really were other choices to make. It was true well before trump decisively became the nominee for the GOP. Folks found him “acceptable” rather early on, despite his clear mutability all along.
All arguments past, water under the bridge – the era of binary is over. We are now in the accountability phase.
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The assumption in the binary choice was that trump will be “better”. It will take more than a Gorsuch (the one thing that satisfied you, in a comment you made a while ago) to prove that out. Several here acknowledged that it was a high risk bet.
So, if we think he was a high risk bet, he ought to be watched like a hawk.
BUT discussions here seem to be, at best, reluctant to acknowledge the downsides to trump, or, worse, to defend him at every turn, even on issues where he is pushing a position opposite one they argued for in the past.
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You seem not to be one of those commenters, generally, BUT you made a couple of arguments that really don’t stand up to what we’ve seen from trump, to which I was commenting on.
trump makes his plays on the fly like a quarterback and it is working, in context of this Comey case. This doesn’t fit what we know about the timeline, coupled with the argument trump’s been making for why – it begs the question, “Why now?”.
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And, more generally, it doesn’t even fit his campaign promises, but, it all comes down to how one measures success.
If the bar is low enough, and one ignores what trump claimed in his campaign, then yes he can be judged a resounding success. To me, if he couldn’t live up to his claims, he had no business making them.
I’ve taken him literally and seriously. If we cannot do that, then how can we have any expectations? Without that, it becomes an open license for him to do anything on our behalf.
IOW, we are abdicating holding him responsible and accountable.
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“he got elected doing the nutty stuff and he is not going to change” – reprise
So, of course, without that accountability, he won’t change. There is no incentive to, if we don’t voice our concerns, and, perhaps out of some fear that we give dems more power, we jump to his defense even when it doesn’t deserve it, or it doesn’t fit whatsoever with our principles.
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“you … scold us because we see things differently… Sorry Neo but I don’t like being scolded”
It was questioning the basis of your statements. Not sure how you get “scolding” out of that. Apologies if it that is what you think, as none was intended.
You provided some interesting points that seemed worthy to respond to, as, indeed, “we see things differently”.
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It certainly is rather uncomfortable to be quoted and debated.
Would rather we all be in agreement. Before this election cycle, it seemed we generally were substantially agreeing.
But, trump was a radical departure from the things that even “conservative” thought leaders / voices were long espousing.
Suddenly, we are in this surreal place where ideas we once scoffed at, can become acceptable, merely because it has the label “trump” on them.
Neo’s blog is one of the few places one can engage where, generally, we are all opposed to the left’s agenda, but can be openly questioning of our own side without getting dumped on by trolls.
There are a few of us who don’t toe the line on the trump narrative, and think it important to voice a viewpoint that perhaps would have been majority in prior years.
So, nowadays, maybe WE are the ones who feel we are being “scolded” or worse, having the minority opinion around here.
Besides, if we all agreed, it would be rather boring, wouldn’t it? And, what would that accomplish?
😉
@Ymar – Charles Murray wrote a book on that topic.
“Firing Comey was not weird or dangerous, it was merely ill timed. Comey should have been fired on day one.”
Agree, but would add…”fired on day one, if we are to believe all trump is telling us now, for his reasons why”.
Trump’s now threatening Comey on twitter
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/863007411132649473
I don’t get this. Talk to him in private. This is just Trump’s need to be the alpha in every situation coming through. Basically “I just kicked your _ss, now I’m going to cr_p in your hat”
Continuing…
What would have been better (not just for Comey, but also for Trump).
Before firing him, talk to him in private. President to FBI director
Make sure he understands the grounds for his firing, face to face, like everyone does with their employees, everywhere.
Give him the opportunity to resign on his own, with some dignity. Comey could rightly claim that he had made mistakes and didn’t want to be a distraction to ongoing investigations
Once he’s resigned, thank him for his service.
Or you can let him find out he got fired from a TV news report and then threaten him over twitter. To make yourself look like both a coward and a bully at the same time.
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
My, oh, my, what a wonderful day
Plenty of sunshine headin’ my way
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay!
I was annoyed last night when some of my observations were not in alignment with some of the others who post here. Now this morning after driving through the beautiful Texas Hill country on this beautiful sunshine morning, after a week of overcast, and spending the morning shooting at the rifle range with a handful of veterans, 4 of us Nam-era and one Desert Storm and we all appreciate what Trump has done so far.
I consider myself well-informed and experienced now that I am in my 70’s and I am an old goat who voted for Nixon two times and ironically got feed up with Reagan when he threw the US oil industry under the bus in the 80’s and voted Democrat for a few times including Bill Clinton.
When I first posted on this topic I was trying to share my views on a subject where I have a bit of knowledge. I lived next door to an FBI agent in the 70’s and 80’s and we were good enough friends for him to share some of his feelings about Washington and the FBI structure which is Byzantine.
I also never cared for Trump, never watched his shows and thought it was pure nutty when he announced he was running. As things progressed last year I was impressed with his ability to work the media and I suspect he was the only candidate who was able to beat Hillary and he did. That made me ever so happy.
So far he has exceeded my expectations working in a quagmire of crap in D.C. I was never appreciative of his gaudiness, I have been in Trump Tower and I have seen pictures of his homes, in NYC and Florida and they are not a style I appreciate but I am judging him on his accomplishments and not his demeanor and boorishness.
So, call me old and sensitive and those of you who disagree with me are welcome to say that I am full of crap and wrong but please don’t talk down to me or attempt to set me straight, just let me go my old grouchy, demented way. Do that for me and I will be glad to do that for all of you when we don’t see eye to eye.
And as a final note, my three kids have, for their own reason become conservative voters, I have one daughter in law who is not but son in laws are and here is what I tell my kids: Don’t get too hung up on stuff you can’t control and live your lives taking care of your family and yourself since we, as a nation, are all in the same boat and life will go on. All of my grown kids and their families did very well during the Obama administration as well as my wife and I so we need to be thankful for what we have and enjoy our families and not get worked up over the distant stuff. Kind of run together preachy stuff but there it is.
Agree with me, disagree, it really does not make any difference and I wish all the folks who post above great lives and happiness.
OldTexan
Thank you for your service. God bless and have a great weekend!
“Don’t get too hung up on stuff you can’t control and live your lives taking care of your family and yourself since we, as a nation, are all in the same boat and life will go on. … we need to be thankful for what we have and enjoy our families and not get worked up over the distant stuff.” – OldTexan
Agree. Good advice.
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“I wish all the folks who post above great lives and happiness.”
Thanks.
And, sincerely wish you and yours the same and more, Old Texan.
Deputy Director McCabe has longstanding ties to the Democrat party and Clinton fundraiser VA Governor Terry McAuliffe. In 2015 McAuliffe’s PAC gave McCabe’s wife, Jill, over $460,000 for her state senate campaign and influenced the state Democrat party to contribute 207,000 to her campaign. She lost.
Come: fool or knave? Ultimately, he was chosen by President Obama. That should answer the question. 😉
Comey: fool or knave. *%# autocorrect. I wonder what self-driving cars will be like. There are Michigan Avenues in both Chicago and Detroit.
Yancey Ward Says:
May 12th, 2017 at 2:19 am
If Trump said he used Charmin 4-ply, it would be drummed up into the scandal that will lead to his impeachment. I basically ignore the noise any more.
* * *
http://thefederalist.com/2017/05/11/one-screenshot-captures-everything-wrong-media-coverage-trump/
QED
OldTexan Says:
May 12th, 2017 at 2:19 pm
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
My, oh, my, what a wonderful day
Plenty of sunshine headin’ my way
Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay!
* *
From a NotQuiteAsOldTexan but getting there: thanks for your lovely message today.
Now, about that atrocious act of cultural appropriation you just committed, from a banned movie no less…..wait, maybe two negatives cancel out and that makes it okay?
I really love that song.
This guy, not so much.
http://screencrush.com/song-of-the-south-racism/
pans the film, but concludes —
“I don’t think any of this was intentional. I believe that Disney saw Uncle Remus as an unequivocally positive character. Some critics have observed a kinship between Uncle Remus and “Uncle Walt” – men with an unshakeable belief in the power of stories who’ve dedicated their lives to entertaining and educating children. Although Johnny’s mother repeatedly orders Remus not to tell Johnny any more stories, those same stories eventually save Johnny’s life. At the end of the film, Remus’ words seem to heal Johnny after he’s suffered a potentially deadly injury. It’s very possible that Disney had good intentions – and still wound up with a very questionable movie.”
Bill – “What are his financial liabilities? The statement above could be true if he doesn’t, for example, owe money to a Russian “bank”. See how this works? Maybe he owes money to some other Russian institution that isn’t technically a bank. Or the Russian Mob. Or a consortium of rich Putin financiers?”
I’ll make it easy for you. Here’s the link to Trumps 104-page financial disclosure statement. Now you go over it line-by-line, and tell us all the secret sauce you uncover:
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/2838696-Trump-2016-Financial-Disclosure.html
@Richard – you are correct on the specific point, but miss the bigger point being made.
Transparency.
trump has, perhaps, complied with the letter of the law, but he has fallen short of delivering his own promises and standards on this.
For a man who campaigned on “Drain the Swamp”, who specifically said he’d release his tax returns once elected, who has an arm’s length structure with his businesses that essentially means “trust me”, and who has an uncomfortably close relationship with family members with unclear roles in his administration, all ignoring his mutability, it sure seems he doesn’t walk his talk.
Transparency builds trust.
trump’s refusal, legal as they may be, to live up to his own promises and standards creates mistrust.
Wallace quoting Spicer: “He said, ‘I have nothing for you on that.’ He could have said no. He could have said yes. He said I have nothing for you on that. That is a non-denial denial.”
No it is not. It is a straw man argument. Maybe, if it exists, the taping is secret from Spicer and almost all others. Maybe it does not exist, but of course Spicer cannot prove that; it MIGHT exist.
So it is a reasonably honest answer, pissing off Smith (whom I find left-biased) and Wallace (whom I find generally decent). Too effing bad their demands are not always met. They sure don’t spill their guts to us, so why should they expect any different response than “we don’t spill our guts on your command either”?
Richard: Big Maq would rather bluster than do his homework on the 104 pages you provided.He always has the answers, usually in the classic leftist way of questioning rather than answering directly..
If you read here frequently, you will learn to ignore him. I have.
@Frog – “leftist” a woefully incorrect ad hominem, but par for the course, I suppose.
.
That document, that I reviewed also around the time it first came out, is absolutely fine and in the right spirit of disclosure.
HOWEVER, when the man campaigns as he has, making specific explicit promises, but doesn’t live up to them, something is very amiss.
But that is par for the course for a man who is so unusually mutable.
It just piles on to the rest of the reasons why trump cannot be trusted.
And without that, there is no credibility.
Without that, there is no building of support beyond those already willing to overlook it and cheer on even his reversals.
Without all the above, there is no lasting changes (assuming trump is going to make the changes we want and expect – turn right and return to the line about mutability above).
.
“If you read here frequently, you will learn to ignore him. I have.”
Indeed, you have.
Neoneo–
You do know about McCabe’s wife, right?
http://freebeacon.com/politics/clinton-bundlers-donated-to-wife-of-fbi-mccabe/