January 11, 2018

"But if the anti-Trump movement has a crippling defect, it’s smugness, and Wolff’s book reflects and richly feeds it."

"We’re the moral scolds who struggle to acknowledge the skeletons in our own closet, the smart people whose forecasts keep proving wrong. We said Trump couldn’t win. That the stock market would never recover from his election. That he would blow up NATO. That the Middle East would erupt in violence when Jerusalem was recognized as Israel’s capital... [B]y constantly predicting doom and painting the White House in the darkest colors, anti-Trumpers have only helped the president. We have set an almost impossibly high bar for Trumpian failure... ) We have increased the country’s tolerance for the president’s venial sins. And we have turned the 'Resistance' into a byword for the hysterical and condescending ninnies of American politics."

Writes Bret Stephens in the NYT, and all I can say is if you and your cohort are so sure you're the smart ones, why wasn't all of this obvious to you all along? Or is this remedial reading for NYT subscribers, who are just now beginning to get it?

262 comments:

1 – 200 of 262   Newer›   Newest»
wendybar said...

True!!!

I'm Full of Soup said...

I think he means low bar not high bar.

Nonapod said...

Here's a hint: Never assume you're the "smart one". We're all idiots. We all believe we know far more than we actually do.

Mike Sylwester said...

The high-brows have been asserting to us low-brows that Trump helped Putin meddle in the 2016 presidential election.

dreams said...

Not to worry, they have an option C.

"The Deep State's "Plan A," Stone said, is the imploding "investigation" into alleged "Russian collusion" by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. If and when that fails, which Stone suggested was likely, the establishment would move to "Plan B." In essence, that plot would involve trying to get a majority of Trump's [C]abinet to declare him unfit for office. This would allow Trump to be removed under the U.S. Constitution's 25th Amendment – another scheme Stone said would probably flop. Last but not least, though, if all else fails, Stone warned of "Plan C": [k]illing the president.

Interesting here is that Newman's piece was published January 1, just before talk of President Trump's alleged mental instability became the month's big news story. In fact, released just four days later was journalist Michael Wolff's book Fire and Fury, which makes the case that Trump is psychologically unfit to hold office. Note, too, that Wolff has boasted that his book will bring down the president."

http://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2018/01/killing_trump_is_deep_states_plan_c_warns_advisor_roger_stone.html#ixzz53u29ZQi9

rehajm said...

[B]y constantly predicting doom and painting the White House in the darkest colors, anti-Trumpers have only helped the president

Coincident but uncorrelated. He's successful because he's implementing constructive polices.

Such a high opinion of your own powers.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

We have set an almost impossibly high bar for Trumpian failure...

Correct, in as far as it goes. But it doesn't go nearly far enough.

What it misses, is that even if you set a very low bar for Trumpian failure, Trump would still have failed to fail.

Not only did the stock market recover, but it's been going great.
He's had similar success with the economy.
He's done great with judicial nominations.
He's rolled back numerous regulation.
He's gotten a tax package through congress.

He has certainly had his "failures", such as undoing ObamaCare, or building a wall. But even in those cases, his "failure" is still leaps and bounds better than what we would have if Hillary was president.

I'm Full of Soup said...

In his next column, Bret Stephens should compare Trump's cabinet member to Obama's. Trump's is truly impressive, on average, next to Obama's. I.E. HR McMasters versus Susan Rice.

tcrosse said...

There are many different kinds of Smart, but there's only one kind of Stupid.

Drago said...

LLR Chuck takes a direct hit.

Not that he'll realize it, of course....even though he is the "smart one".

Just ask him. Or don't. Either way he'll tell you!

Comanche Voter said...

Ah Brett Stephens--who has been a leading member of the Never Trump pack may be waking up and smelling the coffee.

After a year of shouted hysterical claims that we are all doomed--versus a track record of at least moderate success by the Trumpster--a sober judge looking at the Never Trumpers claims might reasonably conclude that most of that crowd couldn't find their own backsides with both hands and the help of a seeing eye dog.

After a while people get tired of listening to people who are always calling Michael "Wolff".

jaydub said...

The Democrats' goal posts keep moving, and they think they will be able to just keep moving them until they find the right excuse, no matter how inane or flimsy to decapitate the president. I don't believe they fully understand the fire with which they are playing or how likely the flames are to end up consuming them completely. This is why I decided to remain out of the country for another two years instead of returning last June as originally planned. Now, I'm shooting for June of next year after in order to have an opportunity to see how the elections go this year and what the traitor faction plans if they should happen come out on top. God help us all if they choose to destroy the country in their madness.

Seeing Red said...

We’re the moral scolds who struggle to acknowledge the skeletons in our own closet,

Clean your own damn Skeletons.

Quit pushing your issues on me.



B]y constantly predicting doom and painting the White House in the darkest colors, anti-Trumpers have only helped the president


Sounds like climate change.


They all want to lecture the rest of us.

Drago said...

IIB, there is also the now daily announcements by companies of bonus payments, increased jobs and wages, etc.

All because of the Tax bill.

LLR Chuck takes another shot from reality.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

We have increased the country’s tolerance for the president’s venial sins

So what exactly are his "venial sins". List them. Show your work.

tim in vermont said...

Trump needn’t worry. Liberals are deaf to self-criticism. They might not have gone so far down this road, if they had any semblance of real diversity.

The whole Russia thing, the deeper you dig into it, the less you see. It is based on the thinnest tissue of partisan suspicions and “evidence” provided by Putin agents for their own reasons, and never verified by anybody. Strengthened by off-handed comments about Putin by Trump, and a joke about an obvious crime by Hillary. When that whole charade collapses, you wait. Still more than half of America is convinced that it is not bullshit. That’s because they get their news from the New York Times. Not all of them are going to get right up, Inga style, and say to the media “Thank you sir! May I have another!?”

Oh yeah. The Koreans are meeting. The South Koreans are thanking Trump.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

Beating Hillary doesn't count.

David Begley said...

All of these predictions about Trump failure and disaster have been dead wrong. And, for the most part, these are the same people who think the Earth is going to burn up or flood due to climate change. They've been dead wrong on that too.

Maybe we should look at the results of these predictions.

But, hey, they are the smart ones. The Ivies. Never wrong. So confident on CNN and in the NYT. And don't expect them to ever admit being wrong. They're too smart. They are our betters.

Drago said...

Comanche: "...a sober judge looking at the Never Trumpers claims might reasonably conclude that most of that crowd couldn't find their own backsides with both hands and the help of a seeing eye dog."

Based on actual results, a sober judge would rule the entire Never Trumper/Anti-Trumper Cavalcade of Crazies what they are: insane.

Drago said...

David Begley: "All of these predictions about Trump failure and disaster have been dead wrong."

Indeed. Which is why "Accidental Leftist" Chuck devotes each and every posting to trying to create the illusion of failure for each victory.

Hmmmmm, just like the insane lefties at MSNBC or Soro's funded groups.

I'm sure it's just a coincidence.

Yancey Ward said...

Yes, sins that we all share should not be tolerated by anyone.

dreams said...

Remember the fit the liberals and even some Republicans threw when Trump refused to say he'd accept losing. As he appeared to be on his way to a landslide loss. LOL.

"Donald Trump delivered another unprecedented historical moment during the final presidential debate Wednesday night when the Republican nominee, who appears on his way to a landslide loss, refused to say that he would accept the election’s outcome.

“I will look at it at the time,” said Trump — just hours after his daughter, campaign manager and running mate all insisted that he would respect the voters’ will, win or lose."

https://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/debate-hillary-clinton-donald-trump-230003

tim in vermont said...

We’re the moral scolds who struggle to acknowledge the skeletons in our own closet,

Maybe the guy has been reading the comments here at Althouse with an open mind! It’s really hard for me to believe that The New York Times saw fit to print this sentence. It’s like hearing the call of an ivory billed woodpecker. I thought that they were extinct, and I still haven’t seen the bird, but wow! I thought that liberals who were not bound to the herd like sheep, and not apparently sworn to NEVER, NEVER, NEVER acknowledge things like BILL FUCKING CLINTON GOT KICKED OUT OF OXFORD FOR RAPE, was ACUSSED OF FUCKING RAPE AT YALE, and FIVE FUCKING WITNESS BACK UP JUANITA BROADDRICK!

Wear your damn pussy hats liberals, ignore this guy. We want you wearing them at the polls.

Jack J Foley said...

Author Ursula LeGuin who's on the liberal side of things wrote about this last year here: http://www.ursulakleguin.com/Blog2017.html then scroll to the second article "Constructing the Golem"

Frist Paragraph - "The legend of the golem varies according to the teller, but I will follow the version that tells how in a time of persecution a rabbi made a mighty giant out of mud, a golem, and wrote a sacred word on its forehead — “Truth” — that gave it life. With its frightening size and enormous strength, the golem was to defend and safeguard the Jews. But the golem was not rational, not controllable. It was a danger in itself. So the rabbi removed a single letter from the word on its forehead, which then read “Death,” and the life went out of the giant, leaving only mud."

Last Paragraph - "[Trump] is entirely a creature of the media. He is a media golem. If you take the camera and mike off him, if you take your attention off him, nothing is left — mud."

Much more inbetween and well worth the read.

Jupiter said...

"We have increased the country’s tolerance for the president’s venial sins. And we have turned the 'Resistance' into a byword for the hysterical and condescending ninnies of American politics."

Good points, aptly stated. So, is this a letter of resignation? If not, why not?

Francisco D said...

I have a sense that some anti-Trumpers are starting to get that you look stupid and hysterical when you constantly turn the dial to 11. (See Spinal Tap).

Unfortunately, there are quite a few deranged resistance fighters (e.g., the usual suspects on this site) who don't want to get it. I suspect that they luxuriate in their hatred of Trump and the moral preening that accompanies it. It is another form of virtue signaling.

Jupiter said...

"If you take the camera and mike off him, if you take your attention off him, nothing is left — mud."

Well, that, and also the Presidency of the most powerful nation on Earth.

tim in vermont said...

Meanwhile, Cuomo seems to be making some kind of deal with the Clinton Machine in New York State to make a run at the presidency. This is where the Clinton Foundation comes in, Andrew Coumo’s candidacy, brought to you in part by Vladimir Putin’s generous contributions to the Clinton Foundation!

Bill was just kidding about your dad and the Mafia! He apologized for the comment on that call that he swears that it wasn’t him!

Molly said...

And we have refused to accept the results of the 2016 election. I think this is going to hurt us the most in 2018 elections.

tim in vermont said...

Much more in between and well worth the read.

You didn’t really make your case for that. But if you read WikiLeaks, you know that Hillary was encouraging her friends and operatives in the press to write about Trump, build him up, since he was one of the “pied pipers” who would be easy to beat. So, it’s a little late to learn that lesson, isn’t it?

John Pickering said...

Gosh Ann, did you read the whole column? Did you get to this part?

"I believe that Trump is ignorant, incurious, vain, gauche, bigoted, intemperate, bullying, suggestible, reckless and morally unfit for his office. But he’s not deficient in cunning, and that cunning deserves healthy respect from his political opponents."

So perhaps it's not undifferentiated praise, even though Ann and her cohort regard Trump as a genius and grasp at any anecdote that shows him acting normally. Again, I would ask Ann and her Trumpists: would you want this man as your school board president, police chief, youth football coach?

And really, who's being smug with remarks like "all I can say" and "why wasn't this obvious to you all along"?

dreams said...

"Last Paragraph - "[Trump] is entirely a creature of the media. He is a media golem. If you take the camera and mike off him, if you take your attention off him, nothing is left — mud.""

Which is useful for mudslinging, just more mudslinging.

tim in vermont said...

I think this is going to hurt us the most in 2018 elections.

No, what hurts you is believing that whatever helps Democrats is true, and whatever hurts Democrats is false. Most people aren’t that partisan.

Balfegor said...

Re: Tim at large:

Oh yeah. The Koreans are meeting. The South Koreans are thanking Trump.

I wouldn't read too much into Moon's statement -- he's a craven fool, who's already demonstrated that there is nothing he won't do to grovel before the Americans. I think Trump's success in heightening the pressure on North Korea did play some positive role here, but I wouldn't view Moon's statement as evidence one way or the other. He'd probably have said the exact same thing even if Trump's diplomatic strategy had been counterproductive. And the South Korean public is generally negative on Trump, I think, although my perspective is a bit skewed since all the Koreans I know are extremely privileged, and Trump's approval rating amongst the comfortable classes is approximately 0% no matter where you go.

StephenFearby said...



"... I believe that Trump is ignorant, incurious, vain, gauche, bigoted, intemperate, bullying, suggestible, reckless and morally unfit for his office."

Which is why Bret Stephens was hired by the NYT as an Op-Ed columnist.

Missing from Mr. Stephen's analysis is why voters who knew of Trump's failings (I don't agree that he is a bigot) still decided to elect him as their President in preference to Hilary Clinton.

Mike Sylwester said...

Today, January 11, Consortium News published an article titled "The FBI Hand Behind Russia-gate", written by Ray McGovern, who was an intelligence analyst for 30 years; prepared and briefed the President’s Daily Brief for Nixon, Ford, and Reagan; and is co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.

McGovern's article includes the following passages.

-----

... It now appears that it was not the Russians trying to rig the outcome of the U.S. election, but leading officials of the U.S. intelligence community, shadowy characters sometimes called the Deep State. ...

The shock of Trump’s election and the decision of many never-Trumpers to cast their lot with the Resistance led to a situation in which any prudent skepticism or demand for evidence was swept aside. ...

So, on Jan. 6, 2017, ... Director of National Intelligence James Clapper released an evidence-free report that he said was compiled by “hand-picked” analysts from the CIA, FBI and NSA, offering an “assessment” that Russia and President Putin were behind the release of the Democratic emails in a plot to help Trump win the presidency. ...

The “assessment” served a useful purpose for the never-Trumpers: it applied an official imprimatur on the case for delegitimizing Trump’s election and even raised the long-shot hope that the Electoral College might reverse the outcome and possibly install a compromise candidate, such as former Secretary of State Colin Powell, in the White House. ...

Virtually all skepticism about the evidence-free “assessment” was banned. For months, the Times and other newspapers of record repeated the lie that all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies had concurred in the conclusion about the Russian “hack.” ....

Doubts about the Russian “hack” or dissident suggestions that what we were witnessing was a “soft coup” were scoffed at by leading media commentators. ... Anyone who noted the violations of normal investigative procedures was dismissed as a “Trump enabler” or a “Moscow stooge.” ...

Russia-gate has become so central to the Washington establishment’s storyline that there appears to be no room for second-thoughts or turning back. The momentum is such that some Democrats and the media never-Trumpers can’t stop stoking the smoke of Russia-gate and holding out hope against hope that it will somehow justify Trump’s impeachment. ...

After a year of Russia-gate, the “rule of law” and “pursuit of truth” appear to have been reduced to high-falutin’ phrases for political score-setttling ...

The $64 question is whether the various congressional oversight committees will ... have the courage to attempt to carry out their Constitutional duty. The latter course would mean confronting a powerful Deep State and its large toolbox of well-practiced retaliatory techniques, including J. Edgar Hoover-style blackmail on steroids, enabled by electronic surveillance of just about everything and everyone. ....

Sen. Chuck Schumer ... openly warned incoming President Trump in January 2017 against criticizing the U.S. intelligence community because U.S. intelligence officials have “six ways from Sunday to get back at you” if you are “dumb” enough to take them on. ...

There is now real evidentiary meat on the bones of the suspicions that there indeed was a “deep-state coup” to “correct” the outcome of the 2016 election. We now know that the supposedly apolitical FBI officials had huge political axes to grind. ....

-----

https://consortiumnews.com/2018/01/11/the-fbi-hand-behind-russia-gate/

Richard Dillman said...

Will the NYT's readers tolerate Stephens' heresy? I grew up in the shadow of NYC in Fairfield, Connecticut, where people carried the times with them for validation and prestige. Few people I knew actually read much of the paper. I doubt that
the situation has changed much. Displaying the Sunday times on the family coffee table was a common status symbol.
The Times was and probaly still is a group membership, virtue signaling symbol.

dreams said...

"I believe that Trump is ignorant, incurious, vain, gauche, bigoted, intemperate, bullying, suggestible, reckless and morally unfit for his office. But he’s not deficient in cunning, and that cunning deserves healthy respect from his political opponents."

"So perhaps it's not undifferentiated praise, even though Ann and her cohort regard Trump as a genius and grasp at any anecdote that shows him acting normally. Again, I would ask Ann and her Trumpists: would you want this man as your school board president, police chief, youth football coach?

And really, who's being smug with remarks like "all I can say" and "why wasn't this obvious to you all along"?"

Who's being smug? Bret Stephens and apparently you.

tim in vermont said...

So perhaps it’s not undifferentiated praise,

What the fuck does that have to do with anything? Is logic that hard for you? Those are ideas expressed everywhere all the time in the media. It’s the quoted text that represents an idea that is starting to bubble up in the consciousness of lefty media.

There is no rule that says that anybody has to take every column as a whole, and that if you buy one idea from a person, you have to buy them all. What’s it like to be that stupid? Is it like being high all the time?

tim in vermont said...

Again, I would ask Ann and her Trumpists: would you want this man as your school board president, police chief, youth football coach?

Let me see, is the only other choice HILLARY FUCKING CLINTON?

Balfegor said...

Re: John Pickering:

So perhaps it's not undifferentiated praise, even though Ann and her cohort regard Trump as a genius and grasp at any anecdote that shows him acting normally. Again, I would ask Ann and her Trumpists: would you want this man as your school board president, police chief, youth football coach?

Here's the thing -- Trump's not a genius, and his strategies generally aren't all that complicated. He's like a man who plays paper-rock-scissors by saying "I'm going with rock," and then he goes with rock, and then he wins. The closest his strategies get to "clever" is to say something outrageous, and prompt his opponents to argue that it's only 50% true, which is 50% more than they had been willing to concede before.

It's not that he's a genius -- it's that he's smarter than his opponents, mostly in the media (and, to a lesser extent, in the leadership of the Republican and Democratic parties). And those opponents are really, really dumb. Trump didn't do anything --
as far I can tell -- to bait them into claiming that 3% growth in 2017 was impossible without a "magic wand," or that his election would destroy markets forever, or even that Republicans (with majorities in the House and Senate) would fail to pass a tax reform bill. Those are pure own-goals by people who are comically overconfident in their (mis)-understanding of how the world works, and keep on stepping on rakes as a result.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

And we have refused to accept the results of the 2016 election. I think this is going to hurt us the most in 2018 elections.”

Who is this “we” you refer to? “Us”? Certainly Democrats won’t be hurt in 2018.

Drago said...

Inga: "Who is this “we” you refer to?"

Gee, it's a mystery who the people are who have refused to accept the results of the 2016 election.

A real mystery.

Maybe it's those terrorist Amish again.

As with "investigations" into islamic terrorist attacks, "we may never know the motivation".

LOL

buwaya said...

This is not correct.
Bret Stephens does not understand propaganda.

Inga does though.

It does not need to be reasonable or true, it just has to be loud enough and pervasive enough.

It is impossible to be cynical enough about human nature.

readering said...

Stable genius at work this morning on FISA reauthorization . . . .

Phil 314 said...

The never-ending three way outrage war:

1. Democrats and the left: yes Trump is the object of their scorn but he is but the biggest cudgel to beat the Republicans over the head

2. Never Trumpers exclusive of #1. Some right of center, some independant, Gradually getting less outraged over time but every time they declare "Well I didn't vote for him but..." they are seen as the disloyal GOPe.

3. Ever Trumpers: Look at any opportunity to declare "WINNING!!!"even if its on an issue they previously opposed.

I'm waiting for the three sides to gradually accept that we're in exceptional times and that the volume will always be "11" and that you don't have to respond to every Trump-tweet, every left wing panic alert and every Never-Trumpers expression of disgust.

Ironically, Trump keeps giving us opportunities to take a new path (witness the live immigration discussion) but "dammit, we're not going to fall for it!!"

Jupiter said...

John Pickering said...
"I would ask Ann and her Trumpists: would you want this man as your school board president, police chief, youth football coach?"

Yes, yes, and abolish youth football.

tim in vermont said...

Here's the thing -- Trump's not a genius, and his strategies generally aren't all that complicated. He’s like a man who plays paper-rock-scissors by saying "I'm going with rock," and then he goes with rock, and then he wins.

Exactly! He is not playing 11 dimensional chess, and as I have said before, string theory is not mourning the loss of his genius because he went into real-estate and politics instead. He sticks with some obvious truths. It’s his opponents who kid themselves into to believing that “scissors really beats rock!” when they say things like “Americans don’t really believe in borders” or “Americans want to pay higher taxes” or “Americans are all for unlimited and uncontrolled immigration!”

JAORE said...

"Let me see, is the only other choice HILLARY FUCKING CLINTON?"

Brilliant.

StephenFearby said...

Today's sample of bias by the New York Pravda Times re Trump

Online Headline

Despite Vow, Trump Won’t Commit to Meet With Mueller
By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS and NICHOLAS FANDOS

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/10/us/politics/trump-russia-election-interference.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

Clicking on the link gets an entirely different headline:

Trump Sidesteps Question on Mueller Interview

'“...I’ll speak to attorneys,” Mr. Trump said during a news conference with Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway, when asked whether he would agree to an interview. “We’ll see what happens.”

That answer was a marked change from June, when Mr. Trump defended his firing of the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, denying that it was related to his handling of the Russia investigation, and said he would be “100 percent” willing to give a sworn statement to Mr. Mueller.'

Obviously, this wasn't the erroneous vow to "meet with Muller" that was asserted in the first headline.

Jupiter said...

Balfegor said...

"the South Korean public is generally negative on Trump..."

That's probably because they are starting to realize that they may be willing to coexist with a North Korea that can vaporize American cities at will, but Trump is not. Unfortunately, that could be very bad news for a great many South Koreans.

Bad Lieutenant said...

John Pickering said...
"I would ask Ann and her Trumpists: would you want this man as your school board president, police chief, youth football coach?"


Who then? You?

readering said...

Similar verdict in today's Economist leader:

The one-year-old Trump presidency
Is it really this bad?

Jupiter said...

Blogger buwaya said...
"This is not correct. Bret Stephens does not understand propaganda."

Cut him some slack. He just joined Team Hate. Until recently, he was a talented writer and perceptive analyst, employed by a successful news organization. Old habits die hard.

tim in vermont said...

Is it really this bad?

What happened? Did the Economist believe Krugman and take all of their money out of US investments?

Nonapod said...

I would ask Ann and her Trumpists: would you want this man as your school board president, police chief, youth football coach?

That strikes me as a bit too reductive. Perhaps a more germane question would be the binary choice of Trump or Hillary for those various roles. But even that wouldn't really be useful because the people that voted for Trump in the last election weren't selecting a person for any of those roles.

It seems to be a very human failing to conflate unrelated (or at best tangentially related) qualities such as demeanor, speaking style, and overall personality with other qualities such as decision making and problem solving that may be required to fulfill a particular role. Or at least this simple fact seems to be lost upon many in the anti-Trump crowd: It's possible for a person to have a disagreeable personality but still in fact be very good at a specific task.

I voted for Trump with quite a few reservations, but I voted for him primarily because he wasn't Hillary. I disliked (and still somewhat dislike if I'm being honest) his provocative style, his personality, even his grooming. But I've become fascinated with the responses from the left and the anti-Trump crowd that he's provoked. And I've come to realize and appreciated his unique ability to expose the various hypocrisies of those in power like no other figure in the history of modern politics. His Tweets and brazen attitude have engendered madness and derangement from people of whom I consider to hold dangerous viewpoints. I've also been pleasantly surprised by what he has actually accomplished as president, cutting taxes, appointing judges, deregulating, defeating ISIS, taking a more hard line stance against Iran and North Korea... these are all things I approve of politically.

So I guess I'm saying I've been able to separate my own feelings about him as a person with what he's actually accomplished. It doesn't seem that difficult to me to do this. But I guess it's very hard for some people.

tim in vermont said...

My 401K, which, due to my age, was invested conservatively, was up 14% last year.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Stable genius at work this morning on FISA reauthorization . . . .”


LOL! Yep.

Anonymous said...

@Molly 1:45 I think you are correct that the Dem nonsense rather than leading to the hoped for Blue Wave is going to lead to an uprising of red voters who, for the moment, are seething in silence about being called stupid every day while it's obvious that Trump is being incredibly successful. Personally, I can't wait to vote again in the red column.

Original Mike said...

"But if the anti-Trump movement has a crippling defect, it’s smugness, and Wolff’s book reflects and richly feeds it."

Exhibit A: Strzok/Page

dreams said...

My stock portfolio was up 32% last year but I do a lot of trading which sometimes helps and sometimes hurts. The last Fifteen years I've outperformed Warren Buffett and the indexes. I'm into my 38th year of investing.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Inga: "Who is this “we” you refer to?"

“Gee, it's a mystery who the people are who have refused to accept the results of the 2016 election.”

I doubt it. She’s a Trump supporter. Try to keep up.

Anonymous said...

@ Nonapod Well said. Would you want George Patton as your youth football coach? No. Would I want George Patton on my side in a fight? You bet. It's all in context.

RichardJohnson said...

"But if the anti-Trump movement has a crippling defect, it’s smugness, and Wolff’s book reflects and richly feeds it."

Smugness has been a Demo characteristic for decades and decades. When I was an Independent voter, I noticed a Demo bumper sticker: "Vote Republican. It's Better than Thinking." That is far from the only example of Demo smugness.


John Pickering:Again, I would ask Ann and her Trumpists: would you want this man as your school board president, police chief, youth football coach
Given the choice between Trump and Hillary Clinton for any of those positions, my reply is with all his faults, I would choose Trump.

If the choice was between Hillary or Trump for dogcatcher, I would vote Trump.

Recall that Demos shouted to the rafters that Hillary was "THE MOST QUALIFIED PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE EVAH!" What were her qualifications? US Senator and Secretary of State. James Buchanan also served as US Senator and Secretary of State. Buchanan is considered one of our worst Presidents.

Anonymous said...

For those who think what is going on today is unique: I am just finishing up Chernow's "Grant". The opposition was just as deranged in 1870 as it is today.

tim in vermont said...

LOL! Yep.

Some of us can read the tweets for ourselves, not what CNN or HuffPo said about them. I agree with Trump that FISA has been abused. When did the left become such big fans of the NSA and CIA?

Jupiter said...

Nonapod said...

"So I guess I'm saying I've been able to separate my own feelings about him as a person with what he's actually accomplished. It doesn't seem that difficult to me to do this. But I guess it's very hard for some people."

I suspect you have it backwards. They object to his personal characteristics precisely because they object to his accomplishments, but they know that sane people don't. So they are looking for arguments that will convince the rest of us to act against our own interests. And you have to admit, they have been very successful in getting large numbers of Americans to support policies that will inevitably destroy our nation, simply by appealing to a naive sense of equality.

Jupiter said...

"If the choice was between Hillary or Trump for dogcatcher, I would vote Trump."

Mmmmm, I'm gonna have to go with Hillary here. I'd love to see that fat bitch trying to chase down some rabid Doberman.

Original Mike said...

"John Pickering:Again, I would ask Ann and her Trumpists: would you want this man as your school board president, police chief, youth football coach"

Yeah, cuz performance as youth football coach and President of the United States draw from the same tool kit. Good grief.

Drago said...

Inga: "I doubt it. She’s a Trump supporter. Try to keep up."

Inga builds on her illusion that the p****-hatters don't exclusively protest republicans to pretend the left/liberals in the US to a large extent have accepted the election results.

All those lefty/liberal protest movements stating that Trump is not their President, violent and destructive activities, using the national security apparatus to unseat a duly elected official?

Don't look at their signs, listen to their chants, or read their drivel! Forget it. Forget it all.

We may never know who the groups are that don't accept the Trump Presidency

We. May. Never. Know.

buwaya said...

"Would you want George Patton as your youth football coach? No. "

Hmm. Not his sport, but he was on the 1912 Olympic team (fencing and shooting), and he was a fencing instructor to some later Olympic participants.

He probably would have made quite a good football coach.

Original Mike said...

Blogger Inga said...“Stable genius at work this morning on FISA reauthorization . . . .”

Considering what the democrats did, I wouldn't blame him if he burned the whole damn thing down.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Some of us can read the tweets for ourselves, not what CNN or HuffPo said about them. I agree with Trump that FISA has been abused. When did the left become such big fans of the NSA and CIA?”

He was watching Judge Napolatano on Fox and Friends speaking about this bill and your President got confused about what his own administration stance on it was, lol.

“Creating some confusion, Trump briefly took aim Thursday morning at the program despite his administration's official support for renewing it, suggesting 702 was used to "badly surveil and abuse" his campaign based on the "phony" Trump dossier.

“This is the act that may have been used, with the help of the discredited and phony Dossier, to so badly surveil and abuse the Trump Campaign by the previous administration and others?” Trump tweeted.

Trump's opposition, though, didn't last long. Later Thursday morning, he posted a follow-up tweet clarifying that he has sought changes to the law and voicing support for the surveillance program.

"With that being said, I have personally directed the fix to the unmasking process since taking office and today’s vote is about foreign surveillance of foreign bad guys on foreign land. We need it! Get smart!" he tweeted.

It was an apparent attempt to get back on the same page with his own administration, which backs the so-called 702 program.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2018/01/11/house-votes-to-renew-fisa-program-following-mixed-messages-from-trump.html

buwaya said...

Pussy hats are now, it seems, de trop.
Not inclusive enough, and likely to lead to factional disputes.

buwaya said...

" would you want this man as your school board president, "

Having seen a great deal of School Boards and the creatures in them - in short, yes.

tim in vermont said...

Like I said, Inga, I read the tweets myself. My question for you is when did you become such a big fan of the surveillance state?

tim in vermont said...

If Hillary were dogcatcher, look for pets to start disappearing and showing up in research labs and dodgy restaurants.

Nonapod said...

George Patton as a kindergarten teacher would probably not go well. But then again... who knows? Maybe he'd display a strangely feminine side?

Original Mike said...

The federal government spied on a presidential candidate. If they want to reauthorize, there needs to be jail time for the perpetrators.

Drago said...

Tim at large: "Like I said, Inga, I read the tweets myself. My question for you is when did you become such a big fan of the surveillance state"

When the institutions of our national security organizations became completely politicized and put in political service of the democrats against their domestic political opponents.

Which is a surprise really, since the lefties have only done this 100% of the time they get power anywhere at anytime. But literally, only every single time.

Remember, there was not a smidgen of corruption at the IRS, or BLM (Bundy case) and every other fed govt agency completely populated in the upper echelons by the left.

The CFPB was using its power to shake down companies and transferring tens and tens of millions to leftist groups at a calculated rate of about 537 liberal grants to every 1 conservative grant.

You know, "accidentally".

buwaya said...

"George Patton as a kindergarten teacher would probably not go well."

He would have made a fantastic High School history teacher.

StephenFearby said...

Nonapod wrote:

"So I guess I'm saying I've been able to separate my own feelings about him as a person with what he's actually accomplished. It doesn't seem that difficult to me to do this. But I guess it's very hard for some people."

Very eloquent post. Trump may be considered a kind of Doc Martin, transmogrified into a politician.

In real life Martin Clunes, the actor playing Doc Martin, has also been politically incorrect:

"...Martin Clunes has waded into the Harvey Weinstein scandal by accusing some actresses of openly flirting with producers.

Mr Clunes, who worked alongside under-fire movie mogul Weinstein for Shakespeare In Love, was speaking during a charity event in aid of Ebony Horse Club.

Weinstein is now facing multiple accusations of sexual assault and harassment from more than 40 women."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5022507/Martin-Clunes-wades-Harvey-Weinstein-scandal.html

grackle said...

… would you want this man as your school board president, police chief, youth football coach?

I’m fine with all three but much prefer Trump as POTUS where his very stable genius can do the most good.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Inga said:

Who is this “we” you refer to? “Us”? Certainly Democrats won’t be hurt in 2018.

1/11/18, 2:03 PM

Once again, Inga peers into her crystal ball and foretells what is going to happen in an election that won't take place until November. How did that work out for you in 2010? In 2016? When Bret Stephens writes about how people who consider themselves intelligent keep making wrong predictions, did a little light flash on in your brain at all? For one second?

Have you ever thought "Gee, I could be wrong, maybe I should shut up for a bit and see what happens?"

The Dems might very well have a good election year. I don't know - I don't play God like you do. But I can readily think of reasons why it might not work out the way you think it's going to - and you refuse to admit the possibility.

2016 should have taught you some lessons. It didn't because you are unteachable.

readering said...

From Carrier article in today's New Yorker:

Today, the profitable H.V.A.C. company, owned by United Technologies Corporation—a federal contractor whose climate, controls, and security division, of which Carrier is a part, reported three billion dollars in operating profit in 2016—is letting go of more than two hundred employees in its second and final wave of Indiana-based layoffs, which began last July. In total, the company will be laying off more than five hundred employees as it moves manufacturing jobs to Monterrey, Mexico. Many of those employees voted for Donald Trump, who made saving Carrier’s “big, beautiful plant” one of his most repeated campaign promises. It was part of his broader preëlection claim that “A Trump Administration will stop the jobs from leaving America.”

dreams said...

200 point gain on the Dow, thanks again Donald J Trump. MAGA!

tim in vermont said...

200 point gain on the Dow, thanks again Donald J Trump. MAGA!

Sad trombones all around at The Economist!

What’s the unemployment rate readering?

gadfly said...

"[B]y constantly predicting doom and painting the White House in the darkest colors, anti-Trumpers have only helped the president. We have set an almost impossibly high bar for Trumpian failure... ) We have increased the country’s tolerance for the president’s venial sins. And we have turned the 'Resistance' into a byword for the hysterical and condescending ninnies of American politics."

Writes Bret Stephens in the NYT, and all I can say is if you ... are so sure you're the smart ones, why wasn't all of this obvious to you all along? Or is this remedial reading for NYT subscribers, who are just now beginning to get it?


I can only marvel at whatever logic Althouse uses to perceive that it is Anti-Trumpism that has caused Trump to have spent his life cheating the system and his tenants, interacting with the Mafia and stealing from us long-suffering, law-abiding folks that have unfortunately crossed paths with Donald and his businesses over the years - and yet we are somehow responsible for his lack of character and his unthinking actions.

Whatever subject you would like to discuss about Trump ... about his being smart ... about his understanding of today's problems ... his childish tweets ... whether he could or should attempt to solve even the tiniest of real world complexities ... are simply not in the cards I am reading. He needs to resign, immediately and the suck-ups that encourage him to stay need to be "run out of Dodge" as well.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“When the history of President Donald Trump’s use of Twitter is written, there will be a stiff competition for his most destructive, most irresponsible tweet. A strong contender for that less-than-august honor came Thursday morning, when the president of the United States tweeted this:

“House votes on controversial FISA ACT today.” This is the act that may have been used, with the help of the discredited and phony Dossier, to so badly surveil and abuse the Trump Campaign by the previous administration and others?
6:33 AM - Jan 11, 2018

It is, to be sure, not Trump’s most rhetorically outlandish tweet. It is not an attack on a person or a national or ethnic group. But this tweet is nothing less than an active intervention by the president at a delicate moment in time against the national security of the country he leads. If there is a defense of this, it can be only that Trump may not have understood what he was saying and may simply have been parroting something he heard on Fox News.

In other words, President Trump tweeted lies against his own intelligence community in the course of signaling opposition to a legislative priority of his own administration on a crucial national security priority at an especially delicate moment in time. Then he tried to take it back.

We don’t hold much hope for ever calling on President Trump to do the right thing. But there is still time for him to do more to ameliorate the mess he has created here—by making clear both publicly and privately that he, like the administration he leads, supports 702 reauthorization and understands that the law is not about domestic spying but about urgent national security collection on behalf of the country.“

https://www.lawfareblog.com/trump-tweets-against-key-national-security-priority

tim in vermont said...

He needs to resign, immediately and the suck-ups that encourage him to stay need to be “run out of Dodge" as well.

So it’s another “trail of tears” for us deplorables? Why should we listen to you again?

Drago said...

readering succumbs to statis analysis, as all lefties do.

The issue is not how many layoffs (or any change) occur at an organization, the question is what would the number of layoffs had been without Trump involvement?

That's the only question that really matters.

Unlike the "Light-bringer" and "sort of a "God"' obama, Trump can make the conditions for US companies competitiveness much better than they were (and he already has), but he can't control the internal decision-making and strategies and long-term success of each company.

The playing field is improved, but companies must succeed in the marketplace on their own.

Jim at said...

Again, I would ask Ann and her Trumpists: would you want this man as your school board president, police chief, youth football coach?

Again, for the umpteenth time:

Instead of Hillary? Yes.
Without hesitation.

Why can't people like you understand that?

tim in vermont said...

President Trump tweeted lies against his own intelligence community

Umm, they are not lies Inga. One day maybe I will go through old New York Times articles and find the ones based on leaks of conversations surveilled by the NSA in which “US persons” were “incidentally” surveilled that were used against Trump during the campaign, and the transition.

Samantha Powers has testified that although a large number of “unmaskings” were made in her name, she didn’t make them. Does that make you wonder who did? Or are you just going on as cheerleader for the surveillance state because you like their target this time?

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...


If Hill was a school board president, she'd find a way to funnel the money meant for new school supplies into her bank account.

If she was a police chief, John Doe middle of the night raids on political opponents would come to your town.

She might be a good football coach, but Bill would come to the games to pick up cheerleaders.

Funny how morally upright and indignant Dems suddenly became once a Republican was elected.

Drago said...

Inga: "But this tweet is nothing less than an active intervention by the president at a delicate moment in time against the national security of the country he leads"

LOL

Inga is pissed her little spymaster-blasters aren't in a position to continue their illegal surveillance of Trump and associates.

Unexpectedly.

Drago said...

I see gadfly, our Poor Man's LLR Chuck, is working feverishly to convey......something, something LLR Chuck "junior-ish".

Good luck with that li'l fella.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

BREAKING: Walmart will raise its starting wage rate for hourly employees in the U.S. to $11, expand maternity & parental leave benefits, and provide a one-time cash bonus for eligible employees of as much as $1,000 due to tax reform. https://www.cnbc.com/id/104940498


7:00 AM - Jan 11, 2018
Breaking → Thanks to #TaxReform, American jobs are staying here. Assurant just announced it would remain in the U.S. and not move its operations to Bermuda. http://spkrryan.us/2CV5Hvr


1:13 PM - Jan 9, 2018 · Washington, DC

•Waste Management said Wednesday that it will give $2,000 in special bonuses to about 34,000 employees.
•The news comes after other companies have made similar announcements, citing the passage of tax legislation that slashes the corporate tax rate.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“ My question for you is when did you become such a big fan of the surveillance state?”

“JOHN DICKERSON: Let me ask you about the reauthorization of the FISA so-called 702--

MIKE POMPEO: Yes, sir.

JOHN DICKERSON: --section. There's some question about how long to reauthorize it. What is the C.I.A.'s position about this program, which allows surveillance of foreign people but also critics believe allows a backdoor to- to gaining information about Americans?

MIKE POMPEO: John, the- section 702 is an important component of American national security. It allows us, the C.I.A., to observe communications from non-U.S. citizens, persons outside of the United States. That's- that's central to our mission. And so we are very hopeful that we can reach an accommodation, that we can get to the right place. And I understand it may well come to a vote this week.

I hope that's the case. I hear the critics from the other side. I understand their concerns. I hope that we can accommodate them in a way and achieve our national security mission while doing- while continuing to protect American's privacy. Those are both important missions. I think we can do them both.”

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/transcript-cia-director-mike-pompeo-on-face-the-nation-jan-7-2018/

Jim at said...

I still don't get questions asked by people like John Pickering and rest of the leftist crew.

We had a choice between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

We chose Donald Trump because the alternative was worse.
That's it. He's not our hero. He's not some sort of savior.
He was the better choice, and after a year nothing has dissuaded me from that opinion.

So, here's my suggestion to John and others:

Why don't you take responsibility for putting forward such a shitty candidate? We didn't nominate the vile, corrupt bitch. You did.

Stop blaming us for not voting for your POS candidate, OK?

Is that too much to ask?

gadfly said...

@readering said...
Stable genius at work this morning on FISA reauthorization . . . .

"And a horse is a horse, of course, of course ..." or is it, as Trump might say, "like a horse's ass."

cubanbob said...


"I believe that Trump is ignorant, incurious, vain, gauche, bigoted, intemperate, bullying, suggestible, reckless and morally unfit for his office. But he’s not deficient in cunning, and that cunning deserves healthy respect from his political opponents."

Yes, a perfect description of Hillary Clinton. He should see an optometrist and a neurologist for his vision problems. And Hillary wondered why she wasn't fifty points ahead in the polls.

tim in vermont said...

But this tweet is nothing less than an active intervention by the president at a delicate moment in time against the national security of the country he leads

Well shut my mouth! The president of the United States involved in politics! I am shocked, shocked! And the spooks over at the NSA and CIA don’t want anybody touching their toys!

I can only assume that Inga is scared shitless about not being able to surveil all of those MOOSLIM jihadis so intent on harming our country! Wasn’t that what the Patriot Act was all about?

Weren’t people worried at the time that it would be used for political ends?

Not Inga! It’s unpatriotic to question the NSA and CIA!

pacwest said...

As much as I think President Trump is doing a good job, the main thing I care about is the dismantling of the Clinton Corruption in the government. Everything, including another SCOTUS appointment, takes second priority imo. There needs to be some people in the pokey when this is done. Yes, Trump is toxic - to the cancer in the body Republic.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Inga is pissed her little spymaster-blasters aren't in a position to continue their illegal surveillance of Trump and associates”

Drago has no idea what was voted on and passed in the House this AM.

“Two months of drama in the House of Representatives over the soon-to-expire FISA Section 702 mass surveillance program came to an end this morning, with a bipartisan group of House members first defeating a FISA reform amendment (USA RIGHTS Act) offered by Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), then passing the GOP House leadership bill. The key votes in support of the GOP House leadership effort came from Democrats, including Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Adam Schiff (D-CA).”

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

"We chose Donald Trump because the alternative was worse.
That's it. He's not our hero. He's not some sort of savior.
He was the better choice, and after a year nothing has dissuaded me from that opinion."

Exactly. Just because leftists slobber all over their pols like teenyboppers swooning over Justin Timberlake doesn't mean we do.

buwaya said...

"If Hill was a school board president, she'd find a way to funnel the money meant for new school supplies into her bank account. "

There is precedent for this - a great deal of precedent -
Just one case -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leland_Yee#San_Francisco_School_Board

Leland Yee, CA State Senator, imprisoned for corruption and gun running(!) was at one time president of the San Francisco School Board.

tim in vermont said...

MIKE POMPEO: John, the- section 702 is an important component of American national security. It allows us, the C.I.A., to observe communications from non-U.S. citizens, persons outside of the United States.

So person or persons unknown used Samantha Powers’ name, according to her testimony, to unmask US citizens, apparently mostly in the Trump campaign or transition, and we are supposed to be comforted by these obvious lies?

Michael said...

I'm not sure that "the law" has much influence over what our spooks want to do.

tim in vermont said...

There is always some little fact that you ignore, Inga. I guess it makes it easier for you to be sure of yourself if you ignore all of the facts that are contrary to your partisan position.

Bay Area Guy said...

Bret Stephens was good at the Wall Street Journal. Maybe, the move to the NYT requires hysterical anti-Trump screeds to get the necessary street cred for the lunch room conversations. And to make friends.

Whatever the case, he is still clueless on Trump.

Drago said...

Inga: "Drago has no idea what was voted on and passed in the House this AM."

LOL

I'm sorry you simply can't confront the now obvious reality of what the dems did to abuse national security and our intelligence agencies (who use rules precisely like the one in the vote this morning.)

Our nation needs tools like these. It's just unfortunate that the lefties cannot avoid reverting to their natural Stalinist inclinations.

Fortunately, with new leadership at the intelligence agencies (by the way, the dems wanted Rogers fired...remember that? Because he got rid of some of the lefties illicit activities) we are less likely to have lefties abusing the systems.

Less likely.

But I'll bet they keep trying. I would ask McCabe about it, but he doesn't seem to be available these days....

n.n said...

Condescension before the progression.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/joint-statement-attorney-general-sessions-fbi-director-wray-dni-coats-cia-director-pompeo-and

“Joint Statement From Attorney General Sessions, FBI Director Wray, DNI Coats, CIA Director Pompeo, And NSA Director Rogers On FISA Section 702 Reauthorization

Reauthorizing Section 702 before it expires is vital to keeping the nation safe. Let us be clear: if Congress fails to act, vital intelligence collection on international terrorists and other foreign adversaries will be lost. The country will be less secure.

There is no substitute for Section 702. If Congress fails to reauthorize this authority, the Intelligence Community will lose valuable foreign intelligence information, and the resulting intelligence gaps will make it easier for terrorists, weapons proliferators, malicious cyber actors, and other foreign adversaries to plan attacks against our citizens and allies without detection. Section 702 has been instrumental in preventing attacks on the homeland and removing terrorists from the battlefield.

To be clear – Congress is not required to make any changes to Section 702. The Intelligence Community conducts and uses 702 collection in a manner that protects the privacy and civil liberties of individuals. Every single court that has reviewed Section 702 and queries of its data has found it to be constitutional. The Intelligence Community’s use of Section 702, which permits targeted surveillance only of foreign persons located outside the United States, is subject to extensive oversight and incorporates substantial protections to protect the privacy and civil liberties of individuals. In short, we believe Congress got it right in 2008 when it passed Section 702 and in 2012 when Congress reauthorized it. Nevertheless, the Intelligence Community continues to be open to reasonable reforms to Section 702 to further enhance the already-substantial privacy protections contained in the law, but we simply cannot support legislation that would impede the operational efficacy of this vital authority.

We also believe it is important that Congress reauthorize Section 702 before it expires on December 31, 2017. Although the current Section 702 certifications do not expire until April 2018, the Intelligence Community would need to start winding down its Section 702 program well in advance of that date. Winding down such a valuable program would force agencies to divert resources away from addressing foreign threats. Short-term extensions are not the long-term answer either, as they fail to provide certainty, and will create needless and wasteful operational complications. We urge Congress, therefore, to act quickly to reauthorize Section 702 in a manner that preserves the effectiveness of this critical national security law before it expires.”

Jeff Sessions
Attorney General of the United States

Christopher Wray
Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation

Daniel R. Coats
Director of National Intelligence

Mike Pompeo
Director, Central Intelligence Agency

Admiral Michael S. Rogers
Director, National Security Agency

gadfly said...

Blogger Drago said...
I see gadfly, our Poor Man's LLR Chuck, is working feverishly to convey......something, something LLR Chuck "junior-ish".

Good luck with that li'l fella.


Am I the only commenter who finds nothing but personal attacks, mostly about Chuck, in Drago comments? I don't know what an "LLR" is but that cannot be nearly as bad as not understanding the dark underground from which the Trump snake arose.

Mueller is investigating Trump's money-laundering for the Russians and we already know that he was convicted and fined $300,000 for multiple money laundering incidents through his casinos. If you like a real crook, one who was taken to court for stealing from and abusing his tenants and for his use and abuse of illegal polish workers - have at it!

But you don't get a pass because Hillary was a crook also.

buwaya said...

It is, perhaps, no accident that Leland Yee was in the SF School Board at the time of this series of corruption scandals -

http://www.sfgate.com/education/article/A-grave-injustice-against-the-children-S-F-2858428.php

And the School District Superintendent at the time, was forced out for allegations of corruption and fraud. The SFUSD has had a tremendous number of corruption scandals.

Big city school boards are interesting.

tim in vermont said...

House Oversight & Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy said Tuesday that President Obama's former United Nations ambassador has testified that not all of the "unmasking" requests made in her name were directed by her.

Samantha Power testified in Gowdy’s committee last week, and Fox News reported weeks before her appearance that she was thought to have made as many as 260 requests to "unmask" Americans caught up in the surveillance of non-U.S. citizens.


Um, gee. So we have testimony now that person or persons unknown were getting around the whole “US Citizens” part of the surveillance by forging requests using somebody else’s name? Wholesale?

But not to worry! There are safeguards in the law, like only certain people can request unmaskings, right Inga? But apparently those “safeguards” don’t include actually requiring that the people making the unmaskings are duly authorized!

BUMBLE BEE said...

Dennis Prager aptly describes the left as hysterics. Children on milk cartons, child abuse in daycare, global warming, energy crisis... on and on. These are all the products of fevered minds.
When asking a thoroughly experienced person about some opinions I had read about about in his field, he smiled and said "Be skeptical of the opinions of those who get paid by the word".
Works well in my life.

Big Mike said...

IF the anti-Trump movement has a crippling defect??? In addition to "smug" I'd add cluelessness, I'd add failure to grasp downside risks, I'd add a bunch of other crippling defects, not the least of which is the inability to grasp that their side put up the worst possible, most personally corrupt, candidate and thereby lost. When Barack Obama said that Hillary Clinton was "likeable enough," that was only the first of many, many lies he would tell.

tim in vermont said...

The Intelligence Community conducts and uses 702 collection in a manner that protects the privacy and civil liberties of individuals.

See above.

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jupiter said...

gadfly said...

"He needs to resign, immediately and the suck-ups that encourage him to stay need to be "run out of Dodge" as well."

That word, "need".

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“I would ask McCabe about it, but he doesn't seem to be available these days....””

You are always so misinformed. McCabe is still there until March.

tim in vermont said...

What is your problem with logic Inga? It’s obvious that FISA was abused by person or persons unknown in the Obama administration. Why do you keep ignoring that fact?

buwaya said...

" the dark underground from which the Trump snake arose. "

IMHO, its not at all a "dark underground". The facts, in official, uncontested statistics, are easily available.
In a picture actually.

This pretty much explains Trump -

Employment Since 2000

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Tim at large said...
What is your problem with logic Inga?"

Logic is boring.

Jupiter said...

Blogger Tim at large said...

"So we have testimony now that person or persons unknown were getting around the whole “US Citizens” part of the surveillance by forging requests using somebody else’s name? Wholesale?"

Well, in fairness, we have testimony to that effect from someone who would be admitting to criminal abuse of office if she did not point the finger at someone else. No one in particular, you'll note. Who'd ya give your password to, Samantha?

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

"Leland Yee, CA State Senator, imprisoned for corruption and gun running(!) was at one time president of the San Francisco School Board."

I had forgotten about that guy!

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“What is your problem with logic Inga?"

Nothing. Try using it sometime.

buwaya said...

In other words, if that chart,

Employment Since 2000

Had been otherwise, then you would not be complaining about Trump.
That you still have Trump is also, put simply, that the guilty, or those who colluded, are still in place and in power. There has been no massive purge or penance offered to the people.

Much suffering must happen, much pain, to pay for the pain.
I don't think any of the powerful have volunteered to apologize and suffer.

ga6 said...

As Grandma would say: "They so smart they couldn't figure it out".

Francisco D said...

When I was an adjunct faculty member for a Master's degree program, I allowed students to cut and paste once in one paper. More than that, I gave them the option of a "D" or rewriting it in their own words.

I was hired to teach and to evaluate their acquired knowledge. If they cannot write in their on words, I cannot evaluate their acquired knowledge.

Our cut and paste queen should not be taken seriously because we cannot evaluate her understanding of issues.

tim in vermont said...

Nothing. Try using it sometime

OK, then explain my error.

You have made a bunch of cut and pastes assuring us that FISA was not for spying on US citizens

I pointed out that in fact, Samantha Powers has testified that even though US citizen were spied on under her name, she never did it! Meaning that the controls broke down during the Obama administration.

Why are you right and I am wrong? Or is it “top secret” like your opinion on Clinton and rape?

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Ah, we see the bigotry in full bloom again. Very Presidential. A stable genius.

“President Trump grew frustrated with lawmakers Thursday in the Oval Office when they floated restoring protections for immigrants from Haiti, El Salvador and African countries as part of a bipartisan immigration deal, according to two people briefed on the meeting.

“Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” Trump said, according to these people, referring to African countries and Haiti. He then suggested that the United States should instead bring more people from countries like Norway, whose prime minister he met yesterday.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-attacks-protections-for-immigrants-from-shithole-countries-in-oval-office-meeting/2018/01/11/bfc0725c-f711-11e7-91af-31ac729add94_story.html?utm_term=.ec86f93e2220

exhelodrvr said...

Patton did the pentathlon in the Olympics.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Why are you right and I am wrong?”

Because it is based on bullshit conspiracy theories trying to distract from and discredit the Mueller Investigation, spun up those trying to protect Trump.

tim in vermont said...

“Because it is bullshit condpiracy theories trying to distract and discredit from the Mueller Investigation"

So Gowdy is lying? Or is it because you don’t want to let the facts get in the way of Mueller’s little witch hunt?

tim in vermont said...

I can’t believe it doesn’t bother you that a member of the Obama administration has testified that dozens and dozens of unmasking requests were made in her name that she did not make!

This is her testimony to Congress!

This kind of partisan blindness is why you are going to be shocked that you have been so misled on Mueller, by the same people who made you feel like you could throw your vote away on Jill Stein.

Original Mike said...

Mueller is closing in!

Original Mike said...

"Bret Stephens was good at the Wall Street Journal."

No, he wasn't.

Drago said...

Inga: "Because it is based on bullshit conspiracy theories ..."

Lol. The hoax dossier commando speaks!

And why should we believe Samantha Powers? All she did was provide testimony to congress. That is totally less reliable than oppo research by a combined Hillary/Fusion GPS /Putins Pals Team!

Ron Winkleheimer said...

ve·ni·al
[ˈvēnēəl]
ADJECTIVE
christian theology
denoting a sin that is not regarded as depriving the soul of divine grace. Often contrasted with mortal.
(of a fault or offense) slight and pardonable.

I'm willing to pardon quite a few venial sins in exchange for having a president who effectively works in my interest.

Drago said...

Inga is "quoting" her twice removed anonymous sources again.

Video or your media pals are lying.

And how is tillerson doing these days?

tim in vermont said...

When it is all such a house of cards that even one fact, clear to everybody and in the public record, can’t be admitted to or the whole thing falls apart, one has to wonder about the robustness of the case against Trump.

Kevin said...

And we have turned the 'Resistance' into a byword for the hysterical and condescending ninnies of American politics."

Nah, that was the women marching in pink pussy hats.

That you watched them do it and didn't immediately recognize what was going on - that's on you , Bret Stephens.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Daily, Wolff’s book is proven to be based on truth.

Drago said...

inga fully embraces "Fake But Accurate" / "If it feels right, it is right"

Unexpectedly.

tcrosse said...

Wolff’s book is proven to be based on truth.

There exists a President named Donald Trump. That's an undeniable fact upon which this fiction is based. "Lassie Come Home" was based on a true story, as well.

MayBee said...

Balefegor- are you in Korea now? Why did I think you were Korean, but in America?

Drago said...

Inga still thinks W was AWOL based on Rathers hoax.

MayBee said...

Or Korean-American in America?

MayBee said...

"based on the truth" is a great term, especially for politics

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Inga still thinks W was AWOL based on Rathers hoax.”

Who told you that? Dead people?

#DragoHearsDeadPeople

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“...based on the truth" is a great term, especially for politics.”

As evidenced by what we see happening in the White House on a daily basis. It’s one thing after another. Wolff probably has a good laugh every time Trump proves him right with his erroneous tweets and bigoted outbursts at immigration meetings, like what happened today.

tim in vermont said...

So when you evaluate human intelligence,
3 human reporting, field reporting, source reporting,
4 you know, it's sort of like when you're a
5 journalist and you're trying to figure out who's
6 telling the truth, right. You don’t really decide
7 who’s telling the truth.
You decide whether the
8 person is credible, right,
. - Simpson - Fusion GPS on how the “dossier” was verified.

Basically everybody believed the dossier because of Steele’s reputation, but Steele just wrote down what Putin’s spies told him, he didn’t evaluate any of it. A tissue of lies, mostly. Read the dossier and it sounds like Boris Badinov talking about “Moose and Squirrel” Putin had been feeding Trump intelligence on Hillary for five years! “None of it was really bad, of course! Because the guy who paid her 145 million dollars doesn’t have any dirt on herself!” The only bad stuff Putin had was against Trump!

Now we are expected to swallow the Wolfe book. Sure. Some of it is probably true, and some of it bullshit, and we can’t really tell, making the whole thing worthless.

tim in vermont said...

Even granting that Trump is not smooth, and probably did say something like “shithole” today, still better than Hillary, any day.

And it is a good question as to why we don’t allow more immigration from Europe. I mean, why are they disadvantaged in our immigration system, compared to Mexicans, for example, who can just walk in and out?

Fritz said...

Tim at large said...
If Hillary were dogcatcher, look for pets to start disappearing and showing up in research labs and dodgy restaurants.


Only after a large donation to the Clinton Foundation, and nice speaking fee for Bubba. Nobody rides for free.

Drago said...

I can still remember when the lefties "threw the switch" from Trump is insane to claim he was surveilled to OF COURSE Trump was surveilled!

Very similar to the republicans are racist to claim obama lied about obamacare to OF COURSE obama lied, thats just how things are done!


Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Basically everybody believed the dossier because of Steele’s reputation, but Steele just wrote down what Putin’s spies told him, he didn’t evaluate any of it.”

The FBI did not base their investigation on the Dossier alone. They got the some of same information from the Aussie diplomat and possibly more sources, who reported what Papadopolous told him.

Mueller just hired a well known cybercrime prosecutor. You think everything Mueller has is based on bullshit? You think he’s doing this for shits and giggles?

“Special counsel Robert Mueller has added a prosecutor with significant cybercrime expertise to his team.

Ryan Dickey, a senior lawyer in the Justice Department’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, has been detailed to Mueller’s team since early November, a U.S. official told POLITICO.”

Drago said...

Im so old I remember when Michael Flynn cintacted the Russians during the campaign!.....

LOL

It felt right to Inga and her pals, so it WAS right! It felt especially right after it was proved wrong!



Balfegor said...

Re: Maybee:

Balefegor- are you in Korea now? Why did I think you were Korean, but in America?

I'm half-half Korean and White, American citizen, currently in DC. I spend a fair amount of the year in Seoul and Tokyo (Tokyo more than Seoul -- I have a condo in Tokyo, but stay with family in Seoul). Just re-entered the US on Sunday.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Luckily for the Trumputards, Leader Trump has no hint of smugness about him at all.

traditionalguy said...

Crazy Donald Trump's genial sins have always been there: he is extra white, he is extra male, he is extra Anglo-saxon(Germanic) and he is extra Reformed Protestant.

But instead of apologizing for who he is, Trump is stating himself as the standard of a Great American he wants us all to be again.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Hillary deleted 30,000+ subpoenaed e-mails, then destroyed the devices, and used bleachbit for the rest. All after she hired a private IT guy to set up a private SERVER for her State Dept E-mails.

But we have Mueller looking for ... what exactly? Or right, Scott Walker.

Drago said...

Its a good thing one guy in that nest of Hillary henchmen was willing to let Trump know about the abuse: mike Rogers.

Jupiter said...

“Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” Trump said, according to these people, referring to African countries and Haiti. He then suggested that the United States should instead bring more people from countries like Norway, whose prime minister he met yesterday."

Wow, did he really say that? I wish I could believe it. That is awesome.

So tell me, Igna, why *are* we having all these people from shithole countries come here? What exactly is the point of sticking 100,000 utterly useless and mostly criminal Somalian Muslims in the wilds of Minnesota? Can you explain to me why any American would be in favor of that?

FullMoon said...


Luckily for the Trumputards, Leader Trump has no hint of smugness about him at all.
1/11/18, 5:05 PM

It's a feature, not a bug.

Deep State Reformer said...

Apostate Stephens can try and walk it back, but it won't do him any good. He's dead to us.

glenn said...

Actually Trump is right about the shitholes. What we ought to be doing is encouraging the Europeans to import the shitholers so their ethnic European engineers and doctors will want to move here.

Francisco D said...

Uh oh.

Ritmo has awakened. Manic phase is expected.

Maybe I should get busy with other life tasks.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Apostate Stephens...”

Sins against the Trump Deity will not be forgiven!

Drago said...

Inga: "Sins against the Trump Deity will not be forgiven!"

The folks who literally called obama a God and portrayed as such are spewing this!

LOL

dreams said...

Trump ask the Dems why they want to bring in people from a shithole country?

Drago said...

"S***holes" is probably the single most commonly used phrase to describe those nations.

"Hellholes" is probably the second most common.

Of course, for the lefties, that's normal, everyday lingo used to describe conservative states here in the US. But God forbid you refer to Yemen that way! That's over the line!

Inga...Allie Oop said...

"Sins against the Trump Deity will not be forgiven!"

“The folks who literally called obama a God and portrayed as such are spewing this!”

Really, literally a God?! Who told you this, dead people?

#DragoHearsDeadPeople

Drago said...

dreams: "Trump ask the Dems why they want to bring in people from a shithole country?"

The answer is obvious. Since 1965 the intent has been to replace the American electorate with an electorate more amenable to 3rd world socialism and thus, permanent democrat control.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

We need more white people from Norway!

dreams said...

“Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” Trump said, according to these people, referring to African countries and Haiti. He then suggested that the United States should instead bring more people from countries like Norway, whose prime minister he met yesterday.”

It's a good question, of course we all know the answer. Because they'll vote for the corrupt Dems.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

Maybe I should get busy with other life tasks.

If only you had any. Please reserve your bragging for things that are actually true.

Uh oh.

Ritmo has awakened. Manic phase is expected.


Wrong place for you to make a comment this melodramatic. The drama queen thread is in a more recent post.

Matt Sablan said...

The only information validated so far is that Carter Page went to Russia. If that's the corroboration the FBI went with to trust the dossier... That's baffling since so much in there is flat out wrong.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Nobody thinks Trump is a diety. Geez. he's a normal guy who cares about normal people, at least more so than any democrat. Democrats pretend to care, but their policies are nothing but misery. The left care about Hollywooders, big donors, importing voters, welfare, and money waste.

dreams said...

That was breaking news on the CNBC fast money show and the reporter said shithole countries.

dreams said...

"Mueller just hired a well known cybercrime prosecutor. You think everything Mueller has is based on bullshit? You think he’s doing this for shits and giggles?"

I'm thinking Mueller has dug a shithole for himself.

Drago said...

Inga: "Really, literally a God?! Who told you this, dead people?"

This is the part of the conversation where Inga pretends not to know things that have been out there for years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-auZ4DGMspo
"Newsweeks Evan Thomas: Obama's 'God"

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/27/jamie-foxx-obama-lord-and-savior-furor-soul-train-awards_n_2199439.html

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/dec/18/barbara-walters-admits-we-thought-obama-was-next-m/
Barbara Walters: "“We thought that he was going to be – I shouldn’t say this at Christmastime, but – the next messiah."

Last time I checked, none of these people are dead.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/11/21/newsweek-depiction-obama-lord-shiva-upsets-indians.html
"God of All Things"

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/sep/07/terrorist-superman-feminist-messiah-barack-obamas-life-as-a-cover-star

yeah, where would anyone get the idea that the left viewed obama as a "god"? It's inexplicable...


"Terrorist, Superman, feminist, messiah: Barack Obama's life as a cover star"

Original Mike said...

"The only information validated so far is that Carter Page went to Russia. If that's the corroboration the FBI went with to trust the dossier... "

They never trusted the dossier. The dossier was an excuse to do what they wanted to do.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

btw- If Trump said "shit hole" - He just went up a notch in my book. Dude.

Drago said...

Matthew Sablan: "The only information validated so far is that Carter Page went to Russia."

The hoax dossier (actually just plain old oppo research) played no part in that. Carter Page's trip to Moscow had been reported widely primarily because Carter Page talked about it so often.

It's like throwing in "Trump is a republican" in the oppo research and then claiming that is a "fact corroborated" by the oppo research.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

he's a normal guy who cares about normal people

You mean, like contractors? Or his creditors? Are they normal people?

Trump only pretends to care for as long as it takes for the check to come due. Then he drops all interest entirely.

I think it's why he went bankrupt six times. Hey! It wasn't his fault! Let someone else worry about it!

n.n said...

the reporter said shithole countries

There is a reason why people emigrate in mass. And it's not because their homes are merely marginal. However, immigration reform treats symptoms, ignores causes, and forces climate change at the source and destination. While it is a practical and rational solution to address the exception, in general, it is part of a cover-up and sustains perverse conditions in other countries under a layer of privacy, ignorance.

Drago said...

TTR: "You mean, like contractors? Or his creditors? Are they normal people?"

The contractors and creditors I've met are normal people.

I mean, not as normal as antifa/OWS types that defecate on police cars, but then that's a very high bar, isn't it?

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

a normal guy

Lol. A bankrupt billionaire. Who sued anyone who said anything that hurt his feelings.

Yep. Pretty normal, there.

dreams said...

Dianne Feinstein is apparently experiencing some remorse for selling her soul, I guess she's feeling pretty cheap. Where is she going to go to get her integrity back.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Winning!

Putin says North Korea's Kim Jong Un has 'won this round' with Trump

n.n said...

I'm thinking Mueller has dug a shithole for himself.

There are always process crimes, and the conventional method to squeeze until the baby emerges decapitated.

FullMoon said...

"I think it's why he went bankrupt six times."

Link?

dreams said...

"You mean, like contractors? Or his creditors? Are they normal people?

Trump only pretends to care for as long as it takes for the check to come due. Then he drops all interest entirely.

I think it's why he went bankrupt six times. Hey! It wasn't his fault! Let someone else worry about it!"

I think you're a little out of your depth.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I'll take Trump pretending to care and my retirement situation vastly improved to what the corruptocrats were doing to it.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

I had an urge to defecate on a police car today. This big intimidating guy got snotty when I asked why the traffic is always blocked off without any detour signs.

But he was a black cop so I bet you wouldn't feel as accommodating about him getting trigger happy with white citizens as you would be a white cop mowing down whomever it is that white cops like to mow down these days.

tim in vermont said...

Really, literally a God?! Who told you this, dead people?

OK, “Light bringer.”

Drago said...

I see ARM is taking up Putin's cause!

A lefty supporting a former KGB guys rhetoric.

I did not see that coming. It's quite Teddy Kennedy-esque.

Well played.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The Clintons cared about padding and grifting. bigly. The Clintons care about retribution. yuge.

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