well, right now his approval rating is sitting at 32%. it was at 37% on Wednesday. 

56 minutes ago, Nothin'ButAttitude said:

He ain't been in office a good 24 hours and he's already aged ten years. 

 

If you think the comb-over looks bad now, wait four years.

6 minutes ago, Roman said:

well, right now his approval rating is sitting at 32%. it was at 37% on Wednesday. 

 

Mama Khan (who watches Fox News): That's not true!  It's 43%!

 

Me: That still means over half the people in this country hate his guts.

 

(And I didn't even mention the margin of error.  She's been so brainwashed by Fox News -- because they're the news, you see, and the news never lies -- that I can't anymore with her.  This is when I miss Papa Khan the most.)

If Wikileaks gets a hold of those tax returns, things will get interesting. Whatever is in those tax returns has to be damning if Trump wants to hide it, which is Wikileaks wants them. All those Trump supporters who praised Wikileaks must be feeling stupid right now. Above all else, Wikileaks is an anti-authority group and they will go after whoever is in power if they can get goods on them.

This is why I cannot feel sorry for Melania, check her spouting her hubby's birtherism remarks at 1:54

 

2 hours ago, JaneAusten said:

OT:

WTF Julian Assange unreal.

 

"WikiLeaks offers to publish Trumps tax returns"

 

It enforces what I always thought. Assange is an egomaniac who just wants to create disruption in the US. And is he doing this at the instruction of the Russians. Because I honestly don't believe Putin gives a crap other than to continue to weaken and divide the US.

 

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/wikileaks-send-us-trumps-tax-returns-so-we-can-release-them/ar-AAm7rH8?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartanntp

 

For the record: if it ever comes down to a choice between having WikiLeaks release the returns or keeping them from the public indefinitely, I vote for the latter.  No damn way should anyone make another deal with that devil.

 

Thanks, MissLlanview, for sharing your account of the march!  So glad you and Jane went to represent SON!

Edited January 23, 20178 yr by Khan

Has this been posted?  Well, this is interesting but hardly surprising.

 

 

#BOMBSHELL: Counterintelligence agents are investigating Gen. Flynn's communication w/Russian officials. https://t.co/4VYoMF323y pic.twitter.com/4HSUzWDBLQ

— Caroline O. (@RVAwonk) January 23, 2017

44 minutes ago, ReddFoxx said:

If Wikileaks gets a hold of those tax returns, things will get interesting. Whatever is in those tax returns has to be damning if Trump wants to hide it, which is Wikileaks wants them.

 

Frankly, I don't think his tax returns, if and when released, will contain any "smoking guns."  I think people need to prepare themselves for that possibility, too.

 

I DO think the longer TrumpCo. holds out, the more controversy it stirs -- which might be what they want, I don't know.  They have to know, though, that even if the returns do reveal him to be less wealthy than he appears, it won't change how anyone feels on either side.

 

To tell you the truth, I wish people would drop the issue or let it drop.  It's clear he'll never release his returns, no matter HOW many times you ask him or petitions you threaten him with.  It's also clear no one at the IRS is willing to play "Deep Throat" and leak 'em (unless someone wants to take Assange up on his offer, and as I've said upthread, I don't wanna WikiLeaks anywhere near this).

 

Furthermore, how many times do we have to root around for MORE proof that Trump is a terrible person before we realize we're just shouting at the wind?  Like I said, it won't change people's minds one way or the other; and frankly, I'm done with trying to convince Trump supporters not to buy his act any longer.  No matter how much evidence you hand them, they either dismiss it as fake news or say they don't care.

 

From now on, there should be one objective only: to hold him and Congress accountable for when they back out of their promises and/or screw up the government.  Unless you have something that shows Trump committing an impeachable offense, do us a favor, Mr. Whistleblower of the Week, and keep your juicy story about Trump's fondness for Melania dressing up as Adolf Hitler before giving him bjs to yourself.

Edited January 23, 20178 yr by Khan

Meanwhile, Trump is struggling.

 

Quote

"Most of the people around him are new to him. One of the things they don't understand about him is he likes pushback. They are not giving him the pushback he needs when he's giving advice. He's a strong guy. He's intimidating to a lot of people," said Christopher Ruddy, a Trump friend who talks to him often and is the CEO of Newsmax. "If he doesn't have people who can tell him no, this is not going to go very well."

 

[...]

 

News coverage soon fixated on the protesters across the country Saturday that far outnumbered his supporters the day before. Trump was increasingly angered by it, sending his press secretary out to fuzz up the situation and to brag about Trump’s support, in the face of knowable facts that contradicted what he said about record crowd sizes.

 

"The truth of the matter is he had a successful inauguration with a respectful crowd. The transition of power went off without a hitch. His supporters were amiable by and large," said Douglas Brinkley, a presidential historian. "But then he can never let go and stop watching cable TV. Now he's off to the worst start of a presidency in a very long time."

 

That Trump wanted Sean Spicer, the press secretary, to go out with props in the White House briefing room — two large pictures of the crowd — was trademark, people who know him say. Trump loves props.

 

One person who frequently talks to Trump said aides have to push back privately against his worst impulses in the White House, like the news conference idea, and have to control information that may infuriate him. He gets bored and likes to watch TV, this person said, so it is important to minimize that.

 

This person said that a number of people close to him don't like saying no — but that it has to be done.

 

"You can't do it in front of everyone," this person said. "He's never going to admit he's wrong in front of everyone. You have to pull him aside and tell him why he's wrong, and then you can get him to go along with you. These people don't know how to get him to do what they need him to do."

 

Several people who are close to Trump were aghast by the briefing. "It's surreal. We finally have the White House, and it's this," one GOP strategist close to Trump's top aides said.

 

Another piece from the NYT about his aides getting scared:

 

 

Quote

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s first weekend in office unfolded much the way things often did during his campaign: with angry Twitter messages, a familiar obsession with slights and a series of meandering and at times untrue statements, all eventually giving way to attempts at damage control.

 

 

[...]

 

To the extent that there was a plan to take advantage of the first days of his administration, when a president is usually at his maximum leverage, Mr. Trump threw it aside with a decision to lash out about crowd sizes at his swearing in and to rewrite the history of his dealings with intelligence agencies.The lack of discipline troubled even senior members of Mr. Trump’s circle, some of whom had urged him not to indulge his simmering resentment at what he saw as unfair news coverage. Instead, Mr. Trump chose to listen to other aides who shared his outrage and desire to punch back. By the end of the weekend, he and his team were scrambling to get back on script.

 

[...]

 

Mr. Trump grew increasingly angry on Inauguration Day after reading a series of Twitter messages pointing out that the size of his inaugural crowd did not rival that of Mr. Obama’s in 2009. But he spent his Friday night in a whirlwind of celebration and affirmation. When he awoke on Saturday morning, after his first night in the Executive Mansion, the glow was gone, several people close to him said, and the new president was filled anew with a sense of injury.

 

[...]

 

While Mr. Trump was eager to counterattack, several senior advisers urged him to move on and focus on the responsibilities of office during his first full day as president. That included a high-stakes trip to the headquarters of the Central Intelligence Agency, where he had been coached to demonstrate support of the agency and criticize Senate Democrats for delaying confirmation of his nominee to lead it, Mike Pompeo. The advisers left thinking he agreed.

 

But Mr. Spicer, who often berated reporters for what he called biased coverage during the campaign, shares Mr. Trump’s dark view of the news media and advocated an opening-day declaration of war.

 

After racing through his words of reconciliation at the C.I.A. in Langley, Va., Mr. Trump launched into a rambling, unscripted discussion that drifted to the topic of crowd size, making a series of verifiably false claims. Mr. Spicer then went to the White House briefing room for his first turn at the lectern and issued a blistering attack on reporters, made his own false claims and then stormed out without taking questions.

 

Some of the president’s supporters found the first weekend troubling. L. Lin Wood, a prominent libel lawyer who was a vocal defender of Mr. Trump’s on Twitter during the campaign, said that he considered it a dangerous debut.

 

“To someone who believed we might have a good opportunity to change, it’s just a terrible start. Because he’s got a long way to go,” Mr. Wood said. “This is going to go downhill quickly if it’s not changed, and that’s not good for any of us.”

Edited January 23, 20178 yr by Vee

So it's going to be the same old stuff from the campaign, probably including regularly dumping people from his "team." I guess that Corey guy will get a call soon.

 

Newsmax is a cesspit. Why am I not surprised he's friends with Trump.

15 minutes ago, Vee said:

Some of the president’s supporters found the first weekend troubling. L. Lin Wood, a prominent libel lawyer who was a vocal defender of Mr. Trump’s on Twitter during the campaign, said that he considered it a dangerous debut.

 

“To someone who believed we might have a good opportunity to change, it’s just a terrible start. Because he’s got a long way to go,” Mr. Wood said. “This is going to go downhill quickly if it’s not changed, and that’s not good for any of us.”

 

 

Seriously how many times do people really  think this man is going to change or the change they have planned is positive?. Honest to god if I have to read this crap again from people who I actually think might have a brain despite what they do, and have watched this for the past 18 months, there is no pivot, no positive change, etc..

Edited January 23, 20178 yr by JaneAusten

Oh, is Trump already struggling?  Pardon me while I play a very tiny violin.

 

Why do I think this person who said Trump gets bored and watches TV comes from Yugoslavia and has a name that rhymes with "Trevania"?

Edited January 23, 20178 yr by Khan

1 hour ago, Khan said:

 

Frankly, I don't think his tax returns, if and when released, will contain any "smoking guns."  I think people need to prepare themselves for that possibility, too.

 

But I DO think the longer TrumpCo. holds out, the more controversy it stirs -- which might be what they want, I don't know.  They have to know, though, that even if the returns do reveal him to be less wealthy than he pretends, it won't change how anyone feels on either side. 

I don't think there's a smoking gun either and honestly when people discuss see the taxes to determine conflicts of interest, I'm not sure what the tax forms show in respect to that. I'm also no tax expect and honestly if there is something what Schedule would show that? I do think his own personal worth is much less and while I don't think people much care about that, including democrats, no way does he want people to see that.

5 minutes ago, JaneAusten said:

I don't think there's a smoking gun either and honestly when people discuss see the taxes to determine conflicts of interest, I'm not sure what the tax forms show in respect to that.

 

It's like they expect it to go down the way it did when Rachel told Iris she knew she was "The Chief" on ANOTHER WORLD.

Trump's speech to the CIA gets more mortifying the more I read of it, and the CIA is not happy.

https://newrepublic.com/article/139792/will-miss-obama-as-dad

 

12 minutes ago, Vee said:

Trump's speech to the CIA gets more mortifying the more I read of it, and the CIA is not happy.

 

Reading the mentions of Reagan reminds me again of what Trump doesn't get about appearances (even after decades cultivating publicity). Reagan did so much damage to the public reputation of the CIA, yet people still remember him because he said the right things. 

 

I guess the best they can hope for is that he stays out of their way. 

Edited January 23, 20178 yr by DRW50