Trump

[Oniya]

I doubt it given one of his lawyers was a McCarthy hatchet man.

Sorry - forgot the sarcasm tag.  Still holding up that the McCarthy 'commie hunt' was bigger than the 'swamp draining'.

[Hades]

In regards to the Roger Stone indictment, I'm just surprised that we haven't heard Herr Cheeto respond with "Roger who? I mean, I know alot of people named Roger, great people, tremendous people, but I don't know that guy.  Maybe he brought me coffee once or twice, I don't know."   

Because you know, only the best people for him.

[gaggedLouise]

Looks like Trump is caving. He is signing a temporary funding bill, apparently without any funding for his wall.

Yeah, he had to give in without getting anything positive out of these 35 days - in fact, his position is weakened both vs the Congress republicans and vs some of his own voter base - some of his diehard fans will loathe him for giving in, they detest "losers", while others will have been hit by the effects of the shutdown and may realize Trump is not such a big dealmaker.

Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton, writing for CNN: Pelosi brought Trump to his knees.

I love the imagery of that heading :)

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/25/opinions/pelosi-brought-trump-to-his-knees-zelizer/index.html

[Norwegian One]

Yeah, he had to give in without getting anything positive out of these 35 days - in fact, his position is weakened both vs the Congress republicans and vs some of his own voter base - some of his diehard fans will loathe him for giving in, they detest "losers", while others will have been hit by the effects of the shutdown and may realize Trump is not such a big dealmaker.

Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton, writing for CNN: Pelosi brought Trump to his knees.

I love the imagery of that heading :)

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/01/25/opinions/pelosi-brought-trump-to-his-knees-zelizer/index.html

Personally, this is my absolute favourite reaction:

"Good news for George Herbert Walker Bush: As of today, he is no longer the biggest wimp ever to serve as President of the United States."
- Ann Coulter

[Tolvo]

We'll still have to wait and see how Trump reacts to eating sushi. Which given his own eating habits might not go well similar to HW Bush. Though I'd be amusing to see someone rip their groin trying to avoid stepping on his face. If history repeats itself these are at least some fun highlights.

[gaggedLouise]

Personally, this is my absolute favourite reaction:

"Good news for George Herbert Walker Bush: As of today, he is no longer the biggest wimp ever to serve as President of the United States."
- Ann Coulter

*popping popcorn*

[Sara Nilsson]

Oh.. I think I need to change my underwear for some reason now.

*keeps laughing*

[Norwegian One]

Oh.. I think I need to change my underwear for some reason now.

*keeps laughing*

I know, Ann Coulter is incredibly entertaining

[Tolvo]

It is interesting how she went from supporting calling Mexicans rapists to now calling him a wimp and being considered a critic(Though she agrees with him on a lot of his ideas just believes he's too weak to get them done). So many of his supporters and former supporters are chewing him out now. I don't know whether to enjoy the schadenfreude or not.

[gaggedLouise]

It is interesting how she went from supporting calling Mexicans rapists to now calling him a wimp and being considered a critic(Though she agrees with him on a lot of his ideas just believes he's too weak to get them done). So many of his supporters and former supporters are chewing him out now. I don't know whether to enjoy the schadenfreude or not.

Yeah, no one would say Coulter is a sharp thinker but she has undeniably strong influence on the GOP and Tea Party voter base. :)

[TheGlyphstone]

Would he be wrong, though? If Congress cant make a deal even without Trump breathing down their neck and making backseat demands, they do earn a bigger share of the blame...

[Kitteredge]

Would he be wrong, though? If Congress cant make a deal even without Trump breathing down their neck and making backseat demands, they do earn a bigger share of the blame...

Perhaps. The Senate passed a CR before the new year, but Paul Ryan refused to put it before the House and left (retired). Then the new House passed a CR but the Senate refused to put it up. In the meantime, Trump had cut a deal with the Democratic side but then Ann Coulter called him bad names and he reneged. For the last month, Mitch McConnell has refused to let a CR go in front of the Senate despite the fact that they'd passed it before and seems like it would pass again. Nothing can get voted on in his chamber without his say-so.

So, since Trump is the de facto leader of the party, McConnell was following orders of Trump. If Trump wanted a deal at some point -- which was basically just 'reopen the government, then we can talk' -- then it would have happened at any point. If they reopen the government at this point, we're pretty much where we were 35 days ago but with a lot of damage to people's budgets and livelihoods and damage to national parks, research, the FBI, across the board.

If Congress was at fault, it was because they were doing Trump's bidding by way of Mitch McConnell. There are two people around whose necks this is hanging and they are Donald and Mitch.

[Markus]

ehh, whats all this funding for the wall business, I thought the wall was gonna be payed for by those demn mexicans? no?

[Oniya]

ehh, whats all this funding for the wall business, I thought the wall was gonna be payed for by those demn mexicans? no?

Psst - got some beach-front property in Nevada.  Going real cheap... 

[LostInTheMist]

I can breathe more easily. Friend of mine was going to fly in to town soon, and there was some uncertainty as to whether there would still be air traffic at that point. I haven't seen her in three years and she's set to go off to Japan next month for another year.

[Tolvo]

https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/426997-migrant-children-illegally-held-in-unlicensed-facilities-attorney-says

It looks like not even all of the child detainment camps under Trump's administration even have licenses to operate and that they're holding children for longer than they're supposed to, in part because they're using the children to arrest people that come to claim them so people are afraid to come forward and claim their kids or to sponsor them. There are also plans to change how this works under Trump's admin to put children and parents in camps together for many months at a time. These camps are concentration camps by definition, and have a history of abusing those within them including children some of which have died due to their treatment. Personally I don't care too much about whether a concentration camp was legal and find them existing at all horrible, but at least ten of them don't even have licenses.

[Lustful Bride]

Trump bites at the hand of Fox News by saying CNN is better than Fox.

I hope this keeps going and Fox finally breaks an turns on him. I would pay actual money to see it.

[Tolvo]

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/rnc-push-undivided-support-trump-reelection-state-leaders/story?id=60603125

Republican leaders are considering cancelling caucuses and such things in their states to ensure that only Trump can be up for the election in 2020. And are planning to throw their full support behind him.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-had-a-bizarre-meeting-with-right-wing-activist-ginni-thomas-report_us_5c4cb264e4b06ba6d3bd97b4?ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067

Trump met with an anti-LGBTQIA+ hate group led by the wife of a supreme court justice. There were also anti-Immigrant and anti-Muslim conspiracy theorists there. Some of the topics included crackdowns on Transgender people in general, banning women period from the military.

[legomaster00156]

I feel that a significant amount of Republican enthusiasm for Trump, by this point, can be attributed to the sunk cost fallacy. Trump must be their guy. Trump must be right. Trump must remain President. Trump must build the wall. After all, if Trump isn't right, then what did they sacrifice their moral high ground and fiscally conservative image for?

[Lustful Bride]

I feel that a significant amount of Republican enthusiasm for Trump, by this point, can be attributed to the sunk cost fallacy. Trump must be their guy. Trump must be right. Trump must remain President. Trump must build the wall. After all, if Trump isn't right, then what did they sacrifice their moral high ground and fiscally conservative image for?

I can answer that with just the right clip

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB7mHxdHlRY

[Regina Minx]

[Tolvo]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/01/inf-donald-trump-confirms-us-withdrawal-nuclear-treaty

Trump confirms US withdrawal from INF nuclear treaty and that there will be a new arms race between the USA and Russia if Russia does not disarm(Which I doubt they will).

[Roleplay Frog]

Is he actively trying to start the Cold War II?

[TheGlyphstone]

That would imply he has figured out actions have consequences for him, which is uncertain.

I think it's much simpler. From day 1, the man has hated the idea of anyone being able to limit what he can do. Limits, checks, and balances don't exist in the world of a business CEO, and the biggest visible frustrations he's exhibited have always been when he runs up against a facet of government that limits his power or authority. Treaties are a limit on America's power, and thus by the extension of his narcissism a limit on his power. The Paris Accords, the INF treaty - they are other people saying what he can or cannot do, and he hates that.

[Tolvo]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/01/politics/nuclear-treaty-trump/index.html

Well possibly. Fear is good for him politically.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/01/politics/donald-trump-nancy-pelosi-immigration-border-wall/index.html

Trump also said he is likely going to just use executive power to build the Border Wall since he won't get congressional support for it.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2019/02/01/trumps-rips-intel-naive-crossing-swords-dni-coats-again/2737141002/

Also he's been butting heads with the Intel Chief. And claiming that people are supporting his ideas who are not and that anyone saying otherwise is lying.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/01/us/politics/trump-interview-fact-check.html

New York Times also did a recent fact check of their own interview of Trump to point out his many lies.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/02/01/trump-denies-hes-mysterious-person-roger-stone-indictment-will-his-denial-hold-up/?utm_term=.61ebbb18dd3b

Trump has denied he is the person that directed Roger Stone to contact Wikileaks to give to the Trump Campaign, though it seems very possible it was him.

https://www.businessinsider.com/venezuela-crisis-white-house-could-deploy-us-troops-to-colombia-2019-1

Also just for those who did miss it, with regards to tensions rising in South America Trump did have Bolton carry a notepad suggesting they were considering 5,000 troops be sent to Colombia.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/venezuela-latest-elliott-abrams-trump-pompeo-maduro-juan-guaido-a8747306.html

Especially given Trump is appointing people, even those who were convicted, from the Iran-Contra crisis. So we might be returning to old ways and funding mercenary groups in South America to exert US control and interests over the land.