President Trump: The Beginning of the End
Comments
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@C_M_ said:
@C_M_ said:
IT'S JUST A MATTER OF TIME!
CD Users,
I told you Republicans read my posts here in CD. Why won't you believe me? Trump is losing it, He has to go! He's no longer useful to his party or America. Since you don't believe me, read now, for yourself from one inside the Trump Administration:I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration
I work for the president but like-minded colleagues and I have vowed to thwart parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations. -- Sept. 5, 2018
The Times today is taking the rare step of publishing an anonymous Op-Ed essay. We have done so at the request of the author, a senior official in the Trump administration whose identity is known to us and whose job would be jeopardized by its disclosure. We believe publishing this essay anonymously is the only way to deliver an important perspective to our readers. We invite you to submit a question about the essay or our vetting process here.
President Trump is facing a test to his presidency unlike any faced by a modern American leader.
It’s not just that the special counsel looms large. Or that the country is bitterly divided over Mr. Trump’s leadership. Or even that his party might well lose the House to an opposition hellbent on his downfall.
The dilemma — which he does not fully grasp — is that many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.
I would know. I am one of them.
To be clear, ours is not the popular “resistance” of the left. We want the administration to succeed and think that many of its policies have already made America safer and more prosperous.
But we believe our first duty is to this country, and the president continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to the health of our republic.
That is why many Trump appointees have vowed to do what we can to preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting Mr. Trump’s more misguided impulses until he is out of office.
The root of the problem is the president’s amorality. Anyone who works with him knows he is not moored to any discernible first principles that guide his decision making.
Although he was elected as a Republican, the president shows little affinity for ideals long espoused by conservatives: free minds, free markets and free people. At best, he has invoked these ideals in scripted settings. At worst, he has attacked them outright.
In addition to his mass-marketing of the notion that the press is the “enemy of the people,” President Trump’s impulses are generally anti-trade and anti-democratic.
Don’t get me wrong. There are bright spots that the near-ceaseless negative coverage of the administration fails to capture: effective deregulation, historic tax reform, a more robust military and more.
But these successes have come despite — not because of — the president’s leadership style, which is impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective.
From the White House to executive branch departments and agencies, senior officials will privately admit their daily disbelief at the commander in chief’s comments and actions. Most are working to insulate their operations from his whims.
Meetings with him veer off topic and off the rails, he engages in repetitive rants, and his impulsiveness results in half-baked, ill-informed and occasionally reckless decisions that have to be walked back.
“There is literally no telling whether he might change his mind from one minute to the next,” a top official complained to me recently, exasperated by an Oval Office meeting at which the president flip-flopped on a major policy decision he’d made only a week earlier.
The erratic behavior would be more concerning if it weren’t for unsung heroes in and around the White House. Some of his aides have been cast as villains by the media. But in private, they have gone to great lengths to keep bad decisions contained to the West Wing, though they are clearly not always successful.
It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room. We fully recognize what is happening. And we are trying to do what’s right even when Donald Trump won’t.
The result is a two-track presidency.
Take foreign policy: In public and in private, President Trump shows a preference for autocrats and dictators, such as President Vladimir Putin of Russia and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, and displays little genuine appreciation for the ties that bind us to allied, like-minded nations.
Astute observers have noted, though, that the rest of the administration is operating on another track, one where countries like Russia are called out for meddling and punished accordingly, and where allies around the world are engaged as peers rather than ridiculed as rivals.
On Russia, for instance, the president was reluctant to expel so many of Mr. Putin’s spies as punishment for the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain. He complained for weeks about senior staff members letting him get boxed into further confrontation with Russia, and he expressed frustration that the United States continued to impose sanctions on the country for its malign behavior. But his national security team knew better — such actions had to be taken, to hold Moscow accountable.
This isn’t the work of the so-called deep state. It’s the work of the steady state.
Given the instability many witnessed, there were early whispers within the cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment, which would start a complex process for removing the president. But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis. So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until — one way or another — it’s over.
The bigger concern is not what Mr. Trump has done to the presidency but rather what we as a nation have allowed him to do to us. We have sunk low with him and allowed our discourse to be stripped of civility.
Senator John McCain put it best in his farewell letter. All Americans should heed his words and break free of the tribalism trap, with the high aim of uniting through our shared values and love of this great nation.
We may no longer have Senator McCain. But we will always have his example — a lodestar for restoring honor to public life and our national dialogue. Mr. Trump may fear such honorable men, but we should revere them.
There is a quiet resistance within the administration of people choosing to put country first. But the real difference will be made by everyday citizens rising above politics, reaching across the aisle and resolving to shed the labels in favor of a single one: Americans.
The writer is a senior official in the Trump administration.
Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter (@NYTopinion). Allow ads on nytimes.com. Thank you for your continued support.
America, hope for the best and prepare for the worse. Trump days are numbered. CM
Fake News
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Pence, Coats and Pompeo deny authorship of anonymous New York Times op-ed on Trump
By JOHN WAGNER
| WASHINGTON POST |
SEP 06, 2018 | 9:10 AM
| WASHINGTONA parade of denials began in Washington on Thursday, as Vice President Mike Pence and a growing number of other senior officials asserted they were not responsible for an explosive New York Times op-ed by someone claiming to be part of a "resistance" within the Trump administration.
Amid frenzied speculation over who was hiding behind a cloak of anonymity, a spokesman for Pence forcefully denied Thursday morning that it was him. More than a half-dozen Cabinet officials followed suit, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Intelligence Director Daniel Coats and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
By lunchtime, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had taken to Twitter, chiding the media for what she called a "wild obsession" and urging citizens to call the Times opinion desk if they wanted to learn the identify of a "gutless loser."
First Lady Melania Trump also weighed in on the controversy, saying in a statement that if "a person is bold enough to accuse people of negative actions, they have a responsibility to publicly stand by their words."
Pence's office was the first to speak out on Thursday.
"The Vice President puts his name on his Op-Eds," Pence spokesman Jarrod Agen wrote in a morning tweet.WHY THE SEARCH? Why all this for "fake news"?
Trump has to go! The "anonymous New York Times op-ed on Trump" is true. He is dangerous for America and a disappointment (75% of Americans). CM
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@C_M_ said:
Pence, Coats and Pompeo deny authorship of anonymous New York Times op-ed on Trump
By JOHN WAGNER
| WASHINGTON POST |
SEP 06, 2018 | 9:10 AM
| WASHINGTONA parade of denials began in Washington on Thursday, as Vice President Mike Pence and a growing number of other senior officials asserted they were not responsible for an explosive New York Times op-ed by someone claiming to be part of a "resistance" within the Trump administration.
Amid frenzied speculation over who was hiding behind a cloak of anonymity, a spokesman for Pence forcefully denied Thursday morning that it was him. More than a half-dozen Cabinet officials followed suit, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, National Intelligence Director Daniel Coats and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
By lunchtime, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders had taken to Twitter, chiding the media for what she called a "wild obsession" and urging citizens to call the Times opinion desk if they wanted to learn the identify of a "gutless loser."
First Lady Melania Trump also weighed in on the controversy, saying in a statement that if "a person is bold enough to accuse people of negative actions, they have a responsibility to publicly stand by their words."
Pence's office was the first to speak out on Thursday.
"The Vice President puts his name on his Op-Eds," Pence spokesman Jarrod Agen wrote in a morning tweet.WHY THE SEARCH? Why all this for "fake news"?
Trump has to go! The "anonymous New York Times op-ed on Trump" is true. He is dangerous for America and a disappointment (75% of Americans). CM
How do you know the Op-Ed is true? The person is a coward.
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Why the search for the writer? Why the anger? Why the fear? CM
PS. Could it be that Trump wrote the letter himself to distract, again? ha, ha,...
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@C_M_ said:
Why the search for the writer? Why the anger? Why the fear? CMPS. Could it be that Trump wrote the letter himself to distract, again? ha, ha,...
Because the writer made some pretty big claims. They should bring proof. Why be anonymous?
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It's one of Mr. Trump's own, "best people"! The keeper of the swamp got bitten by one of the creatures he placed in it. The letter is true. Trump's state of mind is the problem. CM
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@C_M_ said:
It's one of Mr. Trump's own, "best people"! The keeper of the swamp got bitten by one of the creatures he placed in it. The letter is true. Trump's state of mind is the problem. CM
- How do you KNOW the letter is true?
- It is not necessarily one of Trump's people, it could be a holdover from the Obama Administration, there are still some of those.
- The NYT has been caught in the past talking about "Senior Officials" and it turned out to be a low-level INTERN.
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'First Lady Melania Trump also weighed in on the controversy, saying in a statement that if "a person is bold enough to accuse people of negative actions, they have a responsibility to publicly stand by their words.'"
First Lady Melania Trump, a pretty sad-face woman, standing by her man (President Trump) in "Crazy Town" (White House). She needs to stop. If the content of the letter is not true, why is she coming out of the woodworks?
If not true, why is the President threatening the Free-Press or opining over the DJ investigating to find the writer? This is illegal! Second Amendment people want to do away with the "Freedom of the Press"? What a shame and hypocrisy!
The Republican Party is off the rails don't go over the hill with it. Don't support foolish policies and behaviors. CM
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@C_M_ said:
'First Lady Melania Trump also weighed in on the controversy, saying in a statement that if "a person is bold enough to accuse people of negative actions, they have a responsibility to publicly stand by their words.'"First Lady Melania Trump, a pretty sad-face woman, standing by her man (President Trump) in "Crazy Town" (White House). She needs to stop. If the content of the letter is not true, why is she coming out of the woodworks?
Because of the outrageous attack on her husband? There's a thought...
If not true, why is the President threatening the Free-Press or opining over the DJ investigating to find the writer? This is illegal! Second Amendment people want to do away with the "Freedom of the Press"? What a shame and hypocrisy!
No, leaking things from the WH is illegal. The anonymous source should be prosecuted. Has nothing to do with free speech.
The Republican Party is off the rails don't go over the hill with it. Don't support foolish policies and behaviors. CM
Foolish policies and behaviors? Are you talking about the NYT?
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Obama's regime prosecuted more people for WH leaks than all other presidencies combined--according to one source.
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An interesting article on the ongoing Muller "investigation"
Breaking: Mueller Witch Hunt Just Suffered a Stunning Defeat
Yesterday, Robert Mueller's band of angry Democrat prosecutors were in Federal Court for the sentencing of George Papadopoulos. They were dealt a MAJOR defeat at the hand of an Obama-appointed judge.
In case you have forgotten, Papadopoulos was a "Foreign Policy Advisor" for the Trump campaign. Every campaign has advisory groups like this, and they usually don't do a whole lot. I attended some of these "advisory" committees for the Trump campaign in Colorado. They don't really mean a whole lot and are more for show than anything else.
One day, Papadopoulos was drunk at a bar and bragged to an Australian diplomat that the Russians had Hillary Clinton's missing emails. That diplomat then ran to the Obama administration, and Obama's DOJ and FBI launched a full investigation.
Under questioning, Papadopoulos was asked by the FBI if he spoke to "anyone with a Russian accent" during the campaign. He responded that he spoke to a lot of people from foreign countries. He didn't, however, specifically name a Russian Professor named Joseph Mifsud. Mueller decided that by withholding this name, Papadopoulos had misled the FBI since Mifsud had a Russian accent.
After the FBI called Papadopoulos out on the "misleading," they asked whether the Professor had any serious connections to the Russian government. George Papadopoulos responded that he felt the Professor was a "nobody" who was "BSing" about his connections to the Russian government.
Mueller determined that the Professor actually did know Russian government officials, so he charged Papadopoulos with "lying" to investigators. The whole prosecution was a sham.
On Friday, Papadopoulos was dragged into court for sentencing. Mueller's team requested that Papadopoulos be thrown in jail for at least 60 days because he refused to cooperate with the witch hunt against Trump.
Judge Randolph Moss -- appointed by Barack Obama -- examined all of Mueller's evidence and came to a stunning conclusion. Not only did Papadopoulos do nothing to hurt the United States, but there was zero evidence that he colluded with Russia. Mueller's entire case was based on a flimsy accusation that he "misled" Federal investigators.
So, Judge Moss disregarded Mueller's request and sentenced Papadopoulos to just 14 days in jail.
This sham investigation has been going on for over two years and after all of that, the only thing that Mueller has been able to accomplish is convicting Paul Manafort of decades-old tax crimes and sending a low-level Trump advisor to jail for just two weeks.
Mueller know's he's got nothing. Russian collusion never happened.
Instead of winding down, he is now demanding the right to interrogate President Trump and search for other crimes he can use to get him impeached!
This has gone on long enough! You need to put pressure on Congress right now and FORCE them to pull the plug on Robert Mueller's out-of-control witch hunt for good!
Mueller is now fishing to try to get Trump on obstruction of justice charges. This is the belief that Trump broke the law by firing James Comey. Even though the Constitution gives the President the authority to fire the FBI Director, Mueller believes that Trump shouldn't have been allowed to do it.
He has nothing on Russian collusion, so he's fishing for something else that could be used to justify impeachment.
Last week, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had a remarkable moment of honesty. While marching in a parade, Schumer was asked when Trump would be impeached. He picked up a megaphone and responded, "the sooner the better."
That is Mueller's sole purpose now. Mueller knows that he can't technically charge a sitting President with a crime under the DOJ's current regulations. Mueller, a special prosecutor, isn't even allowed to prosecute the President.
So what are we doing here? Why are we letting this continue?
A Federal Judge, appointed by Obama, just admitted that Mueller has zero evidence of collusion. Judge Randy Moss declared that the one Trump advisor who actually talked to Russians during the campaign -- who offered to set up a meeting between Trump and Putin -- did nothing to collude with Russia.
Mueller wanted to throw him in prison for 60 days anyway, but the liberal judge refused to do it. This witch hunt has gotten out of control.
This week, Congress is finalizing the rest of the government's spending bills. Conservatives are fighting to include a one-sentence amendment that would shut Mueller down for good, but the GOP is blocking it from reaching the floor!
Shut it down! Put pressure on Congress right now and FORCE them to pull the plug on Robert Mueller's out-of-control witch hunt for good!
The amendment was introduced by Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL). It would pull all taxpayer funding from the DOJ Order that authorizes Robert Mueller's investigation.
If this passes, Mueller wouldn't even be able to restock his office supplies.
President Trump is in the process of declassifying and releasing the fraudulent FISA application that Obama used to start the witch hunt. These are the documents that the Deep State refuses to hand over to Congress and prove that the entire investigation was a sham from the start.
Now that a Federal Judge has confirmed that George Papadopoulos did not collude with Russia, the entire basis for this witch hunt has been disproven.
Yet, Mueller continues, hoping to punish Trump's allies and find something -- anything -- that Democrats can use to impeach the President. The only crime that Trump committed was beating Hillary Clinton and now the Deep State is getting its revenge.
President Trump is now urging Congress to pull the plug on this sham investigation and stop Mueller from wasting any more tax dollars.
Congress has just one week left to pass all of the spending bills necessary to keep the government funded and running. That includes appropriating funds to the Department of Justice and Mueller's "investigation."
This is literally our last chance to defund Mueller's witch hunt.
It's time to shut this down once and for all!
Shut it down now! You need to put pressure on Congress right now and FORCE them to pull the plug on Robert Mueller's sham investigation for good!
Sincerely,
Max McGuire
Advocacy Director
Conservative DailyHope you enjoyed reading it
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Thanks for sharing that. Why is that not a surprising outcome? We can be so grateful. I was wrong thinking Papadopoulos was guilty, feeling disappointed that Papadopoulos must surely have somehow spoken some mysterious, undisclosed lie worth 60 days in jail. It seemed to be a done deal. Now this truth comes out.
Just goes to show how easily we (or "I" at least) can be swept up by the lies and misrepresentations, by truth-twisting and shadow-casting of the dishonest media, and the liberal media shills. This is a good refresher reminding us to not be taken in by ubiquitous frauds.
Moreover, after all the chaotic circus tricks by Democrat-paid protestors, it seems that "Democrats Have Not Laid a Single Glove on Brett Kavanaugh," as Ted Cruz said it.
God seems to be answering the prayers of many Christians.
God bless America, land that I love
Stand beside her and guide her
Through the night with the light from above -
One more conviction from the "there is no there, there" of the "Nothing Burger" a.k.a "Witch Hunt". CM
PS. The VP is shakey about someone on his staff wrote the letter that Trump is unfit. Sad! CM
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@C_M_ said:
One more conviction from the "there is no there, there" of the "Nothing Burger" a.k.a "Witch Hunt". CMPS. The VP is shakey about someone on his staff wrote the letter that Trump is unfit. Sad! CM
What conviction?
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keep up! Join the Trump Administration...
CM -
@C_M_ said:
keep up! Join the Trump Administration... CMAre you going to answer the question?
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Answering questions has gotten him in trouble before. There is a LOT to have to remember these days.
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George Papadopoulos gets 14 days in prison
The Lead
Ex-Donald Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos has been sentenced to two weeks in prison for lying to investigators about his contact with individuals tied to Russia during the 2016 campaign. CNN's Sara Murray reports. CM
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@C_M_ said:
George Papadopoulos gets 14 days in prison
The Lead
Ex-Donald Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos has been sentenced to two weeks in prison for lying to investigators about his contact with individuals tied to Russia during the 2016 campaign. CNN's Sara Murray reports. CM
Which isn't Trump or collusion. #nothingburger
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WATCH THE CLIP. CM
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@C_M_ said:
WATCH THE CLIP. CMWhat about the clip?
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I watched it...seems like a fair interview with reasonable answers---did you have a point?
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Draw your own conclusions while GP does 14 days in jail. CM
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TRUMP EFFECT
Woodward: Trump 'detached' from reality, jeopardizes national security
The veteran journalist spoke about "Fear," his new book on the president, in an appearance on the "Today" show.
by Jane C. Timm / Sep.10.2018 / 8:25 AM ET / Updated 8:48 AM ET -
@C_M_ said:
TRUMP EFFECT
Woodward: Trump 'detached' from reality, jeopardizes national security
The veteran journalist spoke about "Fear," his new book on the president, in an appearance on the "Today" show.
by Jane C. Timm / Sep.10.2018 / 8:25 AM ET / Updated 8:48 AM ETThe book which hasn't been corroborated.
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Trump is going down. He got the economy facts wrong today. Fox News had to fact-check him today. He losing it. What is he going to do to help those in the path of coming hurricane? CM
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@C_M_ said:
Trump is going down. He got the economy facts wrong today. Fox News had to fact-check him today. He losing it. What is he going to do to help those in the path of coming hurricane? CMActually, a President doesn't do anything (except declare a state of emergency). FEMA and other organizations do the work.
So he got facts wrong. Other Presidents got facts wrong all the time. Obama was notorious with the job numbers etc...
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Over half of America (55%) believe the anonymous letter from one of the White House workers under Trump. Face it, the clock ticks down. CM
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@C_M_ said:
Over half of America (55%) believe the anonymous letter from one of the White House workers under Trump. Face it, the clock ticks down. CMDid you mean the NY Times letter ?? Doesn't look like there was any letter from inside the White House ....
Have you ever heard about "false flag" operations? -
@C_M_ said:
Over half of America (55%) believe the anonymous letter from one of the White House workers under Trump. Face it, the clock ticks down. CMWhat does that prove?
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