Tag Archives: Donald Trump

Let’s call it James Comey Day

I guess some of the TV news networks think Thursday is going to be a big day.

At least one of them, CBS News, is planning to pre-empt its daytime programming to broadcast the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee hearing featuring former FBI Director James Comey.

Comey is going to speak publicly about his firing by Donald J. Trump, as well as the conversations the two men had prior to Comey’s dismissal.

Hey, it’s a big deal, man!

Comey was heading up an FBI investigation into allegations that Trump’s presidential campaign colluded with Russian government agents and hackers who were seeking to influence the outcome of the 2016 election.

Then he got canned. Just like that! 

Vice President Pence said the dismissal had “nothing to do” with the Russia probe. Then the president told NBC News that, yep, he fired Comey because of the “Russia thing.”

So, let’s ask former top federal cop what went down, shall we?

Let us also determine which man to believe: a meticulous note-taker such as Comey or a serial liar such as the man who fired him.

Get the popcorn and the soda ready.

‘Law and order’ pledge takes a back seat

I can’t take credit for posing this question, but I’ll pass it on here.

How does a “law and order” candidate for president of the United States fail to appoint a single federal prosecutor after firing all of those who hadn’t resigned already when he took office?

The question comes from the New York Times editorial board.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/06/opinion/us-attorneys-trump.html?ref=opinion&_r=0

Donald Trump got elected president partly on his pledge to battle international terrorism. He vowed to combat the “scourge” of drugs. He promised to prosecute and deport immigrants who are here illegally. Who, then, carries the president’s agenda forward? It would be the federal attorneys assigned to represent judicial districts throughout the nation.

As the Times editorial notes: “United States attorneys are responsible for prosecuting terrorism offenses, serious financial fraud, public corruption, crimes related to gang activity, drug trafficking and all other federal crimes.”

They aren’t on the job. Trump emptied all their offices. He’s been busy with, um, other matters related perhaps to the “Russia thing” that just won’t go away.

The Times does posit a possible reason for the president’s inability to find prosecutors: “It’s possible that Mr. Trump is having a hard time luring competent, experienced candidates to work for an administration mired in perpetual chaos and widening scandal. Since Mr. Trump considers loyalty the highest qualification for federal office, that might be. But United States attorney is a highly coveted job under any president, and there should be no shortage of people eager to be considered.”

But … who out there would be “eager to be considered” for a job in a judicial system that isn’t working?

Good news, bad news for Comey hearing

Donald J. Trump delivered a one-two punch of good news and, well, not so good news regarding the upcoming testimony of former FBI director James Comey.

The good news: The president said he wouldn’t invoke any executive privilege to silence Comey, who will testify to the Senate Intelligence Committee about conversations he had with Trump regarding the FBI investigation into “the Russia thing.”

The president decided against acting on his stranger impulses by deciding to let Comey have his say. Comey did talk to special counsel Robert Mueller — a longtime friend and colleague — who reportedly “cleared Comey for takeoff,” according to Comey associates.

The, um, bad news: Trump will be tweeting while Comey is testifying.

Allow me an “ugh,” and a “sheesh” on that one.

This president is just about the most insufferable human being ever to occupy this once-exalted office.

Does this clown really have to do this?

Consider as well — for just a moment — that Trump reportedly referred to Comey in conversations with Russian dignitaries at the White House as a “showboat.”

Even presidents need a ‘filter’

The FAKE MSM is working so hard trying to get me not to use Social Media. They hate that I can get the honest and unfiltered message out.

OK, there you go. Donald J. Trump has tweeted — yet again! — in a rant that takes aim at the “mainstream media” because it is seeking to do something the president of the United States does not want to do.

The media are seeking to drum into the president’s thick skull that these tweets represent the statements of the head of state, head of government, the commander in chief of the world greatest military apparatus.

Thus, this individual — the president — must exercise some self-control, self-restraint, and even some self-awareness in sending these messages around the world.

George Conway, a lawyer of some repute — and the husband of Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway — has warned Trump about the danger of firing off these tweets.

Moreover, he is stripping away any claim of “executive authority” he might want to claim as he does battle with Congress, special counsel Robert Mueller and former FBI director James Comey over the “Russia thing” that continues to bedevil the Trump administration.

Does anyone consider U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, to be a tool of the “fake media”? He isn’t. Even a Trump ally such as Sen. Cornyn has acknowledged the self-inflicted “problems” associated with Trump’s tweet storms.

The bottom line is this: Mr. President, the so-called “FAKE MSM” is issuing you a well-deserved warning about the trouble your own impulses can produce.

Get a bleeping grip!

Is Trump about to get disinvited?

It’s not every day that a foreign nation disinvites the president of the United States who is scheduled to pay a state visit abroad?

But get a load of this: London Mayor Sadiq Khan is asking British Prime Minister Teresa May to cancel’s Donald J. Trump’s state visit to the United Kingdom.

Why? Oh, let’s see. London was hit by a terrorist attack; the U.S. president tweeted out a message that took Mayor Khan’s comments out of context and initiated an across-the-pond feud between Washington and London.

http://thehill.com/policy/international/336468-london-mayor-calls-for-cancellation-of-trump-state-visit-to-uk?rnd=1496712775

This is yet another example of the president’s awkward performance on the world stage. Tragedy strikes a nation and the president sends tweets that reflect a knee-jerk impulse. In the case of his feud with Sadiq Khan, the president assumed he said London shouldn’t be “concerned” about terrorists; the mayor said no such thing.

Now the mayor is saying that the United Kingdom needs a trustworthy ally in the president of the United States, and that it doesn’t have one in Donald J. Trump.

Ready for the White House portrait unveiling?

At some point near the end of Donald J. Trump’s current term as president, his protocol staff will likely schedule an appearance by his immediate predecessor, Barack Obama, and the former president’s wife, Michelle.

It’s been a custom for many years. The former first couple returns to the White House to unveil their official portraits. The president’s portrait hangs next to other presidents; the first lady’s portrait hangs in a gallery that includes her predecessors.

I remember watching when President Obama and Mrs. Obama welcomed George W. and Laura Bush back to the White House in 2012. It was a heart-warming ceremony, with all four — the current and former first couples — exchanging quips and remembrances of their time in the White House.

Is it possible for the Obamas to return to the White House at the invitation of Donald and Melania Trump? Can the former president set aside the astonishing rhetoric that the current president hurled at him? We have the on-going lie that Trump kept alive about Obama’s place of birth; then we have the defamatory accusation from Trump that Obama “ordered the wiretap” of the president-elect’s campaign office.

Oh, and how about the comments that Michelle Obama delivered in the wake of that ghastly “Access Hollywood” video in which Trump admitted to groping women and grabbing them by their private area?

I can just imagine how, um, tense the next portrait-unveiling is going to be when — or if — it occurs.

Bipartisan era gone forever? Looks like it

I am thinking at this moment of an earlier era when presidents and members of Congress reached across the great partisan divide to ponder their joint legislative agendas.

The thought came to me when I heard that Donald J. Trump is going to meet this week with Republican congressional leaders to talk about upcoming projects.

No Democrats need not attend. Nope! Stay away, you folks. We don’t need you.

I’ll go back a few decades for a moment.

* Lyndon Johnson needed Republicans to help him enact landmark civil-rights legislation.

* Richard Nixon needed Democrats to run interference for his environmental agenda.

* Ronald Reagan developed a great personal and professional relationship with congressional Democrats, such as House Speaker Tip O’Neill.

* Bill Clinton relied on congressional Republicans to assist in producing a balanced federal budget.

* George W. Bush sought Democratic help in crafting education-overhaul legislation. I should add that President Bush had plenty of practice working with Democrats, as he did quite well in that regard while he governed Texas and became partners with Democrats who controlled the Legislature.

That’s when it seemed to end. Barack Obama didn’t develop many relationships with key Republicans, who — lest we forget — made clear their intention to block damn near everything the president intended to accomplish. And now we have Donald Trump seeking to push through a legislative agenda with zero Democrats in his corner.

I also recall those photo ops when presidents would sign bills in front of large bipartisan gatherings of lawmakers. He’d hand out ceremonial pens left and right. They’d all clap and slap each other on the back while extolling the virtues of working together for the common good.

Do you expect to see anything like that with the current president occupying that office in the White House?

Me neither.

And we’re supposed to believe Putin’s word?

Vladimir Putin denies the Russian government played any role in trying to influence the 2016 presidential election.

So that’s it? That’s the final answer? The Russian president — and former head of the KGB, the super secret Soviet spy agency — has declared once and for all that his government didn’t hack into our electoral process?

Pardon my deep and abiding skepticism, but I don’t believe him.

Putin appeared on NBC News tonight. He was Megyn Kelly’s first interview since joining the network. He said something about “Russian patriots” hacking into the U.S. electoral system. What the hell does that mean?

Frankly, he is about as believable as his buddy Donald J. Trump yammering about President Barack Obama ordering wiretaps of his campaign office.

I’ll go with how former national security adviser Susan Rice characterized Putin’s “denial.”

Rice said, simply and directly: He’s lying.

What? No call for Trump to kick his Twitter ‘habit’?

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn says the president of the United States is afflicted with a “Twitter habit.”

Still, Cornyn gives Donald J. Trump a B+ in foreign policy.

I suppose Sen. Cornyn’s Republican credentials just cannot allow him to say the obvious thing: Mr. President, you need to rid yourself of that Twitter habit, immediately!

Cornyn was interviewed by WFAA-TV in Dallas and acknowledged that the president’s habit of firing off tweets — and then have them stand as presidential policy statements — has caused him some difficulty.

Then he saluted Trump’s action against Syria and suggested the president is dealing with Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin. Thus, he gets the good foreign-policy grade.

I suppose he chose to ignore the tension between Trump and fellow NATO allies, or perhaps the G7 meeting during which he tweeted that Germany is selling “too many cars” to Americans and how that must stop.

Hey, how about the confrontations the president has initiated with the leaders of Canada, Mexico, Australia, the United Kingdom and France?

I don’t think I’d give the president anywhere near a B+.

He also needs to kick the “Twitter habit.” If only his so-called Republicans “friends” had the guts to mention it out loud. The president damn sure doesn’t listen to his critics.

POTUS engages in selective outrage

I cannot take credit for this observation but I’ll share it anyway.

It comes to me via social media and the individual who sent it poses a fascinating notion.

He said that it took Donald J. Trump three days to say something about the white supremacist who is accused of stabbing two people to death in Portland, Ore., after they sought to break up a verbal argument between the suspect and two others — one of whom is a Muslim.

Then … some Muslims kill several people in London before being killed by police. Trump fired off a response in an hour!

Is this how the president plans to put “America first”?