Let's Read Fear: Trump in the White House

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Grondoth: Feb 18, 2011

Willie Tomg posted:

bob woodward looked at W loving the constitution far worse than it would ever occur to trump to do and went "that is a man Doing The Needful", and the only reason his tone is remotely critical of the trump WH is because trump existing in the WH proves that bob woodward is a useless cocksucker courtier who deserves worse than what french courtiers got in their day

This I understand and agree with

# ? Sep 12, 2018 22:42

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# ? Jun 12, 2024 11:08

Potato Salad: Oct 23, 2014; nobody cares

I'm able to critically judge author and journalistic content, how's everyone else doing?

The dick sucking is getting bad and I'm a third through this afternoon

# ? Sep 12, 2018 22:50

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

SickZip posted:

Did you get to the section where Cohn is aghast that Trump gives no poo poo about the debt ceiling and gets painted as the smart one as a result?

Yeah, it was hilarious to hear Trump give the correct position on the debt (it's absolutely unintentional on his part) and then have the dipshit from Goldman have to Save the Budget

# ? Sep 12, 2018 23:42

Mayor Dave: Feb 20, 2009; Bernie the Snow Clown

Yeah I'm really just going to have to skip the rest, this Rob Porter slobjob is over the line

# ? Sep 12, 2018 23:44

BrutalistMcDonalds: Oct 4, 2012; Lipstick Apathy

First draft of history

# ? Sep 13, 2018 00:32

Bearded Whiteguy: Mar 2, 2018; I APPROPRIATE THE PLIGHT OF OTHER RACES TO FILL THE VOID OF BEING A FAT USELESS FUCK

Chapter 6 begins with Trump meeting retired General Jack Keane and offering him the job of Secretary of Defense. Keane turns it down, says some stuff about how you can�t gently caress up national security, but you can gently caress up domestic issues (real bright one there�), then recommends Jim �Mad Dog� Mattis. No lols here. Mad Dog gets a call from Keane, and Mad Dog says he�ll take the job if offered.

Mad Dog meets Trump, tells Trump �We can�t fight a war of attrition [against ISIS], it has to be a war of annihilation.� Orange retard likes the sound of that and hires him. Self Felator doesn�t like this because Mad Dog is a globalist and too liberal on social issues, but Orange retard thinks Mad Dog is cool, so Bannon is overruled. We then have a lengthy bit explaining who Mad Dog is, his background, and his good buddy Captain Bob Harward. We then get this weird bit that makes me think maybe Mad Dog is a weird pervert?

quote:

Harward went over to the house. He walked into the kitchen and found General Mattis there, folding Harward�s underwear.

�Sir,� Harward said, �what the gently caress are you doing?�

�I did my laundry,� Mattis said. �I figured I�d do yours too.�

After this there�s another side track bit about Iran bombing in Beirut that killed marines and how the marines never forgave Iran for it. Ok, that sucks, but holding a grudge that can destabilize an entire region sounds kinda bad, no? I have friends who are marines, and now that I think about it, they hate Iran, so this must be something that the old guys talk to them about a lot. Moving along, there�s more talk about Mad Dog and Iran, leading up to 2013 where he didn�t trust the Obama administration to handle them, and then threw a hissy fit and told them he was going to quit. They fired him and he destroyed all of his plans, records, and papers on Iran because he�s apparently a baby as well as a Mad Dog. As of 2018, we have not done any military engagements with Iran. Just ripped up a deal and threatened a bunch. Mad Dog�s anger and fear against Iran in 2013 was clearly justified, huh? Definitely should�ve invaded them instead of make that Nuclear deal�

If you can�t tell, this is a weird bit that seems to make Mattis out to be an idiot, though I�m sure that�s not supposed to be the takeaway. He�s a petulant, grudge holding weirdo that folds other men�s underwear, and thought Iran was the world�s biggest enemy. Not Russia, not ISIS, not North Korea, nope� Iran. Which, to be fair, is a huge problem and funds terrorism, and I won�t defend them, but he�s got a major hate boner for them.

I digress, so up next, Trump hires Rex Tillerson because he �looks the part�. Yup� Big get there. This is where it starts getting evident that there�s a lot of people not willing to work for Trump, but the team keeps pretending it�s �thumbing its nose at Washington insiders!� while still hiring a bunch of them, just not the good ones. Ann Coulter Clone Kellyanne says he�ll be a big impact, and like on most things, she couldn�t be more wrong. That�s where chapter 6 ends. Pretty uneventful one that didn�t have many lols. Hopefully chapter 7 will pick up. And oh boy, does it!

Chapter 7 gets going pretty much right away with Gary Cohn getting hired. This has got to be good, right? Gary Cohn is the guy who �saved America� by snatching the KORUS pull out off of Trump�s desk, so there�s got to be some stuff here! �[Cohn] had an ego to match Trump. He was informed that Trump liked to keep meetings to under 10 mins�. Our president, ladies and gents. He can�t sit for a meeting that lasts longer than 10 mins� Oh, and this meeting delivers:

quote:

We�re a trade-based economy, [Cohn] said. Free, fair and open trade was essential. Trump had campaigned against international trade deals. Second, the United States is an immigration center to the world. �We�ve got to continue to have open borders,� Cohn said. The employment picture was so favorable that the United States would run out of workers soon. So immigration had to continue. �We have many jobs in this country that Americans won�t do.� Next, Cohn repeated what everyone was saying: Interest rates were going to go up over the foreseeable future.

I agree, Trump said. �We should just go borrow a lot of money right now, hold it, and then sell it and make money.� Cohn was astounded at Trump�s lack of basic understanding. He tried to explain.

If you as the federal government borrow money through issuing bonds, you are increasing the U.S. deficit.

What do you mean? Trump asked. Just run the presses� print money.

You don�t get to do it that way, Cohn said. We have huge deficits and they matter. The government doesn�t keep a balance sheet like that. �If you want to do something that would be smart� and you actually do control this� I would add a 50-year and a 100-year bond from the U.S. Treasury.�

With interest rates going down in recent years, Treasury had brought the duration of bonds down to 10 years as much as possible. That was the right thing to do, Cohn said. With rates increasing, the insurance companies and the pensions will lend the government money for 50 years or 100 years. And you could probably do it at 3 � percent. That would be really cheap money over the next 50 to 100 years.

These leads to a beautiful exchange where Trump chews out Mnuchin.

quote:

�Wow!� Trump said. �That�s a great idea.� He turned to Mnuchin. �Can we do that?�

�Oh, sure,� the designated treasury secretary said. �We can absolutely do that.�

�Do you agree with him?� Trump asked.

�Yeah, I agree with him,� Mnuchin said.

�You�ve been working for me six months,� Trump said. �Why the hell have you never talked to me about this? Why�s he the first person to ever tell me that?�

Cohn then goes on to explain how rates work and Trump mostly gets it. We then get to taxes where Cohn gives the game away:

quote:

Turning to taxes, Cohn said, �The 35 percent corporate tax rate has been great for my business for the last decade. We�ve been inverting companies to 10 percent tax jurisdictions and they pay us enormous fees.� He was speaking as a Goldman president. An inversion refers to relocating a corporation�s legal home to a low-tax country such as Ireland or Bermuda in the form of a new parent company while retaining operations and management as a subsidiary in the higher-tax country.

Goldman had facilitated dozens of companies� moves abroad. The company�s leaders and boards had a responsibility to shareholders to maximize profits and moving, inverting, dramatically raised earnings. Nearly all the drugmakers and insurance companies had moved. Cohn bragged, �Where else can I take a company doing X in business that does X tomorrow and has 20 percent more earnings just by changing their corporate headquarters?�

Arguing against Goldman�s self-interest, Cohn added, �We can�t allow that to happen. We�ve got to get our corporate tax in line with the average, which is about 21, 22 percent.�

Yes, Cohn just saved America from companies going overseas. Uh-huh. That corporate tax cut did a whole lot to bring companies back here right? Moving on, we get some good lols here:

quote:

Trump returned to printing money. �We�ll just borrow,� he said, enamored with the idea of heading the federal government, which had the best credit rating in the world, so they could borrow at the lowest interest rate.

Cohn didn�t mention a report that had come out during the campaign which said the Trump Organization�s business credit score was a 19 out of 100, below the national average by 30 points, and that it could have difficulty borrowing money. You just can�t print money, Cohn said.

�Why not? Why not?�

Congress had a debt ceiling which set a cap on how much money the federal government could borrow, and it was legally binding. It was clear that Trump did not understand the way the U.S. government debt cycle balance sheet worked.

Our president, was such an idiot, he didn�t understand the debt ceiling. Not like it wasn�t a huge bullshit deal for the last 10 years! If he had paid attention at all he would've seen his party raise a poo poo fit every time it came up. We now have a hilarious scene where Trump offers the worst jobs possible to an investment banker:

quote:

�I want you to come to work for me,� Trump said.

�Doing what?�

Trump mentioned deputy secretary of defense.

�First of all, I don�t want to be deputy secretary of anything,� Cohn said.

How about director of national intelligence? Cohn indicated no. He was not sure what the job did. He later learned it entailed overseeing the CIA and all the other intelligence agencies.

�You trade commodities,� Trump said. �Why don�t you think about being secretary of energy?� No interest. Trump tried to convince Cohn to become director of the Office of Management and Budget. No. Cohn knew it was a horrible job. �You know what?� Trump said at the end of what had become an hour-long meeting. �I hired the wrong guy for treasury secretary. You should be treasury secretary. You would be the best treasury secretary.�

Mnuchin, right there, didn�t say a thing or show any reaction.

�Come back and tell me what you want,� Trump said. �You�d be great to have on the team. It�d be fantastic.� Five minutes later while Cohn was still in the building, he saw a television flash breaking news: President-elect Trump has selected Steve Mnuchin as treasury secretary.

�That�s crazy,� Jared said. �Mnuchin just put that out. You freaked him out so badly in the meeting.�

Jesus, Trump is a retard! Why the gently caress would you put an investment banker in charge of Defense, Intelligence, or Energy? It makes no goddamn sense. We�re finally getting to the point where Pissboy is truly, truly a loving moron.

Cohn is told by friends he should take Head of White House National Economic Council and become the Economic Czar. His wife, meanwhile:

quote:

Cohn�s wife, Lisa, said he should do it because he owed the country a great deal. �You�re too slow, you�re too fat and too old to serve your country any other way.�

Ha. Cohn tells Pissboy he wants the NEC job and gets hired.

quote:

�Of course,� Trump said, �it�ll be however you want it to run. We�re going to do such great things.�

Priebus, who was in the meeting, worried about the on-the-spot hires. He later said to Trump, �We�re going to hire the guy, a Democrat who voted for Hillary Clinton, to run our economic council? Why? Shouldn�t we talk about this? I�m sure he�s really smart. Shouldn�t we have a conversation before we offer a job like this?�

�Oh,� Trump said, �we don�t need to talk about it.� Besides, the job had been offered and accepted. �He�s going to be great.�

Enter Michael �In Like a Jail Cell Soon� Flynn. He gets a brief intro and Woodward says he talked to him in December 2016. They talk about Russia and how Russia had outsmarted America in a lot of ways. Of course leaving out that it had compromised a high ranking member of Trump�s cabinet, a guy by the name of Flynn. Chapter 8 ends with Flynn saying that the world is a plate of poo poo, and Trump has to deal with it. Yup.

So we had some lols here, Trump is a total retard, Jail Bird Flynn and Hillary supporter Cohn have entered, and the Trump presidency is about to begin. Hooraay�..

# ? Sep 13, 2018 00:48

plaintiff: May 15, 2015

I read this book and felt unsatisfied by what I read. There was nothing really new, and bearded whiteguy is pointing out just about anything left that is provocative. I tend to suspend disbelief for the sake of entertaining ideas, but halfway through I began to feel disgusted by the things people were doing and saying. It reminds me of the original "The Producers" movie in how everything shook out, and now it's just a giant farce rattling itself apart. Everyone involved is a heinous rear end in a top hat.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 01:57

Zeroisanumber: Oct 23, 2010; Nap Ghost

Marines hate Iran because Iran provided Iraqi insurgents with a type of IED that killed a lot of Marines in armored vehicles. If Woodward is citing Beruit then it's because the Beriut Bombing was during his post-Watergate funk and it's all that his misfiring brain can recall.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 03:18

The Nastier Nate: May 22, 2005; All aboard the corona bus!

HONK! HONK!; Yams Fan

do NOT jack off posted:

I read this book and felt unsatisfied by what I read. There was nothing really new, and bearded whiteguy is pointing out just about anything left that is provocative. I tend to suspend disbelief for the sake of entertaining ideas, but halfway through I began to feel disgusted by the things people were doing and saying. It reminds me of the original "The Producers" movie in how everything shook out, and now it's just a giant farce rattling itself apart. Everyone involved is a heinous rear end in a top hat.

If this book doesn't do it for you wait a year for the next one. It's not like anyone in the White House will learn a lesson about spilling their guts to reporters.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 17:15

Willie Tomg: Feb 2, 2006

Zeroisanumber posted:

Marines hate Iran because Iran provided Iraqi insurgents with a type of IED that killed a lot of Marines in armored vehicles. If Woodward is citing Beruit then it's because the Beriut Bombing was during his post-Watergate funk and it's all that his misfiring brain can recall.

Additionally, to the degree anybody at all materially "won" the Iraq War it was Iran, and Iranian-affiliated militias and political parties.

Few in the military respond well to almost two decades worth of proof that their enterprise is inherently counterproductive, at least until their enlistments are up.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 19:05

Bearded Whiteguy: Mar 2, 2018; I APPROPRIATE THE PLIGHT OF OTHER RACES TO FILL THE VOID OF BEING A FAT USELESS FUCK

Chapter 8, man, still a bunch to go. It begins with the major branches of intelligence preparing to tell Trump that Russia meddled in the election and that it would be headed by James Clapper, who orange retard now hates. Wonder why that is? So this is infamous page 69 where they debate about telling Trump all the details and how the Steele Dossier confirms some of their independent work on it. I am sure everyone here has seen the tweets and articles about it, but here�s the big, big takeaway from it that I find most important:

quote:

�You should read this,� Brennan told Clapper. The FBI already had a top secret counterintelligence investigation under way to see if there was any collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. �This will add substantiation to what we are doing.� It was not proof, but it seemed to be on the same trail.

[�]

The sources that Steele used for his dossier had not been polygraphed, which made their information uncorroborated, and potentially suspect. But Brennan said the information was in line with their own sources, in which he had great confidence.

[�]

On the second page it said: �According to Source D, where s/ he had been present, TRUMP�s (perverted) conduct in Moscow included hiring the presidential suite of the Ritz Carlton Hotel, where he knew President and Mrs OBAMA (whom he hated) had stayed on one of their official trips to Russia, and defiling the bed where they had slept by employing a number of prostitutes to perform a �golden showers� (urination) show in front of him. The hotel was known to be under FSB control with microphones and concealed cameras in all the main rooms to record anything they wanted to.�

This was designed to obtain � � kompromat� (compromising material) on him,� according to the dossier. It was a spectacular allegation. There was no available indication who Source D might be. Since the FBI had the dossier, Comey said, he ought to present it to Trump after their core presentation of the intelligence community assessment. It would be an annex, virtually a footnote. The 35 pages were reduced to a one-and-three-quarter-page summary that focused on the allegation of coordination between the Russians and the campaign.

Basically that the FBI and CIA corroborated a lot of the Steele Dossier before it was in public, that they had sources who had been polygraphed confirming large portions, if not the whole thing, and that they didn�t want to freak Trump out, so they cut it down to just a few pages. So, Pissboy knew and was told a short version of this before he was even president. And has been lying about it ever since. Which we knew, but it�s nice to see in this book.

On January 5th, Pissboy uses witch hunt for the first time.

Enter Hope Hicks who comes off as a bumbling idiot arm chair psychologist, which she should really leave to me, a failed academic that never completed his coursework.

quote:

Hicks was convinced the media had �oppositional defiance syndrome,� which is a term from clinical psychology most often applied to rebellious children. �Oppositional defiance syndrome� is characterized by excessive anger against authority, vindictiveness and temper tantrums. As far as she was concerned, that described the press.

Hicks was already working on a response to the reports of Russian meddling in the election. The excessive news reporting on what she called the �alleged hacking by Russia� only made the United States look weak and Russia more influential than she thought possible.

I really, really can�t describe how stupid this is and a complete misunderstanding of psychology. She manages to take a term that is supposed to be used just for individuals, and conflates it to a poly sci and sociological effect. This is a perfect example of pretty much everything that is wrong with modern politics, actually, but, well, gently caress it. Whatever. I�m not angry!

When then get Comey�s first meeting with Trump which quotes this lol bit from Comey�s book:

quote:

�His suit jacket was open and his tie too long, as usual. His face appeared slightly orange, with bright white half-moons under his eyes where I assumed he placed small tanning goggles, and impressively coiffed, bright blond hair, which upon close inspection looked to be all his. I remember wondering how long it must have taken him in the morning to get that done. As he extended his hand, I made a mental note to check its size. It was smaller than mine, but did not seem unusually so.�

Clapper gives his short assessment of the Russian influence, basically that they meddled, tried to undermine Clinton, and pump Trump up. The sources for this were extremely reliable and one in particular was in danger as he was a suspected informant. Pissboy, however:

quote:

�I don�t believe in human sources,� Trump replied. �These are people who have sold their souls and sold out their country.� He wasn�t buying. �I don�t trust human intelligence and these spies.�

This remark caused Brennan, whose CIA relied almost entirely on human sources, later to remark, �I guess I won�t tell the employees about that.�

This has also not been previously reported: The CIA believed they had at least six human sources supporting this finding. One person with access to the full top secret report later told me he believed that only two were solid.

Trump asked if there was anything more. �Well, yes, there is some additional sensitive material,� Clapper said.

Do you want us to stay or do this alone? Priebus asked Trump.

Comey suggested, �I was thinking the two of us.�

�Just the two of us,� Trump agreed.

Though he could play the tough G-man, Comey somewhat soft-pedaled the summary he had. He explained that there was a dossier with allegations. He was passing it on. It was out there; he didn�t want the president-elect to be blindsided because it was in wide circulation, and certainly it, or parts of it, would surface in the media. The dossier alleged that Trump had been with prostitutes in a Moscow hotel in 2013 and the Russians had filmed it. Comey did not mention the allegation in the dossier that Trump had prostitutes urinate on each other on the bed President Obama and Michelle Obama had once used.

Comey later wrote, �I figured that single detail was not necessary to put him on notice about the material. This whole thing was weird enough. As I spoke, I felt a strange out-of-body experience, as if I were watching myself speak to the new president about prostitutes in Russia.� Trump denied the allegations. Did he seem like a guy who needed prostitutes?

In A Higher Loyalty, Comey wrote, �The FBI was not currently investigating him. This was literally true. We did not have a counterintelligence case file open on him. We really didn�t care if he had cavorted with hookers in Moscow, so long as the Russians weren�t trying to coerce him in some way.� This is what Comey wrote about how he conveyed this message to Trump at the end of their private meeting: �As he began to grow more defensive and the conversation teetered toward disaster, on instinct, I pulled the tool from my bag: �We are not investigating you, sir.� That seemed to quiet him.�

The private meeting lasted five minutes.

Pissboy got defensive as gently caress, so we know it�s true. Trump later told his lawyer : �I�ve got enough problems with Melania and girlfriends and all that. I don�t need any more. I can�t have Melania hearing about that.� Because, again, it was true.

Woodward then goes on a multipage diatribe about how the Steele Dossier was bunk and that Comey shouldn�t have brought it up and instead given it to his lawyer to deal with. Comey defends his actions by saying that he wanted to tell the truth and make sure to give a warning to Trump about it because it was likely going to come out anyway. He didn�t want Pissboy to get blindsided. Woodward claims this is the reason that Trump started his war against the intelligence agencies. Comey mentions that it was something that Hoover would do to hold power over a president, and honestly� that might be why he did it, but considering it was already in reporters hands it seems like a useless bit of blackmail.

Woodward decided he was right about the whole thing though which is total bullshit. Pissboy was going to find out about it like a week later, was going to find out that the CIA and FBI knew about it, and then would�ve raged harder. He was always going to start making GBS threads on the intelligence community because they were going to find out he was compromised.

So that�s famous Chapter 8. It�s a long one and this took my morning before work to put together so, I�ll come back with Chapter 9 later. A tease, first:

quote:

�That�s a hard one,� he said afterward. He was clearly rattled. He let it be known he would make no more trips to Dover.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 19:40

Captain_Maclaine: Sep 30, 2001; Every moment that I'm alive, I pray for death!

Willie Tomg posted:

Additionally, to the degree anybody at all materially "won" the Iraq War it was Iran, and Iranian-affiliated militias and political parties.

Few in the military respond well to almost two decades worth of proof that their enterprise is inherently counterproductive, at least until their enlistments are up.

We both know that the chief and intended winners of the Iraq War was Halliburton and other defense contractor parasites.

# ? Sep 13, 2018 19:45

Former DILF: Jul 13, 2017

I demand the right to return to pisstape israel

# ? Sep 13, 2018 20:04

MasterSitsu: Nov 23, 2013

I listened to the audiobook version.

As a whole it's basically that Simpsons scene where they're trying to coach Homer that he's Mr. Thompson and he just never gets it. It's also a bit disappointing in the "Wooooo controversy" department. Cohn and Porter come out looking better than they probably should. Lindsey Graham comes off as the more despicable lickspittle. It's technically better than Fire & Fury, but it's less entertaining, if that matters.

Of all the Trump-related books to come out post-election, Russian Roulette remains the gold standard for intrigue and "I didn't know that".

# ? Sep 13, 2018 20:14

Bearded Whiteguy: Mar 2, 2018; I APPROPRIATE THE PLIGHT OF OTHER RACES TO FILL THE VOID OF BEING A FAT USELESS FUCK

Chapter 9 and still a ton to go. Trump�s Yemen mission is a total disaster. A Navy Seal is killed, a helicopter that cost millions is blown up, and they kill a few kids. Not a great start�

We all remember how Obama said it was a dumb plan and said he didn�t want to go through with it, but Mad Dog being an idiot, he pushes for it to go ahead. People die stupidly, turns out there wasn�t much to gain from it, and Trump decides to go to the Navy Seal�s funeral in Dover:

quote:

Chief Special Warfare Operator William �Ryan� Owens, 36, from Peoria, Illinois, was the first combat casualty in Trump�s presidency. Trump decided to go to Dover, Delaware, to observe the ceremony for the arrival of his body. Ivanka accompanied him.

When they arrived at Dover, the commander pulled the president aside. According to what Trump told his senior staff later, the commander said: I want to prepare you for this, Mr. President. When you walk in, the family is going to come up to you. It will be an experience like no other. You�re the commander in chief. The respect they show to you, and their grieving, will be incredible. You�ll be there to comfort them. When the plane rolls up, when the flag-draped casket comes down, some of the family are going to lose it and they will lose it very badly. On the other hand, be prepared to have some people say something inappropriate, even harsh.

No one said anything harsh, but there was a definite coldness that the president remembered. �That�s a hard one,� he said afterward. He was clearly rattled. He let it be known he would make no more trips to Dover.

Owens�s father, Bill Owens, was at Dover but he and his wife did not want to meet with Trump.

�I�m sorry,� Owens told the chaplain. I don�t want to meet the president. I don�t want to make a scene about it, but my conscience won�t let me talk to him.

He later also said, �For two years prior, there were no boots on the ground in Yemen� everything was missiles and drones� because there was not a target worth one American life. Now, all of a sudden we had to make this grand display.�

Owen�s Dad rules. Owen�s wife� was uh� going through a lot at the time, so let�s give her the benefit of the doubt here:

quote:

To the congressional audience and 47 million television viewers, the president said, �We are blessed to be joined tonight by Carryn Owens. Ryan died as he lived, a warrior and a hero� battling against terrorism and securing our nation.�

Because the operation was being criticized, Trump added, �I just spoke to General Mattis, who reconfirmed that, and I quote, �Ryan was a part of a highly successful raid that generated large amounts of vital intelligence that will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemies.� Ryan�s legacy is etched into eternity.�

The president turned to Owens�s widow in the balcony and said �Thank you.�

Thunderous applause broke out. At first Carryn Owens fought back tears, exhaled and mouthed, �I love you, baby.� The applause continued and tears began to stream down her face. She stood, joined her hands in apparent prayer, looked up and mouthed, �I love you.�

Trump said, �For as the Bible teaches us, there is no greater act of love than to lay down one�s life for one�s friends. Ryan laid down his life for his friends, for his country, and for our freedom� we will never forget him.� The applause and standing ovation from the Congress and the audience lasted nearly two minutes.

�Ryan is looking down right now,� Trump said. �You know that. And he is very happy because I think he just broke a record.� Carryn Owens smiled and clapped. The president greeted and embraced her in the hallway following the speech.

Yeah� that�s uh� that�s way worse than I remember. That�s super fascist. In fascism, death is the goal, you celebrate the death of heroes because they died for the cause. This is literally that.

Trump then just makes calls to Gold Star families and he has a very difficult time with it. Woodward makes it out to be difficult for Pissboy because he has a lot of empathy, but in reality it�s Trump just faking it:

quote:

�I�m looking at his picture� such a beautiful boy,� Trump said in one call to family members. Where did he grow up? Where did he go to school? Why did he join the service?

�I�ve got the record here,� Trump said. �There are reports here that say how much he was loved. He was a great leader.� Some in the Oval Office had copies of the service records. None of what Trump cited was there. He was just making it up. He knew what the families wanted to hear.

A week later, Pissboy started going off on NATO, which made Mad Dog call him �kooky�. Rat Fucker Preibus set up a meeting for Pissboy to hear how important NATO is and how stupid he is for disparaging it. As you can probably guess� it didn�t go well.

Trump starts the meeting by yelling about John McCain being a coward in front of establishment republicunts.

quote:

As they sat down to dinner, Trump wanted to gossip about the news of the day. Senator John McCain, displaying his maverick credentials, had publicly criticized the U.S. military raid in Yemen.

Trump lashed out, suggesting that McCain had taken the coward�s way out of Vietnam as a prisoner of war. He said that as a Navy pilot during the Vietnam War McCain, whose father was Admiral John McCain, the Pacific commander, had been offered and taken early release, leaving other POWs behind.

other POWs behind. �No, Mr. President,� Mattis said quickly, �I think you�ve got it reversed.� McCain had turned down early release and been brutally tortured and held five years in the Hanoi Hilton.

�Oh, okay,� Trump said.

Gray, who had served five years in the Marine Corps, was struck that the secretary corrected the president directly, and that Trump, known to bristle when challenged, would be so accepting.

Jesus he�s an idiot and jesus Mad Dog just shut him down and he accepted it. Wonder how long that will last? Not long it turns out. They sit down and discuss why NATO is important, Pissboy is convinced for the time being:

quote:

By the end of the dinner, Trump seemed to be persuaded. �You can have your NATO,� he told Mattis. The administration would support the alliance, �but you become the rent collector.�

Mattis laughed. And then he nodded. In his speech in Munich on February 15, Secretary Mattis found middle ground. �America will meet its responsibilities,� he said, but would �moderate� its commitment if the other NATO countries did not meet theirs. Nonetheless he said the alliance was a �fundamental bedrock� of U.S. policy.

[three months later]
When Trump met the European leaders in May in Brussels, he castigated NATO countries for �chronic underpayments.� He said that �23 of the 28 member nations are still not paying what they should be paying and what they�re supposed to be paying for their defense.� He made it clear that he was addressing the United States domestic audience. �This is not fair to the people and taxpayers of the United States.�

Nice job, Mad Dog.

Chapter 10� and Michael Flynn is outed as a liar. �What the hell! Priebus thought as he scanned a February 9 story in The Washington Post reporting that National Security Adviser Michael Flynn had discussed sanctions against Russia with the Russian ambassador before Trump was in office.�

Flynn lied, Sally Yates testifies he lied, and poo poo hits the fan. Trump has been president for just over three weeks.

quote:

McGahn and Priebus were joined by Vice President Pence in the Situation Room to review the transcripts. Pence had backed Flynn�s denial publicly. According to a six-page internal White House Counsel�s Office memo, Flynn said if he and Kislyak discussed sanctions, �It was only because Kislyak brought it up. From the transcripts, Flynn had brought up the issue. McGahn and Priebus agree that Flynn has to be let go.�

In all three transcripts, Flynn and the ambassador discussed the sanctions. In the last call, initiated by Kislyak, the ambassador thanked Flynn for his advice on the sanctions, and said the Russians would follow it. That nailed the story and it explained Putin�s curiously passive response to the sanctions.

Normally the Russian president would be expected to retaliate, expelling some Americans from Russia. But the day after Obama announced the sanctions, Putin announced he would not.

President-elect Trump praised Putin, tweeting, �Great move on delay (by V. Putin)-I always knew he was very smart!�

The sequence suggested that Trump might have known of Flynn�s role. But it was unclear what Flynn had said to the president about his conversations with Kislyak. Priebus told the president he would have to let Flynn go. Flynn�s security clearance might be pulled. The embarrassment would be significant.

Flynn�s resignation was announced on February 13. The chief reason offered publicly was that Flynn had lied to Vice President Pence. Trump told others in his administration that he let Flynn go because Flynn was not up to the job.

Flynn pleads guilty to protect his son, says he didn�t commit treason. Sure, Mike. Sure.

Mattis meets some important folks. Retired generals, establishment guys, etc. He starts a meeting with them and talks about what to do when you talk with Pissboy. And here it is, the big line that has been reported:

quote:

President Trump is a good listener, Mattis said, as long as you don�t hit one of his third rails� immigration and the press are the two big ones. If you hit one, he is liable to go off on a tangent and not come back for a long time. �Secretaries of Defense don�t always get to choose the president they work for.� Everyone laughed.

I mean, you do. You don�t take the job or you quit. It�s pretty simple Mad Dog. He talks about the plan to fight ISIS, and once again, Mad Dog is obsessed with Iran:

quote:

Fundamentally, Mattis said, we are doing things backwards. We are trying to devise a counter-ISIS strategy without any larger, broader Middle East strategy. Ideally we�d have the Middle East strategy and the ISIS piece would plug in underneath and support it. But the president�s tasking required ISIS first.

In the end the Combat ISIS strategy was a continuation of the strategy under Obama but with bombing and other authorities granted to the local commanders. Mattis was worried about Iranian expansion. At one point he later referred to �those idiot raghead mullahs.�

The chapter ends with Andrew McCabe telling Rat Fucker that the story about Russian meddling and collusion with Trump officials was not true, and that he would tell the press it wasn�t true. McCabe then left, Rat Fucker told Pissboy that the FBI was going to say the story was bull, and then the FBI didn�t. Rat Fucker freaks out, calls McCabe and says that he�s getting killed and needs the FBI to issue a denial.

quote:

Two hours passed and no call from McCabe. Priebus called him. �I�m sorry, I can�t,� McCabe said. �There�s nothing I can do about it. I tried, but if we start issuing comments on individual stories, we�ll be doing statements every three days.� The FBI could not become a clearinghouse for the accuracy of news stories. If the FBI tried to debunk certain stories, a failure to comment could be seen as a confirmation.

�Andrew, you�re the one that came to my office to tell me this is a BS story, and now you�re telling me there�s nothing you can do?�

McCabe said that was his position.

�This is insanity,� Priebus said. �What am I supposed to do? Just suffer, bleed out?�

�Give me a couple more hours.� Nothing happened. No call from the FBI.

Yeah, sure. That�s how it went. Not Rat Fucker begging McCabe to call it bullshit and McCabe shooting it down. Reminder that while this was being written the Trump team was trying to character assassinate McCabe.

And that�s it for Chapter 10! Good Mattis lols (funny that him being a racist fuckhead isn�t being reported everywhere), some solid Rat Fucker lols, and good Pissboy lols this time around. I�ll try and get some more out today, but may have to wait until the weekend. I just moved, and we�re putting up all the paintings/finishing the guest room, so it may be slow.

# ? Sep 14, 2018 21:09

Karma Comedian: Feb 2, 2012

Boy the hiring of McMaster is amazing.

# ? Sep 15, 2018 04:48

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# ? Jun 12, 2024 11:08

Lawman 0: Aug 17, 2010

Karma Comedian posted:

Boy the hiring of McMaster is amazing.

Why

# ? Sep 15, 2018 17:30

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > C-SPAM > Let's Read Fear: Trump in the White House

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