Sorry, couldn't resist.

When I think of all the faux scandals that the Right Wing drummed up to go after Obama and his administration, and compare that to the very real scandals that seem to pop up almost every day with this new guy, I am almost left speechless.

If President Obama had one, even ONE, of the scandals orbiting around Trump they would have literally locked him up and thrown away the key.

Just a reminder that this is in large part why there is a Trump in the White House.

I don't see how a chart like this from Harvard doesn't result in mass apologies from the media. Instead they are defiant and hostile. pic.twitter.com/QXazJFR75j

— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) August 21, 2017

This is a breakdown of the coverage during the 2016 campaign.

The Russians could not do it alone, but fortunately they had the media to help them.

How Donald Trump attempts uses Twitter to manipulate the press.

How Trump uses his tweets to try & manipulate the press & American people in one gif. #TrumpMustResign #ImpeachTrump pic.twitter.com/VDQBfaNxtq

— Scott Dworkin (@funder) August 19, 2017

So accurate.

He also uses tactics like this: 

President Donald Trump plans to address the nation on his strategy for the war in Afghanistan. 

The White House says Trump will speak to the country on Monday at 9 p.m. EDT from Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia. 

Trump and his national security team met Friday at the Camp David presidential retreat in Maryland to reach agreement on a strategy.

Smoke and mirrors my friends, smoke and mirrors.

Literally EVERYTHING that Trump tweets or says right now is to distract us from the Russian investigations or the shit storm that is happening within the White House right now. 

Personally I am not that easily distracted.

Yep, this feels fairly prophetic.

The White House is now at war with itself.

I know it was you Fredo. You broke my heart.

Courtesy of McClatchy: 

Republicans are growing concerned that the staffs of Donald Trump and Mike Pence are starting to feud, the latest trouble to hit a White House that has spent months battling crisis after crisis. 

They worry that any rift could be delaying decisions, distracting aides from their already stalled legislative agenda and could lead to more infighting and leaks, problems that have plagued the White House since Inauguration Day. 

A half-dozen Republicans, including four who advised or worked for Trump’s campaign or transition and are still in contact with their former colleagues, said they think the two sides are talking less, disagreeing more and occasionally bad mouthing each others’ bosses. One said the staffs are “walled off” from each other. Several of the Republicans asked to not speak publicly because of the sensitivity of the situation. 

“There is clearly tension between the two staffs,” a former Trump adviser said. “There’s so much internet chatter. That’s going to fuel the animosity.” 

Republicans say it’s only natural that some of the president’s aides are reconsidering who they can trust as the White House continues to reel from an undisciplined president and multiple inquiries into whether Trump associates joined Russia in meddling in the presidential election. 

“The administration doesn’t know who to trust,” Republican strategist Michael Steel said. “When you’re under attack the circle tightens.” 

At the same time, Republicans say, some of the vice president’s aides say they are frustrated over Trump’s many self-inflicted wounds, some of which the conventional and even-keeled Pence is forced to try to explain away as he looks to smooth over hurt feelings with members of even his own party. 

“Trump does something and Mike Pence has to do cleanup,” Republican strategist Doug Heye said. “That can be very frustrating for staff.”

You know I've been waiting for this, because you knew it had to happen. 

Mike Pence only signed onto this three ring circus because he probably believed that the ringmaster would probably end up imploding and leaving him to run the show.

However though Trump is shooting himself in the foot almost every single day there is no sign that he will leave voluntarily, or that the Republicans in the House and Senate have the will to remove him forcibly.

That leaves Pence careening down the tracks on a runaway train that may never completely lose its grip on the tracks.

So what is Pence to do?

Continue on as the good soldier in the hope that in the end he will be rewarded?

Or does he start to sabotage from within in order to hasten the end of the Trump presidency?

Ooh, ooh, I vote for number two.

And even if Pence is not engaging in those types of behaviors I wonder how Trump will respond if he starts to believe that he is?

By the way, on a completely different topic, who do you think keeps leaking information to the media about what is happening inside the White House?

Trump is having a hard time finding Republicans willing to jump onto his sinking ship.

Who wouldn't want to join my team? It's the best, most amazing team ever.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

The array of legal and political threats hanging over the Trump presidency has compounded the White House’s struggles to fill out the top ranks of the government. 

Trump’s firing of FBI Director James B. Comey last month and the escalating probe into Russian interference in the presidential election have made hiring even more difficult, say former federal officials, party activists, lobbyists and candidates who Trump officials have tried to recruit. 

Republicans say they are turning down job offers to work for a chief executive whose volatile temperament makes them nervous. They are asking head-hunters if their reputations could suffer permanent damage, according to 27 people The Washington Post interviewed to assess what is becoming a debilitating factor in recruiting political appointees.

The hiring challenge complicates the already slow pace at which Trump is filling senior leadership jobs across government.

Of course the Administration is denying this report, because that is what they do.

Here is how Spicy responded:  

“I have people knocking down my door to talk to the presidential personnel office,” said White House press secretary Sean Spicer. “There is a huge demand to join this administration.”

Are those people "knocking down" the door the same people who said that Trump's inaugural numbers were the largest EVER, and that Trump is not being investigated by the Special Counsel I wonder?

Or is this a different group of imaginary people?

The facts really speak for themselves here:  

At this point, Trump has 43 confirmed appointees to senior posts, compared with the 151 top political appointees confirmed by mid-June in President Barack Obama’s first term and the 130 under President George W. Bush, according to data tracked by The Post and the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service’s Center for Presidential Transition.

And it makes perfect sense. 

After all it is one thing to offer verbal support for a president whose presidency is going down in flames, and quite another to strap your career to it's side so that you both plummet to your mutual demise together.

Just a reminder that the big scandal facing President Obama eight years ago at this time was that he used the wrong mustard on his hamburger.

At this point in the Obama presidency, a big scandal for Fox News was when he ordered the wrong mustard. pic.twitter.com/fB0PTmM8L8

— Dominic Holden (@dominicholden) June 8, 2017

Courtesy of Raw Story:

In news from eight years ago that appears to be from some alternate reality, Obama left the White House and went out for a local bite to eat with vice president and BFF Joe Biden in May. The two politicians ordered hamburgers, MSNBC journalist Andrea Mitchell reported at the time, with the sitting president requesting mustard on his red meat.

The story was featured on Sean Hannity's show, Hannity's America, as a screen showed a photoshopped image of Obama surrounded by bottles of mustard with the words "PRESIDENT POUPON" plastered on a red and white banner.

Yep that was all the conservative media had to work with back then, and let's face it from "Fast and Furious," to Benghazi, and to the poorly functioning website during the launch of Obamacare, they really never had any real factual scandals to work with.

Now compare that to today when we have Russian interference in our elections to benefit the current president, numerous folks in the administration and campaign being fired, and multiple serious investigations directed at the current occupant of the White House and his associates.

Yeah, I bet the Trump folks WISH that the only scandal they were facing was that Donald Trump used a snooty brand of mustard.

I love the smell of impeachment in the morning.

Okay so many of us on the left have been talking impeachment since even before Trump was ever sworn into office.

Let's face it at that time it was just some wishful thinking by a bunch of lefties who were angry and confused by the outcome of the 2016 election.

But that is no longer the case my friends.

Courtesy of The Hill: 

Restive Democrats urging the impeachment of President Trump are amplifying their case Wednesday following new reports suggesting Trump pressed the FBI to drop a probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. 

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) spoke out at a closed-door Democratic Caucus meeting Wednesday morning, underscoring the urgency of removing Trump, whom the Democrats increasingly see as a national security liability. 

Also Wednesday morning, Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), who joined the impeachment push earlier in the week, took to the House floor to trumpet that call, characterizing his decision as a ”position of conscience.” 

"This is where I stand; I will not be moved,” said Green. “The president must be impeached."

Okay well this is a little more official since it is coming from actual Democrats in the House, but let's face it without Republicans on board there is no way to remove Trump from office.

But wait....

Courtesy of Mother Jones: 

For the first time, Republican members of Congress have gone on record suggesting that one of the scandals engulfing President Donald Trump could be an impeachable offense. Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) said Wednesday that if Trump did indeed ask former FBI Director James Comey to drop the bureau's investigation into former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, then that would constitute grounds for impeachment, according to the Hill's Cristina Marcos.

Amash was actually the second Republican lawmaker to suggest that Trump's alleged effort to shut down the Flynn probe could be an impeachable offense. "Any effort to stop the federal government from conducting an investigation, any effort to dissuade federal agents from proceeding with an investigation, is very serious and could be construed as obstruction of justice," said Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) on CNN Tuesday night. He added, "Obstruction of justice—in the case of Nixon, in the case of Clinton in the late 90s—has been considered an impeachable offense."

Now only two House Republicans making these statements certainly does not constitute a groundswell, but it IS the first step.

And in my opinion it is a step on a path that many other Republicans will soon find themselves on as well.

In less than four months Trump has suffered one self inflicted wound after another, and the wounds just keep getting deeper and deeper.

It does not seem possible that leaking that classified information to the Russians, and having it revealed that he attempted to get the FBI Director to drop that Russian collusion investigation, is survivable even by Donald Trump.

And we know for a fact that there are still more scandals to come. 

Right now the Trump White House has zero credibility, so even if there WERE a false story printed by a news outlet very few people would believe a denial coming from the Trump Administration.

With a seemingly endless supply of gaffes and no credibility with the American people it feels like it is all done but the crying.

But here's the rub.

The first in the line of succession after Donald Trump is VP Mike Pence, who is perhaps in many ways even more dangerous to the country than Donald Trump.

Mike Pence does not believe in a woman's right to choose, does not believe in marriage equality, does not support legalized marijuana, is pro-school vouchers, is not a supporter of clean energy, and plays just as fast and loose with the truth as Donald Trump.

Replacing Trump with Pence might seem like a good trade, but in fact it is not.

However if by some miracle Pence were also impeached, or forced out of office right along with Trump, that would leave Paul Ryan as the next in the line of succession.

I think we all know just what is wrong with having Ryan in the Oval Office. (The man has never met a social program that he thinks should last one more day.)

So even though it seems more likely than ever that Trump may be impeached what exactly does that solve for the Democrats?

Not a whole hell of a lot.

But there is one somewhat comforting thought. Donald Trump is a scorched earth personality type, so when the effort to remove him from office actually kicks off he is going to go on the attack.

By the time they pry Trump's stubby orange fingers from the doorjamb of the White House front entrance, he may have so damaged his named successor and the Republican party that the Dems could run Anthony Wiener in 2020 and still take back the presidency.

In the meantime I suggest all of you stock up on popcorn, because this three ring circus is just getting started.

Nobody wants to be Trump's new FBI Director. White House becomes political version of "Lord of the Flies."

Courtesy of Reuters:  

The Trump administration's search for a new FBI director hit roadblocks on Tuesday when two high-profile potential candidates, a moderate judge and a conservative senator, signaled they did not want the job. 

Advisers to Judge Merrick Garland and U.S. Senator John Cornyn of Texas told Reuters they discouraged them from leading the Federal Bureau of Investigation, cautioning that they would be leaving important, secure jobs for one fraught with politics and controversy. 

The advisers, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the new FBI director would have little job security and heightened scrutiny by political observers following President Donald Trump's abrupt firing of James Comey on May 9. 

Garland and Cornyn distancing themselves from the selection process just three days before Trump has said he may make a decision, points to the difficulties the White House has in filling the FBI post amid turmoil in the administration.

Actually Trey Gowdy also took his name out of consideration.

And who can blame these people?

After all the White House has definitely hit the iceberg and is taking on water at an alarming rate.

In fact the entire thing might capsize at any minute.

This from the New York Times:  

The president’s appetite for chaos, coupled with his disregard for the self-protective conventions of the presidency, has left his staff confused and squabbling. And his own mood, according to two advisers who spoke on the condition of anonymity, has become sour and dark, and he has turned against most of his aides — even his son-in-law, Jared Kushner — describing them in a fury as “incompetent,” according to one of those advisers. 

As the maelstrom raged around the staff, reports swirled inside the White House that the president was about to embark on a major shake-up, probably starting with the dismissal or reassignment of Sean Spicer, the press secretary.

Yeah like Sean Spicer is the problem here.

But wait, there's more:  

Some of Mr. Trump’s senior advisers fear leaving him alone in meetings with foreign leaders out of concern he might speak out of turn. General McMaster, in particular, has tried to insert caveats or gentle corrections into conversations when he believes the president is straying off topic or onto boggy diplomatic ground. 

This has, at times, chafed the president, according to two officials with knowledge of the situation. Mr. Trump, who still openly laments having to dismiss Mr. Flynn, has complained that General McMaster talks too much in meetings, and the president has referred to him as “a pain,” according to one of the officials.

So now we are at the part of the movie where the mad king starts having his advisers beheaded as he slips further and further into the icy grip of madness.

You know the fifth season of House of Cards is scheduled to return at the end of this month, but I am wondering if there is even an audience for it anymore.

After all why turn our attention to a fictional account of a White House in crisis, when we have a real live version going on right before our eyes?

Fox News is not only being sued for sexual harassment, but also racial discrimination.

Courtesy of New York Magazine:  

Next week, according to sources, seven black Fox News employees plan to join a racial-discrimination suit filed last month by two colleagues. The original lawsuit alleged that Fox News’ longtime comptroller, Judy Slater, subjected members of Fox’s payroll staff to racial insults for years. (Fox News fired Slater in February after those employees began litigation against the network.) 

Lawyers representing the payroll employees are demanding that Fox’s accounting director, Tammy Efinger, also be removed from supervising an employee because she allegedly participated in Slater’s racist behavior. In a letter to the network’s lawyers obtained by New York, the attorneys state: “Not once did Ms. Efinger step in or attempt to interfere with Ms. Slater’s outrageous conduct.” The letter adds, instead, “Ms. Efinger chose to laugh or giggle following Ms. Slater’s vitriol.” 

The letter also includes new allegations of racism in Fox News’ accounting department. According to the plaintiffs’ attorneys, Slater demanded that black female employees hold “arm wrestling matches’” with white female employees in her office, just down the hall from Ailes’s office on the second floor of Fox headquarters. “Forcing a black woman employee to ‘fight’ for the amusement and pleasure of her white superiors is horrifying. This highly offensive and humiliating act is reminiscent of Jim Crow era battle royals,” the letter says, referring to the practice of paying black men to fight blindfolded at carnivals for white spectators’ entertainment. The lawyers argue that Efinger bragged about wanting to “fight” a black employee.

They made black employees arm wrestle?

They might as well have forced them to sing old plantation songs and call all of the white men "Massa."

You know I kind of scoffed at the idea that Fox News was going to be forced to close its doors, but now I am a little less sure they will survive.

Now Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz is suggesting that he might not even finish out his term. But remember, there is nothing suspicious here.

Courtesy of Fox 13: 

The day after making a jaw-dropping announcement that he won't seek re-election, Congressman Jason Chaffetz told FOX 13 he may not even finish his term in office. 

“When I contemplate another 200 nights away from home, it is just too much,” Chaffetz told FOX 13 news anchor Bob Evans. 

Hours later, Chaffetz released a statement, adding: "My future plans are not yet finalized but I haven't ruled out the possibility of leaving early. In the meantime, I still have a job to do and have no plans to take my foot off the gas." 

The announcement led to more speculation and some suspicion about the 3rd District congressman's reasons for leaving. The powerful chairman of the House Oversight Committee has repeatedly cited turning 50, growing weary of sleeping on his office cot, and his family being back in Utah.

The first thing that everybody needs to keep in mind is that when a politician says they are quitting to spend more time with their family, that it is ALWAYS bullshit.

And as Mother Jones points out Chaffetz has been almost brutally aggressive with his ambitions:

Jason Chaffetz is so ambitious that his last name is a verb. 

In the political world, to Chaffetz means to throw a former mentor under the bus in order to get ahead, and various prominent Republicans, from former Utah governor and presidential candidate Jon Huntsman Jr. to House Majority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy, have experienced what it's like to get Chaffetzed. 

MJ goes on however to suggest that this might be some carefully laid out plan by Chaffetz to make distance between himself and Donald Trump while he plots his return to politics.

However I am still of a mind that there is something seriously scandalous that Chaffetz is attempting to head off or stay well clear of, and that the only thing he is doing is covering his own ass.

Keep in mind the lesson of Sarah Palin.

Once you quit partway through your term the road back is virtually nonexistent.

That Pizzagate dude threatens to drop a "motherload" of truth on Donald Trump if he fires Stephen Bannon.

Courtesy of The Daily Beast: 

A week after President Donald Trump began to publicly distance himself from White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, alt-right ringleader Mike Cernovich threatened to release a “motherlode” of stories that could “destroy marriages” if Bannon is formally let go from the administration. 

Cernovich made the claims that he’d release a series of “scoops” if Bannon is officially pushed out of the White House on an eleven-minute, self-recorded Periscope Thursday night. 

“If they get rid of Bannon, you know what’s gonna happen? The motherlode. If Bannon is removed, there are gonna be divorces, because I know about the mistresses, the sugar babies, the drugs, the pill popping, the orgies. I know everything,” said Cernovich. 

“If they go after Bannon, the mother of all stories is gonna drop, and we’re just gonna destroy marriages, relationships—it’s gonna get personal.”

I have no idea if this conspiracy theorist is bluffing or not, but I certainly hope that Trump calls his bluff so that we can find out.

Come on Donny you're not going to let this little punk ass threaten you like that are you?

Oh wait, the little punk ass is already starting to backtrack: 

“Fake news people are claiming that I threatened the Trump administration because I said I would release damaging information about Deep State,” Cernovich said in a self-recorded Periscope video Friday night. “I would never threaten anyone in the Trump family, legally or otherwise.”

Yes how dare the "fake news people" simply quote you verbatim.

Actually I guess if Trump does NOT fire Bannon we have no real choice but to believe that this Cernovich fellow really does have evidence of Trump's mistresses, orgies, and pill popping, right?

I mean, what else are we to assume?

So why is Donald Trump's favorite tabloid, the National Enquirer, suddenly throwing Michael Flynn under the bus?

Inside the tabloid you see this:

Source

The Enquirer claims that their source for this accusation is in the White House.

In the past the Enquirer has had seemingly unfettered access to Donald Trump, who by the way is also in the White House.

I'm just saying.

So exactly what has happened that would convince the White House to scapegoat Michael Flynn?

Well, it might have something to do with this:

Former Central Intelligence Agency Director James Woolsey told CNN Friday that former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn met with representatives of the Turkish government in 2016 and discussed potential ways to send a foe of Turkey's president back to face charges in that country. 

As a representative of his consulting firm, Flynn Intel Group, Flynn met with senior representatives of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government in September 2016, Woolsey said. Woolsey was a Trump campaign adviser at the time and attended the meeting, but said he arrived after it was already well underway. 

Woolsey claims that those present discussed sending Fethullah Gulen, a Muslim leader who Erdogan has accused of being behind a failed military coup to overthrow him, back to Turkey to face charges -- possibly outside the legal US extradition system. 

"What I saw and heard was sort of the end of the conversation -- it's not entirely clear what transpired because of that," Woolsey said on "CNN Tonight" with Don Lemon. "But it looks as if there was at least some strong suggestion by one or more of the Americans present at the meeting that we would be able, the United States would be able, through them, to be able to get hold of Gulen, the rival for Turkey's political situation."

Yeah, that's pretty troubling. And when added to the fact that there are transcripts of conversations that Flynn had  a Russian ambassador, and that he was paid by Russian-related entities, I guess Trump might be thinking he needs to cut Flynn lose before things get traced back to him.

OR, it could be because of this:

From my sources and what has been openly reported, it increasingly looks like #Flynn may have a deal with the FBI. #trumprussia pic.twitter.com/U0PHdexlFV

— Juliette Kayyem (@juliettekayyem) March 25, 2017

Oooh, the plot thickens.

Under a cloud of scrutiny Jeff Sessions has recused himself from any current or future investigation into the ties between Donald Trump and Russia.

Courtesy of the New York Times:  

Attorney General Jeff Sessions, facing a chorus of criticism over his contacts with the Russian ambassador, recused himself Thursday from any current or future investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. His conversations with the ambassador, Sergey I. Kislyak, came amid suspected Russian hacking directed at Hillary Clinton’s campaign. 

Mr. Sessions said he made the decision after meeting with senior career officials at the Justice Department. He said he would not take part in any investigations “related in any way to the campaigns for president of the United States.” 

He also strongly denied that any of his conversations with Russian officials were related to the presidential campaign. And he said he did not intend to deceive the Senate when he said he had no such meetings with Russian officials.

Sure, whatever you say buddy.

At this point I am just so jaded that simply do not believe a fucking word that comes out of this administration.

And there are those on the other side of the aisle who seem to share my lack of confidence.

And we need Attorney General Jeff Sessions – who should have never been confirmed in the first place – to resign. We need it now.

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 2, 2017

We are far past recusal. Jeff #Sessions lied under oath. Anything less than resignation or removal from office is unacceptable.

— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) March 2, 2017

I can only imagine the shit storm happening behind the scenes in the Trump White House right now.

I wonder if some of the staff are now taking bets on which domino will fall next?

Vox provides a timeline for all of the Trump-Russian scandals.

And remember, there are more coming every day it seems.

Hey look! Track Palin is back in the news.

Courtesy of the Daily Mail:

Track Palin's ex-girlfriend has been granted a short-term order of protection that prohibits him from coming near her or their newborn. 

Jordan Loewe filed for the protection order from Sarah Palin's eldest son on January 12 in Alaska Court, listing the reason as domestic violence, according to The Dirty. 

It remains unclear what exactly Loewe is alleging against Track, but the protection comes just weeks after the mother asked for full custody of their newborn son. 

Loewe will have the chance to plead her case for a long-term protection order at a hearing that has been scheduled for later this month. 

Of course none of this is exactly news to all of you since we have been covering it every step of the way. 

However now that it has made news again, I think it behooves us to broadcast it far and wide just in case Sarah Palin thinks nobody is paying attention to her tribe up misfits anymore.

Besides we do have some new information to share, such as the fact that Dakota's old attorney Kathleen Colbo is now representing Track (Smart move as it might present a conflict of interest if she is already representing the Palin family once things go south between Dakota and Bristol.), and they have filed a motion to make the case records confidential. 

Yeah that is the typical Palin move.

This is how they protect themselves and control their legal adversaries.

However this only keeps folks in the media from directly accessing the records.

If Jordan has a brain in her head she will flatly refuse to sign any confidentiality agreement, and threaten to talk to the press if the Palins don't back the fuck off.

Because THAT is how you beat the Palins.

And trust me, I know.

An image attempting to bring us up to date on Donald Trump's many scandals. tweets, and gaffes.

Source

Of course there are literally new bombshells being revealed every day so I am positive this is outdated. (Here is a cheat sheet which is also probably not up to date.)

Welcome to October folks.

John Oliver comparing the scandals of Hillary to Donald Trump's is something you must see before the debate tonight.

My favorite part:

Think of it like this: Ethical failings in a politician are like raisins in a cookie ... They shouldn't be there. They disgust people. But most politicians have at least a few raisins. Hillary arguably has more raisins than average. There's probably 10 of these little fuckers in there … But [Trump] is a fucking raisin monsoon! He is ethically compromised to an almost unprecedented degree. So if you don't like raisins, I get it – they're disgusting. But unfortunately, this November, you're gonna have to swallow 10 or we're all going to be eating this shit for years.

I hate raisins so this was the perfect metaphor.

And that is really it.

Sure Hillary Clinton has done some things which can be interpreted as shady. But when you really examine them, there is really very little or nothing scandalous to be found.

However Donald Trump is so unbelievably corrupt, manipulative,  and full of shit that you become exhausted when reading about his numerous and never ending scandals.

There really is no choice here.

Only one of these people should ever even be considered for a job in politics, especially for the most important political job on the planet.

You know you have slipped down the rabbit hole when Bill O'Reilly is the voice of reason.

Courtesy of TPM: 

Calling the Instagram video “kind of tawdry stuff,” O’Reilly told Trump, “I'm not sure that this is a good thing…to do that” before trailing off. 

“Well, I’m only responding to what they do. She’s been very nasty, and I said I’d like it to be on policy, straight down the middle,” he said before trumpeting recent poll numbers. 

O’Reilly interrupted to say “every human being on earth” saw those poll numbers. 

“I understand what you are trying to do here is inhibit Mrs. Clinton from attacking you personally by saying, ‘if you play that game, then can I come back 10 times harder.’ I understand that,” the “O’Reilly Factor” host said. 

He continued: “But you know that it makes the country look bad abroad and things like that. That's what worries me. I understand the Clinton attack machine. I got it, and I think it has to be dealt with somewhat. But I think maybe caution.”

Man I hate to have to agree with Bill O'Reilly but of course he is right, this election season has certainly damaged our credibility around the world.

In fact many world leaders have expressed actual fear at the thought of a Trump presidency. And these are not our enemies, these are our allies.

Of course why Trump thinks these attacks against Hillary, the so called "Enabler," and Bill, the so called "Predator," will work in 2016 is because while all of us who lived through the Monica Lewinsky drama and impeachment debacle of the 90's, have moved on and think it no longer matters, there are a whole group of Millennial women who have not heard these stories before.

Trump is counting on the fact that he can fan the flames of outrage, which seem to always be right under the surface with the young folks today, and get them to reject Hillary out of hand, despite the fact that she would be infinitely more empathetic to their needs as women and far more likely to support legislation that protects them and their rights.

Will it work?

Well I would think not.

But to be honest I am not entirely sure.

After all look how easy it was for the Sanders' campaign to convince their followers that Hillary was a Republican-lite.

Donald Trump seems to have skipped a crucial step in preparing to run for President. And it could be his undoing.

Courtesy of Mother Jones:  

For most major presidential campaigns, it is a routine act: You conduct opposition research on your own candidate. The reason is obvious; campaign officials and candidates want to know what they might have to contend with once the you-know-what starts flying. But not Donald Trump. At least not at the start of the campaign that would lead to him becoming the presumptive GOP nominee. According to a source with direct knowledge, when Trump was considering entering the presidential race early last year, his political advisers, including Corey Lewandowski, who would become his campaign manager, suggested that he hire a professional to investigate his past. But the celebrity mogul said no and refused to pay for it. 

Marital infidelity, connections to mob-related persons, bankruptcies, the hiring of undocumented workers, policy flip-flops, deals gone bad, legal troubles—Trump's life is an opposition researcher's dream. That was no secret to his political lieutenants, who prior to his announcement discussed the need to conduct a deep dive into the tycoon's background. The point was to do more than Google searches and perusing of the many books written on Trump—and to instead mount a full forensic examination of everything Donald. Especially before anyone else did. (Trump's aides had heard a rumor that wealthy conservative donors, perhaps including the Koch brothers, were underwriting a private opposition research effort aimed at the former reality TV star.) 

"Everyone does this," says a former Mitt Romney aide. "I don't know a campaign that didn't. It's a standard procedure." Political research firms specialize in this sort of work. "It's an off-the-shelf service they provide," this aide notes. "For X dollars, you get a different level of digging. I've never known a campaign that didn't do this. After all, you're expected to know your own record. Any responsible campaign would do that."

I think the key phrase here is "responsible campaign." 

Let's face it Trump is an "in the moment" kind of guy who can say today today the exact opposite of what he said in the past, such as he recently did concerning Libya, and expect nobody to call him out over it.

The problem for Trump is that the Clintons are experts at oppositional research and if there are smoking guns to be found, they will in fact be found.

Their challenge is in making sure that it actually sticks to Trump and makes it harder for people to justify voting for him. So far nothing that we know, and we know a lot, seems to have accomplished that feat.