Trump must be trolling us, right? I mean who in their right fucking mind, on the day immediately after he fires the man heading the investigation into whether or not his campaign team colluded with the Russians to steal an election, not only invites into the White House the very Russian Ambassador who’s widely thought to have helped orchestrate the whole thing, but bans the American press, allowing in only Russian news agencies? I mean, this is the very same guy, Sergey Kislyak, that Michael Flynn was fired for having lied about having talked with during the campaign. This is the guy who many think coordinated the whole “we’ll hack the election if you lift the sanctions” deal at the heart of this whole fucking thing. And Trump invites him into the White House on the day after he fires FBI Director Comey in hopes of killing the investigation. It’s absolutely insane. This would be like if Obama, at the height of the Tea Party madness, joined the Black Panther Party, donned a dashiki, released his Kenyan birth certificate, and started to speak exclusively in Bantu. The only thing that could have possibly made today any weirder would have been if Trump leaned into the Nixon comparison a little harder and asked Henry Kissinger to drop by the White House… Oh, and, yeah, he actually did that too… I can’t help but think that Trump is doing everything in his fucking power to get himself thrown out of office, but that, despite his best efforts, the Republicans in Congress, after twenty some years of intellectual rot, can’t appreciate just how absolutely insane all of this is. I mean, could that be possible? Could all of this is just a desperate cry for help? Or is Trump just trying to fuck with us, attempting to suck the very last gasp of life out of the resistance by demonstrating that, whatever he does, no matter how heinous, there will be no consequences? Was this Trump’s end zone dance on the throat of the American democracy?
UPDATE: One of the best articles I’ve seen since first posting this was in Forbes. Here’s clip from “Hidden Clues In The Trump-Comey Drama: It’s Worse Than You Think” by Melik Kaylan.
…Consider one indelible detail: Trump recieves Lavrov publicly at the height of the outcry, the two of them laughing, backslapping, making a lurid display of triumph. Classic Putinist Theater. Commit every outrage openly but distort the optics so the public just can’t believe what it sees. Rub their noses in it but continue to obfuscate. Hence the ‘little green men’ of the Crimea invasion, the ‘popular uprising’ in Ukraine’s Donbass, the ‘accidental’ shoot-down of civilian airliner MH-17, the thinly disguised cyber-assaults on Western elections. You’re witnessing a particularly distinctive KGB psy-ops technique infused with that tell-tale element of sadism. Attack, then laugh in their faces. We’re talking about a kind of psychological fingerprint, a style, emanating out of a specific center of power…
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This is not crazy, it’s easy to understand. It’s a “fuck you, what are you going to do about it” display of dominance, directed at liberals and establishment Republicans, that plays well with his base. What are you going to do about it, march in a circle and howl in protest? Trump’s base loves it when you do.
Not a fan of Mark Cuban, but he sums it up nicely:
“In a nutshell, if you want logic and decision supporting evidence from the president, you have been severely disappointed,” he continued. “If you want a combative president that denigrates and fights with any media outlet not supportive of his actions, you are thrilled and believe he is fighting your fight against the same forces that you feel are disrupting the country you love.”
From Jim Acosta on Twitter:
WH furious over Russian government photos of Trump meeting with Lavrov/Kislyak. “They tricked us,” an official said of Russians “They lie.”
It is really f$@&ing insane. We are living in an alternate universe that is about to implode.
I think Max has it. It’s the Russians who are the better trolls. They are diabolical at manipulating public sentiment. We are getting just a small taste, from them, of what it feels like to live under totalitarian rule. It’s all puppetry. If you get upset, or have any feeling at all other than compliance, they will use that vulnerability to move you like a pawn to where they want you to be. Read Masha Gessen.
Don’t get me wrong. I think Trumpists are trolls too. They just get out-gamed over and over again by their friends the Russians. Trump is not a calculating person. He is a reactive person. He is an easy mark. There are people around him who are extremely strategic but they are busy fighting one another behind the scenes. Trump is the weakest president ever. Easily played, but there are many players… In a vacuum of leadership, those beneath the chief will subvert one another and their own cause. This is very basic organizational psychology. It creates chaos. The Russians love chaos.
Trump is not the Don, Putin is. And he has the consigliere’s at each others throats.
Congress needs to wake the fuck up. And we will have to help them. We will have to demand it of them. I’m not talking about political strategy. We need to talk about the threat to democracy. If there is a terrorist attack or something similar, we will be very vulnerable to losing all ground. This is what revolution looks like. Still think it’s a great idea?
We are living a high drama. Interesting times. It sucks.
it’s kind of funny to me that when Trump was running for office people acknowledged he was impulsive, irratic and ingorant. NOW that he is in office everyone, including the press, is always ‘analyzing’ what he is doing…as if suddenly he has a plan…or can even remember what he did or said from one week to the next. HE’S THE SAME PERSON!! He still is faking it and winging it. There’s nothing more to this.
Putin told Trump what to do – to quote David Byrne “same as it ever was”
FWIW, Doug Coombe wasn’t making that shit up.
“He chose to receive him because Putin asked him to”: Why Trump met Russia’s foreign minister http://politi.co/2q6IwpQ
I heard from a reputable source that Trump asked Kislyak to piss on him.
Jayne Miller via Twitter
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Developing: FBI confirms agents are executing a search warrant at the office of GOP Fundraiser/Consulting firm in Annapolis
Doesn’t look good for the GOP!
He didn’t want to waste any time interviewing new FBI director candidates when he can just offshore that job to the Kremlin.
WBAL TV:
The FBI confirms agents are executing a search warrant at an office of a GOP fundraiser/consulting firm in Annapolis, the 11 News I-Team has learned.
The investigation is being run out of Washington, not locally, the I-Team has learned.
http://www.wbaltv.com/article/fbi-searching-annapolis-fundraiserconsulting-firm/9639787
@jemillerwbal:
Annapolis firm targeted by FBI touted for pioneering the use of technology in political campaigns. Represents GOP candidates nationwide
https://twitter.com/jemillerwbal/status/862728237960622081
The only reason we know Kislyak was in the White House is because the Russian press published the photo. His presence was not mentioned anywhere by the White House. No record of him being there exists.
https://twitter.com/jimsciutto/status/862704460803559424
John Avlon (@JohnAvlon) from the Daily Beast.
“So Rosenstein just told senators he knew Comey would be fired before he wrote the memo. WH cover story was a lie from the start.”
NYT: Trump Told Russians That Firing ‘Nut Job’ Comey Eased Pressure From Investigation
WASHINGTON — President Trump told Russian officials in the Oval Office this month that firing the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, had relieved “great pressure” on him, according to a document summarizing the meeting.
“I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job,” Mr. Trump said, according to the document, which was read to The New York Times by an American official. “I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”
Mr. Trump added, “I’m not under investigation.”
The conversation, during a May 10 meeting — the day after he fired Mr. Comey — reinforces the notion that Mr. Trump dismissed him primarily because of the bureau’s investigation into possible collusion between his campaign and Russian operatives. Mr. Trump said as much in one televised interview, but the White House has offered changing justifications for the firing.”
But as EOS says, there isn’t a “shred” of evidence.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/us/politics/trump-russia-comey.html
Washington Post: Russia probe reaches current White House official, people familiar with the case say
“The law enforcement investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign has identified a current White House official as a significant person of interest, showing that the probe is reaching into the highest levels of government, according to people familiar with the matter.
The senior White House adviser under scrutiny by investigators is someone close to the president, according to these people, who would not further identify the official.
The revelation comes as the investigation also appears to be entering a more overtly active phase, with investigators shifting from work that has remained largely hidden from the public to conducting interviews and using a grand jury to issue subpoenas. The intensity of the probe is expected to accelerate in the coming weeks, the people said.”
Yet another “shred”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/russia-probe-reaches-current-white-house-official-people-familiar-with-the-case-say
President Trump told Russian officials in the Oval Office this month… “I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job. I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/19/us/politics/trump-russia-comey.html
Oops. I doubled up Demetrius’ post. Worth repeating really.
Jared Kushner assured Trump that James Comey’s ouster would be a political “win,” according to 6 West Wing aides.
http://nyti.ms/2qupPuk
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