Donald Trump does so many deranged and unthinkable things every day, it’s difficult to keep track. But even among people who have normalized his words and behavior, yesterday’s tweet about Turkey was particularly awful:
As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!). They must, with Europe and others, watch over…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2019
“I, in my great and unmatched wisdom…” Wow. So what really happened? According to an unnamed National Security Council source (who spoke to Newsweek), Trump was getting “rolled” by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and basically Trump is doing Erdogan’s bidding by pulling out of northern Syria. Not only that, but Erdogan’s interests are aligned with Russia, and long story short, a lot of Kurds (our long-standing allies) are going to die. The NSC source told Newsweek: “President Trump was definitely out-negotiated and only endorsed the troop withdraw to make it look like we are getting something—but we are not getting something. The U.S. national security has entered a state of increased danger for decades to come because the president has no spine and that’s the bottom line.” If only someone had warned us. Oh, right, Hillary Clinton told us this would happen. Hundreds of foreign policy experts told us this would happen too.
Anyway, here’s one piece of good news: a majority of Americans are pro-impeachment inquiry and half of America is pro-impeachment.
A majority of Americans say they endorse the decision by House Democrats to begin an impeachment inquiry of President Trump, and nearly half of all adults also say the House should take the additional step and recommend that the president be removed from office, according to a Washington Post-Schar School poll. The findings indicate that public opinion has shifted quickly against the president and in favor of impeachment proceedings in recent weeks as information has been released about Trump’s efforts to pressure Ukrainian government officials to undertake an investigation into former vice president Joe Biden, a potential 2020 campaign rival, and Biden’s son Hunter.
The poll finds that, by a margin of 58 percent to 38 percent, Americans say the House was correct to undertake the inquiry. Among all adults, 49 percent say the House should take the more significant step to impeach the president and call for his removal from office. Another 6 percent say they back the start of the inquiry but do not favor removing Trump from office, with the remainder undecided about the president’s ultimate fate. The results among registered voters are almost identical.
I think support for impeachment and the inquiry has even surprised Democrats. I hope this sh-t ramps up and the House spends months digging through sh-t and holding public hearings, because that will just increase the support for impeachment too.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
I doubt the rising support for impeachment surprised Nancy Pelosi and quite a few historians of the Nixon years.
Agreed.
I really doubt he’s going to be removed from office. but, its worth pointing out that Nixon was never going to be removed from office, there was no way the Senate Republicans would vote to remove him. Until, they were going to, and he resigned. So, while I don’t think there’s a chance THIS senate would ever vote to remove…..we don’t know for sure until this whole thing plays out.
@whoARE – I don’t want to laugh at your comment but I kind of did lol.
For those playing along at home…It was something about one of the few situations (non violent!) In which the Oval Office might change hands. There, I hope that’s discreet.
Actually, Nixon stepped down before the impeachment vote because he had lost the Senate republicans and stepping down seemed a better outcome than being removed after the Senate vote.
The current Senate GOP is so spineless that I doubt they’d vote against Trump but that’s precisely why their constituents should vote them out
@arpeggio – right, that’s what I said.
@Becks1, apologies, I totally misread your post! (I think I was really ready for my lunch break)
No worries! I worded it kind of weirdly lol.
ETa my point was basically what you said – he was never going to be removed, until he was, at which point he stepped down. I highly doubt that will happen now, but I wonder what people were saying in 1972, you know?
I was going to say that maybe senators felt a little more free to act according to their principles back then because they didn’t have as much pressure from PACs and big corporations that were funding their campaign/party… But then I remembered that one President and a primary candidate were assassinated so I’m sure they had some pressure to vote a certain way! Not feeling you had to feed the 24hrs news cycle/see your face on TV probably helped though.
Problem is, per CNN, republiTHUGs are ONLY going by the numbers in THEIR base, ie: is their a shift in THEIR on the fence Rs? If not, they will impede impeachment. If it looks like moderate Rs are for it, they’ll all start throwing the Orange Cancer under the bus, and his crotch-spawn, too.
I dunno, I get the feeling even that little rat Mitch McConnell is slowly backing away. Honestly this feels like trying to read events in a foreign country….
I’m hopeful that as more and more comes out in the impeachment proceedings, that number tilts even more in favor of removal.
I just listened to Bag Man (podcast from Rachel Maddow) about Spiro Agnew and it was really fascinating. One of the big takeaways, in my mind, is so obvious but so true – we don’t know what we don’t know. The official impeachment inquiry is going to yield a LOT of information.
Re: Syria – so basically trump is withdrawing troops, knowing that Turkey is going to invade to try to wipe out the Kurds? I was watching Richard Engel last night on MSNBC and I have never seen him so rattled and horrified.
Engel has probably been embedded with fighting Kurds. I’d be rattled on a personal level, too. The entire thing is unacceptable.
Unfortunately, the inquiry is beginning to look like it will yield no information unless a lot more whistle blowers come forward. Trump is not allowing subpoenaed documents to be released and not allowing witnesses to testify. It will take months to pursue this in the courts.
In madness that was yesterday, Trump also pulled out of the Open Skies treaty. That means the US will not be collecting intelligence on Russia in Ukraine and Turkey in Syria by aircraft. Does every despot in the world have a video of Trump with sex workers?
The lawyers representing the 1st whistle blower now says they are representing “multiple” whistleblowers. Additionally, there is a lot of info coming to light about Perry and others in the administration working to get rights to gas deals in the Ukraine.
I think a lot more information is going to come out. There are people like William Taylor (diplomat in Ukraine embassy) who called out the wrong doing in the moment, and I am sure they will testify to congress about what they saw.
The judge this morning laughed at the Trump Admin’s argument that Nixon grand jury docs were incorrectly given to congress.
That the DOJ has fallen so low under Barr is sad. I wonder how these attys can argue those baseless statements in court. It will take years to rebuild DOJ.
Bagman was really good. That was all before my time and I never knew much of what went on then. The George HW Bush stuff was pretty interesting as well. I kind of want to relisten to it again, now in the context of this impeachment process.
Trump’s “foreign policy” is a nightmare. A pure nightmare.
A good point was made that if the whistle blower didn’t come forward, Trump would’ve gotten away with this, which means we would have 5,672 NYT articles right about now all focusing on Hunter Biden and corruption. It would’ve been “BUT HER E-MAILS!” 2.0.
I feel like we still have way too many Biden/corruption stories. I’ve been thinking of it as Benghazi 2.0. So many dirty tricks from the GOP.
Right? And so many of the stories are “so what did Trump want investigated?” And then they talk about Biden and corruption in headline after headline ….even though that’s not what the actual story says. I saw a story on WaPo the other day about how Hunter biden is the epitome of privilege because he has had these second chances etc and it was like….can you seriously write that story with a straight face while the Trump kids are engaged in active corruption?
Becks1, The hypocrisy is truly astounding. Not just about the Trump kids but Trump actually claiming to be some champion for anti-corruption now? My blood is boiling constantly these days. A slow simmer of sorts. Sigh.
Agree. I am tuning out any Hunter stories. Even if there was “there” there, how could anything be worse than the non-stop gritting of our tax dollars from the current occupant’s offspring?
E-mails, birth certificate and health allegations are just a few of the past “greatest hits” to distract voters.
The lies that Warren lies about her teaching career ending would be everywhere too.
The “liberal media” sure seems to be boot licking conservative goons to me.
I swear whenever I am unavailable craziness happens (well even crazier things happen) and I am completely lost. First it was Ukraine when I was traveling and out of pocket for a week because of work and was so lost when I came back. Now yesterday I was out all day due to client meetings and didn’t get a chance to check my phone until late and was completely lost! I spent so much time trying to figure out what happened and just shocked at how much I could miss in just one day. It’s so absurd!!
I’m at the point where I wish I were unavailable. This is such an episode of Punk’d: The Oval office episode, that it would otherwise be unbelievable had I not seen this with my own fucking eyes. I’m honestly in awe when anyone thinks enough of Orange tsunami to even reply to him. My own parents would ignore me fully if I acted like this as a toddler much less an elderly orange supposed man . I’m stunned anyone takes this person-thing seriously enough to reply to his insanity in any other way that doesn’t start with the words, “The doctor will see you now…” How is this not a hail Mary just jump hiim and put him in a padded cell thing already. Because he stutters out some crazy shit his equally crazy base believe because the equally greedy repulsives don’t wanna lose their base?
You’ve lost it all already. Your dude is crazy and lethal AF and you letting it happen makes YES YOU a part of a conspiracy to commit a crime. You’re all going down as garbage in your legacy…if you’re remembered at all. You supporters have the ultimate karma to contend with plus being a person who made this world a lesser place to exist in so, now, enjoy.
And, in the ultimate wisdom of Orange tsunami…(as I see it but, sadly, sooo not at all far off)….”Many of you think I’ve been treated unfairly by the lame stream media. Bigly unfair. Everywhere I go buildings are collapsing from the weight of people who have dropped dead listening to this witch hunt. Literally dropping dead, all of them, on the ground. The floor where they live. And the weight, its incredible. Some aren’t so skinny. Great people, maybe a little large, but terrific. And they fall and there’s a thump and the building, its gone. Great people dying because they know Trump is being treated very very badly. And, look, its not just all of my buildings that were built poorly and went bankrupt because I refused to pay the builders, it’s the good strong buildings I had nothing to do with. The people there are falling from the fake news, they’re upset and I get it. Not brown people but actual people. They’re upset about Trump. Top generals tell me I’m a genius. Certain generals. The real high up generals. A lot of people know them, they call me. The big ones calk me. Fake news says I don’t do good calls. I do great calls. Everyone knows this. I’m perfect, my calls. But people are dying because of fake news. I’m a stable brilliant guy. I don’t want Ivanka to live in a world where buildings will collapse on her great breasts. Total witch hunt.
Dear God please let this nightmare end soon!
Polls can show whatever you want it too. That goes for both sides of the aisle.
He won’t be removed from office. The Senate removes and they will not remove him. Either he resigns or people have to vote him out. I think many people think once the house impeaches that’s it. It’s not. And by the time November of next year comes anything can happen.
Agreed, but even the GOP would be forced to review his candidacy if he were impeached.
Keep your eye on Mitt Romney. He’s concluded one of two things: 1) he can be the next President. 2) he can be a king (or queen, as in haley) maker and choose the next president.
He’s gathering his forces. Trump might be removed. IMO it’s no longer a foregone conclusion that he won’t be.
Daisy, I was just reading that he doesn’t want to primary him, which is probably a good decision as he has had 2 failed runs, but is instead working in the Senate to do something.
I do not like Romney. But I will give him SOME credit for being one of the few GOP to ever speak out against Trump, and if he is truly working to end this now, I’ll freaking applaud him.
Right now, I don’t care about the possible results, I just want the investigations, live on TV. And that tweet in the post was nutso beyond belief. I also didn’t know about trump taking us out of the Open Skies program. Not long after Russian spy planes went back & forth over Pearl Harbor-Hickham & Kaneohe Bay.
@Daisy – I generally agree. I think there is more going on behind the scenes with the Republicans than we know. Does that mean I think he’s going to be removed? I think it is highly improbable at this point.
I do not think we will hear a single Republican senator come out in favor of impeachment (and def not conviction/removal) until there are enough of them. basically IF a republican wants to remove him from office, we will only hear about it IF there are enough votes to actually do so.
Lucy, I read that too, but I was wondering if it is very specific. Like, I’m not the right person to primary him, but maybe I run for the nomination once he’s removed, you know? Or claim that I had to step into the void and run. Something like that.
Becks I agree it is highly improbable, but i feel like it moved from no chance to slim chance, and that’s something anyway.
God, he sounds like the Wizard of Oz. Just as much a conman too, with no heart to redeem in the end:
Do not arouse the wrath of the GREAT and POWERFUL trump.
Do you presume to CRITICIZE the GREAT trump? You ungrateful creatures!
Pay no attention to the nazi and lucrative business deals behind the curtain, the GREAT trump has spoken!
That was my thought yesterday when he tweeted it and several memes picked up on it right away.
That’s why part of me thinks I need Twitter.. but then daily memes on Trump (even mocking ones) might suck my soul out.
I hope the meme is Trump’s head floating in a cloud of orange mist.
Exactly what I thought.
He’s all of Dorothy’s companions-no brains, no heart, and no courage in that sorry draft dodging lardass of his.
Except the Wizard of Oz had tried to help the people of Oz once he found himself taken for a great man; he let their faith in him go to his head. Trump has continually betrayed his people and always had a massive and massively deluded ego.
Exactly. And while Dorothy’s companions may have been lacking at the beginning of their journey, unlike Trump and his enablers, they all reflected deeply, learned and evolved.
He needs to be thrown in a cell, never to see the light of day again. He’s allowing Saudi Arabia commit genocide in Yemen. He’s allowing Turkey to wipe out the Kurds. He’s destroyed this Country for years to come, I’d not permanents. He’s a traitor. He’s an idiot. I hate him.words fail me because I cannot describe how inept and incompetent and corrupt and stupid this orange blob is. I’m beyond disgusted.
I agree but would add: it’s not just him! Not that you don’t know that, but it’s the entire goshdang GOP! It’s the dark money forces like the Mercers and Kochs and Adelson and all the ones we *don’t* know. It’s that money has more power than ever. It’s that the GOP is enthrall to Russia. It’s the right wing media loop. It makes me want to pull out my clucking hair because the problem is so massive and it’s the reason we’re still having to argue for human rights like minorities and women being full citizens, why global warming still isn’t being worked on the way it should be and why Dick’s Spotting Goods is better at gun control than McConnell.
I should be optimistic but I’m fresh out. Only half are for the impeachment? Are the other half brain dead?
Same half that voted for W a second time.
Yes.
It’s insane to me that so many are still against it, but the good thing is the numbers have shifted significantly in the past two weeks or so, which means the story is getting through to people. May it continue!
” I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, ”
Is this bitch for real?? Did someone marathon Wizard of Oz before they wrote this for him??
It sounds like he copied a line straight out of The Tudors and channeled Henry VIII.
That tweet must have been written by Miller, right?! Way too many big words (yes, unmatched wisdom is big for Trump), and we all know Miller wouldn’t care about the Kurds being massacred
For those of you who live in red districts, please remind your congressional representatives that their job is to defend the Constitution, not to defend Donald Trump. Most of the party rhetoric that is spewing forth from the likes of Gym Jordan, Steve Scalise, and kevin McCarthy is outright false. They have not been denied any rights to issue subpoenas or due process and their job has nothing to do with defending or presenting the “other side.”
And former House impeachment Manager Leningrad Lindsey Graham can take all the chairs. Those senators who were whining about Turkey yesterday need to be reminded that none of this would be happening if they had not continually put GOP before USA and done their jobs of oversight of that reckless menace. They claim to the the party that respects life but thousands of innocent Kurds, our allies, will now die because they refused to do their jobs and they need to be reminded of that constantly.
Republican’s don’t care about the Constitution. They just want to remain in power. And they’ll defend President Oatmeal Brain until the very end to retain it.
If they think their power is threatened by association with Trump, they will run away from him.
Showing up to your house member’s town hall to express support for impeachment is a very powerful and effective move right now.
Let’s not forget my senator, Marco Rubio who thinks everything’s a “joke.” You should see the comments on his Twitter. People are dragging him. 99% of the people hate Marco. I started calling his office again. I had stopped in the last couple of months as I figured I have been put on a list, but with the impeachment proceedings and the Kurdish betrayal… I’m sick and disgusted.
Marco needs to move to Venezuela. Over the past year, he has probably tweeted more about Venezuela than about the US.
Yes, please continue to call them.
I also just called Rick Scott’s office. He has tweeted or said nothing about the Kurdish situation and I told them the Senator needed to take a stand on that.
I’ve been calling my spineless senator (Pat Toomey in PA) since this started, no one is answering the phones (cowards), but it is very cathartic to leave long messages!
58% of Americans, and 100% of the rest of the world’s population.
Aside from his statement about self-proclaimed unmatched wisdom, I also take offence to the fact that he threatens to mess with the world economy and health and well being of other nations simply because he thinks he can, and all for no other purpose but to support his crashing ego and to support his self-image that he is powerful and in control of something.
What he’s saying is that upon any whim that strikes him, he will (attempt to) destroy another nation, so everyone just ought to do as he says. I mean, he can’t ride horses topless or crush the will of his citizens with force (yet), so he has to threaten to obliterate other nations and cause the needless death of millions, all upon a whim that might strike him.
The Republican Party ought to be ashamed of itself for allowing this to go on.
You are wrong about “100% of the rest of the world’s population”. Trump gets a lot of support from people who vote for right-wing, fascist parties in other countries. Those parties also praise Trump. It’s absurd because they do not understand his politics hurt the world’s economy and their country.
I f*cking hate him. Hate. Him.
Me. Too!
Even Lindsey Graham and Mitch McConnell were bothered by the Syria move yesterday. If Turkey does indeed try to wipe out the Kurds (very likely), then Trump may indeed start losing support from the Senate. This decision on Syria was not good for his impeachment odds.
We must always remember Trump is stupid and will likely play this impeachment so badly that he leaves Congress with no choice but to remove his orange a–.
Fuck them! A great deal of blame for the slaughter to come can be laid at their co-conspirator feet.
Oh for sure, Jerusha. Not trying to give the GOP any credit or anything. Just pointing out that Donny Boy is shooting himself in the foot by acting stupider and stupider.
Folks keep saying Senate would never convict him on impeachment, but there’s gonna come a point where it’s just too much. This Syria thing may be one of those tipping points.
They weren’t bothered enough. Graham was whining all over Twitter about how betrayed he personally felt by Erdogan and how upset he would be if Erdogan acted but the strike had already begun hours before, and he never spoke out on doing the right thing – removing our own security risk from office. An hour later, he was happily spinning lies to protect Trump from impeachment.
Sounds like Herr Miller was the guest tweeter on the Donald’s account. Not enough grammatical errors when the wannabe king gets angry.
Where is Congress’ conscience? McTurtle once said about trump “he’ll sign anything”in regards to McT’s agenda. Must have writers cramp by now with all the reversal of prior administrations policies. How they can support the murder of our allies is beyond comprehension. Term limits and secure voting systems need to be addressed now.
Sorry I’m so all over the place but I’m truly worried more than ever that people will not do the right thing regarding the despicable person who resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
So today starts Yom Kippur, the day of atonement. Nagini and her consort have been out of pocket, it seems, for the high holy days, and she is definitely not available to daddy until tomorrow after sunset. He’s gonna be crazed like this until then, while she asks God for forgiveness for her sins.
Shalom, everybody.
Please don’t blame the rest of us Jews. Ivanka and her husband are horrible and will go down in history as enabling the American dictator. And no G-d I believe in will ever forgive that family.
Wait what? You still believe Ivanka and Jared are the voices of reason? They have personally gotten the most competent members of the WH fired and are responsible for advising Trump to make dumb decision after dumb decision. And many amoral Republicans claim to be the most religious people that ever lived. Ivanka’s greed, corruption and lack of care for caged babies does not seem to line up with any organized religion I’ve ever heard of.
Dickless ken is in charge of the impeachment team. That gave me cold comfort because for sure he’ll botch that up. Just like firing Comey.
Nagini probably views Yom Kipper as an opportunity to show off a new outfit. She supports everything her father does, everything, and was probably the leading advocate for screwing the Kurds in exchange for some additional favors for Trump businesses in Turkey.
What stupid and dangerous times we’re living in. His behaviours are terrifying all on their own but add in millions of people who think this is just fine and good. Of those millions are many many people who are too afraid to admit they made a mistake by voting for him so they dig in deeper to try to make it ok. 58%. It’s high in context but at the same time shamefully, dangerously low.
The fascist regime that is the white house run by Overlord Dotard do not give 2 shits about anything but themselves and their personal agendas. He will not be impeached. He will run again and win again. Because our country is spineless. Too self absorbed in our social media to take a stand. Too IT’S ALL ABOUT ME to make a difference. What is the word for what I mean? Ambivalence or inured or desensitized. Hell, they all fit .
How about that 42% huh?
33% deplorable racists and/or hypocritical “religious” right and 9% greedy, selfish f_ckers who like their tax breaks, deregulation, and corporate loopholes. The self-loathing white women of course span both categories.
Sorry, I’ve had it with the 42% who still support this dangerous criminal.
Until it hurts them where they live, like their pocketbooks, they won’t do anything. A good friend of mine for the past 25 years voted for Trump. She’s a registered Democrat and the daughter of immigrants. Her whole family voted for Trump. They thought he would help the economy. (Family also voted for Obama). However, she’s a government worker and when Trump shut down the government, she’s now got buyer’s remorse. She likes Biden and Warren.
I almost dumped her as a friend last year, but figured she would eventually have to see the light. We can’t abandon those voters, we have to keep fighting and pointing out what is wrong with this administration in order to get them to our side and vote Democratic again. Trumpism is a cult. And we have to deprogram those loved ones, friends and co-workers, or otherwise were doomed to another 4 years.
I get it and agree. My family voted for him, in a swing state. It is a cult.
Don’t be sorry, Tw. You are 100% right. It is unforgivable to be a Trump supporter in my book. He is evil and I am certain he will cause an apocalypse. I mean this Turkey mess has me very, very afraid.
The bribe was one thing and no one got physically hurt. But when millions of lives will be lost due to the actions of THE most hated president ever, I think that’s when people of all stripes said enough is enough. I especially think of the innocent women and children slaughtered by ISIS and my heart bleeds. Doesn’t matter if you’re for Trump or not, people will be murdered; and all due to the whim of a president who did this out of spite. I’m not a religious person, but if there’s a God now, we need your help.
I’m pretty sure that all of our outrage is for nothing. He is like Teflon and with the cadre of bootlicking republicans willing to go on TV and say Up is down and blue is green–don’t pay attention to what you see or hear–we don’t really have a chance.
If he’s out, then all those rich people won’t continue to get even more tax cuts and raid the treasury, so let’s be for real–they will continue to dump money into these party-before-country hypocrites and people will eat up their bulls*** and vote for them like they always have–and then blame the democrats for their shitty lives.
The hubris of this cretin is unmatched in the history of American politics. He needs to be removed from office. And after he leaves office he needs to be held accountable for all of his wrongdoing whilst in office😠😠😠
He’ll probably die before there is any really accountability. Just like that f$&ker Epstein.