US Politics, June 2018: This is a total goat rodeo.

Read that Roger Stone was trying to get Trump to pardon Marcus Garvey. If Trump manages to somehow taint reggae along with everything else I will be extra pissed.

Re: Manafort, I'm sure he is an entitled arrogant asshole, but surely* his lawyers told him that the unregistered foreign agent charge was minor and not worth focusing on. That that is the charge we know he tried to tamper with speaks volumes, not the really legally bad stuff but the most seemingly inconsequential of the indictments. Maybe we'll find out there was more tampering going on, but the fact that this action also snagged Konstantin Kilimnik - literally a Russian operative middleman/possible spy - I still say shows what may be weighing on Manafort's mind more than the money laundering.

*I am sure of nothing anymore.

The imprint of French President Emmanuel Macron's thumb can be seen across the back of Trump's hand after they shook hands at the G7. Great frame from ⁦@LeahMillis⁩ pic.twitter.com/VA8RlkYX8a

— corinne_perkins (@corinne_perkins) June 8, 2018

at least krathhammer dies hating Trump so he regained one tiny smidgen of respect for him

Corey Long, one of the Charlottesville rally protestors (protecting himself and another with a makeshift can/flame) was just found guilty and sentenced to a year, all but 20 days suspended. Residents took to the street to protest and were arrested, including a person in a wheelchair who is in the wheelchair due to the white supremacist plowing through the crowd last July.
http://www.dailyprogress.com/news/local/city/activists-upset-by-corey-long-conviction-arrested-during-protest/article_73bebb1a-6b93-11e8-be35-1f7666f3511e.html

correction, last August.

I wonder if Trump's starting to regret the strong-arm handshakes now that every world leader is using their handshake as an opportunity to mash the living fuck out of his hand

die of a heart attack you fucking imbecile

“It’s going to stop. Or we’ll stop trading with them. And that’s a very profitable answer, if we have to do it,” Mr. Trump said, adding that “We’re like the piggy bank that everybody’s robbing and that ends.”

...Several of the leaders responded aggressively to Mr. Trump’s demands — as they have repeatedly in public — listing their own complaints about American policies on tariffs and other trade measures, the official said. Several countries have said publicly they will retaliate against the United States’ new steel and aluminum tariffs with increased tariffs of their own.

“If they retaliate, they’re making a mistake,” Mr. Trump said, suggesting that the trade imbalance between the United States and those countries would make tariff increases more destructive for their economies.

In his remarks to questions on Saturday, Mr. Trump repeatedly insisted that the private discussions with his counterparts had been positive, saying that "the relationship that I’ve had with the people, the leaders of these countries has been — I would really rate it on the scale of zero to 10, I would rate it a 10.”

...Mr. Trump said some of the other leaders he met with during the Group of 7 summit appeared to admit that their trade arrangements with the United States were unfair.

“A lot of these countries actually smile at me when I’m talking,” he said. “And the smile is, ‘we couldn’t believe we got away with it.’ That’s the smile.”

That assessment by Mr. Trump stands in contrast to the public statements by those leaders, who have repeatedly insisted that they will not accept the kinds of tariffs that Mr. Trump has imposed on their industries.

...Mr. Trump also blamed former President Barack Obama for Russia’s invasion, in which the country sent troops into Crimea. Mr. Trump said that it was Mr. Obama who should take responsibility for Russia’s actions.

“Crimea was let go during the Obama administration, and you know, Obama can say all he wants, but he allowed Russia to take Crimea,” the president said. “I may have had a much different attitude, but, so, you really have to ask that question to President Obama. You know, why did he do that?”

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/09/world/americas/donald-trump-g7-nafta.html

anyone got an ebook of this

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41BK23E2V0L._SX287_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

Macron is v adept at making sure he never looks displeased to see Trump, seemed actually delighted by his late arrival to the gender equality session (probably a lot of relief around the room at his initial absence).

I would really rate it on the scale of zero to 10, I would rate it a 10.

that means big tits, right?

Macron to Trump on JCPOA "You’re not comfortable with an agreement signed by your predecessor, maybe just because it was signed by your predecessor, but don’t stop others from respecting it and don’t push Iran to leave, because that’s the best protection we have today." #G7Summit

— Julian Borger (@julianborger) June 7, 2018

Angela Merkel's office has released this photo taken today at the G7, which tells you a lot about how things went. pic.twitter.com/IXX6K3ayys

— David Mack (@davidmackau) June 9, 2018

god just look at that petulant giant toddler

lol, good work trudeau

Trump's draft-dodging grandfather, who was deported from Germany, ran a BROTHEL in Canada. @JustinTrudeau just trolled Trump in the most amazing way, so yes Sarah, it was a great moment.https://t.co/1sCSGN09KI https://t.co/wAptgB7iSh

— Polly Sigh (@dcpoll) June 9, 2018

that picture is incredible

I had forgotten the face of John Bolton. I was happy, then.

Trump looks pretty chill in that photo tbh

Surely the people in that room collectively have the power to make him just...disappear.

“Canadians amused by the improbable presidential run of Donald Trump...”

the lede of that 2015 cbc piece. sigh

posting in full because none of this is real anymore

LA MALBAIE, Quebec (AP) — President Donald Trump threw the G-7 summit into disarray Saturday, tweeting that the U.S. was pulling back its endorsement of the group’s communique in part because of what he called Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s “false statements” at a news conference.Trump’s tweets from Air Force One, which was flying him to Singapore for next week’s summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, came just as Canada released the group’s official communique, which took a generally positive view of the leaders’ positions on trade matters even though there were tensions with the U.S.In a pair of tweets, Trump lashed out at his G-7 host, accusing its leader of being dishonest and weak and contending that Canada had taken advantage of U.S. interests. A few hours earlier, Trudeau had told reporters that all seven leaders had come together to sign a joint declaration.

“Based on Justin’s false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our U.S. farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our U.S. Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the U.S. Market!” the president tweeted.

He followed up by tweeting: “PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our @G7 meetings only to give a news conference after I left saying that, “US Tariffs were kind of insulting” and he “will not be pushed around.” Very dishonest & weak. Our Tariffs are in response to his of 270% on dairy!”

"justin's false statements"

what a fucking asshole

i can't believe it took him 18 whole months to start a trade war

All I know how to say in response to news these days is "cool, cool, cool," but it's the "cool, cool, cool" of someone who is about to be run over by a steamroller and knows that isn't really cool.

it's not just bullying, it's bullying that is literally of the 3rd to 4th grade style. a few years back i was at some event that involved someone else's extended family. there were all these people there i had never before met and probably never will again. still, i tried to be polite with everybody and asked them questions and got to know them a bit. somehow i ended up playing a game of chess against a precocious 8-year-old while his family watched and cheered him on. i'm not very good at chess and my end game is terrible, but i understand the rules and i can usually at least avoid obvious fatal mistakes, so i thought i could take this kid without much effort. i did some stupid things near the end, but eventually i cornered his king with a couple of my pieces and i thought it was over. the mood had gotten really sour in the room as the endgame approached, but suddenly they all lit up with laughter and joy as one of them noticed that we were in a stalemate condition, meaning that the game would be declared a draw. honestly i didn't fully understand the conditions and ramifications of a statemate, until they gleefully explained it to me. but they were so fucking happy that it was a draw and not a loss, the kid was trash talking me and the family was high-fiving each other and shouting and pulling in people from the kitchen to explain what had happened and laugh together. trump reminds me of that kid

Starting to really get worried about how this NK summit is gonna go

The only other thing I know to say is VOTE, VOTE, VOTE YOU FUCKERS

it's bullying that is literally of the 3rd to 4th grade style

He has freely said, in one of his only two introspective statements ever, that his personality has not changed since he was seven or eight years old and judged a problem child by his school

Starting to really get worried about how this NK summit is gonna go

I honestly hope they poison him.

xp I suppose one is forced to ask what it is about the nature of US politics which has allowed this personality to rise to its zenith #trenchantcommentary

Fingers crossed, unperson

that was a very engrossing story about the chess game, but I'm stoned. I want more.

Never spent so much time wishing death upon someone.

Lately I've been wishing that he would shit himself to death during a speech.

It's a bummer to focus so much on hopes of misery.

Every so often, my perspective shifts and I feel awed and grateful and humbled to live in the same society with thousands of people who have such a level of faith in justice and the basic tenets of our civilization that, over the course of seven decades of interactions with Donald Trump, they have to a number refrained from what I'm sure was an almost overwhelming instinctual urge to drive a steak knife directly into his jugular. Not even an attempt, as far as I know. It's quite astounding to consider, and it gives me a great deal of hope in our species.

i mean, what, he's going to break the economy? fuck it, why not, he's broken everything else, why not the economy too? god, if he was a half-decent dictator, which isn't hard, i could at least be afraid of him, but there's no real benefit in that, is it? fear isn't going to keep anyone safe. historical metaphors are wholly suspect at this juncture, but i can relate to how anybody living under one of the later julio-claudians must have felt.

I honestly hope they poison him.

No. No. No. Hope that the person who poisons him is a U.S. citizen of WASP background. If NK does it we'd have to go to war and millions would die. You should want his assassin to be unconnected to anybody we'd end up nuking or sending out troops against, or lynching. That includes Bernie Bros or anyone associated in the slightest way to Planned Parenthood.

the only good thing that could happen is a murder (family over 18)/ suicide

Anything else will garner way too much sympathy

p sure Krauthammer hates Trump for being uncouth, not for his destructive actions

NK meeting will be a great success initially because TheDonald's always your best friend when he's in the same room as you. The childish crap only starts after the meeting.

NK meeting will be a great success initially because TheDonald's always your best friend when he's in the same room as you. The childish crap only starts after the meeting.

Exactly. Let's fast-forward:

• Before the meeting, Trump makes insanely sycophantic opening statement about Kim to the press, revealing staggering historical ignorance in the process (and possibly making some kind of major grammatical error)
• Immediately after the meeting, Trump makes statement implying that he'll give Kim anything he wants
• Safely back on the plane, Trump splatters the walls with hostile tweets about how he's gonna blow up the world

I think after G7 he’s gonna be kind of desperate to make this go well? My guess is NK gets everything they want, Trump spends the next two years bragging about how he Art of the Dealed him

It's so massively disheartening to watch someone again and again come up with bad solutions to problems of his own invention. It's just baffling. It's so, so close to replacing the drinking water with Gatorade for the naming rights money. Like picking a fight with Canada because NAFTA is the "worst deal ever" - which one could make a case for, if they wanted to, but then he insists he can make a better deal, learns he can't, or that it takes more than a week, then blows up the talks because he can't get what he wants, because he doesn't know what he wants, just what he doesn't want. Like a child or bad house guest. What I can't figure out is ... I mean, I know he lacks a fundamental understanding of the/any facts or economic mechanics or whatever, but the people around him ... are they stupid? Lunatics? Mere enablers? I don't get it. Statistically speaking, they can't all be any/all those things. Are these all just departments of one while the everyday government workers just sit on their hands and wait this shit out? Besides recent appointees, does someone like Bolton have *any* allies in the government? Does Pompeo? Does Trump? Or is this just all an inner circle neo-cabal flailing around while the regular folks wait it out?

the people around him ... are they stupid? Lunatics? Mere enablers?

Yes.

Trump is the most popular politician in the GOP. Literally the only thing these guys care about is staying in power. I don’t think there’s too much more to read into it

So will they literally do anything, no matter how stupid, to stay in "power"? And what good is being in power, if you are required to do stupid stuff to stay there, and said stupid stuff erodes said power? Because it doesn't seem to be expanding their power.

Anyway, November couldn't come sooner. And if there's no change in November, we're all doomed for real, probably.

They’ve all bent to the whim of a reality show who is too stupid to sit through an intelligence briefing that isn’t broken down into 5 easy bullet points. I don’t think it’s a question anymore

I think it's safe to assume that the GOP will debase themselves to whatever extent Trump expects of them. And it's all about what serves everyone the best in the immediate moment. They'll worry about tomorrow tomorrow.

on a related note, we're about to go to a meeting on nuclear weapons without an expert on nuclear weapons. our last secretary of energy was ernest moniz, who has a phd in theoretical physics from stanford. our current secretary of energy is rick perry.

WASHINGTON — As President Trump prepares to meet Kim Jong-un of North Korea to negotiate denuclearization, a challenge that has bedeviled the world for years, he is doing so without the help of a White House science adviser or senior counselor trained in nuclear physics.

Mr. Trump is the first president since 1941 not to name a science adviser, a position created during World War II to guide the Oval Office on technical matters ranging from nuclear warfare to global pandemics. As a businessman and president, Mr. Trump has proudly been guided by his instincts. Nevertheless, people who have participated in past nuclear negotiations say the absence of such high-level expertise could put him at a tactical disadvantage in one of the weightiest diplomatic matters of his presidency.

“You need to have an empowered senior science adviser at the table,” said R. Nicholas Burns, who led negotiations with India over a civilian nuclear deal during the George W. Bush administration. “You can be sure the other side will have that.”

David Frum gets it.

Trump is locked into a cycle in his top-level diplomacy: bully-cringe-bully-cringe. He bullies traditional friends and allies; he cringes to adversaries, dictators, and potential funding sources for Trump enterprises. Bullying the G7 was the weekend’s story; cringing to North Korea—and behind it, China—will be the story of the week ahead.

Anyone that still identifies as a Republican, including that fucker, is part of the problem.

I might omit 'part of'.

the absence of such high-level expertise could put him at a tactical disadvantage

otoh, Trump's inability to stick to any agreement he makes or position he takes, coupled with his willingness to lie or to say whatever he thinks someone else wants to hear, then renege on it later, means that whatever substance the negotiation appears to have achieved will be pure illusion - even if Trump signs his name to it.