What’s next? Will he start running around crying, “Take me away! I’m guilty!”?
How else are we supposed to read this:
President Trump on Thursday said he was thinking of “this Russia thing with Trump” when he decided to fire FBI Director James B. Comey, who had been leading the counterintelligence investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.
Recounting his decision to dismiss Comey, Trump told NBC News, “In fact, when I decided to just do it, I said to myself, I said, ‘You know, this Russia thing with Trump and Russia is a made up story, it’s an excuse by the Democrats for having lost an election that they should have won.’”
Trump’s account flatly contradicts the White House’s initial account of how the president arrived at his decision, undercutting public denials by his aides that the move was influenced in any way by his growing fury with the ongoing Russia probe….
So, after days of his desperate defenders trying their best to push the unbelievable cover story that a) he fired Comey on Rod Rosenstein’s recommendation, and b) it was over the Hillary emails investigation (and not over the Russians thing — heavens, no!), Trump is now shouting for all to hear, a) It was all my idea!, and b) It was about the probe of the Russians and my campaign!
And as usual, he doesn’t seem bright enough to realize those are bad things.
What we’re seeing here is another illustration of what Trump predicted about his supporters. Remember when he said he could kill somebody on 5th Avenue, and they would still support him?
Well, while his overall approval ratings are in a deep hole, among Republicans it’s — wait for it — 84 percent! The Washington Post calls that “the one little number that — so far — is all the protection Donald Trump needs.”
What is with these people?
Mister, we could use a man like Howard Baker again…
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I also posted on this exact same topic, and explained how this situation is a textbook example of the Inverse Rule of Trump.
What on Earth is this Erickson person talking about here?
And where do you get a name like Erick Erickson? Is he a second-generation Viking? Is he the brother of Lief?
Will the Viking raids resume this summer? Should we prepare our defenses?
“What on Earth is this Erickson person talking about here?”
I believe he’s talking about the fact that the now acting FBI testified as follows yesterday:
HEINRICH [D-NM]: Thank you for your candor. Do you feel like you have the adequate resources for the existing investigations that the — that the bureau is invested in right now to – to follow them wherever they may lead?
MCCABE: Sir, if you’re referring to the Russia investigation, I do. I believe we have the adequate resources to do it and I know that we have resourced that investigation adequately. If you’re referring to the many constantly multiplying counter-intelligence threats that we face across the spectrum, they get bigger and more challenging every day and resources become an issue over time.
HEINRICH: Sure.
MCCABE: But in terms of that investigation, sir, I can — I can assure you we are covered.
***
COLLINS: I want to follow up on a question of resources that Senator Heinrich asked your opinion on. Press reports yesterday indicated that Director Comey requested additional resources from the Justice Department for the bureau’s ongoing investigation into Russian active measures. Are you aware that request? Can you confirm that that request was in fact made?
MCCABE: I cannot confirm that request was made. As you know ma’am, when we need resources, we make those requests here. So I — I don’t — I’m not aware of that request and it’s not consistent with my understanding of how we request additional resources. That said, we don’t typically request resources for an individual case. And as I mentioned, I strongly believe that the Russian investigation is adequately resourced.
***
LANKFORD [R-OK]: You have the resources you need for the Russia investigation, is that correct?
MCCABE: Sir, we believe it’s adequately resourced…
LANKFORD: OK, so there’s not limitations on resources, you have what you need? The — the actions about Jim Comey and his release has not curtailed the investigation from the FBI, it’s still moving forward?
MCCABE: The investigation will move forward, absolutely.
LANKFORD: No agents have been removed that are the ongoing career folks that are doing the investigation?
MCCABE: No, sir.
LANKFORD: Is it your impression at this point that the FBI is unable to complete the investigation in a fair and expeditious way because of the removal of Jim Comey?
MCCABE: It is my opinion and belief that the FBI will continue to pursue this investigation vigorously and completely.
LANKFORD: Do you need somebody to take this away from you and somebody else to do? MCCABE: No sir.
***
HARRIS [D-CA]: It’s been widely reported, and you’ve mentioned this, that Director Comey asked Rosenstein for additional resources. And I understand that you’re saying that you don’t believe that you need any additional resources?
MCCABE: For the Russia investigation, ma’am, I think we are adequately resourced.
HARRIS: And will you commit to this committee that if you do need resources, that you will come to us, understanding that we would make every effort to get you what you need?
MCCABE: I absolutely will.
Me me me! That’s the bottom line with Mr. Trump. Not only does he only say there is no investigation against him only, apparently he can’t stand the idea that a deputy AG came up with the rationale of firing the FBI director.
I think most Republicans are scared. The GOP owns this unmitigated disaster of a President.
If they don’t support him, the party is (temporarily) in big – maybe seismic – trouble. If they continue to support him, the GOP is going to shatter into the dustbin of history. That’s a hard realization for most people to accept.
Even with all this clear evidence of genuine unfitness for the office, too many people remain in denial of what they have wrought. Yeah, I get it, Trump isn’t Hillary. But he is The Donald. And that is just many levels down in the inferno.
Have we suddenly been transformed into comic book characters and we are now characters in a Bizzaro Superman story? Are we now subject to the rules on Bizzaro Earth or Htrae?
From Wikipedia – “Us do opposite of all Earthly things! Us hate beauty! Us love ugliness! Is big crime to make anything perfect on Bizarro World!” In one episode, for example, a salesman is doing a brisk trade selling Bizarro bonds: “Guaranteed to lose money for you”. Later, the mayor appoints Bizarro No. 1 to investigate a crime, “Because you are stupider than the entire Bizarro police force put together”. This is intended and taken as a great compliment.”
Is Donald Trump the real life version of the mayor but promoted to the presidency because he is so damn stupid?
Words fail me so I resorted to the most appropriate depiction of the Trump presidency I could conjure up.
Trump thinks that if it’s what he wants it’s right. He’s just explaining to us dummies that he had a damn good reason. If rhe president does it it’s legal.
Right. That’s completely the way he thinks. He’s the drunken blowhard at the end of the bar, holding forth.
The law, the Constitution, basic propriety — none of those things enter into it. He knows nothing, and cares nothing, about such things…
Trump’s attitude basically is, “When you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. You can even obstruct justice.”
I know this is not a popular position to take but it’s the only rational conclusion to reach. The Republican Party has evolved into the party of Trump. At this juncture it is just NOT surprising to find Republican support for Trump in the high 80s or even higher. Just look at how people in congress support him no matter how bizarre he behaves. In other words:
Trump Supporters = Republicans
This only changes when we have a crisis event and Trump shows that he can’t solve it with a tweet. Until then it’s futile to expect his support to drop.
As one political scientist remarked earlier today, increasingly Republican Party ID is an endogenous variable–i.e. a Republican is in large art defined by whether she supports Trump, and Republicans who don’t support Trump are starting to call themselves Independent to the pollsters. It’s long been the case that most self-described “Independents” are actually closet partisans, so this makes some sense.
I call myself an anti-Trump Republican.
I am also, increasingly, becoming an anti any Republican in Congress who does not/has not realized their responsibility to this country before party.
“It’s long been the case that most self-described “Independents” are actually closet partisans…”
And as usual, I take issue with that because it does not fit my personal experience.
Frequently, I take my own pulse to see whether I have leanings one way or the other. For a moment, I’ll think, “I must really be a Republican because of my views on national security and my generally Tory sensibilities when it comes to traditional cultural values….”
Or I’ll think, “I’m really a Democrat because of single-payer, my firm belief in the importance of a safety net, my support for public education and such.”
And then all I have to do is watch one of those moronic ads Republicans run in primaries (such as the current 5th District runoff) or get an email from the Democratic Party shouting about how we need to save Planned Parenthood’s taxpayer subsidy (because “women’s health”), and once again I know I’m an independent…
In other words Brad you are consistently on the side of more government control and more government spending. That doesn’t make someone independent it just makes one a big government socialist with a good measure of jingoism thrown in for good measure.
Have no fear, Lindsey Graham is a big Trump fan now. All it took was a couple late night phone calls from his buddy.
From The State today:
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham praised President Donald Trump Saturday for promising to beef up the military and deferring to generals in deciding whether to approve missions.
The United States’ enemies “better watch it with this guy,” said the Seneca Republican, addressing delegates at the S.C. Republican Party convention.
“In 100 days plus he’s done more to reset the world than (President Barack) Obama did in eight years. I’m now glad to have a commander in chief that tell our enemies enough is enough.”
Graham talked about how Trump calls him on his cell phone while the senator is sleeping.
“I wish he would rest more. I gave him my phone number, so far so good.”
The joke resonated with the crowd.
====
When it comes to being a pandering sycophant, our senator has no match.
Watching Lindsey on Meet the Press. I’d call him a weasel but that would be an insult to our furry friends.
It’s so weird how you two look at white and see black.
Doug hears Graham once again making a joke about when Trump gave the world his cell number, and it makes him a sycophant. And Bud agrees.
Maybe y’all should watch less TV “news.” I never watch “Meet the Press” or any of that stuff, but when someone makes news on one of those shows, I read about it.
Here’s what I read about that appearance on that show:
So as usual, Lindsey Graham is the face of principled Republican resistance to Trump.
That’s what the professional observers at The Post got out of it, anyway…
As for Lindsey applauding Trump wanting to increase the defense budget — he would praise ANYBODY’s proposal to do that.
Which is one of the things y’all hate about him — and one of the things I like, of course…
I don’t watch any TV news programs.
Did you miss this part: ““In 100 days plus he’s done more to reset the world than (President Barack) Obama did in eight years. I’m now glad to have a commander in chief that tell our enemies enough is enough.””
Was that a joke also? or just more mush from the guy who will turn whichever way the political winds are blowing? When he’s in front of a red meat Republican crowd, he’s Trump’s best friend.
Lindsey is normalizing Trump more than any other Republican I can see these days. All it took was one or two late night calls and he’s getting giddy. Trump has him pegged umm… figured out.. he’s got an ego like Trump’s. Feed it and he’s all yours.
“When he’s in front of a red meat Republican crowd, he’s Trump’s best friend.”
When Trump agrees with him, that is true.
Do you actually think there’s something wrong with praising Trump when he does something right (by Graham’s standards), especially if you happen to represent a state that went big for Trump?
I think you think that’s sleazy, for a politician to occasionally — when it fits the facts — tell his constituents, “Hey, I’m with you on THIS issue.”
But I expect him to do that, because unlike you, I want him to continue to represent me in the Senate. Whenever he can agree with his base, he should say so loud and clear.
A huge percentage of the Trump crowd will hate him anyway, for many of the reasons I like him. But if he can blunt the resentment of the fringe folks just a little, it helps him weather his next primary….
Brad I watched Lindsey as he spoke. That is a more accurate way of assessing a person than reading about what the said. To suggest I would be better informed by choosing your preferred source of information is just flat out elitist on its face. I get that you don’t get why I detest Lindsey Grahams politics so profoundly but don’t lecture me on how I get my information.
Call it elitist, but remember: One of the problems with Trump is that he gets all his information from TV news. In fact, he prefers what he gets from “the shows” to what his intelligence agencies tell him.
This is a bad thing…
If he watched MSNBC instead of Fox News we’d be ok. 🙂