Trump Timeline ... Trumpocalypse

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Senorman]

^ Trumptards: “Both are losers who were fired.”

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

Consider the line of questioning from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York. She asked Mr. Cohen a series of specific questions about how Mr. Trump had handled insurance claims and whether he had provided accurate information to various companies. “To your knowledge,” she asked, “did Donald Trump ever provide inflated assets to an insurance company?” He had.

She asked whether Mr. Trump had tried to reduce his local taxes by undervaluing his assets. Mr. Cohen confirmed that the president had also done that. “You deflate the value of the asset and then you put in a request to the tax department for a deduction,” Mr. Cohen said, explaining the practice. These were the sort of questions, and answers, the committee was supposed to elicit. Somehow, only the newer members got the memo.

Ms. Ocasio-Cortez continued, asking, “Do you think we need to review financial statements and tax returns in order to compare them?” She pressed Mr. Cohen for the names of others who would be able to corroborate the testimony or provide documents to support the charges. In response, Mr. Cohen listed the executives Allen Weisselberg, Ron Lieberman and Matthew Calamari — names that, thanks in part to Ms. Ocasio-Cortez, we will probably hear more about in the coming months.

These questions were not random, but, rather, well thought out. Like a good prosecutor, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez was establishing the factual basis for further committee investigation. She asked one question at a time, avoided long-winded speeches on why she was asking the question, and listened carefully to his answer, which gave her the basis for a follow-up inquiry. As a result, Mr. Cohen gave specific answers about Mr. Trump’s shady practices, along with a road map for how to find out more. Mr. Cohen began his testimony calling Mr. Trump a “con man and a cheat”; In just five minutes, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez actually helped him lay out the facts to substantiate those charges.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

At the Hanoi https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-and-kim-downplay-expectations-as-key-summit-talks-begin/2019/02/28/d77d752c-3ac5-11e9-aaae-69364b2ed137_story.html?utm_term=.100e0bdc83ea (summit), perhaps following a champagne toast officially welcoming North Korea to the nuclear club, I imagine President Trump and Kim Jong Un sitting down to watch the Michael Cohen https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/02/27/michael-cohens-explosive-opening-statement-annotated/ (hearing). Not far into the Republican questioning, Kim might have said something like: “I thought I knew toadying, but I’ve never seen anything like this. Don, what isyour secret?”

The House of Representatives has always been the shallower end of the legislative pool. But the performance of Republicans at the Cohen hearing was in a class of its own. Their game plan seemed to consist of shouting, vilification and shouted vilification. Most of them apparently got their degrees from the Roy Cohn School of Law.

But chihuahuas are not intimidating, even when they travel in packs. What https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/02/28/trump-slams-cohen-liar-praises-him-saying-he-has-no-proof-russian-collusion/?utm_term=.065fd348f6cf (passed for) a cutting Republican taunt? “Liar. Liar. Pants on Fire!” Honestly, has the ban on child labor been lifted for House staffers?

At some point, kissing up involves moral corruption. And Republicans passed that milestone some time ago. Many in Trump’s army of enablers have lost the ability to distinguish political realism from moral surrender. Now they are left to impugn the reputations of the president’s accusers, as though the whole Republican Party had signed on as part of Trump’s legal team. How did Republicans do? Cohen started the hearing with an absolutely awful reputation and still came across looking more trustworthy than his accusers.

Yet the alternatives to this strategy for Republicans are not obvious. Normally, defending a sitting president would involve witnessing to his character. Something along the lines of: “Trump has too much integrity to direct Roger Stone to deal with WikiLeaks.” Or: “That isn’t possible. Trump is too good a man to pay hush money to a porn star.” Or: “It is inconceivable that Trump would have had foreknowledge of a meeting at Trump Tower with shady Russians to get dirt on Hillary Clinton. His conscience wouldn’t allow him to go so low.”

Any of these lines spoken aloud at the Cohen hearing would have gotten peals of laughter. Of course Trump is capable of all these disreputable things. The real question is: Was he foolish enough to do them and get caught? So Republicans are staking the future and reputation of their party on the intelligence, or at least cunning, of Trump.

Most of our politics now consists of seeing the same horror from new angles. the United States has a president who respects no rule of morality, tradition or law that conflicts with his own immediate self-expression or gratification. His only self-limitation, apparently, is plausible deniability — a moral framework that seems to be based on old episodes of “https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0037N7424/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=washpost-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B0037N7424&linkId=b798f0f7aacd5f9772fe04f919bedd8f (The Sopranos).” This is narcissism that has slipped its leash, roaming wherever it wishes across the wide world, and in our heads.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

What Rice didn’t — couldn’t — tell these government employees was that the dawn of the Trump administration would be a time of extraordinary personal and professional torment for them; that they’d be asked to make ethically, and legally, dubious decisions while ignoring facts and evidence on basic issues to fit the president’s whims; that they would be vilified as “Obama holdovers” and treated like an enemy within, to the point where some of their lives were threatened; that they’d grow so paranoid they would seek “safe spaces” to speak to each other, use encrypted apps to talk to their mothers, and go on documentation sprees to protect themselves and inform history; that at least one career staffer would cry on the way home from work every night; and that another would call Trump a “dumpster fire” in a farewell message.

When NSC employees today recall the events, they use words like “crazy,” “nausea” and “fear.” Some liken the experience to surviving a traumatic event.

“It was so shocking to see this team come in a blur of chaos, disregarding legality and ethics and showing a deep hostility to the career professionals,” said Jeffrey Prescott, a former senior NSC aide to Obama who kept in touch with staffers who stayed. “Whenever I run into somebody who was there during that period, they still seem shaken and appalled by the experience. And it turned out to be a blueprint for the way the Trump administration planned to govern.”

Traditional NSC staffers believe deeply in what they call the “policy process,” a time-tested way of conducting the foreign and national security policy of the world’s most powerful country. It involves a proper set of meetings, a chance for every agency to weigh in, and a rigorous legal review before the president makes a major decision. The early Trump days had virtually none of that, and the subject matter experts who make up much of the NSC career staff were largely ignored, even shunned. It was a bewildering, even terrifying turn for a group of deeply serious men and women whose work can affect billions of lives.

Now, two years into Trump’s tenure, current and former U.S. officials say they are worried about the long-term damage his administration is still doing to the way such critical decisions are made — with dangerous consequences that are not always easy to perceive. They worry Trump’s presidency has poisoned the relationship between career government staffers and political appointees, threatening the ability of a future president to make decisions based on nonpartisan expertise. ...

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

SUMMIT FAIL
https://claytoonz.com/2019/03/01/summit-fail/

When Donald Trump announced at the State of the Union that there would be a second summit with North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong Un, the big question, which many people overlooked, was, “why?”.

Now we know. Apparently, it was to prove that piece of paper both men had signed at the first summit in Singapore was worthless, empty, and total garbage. Trump claimed it had solved the crisis with North Korea and they were no longer a threat to us, South Korea, or Japan.

For North Korea, the summit was to gain more legitimacy in the world’s view and to receive relief of sanctions. Donald Trump walked away from the summit with nothing. They didn’t even have their planned dinner that evening. Maybe he should have flown in some hamberders.

North Korea walked away without receiving any concessions, but they did gain prominence. Trump came off looking confused and in Kim’s shadow. Kim came off looking in control and on an equal footing with an American president. Of course, that American president is Donald Trump and not a Barack Obama or George W. Bush, but he’ll take what he can get. Trump rarely looked comfortable and Kim seemed at ease. Frankly, I’m shocked Kim didn’t push into the swimming pool they were walking by.

Those of us who are not members of the Trump Kool-aid-guzzling cult already knew Trump is not a negotiator. He negotiated his way down with Nancy Pelosi over the border wall. I’m not in the business of doing a lot of negotiations, but I know that when you start with a number the opposition is offering, that you don’t walk away with less. Watching Trump negotiate makes me think I need to get into real estate because there’s gotta be a lot of stupid people in that industry if it has made someone as stupid as Donald Trump a billionaire.

Trump even gave Kim Jong Un a waiver of innocence in the death of Otto Warmbier, the American college student the North Koreans held for leverage and returned to us in a coma a few days before he died from brain injuries they inflicted upon him. In exchange, Trump didn’t even get a “no collusion” from Kim or even a, “I trust him when he says he didn’t sleep with that porn star.”

The Trump team claim North Korea wanted all sanctions removed in exchange for very little. The North Koreans held a press conference, which is new for a country that doesn’t have an actual press, and said they asked for sanctions to be lifted only on sanctions that “impede the civilian economy and the people’s livelihood,” In exchange, they would shut down the North’s main nuclear complex, and offered in writing a permanent halt to the nation’s nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missile tests. They wanted a lifting of bans on everything from trade in metals, raw materials, luxury goods, seafood, coal exports, refined petroleum imports, raw petroleum imports, but not on armaments.

The new normal in the Trump era is when two different versions come out from the governments of the United States and North Korea, who do you believe? North Korea has always lied and broken their promises. They have never made a deal with the United States they didn’t break. They lie to their people about their own reality and the state of their nation. But, our government’s message is from Donald Trump. So who’s telling the truth?

Here’s the new normal; North Korea told the truth and our president lied. Ugh. The State Department clarified the U.S.’ position on the rejected deal and it squares with what the North Koreans claim. Michael Cohen says you can’t trust Trump, and there’s nobody better to prove his point than Trump.

Now, the Vice Foreign Minister of North Korea, Choe Sun Hui said Trump’s reaction puzzled Kim and added that Kim “may have lost his will to continue North Korea-U.S. dealings.”

So, when are we going to lose our will of continuing to support and buy the lies of Donald Trump? How much longer will this nation accept the abject failure of a human being that is Donald Trump occupying our presidency?

They say it takes one to know one. Kim Jong Un has met with Trump twice and he knows what he is and is giving up on him.

You can’t trust the North Koreans, which Trump says he does. You also can’t trust Trump.

Creative note: I had eight ideas to choose from and drew roughs for each one. Why so many? I’m drawing for CNN today, and I think it’s safe to make that public now. So, I sent them nine ideas from which they chose one. This cartoon was chosen from the remaining eight and I had a couple of friends (Hi, Hilary and Quannah) help me select which one I should draw for you. I really liked a few of the others and I plan to draw at least one of them for Saturday. I’ll show you the other roughs on Sunday when CNN publishes the one they chose.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

President Trump early last year directed his then-chief of staff, John F. Kelly, to give presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner a top-secret security clearance — a move that made Kelly so uncomfortable that he documented the request in writing, according to current and former administration officials.

After Kushner, a senior White House adviser, and his wife, Ivanka Trump, pressured the president to grant Kushner the long-delayed clearance, Trump instructed Kelly to fix the problem, according to a person familiar with Kelly’s account, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions.

Kelly told colleagues that the decision to give Kushner top-secret clearance was not supported by career intelligence officials, and he memorialized Trump’s request in an internal memo, according to two people familiar with the memo and the then-chief of staff’s concerns.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) said in a statement late Thursday that his panel, as well as the House Oversight Committee, will continue in their investigation of the White House’s security clearance process.

“The revelation that President Trump personally intervened to overrule White House security officials and the Intelligence Community to grant a Top Secret security clearance to his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is the latest indicator of the President’s utter disregard for our national security and for the men and women who sacrifice so much every day to keep us safe,” Schiff said. “There is no nepotism exception for background investigations.”

Both Trump and his daughter, Ivanka, have publicly denied the president was involved in securing a clearance for Kushner. The president told the New York Times in a Jan. 31 interview that he did not direct Kelly or similar officials to grant a clearance for his son-in-law, and Ivanka Trump told ABC News earlier this month that her father was not involved in the process.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

President Trump early last year directed his then-chief of staff, John F. Kelly, to give presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner a top-secret security clearance — a move that made Kelly so uncomfortable that he documented the request in writing, according to current and former administration officials.

After Kushner, a senior White House adviser, and his wife, Ivanka Trump, pressured the president to grant Kushner the long-delayed clearance, Trump instructed Kelly to fix the problem, according to a person familiar with Kelly’s account, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal discussions.

Kelly told colleagues that the decision to give Kushner top-secret clearance was not supported by career intelligence officials, and he memorialized Trump’s request in an internal memo, according to two people familiar with the memo and the then-chief of staff’s concerns.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) said in a statement late Thursday that his panel, as well as the House Oversight Committee, will continue in their investigation of the White House’s security clearance process.

“The revelation that President Trump personally intervened to overrule White House security officials and the Intelligence Community to grant a Top Secret security clearance to his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is the latest indicator of the President’s utter disregard for our national security and for the men and women who sacrifice so much every day to keep us safe,” Schiff said. “There is no nepotism exception for background investigations.”

Both Trump and his daughter, Ivanka, have publicly denied the president was involved in securing a clearance for Kushner. The president told the New York Times in a Jan. 31 interview that he did not direct Kelly or similar officials to grant a clearance for his son-in-law, and Ivanka Trump told ABC News earlier this month that her father was not involved in the process.

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

 

[Michael Scally MD]

The president keeps seizing on scraps of data — a month here or a quarter there — to falsely claim the trade deficit is being reduced. But over the course of the year, it kept growing. Attributing a small one-month shift to tariffs is especially silly.

It would be better for the president to end his focus on the trade deficit, because whether it grows or shrinks is largely beyond his control. But in the meantime, he earns Four Pinocchios.