Trump Timeline ... Trumpocalypse

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

WASHINGTON — As federal prosecutors in Manhattan gathered evidence late last year about President Trump’s role in silencing women with hush payments during the 2016 campaign, Mr. Trump called Matthew G. Whitaker, his newly installed attorney general, with a question. He asked whether Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York and a Trump ally, could be put in charge of the widening investigation, according to several American officials with direct knowledge of the call.

Mr. Whitaker, who had privately told associates that part of his role at the Justice Department was to “jump on a grenade” for the president, knew he could not put Mr. Berman in charge, since Mr. Berman had already recused himself from the investigation. The president soon soured on Mr. Whitaker, as he often does with his aides, and complained about his inability to pull levers at the Justice Department that could make the president’s many legal problems go away.

Trying to install a perceived loyalist atop a widening inquiry is a familiar tactic for Mr. Trump, who has been struggling to beat back the investigations that have consumed his presidency. His efforts have exposed him to accusations of obstruction of justice as Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, finishes his work investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Mr. Trump’s public war on the inquiry has gone on long enough that it is no longer shocking. ...

 

[Big_paul]

When miller talks, it hurts my ears

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

WASHINGTON — As federal prosecutors in Manhattan gathered evidence late last year about President Trump’s role in silencing women with hush payments during the 2016 campaign, Mr. Trump called Matthew G. Whitaker, his newly installed attorney general, with a question. He asked whether Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York and a Trump ally, could be put in charge of the widening investigation, according to several American officials with direct knowledge of the call.

Mr. Whitaker, who had privately told associates that part of his role at the Justice Department was to “jump on a grenade” for the president, knew he could not put Mr. Berman in charge, since Mr. Berman had already recused himself from the investigation. The president soon soured on Mr. Whitaker, as he often does with his aides, and complained about his inability to pull levers at the Justice Department that could make the president’s many legal problems go away.

Trying to install a perceived loyalist atop a widening inquiry is a familiar tactic for Mr. Trump, who has been struggling to beat back the investigations that have consumed his presidency. His efforts have exposed him to accusations of obstruction of justice as Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, finishes his work investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Mr. Trump’s public war on the inquiry has gone on long enough that it is no longer shocking. ...

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Presidents’ Day weekend is traditionally a time for relaxation — and perhaps a little contemplation of two of our greatest presidents, Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. In President Trump’s case, it was an opportunity to play golf in Florida and to tweet up a storm. He published 40 tweets from Saturday morning to Monday night. Taken together, they tell a story of just how “unpresidented” his behavior remains as he enters his third year in office.

...

If someone were ranting and raving like this on the street, you would walk quickly away. Yet somehow we have become inured to this ranting and raving from the most powerful man in the world. We shouldn’t be. Over Presidents' Day weekend, Trump again demonstrated why he remains as unfit as ever to follow in the footsteps of Washington and Lincoln — or even of Millard Fillmore and Warren Harding. The fact that we tolerate his disgraceful conduct makes all of us complicit in this ongoing diminution of our democracy.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

A NOBEL MELTDOWN
https://claytoonz.com/2019/02/19/a-nobel-meltdown/

When Donald Trump boasted about Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sending him a copy of a five-page letter nominating him for a Nobel Peace Prize, my first thought was; five pages explaining why Donald Trump deserves a prize for peace? It takes a lot of bullshit to fill five pages.

There are several things to take from this. First off, the Trump administration asked Abe to nominate Trump, which would totally devalue the award if Trump…HAHAHAHA…was to actually win it. Why would Abe do this? Because he’s appealing to Trump’s vanity in exchange for favorable treatment in trade negotiations and…nobody was supposed to find out for fifty years. The Nobel Committee has a rule that nominations are sealed for half a century (if you’re a Republican, that’s half of 100). The public wasn’t supposed to find out until Trump and Abe were long gone. Unfortunately for Abe, Trump has a huge, loud, gigantic of epic proportions pie hole.

Now, because of his big mouth and vanity, Trump has violated the process for the Nobel Peace Prize and he’s betrayed Abe’s trust. In addition, Shinzo is coming off as a Trump lickspittle in his home country. Trump toadies are not respected. Case in point, Mike Pence.

Nobody, well, no rational person wants to be seen as a suck-up for an international dumbass.

Trump exhibits his stupidity on a daily basis, most recently when he accused Saturday Night live of collusion because Alec Baldwin did another impression of him. Who is Saturday Night Live colluding with? Does Trump think the “Deep State” are writing their jokes?

Trump also asked, “why do Networks get away with these total Republican hit jobs without retribution?” I don’t know why he capitalized “networks,” but what he did here was suggest that there be retribution. He also said, “Very unfair and should be looked into.” How exactly should it be looked into? Are we to do away with the First Amendment? As we have already learned, Trump isn’t a fan of the Constitution and he doesn’t know anything. Earlier today, he demonstrated he doesn’t know the difference between cities and states.

I think the Nobel Committee should award the Peace Prize to Alec Baldwin just for the epic meltdown we’ll get to witness from Trump. I don’t think even SNL could write a skit that would be more entertaining.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Some time after that, my father [Reagan] said that no part of a governor’s job is approached “more prayerfully” than a death penalty decision.

It’s a good thing he isn’t here now to hear President Trump https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/02/15/trump-again-praises-strongmen-who-execute-drug-dealers-rights-groups-say-its-terrible-idea/?utm_term=.ea75184307a4 (express) excitement over China employing the death penalty for drug dealers, and to strongly suggest that we here in the United States should do the same. Of course, that would mean that Alice Marie Johnson, whom Mr. Trump released from prison after 21 years on a drug trafficking conviction, would have been put to death, but then when has consistency ever been part of this presidency?

Tyrants take life and death casually. Trump has boasted of a “great relationship” with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, who has encouraged the citizens of his country to kill people who are suspected of drug trafficking and even drug addicts. Trump has defended Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose enemies frequently turn up dead under suspicious circumstances, and negotiated with Kim Jong Un, who had his uncle, Jang Song Thaek, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/04/08/north-korean-official-reportedly-executed-with-a-flamethrower/?utm_term=.fb2fec3afbbd (executed), and whose half brother, Kim Jong Nam, was https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/north-korean-leaders-half-brother-killed-by-poison-in-malaysia-reports-claim/2017/02/14/7324f8c6-f2af-11e6-8d72-263470bf0401_story.html?utm_term=.1e6f094ff137 (assassinated). It’s not difficult to assume there was rejoicing among the rulers in Saudi Arabia when Post contributing columnist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered.

If someone can express excitement over the killing of another human being, that says everything about them. It says that, within that person, where humanity and empathy and respect for life should reside, there is just empty space.

A leader is supposed to search for the balance between humanity and enforcement of the law. A leader is supposed to feel the crushing weight of responsibility when decisions of life and death arise. A leader who does not do that is the sort of person our Founding Fathers tried to keep away from this grand experiment called America.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, then the star of President Trump’s early Cabinet, was assembling his staff and picked Sarah Isgur Flores as his top spokeswoman.

There was just one problem: She had criticized Trump, repeatedly, during the 2016 Republican primaries. Flores’s prospects for a Justice Department job stalled, and Trump’s advisers knew there was only one way Sessions would be able to hire her: If she kowtowed to Trump.

So she paid her respects to the president in the Oval Office — a cordial visit during which she told the president she was on board with his agenda and would be honored to serve him, according to several people with knowledge of the meeting.

The early 2017 episode, which has not previously been reported, underscores the extent to which Trump demands loyalty in vetting administration officials — even well-qualified Republicans like Flores seeking jobs on the personal staffs of Cabinet secretaries, who historically have had considerable leeway to do their own hiring.

Credentialed candidates have had to prove loyalty to the president, with many still being blocked for previous anti-Trump statements. Hundreds of national security officials, for example, were nixed from consideration because they spoke out against Trump during the campaign. But for longtime Trump loyalists, their fidelity to the president is often sufficient, obscuring what in a more traditional administration would be red flags.

...

Trump’s operating principle is “ready, shoot, aim, as opposed to ready, aim, shoot,” said one White House official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to comment candidly,

A Republican strategist who works closely with the West Wing was even more blunt: “The Trump White House vetting machine is an oxymoron. There’s only one answer — Trump decides who he wants and tells people. That’s the vetting process.”

...

“The president’s made it clear that ethics don’t matter and conflicts of interest don’t matter,” said Richard Painter, who was chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush. “He’s decided to ignore ethics rules and say, ‘I don’t have to.’ ”

 

[Michael Scally MD]