StrangeSox

I'm doubtful this ultimately goes anywhere, but two House R's have signed onto the Dem bill calling for an independent investigator http://thehill.com/homenews/house/332981-a...nt-russia-probe

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ May 11, 2017 -> 01:35 PM) Today's WH press conference was beautiful. this was the best moment out of many very special moments watch this, have a laugh https://twitter.com/BraddJaffy/status/862737679783514113

definitely didn't let a russian spy into the oval office with all sorts of equipment no sir!

Poll: Just 21 percent approve of House’s Obamacare repeal bill Good thing the House and the President didn't decide to hold a big celebration at the White House and truck in a bunch of beer in honor of this extremely unpopular bill passing one house of Congress.

The Director or Secretary can't fire just anyone. They have appointments they can make and they can dismiss them at any time, but the rank-and-file have pretty decent civil service protections and can only be fired for cause. Steve Bannon was one of the few people in the White House over the weekend telling Trump this was a really dumb idea. Trump doesn't care and like you said, he doesn't think ahead at all. Which is a fantastic characteristic to have in the Commander in Chief of the most powerful military in the history of the world.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ May 11, 2017 -> 01:37 PM) Who knows with the current GOP, but firing McCabe would be political suicide. It is 100% up to Trump and Trump alone.

Today's WH press conference was beautiful.

QUOTE (Soxbadger @ May 11, 2017 -> 01:26 PM) I get that maybe on this board it doesnt matter much, but at the same time its a losing angle so Id rather people go a different route. On a completely unrelated note. Does anyone know if the President/Attorney General can fire any FBI agent? Or is it just the one's who were appointed by the President. Obviously Comey could be, but a lot of Trump supporters want McCabe fired now. Ive tried to look into it, and I cant really find anything besides for the Director can be fired. I presume that the Director could fire McCabe, but could the President fire him even though he was not appointed? Not sure if anyone else knows, but from what I can find it would seem that McCabe is likely a bigger problem for Trump than Comey would have been. Since McCabe's position is also Senate-confirmed, I'd imagine that he's another Presidential appointment and can be fired by the President. The guy next in line is, too. I don't know how far you have to go down the chain until you're at the civil service level rather than political appointees, but probably below deputy director levels. e:this is at least partially wrong. McCabe was appointed by Comey, not Obama.

QUOTE (bmags @ May 11, 2017 -> 12:35 PM) I'm just so mad at how obvious it was at how stupid this man would be at this job and yet even now how many should-be smarter and more responsible people are going to go along with it. They get to cut health care for the poor, cut taxes for the wealthy, and stole a supreme court seat. Plus lots of "u mad, libs?" Reagan also had a bunch of people within his administration get convicted for various things and he's still highly revered by lots of people.

here's a clip of Trump's rambling and incriminating interview with Lester Holt https://twitter.com/BraddJaffy/status/862714299902550017

QUOTE (StrangeSox @ May 11, 2017 -> 12:27 PM) Something that's flown under the radar a bit with the rest of this s***storm: Sinclair-Tribune Media deal spotlights media concentration worries Sinclair already owns a large number of local affiliate stations across the country, and they're looking to buy up the big chunk that Tribune owns. This will give them ownership and control over much of the media landscape. Sinclair has a heavily conservative bent, and has interfered in editorial control many times in the past. Back in the 2004 elections, they forced local affiliates to preempt regular programming in order to broadcast one of those Swiftboat "documentaries" critical of Kerry. They've also directed news reports to give favorable coverage of Bush during his presidency, and they recently openly discussed trading favorable coverage of Trump for access. Here’s what happened the last time Sinclair bought a big-city station spoiler:

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ May 11, 2017 -> 12:33 PM) The problem is the democrats have absolutely no plan on how to get elected. Until they resort to gerrymandering and bulls***, they won't win. We're stuck. They're already heavily recruiting candidates for races across the country, so maybe they've actually gotten their s*** together after letting the party disintegrate at the state and local level for years.

The President asking the FBI director about an ongoing investigation into his own campaign and possibly himself has gotta be approaching "obstruction of justice," right?

Something that's flown under the radar a bit with the rest of this s***storm: Sinclair-Tribune Media deal spotlights media concentration worries Sinclair already owns a large number of local affiliate stations across the country, and they're looking to buy up the big chunk that Tribune owns. This will give them ownership and control over much of the media landscape. Sinclair has a heavily conservative bent, and has interfered in editorial control many times in the past. Back in the 2004 elections, they forced local affiliates to preempt regular programming in order to broadcast one of those Swiftboat "documentaries" critical of Kerry. They've also directed news reports to give favorable coverage of Bush during his presidency, and they recently openly discussed trading favorable coverage of Trump for access.

This also means they trotted Pence out to blatantly lie on camera again I wonder if he was lying unknowingly or if he's in on it.

This seems, well, not good: edit: this also means that the President is now contradicting the White House's official story on when and why Comey was fired.

QUOTE (Dick Allen @ May 11, 2017 -> 10:53 AM) Trump is now boasting that in a short period of time, he has learned everything about health care. Thank God for Donald Trump. the look on that baby's face that baby knew what's up

What's funny with Trump is that for all of his whining about FAKE NEWS FAKE NEWS FAKE MEDIA!, he always goes to regular establishment media outlets like the NYT or Bob Acosta whenever there's a big story or he wants to talk about something. He still craves their validation and he's deeply hurt and surprised that everyone is still so mean to him.

QUOTE (bigruss22 @ May 11, 2017 -> 09:48 AM) Went to Seattle for 2 nights and Portland for 3 nights from Thur-Tue, had a great time. Seattle was kind of meh for me, glad I saw it and had some beautiful views, but don't think I would go back. Portland on the other hand, absolutely loved that city. Both places had great food and drinks but the vibe in Portland was a lot better. Went on some hikes and had a really fun time on the Eagle Creek trail going out to Punchbowl Ridge. The sheer green/nature just a bit outside Portland was great, wish I had more time to check it out. Hey I was on that trail last summer! We enjoyed Portland, but we loved Bend. If you're into basically any outdoor activity that doesn't involve the ocean, you can find it there.

QUOTE (JenksIsMyHero @ May 11, 2017 -> 09:53 AM) I can see this when the staff is talking about other staff members. But not Trump himself. I don't doubt that Trump was growing tired of Comey and was pissed that Comey wouldn't take his wiretap claims seriously and that he continued to pursue the Russia probe. I find it hard to believe that 30 people in the WH, FBI and DOJ (1) had first hand knowledge of this and (2) would be willing to completely contradict the WH official statement to a reporter. It doesn't mean they necessarily had first-hand knowledge. It's possible (probable?) that a lot of them are second-hand sources, e.g. someone high up in DoJ actually had first-hand knowledge and passed it along to their deputies who leaked. There's also huge factional infighting within Trump's inner circle, so there likely is some first-hand sourcing there. QUOTE (bmags @ May 11, 2017 -> 09:56 AM) Maybe he gets undermined because he routinely floats himself that staff members are losing influence, or aren't good at their jobs. Or blames his comms team for his not understanding that firing his FBI director would be a big deal. Trump himself has been an unamed source in Maggie Haberman stories, we don't need to overthink this. They can't get 2 people to tell an official talking point correctly, they didn't get 30 people to tell a coordinated lie behind the scenes. Haha yeah I had sort of forgotten that. A few weeks ago, an "anonymous WH source" was passing along info in 100% Trump language and it definitely came straight from him.

QUOTE (KyYlE23 @ May 11, 2017 -> 09:29 AM) Wait, that was real? For really real? Donald Trump interviews melt brains. Yes, it's 100% real. Yes, there's even more insanity. http://time.com/4775040/donald-trump-time-...eing-president/ more praise for dictators

QUOTE (JenksIsMyHero @ May 11, 2017 -> 09:28 AM) Not to go all conspiracy theorist here, but I find it REALLY hard to believe there are 30 people willing to talk off the record/anonymously about something that probably only a handful of people knew about. We already know Trump supporters are delusional people, so there aren't a lot of "free-thinkers" remaining in the administration. And reports have always been it's a very small inner circle around him. I dunno, not really buying this one. It's 30 people from the WH, Capital Hill, Justice and the FBI. Trump's inner circle is small, but he's also not exactly a crafty and careful operator. Knowing that Trump was pissed no one was going along with his ridiculous claims about Obama wiretapping him or that he wanted the Russia s*** to be dropped in favor of finding whoever leaked the Flynn information to the public doesn't require being close to Trump himself. I'm guessing a whole lot of career FBI guys and particularly Comey loyalists are going to be leaking like crazy now, and they might have had insight at least from the FBI/Justice side.

He means electromagnetic propulsion, not "digital," and it's something that's been figured out for a long time and is taught in high school physics.

QUOTE (Tony @ May 11, 2017 -> 08:51 AM) @Acosta: WH furious over Russian government photos of Trump meeting with Lavrov/Kislyak. "They tricked us," an official said of Russians "They lie." https://twitter.com/acosta/status/862641882983215105 Oops! Extreme Vetting Massive voter suppression efforts incoming