Courtesy of Politico:
President Donald Trump on Thursday thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for expelling American diplomats from Russia on the grounds that “we’re going to save a lot of money,” prompting dismay among many of the rank-and-file at the State Department.
“I want to thank him because we’re trying to cut down our payroll, and as far as I’m concerned I’m very thankful that he let go of a large number of people because now we have a smaller payroll,” Trump told reporters at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, according to a pool report.
“There’s no real reason for them to go back,” he added. “I greatly appreciate the fact that we’ve been able to cut our payroll of the United States. We’re going to save a lot of money.”
I watched this yesterday and my jaw just about hit the floor.
Seriously, WTF?
First off these diplomats are not off the payroll, they will simply be assigned to other posts.
And secondly since when does our commander-in-chief thank another world leader for ejecting American diplomats?
As you can imagine this did not go over well with people working in that field:
A senior U.S. diplomat serving overseas called Trump's remarks "outrageous" and said it could lead more State Department staffers to head for the exits.
"This is so incredibly demoralizing and disrespectful to people serving their country in harm's way," the diplomat said.
"I kid you not, I have heard from three different people in the last five minutes," one State Department official told POLITICO shortly after Trump's comments. "Everyone seems pretty amazed. This statement is naive and shortsighted. It sends a terrible signal to local employees everywhere."
"THANK Putin?" another bewildered State Department official responded. "I don't have words that are printable to describe my reaction."
It should be noted that this was yet another opportunity that Trump had to criticize Putin and he refused to take it. Instead he took to Twitter and attacked Mitch McConnell.
This led Joe Scarborough to suggest the following:
“The only person that I certainly can think of that he has never insulted, that he has never attacked is Vladimir Putin, which, again, raises the question, and I will ask it again on TV: What does Vladimir Putin have on Donald Trump?” Scarborough said. “Because whatever it is, it must be extraordinary.”
Yeah, I think at this point this is an unavoidable question.
OT Tweet bitch mcCONnell:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-11/mcconnell-handed-daunting-to-do-list-to-win-back-trump-s-favor
"Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, whom they blame for the failure of Obamacare. McConnell, to be clear, couldn’t be worthier of this reckoning. The basic deception at the heart of the Obamacare repeal campaign was his creation, as, in meaningful ways, is Trump’s presidency itself. That the madman McConnell brought to power is now wise to, and unhappy with, McConnell’s cynicism is a Shakespearean subplot in our otherwise quotidian flirtation with Armageddon."
Deletehttps://newrepublic.com/article/144301/republicans-remove-madman-power
O.T. but not all that far.
ReplyDelete"We Have Been at War in Iraq for 27 Years"
"Twenty-seven years. Hundreds of thousands of deaths, at least. Trillions of dollars squandered? Hardly. This was not an accident. It was, and continues to be, a spectacular payday. ...
"They hide much of that money offshore so it won't be taxed, and use the rest to buy politicians who tell you the country is broke, we're about austerity now, so no more school lunches for your kids and no more Medicaid for your mother. ..." - William Rivers Pitt
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/41582-we-have-been-at-war-in-iraq-for-27-years
Try longer boo boo. This whole War is a Racket fiasco started long ago and far away. Du Haust baby.
DeleteThe Opium Trade, Seventh through Nineteenth Centuries
Deletehttp://www.victorianweb.org/history/empire/opiumwars/opiumwars1.html
https://www.britannica.com/topic/opium-trade
Both Sides Now
http://www.historytoday.com/julia-lovell/opium-wars-both-sides-now
Afghanistan: The Making of a Narco State. After 13 years of war, we haven't defeated the Taliban, but we have managed to create a nation ruled by drug lords http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/afghanistan-the-making-of-a-narco-state-20141204
The Taliban’s Opium War http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/07/09/the-talibans-opium-war
FENTANYL
http://interactive.fusion.net/death-by-fentanyl/intro.html
@10:40 "Soviet period (1979–1989)"
Delete"As the Afghan government began to lose control of provinces during the Soviet invasion of 1979–80, warlords flourished. With that lack of control, opium production also expanded, as regional commanders searched for ways to generate money to purchase weapons, according to the United Nations"
"The secret operation was an excellent idea. It drew the Russians into the Afghan trap and you want me to regret it? On the day that the Soviets officially crossed the border, I wrote to President Carter, saying, in essence: 'We now have the opportunity of giving to the USSR its Vietnam War"The opium industry shifted from Pakistan into Afghanistan during the decade of the 1980$"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_production_in_Afghanistan
Incoming! Sacramento-CA!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.rawstory.com/2017/08/nra-tv-host-openly-roots-for-north-korea-to-nuke-california-instead-of-guam/
" left wingers who use “inflammatory rhetoric” that could inspire “unstable” individuals to commit acts of violence.
The irony of Stinchfield, who lives in Dallas, urging a foreign power to attack a major American city was not lost on his Twitter followers"
DIE $UCKA$>
Delete"The House Freedom Caucus wants to revive an earlier bill to simply repeal the Affordable Care Act"
http://www.politicususa.com/2017/08/11/health-care-danger-house-republicans-scramble-force-obamacare-repeal-vote.html
"Thank you, sir!! May I have another?!!"
ReplyDeleteOf coarse, you know, if it hadn't been for us Americans making a big stink about it, Trump by now would have transferred all the powers of the Untied States to Putin.
ReplyDeleteThat was the deal, wasn't it?
It's good manners and professional to thank your boss.
ReplyDeleteAnother WTF aspect is Trump declared he is the jobs creator guy then tweets a thank you for cutting the payroll. The tweets are around snarky young junior high level.
ReplyDeleteThe world is concerned no doubt due to the Apprentice tv character unbelievably elected.
Does anyone believe Trump that Putin is saving U.S. money? Those people are on the payroll and we are paying to lump them back to the states. Also, we are probably covering losses on houses and leases. Daffy Don strikes out again.
DeleteTrump Thanks Putin For Spanking America, Asks Him To Do It Harder
ReplyDeletehttps://wonkette.com/621533/trump-thanks-putin-for-spanking-america-asks-him-to-do-it-harder
Trump’s latest North Korea threat is scary. It’s also a lie.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.vox.com/world/2017/8/11/16130812/trump-north-korea-tweet-us-military
"t has taken just a few tweets and a couple of utterances from President Donald Trump to remind people that the planet can be turned into ashes by the act of one man." 1984>then merely a 38-year-old celebrity developer, shared his fantasies: He was hoping to build the “greatest hotel in the world” and construct the world’s “tallest” building in New York City—and one day become the United States’ chief negotiator with the Soviet Union for nuclear weapons. In between boasts of how rich and famous he was, Trump declared that he could negotiate a great nuclear arms deal with Moscow and said he wanted to head the US arms negotiating squad." “Some people have an ability to negotiate,” he said. “It’s an art you’re basically born with. You either have it or you don’t.” Trump claimed he would know exactly what to demand of the Russians—though that would have to remain a secret for the time being. He was undaunted by his lack of experience in the technical field of nuclear weaponry: “It would take an hour-and-a-half to learn everything there is to learn about missiles…I think I know most of it anyway. You’re talking about just getting updated on a situation…You know who really wants me to do this? Roy…I’d do it in a second.”. He took steps two years later to make this happen. In 1986, according to Bernard Lown, a cardiologist who invented the defibrillator and who received the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize for joining with a prominent Soviet physician to promote nuclear arms reduction, Trump met with him to discuss nuclear weapons." “I intend to call my good friend Ronnie,” meaning Reagan, “to make ME a plenipotentiary ambassador for the United States with Gorbachev.” he said he would go to Moscow and he’d sit down with Gorbachev, and then he took his thumb and he hit the desk and he said, “And within one hour the Cold War would be over!” I sat there dumbfounded. “Who is this self-inflated individual? Is he sane or what?”
Delete"Playboy, Trump was asked to describe his “longer-term views of the future.” Trump answered, “I think of the future, but I refuse to paint it. Anything can happen. But I often think of nuclear war.”I’ve always thought about the issue of nuclear war; it’s a very important element in my thought process. It’s the ultimate, the ultimate catastrophe, the biggest problem this world has, and nobody’s focusing on the nuts and bolts of it. It’s a little like sickness."
" I believe the greatest of all stupidities is people’s believing it will never happen, because everybody knows how destructive it will be, so nobody uses weapons. What bullshit…"Trump worried both that nuclear war was likely and that nuclear weapons would not function properly.
In an interview five years later, Trump was asked where he saw himself in five years. “Who knows?” he said. “Maybe the bombs drop from heaven, who knows? This is a sick world, we’re dealing here with lots of sickos. And you have the nuclear and you have the this and you have the that.” I think it’s sick human nature. If Hitler had the bomb, you don’t think he would have used it? He would have put the bomb right in the middle of Fifth Avenue. He would have used Trump Tower, 57th and Fifth. bOOm."in 2004—Trump again doled out the nuclear despondency. He was asked, “Do you think Trump Tower and your other buildings will bear your name a hundred years from now?”
No, I don’t think so…I don’t think any building will be here."This was 25 years ago, but he was right. The world is rocky, and some terrible things are going to happen. That’s why I lead the life I do. I enjoy it."
"He asserted that when it came to national security, he had “a very good brain.”"
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/08/trump-has-been-thinking-about-nuclear-war-for-decades-heres-why-thats-scary/
President *Likes* Tweet About Trump Sex-Trafficking Conspiracy Theory
ReplyDeletehttp://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/08/president-likes-tweet-about-trump-sex-trafficking-conspiracy.html
Imagine that phone call. Vlad: "I have saved you lots of money, da? Har har! Have another vodka shot on me! But only pour the vodka, nyet pee on me! Har har!
ReplyDeleteDonnie: "Mucho gracias, Vlad! Ooops, I mean 'speciba' har-de-har-har! That is so great I will copy it for my next laugh line, for I am the funniest politican of all history. Except for you, my love".
Donnie is indeed a third-grader trying to play chess with a grand master AND make up fart jokes at the same time. He will never get the deeply embedded intellectual history of Russian sarcasm. Never.
Wild Tortoise
Trump to dispatch Kushner to Middle East for peace efforts
ReplyDeletehttp://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/11/trump-sending-jared-kushner-to-middle-east-241538
Trump will be known as the Prince of Peace when he prove this showdown is for a great Non-Proliferation treaty.
Donald trump sucking Putin's cock again.
ReplyDeleteREMOVE!
ReplyDelete"as Trump makes unhinged threats to begin a nuclear war against North Korea, anyone who deluded themselves into taking a flyer on the Trump presidency no longer has any excuse for not recognizing what’s been plain all along: It is not remotely safe for him to hold this office."
https://newrepublic.com/article/144301/republicans-remove-madman-power
How Trump’s ‘Fire and Fury’ Rhetoric Plays Into North Korea’s Hands http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/08/10/how-trumps-fire-and-fury-rhetoric-plays-into-north-koreas-hands-215477
ReplyDeleteKid Rock gains GOP backing for U.S. Senate run
I've been wondering why a president on vacation would be mouthing off so much with so much anger and hysteria.
ReplyDeleteIt's clear that some of his hysteria is because of the FBI raid on Manafort's home/office this past week. Trump apparently fired the acting FBI director as soon as he learned of the raid. But every step Trump takes, from firing the FBI director, the FBI acting director and groveling before Putin over the dismissal of American diplomats from Russia all makes Trump look more and more guilty of collusion during the political campaign and perhaps of illegal money laundering, and who knows what else. Can't his lawyers tell him to calm down and lie low.
I find all of this extremely troubling. I remember the Cold War and I remember hearing and reading about what happened in the USSR and in all of Europe between 1930 and the 1950's. Obviously a lot of younger Americans have no such recollections but it behooves them to learn a little bit of world history in the coming days and weeks.
One of my fears now is that Trump will start his Asian war and the media will immediately drop the Russian investigation like a hot potato and again drool over the might of US weapons. Some of his loonier advisors may well suggest it. And Lindsay Graham is already sounding like he wants to do some saber rattling of his own. Remember how excited he got over Bush II's war in Iraq.
Beaglemom
Obviously a lot of younger Americans have no such recollections but it behooves them to learn a little bit of world history in the coming days and weeks.
DeleteYes. I was wondering how younger Americans would learn the history. Through twitter?
I've checked and Trump asked Sessions to fire the acting FBI director. Obviously Sessions has not yet done it.
DeleteBeaglemom
So the usa so called prez is happy about unemployed American gov workers. Talks payroll like it is his business. The anus thanks his conrade. Hello? 25? where are you?
ReplyDeleteMcConnell is the new Sessions.
ReplyDeleteThe heat's off Jeff and now on Mitch.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-knocks-mcconnell-health-care-couldnt-get-done-131328194.html
"President Trump continued to lash out at Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday, mocking the Kentucky Republican’s failure to pass new health care legislation.
“Can you believe that Mitch McConnell, who has screamed Repeal & Replace for 7 years, couldn’t get it done,” Trump tweeted. “Must Repeal & Replace ObamaCare!”
Trump followed up with another tweeted barb early Thursday afternoon.
“Mitch, get back to work and put Repeal & Replace, Tax Reform & Cuts and a great Infrastructure Bill on my desk for signing,” he wrote. “You can do it!”"
And now he's tweeting about firing McConnell instead of Sessions. He really *does* think he is on a reality TV show. The White House is just the new Apprentice, with bigger and better sets.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-mcconnell-agenda_us_598ca876e4b09071f6986114?section=us_politics
"President Donald Trump suggested Thursday that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) may be in trouble if he doesn’t deliver on such top administration items such as tax reform, repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and an overhaul of the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.
Asked by reporters at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club whether McConnell should step aside from his leadership post, Trump said, “You can ask me that question” if McConnell fails to make sufficient progress on the president’s agenda."
By last evening Trump was saying that his remarks thanking Putin were meant to be "sarcastic." His lawyers must have caught up with him to tell him to walk his statement back because if won't look good in the light of the Russian/Trump/GOP collusion investigation. We know that he was not being sarcastic when he made those statements though.
ReplyDeleteBeaglemom