Dana Milbank of the Washington Post pens some of the wickedest stabs at Donald Trump, and there are some laugh-out-loud parts in his column on Trump's unhappy visit to France.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... 3f754d29cd

Where do I begin?

I suppose I should start off by saying the Trump regime is crumbling. It has begun. As of now, there are seven different investigations into Trump's doings by the Special Counsel:

1. The Russian Government’s Election Attack
2. WikiLeaks
3. Middle Eastern Influence
4. Paul Manafort’s Activity
5. The Trump Tower Moscow Project
6. Other Campaign and Transition Contacts With Russia
7. Obstruction of Justice

Four investigations by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York:

8. Campaign Conspiracy and the Trump Organization’s Finances
9. Inauguration Funding
10. Trump SuperPAC Funding
11. Foreign Lobbying

One investigation by the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia:

12. Maria Butina and the NRA

Two investigations by the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia:

13. Elena Alekseevna Khusyaynova
14. Turkish Influence

And three investigations by New York City, New York State, & Other State Attorneys General:

15. Tax Case involving $400 million
16. The Trump Foundation
17. Emoluments Lawsuit

This is deep shit, people! It's totally preposterous to believe Trump knew about NONE of this. It's preposterous to think that meetings with Russian agents were going on in Trump Tower without him knowing--control freak that he is. Trump will need a team of very expensive lawyers--way more than 17--to navigate through this quagmire. Where is he going to find them? He can't even find anyone who wants to be the chief-of-staff and the guy he eventually settled on has previously admitted that he thinks Trump is a despicable human being!

The Trump Foundation has been dissolved while Trump and his three eldest children are still under investigation. The dissolution is not the end of it, the lawsuit still moves forward. Meanwhile, none of them will be allowed to sit on the boards of any more non-profits in New York. People should understand that it is virtually impossible for Trump to run this legal gauntlet and not get tagged good and hard at least a couple of times. Teflon Don is done.

Michael Cohen has been sentenced to prison, Michael Flynn could have avoided it but at the last minute decided to yank the judge's chain and brought down his wrath. While Mueller recommended no jail time for Flynn, that was not binding upon the court which is now strongly considering charging Flynn with treason and stuffing his ass in a cage and throwing away the key. His sentencing has been postponed until next year. This has really upset the Qanon and 4/8 Chan conspiracists who were convinced that U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan was going to go soft on Flynn because they were all secretly in cahoots to bust-up the international child porn ring run by the democratic party. Why is this damned judge veering off-script?? Must have been the Clintons and the Obamas bought him off!!

Meanwhile Trump has lost Anne Coulter and her nutball clones for reneging on two promises: 1. to build a wall, and 2. to lock up Hillary Clinton. Trump is learning the hard way that however it works in business, in politics, the promise once being made has to be kept. Sure you can renege but only at the peril of your career. Trump was good at making these promises but had no idea how to keep them. Chalk this up to his inexperience in politics and it doesn't matter--once you toss your hat into the ring, you're telling everybody you are ready to take charge. There are no excuses. Don't make promises you can't keep. It's no one's fault but yours when you think you're going to do something when you don't know the first thing about how to get started much less how to get it done. Blaming others for your incompetence only proves how abysmally incompetent you really are. That's why you have to hire experienced advisors and you have to listen to them.

I expect, at this point, Trump must resign. When? Sometime next year when the new congress is sworn in. In the meantime, I expect an indictment will come down for Donny, Jr. That's as far as I'm predicting now and we'll see what happens.

Nice summary. With all of these investigations to fend off, his usual deflectors--Hillary Clinton, James Comey, Robert Muller, et al--won't give him the same mileage. He deflects to Clinton on the matter of his charitable foundation (which must have the worst-ever rating from Charity Navigator), asking why her and Bill's foundation is not being investigated. But guess what, you won the election, Donald, that's why yours is in the crosshairs. Had Clinton won, there would have been inquiries about the Clinton Foundation, of course the emails, Uranium One, and other stuff. But it's safe to say that the list would have been a lot shorter than Trump's, and--call me biased--would have contained a lot less substance.

He can't resign, though. If he has less than five years in office, he can be indicted for the campaign finance charge that gave Cohen part of his sentence. Also, Trump's brand would be forever trashed if he quit, and he can't let that happen. I expect him to run for re-election, because even if impeached it's a very slight chance that the Senate will convict and remove him.

DWill wrote:Nice summary. With all of these investigations to fend off, his usual deflectors--Hillary Clinton, James Comey, Robert Muller, et al--won't give him the same mileage. He deflects to Clinton on the matter of his charitable foundation (which must have the worst-ever rating from Charity Navigator),

You sure about that? According to Wiki: "In March, 2015, the charity watchdog group Charity Navigator added the Clinton Foundation to a watch list (a designation meant to warn donors that questions have been raised about an entity's practices), after several news organizations raised questions over donations from corporations and foreign governments. It removed the foundation from its watch list in late December of that year.[74] In September 2016, it gave it its highest possible rating, four out of four stars, after its customary review of the Foundation's financial records and tax statements.[75] A different charity monitor, CharityWatch, said that 88% of the foundation's money goes toward its charitable mission and gave the foundation an A rating for 2016. In 2015, based on revenue of $223 million and an expense ratio of 12% the foundation spent in excess of $26 million to complete its mission.[76]"

asking why her and Bill's foundation is not being investigated. But guess what, you won the election, Donald, that's why yours is in the crosshairs. Had Clinton won, there would have been inquiries about the Clinton Foundation, of course the emails, Uranium One, and other stuff. But it's safe to say that the list would have been a lot shorter than Trump's, and--call me biased--would have contained a lot less substance.

Trump has an amazing capacity for hypocrisy. He can taunt you and cut you down publicly for engaging a practice that he is engaging in himself even as he's attack you over it. He's not alone in that regard but I doubt anyone else does it to the degree he does and with the same aplomb.

He can't resign, though. If he has less than five years in office, he can be indicted for the campaign finance charge that gave Cohen part of his sentence. Also, Trump's brand would be forever trashed if he quit, and he can't let that happen. I expect him to run for re-election, because even if impeached it's a very slight chance that the Senate will convict and remove him.

He may have no other choice. Suppose he is found guilty of tax evasion. The govt could threaten to seize Trump Tower and/or Maralago unless he resigns. Suppose he is found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the govt, that his entire presidency is unconstitutional, he might resign if they threaten to strike his name from the presidency, to annul it. There is no rule allowing this but there is no rule against it either. It's not likely to happen, of course, but if he is threatened with it or offered the chance to resign, who knows? I wouldn't bank on the latter scenario but seizing his tower and the winter kremlin might just work. Trump is--above all else--a very greedy man. His greed is without top or bottom. Taking away the signs of his wealth, his financial success, might be the blow he could not withstand. I don't think he holds the presidency above his greed or he would have gladly divested himself of his businesses in order to be president. Instead, the presidency is just one more part of greedy fantasy that this stupid, idiotic country allowed him to have even though we knew how disastrously crazy it was to hand it to him.

Why Mattis Had to Go
The defense secretary could no longer serve a president who no longer thinks he needs to listen to anybody.

By Blake Hounshell December 20, 2018
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story ... icy-223418

President Trump knows he has the smartest brain, the best gut, powerful negotiating skills, the best words, and more knowledge than anyone on critical topics. Over the past two years he has decreased reliance on the advice of experts. Now he is surrounded by sycophants, feels unleashed, and is poised to take actions that previously have been stifled. It's time to buckle up our three point safety harnesses.

LanDroid wrote:[quote

President Trump knows he has the smartest brain, the best gut, powerful negotiating skills, the best words, and more knowledge than anyone on critical topics. Over the past two years he has decreased reliance on the advice of experts. Now he is surrounded by sycophants, feels unleashed, and is poised to take actions that previously have been stifled. It's time to buckle up our three point safety harnesses.

3 point? You're a brave man. I think Donnie running the country without adult supervision calls for...

https://www.zrtmotorsport.com/safety-6-point-harness/

LanDroid wrote:

Why Mattis Had to Go
The defense secretary could no longer serve a president who no longer thinks he needs to listen to anybody.

By Blake Hounshell December 20, 2018
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story ... icy-223418

President Trump knows he has the smartest brain, the best gut, powerful negotiating skills, the best words, and more knowledge than anyone on critical topics. Over the past two years he has decreased reliance on the advice of experts. Now he is surrounded by sycophants, feels unleashed, and is poised to take actions that previously have been stifled. It's time to buckle up our three point safety harnesses.

You can read Jim Mattis' letter here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/20/us/p ... trump.html

What strikes me is how eloquently Mattis expresses the complex realm of war and diplomacy. And without even mentioning Trump's name, he explains why our country so desperately needs a competent leader.

I can't imagine Trump would understand the ideas expressed in Mattis' letter (if he were inclined to try to read it). Maybe Fox & Friends should make an animated presentation with a bouncing ball and music.

So now the government is partially shut down. The third shutdown under Trump and every single one of them came with a republican house and senate. What a great legacy they are leaving behind.

Classic Trump: “I am proud to shut down the government for border security, Chuck. The people of this country don’t want criminals and people that have lots of problems pouring into our country. I will take the mantle. I will be the one to shut it down. I’m not going to blame you. I’m going to shut it down for border security!"

Then he tweets: "Democrats Now Own The Shutdown!"

He just lies and lies and lies. If we don't hold him accountable, he'll keep lying. He has no morals, no ethics.

DB Roy wrote:
You sure about that? According to Wiki: "In March, 2015, the charity watchdog group Charity Navigator added the Clinton Foundation to a watch list (a designation meant to warn donors that questions have been raised about an entity's practices), after several news organizations raised questions over donations from corporations and foreign governments. It removed the foundation from its watch list in late December of that year.[74] In September 2016, it gave it its highest possible rating, four out of four stars, after its customary review of the Foundation's financial records and tax statements.[75] A different charity monitor, CharityWatch, said that 88% of the foundation's money goes toward its charitable mission and gave the foundation an A rating for 2016. In 2015, based on revenue of $223 million and an expense ratio of 12% the foundation spent in excess of $26 million to complete its mission.[76]"

I think my wording led you to think I was down on the Clinton Foundation, but it's Trump's that I meant. While there could be some glitches to look at with the Clinton Foundation, I agree that it's generally very solid. Regardless of legitimate reasons to investigate it, a Republican House would have done so if Hillary had been elected.

DB Roy wrote:

DWill wrote:He can't resign, though. If he has less than five years in office, he can be indicted for the campaign finance charge that gave Cohen part of his sentence. Also, Trump's brand would be forever trashed if he quit, and he can't let that happen. I expect him to run for re-election, because even if impeached it's a very slight chance that the Senate will convict and remove him.

He may have no other choice. Suppose he is found guilty of tax evasion. The govt could threaten to seize Trump Tower and/or Maralago unless he resigns. Suppose he is found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the govt, that his entire presidency is unconstitutional, he might resign if they threaten to strike his name from the presidency, to annul it. There is no rule allowing this but there is no rule against it either. It's not likely to happen, of course, but if he is threatened with it or offered the chance to resign, who knows? I wouldn't bank on the latter scenario but seizing his tower and the winter kremlin might just work. Trump is--above all else--a very greedy man. His greed is without top or bottom. Taking away the signs of his wealth, his financial success, might be the blow he could not withstand. I don't think he holds the presidency above his greed or he would have gladly divested himself of his businesses in order to be president. Instead, the presidency is just one more part of greedy fantasy that this stupid, idiotic country allowed him to have even though we knew how disastrously crazy it was to hand it to him.

Is it too much to hope that with Republicans finally resisting Trump on the Khashoggi murder and the Syria pull-out, they might stand up for the country if Trump definitively surpasses the Nixonian level of corruption?

DB Roy wrote: Why is this damned judge veering off-script?? Must have been the Clintons and the Obamas bought him off!!

Meanwhile Trump has lost Anne Coulter and her nutball clones for reneging on two promises: 1. to build a wall, and 2. to lock up Hillary Clinton. Trump is learning the hard way that however it works in business, in politics, the promise once being made has to be kept.

What the Trumpistas have brought us is government for entertainment value. Just as Murdoch and Ailes made a business of journalism for entertainment value (bosomy and blonde, when possible), their Dear Leader has now brought it to the White House.

My question is still, when will the "adults in the room" take their eyes off the boob tube and take responsibility for the society they claim to care about?

DB Roy wrote: Blaming others for your incompetence only proves how abysmally incompetent you really are. That's why you have to hire experienced advisors and you have to listen to them.

The ideology of Davos Man, as taught in the M.B.A. programs that made America great, is to focus on success and disregard any pretense to responsibility. The great exemplars of this mode of operation include several who were indicted. The rot did not begin with Donald our Dear Leader.