Althouse: The most interesting sentence in George Packer's musing about whether Trump is insane enough to be removed under the procedure set forth in the 25th Amendment.

February 23, 2017

The most interesting sentence in George Packer's musing about whether Trump is insane enough to be removed under the procedure set forth in the 25th Amendment.

"The gaudy gold drapery of the East Room contributed to the impression that at any moment Trump might declare himself President for Life, and a flunky would appear from behind the curtain to pin the Medal of National Greatness on his suit jacket, while, backstage, officials and generals discussed his overthrow."

So let me get this straight — who's crazy?

87 comments:

Johnathan Birks said...: "Last week, at a White House press conference, the President behaved like the unhinged leader of an unstable and barely democratic republic." This is not good. World's are colliding! George is getting upset!; 2/23/17, 5:55 PM
Clayton Hennesey said...: This is just porn for New Yorker subscribers. Try to avoid the splatter.; 2/23/17, 5:55 PM
Mr Wibble said...: "The gaudy gold drapery of the East Room contributed to the impression that at any moment Trump might declare himself President for Life, and a flunky would appear from behind the curtain to pin the Medal of National Greatness on his suit jacket, while, backstage, officials and generals discussed his overthrow."

This article was written by a member of the Committee to Re-Elect Trump In November movement.; 2/23/17, 5:57 PM
YoungHegelian said...: The gaudy gold drapery of the East Room contributed to the impression that at any moment Trump might declare himself President for Life, and a flunky would appear from behind the curtain to pin the Medal of National Greatness on his suit jacket, while, backstage, officials and generals discussed his overthrow.

We've seen the shitstorm that comes about when the chattering classes wake up one morning and find out that they've just been proven "Wronger" than any other chattering class in American history.

What's going to happen when they wake up & look back over their output since the election & go "Whoooooaaaaa, buddy! We've done gone off the deep end!". We're at the point even now that if these people become cognizant of what they've done, we're talking either mass suicide or mass descent into madness.; 2/23/17, 6:04 PM
Mike Sylwester said...: The New Yorker has funny cartoons.; 2/23/17, 6:05 PM
MaxedOutMama said...: The real reason they are frothing at the mouth in public like this is because they know that the overpowered Executive can change an awful lot, and there's nothing they can do about it. Worst yet, a lot of the voters may like these changes.

It is a difficult position to be in before the 2018 elections, to be sure.; 2/23/17, 6:06 PM
YoungHegelian said...: @JB.

"Trout Mask Replica". That was one major strangeness of an album.

Nice avatar!; 2/23/17, 6:06 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: Behind the scenes at Chuck Schumer's office in Manhattan:

(umm, impeachment won't work, dammit -- let's be realistic -- the vast number of GOP Neanderthals in the House majority won't impeach that obnoxious buffoon! We need a plan B! Call Valerie, Call Debbie Was-Schulz -- get me Donna Brazile over at CNN, I mean, at the DNC, do something...Hey, whatcha readin? That pamphlet over there, what is that? The Constitution? Why bother? Wait .. you say there's a 25th Amendment that empowers the cabinet to remove the President? Let's do it..., I mean, let's write it NOW. Call the New Yorker, move your ass! Let's Go!; 2/23/17, 6:08 PM
Static Ping said...: The worst thing about it is they do not realize where this leads. It's one thing to be pushed into submission. It's another to be pushed into submission by people who are nuts. Wars have been started for far less, especially when the crazy people think the military and guns are icky.; 2/23/17, 6:09 PM
Sprezzatura said...: The most interesting sentence isn't any of the ones that point to DJT's actual actions.

So, it's interesting because unimportant things are interesting.

Got it.; 2/23/17, 6:10 PM
David Begley said...: Would George Packer have a different opinion if the drapes were a nice neutral beige?; 2/23/17, 6:12 PM
Bob Loblaw said...: So let me get this straight — who's crazy?

The entire left side of the political spectrum, pretty much. The idea they're going to find some procedural trick to remove Trump from office without provoking a civil war is madness.; 2/23/17, 6:20 PM
Luke Lea said...: Still, Packer wrote a good book, The Blood of Liberals, about how liberals feel tragically let down in the end. It was about his father and grandfather, the latter a congressman in early 20th century Birmingham. I can sympathize.; 2/23/17, 6:22 PM
Bad Lieutenant said...: Wait wait wait, wasn't it Michelle Obama who redid the curtains in the White House?

Are you questioning the taste and aesthetic judgment of a black woman?

Is that allowed?; 2/23/17, 6:22 PM
HT said...: Luke Lea said...

Still, Packer wrote a good book, The Blood of Liberals, about how liberals feel tragically let down in the end. It was about his father and grandfather, the latter a congressman in early 20th century Birmingham. I can sympathize.

I agree, great book. Dad was dean of students at Stanford in the 60s. Mom is a writer.; 2/23/17, 6:25 PM
Mike Sylwester said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/23/17, 6:30 PM
Bob Boyd said...: From the next article after the linked one at The New Yorker:

"An overwhelming majority of Americans say that their lives have improved since Kellyanne Conway went away, a new poll finds.
According to the poll, Americans have been sleeping more, eating better, and enjoying a markedly greater sense of well-being following Conway’s sudden departure.
“I had lost my zest for life,” Carol Foyler, a poll respondent, said. “Now that Kellyanne Conway is gone, I greet every day with a smile, I feel my energy coming back, and I want to have sex again.”"
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/americans-overwhelmingly-say-lives-have-improved-since-kellyanne-conway-went-away

For heaven's sake, what a wankfest.; 2/23/17, 6:30 PM
Mike Sylwester said...: George Packer:

Even the prospect of Russian influence over our elections and our government leaves these American patriots unmoved. .... The growing Russian scandal will challenge the willingness of the Party to hold the President accountable.

This reminds me that a few weeks ago Acting Attorney General Susan Yates, CIA Director John Brennan, and DNI James Clapper all were obsessed with a paranoid idea that the Russian Government might blackmail Michael Flynn with secret information that Flynn had violated the Logan Act.

Does anybody but those three kooks really believe that Russia might ever BLACKMAIL anybody at all about THE LOGAN ACT?

That is genuine insanity !!!; 2/23/17, 6:33 PM
David Begley said...: More from Packer, "After a month in office, Donald Trump has already proved himself unable to discharge his duties."

Proof I say! Rock solid evidence that is not only admissible but which can convince any reasonable person. And 2/3 of all Senators present.

Too bad Pauline Kael is no longer alive. We can only imagine her comments.; 2/23/17, 6:33 PM
Clyde said...: I hope that Mr. Packer's health plan at The New Yorker includes the psychiatric care that the poor man so obviously needs. Chin up, Mr. Packer. There's no stigma.; 2/23/17, 6:39 PM
MaxedOutMama said...: 3GPBGP - That sentence is interesting because it is the one objective element advanced in an otherwise entirely subjective article to support the idea that President Trump is really unfit, and it is risible to think that the color of the curtains has anything to do with an inability to execute the duties of a president.

The other enumerations are things that made the author angry. They don't have anything to do with governance. They are all about the impressions (at best) that The People Who Think They Should Matter Most have received. The problem is that this is a constitutionally-based democratic republic, and the voters under the rules of the Constitution decided this was what they wanted. The Trump in office appears to be the Trump that campaigned.

Why didn't the author discuss the problems with the implementation of the first EO on immigration? Or anything having to do with actual governing? Anything, you know, that had to do with the duties required of the president? The president has no constitutional responsibility to give press conferences at all, much less to be polite to reporters at those press conferences. Thomas Jefferson comes to mind - Jefferson tried to get the AGs of several New England states to go after newspapers for critical coverage of the government. Donald Trump's "unfitness" for office appears to be founded, in this man's eyes, in criticism of political reporting.

The people of this country don't care what color the curtains in the Oval Office are. The people of this country don't care whether there are curtains in the Oval Office. No foreign entity is going to change its behavior based on the color of the curtains in the Oval Office.

Could it be that the author's wrath at the hideous Trumpocalypse is based on the knowledge that many average people are gleefully in the DJT presidency's camp? Could it be that many of the voters believe that the voters should matter most?

Note that the outgoing president, Lovely Man Barack Obama criticized the press quite heavily over their election coverage, and blamed the press for fake news and reporting stories that did not matter (such as covering Secretary Clinton's issues with information security and evasion of record-keeping and FOIA law). President Lovely Man was quite free with his criticisms of the court, including the Supreme Court. The idea that criticizing the press is injurious to democracy is laughable, constitutionally speaking.

Suppression of the press would be another matter. Being critical of the press may be justified, but in any case fits well within our presidential tradition.; 2/23/17, 6:41 PM
Anonymous said...: I enjoyed the part about how the revolts by partisan Dems in various Cabinet Agencies thus demonstrated that a GOP POTUS needed to be removed.

talk about Deep State Revenge...; 2/23/17, 6:43 PM
Michael K said...: This is all very amusing until some psychotic who reads New Yorker decides to take a shot at Trump.; 2/23/17, 6:45 PM
John henry said...: George Packer.

The one who is crazy.

John Henry; 2/23/17, 6:45 PM
LYNNDH said...: Now we have the Governor of Conn. telling all the law enforcement (is that now an oxymoron)not to cooperate with the Feds on immigration enforcement. Funny, now the Dems believe in States Rights, except of course for which bathrooms someone may use. Shades of Old Dixie. The mind boggles.; 2/23/17, 6:49 PM
Sprezzatura said...: "Lovely Man Barack Obama criticized the press quite heavily over their election coverage, and blamed the press for fake news and reporting stories that did not matter (such as covering Secretary Clinton's issues with information security and evasion of record-keeping and FOIA law)."

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/23/politics/fbi-refused-white-house-request-to-knock-down-recent-trump-russia-stories/index.html

But it didn't happen on a plane, and the request didn't come from Melania, so it's no big deal.; 2/23/17, 6:54 PM
Bob Loblaw said...: Funny, now the Dems believe in States Rights, except of course for which bathrooms someone may use. Shades of Old Dixie. The mind boggles.

The difference is, though, that now states are thoroughly addiced to federal funding, and instead of sending the army all the feds have to do to bring them back in line is threaten to withold highway funds. For good or ill (mostly the latter, IMO), US states are effectively just administrative districts and not pseudo-independent polities in their own right.; 2/23/17, 6:56 PM
traditionalguy said...: The Admirable Mr. Pence is doing his best humble man shtick on CPAC/CSPAN TV right now. He would become the new President if Crazy Donald gets himself impeached...or poisoned...or shot...or his airplain crashes...or he is run over by a golf cart drivin by Paul Ryan.; 2/23/17, 7:01 PM
Sprezzatura said...: "Funny, now the Dems believe in States Rights, except of course for which bathrooms someone may use."

POTUS has been consistent, he is now and always has been in favor of a grown man walking through the Miss Teen dressing room when the girls were changing clothes.; 2/23/17, 7:03 PM
rhhardin said...: He should go into screenwriting.; 2/23/17, 7:14 PM
rhhardin said...: I remember when
I remember, I remember when I lost my mind
There was something so pleasant about that place
Even your emotions have an echo in so much space; 2/23/17, 7:15 PM
tcrosse said...: None of this is going to make Hillary President, right ?; 2/23/17, 7:24 PM
Achilles said...: Blogger traditionalguy said...
"The Admirable Mr. Pence is doing his best humble man shtick on CPAC/CSPAN TV right now. He would become the new President if Crazy Donald gets himself impeached...or poisoned...or shot...or his airplain crashes...or he is run over by a golf cart drivin by Paul Ryan."

No. I wouldn't make light of that possibility occurring.; 2/23/17, 7:27 PM
Gahrie said...: The saddest and frankly scariest thing about how the Left is behaving is the fact that they would be behaving exactly the same way if it was President Romney, President Cruz or President (Jeb) Bush instead.....; 2/23/17, 7:32 PM
Gahrie said...: What's going to happen when they wake up & look back over their output since the election & go "Whoooooaaaaa, buddy! We've done gone off the deep end!"

Never going to happen. The Left couldn't even spell introspection, even if you spotted them half the letters.; 2/23/17, 7:35 PM
exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...: In the meantime, Ace over at the Ace of Spades blog did a little research into a WSJ story about the crowds showing up at GOP town halls to protest the repeal of Obamacare. He did more research than the reporter who wrote the story did, simply by googling the name of a woman quoted in the article who said she was barely political at all and totally motivated by concern that Obamacare stay in place. Googling showed she is in fact, believe it or not, a Democrat Party activist with a FB page full of pictures of the Obamas and of various liberal protests she's been involved in.

It's amazing to think a Dem operative would lie like that and even more astounding to think that a reporter wouldn't fact-check her claim, but there you have it.

The New Yorker is trying to convince us that Trump is crazy and the WSJ is trying to convince us that 50 people who show up at a GOP town hall with exactly the same printed signs are not Democrats or paid protesters. And it's just crazy talk to say so!

The media is trying to gaslight all of us. But they're not a danger to the Republic, no,that's just more crazy talk!; 2/23/17, 7:38 PM
Lewis Wetzel said...: They are crazy.
Check out this post on Kos and keep in mind that Stephen Miller is Jewish:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/2/21/1636419/-Yes-Trump-s-Aide-Really-Did-Throw-White-Power-Sign; 2/23/17, 7:40 PM
John henry said...: Blogger traditionalguy said...

The Admirable Mr. Pence is doing his best humble man shtick on CPAC/CSPAN TV right now. He would become the new President if Crazy Donald gets himself impeached...or poisoned...or shot...or his airplain crashes...or he is run over by a golf cart drivin by Paul Ryan.

AND...

Pence would be able to immediately appoint a new VP. So even if Pence were impeached, his VP pick would become prez.

If somehow President Pence were impeached before he could name a new VP, then Ryan becomes Prez. Then Prez Pro tem of the Senate and a whole long list of other people.

If all 330mm people in the US die, then maybe there is a possibility that as the last person left alive, Crooked Hilary could become prez.

That's the only way I can see it happening.

And a question for the lawyers here: If trump got impeached somehow, does that make him forever ineligible to be Prez? Could he run in 2020? Could Pence make him VP?

John Henry; 2/23/17, 7:46 PM
khesanh0802 said...: Self important asshole writing in the New Yorker. Big surprise!; 2/23/17, 7:48 PM
Bob Loblaw said...: None of this is going to make Hillary President, right ?

No, Hillary will never be president.

Heh. I get a tingle all over every time I write that.; 2/23/17, 7:48 PM
John henry said...: Sally Kohn, who may be even crazier than Packer, suggests that Trump and Pence both be impeached and a special presidential election take place.

I do not see any Constitutional or statutory way this could happen but IANAL.

Any of the lawyers or former ConLaw profs here care to comment?

IANAL means I am not a lawyer. It is not a typo for I♥ANAL

Get your minds out of the gutter.

John Henry; 2/23/17, 7:51 PM
richard mcenroe said...: George Packer has clearly been waiting eight long years to make an Emperor Jones analogy to SOMEONE, dammit!; 2/23/17, 7:53 PM
Bob Boyd said...: "It is not a typo for I♥ANAL"

This time ;); 2/23/17, 8:03 PM
Francisco D said...: Wasn't there a time in the past 15 years, when they Left proudly described themselves as members of "the reality community?"

I would be laughing hysterically, if not for Michael K's prescient warning.

John Hinckley could not be reached for comment.; 2/23/17, 8:10 PM
Joanne Jacobs said...: Deranged fantasies are "normalizing" Trump, to coin a phrase. Let's say he doesn't try to become President for Life or to set up concentration camps for Muslims. It will be hard to criticize him for unwise but un-Hitlerian policies.

The San Jose Mercury News interviewed a bunch of people about Trump. Quite a few said: He's keeping his campaign promises. Some were happy about that. Others were very unhappy. Nearly everyone was surprised.

BTW, George Packer's mother was my college advisor. I also took her Short Story class in which I learned that flu is not an excuse for missing a deadline. Very useful.; 2/23/17, 8:10 PM
Michelle Dulak Thomson said...: Mr Wibble, I saw what you did there.; 2/23/17, 8:14 PM
Bob Loblaw said...: The San Jose Mercury News interviewed a bunch of people about Trump. Quite a few said: He's keeping his campaign promises. Some were happy about that. Others were very unhappy. Nearly everyone was surprised.

In and of itself that's a sad commentary on American politics.; 2/23/17, 8:16 PM
officiousintermeddler said...: The gold curtains were first installed by Jackie Kennedy. They've been there ever since. They weren't gaudy, though, until Trump stood in front of them. Here's a photo of JFK lying in state in the East Room.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Room#/media/File:Body_of_JFK_being_placed_on_catafalque_in_East_Room.jpg; 2/23/17, 8:25 PM
Hagar said...: They were about equally crazy over Washington and Hamilton which they also were convinced were planning coups to install themselves as king (Washington) or dictator (Hamilton).; 2/23/17, 8:33 PM
Mr. Majestyk said...: The only thing weirder than Reality TV star Donald Trump being elected President is the lunatic reaction of the left.; 2/23/17, 8:36 PM
Mr. Majestyk said...: Obama had blue curtains.; 2/23/17, 8:37 PM
Hagar said...: On the other side, Washington kept his balance, but Hamilton could lose it over Jefferson almost as bad as Jefferson about him.; 2/23/17, 8:39 PM
Mr. Majestyk said...: Make that red. Obama had red curtains. But they weren't fire engine red, so they weren't guady or anything.; 2/23/17, 8:45 PM
Michael The Magnificent said...: We need a 25th amendment to remove and replace journalists who have lost their minds.; 2/23/17, 8:47 PM
Mr. Majestyk said...: If only we had a man like Washington in high office today. Or Hamilton. Or Jefferson. Or just about any of the Founding Fathers.; 2/23/17, 8:48 PM
Wince said...: ...a flunky would appear from behind the curtain...

Rather than a "flunky," isn't the "man behind the curtain" supposed to be the one in control?; 2/23/17, 8:53 PM
Anonymous said...: gaudy gold drapery
and....
Greek Columns...; 2/23/17, 8:55 PM
Gospace said...: Majestyk said...
If only we had a man like Washington in high office today. Or Hamilton. Or Jefferson. Or just about any of the Founding Fathers.

Absolutely. I doubt liberals would survive a duel after insulting any one of them. Government would be cleaned up in no time,; 2/23/17, 9:02 PM
Jupiter said...: I suspect Hamilton would like the Deep State just fine. Jefferson and Washington would not be pleased to hear about the War of Northern Aggression, especially when they found out that Massachusetts is still occupying the rest of the Nation.; 2/23/17, 9:22 PM
Scott said...: Majestyk said...

If only we had a man like Washington in high office today. Or Hamilton. Or Jefferson. Or just about any of the Founding Fathers.
2/23/17, 8:48 PM

The thing that should be worrying the Democrats and other established interests right now is that it's not exactly impossible we got ourselves a second Andrew Jackson here. Certainly Trump stole more than a bit of Old Hickory's playbook.; 2/23/17, 9:30 PM
Mr. Majestyk said...: Hamilton was indeed the Big Government guy of his time. But big government then was nothing like it is today. I think he would be horrified to see the vast administrative state that as arisen. It is so far beyond anything that anyone at that time would have imagined possible.; 2/23/17, 9:32 PM
narciso said...: The Christian science monitor has an extra dollop of crazy on the subject.; 2/23/17, 9:43 PM
gadfly said...: The article started well with some pertinent observations about Trump:

Donald Trump has already proved himself unable to discharge his duties. The disability isn’t laziness or inattention. It expresses itself in paranoid rants, non-stop feuds carried out in public, and impulsive acts that can only damage his government and himself.

But you can't go from there to cabinet discussing actions under the 25th.The counter-arguments would be that Trump is being Trump and that he has always acted this way. Further, Trump didn't mark the boxes on the ballots, but his grandiose narcissism affliction was boosted to levels never before experienced, so he looks at the future as a wide open gate to do everything and anything his heart desires.

So we won't get rid of him because he has always been a psychopath, with a not-very-nice public persona until this was perceived as anti-establishment. But he is not very smart and his weird ideas on trade and dominating other countries brings us to war or economic depression or both. But no matter what the future holds, the Trump Gang will always be loyal sheep.

The only way Donald Trump will leave office in the next eight year will absolutely involve his wearing a toe tag.; 2/23/17, 10:03 PM
Anonymous said...: Majestyk: Mister, we could use a man like Herbert Hoover again.; 2/23/17, 10:46 PM
Gospace said...: gadfly said...
The article started well with some pertinent observations about Trump:

Donald Trump has already proved himself unable to discharge his duties. The disability isn’t laziness or inattention. It expresses itself in paranoid rants, non-stop feuds carried out in public, and impulsive acts that can only damage his government and himself.

Well, except for the fact that he is discharging his duties, particularly that part in Article 2 Section 3 that goes "he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, with regards to immigration law. A duty that Obama dutifully ignored.; 2/23/17, 10:46 PM
William said...: This is nothing compared to what you'll hear Oscar night. The funny thing is none of our comedians will ever make fun of hysterical, overwrought putdowns of Trump. Instead, our comedians will make hysterical, overwrought putdowns of Trump that aren funny. That's the funny thing.; 2/23/17, 11:37 PM
Bob Loblaw said...: Hamilton was indeed the Big Government guy of his time. But big government then was nothing like it is today. I think he would be horrified to see the vast administrative state that as arisen.

I think just about every signer of the constitution would be horrified the extent to which power has been centralized in the federal government.; 2/23/17, 11:51 PM
Yancey Ward said...: At some point the hysteria on the Left has to subside, or it has to ramp up to killing levels of violence- there simply isn't a middle ground where they keep up the insanity for four years without one or the other happening. People, other than fellow lunatics, will simply stop paying attention at some point.

The open question for me is this- are they ready to up the ante? I predict not, and by May no one will give a shit what Packer or Sally Kohn think about anything, and most likely both will have stopped talking about impeachment or coups.; 2/23/17, 11:55 PM
Anonymous said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 2/23/17, 11:56 PM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: I remember when G Gordon Liddy and others mused that Clinton might call off the '96 elections. Thing is, GG was not then in the mainstream and no one in the Republican party shared such paranoia. Today Trump mania is nationwide and far- far-out. The DNC chair candidates try to outdo each other in the race to impeach Trump - notwithstanding the fact they would have to reverse huge losses in the house to do so.

So who's crazy?; 2/24/17, 12:02 AM
chickelit said...: Michael The Magnificent said...
We need a 25th amendment to remove and replace journalists who have lost their minds.

Who pays the salaries? Who funds these guys? It isn't "subscribers."; 2/24/17, 12:34 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: I hope the DNC-Media complex doesn't figure out that to oppose insanity they actually have to act like the sane ones. It's like they're collectively going, "You think you're crazy? I'll show you crazy!"; 2/24/17, 12:45 AM
Achilles said...: A majority of Trump's cabinet and the VP have to agree to remove Trump via the 25th amendment.

Yeah that sure seems like a likely path. To quote Hancock, "you're all idiots." Stick with impeachment for your fever dreams.; 2/24/17, 1:51 AM
Achilles said...: gadfly said...

The only way Donald Trump will leave office in the next eight year will absolutely involve his wearing a toe tag.

1. You are right.

2. If this happens, 2 years later EVERYONE will wish it hadn't happened including the people who wish for it now.; 2/24/17, 1:54 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: A majority of Trump's cabinet and the VP have to agree to remove Trump via the 25th amendment.

Kinda like Ted Cruz's point yesterday that all the media and leftists demanding impeachment seem to be forgetting that the Republicans have a solid majority in the House (which must initiate impeachments). And not said is that the House is run top-down, as contrasted with the Senate, and that means that if impeachment of Trump ever gets to the House floor for a vote, Paul Ryan can say goodbye to his Speakership, and maybe even his House seat.; 2/24/17, 4:57 AM
Robert Cook said...: Achilles said:

"'gadfly said...

'The only way Donald Trump will leave office in the next eight year will absolutely involve his wearing a toe tag.'

"1. You are right.

"2. If this happens, 2 years later EVERYONE will wish it hadn't happened including the people who wish for it now."

The notion that "the only way" Trump will not serve 8 years is by being assassinated is foolish on its face. He could certainly decide not to run for a second term, or he could do such a bad job that he would be soundly defeated on a second run, or he could be impeached, or he could fall ill and pass away naturally.

However, it would indeed be catastrophic for him to be assassinated, and anyone wishing it is completely bonkers. Strictly aside from the undemocratic impulses that drive a wish for any president to be assassinated, it would be one of those nation-changing events that would push us from the soft police state in which we presently reside to a full-fledged hard police state. (I think the harder police state is still coming our way--absent any unexpected event that would derail it--but the assassination of Trump or any President would erase all the incremental steps still before us, and we would find ourselves in national lockdown immediately, to remain in place for an "indefinite" period...i.e., permanently.); 2/24/17, 7:10 AM
Matt Sablan said...: Greek Columns: Fine.

Gold Drapes: Not fine.; 2/24/17, 7:17 AM
Matt Sablan said...: "The real reason they are frothing at the mouth in public like this is because they know that the overpowered Executive can change an awful lot, and there's nothing they can do about it."

-- The best thing to come from a Trump presidency may be both sides taking a serious look at how much power we give the president.; 2/24/17, 7:23 AM
Matt Sablan said...: "I enjoyed the part about how the revolts by partisan Dems in various Cabinet Agencies thus demonstrated that a GOP POTUS needed to be removed."

-- All it told me is that maybe we need a much more thorough cleaning of departments every time the administration changes.; 2/24/17, 7:30 AM
Matt Sablan said...: "It's amazing to think a Dem operative would lie like that and even more astounding to think that a reporter wouldn't fact-check her claim, but there you have it."

-- She may honestly think that that isn't political at all. Right-thinking people just KNOW that that is how things are. It isn't political to just be on the right side of fact history, is it?; 2/24/17, 7:34 AM
Stacy Jo said...: I was a #NeverTrump person up until election day when I voted for Trump as the lesser of two evils. Since then, I have watched him do things he said he would do and choose intelligent and sophisticated candidates for his cabinet while the left becomes totally unhinged. The more the press attacks him and the more the professional protesters riot and act like spoiled children, the more I like him. I won't ignore when he does something I don't agree with but I am enjoying the show!; 2/24/17, 8:12 AM
Robert Cook said...: "-- The best thing to come from a Trump presidency may be both sides taking a serious look at how much power we give the president."

"We" don't give the President much power at all: over the past many decades, each succeeding President has claimed more power and neither Congress nor the people have done anything to halt it. Each new president comes into office with the power assumed by his predecessors.; 2/24/17, 8:17 AM
MAJMike said...: The Deep State's many rice bowls are threatened with being broken. The CriminalLiberal running dog lackeys of the useful idiots of the Left are seeing their dialectic challenged.

Amok time for the ProgCong.; 2/24/17, 8:22 AM
MAJMike said...: Reference: Clayton Hennesey said...

This is just porn for New Yorker subscribers. Try to avoid the splatter.
2/23/17, 5:55 PM

The splash zone is large and the butt hurt is severe. How dare the Deplorables question their betters!?!; 2/24/17, 8:24 AM
Known Unknown said...: "For heaven's sake, what a wankfest."

To be fair, the Conway stuff is Andy Borowitz trying to be funny. It's satire, and in a way, mocking his own side more than Conway.; 2/24/17, 8:49 AM
Known Unknown said...: ""We" don't give the President much power at all: over the past many decades, each succeeding President has claimed more power and neither Congress nor the people have done anything to halt it. Each new president comes into office with the power assumed by his predecessors."

This, but our terrible media doesn't seem to help when they only like one team that gets to use the power. Their inconsistencies undermine public vigilance to this sort of undesirable outcome.; 2/24/17, 8:51 AM
Robert Cook said...: "The Deep State's many rice bowls are threatened with being broken. The CriminalLiberal running dog lackeys of the useful idiots of the Left are seeing their dialectic challenged.

"Amok time for the ProgCong."

Your rant is semi-incoherent, but I sort of glean you think the deep state is "left" in orientation. This reveals a deep incomprehension of what the deep state is. It is what was formerly known as the "military/industrial complex," today better characterized as the "military/corporate/intelligence/media" complex, buttressed by the various bureaucratic institutions that remain in place even as politicians come and go, live and die.

Among the individuals who make up he various aspects of the deep state, I'm sure there are political views running a gamut from far right to moderate left, but, on whole, I doubt any political ideology, as such, underlies the deep state's agenda and activities. In the end, it is all about the acquisition of wealth and resources and power, and about the consolidation, expansion, and preservation of the acquired wealth, resources, and power. (Trump's greatest sin to the deep state is not that he's a crude boor unfit to be President, but that he wants--or wanted--to normalize relations with Russia. This goes against the deep state's desire to provoke a contest with Russia. This is why Trump was assailed with such a typhoon of media noise last week about his administration's supposed connection with "Russian spies," why General Flynn was cashiered, etc. I suspect Trump will learn he must play ball or he will have his removed by the deep state. Look for Trump to begin taking a more adversarial and less conciliatory stance toward Russia going forward.); 2/24/17, 9:18 AM