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Demongodofchaos2 Face me now, bitch! from In a Cultivation World (Ancient one) Relationship Status: 700 wives and 300 concubines
Face me now, bitch!
#254251: Sep 7th 2018 at 4:30:53 AM

As someone whos on the left and likes Waifus, the idea of Trump liking them makes me gag.

Watch Symphogear
Ominae Since: Jul, 2010
#254252: Sep 7th 2018 at 4:55:59 AM

Trump is now demanding the NYT reveal the article writer who wrote a critical essay on his administration.

kkhohoho (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#254253: Sep 7th 2018 at 5:08:06 AM

[up]Already posted a few pages back.

Friendperson Since: May, 2018
#254254: Sep 7th 2018 at 6:21:00 AM

For some reason I associate Ochaco Uraraka from BNHA with Trump. If anyone is his wife, it's her.

speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#254255: Sep 7th 2018 at 6:27:18 AM

Some conservatives have been arguing that the NYT expose is no big deal because people have already made up their minds about Trump and yet another tell-all piece won't change anything come November.

Arguing that the piece wasn't a big deal (it IS, as it portrays the president as horribly incompetent and unfit for office, not to mention the whole "who's really running things?" motif) made me want to bang my head against the wall, but do they have a point on the "won't change any minds" front? People that already hate Trump are going to hate him more, while his supporters will do everything to defend him ("If they don't kowtow to the president 100% they are traitors and should resign!"/"Deep state conspiracy!"/"They're going against the will of the people!").

Edited by speedyboris on Sep 7th 2018 at 8:31:41 AM

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#254256: Sep 7th 2018 at 6:38:18 AM

The irony is that it actually makes Trumpspiracies an Accidental Truth because there really are Washington insiders and bureaucrats actively trying to undermine his regime.

He's made the Deep State real-ish.

Edited by CharlesPhipps on Sep 7th 2018 at 6:40:35 AM

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
speedyboris Since: Feb, 2010
#254257: Sep 7th 2018 at 6:51:56 AM

[up] Yeah, I made that observation a few pages ago too. My concern is that, now that someone has revealed they're doing this, their ability to protect the country from Trump's impulses will get a lot more difficult.

Bisected8 A casual tief of punk from Her Hackette Cave (Primordial Chaos) Relationship Status: Arm chopping is not a love language!
A casual tief of punk
#254258: Sep 7th 2018 at 6:54:37 AM

Going by the article, they're less La RΓ©sistance, and more the Evil Chancellor. They are claiming credit for a large chunk of some of Trump's more deplorable policies, after all.

TV Tropes's No. 1 bread themed lesbian. she/her, fae/faer
CrimsonZephyr Would that it were so simple. from Massachusetts Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
Would that it were so simple.
#254259: Sep 7th 2018 at 7:29:14 AM

Leaving aside any judgment as to how much chaos this mole is actually preventing (my view is that this fellow is doing very little), it does offer a look — right from the horse's mouth, no less — at the mindset of the complicit Republican. It's rare to get a written admission from a Republican that they agree entirely with Trump's odious politics, but are alarmed by his delusions, that they're using him to achieve policy ends at the expense of the republic.

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#254260: Sep 7th 2018 at 8:26:07 AM

Honestly, I’m really not all that suprised that there are people in the White House that are trying to undermine him. We’ve already seen it, in what he says, versus the action that his admistration with Russia. It also fits with other reporting about the chaos within the White House, and nobody actually seems to know what’s going on.

Edited by megaeliz on Sep 7th 2018 at 11:30:59 AM

CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#254261: Sep 7th 2018 at 9:21:43 AM

I was kind of pissed that Trump DID want to take out Assad for his war crimes and his military disobeyed him.

I actually agree with Trump there.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#254262: Sep 7th 2018 at 9:22:55 AM

Not worth WW3, Syria is a hill the Russians will die on.

It's their launching point for all their operations in the Middle East. Engaging Assad or his forces directly simply isn't an option.

Oh really when?
CharlesPhipps Since: Jan, 2001
#254263: Sep 7th 2018 at 9:25:20 AM

It's a meat grinder with no purpose then other than consuming human lives.

Author of The Rules of Supervillainy, Cthulhu Armageddon, and United States of Monsters.
wisewillow She/her Since: May, 2011
She/her
#254264: Sep 7th 2018 at 9:26:56 AM

It’s a calamity, but WWIII is not the way to solve it.

LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#254265: Sep 7th 2018 at 9:28:04 AM

It's disgusting but we don't have any real options in the area.

All we can do is support local fighters and pray for the best.

Oh really when?
Deadbeatloser22 from Disappeared by Space Magic (Great Old One) Relationship Status: Tsundere'ing
#254266: Sep 7th 2018 at 9:32:35 AM

But I thought Hillary was going be the one to start WW3 over Syria. While Trump would never ever ever ever do anything like that.

"Yup. That tasted purple."
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#254267: Sep 7th 2018 at 9:50:28 AM

I remember it being a thing a lot people were convinced either of them would start a war.

"Both sides" is a very strong sentiment...

Parable Since: Aug, 2009
#254268: Sep 7th 2018 at 9:54:40 AM

I've seen people in the present say the Clinton would have started a war with Iran. Their evidence? Doctored videoes.

megaeliz Since: Mar, 2017
#254269: Sep 7th 2018 at 9:56:22 AM

This Axios article is interesting as well.

President Trump is not just seething about Bob Woodward. He’s deeply suspicious of much of the government he oversees β€” from the hordes of folks inside agencies, right up to some of the senior-most political appointees and even some handpicked aides inside his own White House, officials tell Axios.

The big picture: He should be paranoid. In the hours after the New York Times published the anonymous Op-Ed from "a senior official in the Trump administration" trashing the president ("I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration"), two senior administration officials reached out to Axios to say the author stole the words right out of their mouths.

The big picture: He should be paranoid. In the hours after the New York Times published the anonymous Op-Ed from "a senior official in the Trump administration" trashing the president ("I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration"), two senior administration officials reached out to Axios to say the author stole the words right out of their mouths

  • "I find the reaction to the NYT op-ed fascinating β€” that people seem so shocked that there is a resistance from the inside," one senior official said. "A lot of us [were] wishing we’d been the writer, I suspect ... I hope he [Trump] knows β€” maybe he does? β€” that there are dozens and dozens of us."

Why it matters: Several senior White House officials have described their roles to us as saving America and the world from this president.

  • A good number of current White House officials have privately admitted to us they consider Trump unstable, and at times dangerously slow.
  • But the really deep concern and contempt, from our experience, has been at the agencies β€” and particularly in the foreign policy arena.

For some time last year, Trump even carried with him a handwritten list of people suspected to be leakers undermining his agenda.

  • "He would basically be like, 'We’ve gotta get rid of them. The snakes are everywhere but we’re getting rid of them,'" said a source close to Trump.
  • Trump would often ask staff whom they thought could be trusted. He often asks the people who work for him what they think about their colleagues, which can be not only be uncomfortable but confusing to Trump: Rival staffers shoot at each other and Trump is left not knowing who to believe.

Officials describe an increasingly conspiracy-minded president:

  • "When he was super frustrated about the leaks, he would rail about the 'snakes' in the White House," said a source who has discussed administration leakers with the president.
  • "Especially early on, when we would be in Roosevelt Room meetings, he would sit down at the table, and get to talking, then turn around to see who was sitting along the walls behind him."
  • "One day, after one of those meetings, he said, 'Everything that just happened is going to leak. I don’t know any of those people in the room.' ... He was very paranoid about this."

The Times Op-Ed reinforces everything Trump instinctively believes:

  • That a "Deep State" exists. It's trying to undermine him and β€” in the case of Jeff Sessions’ Justice Department, in Trump’s mind β€” is trying to overthrow his presidency.
  • The Bob Woodward book, Trump believes, exposes that leakers are everywhere β€” and gunning for him.

Be smart: "People talk about the loyalists leaving," the source close to Trump tells us. "What it really means is [that there'll be] fewer and fewer people who Trump knows who they really are. So imagine how paranoid you must be if that is your view of the world."

tclittle Professional Forum Ninja from Somewhere Down in Texas Since: Apr, 2010
Professional Forum Ninja
#254270: Sep 7th 2018 at 10:01:08 AM

So, it looks like there was a guy behind Trump at his Billings, Montana rally last night who went "What?" He then left before a woman moved into his spot.

It is really hard not to believe Trump is using paid actors for his rallies, and if he is, it looks like someone tried to game the system to mock Trump.

Edited by tclittle on Sep 7th 2018 at 12:00:49 PM

"We're all paper, we're all scissors, we're all fightin' with our mirrors, scared we'll never find somebody to love."
RedSavant Since: Jan, 2001
#254271: Sep 7th 2018 at 10:02:20 AM

"two senior administration officials reached out to Axios to say the author stole the words right out of their mouths"

Two passengers on the Trump gravy train reached out to Axios to say 'I didn't even commit to the 90% back pat, 10% put-upon resistance act that the op-ed constituted, but I would also like to be considered a hero please'.

It's been fun.
Kardavnil The Polisci Majoris from Sweden Since: Jul, 2014 Relationship Status: In my bunk
The Polisci Majoris
#254272: Sep 7th 2018 at 11:00:30 AM

Man, these are really messed up times. I mean, when you think about it, the idea that lower-ranked officials are going around defying the elected head of state and just doing their own thing would under any normal administration probably be considered terrifying. The fact that many people consider this reassuring (if only mildly so) really tells you something about Trump...

Of course, if they really cared about resisting him, they would have turned to the available legal, non-Gaslighting, methods to oust him long ago...

Edited by Kardavnil on Sep 7th 2018 at 11:01:33 AM

Roll a Constitution saving throw to make it through the year.
vandro Shop Owner from The little shop that wasn't Since: Jul, 2009
Shop Owner
#254273: Sep 7th 2018 at 11:12:47 AM

They know it should have been a 25th ammendment time long ago, but his base is too important for them. That is both pathetic and rage inducing.

TroperOnAStickV2 Call me Stick from Redneck country Since: Dec, 2009 Relationship Status: is commanded toβ€” WANK!
Call me Stick
#254274: Sep 7th 2018 at 12:38:44 PM

@Demongodofchaos 2: I wholeheartedly concur.

Hopefully I'll feel confident to change my avatar off this scumbag soon. Apologies to any scumbags I insulted.
ironballs16 Since: Jul, 2009 Relationship Status: Owner of a lonely heart
#254275: Sep 7th 2018 at 12:46:24 PM

[up]

Which is why I'm inclined to think that even the GOP might decide "Okay, enough's enough" and give Trump the boot after the midterms are over. Not high odds, mind you, but it seems like the groundwork is being laid.

"Why would I inflict myself on somebody else?"

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