President Donald Trump may have found a way to break new ground in U.S. political history this summer.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1249997
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1249997
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The switching system in the precedent’s head is apparently not working very well:
To quote the man: “The conversation I had was largely congratulatory. It was largely corruption—all of the corruption taking place,” Trump said. (https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2019/09/trump-ukraine-campaign-finance-crime.html)
Looks like the train of thought tracking what’s actually going on got switched onto the public presentation track.
With such well-tuned mental processes, it’s hardly surprising his lawyers don’t want him near a prosecutor.
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Saw someone on MSNBC this morning saying that Barr/Trump will argue that his intentions were to fight corruption which makes it OK.
I really hope this defense doesn’t fly.
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This is the moment to defend the Bidens loudly and clearly. The media will be judged on how strongly they spell out the facts in the Bidens defense and how strongly and clearly they bat back the smears.
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People keep talking and writing about Trump as if he fits, albeit uneasily, into established categories and is following, albeit inconsistently, established rules and procedures. That’s the assumption: against a background of legitimacy, here are the discrete things that he and his administration are saying and doing that are irregular. It’s driving me crazy.
There’s nothing about Trump and his administration that is normal. Stop normalizing. He’s not a law-abiding guy who sometimes speeds on the highway and cheats in a nickel-and-dime way on his taxes. He’s the mentally deranged guy wandering up and down the sidewalk outside your kid’s school, waving a knife and exposing himself.
Whether you’re a government official, an ex-government official, a journalist, or what have you — we have a president who is functionally insane, regularly engages in unconstitutional and sometimes criminal behavior, and is an existential threat to the world.
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Noble went on to suggest that the allegations could amount to a campaign finance violation, pointing out that part of why Special Counsel Robert Mueller did not bring campaign finance charges against members of the Trump campaign was because he found that it wasn’t clear those involved knew it would be illegal to solicit help from a foreign country.
So ignorance of the law is a legal defense? Someone will need to explain that one to me.
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Trump now has foreign leaders endorsing him at rallies. None of this is okay and is distressing.
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Yep, and seemingly a lot of the media try to make him look like the new normal. It really is so depressing. Most of the rest of us play by the rules and to see what he’s been able to get away with when he should be the shining example to us and the world leaves us angry.
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I don’t think there’s anything “uncharted” about this at all. We have a criminal sitting in the highest executive office in the land who needs to be removed. Full stop.
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The Morning Joe panel is doing just that this morning.
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The corpse on Fifth Avenue had it coming.
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Agree 100%.
Moscow Mitch and a large number of Republicans are blocking the arrest , conviction and jailing of, what I consider, a traitor.
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Au Contrair . Exactly what they are doing
Bill Maher nailed it again
Friday night he said how the Biden scandal will play out. He said it would be like every other scandal that Trump has faced.
They are remaining true to form. The three stages of Trump Maladminstration scandal playbook
- HE DIDN’T DO IT
- WELL MAYBE HE DID IT BUT IT WASN"T THAT BAD.
- YES HE DID IT BUT IT WASN"T ILLEGAL
We hit stage 2 , Stage 3 presently
Had enough Republicans?
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I’m starting to see a replay, not of the e-mails controversy, but of the Swift Boat campaign. I think that’s the strongest parallel to what we’re seeing in terms of precedent. Trump knows that his biggest vulnerability to the few remaining unclaimed voters is not his incompetence, but the combination of his incompetence and corruption.
So, in a classic Rovian maneuver, he’s attacking his most likely rival—not at the rival’s point of greatest strength, necessarily (which was the original Rovian move) but at the point of Trump’s greatest weakness. If Trump can make people think Biden is as corrupt as he is, then low-information voters won’t choose on that basis.
Note that I don’t think there’s a grand strategy—we’re not going to see the sort of organization we saw with the Swift Boat campaign, or at least not yet. My guess is that someone around Trump knows how badly he blew it with Ukraine, and is attempting to salvage the situation and turn it to Trump’s advantage, but it’s all improvisation at this point.
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The criminal in the WH makes a phone call to the Ukrainian leader and at some point after all the congratulatory statements, Biden’s name comes up. The criminal in the WH wants some dirt on Biden and son to help him with the next election and, by the way, maybe that aide that was promised to Ukraine might be held up if he can’t get some dirt.
All of this, and the focus becomes Biden. The criminal is in the WH not the one that is running for the WH. The media needs to focus and not do that both sides shit.
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Katyal put it in the clearest terms I’ve heard so far.
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It is also the time for the Bidens to show transparency about how much money Hunter received from the Burisma Group, when he received it, and what it was for.
Also when did Joe learn that Hunter was appointed director in the Burisma Group, and if he discussed the potential conflict of interest with him.
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As Stated
“The best words”
“The best Brain”
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Wonder if Kellyanne had any input into this article? Wonder if she and the husband still reside in the same place?
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Other part of this scandal that is being ignore From NewsWeek on 5/18, Ukraine cut off ITS Mueller Probe after Trump gave it weapons https://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-stopped-helping-mueller-probe-after-trump-administration-gave-it-908322
This was a classic ‘carrot and stick’ extortion scheme.
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