Discussion: Trump Directs His Ire At Coats, But Knows Consequences Of Ousting DNI

4 Likes

they’re aware that firing Coats would “create an uncontainable firestorm on Capitol Hill,” in Politico’s words.

By all means, don’t let that stop you.

66 Likes

That firestorm’s not an if, you morons … it’s a when.

And you don’t need the long-range forecast to see it, either.

45 Likes

“create an uncontainable firestorm on Capitol Hill,”

Maybe after the Nov. election but now? They may grumble, possibly bitch even, but more than that…I’m not buying it.

18 Likes

From Below the Street, and Thinking of Childhood by Robert Zimmerman, Distinguished Professor of Economics.

8 Likes

“We’re disappointed the President fired Dan Coats. We’re now fairly concerned about the ability of President Trump to receive good intelligence. But we are looking forward to President Trump’s next DNI, if there is one.”

17 Likes

For Trump and his sycophant pussies in White House going rogue is putting the United States of America ahead of Donald Trump. Firing Coats would really make life hard in Congress where he is well known and respected. On top of that the American people think Dan has their back.

OK Donald do you feel lucky? Well do ya?

42 Likes

What’s that old saying? Be careful of what you wish for, you may just get it. Well, the Republicans got their wish. They wanted complete control and now they have it. It just hasn’t been the bed of roses they expected. They know they must act but can’t bring themselves to throw away that which they so longed for. The Donald’s infinite incompetence will eventually force them to get off their hands but it will be too late to save themselves.

22 Likes

I’ve been telling folks for the last 3 weeks that Trump is weak. He really went for broke over the past 4 months: North Korea (epic fail); Immigration (moral and policy fail); G7 (epic fail); Tariffs (the epic fail that is the gift that will give the Democrats the US Senate); NATO (epic fail); Brexit/UK (laughable epic fail…praising Boris Johnson who has a better chance of being indicted than becoming PM); Treason Summit (colossal failure for the ages).

Now we see the DNI saying, 'Hey! Mueller’s indictments give me the green light to follow the law, follow the intel and protect the country and there ain’t a god damn thing this traitor can do about it!" We see Rosenstein saying, ‘Hey! Gym Jordan is too busy beating away allegations from aggrieved and abused wrestlers like a scene from the Walking Dead to do much, so not only am I gonna indict that red headed spy Booti-na, I’m going to issue a PSA that this Justice Department will issue regular PSAs warning people of Russian propaganda as we head towards the election and neither Beauregard or Trump can do jack s**t’.

Meanwhile, you have the price of everything going up while the growth rate falls below expectations and interest rates get higher.

All Dems have to do is go win the election. It’s there for them. All we have to do as people is vote Dem. There are two other times in the past 40 years where voting Dem was seen as a necessity by the country: 2008 and 1992.

87 Likes

I am coming to the conclusion that we need to taunt Trump at every turn. Encourage him to do stupid shit or back down. He is more than willing to do stupid stuff, but either way, especially if he back’s down, he comes off looking bad.

36 Likes

Coat’s position is certainly strengthened by being a former senator.

It’s also strengthened because so many Republicans on the Hill know that the intelligence agencies are right, and that der Furor is nuts. As well as corrupt.

But as Michelle Goldberg pointed out in the Times yesterday, it’s not clear if Republicans are covering for the Mango Menace alone, or also for themselves–that some (maybe many) are complicit with the Russians, or at least were duped.

Finally, would there be a firestorm? If tRump fires Coats, will Republicans finally figure out what their backbones are for? Sadly, not clear.

44 Likes

Coats is decidedly GOP and conservative. Yes being a former senator also helps. The GOP Congress would not take it lightly if he fired Coats.

22 Likes

Yep. Easier said than done, however. Everyone who loves the nation needs to work–work toward that goal. And I speak as one who has not done enough yet.

15 Likes

I hope not. But not clear.

6 Likes

Is there anything about life that you can’t say that same thing about?

12 Likes

Dear Donald Trump
There is an easy answer here …STOP BEING AN IDIOT!

4 Likes

Yup, Russian money to the NRA, to be distributed to Republicans in need. And I don’t think ignorance is a defense.

9 Likes

Despite the rising tension, Trump allies told Politico that they’re aware that firing Coats would “create an uncontainable firestorm on Capitol Hill,” in Politico’s words.

from that Politico link

Soon after the election, The Intercept reported that Trump and his top advisers had worked on a plan to scale back the Office of the Director of National Intelligence — and had even discussed scraping the director post entirely. For both Republicans and Democrats rattled by the reports, Coats was a reassuring presence.

extra link

23 Likes

My favorite Trump is Trump when he can’t control a situation. He makes lots of unforced errors.

24 Likes

I agree. If he could be taunted enough to fire either Coats OR Sessions, that would likely be enough to get 15 or so Republican Senators to vote to Convict, once the new Democratic House sends a True Bill of Impeachment to the Senate early next year.

Taunt away. It looks to me that Coats would enjoy watching it happen.

6 Likes