President Donald Trump

**harrybarracuda** · 22-07-2017, 12:24 AM

Spicey's had enough and is quitting.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer resigns
2 minutes ago

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer has quit, reportedly in protest at a shake-up of the communications team.
Mr Spicer stepped down because he was unhappy with President Donald Trump's appointment of a new communications director, reports the New York Times.
Combative Wall Street financier Anthony Scaramucci has been picked for the role that Mr Spicer partially filled.
Mr Spicer's press briefings were a cable news hit, but he withdrew from camera in recent weeks.

The shake-up comes as the White House faces inquiries into alleged Russian meddling in last year's US presidential election and whether Mr Trump's campaign team colluded with Moscow.
The New York Times reports that 45-year-old Mr Spicer "vehemently" disagreed with the appointment of Mr Scaramucci, which he believed to be a "major mistake".

Spicer's low points

inflating crowd sizes at Trump inauguration at first briefing
his appearance, particularly his suits, reportedly criticised by Trump
saying Hitler never used chemical weapons and referring to Holocaust "centres"
butt of text message joke by adviser Steve Bannon about his weight
defending Trump "covfefe" tweet by saying it had hidden meaning
frozen out of meeting with the Pope in Rome, despite being devout Catholic
not invited to Paris for Trump visit

The search for a new appointment began after Mike Dubke resigned from the communications director job in May.
Mr Spicer has been serving as both press secretary and communications director since Mr Dubke's exit.
On day one in January, Mr Spicer set the tone of his relationship with the press by bursting into the briefing room to berate journalists for their reporting of crowd numbers at President Trump's inauguration.
His proclivity for gaffes and garbling of his words, as well as making debatable assertions, soon saw Mr Spicer's name trending on Twitter.
But he could also be funny and charming and was liked by many members of the White House press corps.
Mr Spicer was mercilessly lampooned on the topical comedy show Saturday Night Live, where Melissa McCarthy played him as a gum-chewing, loud-mouthed thug who brandished his lectern at reporters.
He became something of a punchline when he reportedly sought refuge by a hedgerow on the White House grounds to evade reporters on the night Mr Trump fired the FBI director in May.
Mr Spicer's last on-camera briefing was on 20 June.
The last on-camera briefing from the White House was hosted by deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders back on 29 June.
Members of the media have accused the Trump administration of attempting to kill off the daily news conferences to avoid scrutiny.

Mr Scaramucci, who has no previous experience in communications roles, is currently senior vice-president of the Export-Import Bank, a US government agency which guarantees loans for foreign buyers of American exports.
He is a trusted loyalist who has frequently appeared on television to defend Mr Trump. But he has not always been a supporter.
In August 2015, he attacked Mr Trump shortly after the Republican candidate launched his White House bid.
Mr Scaramucci told Fox Business that Mr Trump was a "hack", whose criticism of hedge funds was "anti-American", adding: "I don't like the way he talks about women."
He continued: "The politicians don't want to go at Trump because he's got a big mouth and they're afraid he will light them up on Fox News.
"You're an inherited money dude from Queen's County. Bring it, Donald."

White House press secretary Sean Spicer resigns - BBC News

**harrybarracuda** · 22-07-2017, 12:31 AM

Originally Posted by RPETER65

Originally Posted by bsnub

Originally Posted by Dragonfly

I would love to see that

Me too because that is an admission of guilt and would mean the end of his presidency.

Seems as though he would have to be convicted before there was anything to pardon himself from so how is your post even relevant.

Money laundering is my favourite.

**elche** · 22-07-2017, 12:43 AM

Originally Posted by RPETER65

Originally Posted by bsnub

Originally Posted by Dragonfly

I would love to see that

Me too because that is an admission of guilt and would mean the end of his presidency.

Seems as though he would have to be convicted before there was anything to pardon himself from so how is your post even relevant.

The investigation is just starting, but there is evidence to impeach even at these early stages, despite the conman's repeated attempts of obstructing justice. In fact, proceedings to impeach would have already started, had the congress not been held by the dysfunctional Republicans who are covering his fat ass, waiting for the tax break. Lock him up.

**RPETER65** · 22-07-2017, 08:01 AM

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Originally Posted by RPETER65

Originally Posted by bsnub

Originally Posted by Dragonfly

I would love to see that

Me too because that is an admission of guilt and would mean the end of his presidency.

Seems as though he would have to be convicted before there was anything to pardon himself from so how is your post even relevant.

Money laundering is my favourite.

Went right over your head didn't it

**RPETER65** · 22-07-2017, 08:02 AM

Originally Posted by elche

Originally Posted by RPETER65

Originally Posted by bsnub

Originally Posted by Dragonfly

I would love to see that

Me too because that is an admission of guilt and would mean the end of his presidency.

Seems as though he would have to be convicted before there was anything to pardon himself from so how is your post even relevant.

The investigation is just starting, but there is evidence to impeach even at these early stages, despite the conman's repeated attempts of obstructing justice. In fact, proceedings to impeach would have already started, had the congress not been held by the dysfunctional Republicans who are covering his fat ass, waiting for the tax break. Lock him up.

Went over your head to?

**misskit** · 22-07-2017, 09:28 AM

Interesting story of the White House shake up on Politico

Inside the 24 hours that broke Sean Spicer

Sean Spicer came to the White House on Thursday completely unaware President Donald Trump was planning to meet with Anthony Scaramucci, a longtime Wall Street friend, and offer him the job of communications director. Other top aides, including Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon, also had no clue.

But in Trump's White House, where rumors of staff shake-ups loom for months, it all happened quickly. By Friday morning, over the strenuous objections of senior aides, Trump had a new communications director. And Spicer had made a spontaneous decision to resign, offended by the whole turn of events. He had been blindsided by Trump before, but he took particular umbrage at this one.

The wham-bam events of the past 24 hours were exceptional even by Trump's standards: the dismissal of his top lawyer and the lawyer's spokesman, West Wing blowups between the president and his top aides, a press secretary fending off rumors about his possible demise without knowing the entire truth, all while new reports landed about Trump going on the attack against the special counsel investigating his White House.

What struck one adviser who speaks to Trump frequently is that the president seemed calm — like he had a plan in mind all along — but just hadn't shared it with many others.

more Inside the 24 hours that broke Sean Spicer - POLITICO

**tomcat** · 22-07-2017, 09:29 AM

...an entertaining read on Trump's future:

Six months into America's nightmare, how likely is Trump's impeachment?
By Richard Wolffe,The Guardian

There are only so many possible fates for the president: an early departure, defeat in his re-election bid or a second term. Which will it be?

Donald Trump Jr is apparently feeling “miserable” and wants “these four years to be over”, according to People magazine. We feel your pain, Don, we really do. At the six month stage of your father’s presidency, we all want these four years to be over. At least that’s one way President Trump has brought us closer together.

Since we have to suffer through this purgatory together, we may as well tally up the toll of the last 180 days – and look forward to how the next 1260 days will end. Like the long term inmates of Alcatraz, we know that escape is a highly risky proposition that is the figment of our shared despair and the subject of some wonderful myth-making.

First, let’s look at how far we’ve traveled together. President Trump started his term in office with approval ratings of 45% and equal disapproval ratings. Since then, his approval rating has slumped 8 points and his disapproval rating has hiked 12 points, in Gallup’s presidential tracker.

Reporters have written endless stories about the loyalty of Trump voters to their president, but these narratives do not square with the numbers. It’s very hard to get elected, or re-elected, with 37% approval.

For some context, it’s worth noting that Barack Obama was 22 points higher at this six-month stage of his presidency, in the middle of the worst recession in living memory. Gerald Ford was languishing at this level at the same stage of his presidency after he pardoned Richard Nixon, who left office in disgrace with 24% approval. At his current pace, Donald Trump will hit Nixon’s departure numbers in another 10 months. Just in time for the congressional elections.

But enough of the fake news. What about all those legislative accomplishments? Trump himself has told us that “with the exception of FDR” no president has been as great as he. “There’s never been a president that’s done more in this time,” he told reporters last month. “Who’s passed more legislation, who’s done more things than we’ve done.”

If you missed all these historic moments, you weren’t alone. Among Trump’s legislative record is the renaming of the veteran’s outpatient clinic in Pago Pago, American Samoa. He also appointed three people to the board of regents at the Smithsonian.

Mere trifles? I think not.

Yes, we all know about the collapse of his big Obamacare repeal, despite the celebration of its passage through the half-way House of Representatives. OK, so there’s been no infrastructure investment, or Mexican border wall, or tax reform. But Rome wasn’t built in a day, and nor was the Trump hotel in Washington.

Presidential honeymoons come and go, along with congressional majorities. But the Trump legacy has already begun to write itself. Who else could have fundamentally realigned America’s position in the world as quickly as the master builder himself? Global confidence in the US has plummeted 42 points since Trump moved into the Oval Office. Only one country has gained anything like that amount of confidence in Trump’s America at the same time: Russia.

In his first six months, Trump has pulled out of the Paris climate agreement, alongside war-torn Syria and the noble state of Nicaragua. Having dismayed most of the world, Trump sent the only man he really trusts – Donald J Trump – on a one-man mission to make friends with the French. This he accomplished by traveling to Paris, shaking hands for a very long time with the French president and admiring his wife’s physique out loud. In Paris, they say Trump’s legacy is a fait accompli.

So what if he spooked his Nato allies and cozied up to Vladimir Putin over dinner at the G20 in Hamburg? Conventional politicians do conventional things like nurturing allies and isolating enemies. Trump was elected to blow up that model, if not the rest of the planet.

Trump himself has marked this auspicious six-month moment by hosting a panel investigating the fraudulent votes that he suspects undermined his own election. This is once again a presidential first: a sitting president who insists that his own victory was tainted. In fact, the vice-chair of his own panel admits that he doesn’t know for sure if Trump’s votes were above board.

Talking of tampering with elections, Trump capped his half-birthday in-office with a doozy of an interview with the New York Times in which he dwelled at length on the Russia investigation that is already undermining his entire presidency.

Trump condemns Sessions: ‘I wouldn’t have hired him’ – audio
In particular, Trump lamented appointing an attorney general who failed to stop the Russia investigation. Perhaps Jeff Sessions can ask James Comey how to sign a great book deal after getting iced by Trump. The former FBI director will surely have some friendly tips for his old boss.

What does the next chapter in the Trump Saga look like? There are only so many possible fates for our president: an early departure, defeat in his re-election bid or a second term. The first scenario hinges on the outcome of the congressional elections next year. The second and third depend entirely on what follows.

Early departure is not, like Nixon, going to happen voluntarily. Even in a coerced state, the president shows no sense of shame or expectation of defeat. Trump will need to be impeached and convicted at his impeachment trial, in order to leave office ahead of an election.

For impeachment to happen, Democrats need to win back at least the House. So far, the signs look promising: the generic congressional ballot gives Democrats a 14-point lead, which is pretty much what they were polling before they swept both sides of Congress at Bush’s low point in 2006 and Obama’s high point in 2008.

Let’s assume the House under Nancy Pelosi cannot help itself with impeachment: there are just too many high crimes and misdemeanors to choose from – too many secret Russian meetings, too many dubious financial arrangements, and too much obstruction of justice.

What happens at Trump’s trial in the Senate? Even with Democrats swiping back control of the Senate – against all the odds, given the seats up for election next year – they will never enjoy the two-thirds majority required to remove Trump from office.

If you think it was hard for Republicans to vote to repeal and replace Obamacare, you might ask yourself how hard it is for them to repeal and replace Donald Trump.

Under the constant attack of impeachment, and unable to pass any meaningful legislation, Trump will likely do what every other impotent president has done: focus on foreign affairs. He will also be sorely tempted to do what no other sane president has done: start a war to make himself look something other than impotent.

The provocations are not hard to find if you take Iran and North Korea at their word and ignore all the consequences of military action. Trump is especially expert at failing to see the consequences of his actions.

So after another three and a half years of a half-baked war, endless Russia revelations, unethical family business deals and a running Twitter commentary on all things Fox and Friends, President Trump will run for re-election with the national debate entirely focused on his specialist subject: Donald Trump.

Should he stay in office when the Senate could not force him out? Is he qualified to remain as president when he has compromised national security with the Russians so many times? Who but Trump could tackle the urgent challenge of the renaming of the main post office in Guam?

Anyone can talk about making America great again. Only one man can talk about making Trump great again. That may be his only mission for the next several years of our great national nightmare, but it is one he is uniquely qualified to accept.

For Democrats, the challenge is going to be to make the national conversation about something other than one loud, large man who is unhealthily obsessed with himself.

...for a pic of the fleshy tube: https://www.yahoo.com/news/six-month...100015979.html

**Storekeeper** · 22-07-2017, 10:54 AM

Brutal take down.

Leonard Pitts Jr. column, July 17, 2017 | The Wichita Eagle

Let’s not be shy about why Trump is president

"So here we are, six months later. How time has trudged. But the calendar does not lie. On Thursday, we will be half a year through the Trump Era. And, contrary to his signature promise, America seems less great by the day. Nor are his other promises faring particularly well.

There is no sign of progress on that border wall, much less any idea how he is going to make Mexico pay for the thing. His promise to preserve Medicaid and provide health care for everyone has dissolved into a GOP bill that would gut Medicaid and rob millions of their access to health care.

Meantime, the guy who once said he would be working so hard he would seldom leave the White House spends more time on golf courses than a groundskeeper.

But for all that Trump has not achieved, there is, I think, one thing he indisputably has. He has taught us to live in a state of perpetual chaos and continuous crisis. Six months later, the White House commands the same horrified attention as a car wreck or a house fire.

In that sense, last week’s revelation that the Trump campaign, in the person of Donald Trump Jr., did in fact meet with a Russian lawyer with ties to the Kremlin to influence the 2016 election was just another Tuesday. Sure, it might have been shocking from the Bush or Obama campaigns. But under Trump, we live in a state of routine calamity.

Besides which, a few days from now, there will be something else. With Trump, there inevitably is. Things can always get worse — and usually do.

And when they do, we can count on the GOP, that inexhaustible fount of righteous outrage, to stand tall and courageously look the other way. For almost 20 years, the party has never seen a minor episode (“Travelgate”), a sheer nothing (Whitewater) or even an international tragedy (Benghazi) it could not turn into Watergate II. Yet, as credible accusations of treason, obstruction, collusion, and corruption swirl about this White House, the GOP has been conspicuous in its acquiescent silence. It seems the elephant has laryngitis.

But the rest of us can’t stop talking.

Indeed, from the studios of CNN to the bar stools of your neighborhood watering hole, amateur psychoanalysis has become America’s favorite pastime in the last six months. Dozens of theories have been floated, all aimed at answering one question:

What is wrong with him?

But I have come to believe that question misses the point. Sixty-three million people voted for this. And make no mistake, they knew what they were getting. It was always obvious that Trump was a not-ready-for-prime-time candidate, but they chose him anyway. And the rest of us need to finally come to grips with the reason why.

It wasn’t economic anxiety. As a study co-sponsored by the Public Religion Research Institute and The Atlantic reported in May, people who were worried for their jobs voted for Hillary Clinton. But people who dislike Mexicans and Muslims, people who oppose same-sex marriage, people mortally offended at a White House occupied by a black guy with a funny name, they voted for Trump.

That’s the reality, and it’s time we quit dancing around it.

This has been said a million times: Donald Trump is a lying, narcissistic, manifestly incompetent child man who is as dumb as a sack of mackerel. But he is the president of the United States because 63 million people preferred that to facing inevitable cultural change. So I am done asking — or caring — what’s wrong with him. Six months in, it’s time we grappled a far more important question.

What in the world is wrong with us?

Leonard Pitts Jr. is a columnist for the Miami Herald".

**tomcat** · 22-07-2017, 11:22 AM

Originally Posted by Storekeeper

What is wrong with him?

...

Originally Posted by Storekeeper

What in the world is wrong with us?

the majority of "us" didn't vote for him...these are the folks who need a little introspection:

Originally Posted by Storekeeper

people who dislike Mexicans and Muslims, people who oppose same-sex marriage, people mortally offended at a White House occupied by a black guy with a funny name, they voted for Trump

**misskit** · 22-07-2017, 11:40 AM

Originally Posted by elche

The investigation is just starting, but there is evidence to impeach even at these early stages, despite the conman's repeated attempts of obstructing justice. In fact, proceedings to impeach would have already started, had the congress not been held by the dysfunctional Republicans who are covering his fat ass, waiting for the tax break. Lock him up.

Trump won't go to jail. If he can't pardon himself and his family, they'll all pack up and join Snowden in Russia.

**harrybarracuda** · 22-07-2017, 11:52 AM

Originally Posted by RPETER65

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Originally Posted by RPETER65

Originally Posted by bsnub

Originally Posted by Dragonfly

I would love to see that

Me too because that is an admission of guilt and would mean the end of his presidency.

Seems as though he would have to be convicted before there was anything to pardon himself from so how is your post even relevant.

Money laundering is my favourite.

Went right over your head didn't it

Not at all. You suggested a conviction is required. I offered my opinion as to what the conviction will be.

He'd be impeached long before then.

**harrybarracuda** · 22-07-2017, 11:53 AM

Originally Posted by RPETER65

Originally Posted by elche

Originally Posted by RPETER65

Originally Posted by bsnub

Originally Posted by Dragonfly

I would love to see that

Me too because that is an admission of guilt and would mean the end of his presidency.

Seems as though he would have to be convicted before there was anything to pardon himself from so how is your post even relevant.

The investigation is just starting, but there is evidence to impeach even at these early stages, despite the conman's repeated attempts of obstructing justice. In fact, proceedings to impeach would have already started, had the congress not been held by the dysfunctional Republicans who are covering his fat ass, waiting for the tax break. Lock him up.

Went over your head to?

Went over his head to where?

You're not making any sense (as usual).

**bsnub** · 22-07-2017, 12:29 PM

Originally Posted by RPETER65

Originally Posted by bsnub

Originally Posted by Dragonfly

I would love to see that

Me too because that is an admission of guilt and would mean the end of his presidency.

Seems as though he would have to be convicted before there was anything to pardon himself from so how is your post even relevant.

Showing your utter stupidity once again. A president can pardon someone at anytime even before they have been charged with a crime it is clearly written in the Constitution. My post could not be more relevant.

Constitution Allows Pardons Before Conviction - NYTimes.com

Care to put your foot in your mouth again you senile old fool?

**longway** · 22-07-2017, 03:49 PM

The dummies are getting excited again.

**AntRobertson** · 22-07-2017, 03:52 PM

Fake News.

**Cujo** · 22-07-2017, 06:08 PM

Originally Posted by longway

The dummies are getting excited again.

Aren't you at all concerned about Trump's lack of respect for the law, the constitution and the U.S. Justice institutions?

**redhaze** · 22-07-2017, 06:21 PM

Nake Fews

**RPETER65** · 22-07-2017, 07:27 PM

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Originally Posted by RPETER65

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Originally Posted by RPETER65

Originally Posted by bsnub

Me too because that is an admission of guilt and would mean the end of his presidency.

Seems as though he would have to be convicted before there was anything to pardon himself from so how is your post even relevant.

Money laundering is my favourite.

Went right over your head didn't it

Not at all. You suggested a conviction is required. I offered my opinion as to what the conviction will be.

He'd be impeached long before then.

My post was in regards to Bsnub stating pardoning himself would be an admission of guilt,I was pointing out in order for a pardon to be needed guilt would already be established.

**raycarey** · 22-07-2017, 07:50 PM

pardons are for showing mercy...not self preservation.

**raycarey** · 22-07-2017, 08:27 PM

some might say it's just par for the course, but he's in the midst of an epic twitter meltdown this morning...

Trump appears to push for Clinton, Comey probes - POLITICO

**harrybarracuda** · 22-07-2017, 08:42 PM

Originally Posted by RPETER65

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Originally Posted by RPETER65

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Originally Posted by RPETER65

Seems as though he would have to be convicted before there was anything to pardon himself from so how is your post even relevant.

Money laundering is my favourite.

Went right over your head didn't it

Not at all. You suggested a conviction is required. I offered my opinion as to what the conviction will be.

He'd be impeached long before then.

My post was in regards to Bsnub stating pardoning himself would be an admission of guilt,I was pointing out in order for a pardon to be needed guilt would already be established.

And then you got your arse handed to you on a plate by Snubby because you don't know what you're talking about.

Run along now, coffin dodger.

**harrybarracuda** · 22-07-2017, 08:45 PM

On the pardon, the DoJ explained to Nixon that pardoning himself was not an option.

https://www.justice.gov/file/20856/download

**Topper** · 22-07-2017, 08:48 PM

^ Trump's lost the plot completely.

Trump's Obvious Meltdown

**raycarey** · 22-07-2017, 08:50 PM

taken from harry's link two posts above...

Under the fundamental rule that no one may be a judge in his own case, the President cannot pardon himself.

**raycarey** · 22-07-2017, 08:53 PM

Originally Posted by CSFFan

^ Trump's lost the plot completely.

Trump's Obvious Meltdown

so far this morning:

10 tweets and counting....

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