Amazing opinion piece in NY Times
ctrzaska said:
As far as I can read it, any Dem holding this op-ed up as something of material import that bodes ill for this bizarre administration is either desperate for something— anything— to cling to, or hopelessly shortsighted. Or both.
Interesting comment as I don't see any Dem applying any significant import to this.
Have you been talking to Glenn Greenwald again?
Thought this was funny:
I Am Part of the Police Department Inside This Bank Robbery
“Machine Gun” Bill McGuire, the leader of the gang of hardened criminals currently robbing the First National Bank, is facing a test to his leadership unlike any faced by a modern American bank robber.
It’s not just that the building is surrounded by police officers. Or that he’s running out of hostages to bargain with. Or even that the sentries he posted in the loading dock don’t seem to be responding over their walkie-talkies anymore.
The dilemma—which he does not fully grasp—is that many of the senior henchmen inside his own gang are working diligently from within the bank to paint ourselves as heroes in the press while continuing to stuff our duffel bags with as much money as we can grab.
I would know. I am one of them.
To be clear, ours is not the popular “police department” of the government, the one that enforces the laws against robbing banks. We want the robbery to succeed and think that the part where we made the bank clerks hand over all the money in their drawers at gunpoint was a step in the right direction.
But we believe our first duty is to make it out of the bank alive so we can spend the money we have stolen, and “Machine Gun” McGuire continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to our escape.
(slate)
drummerboy said:
LOL - Rand Paul is calling for lie detector tests in the WH to uncover the rat.
So much for his claiming to be a "Libertarian" supporting freedom.
PVW said:
Thought this was funny:
I Am Part of the Police Department Inside This Bank Robbery
“Machine Gun” Bill McGuire, the leader of the gang of hardened criminals currently robbing the First National Bank, is facing a test to his leadership unlike any faced by a modern American bank robber.(slate)
It’s not just that the building is surrounded by police officers. Or that he’s running out of hostages to bargain with. Or even that the sentries he posted in the loading dock don’t seem to be responding over their walkie-talkies anymore.
The dilemma—which he does not fully grasp—is that many of the senior henchmen inside his own gang are working diligently from within the bank to paint ourselves as heroes in the press while continuing to stuff our duffel bags with as much money as we can grab.
I would know. I am one of them.
To be clear, ours is not the popular “police department” of the government, the one that enforces the laws against robbing banks. We want the robbery to succeed and think that the part where we made the bank clerks hand over all the money in their drawers at gunpoint was a step in the right direction.
But we believe our first duty is to make it out of the bank alive so we can spend the money we have stolen, and “Machine Gun” McGuire continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to our escape.
Hey I posted that this morning!
J/K Like the Kaepernick Nike ad, I’ve seen a whole bunch of creative and funny parodies of this op-ed today.
ridski said:
PVW said:Hey I posted that this morning!
Thought this was funny:
I Am Part of the Police Department Inside This Bank Robbery
“Machine Gun” Bill McGuire, the leader of the gang of hardened criminals currently robbing the First National Bank, is facing a test to his leadership unlike any faced by a modern American bank robber.(slate)
It’s not just that the building is surrounded by police officers. Or that he’s running out of hostages to bargain with. Or even that the sentries he posted in the loading dock don’t seem to be responding over their walkie-talkies anymore.
The dilemma—which he does not fully grasp—is that many of the senior henchmen inside his own gang are working diligently from within the bank to paint ourselves as heroes in the press while continuing to stuff our duffel bags with as much money as we can grab.
I would know. I am one of them.
To be clear, ours is not the popular “police department” of the government, the one that enforces the laws against robbing banks. We want the robbery to succeed and think that the part where we made the bank clerks hand over all the money in their drawers at gunpoint was a step in the right direction.
But we believe our first duty is to make it out of the bank alive so we can spend the money we have stolen, and “Machine Gun” McGuire continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to our escape.
J/K Like the Kaepernick Nike ad, I’ve seen a whole bunch of creative and funny parodies of this op-ed today.
So you did, I missed it!
Sorry about that
It’s all good. You’re one of my favorite posters here, I’m glad your back.
Plausible Deniability only goes so far. This person needs to become the face of the resurrection of republican party or the face of the cowards who said I told u so.
drummerboy said:
ctrzaska said:Interesting comment as I don't see any Dem applying any significant import to this.
As far as I can read it, any Dem holding this op-ed up as something of material import that bodes ill for this bizarre administration is either desperate for something— anything— to cling to, or hopelessly shortsighted. Or both.
Have you been talking to Glenn Greenwald again?
Four pages of posts on nothing? It’s like a Seinfeld episode, then. At least we can agree there’s no significant import attached.
ctrzaska said:
drummerboy said:Four pages of posts on nothing? It’s like a Seinfeld episode, then. At least we can agree there’s no significant import attached.
ctrzaska said:Interesting comment as I don't see any Dem applying any significant import to this.
As far as I can read it, any Dem holding this op-ed up as something of material import that bodes ill for this bizarre administration is either desperate for something— anything— to cling to, or hopelessly shortsighted. Or both.
Have you been talking to Glenn Greenwald again?
Well, most of the posts are speculation about who it might have been, and the rest are talking about the guy's motivations. Can't think of anyone posting that this might actually have an effect on anything.
It's just another Trump sh!tshow.
drummerboy said:
ctrzaska said:Well, most of the posts are speculation about who it might have been, and the rest are talking about the guy's motivations. Can't think of anyone posting that this might actually have an effect on anything.
drummerboy said:Four pages of posts on nothing? It’s like a Seinfeld episode, then. At least we can agree there’s no significant import attached.
ctrzaska said:Interesting comment as I don't see any Dem applying any significant import to this.
As far as I can read it, any Dem holding this op-ed up as something of material import that bodes ill for this bizarre administration is either desperate for something— anything— to cling to, or hopelessly shortsighted. Or both.
Have you been talking to Glenn Greenwald again?
It's just another Trump sh!tshow.
Right about that. Anyone reading it has already decided to vote for whatever Dem comes down the line. His base isn't gonna put down American Rifleman to read the editorial.
ctrzaska said:
drummerboy said:Four pages of posts on nothing? It’s like a Seinfeld episode, then. At least we can agree there’s no significant import attached.
ctrzaska said:Interesting comment as I don't see any Dem applying any significant import to this.
As far as I can read it, any Dem holding this op-ed up as something of material import that bodes ill for this bizarre administration is either desperate for something— anything— to cling to, or hopelessly shortsighted. Or both.
Have you been talking to Glenn Greenwald again?
Four pages of posts on nothing isn't exactly unique for this discussion board. And we're talking about the reaction, especially on the GOP side, as opposed to "holding this op-ed up as something of material import". Most of us here already know that the administration is a dumpster fire.
LOST said:
drummerboy said:So much for his claiming to be a "Libertarian" supporting freedom.
LOL - Rand Paul is calling for lie detector tests in the WH to uncover the rat.
He never was.
He loudly postures his opposition to Republican party positions or votes that he finds are not "Libertarian". However, after being stroked by his leadership he always locksteps with the party.
A useless big bag of air. Shame on the voters who elect him.
I think the lawn mower/yard waste episode tells you all you need to know about Rand's oddball nature.
nohero said:
Most of us here already know that the administration is a dumpster fire.
There is almost nothing new in that op-ed, aside from the revelation that aides hide documents so that Trump can't sign them. This is the same that we've seen in the books from Wolf and Omarosa, as well as countless other revelations in news stories. What's "revealed" in the op-ed is mostly, plainly clear from Trump's public behavior for jeebus' sake.
The notion that anyone paying attention didn't already know that Trump is an ignorant, lazy, angry, malignant narcissist is absurd. And his supporters don't care because either they, like the op-ed writer, like the tax cut, the destruction of regulation and the installation of right wing ideologues on the courts, or because Trump's odious personality pisses off the libs. (Or both, more likely).
I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again. We as a country are screwed until things change on the right. Trump is a symptom of the sickness of American "conservatism" and the Republican Party. If he's jettisoned, there are other people out there just as bad as he is who can develop their own right wing cults of personality to take his place.
I don't see a way out of it, aside from massive increases in voter turnout among women, young people, and people of color all over the country, in every state. Nothing short of a super majority of Democrats in the Senate is going to change any of the circumstances we are seeing in our federal government.
LOST said:
drummerboy said:So much for his claiming to be a "Libertarian" supporting freedom.
LOL - Rand Paul is calling for lie detector tests in the WH to uncover the rat.
Yes, whenever a conservative talking head gets boycotted they scream censorship. But then some leaks some information and it's a manhunt.
Slate's argument for Huntsman-as-author is very interesting:
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/09/new-york-times-op-ed-anonymous-writer-trump.html
There was an amusing sidebar article in the NYTimes this morning, about who could be referred to as a "senior administration official". There are lots of them.
nohero said:
There was an amusing sidebar article in the NYTimes this morning, about who could be referred to as a "senior administration official". There are lots of them.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/06/us/politics/senior-administration-official-trump-new-york-times.html
That's the point I've been trying to make. Everyone seems to be assuming the writer is a boldface name - Pence or a cabinet member or a ranking West Wing person. I still think it's more likely to be a deputy or assistant secretary at a department or agency - those people have a lot of responsibility and experience, it's accurate to call them "senior" and I would think the NYT would find them credible.
Will be interesting to see how and when this person is outed. Hopefully if Trump only has one term the person might surface at the end of that, if not before.
Interesting point by Barack Obama in a speech today:
“The claim that everything will turn out O.K. because there are people inside the White House who secretly aren’t following the president’s orders, this is not a check [on Trump]. I’m serious here. That’s not how our democracy is supposed to work. They’re not doing us a service by actively promoting 90 percent of the crazy stuff that’s coming out of this White House and then saying don’t worry we’re preventing the other 10 percent.”
apple44 said:
Interesting point by Barack Obama in a speech today:
“The claim that everything will turn out O.K. because there are people inside the White House who secretly aren’t following the president’s orders, this is not a check [on Trump]. I’m serious here. That’s not how our democracy is supposed to work. They’re not doing us a service by actively promoting 90 percent of the crazy stuff that’s coming out of this White House and then saying don’t worry we’re preventing the other 10 percent.”
Where was the speech made? He went out a limb and glad he did.
Morganna said:
apple44 said:Where was the speech made? He went out a limb and glad he did.
Interesting point by Barack Obama in a speech today:
“The claim that everything will turn out O.K. because there are people inside the White House who secretly aren’t following the president’s orders, this is not a check [on Trump]. I’m serious here. That’s not how our democracy is supposed to work. They’re not doing us a service by actively promoting 90 percent of the crazy stuff that’s coming out of this White House and then saying don’t worry we’re preventing the other 10 percent.”
https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/07/politics/barack-obama-illinois-midterms-speech/index.html
This is precisely what the country is missing at the moment. No one can put it as succinctly as Obama.
nohero said:
ctrzaska said:Four pages of posts on nothing isn't exactly unique for this discussion board. And we're talking about the reaction, especially on the GOP side, as opposed to "holding this op-ed up as something of material import". Most of us here already know that the administration is a dumpster fire.
drummerboy said:Four pages of posts on nothing? It’s like a Seinfeld episode, then. At least we can agree there’s no significant import attached.
ctrzaska said:Interesting comment as I don't see any Dem applying any significant import to this.
As far as I can read it, any Dem holding this op-ed up as something of material import that bodes ill for this bizarre administration is either desperate for something— anything— to cling to, or hopelessly shortsighted. Or both.
Have you been talking to Glenn Greenwald again?
Well, that first is certainly true. So all much ado, and merely a journalistic version of Clue, I suppose.
I’m going with Mr. Green.
Trump officials use Times op-ed to knife people they hate
"Trumpworld sources tell Axios that officials rapidly shifted from trying to smoke out the author of the anonymous N.Y. Times op-ed, to using the guessing game to knife people they already hated — whispering the names of rivals and enemies as potential authors."
Should have seen that coming ...
Thanks Jamie, it's really becoming a topic of discussion on the news. And it leaves all of us wondering, who will he be endorsing for 2020. I know it seems far off but I'm ready for some new hope and change.
Obama has a lot of courage to speak out forcefully against the current president. I'm grateful for it. He, too, is breaking with tradition. I'm still not holding out hope for prosecuting Obama and Bush for war crimes, though.
nohero said:
Trump officials use Times op-ed to knife people they hate
"Trumpworld sources tell Axios that officials rapidly shifted from trying to smoke out the author of the anonymous N.Y. Times op-ed, to using the guessing game to knife people they already hated — whispering the names of rivals and enemies as potential authors."
Should have seen that coming ...
Trump did say he hires the best. 
Desperate, indeed! Being a Dem these days is like being buried in several layers of quicksand.