If Clinton had won and we learned Russia nudged the needle in her favor, the US would be held hostage by the GOP until we had a new election
— The Rude Pundit (@rudepundit) January 5, 2017
Instead, we’re held hostage by a pathological narcissist & his Russian blackmailers https://t.co/Cz5X41AOEv
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) January 6, 2017
Increasingly clear that the Repubs don’t mind their country being run by a hostile foreign power, as long as they get to reap some short-term advantages…
This new intel report directly implicating Putin makes McConnell & Ryan refusal to call out Russia during the campaign even more disturbing
— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) January 6, 2017
Paul Ryan on intel rpt: "Russia has a track record of working against our interests & they clearly tried to meddle in our political system." pic.twitter.com/Js2hUy1hDL
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 6, 2017
Ryan on report: "we can't allow partisans to delegitimize Trump victory. He won fair & square. heard voices of Americans who felt forgotten"
— John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) January 6, 2017
@JohnJHarwood That's an odd response to an intelligence report concluding just the opposite.
— Keith White (@keethers) January 6, 2017
Congressional Republicans looking more and more like collaborators. https://t.co/4cBBQXyV5k
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) January 6, 2017
Doesn't believe anything the Intel Community says
Publicly derides US intel
Doesn't want Intel Brief
Mad because he wasn't briefed https://t.co/gWcyCH4Ih3
— Stonekettle (@Stonekettle) January 6, 2017
Trump is defending Wikileaks, who is threatening to reveal info on private citizens. Soon Trump will have access to all govt records of us.
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) January 6, 2017
.
But the new fashions will be fabulous!…
Am I the only one completely creeped out by @SpeakerRyan new Reich-influenced logo? pic.twitter.com/h924QQUScw
— Jennifer Hayden (@Scout_Finch) January 6, 2017
Thoroughly Pizzled
We might need a new Constitution when the smoke clears.
Hunter Gathers
I’m betting either Trump being out in six months to a year or Mad Max style dystopia in the same time frame. In the latter scenario, Trump is locked in for the part of Immortan Joe.
randy khan
I don’t feel any sympathy for the Republicans, but I think they’ve boxed themselves in. They hardly can denounce Trump now. They’re going to have to ride that horse to the end.
Dog Dawg Damn
@randy khan: No, I think it can get actually bad.
Those of you who think all GOP will go along when/if it gets very bad are maybe downplaying how bad it can get. If it gets that bad, things will unravel, even for him.
chris
Charles Stross is pretty good at near future science fiction. Read the top three in reverse order starting with Things Can Only Get Better (Part 1). He had to rewrite part of his next novel because of Brexit. Sleep well.
Timurid
@randy khan:
The Republicans are rapidly approaching the point where their only logical endgame is a return to Jim Crow. Every other possible outcome ends with them getting bucked off of the demographic tiger and messily devoured…
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
@Thoroughly Pizzled: We aren’t using the one we already have, so we probably do already.
J R in WV
@chris:
Charlie is really good at near term SF, his only problem is that things suddenly got worse than even a guy writing about ancient evil horrors worse than Lovecraft can imagine.
Amazing!
khead
Friday night kitteh laziness. This time last year Mittens and Chloe were sleeping in the snow behind the house.
chopper
seriously, just fuck these people. FFS.
eclare
@khead: Very cute!
Mnemosyne
@Dog Dawg Damn:
Oh, it’s going to get really, really bad, but the Repugs are going to stick with Trump all the way to the end. Ryan and McConnell were willing to sell us out to get their preferred society and they’re going to stick with Trump like glue.
If Trump seems like he’s going to prevent them from killing Social Security and Medicare, then they’ll stab him in the back, but as long as he’s willing to sign their Koch-sponsored bills, they don’t give a shit about anything else.
chris
@J R in WV: Exactly. I’m hoping he’s really wrong this time but I wouldn’t put money on it
satby
@khead: so nice you rescued them!
J R in WV
@Thoroughly Pizzled:
I think just new people, who aren’t treasonous collaborators. Maybe a few rules about candidates and their tax returns? etc, etc!
Mnemosyne
Also, regarding Ryan’s new logo, I will repeat what I said in the other thread: if your new graphic makes people do a double-take and say, Uh, doesn’t that look like …, then your graphic has failed. Redo it.
Omnes Omnibus
@J R in WV: Agreed. Most of it works pretty well most of the time which is about the best thing you can say about any system. The Electoral College is for the chopper, IMO.
debbie
When you’ve lost Norm…
The Dangerman
Can the Dude/Dudette with “the football” just take time off to go hang out at a bar or something; if the Russians launched, Trump would be shitting his pants so bigly that he wouldn’t be able to give the launch order in return.
Omnes Omnibus
@The Dangerman: “I am sorry, Mr. President, you gave COL Standish the week off. He isn’t answering his cell and his voicemail box has not been set up. Maybe we can nuke someone next week.”
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: As we’ve also discussed a few times, it also only works if the people chosen to run thing, elected or appointed, actually give a damn about it and treat it as both Foundational Law to be followed and an ideal that should be lived up to (even if we always fall short). Unfortunately, as we’ve all seen, and as is the case of those that scream the terms Freedom and Liberty, the people that fetishize the Constitution neither understand it, care about, want to follow it/use it as the guidelines for what can and can’t be done, or strive to live up to it as an ideal/system of ideals. Rather they use it as a rhetorical weapon.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: Agreed. The old one is more or less fine; we just need to use it.
randy khan
@Timurid:
@Dog Dawg Damn:
To be clear, I think the Republicans will cut and run (there is something delicious about that phrase when applied to them) if they think Trump has hit the point of no return. I’m old enough to remember Watergate, and that’s more or less what happened then – Nixon had a lot of Republican supporters until the tapes came out, then they started peeling off until the smoking gun tape came out, at which point they pretty much all jumped ship. It turned out that they’d waited too long, and they got crushed in 1974 – the Dems gained 49 seats on top of the 242 they already had in the House and picked up 3 seats in the Senate when they had 20 of the 34 seats up for election.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: Yep. Unfortunately tweaking the thing is out of the question. A convention of the states would, for all intents and purposes, end the Republic. And amending it through the Congressional action followed by state ratification approach is functionally dead.
Mnemosyne
@Omnes Omnibus:
I would love to see the addition of an amendment that has an affirmative right to vote for all US citizens, because I’m tired of the assholes who keep fucking around with people’s voting rights like they’re as optional as getting a driver’s license.
Cacti
All that’s missing from that new Ryan logo is:
Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Speaker!
Adam L Silverman
@randy khan: I think there is a lot of cowardice, especially among the leadership. They talk big, and when they think there will be no pushback or negative response, they try to act bold. But when they’re pushed on they are neither brave nor bold. But that cowardice cuts another way. They know the Russians hacked them too. They may not be sure what the Russians have. Moreover, its been reported that the President-elect, prior to his ever running for office, would collect oppo on a variety of business and personal contacts. They are like very afraid of either or both of those realities.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mnemosyne: FWIW, I think the right to vote is implicit in the post-Civil War Amendments, but then I am not a Supreme Court Justice.
HeleninEire
Good night everyone. From Dublin.
chris
@Adam L Silverman: There are now nearly enough Republican controlled states to have a convention. 2018 will be…interesting.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: Would you like to be? I can make a call…//
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: A Hoover situation.
Mike in NC
In TrumpWorld, the Prime Directive calls for universal adulation by the unwashed masses, even if that means a bit of conflict with the aims of the Republican House and Senate to plunder the Treasury at will.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: Honestly, not really. Federal appellate bench OTOH. I’d like that gig.
Adam L Silverman
@chris: It would be an absolutely stupid move. Want to see California, Oregon, and Washington form their own Republic and NY, NJ, most of New England, and possibly the Eastern portion of PA, MD, and Northern VA with them to form their own Republic and take a huge chunk of both GNP and GDP with them? That would be the result. CA and NY will never agree to anything any of the GOP controlled states would require. They have the economic clout and ability to go their own way and pull surrounding/neighboring similar states with them.
Mnemosyne
@Omnes Omnibus:
You’d think, but they had to add an amendment explicitly saying that women were included in that, so let’s just go ahead and make it explicit for all American citizens.
The Dangerman
Adam, just out of curiosity, but since I think just about anything is possible in the near future, but if Trump orders us to drop a Big One on, say, Mecca, after a particularly nasty ISIS attack, are there failsafes built into the system for someone down the line to say “Hold that order, boys (and girls); he’s fucking nuts”
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: Yep. Fear is a powerful motivator. Especially if one is not self aware enough to understand that one is craven.
NotMax
Whomsoever owns the rights to The Man from U.N.C.L.E. logo ought to initiate a cease and desist action.
Mike in NC
@Cacti: Netflix is again streaming “Downfall” the very best movie ever about the last days of Hitler, featuring a wonderful performance by Bruno Ganz as Der Fuhrer, capturing his charisma, personal charm, paranoia and raving insanity in equal measures. Watched it again last night as a primer for Trump and company.
chris
@Adam L Silverman: I know that and you know that, but the Republicans….
I saw a tweet the other day, can’t find it, so paraphrasing: An important skill going forward is able to imagine the stupidest possible outcome of anything.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
I hate these people. I’d like to say something beyond that, but there just isn’t anything left to say. I hate them. That’s all there is.
amk
psychopaths, psychotics, psyops, pt barnum.
Mnemosyne
@Adam L Silverman:
Nevada and Hawaii can come join the United States of Cascadia as well. Utah and Arizona will have to ask very, very nicely.
debbie
@Adam L Silverman:
I hope it eats holes through all of their stomachs.
chris
@Mnemosyne: On the east coast Atlantica will welcome you. (Yes it’s a thing.)
randy khan
@Adam L Silverman:
That would not surprise me at all. It’s one reason to think they’d ride him almost all the way to the end.
The Dangerman
@Mnemosyne:
Utah will want their own country.
Arizona? I’m not sure anyone can ask that nicely.
Omnes Omnibus
@The Dangerman: On paper, no, absent a determination that the Pres is mentally incompetent. OTOH, there is talk that the brass put out some unofficially guidance during Nixon’s last days that no one should take action on a nuke order unless it was confirmed by some one sane and sober.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
@Adam L Silverman:
Pretty much. We’d see that old map, the joke one after the 2004 election, with the United States in blue and Jesusland in red, only Virginia, and maybe even North Carlolina, too, wouldn’t be in Jesusland any longer. I think there’d be a bog old fight in North Carolina if they had to choose between going with us or going with Texas. They aren’t where Virginia is, not yet, but they’re near enough that, I think, a lot of them can see which side they’d rather be on if things came to that.
catbirdman
@randy khan: These days that tape would be considered quaint. Locker-room talk, if you will. Trump could famously shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and his supporters would not blink. We suck.
The Dangerman
@Omnes Omnibus:
I’ve heard that Nixon talk, too; given Nixon was reportedly hammered off his ass for quite a few of his last days, I’m not surprised.
danielx
@The Dangerman:
I don’t think so…he wouldn’t believe it because he wouldn’t want to believe it. I’m coming to believe that’s one of the keys to his psyche. He thinks something should be true, or should be a certain way. It should be true, he wants it to be true, so in what passes for his mind it is true. Or isn’t, if he doesn’t want to believe it. And up until now he’s been surrounded by people who, because he has money falling out of his ass (if not so much as he says), were willing to say, yep, Mr. Trump, that’s exactly right. He’s gotten away with it because up until now only words, money and/or legal actions were involved and he’s mostly won, at least in his own mind, no matter how serious or petty a particular matter may have been.
Now there are, or will be in two weeks, a lot more serious issues involved than having his psychological needs met. Lives (like yours or mine) will depend on his rationality and ability to weigh the consequences of his actions or the lack of them. I am not bent over double with the weight of my belief in his judgment or rationality.
If Charles Stross had to change the ending of a book, it does make one wonder how many other writers have been wadding up draft novels and tossing them into the trash (figuratively speaking). I don’t think Tom fucking Clancy, much less John LeCarre, could have come up with a plot so surreal and bizarre as to include the events of the last two months.
NotMax
Something both good and touching from 2016. Kudos,, Kodak.
(Don’t read every single thread, so apologies if already mentioned and discussed.)
Adam L Silverman
@The Dangerman: Yes and no. Technically the President has complete control over decisions to utilize nuclear weapons. In reality the senior leadership on the DOD/military side can interpose themselves by issuing guidance down the chain of command that they have to be consulted for verification before any order to launch can be acted on. From what I understand this was done at one point under President Nixon.
Adam L Silverman
@chris: Yep.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: I saw some film years ago of British Drill Sergeants talking to recruits after swearing at them had been banned. One got up in the face of a particularly incompetent recruit and started down an obviously well-worn path. He suddenly switched gears and finished with “Get out of my sight, you horrible little man!”
ETA: You could see the veins in his neck popping as he restrained himself.
Adam L Silverman
@debbie: I’m sure some of them are on heavy Maalox usage. Others are not self aware enough to know what is really driving them. What needs to be understood is that for the foreseeable future the US is likely facing a toxic leadership situation. I wish it was otherwise. I hope it is otherwise, but hope is not a strategy. As I wrote in several comments early today: you want the President to succeed. This is overall, not on any specific item or part of a specific President’s agenda. You want him to be effective. Because a President that fails and is ineffective is not good for the US, our partners, and/or our allies.
Adam L Silverman
@efgoldman: And Senator Goldwater would be disgusted and ashamed and completely unelectable today.
Redshift
@chris:
Josh Marshall called it Trump’s Razor during the campaign – when figuring out why Trump does something, the stupidest possible explanation is probably the right one.
Gator90
I live in South Florida and have along with my family collected luggage from that baggage claim area countless times. These events are always tragic and horrifying, but man this one cuts close to home.
Suzanne
I really wish I believed in karma. LORD, do I wish that Trump, Ryan, McConnell, etc etc etc, die painfully over an extended period of time, in humiliating fashion, with the full knowledge that they brought it on themselves for being bad people.
O/T: doctor says that my gross-ass finger is healing nicely, and now needs to start being exposed to air more, so I don’t have to keep it in the splint all the time. Also, the range of motion is pretty good—I have probably 80% motion back already.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: They were very nice during firing range time. One wonders why.
cmorenc
@chris:
Even if the GOP got the requisite 2/3 of state legislatures to approve instituting a constitutional convention, the proposed provisions, amendments, etc. coming out of said convention still require approval by the legislatures of 3/4 of the states – that’s 38 of them since (3/4 x 50 = 37.5 hence 37 isn’t quite enough). I doubt California, Oregon, Washington, New York, Delaware, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, Illinois, Minnesota, Hawaii and either New Mexico or Colorado or both would go along.
Mnemosyne
@danielx:
Narcissists are all about creating their own reality, and God help anyone who tries to tell them otherwise.
Of course, if reality does smack them in the face, it’s all about self-pity and why is everyone so mean to me? and everyone around them is forced to waste even more time catering to their feelings rather than dealing with the actual crisis.
That scene on the phone in Dr. Strangelove? It’s going to be like that, except that by the time Muffley manages to get the Premier to settle down and focus, the bomb has already dropped and we’re all dead.
Pleasant dreams!
TriassicSands
It’s disturbing, but not more disturbing unless you thought or think McConnell and Ryan care about what’s good for this country as opposed to what’s good for them. All the evidence is to the contrary. Both men are self-serving, hypocritical, power hungry, anti-democratic oligarchs. If Russia helps them get what they want, they’ll line up behind Putin and do what’s needed. A shorter description of the two men would be — traitors. If the well-being of this country depends on them, we’re in deep trouble.
We’re in deep trouble.
chris
@Redshift: Is BEING able, dammit.
Trump’s Razor explains the past. This is more about looking at the future in abject horror.
James Powell
They don’t mind at all. They are going to appoint the next supreme court justice. Maybe two more after that. With control of the supreme court they can enact vote suppression across the country, approve every gerrymandering scheme they can come up with, and get rid of what’s left of the Voting Rights Act.
Then they will enact all manner of protections for corporate interests, eliminate the estate tax, stop enforcing environmental laws, allow drilling and digging everywhere . . . okay, you get the idea.
They don’t mind the foreign influence because that’s what it took to win and all they ever cared about was winning.
Omnes Omnibus
@Suzanne: What did you cut it on? I’ve been in and out all week. I saw the bandage and all that, but never caught the how.
mainmata
Trump is unable to take his future job at all seriously. We’re in very dangerous times not only because he is checked out but also because we have a deeply deranged and I would say “evil” GOP legislative majority.
chris
@cmorenc: Agreed. Doesn’t mean they won’t try.
chopper
@Omnes Omnibus:
that’s right, motherfuckers.
Omnes Omnibus
@chopper: No offense intended.
cmorenc
@Adam L Silverman:
The cabal of McConnell, Gingrich et al that met the night Obama was inaugurated in 2009 to plot how to make his Presidency a failure didn’t give a shit about that point.
Mnemosyne
@Adam L Silverman:
It’s not even good for our enemies. As I keep pointing out to the people who claim we had this coming because of what we did to Mossadegh, that’s going to be cold comfort for the people of Tehran when the bombs start falling.
It’s going to be very interesting to see what wins out in Trump’s tiny mind, his Islamophobia or his desire to look out for Russia’s oil interests. For certain values of “interesting.”
Suzanne
@Omnes Omnibus: Weird accident while taking my Spawns sledding. Nylon handle twisted over my finger while going down the hill, and ripped through the skin to the bone. So the laceration wraps around my finger like a perfect spiral and the bone is broken.
danielx
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
I’ve found that screaming ‘goddamn fucking piss rats!’ helps.
Adam L Silverman
@Gator90: I’ve been through there several times. Both when I lived in Miami in the mid 90s and when going back to the Miami area to give guest lectures.
I’m planning to do a post on this over the weekend, but this is likely going to be a major political issue over the next several weeks in the Florida legislature. With a change in committee leadership, the permit open carry, campus carry, and carry into non-secured areas at airports bills in the Florida legislature were already guaranteed to make it out of committee. Today’s incident will lead to large calls for the need for all of these to pass so that people can defend themselves in places they previously could not.
kindness
Trumplenacht. Not looking forward to it at all but I don’t see how we avoid it.
Millard Filmore
@randy khan:
Nixon was involved in normal petty crime and coverup. The Trump situation is different. This one is treason [1].
My question list is:
Who participated with a hostile foreign power in screwing with the election process?
Who knew and did nothing?
Who participated in the cover-up?
Who knew and did nothing?
[1] since we don’t declare war any more, we need a new legal definition of treason.
Adam L Silverman
@efgoldman: The late Senator Church is, I’m pretty sure, spinning at a high velocity right now.
I’m pretty sure neither Presidents Reagan or Nixon would be electable in today’s Republican Party.
danielx
@Adam L Silverman:
Ronald fucking Reagan would be unelectable today; would in fact be considered a hopeless RINO and squish.
Omnes Omnibus
@Suzanne: I’ve split a finger open playing dodge ball and bounced toboggan off my left ankle. I am not John Cole.
Adam L Silverman
@cmorenc: Allow me to clarify: people that actually care about the US and their fellow citizens want the President to be successful.
There is a Taoist saying, I think its from the Wen Tzu, which is the further teachings of Lao Tzu. It goes something along the lines of: those that seek to control others know power, those that seek to control themselves no the Way.
The Dangerman
@Adam L Silverman:
Nixon, no way he gets nominated or eelcted.
Reagan could easily win (see Trump, Donald; they are very similar characters).
Adam L Silverman
@efgoldman: Yep.
Lizzy L
@Mnemosyne: I don’t believe that T is an Islamophobe. I think his rage against ISIS is a tactic, just as “drain the swamp” and “lock her up” were tactics. I think that he will happily support the Russian oil industry (and ignore the Russian threat in the Baltics and eastern Europe) as long as the Russians stroke his ego and carry his business debt.
Arizona is not going to want to be part of Cascadia. Too bad about New Mexico…
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman:
I disagree with with almost all that I understand he wants to do. I don’t wish for his success. I hope that he doesn’t fuck up. There is a difference.
Suzanne
@Omnes Omnibus: Yuck.
Easiest way to describe how it happened is thus: take some woven nylon strap, like backpack or seatbelt. Loop around finger once. Pull hard enough to halfway sever finger and break bone. I needed my Vicodin, man.
My kids were there. I underreacted. Then I saw the front of my pants covered in blood later, after they went to bed, and I almost lost my shit.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: I would not argue with that way of stating it.
Omnes Omnibus
@Suzanne:Similar things have happened to static line parachutists who let the static line get wrapped around their arm rather than trailing along the outside of it. Whole arm can get stripped of flesh. Let us never speak of this again.
Millard Filmore
@Adam L Silverman:
We must ALL be paranoid fruitbats ready to use deadly force in order to protect ourselves from paranoid fruitbats that are ready to use deadly force.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: I will have a drink for you if that helps.
BBA
@cmorenc: Speaking only for New York, Andrew Fucking Cuomo would sign anything if it meant the State Senate would pass his budget on time and let him build his stupid-ass train from LGA to Citi Field.
And I know a few more of those states have Republican or might-as-well-be-Republican governors. It certainly could happen.
Adam L Silverman
@Millard Filmore: That’s basically my SOP when in Florida. I assume everyone and everything is armed and bug fuck nuts!
Suzanne
@Omnes Omnibus: Having seen how this happened, I have no trouble envisioning that. Gross. Really, really gross.
AnotherBruce
@Timurid: This.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: When I was working for WI’s election agency and the concealed carry rules changed, I decided that my survival strategy was to point to the bigwigs’ offices. “Dude, down the hall and to the left. That’s who you want.”
Lizzy L
@Adam L Silverman: Sam Ervin and Howard Baker, observing the antics in Washington from their adjoining clouds, are passing the bottle of Jack Daniel’s and shaking their heads.
I had to double-check to be sure, but I remembered that one of the results of Watergate was the 1978 Ethics in Government Act, which requires financial disclosure of executive officials, including the President. Wikipedia says: Title I requires men and women in the public service sector to fill out financial disclosure forms which include the sources and amounts of income, gifts, reimbursements, the identity and approximate value of property held and liabilities owed, transactions in property, commodities, and securities, and certain financial interests of a spouse or dependent. Wikipedia also says: Disclosure must also be made available to the public shortly after they are submitted.
Think we’ll ever see T’s “disclosure” forms? (That’s rhetorical.)
Uh huh.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: As they say at the Ranger Regiment: “That’s a technique”.
Jay Noble
Why do scenes from Stephen King’s “Dead Zone” keep coming to mind
Mnemosyne
@Lizzy L:
Nope — “drain the swamp” and “lock her up” were slogans, not tactics. He doesn’t actually have any tactics.
We already know he’s a stone-cold racist, so I think the Islamophobia is real. And even if it wasn’t, he’s surrounding himself with Islamophobic nutjobs like Flynn who are going to be pushing hard to act against Iran.
Adam L Silverman
@Lizzy L: Gonna send you a message on another topic offline. Using the email address you’re using here.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: “But not the preferred method.” At OCS, we did a week at Ranger School. I heard that many times. I have wings but never tried for a tab.
AnotherBruce
@efgoldman: I’m thinking the entire Republican party are narcissists So addicted to their power. I’m thinking that even ugly turtle Mitch McConnell is under the power of the mirror.
.
Lizzy L
@efgoldman: You’re right. I even know that, having dealt with two of them personally. But they don’t do “beliefs” either. I’m not sure how to talk about it. T’s talk on the campaign trail about ISIS was a negotiating ploy,used to make the deal (i.e., to get votes.) It’s not a belief, or a rational conclusion, because narcissists don’t do rational conclusions. They will take whatever position works for them NOW NOW NOW to get what they want — votes, praise, money, status, praise, sex, applause, did I mention praise? — but it’s not a belief or a reasoned conclusion or a conviction as to the truth of something, because narcissists don’t do truth either.
Dog Dawg Damn
I keep saying this, and not to beat a dead horse, but I think there’s a non-insignificant chance that genocide is on the table.
Based on the cesspool of the right-wing (as seen on Twitter, elsewhere), that is their desire w/r to Muslims.
Muslims will be the true enemy, as it is Putin’s, and that’s the ultimate plan. Rid Europe, US of Muslims. Expand Israel.
Jordan is warning of “catastrophic consequences” should embassy be moved to Israel. That’s the point! A terrorist blowback will just give Trump a reason to start lobbing nukes at Muslim world. Can get the oil later to “pay for it”.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: Yep. And I’ve heard the stories.
Dog Dawg Damn
@Lizzy L: That’s oddly comforting.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: As a civilian, did they ever let you jump?
Raoul
Holy Eva Braun, Batman, that new aRyan logo.
Lizzy L
@Dog Dawg Damn: Is it? I don’t find it so. Your post at 118 seems quite likely to me. T is quite capable of lobbing nukes at the Muslim world, but it won’t be out of religious fervor or in response to a reasoned assessment of danger. It’ll be an act of pure id, because Flynn or Bannon suggest it to him and tell him America (and he) will look strong when he does this (and weak if he doesn’t.) He’s not an ideologue, but it won’t matter.
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: I’ve never been attached to an Airborne unit. I’ve provided support, specifically predeployment prep, to 101st Airborne Division (helped get them ready to go to Afghanistan in 2009), 4th BCT/101 ABN (helped get them ready to go to Afghanistan in 2013), and XVIII Airborne Corps (I was the keynote/kickoff briefer and on site socio-cultural and geostrategic subject matter expert for their strategic assessment week to get them ready to go to Iraq this past summer). I offered to go with XVIII ABN as their cultural advisor, directly to the CG (he was the 101 ABN DCG when I prepped them in 2009…). It didn’t happen. Had it happen I was prepared to have to learn how to and jump as part of my being accepted onto the Corps staff. My 2008 employment was with an Armor brigade, specifically 2BCT/1AD and my previous staff work was for III Corps, which is Armor, and US Army Europe – these were TACON assignments. So no need to learn how to jump or jumping.
Omnes Omnibus
@Adam L Silverman: My advice: Do it if they let you. My best experience in the army.
piratedan
the entire thing is incredibly fucking ludicrous… we have the GOP, who clearly could give a shit about how they got handed the reins of power, because gawddammit! We’re in charge and By Gawd, if we’re going to drive the country into the fucking ditch, AT LEAST we’ll be the ones driving!!!! Is an incredibly awful fucking mandate because at least we’ll not have niggers and spics getting modestly affordable health care… my gawd, the ever-loving fucking horror of it all.
It feels like Freedom! Victory!
Dog Dawg Damn
@Lizzy L: It sounds paranoid, but the fact that he openly declared we should target civilians is enough to make it plausible.
Omnes Omnibus
@piratedan: You suggest that we do what?
Adam L Silverman
@Omnes Omnibus: Tracking. Hasn’t come up yet. As I indicated, had the CG for XVIII ABN decided to bring me with him, I would have done it.
Suffragete City elftx
Trump takes things personally. The way he talks about ISIL leads me to wonder just how viscerally afraid of them he is.
And why aren’t his tweets as our CEO president decimating stocks not illegal? Why wouldn’t shareholders sue after some of this?
Mnemosyne
@Lizzy L:
They don’t do “beliefs” as normal people understand them, but they do have one driving belief: that they are superior to everyone else around them. Therefore, they hold everyone else in contempt, but not necessarily equal contempt. Narcissists are just as likely to be racists (or homophobes, or misogynists, etc) as the rest of us.
So Trump is quite likely to bomb Tehran or anyone else he feels like picking on because he’s 100 percent sure that he’ll win.
piratedan
@Omnes Omnibus: I dunno. is it too early for Wolverines!!!!!!
Mnemosyne
@Omnes Omnibus:
Forget it, he’s rolling.
jonas
I’ve spent a lot of time lately just trying to imagine the complete meltdown this country would be having right now if Hillary had squeaked through on an electoral technicality, and which was later found to have been aided by the interference of a foreign power (China or North Korea or something). I can’t even begin to wrap my head around the scale of outrage, protest, hysteria, and possibly violence that Fox, talk radio, and GOP politicians would whip up.
Millard Filmore
@Lizzy L:
But Trump is the Law And Order president, and we must obey the law. If by “we” you mean all of us whose last name does not end with “Trump”.
Millard Filmore
@Omnes Omnibus:
Someone I used to work with went jumping every weekend. He was aiming to become certified for Instructor, so he could jump for free I guess. Anyway, you do not have to wait on the army to do this.
jonas
@Mnemosyne:
It will be interesting to see how this pans out given that Tillerson and the business community — particularly oil — see Iran as a major untapped market/resource. Had he put Tom Cotton or John Bolton at DOS, war with Iran would definitely be on the table, but maybe the more pragmatic CEO-types in his cabinet will pull him aside and talk about all the “deals” that are at stake if he starts banging the war drums.
mike in dc
Vladimir Putin is an irredeemable monster and the sanctions should remain in place.
Vladimir Putin is an irredeemable monster and the sanctions should remain in place.
Vladimir Putin is an irredeemable monster and the sanctions should remain in place.
For future reference, when dealing with Russia “skeptics” online, ask them whether they agree with the above statement first. If the answer is no, or there’s any hedging or “but the US does it too!”, they’re a troll.
Ian
Today Congress per-authorized money for more “wall” style border security. I though Mexico was supposed to pay for it? What happened to this ‘awesome’ campaign promise? And just how are we supposed to believe that they will pay us back later? Can we count it in lost jobs in Mexico from the Ill Douche’s actions? Also, unrelated, doesn’t taking away jobs from Mexico increase the rational for migrating to the US and finding work here?
Ian
@Omnes Omnibus:
In your favor it also shows your are clearly not a felon.
J R in WV
@chris:
Teh comments in Charlie Stross’s prediction set for 2017 are all grim and well researched. All sorts of econ black swan events that are extremely probably when examined with a Trump perspective. Longest/best string is the first one.
Here is the link to the main blog, which links to the three posts which cover the entire year’s forecast. You want the posts on Dec 26, Dec 31 and Jan 3rd, which has the best title ” Rabid Nazi Racoons Shall Inherit the Earth”.
J R in WV
@Ian:
Being able to prove at a moments notice that I am not a felon is one reason I have a concealed carry permit for pistols…
Too many Florida Man stories is another, and more recently Trump is a third.
debbie
@Adam L Silverman:
The derangement syndrome never wanes, I guess. But I can’t say I hope the presidency succeeds; I hope the country is strong enough to survive what’s coming, but a lesson needs to be learned. Otherwise, it will just keep happening again and again.
rikyrah
@khead: Awe.They look cute??
Kansi
No dog whistles. They are blaring big horns and the MSM keeps saying, “What? I can’t hear you.”
chris
@J R in WV: Yeah, I’m awake. Good morning. Charlie’s commenters are always good. See his Twitter feed too and William Gibson’s.
Another Scott
@Dog Dawg Damn: I think it’s important not to get carried away in reacting to Donnie’s comments. The biggest underlying concept in his head is “what’s good for me?”.
Donnie has a hotel/golf course in Dubai – at least his name is on it. It’s probably owned by Deutsche Bank. ;-)
Seriously, even though (as discussed earlier) there’s no formal check on the President’s CIC power, we need to remember that there are things like rules of war, the Geneva Conventions, etc., etc. And our military people are told over and over again that they must disobey illegal orders. Everyone can see that instantly killing tens of thousands of people without a formal Congressional declaration of war would be a war crime.
Nuclear weapons are only good for deterrence or for completely flattening a nation (it’s kinda like being pregnant). If we crossed the nuclear threshold with Iran, we would have to win and win quickly. The Iranian government would rightly feel that their national survival was at stake and they would feel that nothing was off the table in retaliation.
And since fallout doesn’t respect national borders, blowing up Tehran or Iran’s nuclear facilities means would leave the entire Gulf State region virtually uninhabitable. You think Donnie wants to destroy his own business in Dubai?
Remember what happened to the US economy when oil exports from Iran and Iraq were disrupted in 1979? Imagine the whole region being unable to export oil for years or more.
Supposedly there are 2.2 B Christians in the world and 1.6 B Muslims. But a “war of civilizations” isn’t in the offing because it seems unlikely that nominally Christian nations are going to want to join Donnie in some new Crusade. On the other hand, one of the recruiting tools for Daesh and al Qaeda has been arguments that the West is at war with Islam. The very real differences between Sunni and Shia Islam won’t matter if Donnie and his minions decide that we’re at war with Islam…
My recollection of the 1980 campaign was that Carter and Tip and many others were arguing that Ronnie was going to blow up the world. It made the Democrats look like cranks and helped make Ronnie look more reasonable. Let’s not go down that road again.
Yes, Donnie is stupid and dangerous. But he’s not going to blow up the world – especially if we are sensible and united in our opposition.
tl;dr – Don’t confuse Donnie’s scary rhetoric for an actual plan to do something. For Donnie, it’s all about “The Deal” and what he can get for himself. He thinks the same overblown bluster that he’s used for 50 years to get what he wants will apply to foreign policy with multi-thousand year old civilizations. It won’t, of course. He’ll fold when there’s real push-back.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.
Another Scott
@Suffragete City elftx: I wouldn’t be surprised if there were insider-trading things going on with Donnie’s Tweets and stock prices (and the people involved should be prosecuted), but, e.g., Toyota‘s stock wasn’t really affected much by Donnie’s comments.
FWIW.
Cheers,
Scott.
AMinNC
@Adam L Silverman: I have been very perplexed by the nearly complete disappearance of the fact (?) that both sides were hacked. It was mentioned in October when we first heard about the hacks, but since then only DNC leaks have been talked about. I would have thought either Democrats or the media would have made a much bigger deal about the fact that we have no idea what information Russia has on Republicans in positions of power that they could use to exert future pressure. Do you think this is still under investigation, so nobody is commenting, or do you think they didn’t really hack GOP, or do you think this is (again) Democratic political malpractice and the media’s general malpractice?
MoxieM
Having had the bad luck to be married to a covert narcissist for 25 years (now in the past) I’ve got a totally non-professional but experiential opinion or two about NPD. Trump, by contrast to my ex, is a malignant narcissist (in my, again, non-professional opinion). These folks lie as easily as most of us breathe. And other kinds of deception–like collusion with the Russians to the detriment of the US–would be a no-brainer. I would have to say, the only backward reflection they do is grudge-counting (anything else is too painful, as it reveal the gaping hole where their self should be). And, an awful lot of the rest of their behavior is reactive–they can’t help that, it’s how they’re wired. It can’t change. It’s all about immediate need for aggrandizement or adulation, by themselves or others. Pretty obvious watching DJT. Yup, scary and dangerous, but to my mind, mostly because he’s a puppet to be played by any savvy player–whether Putin, Ryan, McConnell or whoever. They’ll have his number.
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
@AMinNC: Yeah, the Russians might have the goods on a lot of other Republicans, not just Trump. It’s disturbing. I take solace in their day 1 screw up on the ethics thing. Nothing, and I mean nothing, they want to do is particularly popular. As they enact their cut Medicare, Social Security and everything else agenda they will lose voters by the trainload. That plus constant Trump dumbassery will (we can hope) tank their electoral chances in two years and again when/if Trump runs for re-election.