[Editor’s Note: We here at Monomakhos are concerned about the incipient schism unfolding before our eyes in Ukraine. We are presently assessing this distressing situation and will comment shortly. In the meantime, we feel that the socio-political situation here in the United States urgently requires our commentary as well.]
Yours Truly first wrote this blog-post under the working title of “Trump: Agent of Chaos”. That’s a succinct analysis of what is going on in my opinion. Now, don’t get me wrong, that’s not an insult but a tactic, one that I believe redounds to the benefit of President Trump. What Trump is doing is adding tumult to the mix, thereby throwing the Deep State into disarray and making impeachment nearly impossible. He has become a moving target, one which does not play by the rules as they’ve long been played in Washington, DC.
While Wall Street and international markets are roiling from this type of governance, the fact remains that this is the only way that Trumpian nationalism is going to have a chance to break out if it’s going to have any chance to destroy the present globalist order. Markets, of course, don’t like uncertainty and Trump has introduced even more disorder into the mix these last few weeks, almost on a logarithmic scale.
To be fair to Trump, he is more than justified in upsetting the apple-cart in said fashion. After all, his adversaries are not interested in playing by the rules either. They are almost to a man acting in bad faith. A case in point is the Mueller probe, a stratagem put in place because of alleged Russian hacking of the election. It then became “collusion”, now it’s a simply a grab-bag of whatever it takes to bring down anybody associated with Trump over the past several decades.
The reason for the Mueller probe is the reason for everything else that is being employed to subvert the Trump Administration and that is this: the Deep State still hasn’t recovered from his election. Folks, this was a rigged election –make no mistake about it. But it was rigged in Hillary’s favor. That’s why she barely campaigned in the Rust Belt. Those states were in the bag for her. The initial shock to the globalist system took place when he was first elected; the elites and their media stenographers still haven’t gotten over that one yet.
Essentially, what we are seeing on a daily basis on CNN, MSNBC and even on FOX is nothing short of derangement. It’s not fun to watch grown men and women have nervous breakdowns but that’s what we see on a daily basis on the various cable news networks. Maybe that’s why their ratings are declining. And that’s what we’ve seen incessantly since Nov 8, 2016.
It is in this light therefore that I view the present government “shut-down” in a positive fashion. I for one, am happy as a clam that Trump is sticking to his guns. I’m even happier that Chuck and Nancy have egg all over their faces. They actually thought that the GOP didn’t have the votes in the House to pass Wall funding. Not only did they pass it, the House gave Trump an extra $700 million to fund it! This is huge.
I understand the votes aren’t there in the Senate where the filibuster is still in place. But that’s not the point. The House Republicans and Trump played the Democrat leadership and thereby the Establishment. To my mind, this underscores a significant ignorance on the part of the Ruling Class about the widespread discontent that exists among the people.
And make no mistake, they are very much out-of-touch. First off, you cannot rule America if you don’t understand why it is that people in the Heartland cling to their God and their guns. Secondly, you can’t rule America if y ou can’t comprehend the erosion of the white working class and how it’s decimated wide swaths of the American heartland. Obama at least saw this but because he was black, he thought that white guilt could obviate his manifest elitism. Plus, he was fortunate to run and be elected during a tiny sweet spot in electoral history when the economy had crashed on the GOP’s watch and where an overwhelming majority of black voters could help him eke out a win several key swing states.
We’re seeing an example of this studied, elitist ignorance in Europe as well. In France for example, the Yellow-jacket uprising is bringing Emanuel Macron’s presidency to its knees. That uprising likewise came out of nowhere and caught the elites by surprise. Six months ago all the “right” journals of opinion were hailing Macron as the messiah of Europe; now he is a political leper. And this discontent is spreading. Globalist-minded prime ministers, such as Angela Merkel in Germany and Theresa May in Britain are likewise viewed as walking political corpses.
Now the good news on another front: Trump has decided to emulate the late Sen George Aiken of Vermont and declare victory in Syria. For those who may not be old enough to remember, that was Aiken’s advice to LBJ back in 1966 as to what to do with the growing quagmire in Vietnam. Tragically, LBJ refused to take it and listened to the Establishment instead. Trump, on the other hand, pulled the rug out from under the Military Industrial Complex and announced an “immediate withdrawal” of all US forces from Syria.
In addition, Secretary of Defense James “Mad-dog” Mattis said something out of the box regarding Afghanistan about a week earlier. Specifically that we should pull out of there as well. After all, seventeen years is more than enough. Think of it: Afghanistan is America’s longest war. Sobering words coming from a four-star Marine general. (I’m puzzled however by Mattis’ abrupt resignation when Trump took his advice, at least as far as Syria is concerned. My guess is that he sees Syria as being more in America’s interests than is Afghanistan.)
Then there was a speech given recently by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to the German Marshall Fund. The foundation is an Atlanticist training ground for up-and-coming German elitists, whose goal is to ensure that said cohort remains committed to the ideals of neoconservativism. The speech itself was not as Trumpian as I would have preferred, nevertheless it portended a significant shift away from the normative American bi-partisan hyper-interventionism that was the order of the day until the death of Sen John McCain.
Taken together, these are all huge blows to the Deep State, which is committed to the idea of an American Empire for reasons that we can only begin to fathom. Make no mistake, the Deep State doesn’t care about any “humanitarian” crisis, if it did, then we’d be in Yemen on the side of the good guys. To my mind, all these facts portend a shift toward the Trumpist narrative as regards to national sovereignty and non-interference.
Of course, there is an Orthodox angle to all this. Two, actually. First, the abrupt withdrawal of American forces from Syria redounds to the benefit of President Bashar al-Assad. Whatever the faults of the Assad family (and there were many), there was no doubt that that nation’s Christians, Yazidis, Jews and Kurds preferred his rule to the tender mercies of the Sunni jihadists who tried to overthrow him.
It also redounds to the benefit of President Vladimir Putin, whose intervention into Syria dealt the first serious blow to the neoconservative agenda. Putin now can realistically lay claim to being a counterpoise to the West. This not only strengthens his hand in the Middle East but in Ukraine as well in that he will be allowed to concentrate his forces on the Ukrainian front should NATO get an itchy trigger finger.
Which brings us back to General Mattis. According to many sources, Mattis (a man who I much admire) has never shaken the Cold War mentality. Like too many other Atlanticists, he still hasn’t come to grips with the fact that Russia is no longer an expansionist, totalitarian state. As such, he was not averse to sending arms to Ukraine, thereby inflaming that conflict. Nor was he on board with Trump’s ban on transsexuals serving in the military. Rather than bucking his boss, he at least did the honorable thing and retired. Originally, he wrote that he’d stay until the end of February but within days he was hastily shown the door. Can we expect a possible detente between the US and Russia or at least a thaw? At the very least, it must give the Ukrainians pause in American resolve. (Hint to the Ukrainians: we in the Red states are tired of endless war because of “muh democracy”.)
More importantly, it shows that Trump is not afraid of bucking the system, throwing allies as well as adversaries into a tizzy. It also indicates that Trump’s hand is growing stronger. Little by little, he has removed those Cabinet members who were not completely on board with his nationalist agenda. He is also replacing them with Cabinet secretaries who won’t buy into the 25th Amendment scenario, a stratagem which would allow a simple majority of the Cabinet to declare the President to be “incapable” of performing his duties.
But this is where it gets really delicious. By pulling out of Syria and Afghanistan, Trump is proving to be the peace president. This demobilization from Syria and Afghanistan is nothing less than a gigantic stink-bomb which he lobbed right into the middle of the House Democratic Caucus. It will cause the fissure between the left/business class (which is interventionist) and the harder left/progressive contingent (which is not) to grow. This is classic divide-and-conquer strategy.
Don’t get me wrong –to a man, the Democrats of whatever persuasion hate Trump with the incandescent fury of a thousand blazing suns. However, by being the “peace president”, Trump is forcing these two wings to come to terms with what are their main reasons for being. Are they true anti-military interventionists who want to gut the Pentagon or are they internationalists in the pocket of multinational corporations who are interested in furthering globalism? And make no mistake, the harder left still hasn’t forgiven the Establishment wing for screwing Bernie Sanders out of the nomination.
This can’t be said enough. People like Tulsi Gabbard and Bernie Sanders are not happy with the Hillary Clinton/Joe Biden wing of the Democratic Party. Nor are they going to make common cause with Nancy Pelosi just to remove Trump from office, especially when Mike Pence, a fervent Evangelical war-hawk waits in the wings. It’s my belief that their devotion to peace will override their distaste for Trump.
As for the Republicans, there aren’t as many Ron or Rand Pauls as I’d like and the neoconservative shrieks that came out of Lindsey Graham’s mouth were a bit off-putting. But here’s the thing: they too are going to have to decide which they like better, foreign interventionism or putting another conservative on the Supreme Court when there’s another vacancy. My guess is that when Ruth Bader Ginsberg retires and Trump nominates Amy Coney Barrett to take her place, the red and blue bleachers on the Senate floor will empty in no time flat. If you thought that the Kavanaugh confirmation was explosive, the next vacancy will make that one look like a walk in the park. It will raise such a ruckus that it will black out anything that might happen overseas for weeks on end.
As to the government shutdown, Trump again holds all the cards.
For one thing, this is only a partial government shutdown and the GOP played it right in that only those bureaus that are Democrat strongholds (like the IRS) are the ones that are being shut down. Trump is counting on the fact that after three or four weeks, their howling will force those Senators who represent them to cry uncle. In the meantime, Trump has frozen the salaries for all non-military Federal employees for all of 2019. Military employees, on the other hand, will receive a 2.6 percent raise in salary during this time.
This is a bold, Machiavellian master-stroke which will depress the morale of the Federal bureaucracy, forcing many into early retirement while making those who stay on work in a desultory fashion. As to the armed services, it will also strengthen his position among the rank and file. By increasing their payas well as bringing several thousands home, Trump is employing another tried-and-true strategy embattled leaders throughout history have used, thereby quietly buying more anti-impeachment insurance.
And anyway, why should Trump give in? What’s he got to lose? Are the Democrats and the Corporate Media going to start treating him fairly? Are they going to stop frothing at the mouth like rabid dogs? Or stop howling for his head on a silver platter? Already, a Moslem Congresswoman called him “mother-f&$%er”. Another Democrat Congressman asserted that he “was worse than Hitler”. And this is within 24 hours of their being sworn in. See what I mean by saying they can’t help themselves? Rabid dogs are tame by comparison.
As long as he sticks to his guns on the Wall, his base will only get harder. And it will grow. Trump’s approval rating of 45 percent is in reality much higher; I’d say there’s a “hidden Trump vote” of another five percent. And anyway, why should they abandon him? If anything, the Democrats are just as angry at the millions of people who voted for Trump. Civil wars start from such premises. For simply reasons of safety we have nowhere else to go. If Trump goes down, we go down.
What the Democrats don’t understand is that the 45 percent approval rating is a high floor, not a low ceiling. One which Trump can build upon should the economy remain robust and he sticks to his guns. And Trump’s base will come to his aid should there be talk of impeachment. I predict tens of thousands will melt the phones down at the Capitol (or worse) if impeachment fever grows. As such, he dare not abandon them. This can’t be stressed enough: he needs them just as much as they need him.
It’s Machiavelli 101: pick a side and stick to it. If attacked, fight like hell even it looks like you’re going to lose. And make the aggressor know that you’re willing to go to the mattresses. The smarter ones will think long and hard about taking you down.
And even if the Democrats in the House succeed in impeaching him, they’re going to need thirteen Republican Senators to join them if they are to get to the magic number of 67, which is what it would take to remove him from office. Trump not only saved the Senate for the GOP, he increased their numbers there, an unprecedented feat. The Republicans may be the Stupid Party, but at least 34 of them know which side their bread is buttered on. Bishop Willard Mitt Romney foolishly fired his moralist ammo against the President and was roundly castigated for it. He thought that he could take the place of retiring Senator Jeff Flake (another tin-eared moralist) and receive the appropriate hosannahs. He thought wrong.
Regardless, I’m not sure that every Democrat in the House will vote for impeachment should it come to that. You see, their hands are going to be tied. Do they go for endless investigations? OK, Trump is daring them to do so, begging them. Why? Because there’s nothing there. Remember: impeachment is ultimately a political act but it is first and foremost a legal remedy; one which can be activated only if there is evidence of “high crimes and misdemeanors”. Tweeting is not a crime and name-calling is not a misdemeanor. No Russia collusion, no hacking, no nothing. And then what? During that same time in which Maxine Waters and Jerry Nadler and the rest were promising to find something, the entire progressive agenda would have been derailed.
You know the drill: abolish ICE, enact “Medicare for all” and increase the minimum wage to $15 per hour. In the meantime, the Republican Senate will likely be confirming conservative judges left and right. When the Democrats don’t deliver on these promises –and they won’t–the Democrat base will continue its slow attrition and the Green Party will become more viable. Especially when it becomes obvious that Nancy Pelosi is a business-first Democrat. And Pelosi, despite all her leftist bluster is a business-first Democrat, one who has already signaled that impeachment is off the table. She was there during the Clinton impeachment and she well remembers how it backfired on the GOP in 1998.
Ultimately, the chief impediment against impeaching a sitting President is the most obvious one. That is, when you “strike at the king, you must kill the king”. If the House actually does pass articles of impeachment, and the Senate simply swats it down then Trump (i.e. the king) will be left standing. Bruised certainly, perhaps battered, but still standing and a force to be reckoned with. And the Democrats –like the corporate media before them–will have cried wolf one too many times. The danger for them is that the American people will simply yawn and say “impeachment? so what?” And Trump will handily win reelection.
And let’s not forget the subtle trap that Trump has placed for the Democrats –and that is the Wall. He has got them to do that thing which the great captains of history have wanted their enemies to do, and that is to destroy themselves. They do this every time they speak against the Wall. Say what you will about fortifications, it is the essence of what we are talking about. Of course, they scream that they are for “border security” but what is the difference? Trump has got them arguing on his terms and he has convinced the electorate at large that “border security = The Wall”. Do the Democrats really want to be against defending the nation? Because that’s the corner they’ve painted themselves into every time another illegal alien rapes and/or murders an American citizen. You can invoke the spirit of Martin Luther King all you want but the optics are not as good as the politicos like to say.
Do the Democrats really want to be the party against defending the nation? Do they really want people to identify them as the party that doesn’t care about our national integrity? Because they’re doing both and getting more hysterical with each day. It will soon be inescapable to the normal person that they don’t really want to protect America from a Third-world invasion every time they scream and holler about why we don’t “need” a wall.
The list of kill-shots against Trump is a long and tedious one. Stormy Daniels, Omarosa Manigault, the end of the TPP and the Paris Accords, two scoops of ice cream while everybody else gets only one. Trump’s enemies have taken so many victory laps that they should all be ready to run marathons by now. On the other hand, the American people have grown inured to all the hysteria. Right now, the only thing that would do Trump in is if the Steele Dossier contains a photo of the President servicing Putin at the Ritz-Carlton in Moscow. And even then, our society has become so debased that that’s doubtful.
Folks, this is kill-ball. Either Trump wins it all or he loses it all. And if he loses, he loses everything: the Presidency, his businesses, and even his freedom. And then, there may be a real civil war. He knows this. That’s why he’s lawyering up and is going to challenge every subpoena all the way to the Supreme Court, whereby the way, he’s batting close to one thousand there. Who knows? when Ginsburg or Breyer (he’s 80) retires, he may just keep that seat vacant for a good long time. Then it’d be 5-3 and the Democrats would be screaming for a replacement.
Yup, he’s got a lot of cards to play. Either way, it’s gonna get real ugly. Buckle up.
“we feel that the socio-political situation here in the United States urgently requires our commentary as well”
USA has less than 5% of world population and less than 5% of world Orthodox. Why is it so urgent? 🙂
Dear Martin,
We can also put it another way. The US has the third largest population in the world, behind only India and China. The US has the world’s largest economy, and is the number one super power in history. Sounds like a pretty important country to me.
For the same reason it is more urgent if my mother needs help than one of the other 3.5 billion women in the world.
George, a wonderful analysis and spot on, too!
Thank you. This essay required a lot of thought and research.
George, this helped me immensely to read this. Felt like I was back in my Machiavelli class in graduate school.
Thank you, Helen. BTW, Macchiavelli was right. As was Sun Tzu.
First off, a couple fundamental category errors:
1) The “Deep State” as described and defined by George Michalopulos is simply not a thing that exists or is real in America or American government. It is a lazy fantasy that has as much resemblance to reality as The Babadook. In practice any time George Michalopulos refers to the “Deep State” you could just substitute The Babadook and it doesn’t actually matter. This isn’t to say that there aren’t concepts of entrenched special interests, bureaucratic institutional inertia, Beltway consensus groupthink, etc. but none of these things come remotely close to a “Deep State”.
The “Deep State” is a convenient and simple false narrative to latch onto if one is incapable of or too lazy to bother learning and tracking the intricacies and complexities of the operation and politics of the Federal Government. But using it as a lodestar to explain events is, at heart, the sign of an unserious commentator.
2) Improper conflation of “Trump’s base” and the opinions of the totality of the American public. The wall does not have broad popular support. Immigration is not a broad key issue. The problem with attempting to handwave away the polling that demonstrates this is we just had an election where the GOP banged the drum on those issues hard going into the stretch and got a royal thumping at the polls.
With that out of the way…
After all we’ve seen, it is amusing if not surprising that George Michalopulos still insists that the Mueller investigation is all a giant conspiracy plot to trip up Trump rather than the chickens coming home to roost from the fact that Trump and those he surrounded himself with are hopelessly criminal and/or corrupt. My dude, you are going to this dry well again the same day it dropped that Manafort lied about sharing internal campaign data with Kilimnik.
That is…not huge. The GOP House no longer exists. They were voted out of office. It’s a piece of dead legislation from the losers of an election. The only thing it did was ensure that the government shut down while it GOP still controlled the governmental-trio. Again.
This is rich, coming from someone who seems to have a habit of simply disbelieving any polling he disagrees with. case in point:
You have to cherry pick polls to even get him to 45 at the moment. Gallup ended the year with him at 39. Thinking you can spot him *five* points right after the results of 2018 midterms is certainly special, I’ll give you that.
The yellow-jacket movement already fizzled, after a bunch of the core demands were met. The bloom was well off Macron’s rose well before that. Which has been the pattern for the past few French leaders. At any rate, thinking street protests in France is novel is like being surprised by tax evasion in Greece or unstable governments in Italy.
Chutzpah for branding May as a political corpse for ‘globalism’ as she is busy at the controls of flying the UK economy directly into the cliffs of Dover in the slow-moving Brexit disaster.
Depending on which day of the week it is, “immediate withdrawal” means in a few weeks, several months, or someday yet to be determined.
That you are perplexed by Mattis’s resignation-on-principle when the resignation letter is available is not a point in your favor.
Uh, which cabinet members would those be exactly? This comes across as a wishful revisionist history to try and pretend all the Cabinet departures that happened due to ethical failings, corruption and outright criminality were for some more strategic purpose. As an aside, it is quite the spectacular statement that Ross *still* has his job.
It is also pretty special that Mr. “Drain the Swamp” has loaded up on so many lobbyists. No doubt George Michalopulos is ready to argue that the alligators and mosquitos are really the best qualified people to oversee any swamp draining!
I guess they aren’t all lobbyists, the new acting SecDef used to be a high-up Boeing exec. One of the largest defense contractors on the planet wouldn’t be considered part of a ‘military-industiral complex’ though, right?
Giving Trump credit for things that haven’t happened yet in no way has any risk of blowing up in your face. Because when I describe someone as an agent of chaos I bet on their long-term follow through!
Ah yes, that Democrat stronghold known as (looks at cards) the Department of Homeland Security.
George Michalopulos of course seems to believe that the Federal Government is padded with GS-15s with fat bank balances. TSA screeners making $37K who need to make rent this month can pound sand!
That was not an unprecedented feat. Bush did it in 2002! And claiming he saved the Senate requires there to have a meaningful chance of being losable in the first place. Which there was not. The GOP had one of the most favorable maps in recent memory, the Dems were tracking in *single-digit* chances to flip the Senate for the most part. This again is fantasy to try and make the reality look better than it was: only picking up a single seat was a major blow to GOP probabilities to hold the Senate in 2020. The reason why the GOP doesn’t have 56-58 Senate seats right now boils down mostly to, well Trump. Heck, if Clinton had won the election maybe 60 GOP Senators wouldn’t have been out of the question.
Except for all the crimes, massive ethical failings, corruption and incompetence anyway. It’s the most target rich environment in modern executive branch history!
One gets the impression that as long as it wasn’t Putin doing the servicing, you’d give Trump a pass. Although frankly, being willing to look past any amount of corruption, heterosexual immorality and criminality to draw the line at a little homosexual hanky-panky comes across even worse…
In regards to 2019, this is just about the only thing in your entire essay I can agree with!
Nate, I love it when you disguise your rebuttals, never quite realizing that they are simply assertions, which are arguable at best.
Let’s take them seriatim:
1. Just because there is no official Deep State doesn’t mean that there’s a cabal of like-minded conspirators who are actively undermining the 2016 election. Last year, Lisa Page admitted to the Congress that several people met in Andy McCabe’s office and actually called themselves a “secret society”. If that’s not a conspiracy, then nothing is.
2. I suppose because I believe that there is a conspiracy that that makes me “an unserious commentator”? Well, then I can add my name to the legion of other commentators, pundits, analysts and journalists who likewise believe that there is a cabal of like-minded conspirators at every level of the government who have tried to sabotage the duly-elected President.
3. Rasmussen has Trump at 50% approval. No cherry-picking involved. A good rule of political thumb is that they actual (real) approval of any President is reflected in how well his party does in any given mid-term. Trump had a higher approval rating in his first mid-term than did Obama. Trump lost 40 House seats, Obama lost 63. Clinton did even worse than Obama. Trump gained four Senate seats, Obama lost eight. Yeah, there really is a hidden Trump vote out there.
3a. The methodology of the more left-leaning polling firms is flawed in that many of them rely on land-line cold calls. In case you didn’t know, land-lines are going the way of the printed newspaper.
3b. Many of these same polling firms overly weight urban, black and Democratic voters. Plus they don’t take into account that many Republicans simply won’t respond honestly to polling questions. This has only gotten worse since 2015-16 when Trump supporters were often beaten, had their property vandalized and/or otherwise molested.
4. You’re simply wrong about your assertion that immigration “is not a key issue” with the American base. You assume that because people don’t respond to pollsters that they are being truthful when in reality they don’t want to be called a racist or xenophobe. This is in much the same way that white Americans will go out of their way to never be labeled as racists against blacks. Unfortunately, as the late, great Joe Sobran wryly observed: “The mating and migratory habits of the average white liberal are indistinguishable than those of the average Klansman.” Illegal immigration is the key issue, not only in America but in Europe as well. And it’s growing every day, especially when there’s another murder or rape perpetrated by an illegal alien. Let’s use some common sense here, if it wasn’t, then Trump wouldn’t have been elected.
5. The Yellow-jacket movement has far from fizzled. Macron, May and Merkel are indeed dead men walking. One has to be delusional to not see that.
6. Trump’s “immdiate” withdrawal from Syria has been delayed somewhat but not reversed, no matter how much John Bolton wishes otherwise. (Look for his impending resignation.) Trump is a master negotiator. He upended the entire political order vis-a-vis Syria by demanding an immediate withdrawal. That’s a negotiating tactic. It may take longer than expected. That’s not the point, which is getting out of Syria and laying down markers for retreating from Afghanistan as well.
7. Mattis’ resignation. It’s principled alright, just based on the globalist principles that were shown the door when Mdme Clinton was unceremoniously not elected President. Mattis also pushed back against Trump’s ban on trannies serving in the military.
8. You seem to take umbrage at the fact that I believe in a conspiracy (there’s that word again!) which I call the Military-Industrial-Complex. OK, I’m guilty. Unfortunately for you, I wasn’t the first to come up with that one. There was a certain President named Dwight D Eisenhower who first warned the American people about that particular conspiracy. You may have heard of him, he was also the Supreme Allied Commander for the European Theater of Operations during a particularly nasty period of history known as the Second World War. You might want to look that one up.
9. While I feel sorry for bureaucrats (who can’t be fired) who are being discomfited by the partial shut-down, the blame goes both ways. The Dems can authorize the Wall funding. In case you didn’t know, Sens Chuck Schumer, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton voted for Wall funding back in 2005.
10. As for the increase in the Senate being “unprecedented”: OK, you got me there. Bush 43 did the same thing as well. He even increased the share of the GOP in the House. We were at war however. Still, it must gall you to look to W for moral support in order to justify your Trump hatred. What next? praising Reagan for keeping us at peace or Harding for ending the mild depression that resulted after the Great War? Perhaps you’ll be praising John Adams for his Alien and Sedition Acts or Andy Jackson for the forced removal of the Indians. I smell desperation Nate.
11. Endless investigations. Nate, aren’t you a little concerned that anytime anyone’s ever gone against President Trump they wind up losing the argument or –worse–being accused of even worse misdeeds? Consider: Stormy Daniels has to travel the fruited plain dancing in strip joints in order to pay for Trump’s legal bills. This makes Trump the first man in recorded history to get a refund from a whore.
As for his supposed crimes and ethical lapses, aren’t you the least bit concerned that so far nothing has come out and whenever something does it turns out to be a big yawn?
Theresa May might inadvertently be a hero. By putting forth a Brexit deal nobody wants, she assures a no deal Brexit, which means the EU doesn’t get their €39 billion, which means the strapped EU countries have to make up the difference. Hastening the collapse of the EU.
So simplistic. And the collapse of EU if happened will do uk such a lot of good.?? Yes?? Who do u think uk trades with? Planet Venus??
And Oh yes you the USA will give uk a stupendous trade deal that aids uk farmers above yr own etc etc. Naturally. U will screw them to yr advantage, democrat or GOP cos yr government believe it or not governs in yr interest, well for some of u anyway. Ditto China, India etc. I am no rabbi remainer or leaver, just a realist.
I spent my life living through left wing crap of 1960s and 70s and now we have right wing crap. Take yr choice of loo paper.
Niko, AS has it pegged right at least re trade. (There’s no way that Theresa May is going to be viewed as a hero, perhaps nothing more than a bumbling catalyst for more failure.) The UK does a heckuva lot of trading with the US. In the end though, the entire point may be moot as I believe that the EU is not long for this world.
George re EU I agree. It was built for a world that is dying and they can’t see it. As u may gather I attack trump et al as harsh as neo liberal darlings and Clintons and Blair and Macron. To me they are all symptoms. A good doctor looks for the disease process which u have diagnosed very well. I just do not think Mr T is the medication. He often re say Syria etc says right thing but then as we see appointment Bolton in position.???
And of course if for a firm there is only share holders profit then they will buy and sell with the devil and move the factory to ‘ cheaper and cheaper land’ until it no longer that.
As regards Church I see quite clearly EP, is advancing papal claims for Constantinople above and over the Church.
I always remember a greek lady whose husband back in 1980s, who went to the famous greek school there in Constantinople and knew them all, well she went for Pascha. The then bishop of Chalcidon, was it Bart,? in expensive suit and ‘ with the regulation three hair on chin’ , who husband knew, did not on Easter day even offer an egg and told her he could not talk as they were waiting to eat at the grand reception upstairs. Remember it is the hard earned dollars of greek Americans paying for this facade that makes one want to be Lenin.
She won’t be viewed as a hero in the UK today, but if her non-deal is the first domino that brings about the collapse of the EU (which I am sure she herself would not want), history will smile on her.
Brexit and Trump both provide reason to deny those over seventy the right to vote, drive, teach or own homes, but to lower the bottom limit to fifteen. The pensions and health insurance of lunatic childless boomers have cripple all advanced economies, but they are brain damaged from alcohol (Krosakoff’s), LSD (schizophrenia), repetetivie trauma (footbal), steroids and other drungs.
LOL. While we are dreaming, I think the voting franchise should be limited to landowners over the age of 25.
AS, I would agree with you but expand it a bit to those over 25 who actually pay federal and state income taxes.
The property requirement was formally a quick and easy way to determine if someone paid taxes since the primary revenue for governments originally was property taxes.
Contostitas shows how much the current debate is intergenerational warfare. Even Putin has problems with pension liabilities. GM, A&P and GOA all went broke because of pensions. In 1972, Japan and Greece had the two fastest growing economies, but they forgot to have kids to pay pensions and are now imploding. Now the entire developed world is demographically imploding. Wait until China implodes. In 2030 Germany and Russia will be majority moslem and China will be the top economy only to be replaced with India in 2050. Alva Myrdal invented social security precisely as a form of population control on the theory that folks would have fewer offspring if their retirement was funded otherwise. Except now we don’t have enough kids to pay the pensions. Obama death panels are no fantasy, but an inevitability.
Trump explodes the myth of the entrepreneur. People used to do menial work because they lacked opportunity but today’s deplorables consciously and deliberately opted out of intellectual pursuits in favor of bread and circus and so do their work poorly.
See:
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/age-gap-voters-young-old-brexit-trump-demographic/
https://sites.google.com/site/rtdlies/
https://www.thenation.com/article/lower-the-voting-age-to-16/
I’m a 70-year-old boomer, not childless though. Three kids by 22, five total by 28. Six grandchildren by 50, twelve total. Two granddaughters recently married, so, who knows? Right now, we two these 51 years have become 23.
No LSD or other drugs. Alcohol, yes. Steroids, no. Football, no. But Rugby, most definitely. (That might make me a lunatic…)
And here is where I do my triennial self-reveal, so I can continue to claim nom de plume status rather than anonymity: I am founder and first president of the Tacoma Nomads Rugby Club. After 45 years, I have found that this, when all is said and done, is my best credential! Easy to find me…
Hi Tim,
Congratulations on being married for over fifty years. That’s wonderful! I’m sure you, your wife, children, and grandchildren have been a great blessing to many, many people. May you and your family have many more years of love together.
Thanks, lot’s of joy, to be sure. Mostly, I tell the young to dive in and get with life while still young. When I get the opportunity, that is.
The UK will thrive if there is no deal. Food prices will plummet and they will suddenly have billions of pounds to spend on the NHS or other sacred cows.
When the UK is gone, Germany and France will be forced to pay even more to Brussels—and their taxpayers don’t want it. They won’t be able to rely on poorer Eastern European countries to pay for anything more, and they are becoming rapidly more Eurosceptic.
The EU will collapse under its own weight, and it cannot come a moment too soon. I long to see the day when the alcoholic Juncker is panhandling in the streets of Brussels, scoffing bitterly at every Franc he receives.
The chaos of a no-deal brexit would cause headaches and complications in the EU. But please, €39 billion is a rounding error in an economic block the size of the EU. The lack of such a payment from the UK isn’t going to have any meaningful impact on the EU. And, of course, completely ignores the business and capital flight happening from UK->mainland Europe in advance of brexit, hard or not.
And yet, May continues to lose on this issue.
Why yes, I make assertions. What I do not do is make assertions I do not have adequate backing for. I shall reply to your numbered replies with corresponding numbers. Speaking of numbers, I once again note that as we shall see, you still don’t seem to feel the need to *check* your numbers before posting them.
1. Yay, classic George Michalopulos goalpost moving. No, there is no comprehensive cabal comprising of tens of thousands of employees and appointees in the Federal government spanning the wide swath of various departments and agencies acting in concert to a master plan. There is no Shadow Government Deep State pulling strings behind a curtain. Distorting a Lisa Page comment involving a handful of people in a Federal government of 2 million is not a convincing argument for your beliefs.
2. Your argument here is, you can’t be wrong because you can find people who agree with you. This, of course, is how we define absolute truth!
3. No, Rasmussen does not have Trump at 50, but at 46. Seriously, how is this not a link you visited before responding much less initially wrote your piece:
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/president_trump_job_approval-6179.html
Your assertion that Trump has meaningfully better approval ratings than Obama at the time of their first mid-terms is not supported by historical Rasmussen or Gallup data. Rasmussen appears to have them tied the day before the election!
As far as the election results: the 2010 House popular vote was 51.7% R to 44.9% D compared to 53.4% D to 44.8% R in 2018. Aggressive GOP gerrymandering over the past eight years isn’t invincible, but it did help the GOP from losing as many seats in 2018 as the Dems did in 2010, even though the Dem vote margin in 2018 was bigger than the GOP margin in 2010. Are you really going to argue that Trump didn’t drive record *Dem* midterm turnout for the modern era?
I simply have no idea how you are claiming Trump “gained four Senate seats”. The GOP had 54 Senate seats before the 2016 election and they lost two, so Trump was sworn in with n 52. It went to 51 after the GOP lost the special election for Sessions old seat. After the 2018 midterms it went to 53 a pickup of two, but a net gain of only one seat from the day Trump was inaugurated.
By all means explain where your four comes from.
3a. You’ll have to specify which polls you disdain due to landline-only methodology. Gallup for example, is not landline only. Furthermore, riddle me this Batman: might a landline-only methodology run the risk of oversampling elderly households with the knob broken off on Fox News?
3b. I love nitty-gritty statistics wonkery about methodology. That ain’t it chief. I repeat, you seem to only believe polling that tells you want to believe, and anything wrong is clearly biased and wrong, even though you haven’t spent the time to do your own statistical validation.
4. This is again “the polls are wrong, more people hold my beliefs than can actually be demonstrated, really, they are there, just hidden. Don’t make any sudden noises, you’ll frighten them off”.
5. What is the trendline on attendance and vigor?
6. I don’t think you realize how poorly it reflects on Trump when you claim that when the CINC orders an immediate withdrawal it wasn’t an actual order but a negotiating tactic.
7. Mattis of course holds principles of honor and duty, keeping one’s word, and commitments. Trump has spent his whole life pretty much holding the exact opposite. But yeah, globalism, that’s the ticket! I refuse to echo your bigoted slur, but linking Trump’s attempt to kick transgendered individuals out the military (despite the damage and chaos it would cause) into Mattis resignation is a bit telling of your prejudices considering how many other factors were in play.
8. Conspiracy is the X-Files. Powerful entrenched interests and industries and huge projects spread over hundreds of congressional districts are the “military industrial complex”. These are not the same thing.
9. That is a disingenuous comparison. I know you don’t actually know the differences between the relevant pieces of legislation, so it isn’t out of malice. Just, well.
10. I am not “looking to W to moral support”, I am merely pointing out for the umpteenth file you are so sloppy in your assertions that you get basic stuff wrong that is in relatively recent memory in your own lifetime. This is a symptom of you consuming and regurgitating bogus information without ever bothering to validate any of it. Frankly your motto shouldn’t be “One Who Fights Alone” but “Too Good to Check”.
11. So glad you brought up Trump’s legal peril which has absolutely nothing to do with the Mueller probe! How could we forget that Trump was directly implicated in the commission of a felony!
You mean except for the steady drumbeat of disgraced resignations, ongoing IG investigations, indictments, guilty pleas, guilty verdicts? Any one of which if it had happened in a Clinton Administration would have had you spitting fire for four years, but because your double standards literally have no bounds, you think it’s all a big yawn?
Yeah, those.
Post take two, since the blog apparently ate the first attempt.
Why yes, I make assertions. What I do not do is make assertions I do not have adequate backing for. I shall reply to your numbered replies with corresponding numbers. On the subject of numbers, you still don’t seem to be actually checking yours carefully enough.
1. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. No, there is no comprehensive cabal comprising of tens of thousands of employees and appointees in the Federal government spanning the wide swath of various departments and agencies acting in concert to a master plan. There is no Shadow Government Deep State pulling strings behind a curtain. Distorting a Lisa Page comment involving a handful of people in a Federal government of 2 million is not a convincing argument for your beliefs.
2. Your argument here is, you can’t be wrong because you can find people who agree with you. This, of course, is how we define absolute truth!
3. No, Rasmussen does not have Trump at 50, but at 45 (46 when I originally wrote this). Seriously, how is this not a link you visited before responding much less initially writing:
(link to realclearpolitics approval rating aggregate here, avoiding links in case they trigger filter puragory)
Your assertion that Trump has meaningfully better approval ratings than Obama at the time of their first mid-terms is not supported by historical Rasmussen or Gallup data. Rasmussen appears to have them tied the day before the election!
As far as the election results: the 2010 House popular vote was 51.7% R to 44.9% D compared to 53.4% D to 44.8% R in 2018. Aggressive GOP gerrymandering over the past eight years isn’t invincible, but it did help the GOP from losing as many seats in 2018 as the Dems did in 2010, even though the Dem vote margin in 2018 was bigger than the GOP margin in 2010. Are you really going to argue that Trump didn’t drive record *Dem* midterm turnout for the modern era?
I simply have no idea how you are claiming Trump “gained four Senate seats”. The GOP had 54 Senate seats before the 2016 election and they lost two, so Trump was sworn in with n 52. It went to 51 after the GOP lost the special election for Sessions old seat. After the 2018 midterms it went to 53 a pickup of two, but a net gain of only one seat from the day Trump was inaugurated.
By all means explain where your four comes from.
3a. You’ll have to specify which polls you disdain due to landline-only methodology. Gallup for example, is not landline only. Furthermore, riddle me this Batman: might a landline-only methodology run the risk of oversampling elderly households with the knob broken off on Fox News?
3b. I love nitty-gritty statistics wonkery about methodology. That ain’t it chief. I repeat, you seem to only believe polling that tells you want to believe, and anything wrong is clearly biased and wrong, even though you haven’t spent the time to do your own statistical validation.
4. This is again “the polls are wrong, more people hold my beliefs than can actually be demonstrated, really, they are there, just hidden. Don’t make any sudden noises, you’ll frighten them off”.
5. What is the trendline on attendance and vigor?
6. I don’t think you realize how poorly it reflects on Trump when you claim that when the CINC orders an immediate withdrawal it wasn’t an actual order but a negotiating tactic.
7. Mattis of course holds to the military principles of honor and duty, keeping one’s word, and commitments. Trump has spent his whole life pretty much carrying out the exact opposite. But yeah, globalism, that’s the ticket! I refuse to repeat your bigoted slur, but linking Trump’s attempt to kick transgendered individuals out the military (despite the damage and chaos it would cause) into Mattis resignation is a bit telling of your prejudices considering how many other factors were in play.
8. Conspiracy is the X-Files. Powerful entrenched interests and industries and huge projects spread over hundreds of congressional districts are the “military industrial complex”. These are not the same thing.
9. That is a disingenuous comparison. I know you don’t actually know the differences between the relevant pieces of legislation, maybe you should compare and contrast.
10. I am not “looking to W to moral support”, I am merely pointing out for the umpteenth file you are so sloppy in your assertions that you get basic stuff wrong that happened in relatively recent memory. This is a symptom of you consuming and regurgitating bogus information without ever bothering to validate any of it. Frankly your motto shouldn’t be “One Who Fights Alone” but “Too Good to Check”.
11. So glad you brought up Trump’s legal peril which has absolutely nothing to do with the Mueller probe! How could we forget that Trump was directly implicated in the commission of a felony!
You mean except for the steady drumbeat of disgraced resignations, ongoing IG investigations, indictments, guilty pleas, guilty verdicts? Any one of which if it had happened in a Clinton administration would have had you spitting fire for four years, but because your double standards literally have no bounds, you think it’s all a big yawn?
Yeah, those.
I’m Orthodox and work for the federal government in the national security sector. While I am not part of the shutdown, I know many people who are — all hard-working Americans who are just scraping by and who are trying to do a good job. It’s unconscionable. None of them care about some “American empire”. They just want to do the work they were hired for — work that is on behalf of the American people — and get paid.
If this is Trumpian nationalism…It certainly seems to be about one thing. The rich never seem to care about ordinary people with ordinary problems. If this shutdown affected Trump’s wealthy buddies instead of ordinary Americans working all kinds of jobs ( some crappy and dangerous) — then we would never have had a shutdown in the first place.
MrsDK, I too have a relative who is a contractor with the Fed govt and who is in danger of losing her paycheck. But you know what? Millions of us in the private sector work paycheck to paycheck with no guarantee of lifelong immunity to being fired. I myself have heard the wolf at the door on more than one occasion. Pretty sure I’m hearing him growl right now.
Tell Chuck and Nancy. If they vote for a border wall that everyone supported before June 2015, the government will open right back up, and people will start getting their taxpayer-funded salaries and pensions again.
But insofar as government employees work for me, I say keep it shut down indefinitely.
Nate, get a load of this: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46788751?fbclid=IwAR1oOI7UmHQUeRQqpzIsteAfl9070DhjNY2TaZSw7IQoQvAoNGrh8TiCMeo
Horses, meet barn door. Not to mention once the popular goes out of a popular movement, you end up with a smaller group of dead-enders. As I said in my still unavailable response, what is the trend line?
It is a bit tedious that you flag things for my attention without bothering to clear my response last night to your response to my initial comments. But whatever.
Just because you don’t like my answers doesn’t make me a “dead-ender”.
That was in reference to the reduced remnants of the yellow jackets as time goes on, not you. I don’t understand how in the context of you posting about the yellow jackets you would interpret the “dead-ender” comment as being directed at you. Projection?
The ire at you was the second paragraph and was related to you throwing out a link and tagging me concerning an issue I had already addressed in my response to your numbered list which you never published.
Its official, the APA has declared traditional masculinity a psychological disorder.
I’ll remember that the next time anyone cites the DSM to support the “normalcy” of various mental disorders such as homosexuality and transgenderism.
George-
I agree with all your analysis, and you in turn seem to be agreeing with the book “The Barbarian Bible’. Check it out, on Amazon. Historically, it makes sense, explaining how we got to where we are today.
George,
This is the first time I’ve commented here. I’m in the US, a new Orthodox Christian, and kind of an amateur at politics, though I do try to educate myself. It helps that I do research for a living that requires me to connect dots, though in a completely different subject area.
Learning about history and politics from the Orthodox perspective is really, really interesting. Including the role of oil in the Mideast and the Ukraine. The idea Obama funded ISIS to try to destabilize Assad, and thus get control of oil away from Russia, who wants a pipeline there. The idea that the US has been meddling for a long time in the Ukraine to get control of oil under the Black Sea away from Russia.
So it was really fascinating to read the possibility that the US might be blackmailing the Greek Patriarch (using the millions missing from the Greek church 9/11 rebuild fund granted by the US govt), to get him to grant autocephaly to the schismatic church in the Ukraine. Specifically to destabilize, weaken and possibly remove altogether the hold of Russia in the Ukraine, so the US can have easier access to the oil.
(Which, as an aside, deeply angers me, that my own government would use religion, my religion, to divide people over greed for oil.)
And now there are rumors of war in the Ukraine, if seizures of Russian Orthodox-aligned churches and monasteries begin to occur. In which case Russia will certainly get militarily involved, and the US will certainly supply military aid to Proshenko, in the name of “religious freedom.”
Now, today, a report comes out that the FBI had opened an investigation into whether Trump was working secretly for Russia when he fired Comey.
And the thought entered my mind: Is this “news” being released in anticipation of a proxy war with Russia in the Ukraine, both to discredit Trump and to justify military aid to the Ukraine in the event of war with Russia?
Maybe I’m going too far down a rabbit hole here. And I trust God above all to direct events. But I’ve also learned never to underestimate the human capacity for evil and deceit, along with the great capacity for goodness.
And, I enjoy your analysis. So thought I’d throw in my thoughts, to see if they make any sense.
Thank you. Yep, I’d say the DS isn’t going to go down without a fight. They’re definitely backing Trump into a corner.
“Regarding this NYT story from this weekend,
imagine you are a FBI Agent working Russian counterintelligence in 2016 and you witness the following:
– you witnessed Russian hackers targeting a wide swath of Americans including the DNC, DCCC, former Secretary of State & a Presidential candidates staff
– someone previously targeted by Russian Intelligence joins the Trump campaign and then appears on a stage in Moscow supporting Russia policy and speaking negatively of US policy
– A Presidential candidate hires a new campaign manager whose not been in the business in the states for years, but has been seen pushing a Russian agenda in Ukraine and has Russian intel contacts
– an Australian official contacts you and says the Russians have stolen emails of a Presidential candidate & may want to give them to the candidate’s competitor
– a Russian lawyer & others tied to Russian government visit a Presidential candidate’s son in the candidate’s building in NYC
– Candidate Trump stands on a stage and calls out Russia and asks about emails from his competitor, says they will be rewarded if they have them and release them
– website that’s released sensitive & classified documents from US for years, helped deliver a US insider to The Kremlin, begins publishing document & emails during Dem convention, content you know was stolen by Russia. Site administrator once hosted a TV show on Russia State TV
– A strange, unexpected policy change occurs at RNC convention, the change is a less supportive position toward Ukraine and is advantageous to Russia
– candidate’s campaign manager goes on CNN and asserts a false terrorist attack in Turkey, one tied to and advanced by Russian propaganda
Manafort Off Base on Terrorist Claim – FactCheck.org
Paul Manafort, Donald Trump’s campaign chairman, wrongly claimed that “the NATO base in Turkey” was attacked last week by “terrorists.” Middle East experts told us there wasn’t any such attack.
https://www.factcheck.org/2016/08/manafort-off-base-on-terrorist-claim/
– during this time, you watch a campaign associate tweet with a Russian account that’s pointing people to stolen documents from the opposing campaign. The campaign associate predicts something will happen to the opposing campaign manager- his emails are later released
– as Election Day approaches, Presidential candidate makes allegation, without evidence, voter Fraud & Election Rigging, Russia propaganda echoes this, social media accounts associated Kremlin do the same, at same time, you watch Russian Hackers hit state election infrastructure
After election, current President issues sanctions against Russia, but the incoming National Security advisor makes calls to Russian officials from 3rd country, when approached for clarification post inauguration, the advisor lies about contents of phone call w/Russian officials
During summer fall leading into the election, you receive raw intelligence from highly reliable source whose proven invaluable on other investigations. source provides intelligence on Russia’s efforts to support a presidential candidate, the info is consistent with other info
Before inauguration your bosses, your leaders from all intelligence agencies brief president elect on classified info showing Russia influenced the election on behalf of President elect. President elect rejects intelligence from all your superiors and suggests Russia innocent
From the summer of 2015 all the way through the election and after inauguration, you watch as the candidate, president elect and now president offers overt effusive support for Vladimir Putin who you know has been helping the President get elected.
Shortly after inauguration, your new commander-in-chief spouts false information about Polish aggression toward Belarus. This is not supported by the Intelligence community you are in, and the only source for this viewpoint is Russian propaganda
After firing of National Security Advisor that lies to you agencies investigators, the President corners your boss 1-1 asks him to go easy on National Security Advisor who lies about his conversation with Russians
During this period, the President inexplicably and repeatedly asks your boss if he’s under investigation with regards to Russia, despite your boss and other intel heads going out of their way to brief the President about Kremlin efforts to potentially compromise & manipulate him
While Congressional committees investigate Russian interference, the President fires your boss for his handling of an email investigation into the President’s opponent, an investigation that helped elevate the President rather than hurt him
You later find out a draft memo from President to your boss regarding his firing cited the Russia investigation
The President then goes on national television and in an interview says he fired your boss because of the Russia investigation
A week after firing your boss, the President invites Russian leaders into the Oval Office, Russian photographers capture the moment, but US media is not allowed to observe. President then brags to Russian leaders about firing your boss
Sometime during the spring, if you’re not already aware, you read a news story alleging the President’s son-in-law may have sought a way to communicate with Russia via a back channel not monitored by you and your colleagues
During summer, you watch the President attend NATO summit and shove Montenegro PM, in an Interview claim Montenegro is aggressive, might start a war. This mirrors Russian propaganda & you know Russia backed covert operation destabilize Montenegrin election
For next year, either you, your colleagues and your organization, FBI, are discredited by President. He mixes true and false information in public disclosures which you are not allowed to respond to. If you do respond, your accused of leaking and could be fired or even jailed
Documents & information from confidential sources you’ve pledged to protect, are selectively leaked into public through those who are supposed to provide government oversight. These inappropriate disclosures make your job as an investigator nearly impossible & hurts your sources
At some point during the summer or before, you learn that the President’s son was receiving & responding to direct messages from website that was releasing emails stolen from the President’s opponent by Russia
1st two years President’s term, you watch him take a negative, adversarial stance toward NATO and particularly Germany. This strains your relationship with your most valuable intel partners, your Counterterrorism agent colleagues depend on them & they help fight war on terror
Over next 2 years, President aggressively seeks meetings with Putin who helped elect him. Need for meetings is not clear. one President meets in private with Putin for 2 hours without witnesses but translator. To this day, you, your bosses don’t really know what was discussed
President emerges from private meeting with Putin and on world stage in Helsinki accepts and validates Russian denials about election interference & rejects years of your teams intel work. This badly damages your reputation and partner trust with your organization
Separately, your President publicly discusses a Russian proposed partnership on cyber security, this insane concept is mind boggling to you as an investigator as you’ve just spent years tracking these same Russians who just attacked your country.”
“… Even further, your President publicly mentions a possible exchange where Russian investigators might interview and interrogate you and other Americans about their attack on you and America. A crazy, frightening and bizarre threat to you as a civil servant.
Throughout your investigation into Russian interference, you watch as your President’s attacks on the Special Counsel, Justice Department & FBI are amplified and spread in America by the very Russian troll social media accounts and state sponsored propaganda you are investigating
Throughout the Special Counsel indictments, hearings and trials, you watch the President and his legal team publicly interject, discredit witnesses and discuss pardons, all subverting the rule of law and justice which you’ve dedicated your life to protect and defend
You either know or learn a parallel investigation shows Russians representing a bogus Russian gun rights movement penetrated the political party hosting members who’ve tried to discredit you – you recognize this as a TEXTBOOK espionage/influence op you learned at FBI academy
After two years, the Attorney General over you, who appropriately recused himself from Russia investigation, is fired for seemingly no clear reason after taking public lashings from the President
Your AG is replaced by an acting AG whose unqualified for position, has limited experience justify such high level appointment, you’ve watched him on TV discrediting your agency and your team’s investigation despite seeing none of evidence or knowing anything Russian influence
The same month, the President’s personal lawyer pleads guilty in federal court and says he continued negotiations throughout almost the entire Presidential campaign for a Tower in Moscow. This is in opposition to President’s public denials.
You read public reporting that the best apartment in the Moscow Tower project pursued by the President’s business was offered to Russia’s President Putin, the same Putin your President always sides with over you and your agency, the Putin who helped your President win
You either knew or learned through a redaction error that the President’s campaign manager was alleged to have lied about providing polling data to a Russian whom he owed money, via a former Russian GRU contact
Wrote thread through day from memory without web searches, I’m sure I missed a lot, & this is all on the public, can’t imagine what it must feel like to serve FBI during this investigation,we clearly don’t know everything Mueller team knows, I imagine there is much more to learn
Special Counsel investigation must continue, this is a crisis, this is a national emergency.”
Public domain, tweet storm. By Clint Watts
Still chanelling Tailgunner Joe?
lol
Just to be clear: I think that Sen McCarthy was a flawed man who performed a great public service. Communists had infiltrated every facet of American life amd politics.
What’s laughable is that leftists today actually believe all this Russian collusion nonsense.
In other words when the Soviet Union was actually underlining America in the 50s you refused to believe it. Now, in order to justify Hagetha’s defeat, they fabricate a Russian angle.
Ironic and silly at the same time.
My two cents worth is to stay away from the rabbit hole….you’ll never get out!
As my last couple responses to George Michalopulos continue to languish in the Monomakhos moderation tollhouses, I can’t help but note in the interim the trend for Trump’s approval ratings, including Rasmussen, is, well, downward. I’m sure this is what winning the shutdown looks like.
Nate, that’s why it’s called a “hidden Trump vote”. And, yes I peg it at 5%.
You want proof? Ask President Hillary Clinton.
David Dinkins lost to Rudy Giuliani the same way. Some folks won’t tell pollsters the truth. But this can cut both ways. Greeks say they are overwhelmingly religious because they fear a future junta will go after them if they admit to being pagans.
Lots, it’s also called the Bradley Effect.
Again, your “hidden Trump vote” appears to be so hidden it doesn’t actually vote. Of course, neither do unicorns. The RCP polling average for Trump approval on 11/6/18 was: 43.5%. The GOP got 44.8% of the popular vote in the House. There’s no giant disconnect there!
You seem to want to pluck out a poll with the highest approval figure for Trump, then tack on another five points or more and insist that’s the *real* number. That’s pure wishful thinking. It certainly is not reflected in the results of the election we just had.
Uh, who again is President now?
The answer to that question is actually irrelevant to the topic at hand. The depressing thing is I really don’t think you understand why. Heck, the final 538 popular vote projections for 2016 compared to the actual results alone sink your hypothesis. Not that we are benchmarking the same thing in the midterms, but you’re wrong in either scenario.
That Trump won the 2016 election does not mean you get to invent imaginary polling numbers that don’t even track with recent election results. Although your best fantasy math is still claiming Trump gained four Senate seats. I still can’t fathom where you got that idea in your head.
Nate, you are so invested in the globalist paradigm that you can’t we which way the wind is blowing. Even Nate silver knew enough to hedge hos bets on thr last day.
Did you know that in Monday, Nov 7th, somebody in Hillary’s campaign cancelled the gigantic Hudson River fireworks extravaganza they had planned for the following night?
Bolsonaro likewise won in Brazil even though he was behind in the polls.
Things are changing Nate. Trump is riding the wave of this change.
And then, of course, there are those food pantries set up to help Coast Guard families that aren’t getting paychecks, because, well, the Coast Guard really won’t be needed if that wall gets built.