Can Trump fire this guy though?

1 minute ago, dragonflies said:

Can Trump fire this guy though?

 

No.

6 minutes ago, marceline said:

 

No.

Did they change the rules after Nixon was able to fire Cox?

Trump isn't going anywhere. The GOP still need him as a shield to push their draconian laws.

 

35 minutes ago, JaneAusten said:

The White House was blinded by the Special Counsel announcement -- given only about a 30-minute heads up

— Jonathan Karl (@jonkarl)

Good thing. THis is what the democrat have been asking for. He's going to have open access to anything he needs, ability to investigate, subpoena, hire investigators, and prosecute.  He has a fairly stellar reputation. I believe he was asked by Obama to stay on beyond his 10 year term.

Thank God. Even if we're stuck with Pence for 3 years I'll take it.

3 minutes ago, DeeeDee said:

Trump isn't going anywhere. The GOP still need him as a shield to push their draconian laws.

 

If it were just up to the Congressional Repubs I'd agree with you but the global IC and law enforcement (FBI/U.S. Marshals) are out for blood and that was before he decided to piss off Mossad. He's leaving whether it's in a Trump plane, handcuffs or a body bag. 

16 minutes ago, JaneAusten said:

Did they change the rules after Nixon was able to fire Cox?

 

You're right. I was wrong. I was thinking "independent" prosecutor not "special" prosecutor. Apparently Donnie can order Rosenstein to fire Mueller and if Rosenstein refuses than he can fire Mueller himself. I have to believe that most people in the administration know that would be the equivalent of 45 shoving a hand grenade up his own ass but we're through the looking glass so anything is possible.

1 hour ago, Roman said:

don't forget Sally too. 

 

My dream scenario involves Comey and Yates testifying side by side and fist bumping with a flourish after every response to a question. 

4 hours ago, JaneAusten said:

I appreciate you sharing this. I am going to have to put him on my podcast list. That second half on voter ID laws, voter suppression, and such was excellent and really good contributors. I've already subscribed to the Brennan center newsletter after listening. There are some very sobering facts but also some reason for optimism if people keep working and paying attention to these things and actually show up to vote.  There is a great organization out there also called Voter Riders which is a national group organized to help people get the documentation they need to register and to vote.

 

 

One of the best things I learned from the podcast was even assbackward West Virginia has auto voter registration as do 38 states/and a commonwealth or two. Such a simple and reasonable solution for so much. 

 

Im thinking of just going to churches and nursing homes and personally volunteering to drive registered voters to early voting sites. I always try to vote early in West Virginia. But I have to drive to my county seat, which is cross county. Even worse. To renew my driver's license I have to drive 45 miles.  Life in rural America. I can only imagine how daunting that must be for some people. It's just inconvenient for me.  It's a Herculean task for some. 

41 minutes ago, rhinohide said:

 

One of the best things I learned from the podcast was even assbackward West Virginia has auto voter registration as do 38 states/and a commonwealth or two. Such a simple and reasonable solution for so much. 

 

Im thinking of just going to churches and nursing homes and personally volunteering to drive registered voters to early voting sites. I always try to vote early in West Virginia. But I have to drive to my county seat, which is cross county. Even worse. To renew my driver's license I have to drive 45 miles.  Life in rural America. I can only imagine how daunting that must be for some people. It's just inconvenient for me.  It's a Herculean task for some. 

 

Back during the Jowars I could never have imagined the day I would like something you wrote as much as I love this post. This just makes me want to meet you at Rodi's for an O'Douls or maybe we could share a flan in Angel Square.  

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mccarthy-trump-putin-pays_us_591cc97ce4b03b485cae64c2

Leaked to WaPo. WTH?! 

1 hour ago, rhinohide said:

 

My dream scenario involves Comey and Yates testifying side by side and fist bumping with a flourish after every response to a question. 

I'll bring the soda. 

It keeps coming. Trump knew Flynn was under FBI investigation for working for Turkey well before inauguration https://t.co/TG3nSRvGSh

— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) May 18, 2017

From WP:

As Donald Trump has grown increasingly angry and frustrated with his White House staff, the beleaguered targets of his ire have a quietly roiling gripe of their own — their boss, the president himself.

[...]

 

Some White House staffers have turned to impeachment gallows humor. Other mid-level aides have started reaching out to consultants, shopping their resumes. And at least one senior staffer has begun privately talking to friends about what a post-White House job would look like, according to two people close the staffer.

 

[...]

Trump, for his part, largely believes his recent string of mishaps are not substantive but simply errors of branding and public relations, according to people close to him and the White House. Indeed, as he faced a wave of criticism following the disclosure he had leaked “code-word” intelligence material to Russian officials during an Oval Office meeting last week, the president took to Twitter to claim he had “the absolute right” to do so.

[...]

 

The president’s siege mentality was on display Wednesday when he delivered commencement remarks at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., offering graduates a warning that life is “not always fair.”

 

[...]

 

“You will find that things happen to you that you do not deserve and that are not always warranted,” Trump said. “Look at the way I've been treated lately, especially by the media. No politician in history — and I say this with great surety — has been treated worse or more unfairly.”

 

The president implored the crowd to “fight, fight, fight,” and added, “You can’t let them get you down. You can’t let the critics and the naysayers get in the way of your dreams.”

 

[...]

 

But his team is growing increasingly weary. Privately, they say, the problem is not an incompetent communications shop, as the president sometimes gripes, or an ineffectual chief of staff, as friends and outside operatives repeatedly warn, but the man in the Oval Office, whose preferred management style is one of competing factions and organized chaos. 

One West Wing official recently stopped defending Trump or trying to explain away his more controversial behavior. Another characterized the operation as “trudging along,” with aides trying to focus their attention on Trump’s upcoming foreign trip and the budget landing next week. 

 

[...]

 

For many White House staffers, impromptu support groups of friends, confidants and acquaintances have materialized, calling and texting to check in, inquiring about their mental state and urging them to take care of themselves.

 

One Republican operative in frequent contact with White House officials described them as “going through the stages of grief.” Another said some aides have “moved to angry,” frustrated with a president who demands absolute loyalty but in recent days has publicly tarnished the credibility of his team by sending them out with one message, only to personally undercut it later with a contradicting tweet or public comment. 

 

And a third said that others are now sticking around purely for self-interest, hoping to juice their future earning potential. This Republican added that any savvy White House staffer should be keeping a diary. “The real question is: How long do you put up with it?,” this person said. “Every one of those people could get a better paying job and work less hours.”

 

The Trump White House has always been full of leaks to the news media. But the latest waves of anonymous griping have subtly shifted from warring aides bickering among themselves to staffers training their frustrations on the president, as well. Those who remain fully loyal to Trump report a growing sense of isolation. 

 

The president has grown increasingly willing to shake up his staff, though aides say any major changes are likely to come after a nine-day foreign trip starting Friday that many hope will provide a stabilizing reboot. If and when Trump does overhaul his team, Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and senior adviser, is expected to play a key role in rethinking the structure and personnel within the West Wing.

The president has groused about his communications operation, most notably its director, Mike Dubke, and White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. But Spicer has also received assurances that his job is secure and was specifically asked to accompany Trump on his trip to the Coast Guard Academy, largely to help manage the tornado of news. 

 

In addition, Chief of Staff Reince Priebus has been a particular target of mockery, both inside and outside the administration.

 

Chris Whipple, author of “The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency,” said the most important duty of a chief of staff is to prevent “end runs” — including the situation in which Trump allegedly asked to meet privately with the head of the FBI, which is investigating his campaign.

 

 “The White House staff system is completely broken, maybe beyond repair. It is inconceivable that something like that could have happened on James Baker or Leon Panetta’s watch,” Whipple said, referring to chiefs of staff under previous presidents. “The problem with this White House is that there is no one, including Priebus, who is able to tell the president what he doesn’t want to hear and until there is, this White House will be broken, will be dysfunctional and so will Trump’s presidency.”

 

The president has not yet signaled if Priebus will suffer in a staff change. But a handful of familiar names are already circulating as potential replacements, including Tom Barrack, a real estate investor and longtime Trump confidant; Republican lobbyist Wayne Berman; former Trump adviser and Republican strategist David Urban; Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross; and, perhaps implausibly, businessman and casino magnate Phil Ruffin.

Edited May 18, 20178 yr by Vee

12 hours ago, Vee said:

Jimmy Fallon has regrets.

 

I don't really mind Jimmy Fallon (I don't watch his show but I didn't before the Trump interview either - I just have a limited tolerance for man-children), but that whole thing reeks of damage control and makes me cast a wary eye yet again at ever-corporate NYT. If, as they repeatedly (repeatedly...) said, nothing has really changed that much and things will go back to normal with Fallon on top (and I think they're probably right), then why all the tortured justifications? Lorne Michaels defensively saying that Fallon = Carson doesn't work, because Carson had a very sharp edge. Yes, his comedy was middle-brow, but his delivery wasn't. Fallon just seems like he needs a nap. And I never thought Leno was in the middle of political comedy. Whenever I watched his monologues it was Clinton-bashing night after night, week after week, year after year. And I never even liked Clinton, but it still stuck out.

 

The staged photos also made me laugh, especially the one of him walking to work. 

 

And this:

 

“No one would have thought, even two years ago, that we’d be in a climate where the Republican candidate for president would be too divisive a figure to have on ‘The Tonight Show,’” she continued. “But here we are. Did the show figure that out a beat later than the rest of the world? Maybe. But I don’t think the blame lies with ‘The Tonight Show.’ The blame lies with the hateful rhetoric of the candidate.”

 

This is BS. Trump had said heinous statements a year before that interview. And he just kept on saying them. All the late night shows coddled him, and most of them now admit it. Tina Fey should not handwave this. 

Edited May 18, 20178 yr by DRW50

3 hours ago, marceline said:

 

Back during the Jowars I could never have imagined the day I would like something you wrote as much as I love this post. This just makes me want to meet you at Rodi's for an O'Douls or maybe we could share a flan in Angel Square.  

 

 

Lol. I've loved you for years. Your Bernie hate made me temporarily reconsider, but I remembered that such differences are temporary. You're good people. 

7 hours ago, DeeeDee said:

Trump isn't going anywhere. The GOP still need him as a shield to push their draconian laws.

 

I think at the very least they will let him hang on until they gut Obamacare and the social safety net.