The Trump Presidency - how I stopped worrying and learned to love the Hair

It is also a good example of the sort of thing that has become entirely believable during Trump’s tenure.
That is in large part fueled by the media over reporting on his personal flaws, of which there are many for sure, instead of focusing on his actual policies and actions. This has created a certain narrative that a large portion of people have bought into.

Either way I would think that serious journalistic outlets like CNN or BI would have more integrity.
 
That is in large part fueled by the media over reporting on his personal flaws, of which there are many for sure, instead of focusing on his actual policies and actions.
No, it is fuelled entirely by the constant stream of nonsense, hot air, blunders and hatred coming from the current occupant of the Oval Office. It his he who surrounds himself with yes-men, it is he who tweeted a classified satellite photo and it is he who managed to make even the weather a political issue.

This has created a certain narrative that a large portion of people have bought into.
What narrative? Trump being a terrible president and barely, if at all, fit for office is not a narrative. It’s an observation of facts.

Either way I would think that serious journalistic outlets like CNN or BI would have more integrity.
It’s always easy to criticise “the media”, but with a president who produces newsworthy outbursts at an astonishing pace, it’s not always possible to check thoroughly before the next Twitter storm already comes along.
 
president who produces newsworthy outbursts at an astonishing pace, it’s not always possible to check thoroughly before the next Twitter storm already comes along.
Why do you think he keeps doing that? Specifically so that the media completely misses the real stories and plays into his hands. He produces clickbait for them in the process destroying their credibility. When these, supposedly respectable, outlets are producing clearly not researched (if not outright fake) stories they make it very easy to dismiss them. Trump weaponized confirmation bias, it's rather amazing if you ask me.
 
I'm not entirely sure he did it willingly, but he did indeed do that. That BI article and @calvinhobbes's reaction are the effects. Intended or otherwise.
 
Also remember that private meeting Trump had with the Russians helps make it all the more believable.
 
He produces clickbait for them in the process destroying their credibility. When these, supposedly respectable, outlets are producing clearly not researched (if not outright fake) stories they make it very easy to dismiss them.
You dismiss the media, I dismiss the president. It’s their job to report on the president, it isn’t his job to produce Twitter storms and other varieties of hot air.

Trump weaponized confirmation bias, it's rather amazing if you ask me.
What has Trump done that hasn’t confirmed the impression that he’s a loose cannon who will do anything for a bit of admiration and appreciation?
 
Also remember that private meeting Trump had with the Russians helps make it all the more believable.
Aren't private meetings with foreigner dignitaries pretty normal for POTUS?
It’s their job to report on the president,
It's their job to report the news.
What has Trump done that hasn’t confirmed the impression that he’s a loose cannon who will do anything for a bit of admiration and appreciation?
It doesn't matter what he has or hasn't done, what matters is that you and people like you will take anything negative about him at face value. On the other side you have a bunch of people that will dismiss literally anything coming from certain sources.

You dismiss the media,
They failed the american public, their entire job was/is to be a neutral (as much as possible) third party that reports on actual news. Instead they are just feeding the divide with their coverage and sensationalizing (is that a word?)*

*I'm including all outlets here, not just CNN or BI, Fox News, Breitbart, etc... are all guilty of this.

I'm not saying Trump is right, I'm saying media is wrong.
 
Aren't private meetings with foreigner dignitaries pretty normal for POTUS?


There are normally aids and interpreters there. That was not the case at that meeting.
 
Experts disagreed then.
 
It may happen with allies, but Russia and Putin are not.
 
Trump's Latest 'Doozie' Judge Nominee Struggles At Confirmation


Trump mental health
Aug 25, 2019


Michael Cohen Helping Manhattan DA Investigate Trump Org: Source
 
Last edited:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...651aa2-da60-11e9-bfb1-849887369476_story.html

Trump’s communications with foreign leader are part of whistleblower complaint that spurred standoff between spy chief and Congress, former officials say

The whistleblower complaint that has triggered a tense showdown between the U.S. intelligence community and Congress involves President Trump’s communications with a foreign leader, according to two former U.S. officials familiar with the matter.

Trump’s interaction with the foreign leader included a “promise” that was regarded as so troubling that it prompted an official in the U.S. intelligence community to file a formal whistleblower complaint with the inspector general for the intelligence community, said the officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

It was not immediately clear which foreign leader Trump was speaking with or what he pledged to deliver, but his direct involvement in the matter has not been previously disclosed. It raises new questions about the president’s handling of sensitive information and may further strain his relationship with U.S. spy agencies. One former official said the communication was a phone call.

The White House declined to comment. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence and a lawyer representing the whistleblower declined to comment.

Intelligence Community Inspector General Michael Atkinson determined that the complaint was credible and troubling enough to be considered a matter of “urgent concern,” a legal threshold that ordinarily requires notification of congressional oversight committees.

But acting director of national intelligence Joseph Maguire has refused to share details about Trump’s alleged transgression with lawmakers, touching off a legal and political dispute that has spilled into public and prompted speculation that the spy chief is improperly protecting the president.

The dispute is expected to escalate Thursday when Atkinson is scheduled to appear before the House Intelligence Committee in a classified session closed to the public. The hearing is the latest move by committee Chairman Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.) to compel U.S. intelligence officials to disclose the full details of the whistleblower complaint to Congress.

Maguire has agreed to testify before the committee next week, according to a statement by Schiff. He declined to comment for this story.

The inspector general “determined that this complaint is both credible and urgent,” Schiff said in the statement released Wednesday evening. “The committee places the highest importance on the protection of whistleblowers and their complaints to Congress.”

The complaint was filed with Atkinson’s office on Aug. 12, a date on which Trump was at his golf resort in New Jersey. White House records indicate that Trump had had conversations or interactions with at least five foreign leaders in the preceding five weeks.

Among them was a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin that the White House initiated on July 31. Trump also received at least two letters from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during the summer, describing them as “beautiful” messages. In June, Trump said publicly that he was opposed to certain CIA spying operations against North Korea. Referring to a Wall Street Journal report that the agency had recruited Kim’s half-brother, Trump said, “I would tell him that would not happen under my auspices.”

Trump met with other foreign leaders at the White House in July, including the prime minister of Pakistan, the prime minister of the Netherlands, and the emir of Qatar.

Trump’s handling of classified information has been a source of concern to U.S. intelligence officials since the outset of his presidency. In May 2017, Trump revealed classified information about espionage operations in Syria to senior Russian officials in the Oval Office, disclosures that prompted a scramble among White House officials to contain the potential damage.

Statements and letters exchanged between the offices of the DNI and the House Intelligence Committee in recent days have pointed at the White House without directly implicating the president.

Schiff has said he was told that the complaint concerned “conduct by someone outside of the Intelligence Community.” Jason Klitenic, the DNI general counsel, noted in a letter sent to congressional leaders on Tuesday that the activity at the root of the complaint “involves confidential and potentially privileged communications.”

The dispute has put Maguire, thrust into the DNI job in an acting capacity with the resignation of Daniel Coats last month, at the center of a politically perilous conflict with constitutional implications.

Schiff has demanded full disclosure of the whistleblower complaint. Maguire has defended his refusal by asserting that the subject of the complaint is beyond his jurisdiction.

Defenders of Maguire disputed that he is subverting legal requirements to protect Trump, saying that he is trapped in a legitimate legal predicament and that he has made his displeasure clear to officials at the Justice Department and White House.

After fielding the complaint on Aug. 12, Atkinson submitted it to Maguire two weeks later. By law, Maguire is required to transmit such complaints to Congress within seven days. But in this case, he refrained from doing so after turning for legal guidance to officials at the Justice Department.

In a sign of Atkinson’s discomfort with this situation, the inspector general informed the House and Senate intelligence committees of the existence of the whistleblower complaint — without revealing its substance — in early September.

Schiff responded with almost immediate indignation, firing off a letter demanding a copy of the complaint and warning that he was prepared to subpoena senior U.S. intelligence officials. The DNI has asserted that lawyers determined there was no notification requirement because the whistleblower complaint did not constitute an urgent concern that was “within the responsibility and authority” of Maguire’s office.

Legal experts said there are scenarios in which a president’s communications with a foreign leader could rise to the level of an “urgent concern” for the intelligence community, but they also noted that the president has broad authority to decide unilaterally when to classify or declassify information.

Revealing how the United States obtained sensitive information could “compromise intelligence means and methods and potentially the lives of sources,” said Joel Brenner, former inspector general for the National Security Agency.

It was unclear whether the whistleblower witnessed Trump’s communication with the foreign leader or learned of it through other means. Summaries of such conversations are often distributed among White House staff, although the administration imposed new limits on this practice after Trump’s disclosures to Russian officials were revealed.
 
See after the CNN fail and NYT's little article on Kavanaugh I now have a hard time believing any of this.
 
See after the CNN fail and NYT's little article on Kavanaugh I now have a hard time believing any of this.

Wonder how long Kavanaugh would last if the FBI ever got around to doing a proper vetting
 
Top