Trump MAGAthread VIII: Make the MAGAthread Great Again

[Zanera]

I used to listen to Bohemian Rhapsody a relative lot but now it might not even make my top 5 favorite Queen songs, probably, if I went through all their songs. It's hard to hear what's being sung in songs exactly sometimes, a famous example which would be like with that Jimi Hendrix song (though I didn't find out people mistook the "Now excuse me, while I kiss the sky" lyric for "Now excuse me, while I kiss this guy" until I watched an early-morning show that had a Misheard Lyrics segment. I heard it right the first time). I'm still not too interested in looking up BR's lyrics past understanding the Scaramucci/Scaramouche thing, too. I think I prefer Under Pressure as a song by them over BR.

Once you've got to like a song, it might be better NOT to look up the lyrics. Sometimes what you thought the words were is better.

That's the case with some songs.

Oh. Scaramucci/Scaramouche.

And he calls himself "The Mooch"

Really? It can't be political nicknaming if the person calls themselves that name, can it?
Even so, GOTVERDAMMT SCARAMUCCI IS ALREADY TOO IRRELEVANT FOR THE NICKNAMING.
He's like the one guy in the administration that just right-off rubbed me wrong.

[Valrifell]

OK, what did I miss over the weekend?

Not much. The West Wing is being renovated so Trump is "on vacation" in New Jersey for a couple weeks.

He's somehow made the state worse. Huh.

[Galloism]

Blissed-Out, Hemp-Wearing Sean Spicer Assures Reince Priebus This The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Him

DELRAY BEACH, FL—Inviting the recently fired White House chief of staff to take a load off and embrace his newfound freedom, a blissed-out, hemp-wearing former press secretary Sean Spicer reportedly assured Reince Priebus on Monday that leaving the White House was the best thing that ever happened to him. “Seriously, man, that place was toxic—after I got out of there, it was like this huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders,” said the serene, baja-hoodie-clad former spokesman, offering Priebus some of his homemade kombucha and his copy of Alan Watts’ Become What You Are while assuring him that leaving the Trump administration would allow him to find a sense of tranquility and spiritual reconnection. “I take long walks now. I read. I meditate. Remember how flustered I used to get? The other day, someone totally screwed up my lunch order, but I didn’t even let it get to me. Trust me, you’re going to look back on this as the day you rediscovered yourself. Welcome back, brother.” At press time, Priebus was attending a silent meditation retreat in Bali, waiting for the echoes of Donald Trump shrieking at him to finally subside.

[Zanera]

Blissed-Out, Hemp-Wearing Sean Spicer Assures Reince Priebus This The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Him

(Image)

DELRAY BEACH, FL—Inviting the recently fired White House chief of staff to take a load off and embrace his newfound freedom, a blissed-out, hemp-wearing former press secretary Sean Spicer reportedly assured Reince Priebus on Monday that leaving the White House was the best thing that ever happened to him. “Seriously, man, that place was toxic—after I got out of there, it was like this huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders,” said the serene, baja-hoodie-clad former spokesman, offering Priebus some of his homemade kombucha and his copy of Alan Watts’ Become What You Are while assuring him that leaving the Trump administration would allow him to find a sense of tranquility and spiritual reconnection. “I take long walks now. I read. I meditate. Remember how flustered I used to get? The other day, someone totally screwed up my lunch order, but I didn’t even let it get to me. Trust me, you’re going to look back on this as the day you rediscovered yourself. Welcome back, brother.” At press time, Priebus was attending a silent meditation retreat in Bali, waiting for the echoes of Donald Trump shrieking at him to finally subside.

Take a load off, Reince
Take a load for free
Take a load off, Reince
And you put the load right on me.

[Thermodolia]

Blissed-Out, Hemp-Wearing Sean Spicer Assures Reince Priebus This The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Him

(Image)

DELRAY BEACH, FL—Inviting the recently fired White House chief of staff to take a load off and embrace his newfound freedom, a blissed-out, hemp-wearing former press secretary Sean Spicer reportedly assured Reince Priebus on Monday that leaving the White House was the best thing that ever happened to him. “Seriously, man, that place was toxic—after I got out of there, it was like this huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders,” said the serene, baja-hoodie-clad former spokesman, offering Priebus some of his homemade kombucha and his copy of Alan Watts’ Become What You Are while assuring him that leaving the Trump administration would allow him to find a sense of tranquility and spiritual reconnection. “I take long walks now. I read. I meditate. Remember how flustered I used to get? The other day, someone totally screwed up my lunch order, but I didn’t even let it get to me. Trust me, you’re going to look back on this as the day you rediscovered yourself. Welcome back, brother.” At press time, Priebus was attending a silent meditation retreat in Bali, waiting for the echoes of Donald Trump shrieking at him to finally subside.

All right where's the next shoe?

[Galloism]

Trump finally starts winning — by copying Obama

President Trump appears to have found himself a new national security adviser.

His name is Barack Obama.

Recent days have brought evidence of two foreign policy successes for the Trump administration:

On Friday, a top State Department official who has served in the Obama and Trump administrations announced that gains against the Islamic State have picked up sharply and that the militants have lost 78 percent of their territory in Iraq and 58 percent in Syria. The Washington Post’s headline (which the White House circulated in an email): “Under Trump, gains against ISIS have dramatically accelerated.”

Then, on Saturday, China and Russia joined in a unanimous U.N. Security Council vote to approve a U.S.-sponsored resolution with tough new sanctions on North Korea, a forceful world response to that country’s missile tests.

These two developments, in addition to being successes, had another thing in common: In both cases, the Trump administration essentially embraced Obama administration policies — policies Trump previously derided as a “total failure.” The Trump administration, at least temporarily, shelved the president’s bellicose rhetoric, made some tweaks to his predecessor’s strategies and pursued a course of relative continuity.

On North Korea, Trump has long been making threats and ultimatums, promising “severe things” and raising the possibility that South Korea and Japan could build nuclear arsenals. He was harshly (if vaguely) critical of the Obama administration’s handling of North Korea, saying Obama and Hillary Clinton — who were pushing for tougher sanctions — weren’t being strong enough.

And now? Last week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson offered soothing words about North Korea: “We do not seek a regime change, we do not seek a collapse of the regime, we do not seek an accelerated reunification of the peninsula, we do not seek an excuse to send our military north of the 38th Parallel,” he said. “We are trying to convey to the North Koreans: We are not your enemy, we are not your threat.”

Those words cleared the way for China and Russia to support the sanctions resolution at the United Nations on Saturday, as The Post’s Karen DeYoung reported. Representatives of both countries mentioned Tillerson’s statement in casting their votes, with China’s representative saying, “Our hope is that the United States will translate these ‘four no’s’ into a firm policy.”

Under the headline “Trump’s North Korea policy resembles Obama’s,” Politico on Monday reported that administration officials were privately sending signals that a preemptive attack on North Korea is “not on the table” (although national security adviser H.R. McMaster says otherwise in public) and that “the Trump administration is pursuing a five-part strategy similar to the strategy undertaken by the Obama administration.”

On the Islamic State, likewise, Brett McGurk, a top State Department official under both Obama and Trump, announced that steps taken by Trump — notably his delegation of decision-making authority from the White House to commanders in the field — contributed to the reclaiming of 8,000 square miles of Islamic State territory.

Trump’s decision to give more authority to field commanders makes the military more nimble. The Obama White House was justifiably criticized for its plodding micromanagement of military strategy. Former Obama defense secretary Robert Gates, among others, complained about the “centralized and controlling” Obama national security team.

But this change is a massage — not a reversal — of an Obama strategy Trump repeatedly derided as “weak” and a “disaster.” By the time Trump took over, the territory controlled by the Islamic State had already fallen substantially from its peak in early 2015.

Trump promised to replace the Obama strategy with a “secret plan” of his own. But, as DeYoung reported, Trump’s Islamic State strategy “looks very much like the one the Obama administration pursued”: denying territory to the militants while avoiding conflict with Iran and staying out of Syria’s civil war.

Trump’s decision to free field commanders to make quick decisions comes with downsides, which explains the Obama White House’s reluctance to delegate. As gains against the Islamic State have accelerated, reports indicate that civilian casualties are also up sharply. Trump is also relying more on Russia than Obama did to keep Syrian government forces from interfering in the U.S.-led coalition’s fight against the militants. Still, these differences are matters of degree, not a wholesale change from Obama’s strategy.

It’s not as if Trump is about to usher in a third term for the Obama national security team, nor would that necessarily be desirable. But even if these two cases turn out to be isolated and temporary, they show that within the Trump administration there is at least some instinct to tone down the wild talk and, ever so quietly, to bend to reality.

[Seangoli]

Trump finally starts winning — by copying Obama

President Trump appears to have found himself a new national security adviser.

His name is Barack Obama.

Recent days have brought evidence of two foreign policy successes for the Trump administration:

On Friday, a top State Department official who has served in the Obama and Trump administrations announced that gains against the Islamic State have picked up sharply and that the militants have lost 78 percent of their territory in Iraq and 58 percent in Syria. The Washington Post’s headline (which the White House circulated in an email): “Under Trump, gains against ISIS have dramatically accelerated.”

Then, on Saturday, China and Russia joined in a unanimous U.N. Security Council vote to approve a U.S.-sponsored resolution with tough new sanctions on North Korea, a forceful world response to that country’s missile tests.

These two developments, in addition to being successes, had another thing in common: In both cases, the Trump administration essentially embraced Obama administration policies — policies Trump previously derided as a “total failure.” The Trump administration, at least temporarily, shelved the president’s bellicose rhetoric, made some tweaks to his predecessor’s strategies and pursued a course of relative continuity.

On North Korea, Trump has long been making threats and ultimatums, promising “severe things” and raising the possibility that South Korea and Japan could build nuclear arsenals. He was harshly (if vaguely) critical of the Obama administration’s handling of North Korea, saying Obama and Hillary Clinton — who were pushing for tougher sanctions — weren’t being strong enough.

And now? Last week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson offered soothing words about North Korea: “We do not seek a regime change, we do not seek a collapse of the regime, we do not seek an accelerated reunification of the peninsula, we do not seek an excuse to send our military north of the 38th Parallel,” he said. “We are trying to convey to the North Koreans: We are not your enemy, we are not your threat.”

Those words cleared the way for China and Russia to support the sanctions resolution at the United Nations on Saturday, as The Post’s Karen DeYoung reported. Representatives of both countries mentioned Tillerson’s statement in casting their votes, with China’s representative saying, “Our hope is that the United States will translate these ‘four no’s’ into a firm policy.”

Under the headline “Trump’s North Korea policy resembles Obama’s,” Politico on Monday reported that administration officials were privately sending signals that a preemptive attack on North Korea is “not on the table” (although national security adviser H.R. McMaster says otherwise in public) and that “the Trump administration is pursuing a five-part strategy similar to the strategy undertaken by the Obama administration.”

On the Islamic State, likewise, Brett McGurk, a top State Department official under both Obama and Trump, announced that steps taken by Trump — notably his delegation of decision-making authority from the White House to commanders in the field — contributed to the reclaiming of 8,000 square miles of Islamic State territory.

Trump’s decision to give more authority to field commanders makes the military more nimble. The Obama White House was justifiably criticized for its plodding micromanagement of military strategy. Former Obama defense secretary Robert Gates, among others, complained about the “centralized and controlling” Obama national security team.

But this change is a massage — not a reversal — of an Obama strategy Trump repeatedly derided as “weak” and a “disaster.” By the time Trump took over, the territory controlled by the Islamic State had already fallen substantially from its peak in early 2015.

Trump promised to replace the Obama strategy with a “secret plan” of his own. But, as DeYoung reported, Trump’s Islamic State strategy “looks very much like the one the Obama administration pursued”: denying territory to the militants while avoiding conflict with Iran and staying out of Syria’s civil war.

Trump’s decision to free field commanders to make quick decisions comes with downsides, which explains the Obama White House’s reluctance to delegate. As gains against the Islamic State have accelerated, reports indicate that civilian casualties are also up sharply. Trump is also relying more on Russia than Obama did to keep Syrian government forces from interfering in the U.S.-led coalition’s fight against the militants. Still, these differences are matters of degree, not a wholesale change from Obama’s strategy.

It’s not as if Trump is about to usher in a third term for the Obama national security team, nor would that necessarily be desirable. But even if these two cases turn out to be isolated and temporary, they show that within the Trump administration there is at least some instinct to tone down the wild talk and, ever so quietly, to bend to reality.

Much like everything, Trump exagerates his successes and under-represents Obama's successes.

A running list of things Trump takes credit for that were trends long before he ever took office:

1. Illegal Immigration being down for ages, and the low numbers are a trend that started almost a decade ago. Opportunities and pay are relatively low in comparison, and the economy in Mexico has improved significantly.

2. Unemployment and job creation numbers are equally a trend to what has been going on for years. The economy recovered pretty well under Obama, however one area that saw problems was wage stagnation. Similarly, the jobs created under Trump are largely low-paying seasonal work, so that is unlikely to be an actual boost.

3. The Stock Market has been reaching record highs since Obama took office. While there is some impact on Optimism from Trump deregulation, this is unlikely to really be actualized for middle class folk and lower in any meaningful manner. Even Upper Middle Class folk won't really feel much of a gain from it.

4. ISIS has been in decline for years, and Trump happened to get into office on the relative eve of allied-offenses against ISIS that had been planned for some time. Granted, as the article said, he may have sped the process up some, but it's not like he's reversing a trend.


The simple fact is that Trump walked into a great economy, an illegal immigration non-issue, and an enemy in decline already. And he's taking credit for all of it like he is some sort of magic man. Fortunately, he's blowing his load real early. The message that things will only get better are already ringing hollow, and will only less impressive as the years go on.

[Cannot think of a name]

Oh. Scaramucci/Scaramouche.

And he calls himself "The Mooch"

Something about kicking the gong around...

[Ifreann]

Trump finally starts winning — by copying Obama

All this time we wondered what his secret plan to beat ISIS was, and it was to carry on what Obama started.

[Geilinor]

Approval of Trump among Republicans is declining. Only 59% of Republicans say they strongly approve of his performance, down from 73% in February.

[Thermodolia]

Approval of Trump among Republicans is declining. Only 59% of Republicans say they strongly approve of his performance, down from 73% in February.

Oh boy. If this keeps up the midterms aren't going to look good for them

[Ifreann]

Approval of Trump among Republicans is declining. Only 59% of Republicans say they strongly approve of his performance, down from 73% in February.

America may be growing tired of all this winning.

[Bakery Hill]

It's more than just that, it's using a slur against sex workers that should be part of our past. Sex workers are our comrades, not people to be derided and shamed.

The sudden concern for the image of sex workers is rather convenient and disingenuous.

Sudden concern? Not at all. I don't post about such things all the time, because I'm not some male faux feminist. But I've done it in the past and will do it again. But It's funny that you accuse me of being disingenuous or hypocritical. It seems that so many will appoint themselves PC commissioner but not even begin to examine their own words and actions. I think deep down you're much more like Trump than you'd care to admit.

[MERIZoC]

Approval of Trump among Republicans is declining. Only 59% of Republicans say they strongly approve of his performance, down from 73% in February.

Oh boy. If this keeps up the midterms aren't going to look good for them

Maybe, but early polling always makes it look good for the Dems, until they nominate shitty candidates that nobody turns out for.

[Proctopeo]

Oh boy. If this keeps up the midterms aren't going to look good for them

Maybe, but early polling always makes it look good for the Dems, until they nominate shitty candidates that nobody turns out for.

Let's hope that their choice of candidate isn't, say, a convicted murder.

[Ism]

Approval of Trump among Republicans is declining. Only 59% of Republicans say they strongly approve of his performance, down from 73% in February.

Oh boy. If this keeps up the midterms aren't going to look good for them

Let's not get ahead of ourselves, 59% don't just approve, they strongly approve. Considering what we've seen so far, even assuming these people are giving trump a lot of slack since he's "new", that to me looks like strong support.

[Ism]

Maybe, but early polling always makes it look good for the Dems, until they nominate shitty candidates that nobody turns out for.

Let's hope that their choice of candidate isn't, say, a convicted murder.

Did that happen?

[Geilinor]

Oh boy. If this keeps up the midterms aren't going to look good for them

Let's not get ahead of ourselves, 59% don't just approve, they strongly approve. Considering what we've seen so far, even assuming these people are giving trump a lot of slack since he's "new", that to me looks like strong support.

It shows declining enthusiasm from his supporters less than a year in. It doesn't guarantee anything at the midterms for the Democrats.

[Astrolinium]

Let's hope that their choice of candidate isn't, say, a convicted murder.

Did that happen?

No.

[Saiwania]

My guess is that Eric Bolling won't be coming back to Fox News. Fox is scrubbing any and all mention of Bolling from their website and pretending that he never existed, which must mean that they've already decided that his departure will be permanent and that there is nothing forthcoming that could maybe prevent this at this point.

[Corrian]

My guess is that Eric Bolling won't be coming back to Fox News. Fox is scrubbing any and all mention of Bolling from their website and pretending that he never existed, which must mean that they've already decided that his departure will be permanent and that there is nothing forthcoming that could maybe prevent this at this point.

Fox News has been doing great as self destructing lately.

[Steffan]

My guess is that Eric Bolling won't be coming back to Fox News. Fox is scrubbing any and all mention of Bolling from their website and pretending that he never existed, which must mean that they've already decided that his departure will be permanent and that there is nothing forthcoming that could maybe prevent this at this point.

Fox News has been doing great as self destructing lately.

Trump probably has noticed; that's why he has his own 'real news' station now...

[Steffan]

My guess is that Eric Bolling won't be coming back to Fox News. Fox is scrubbing any and all mention of Bolling from their website and pretending that he never existed, which must mean that they've already decided that his departure will be permanent and that there is nothing forthcoming that could maybe prevent this at this point.

Damn, FOX is like Minitru from '1984'. Bolling is now one of the un-people

[Steffan]

Oh boy. If this keeps up the midterms aren't going to look good for them

Maybe, but early polling always makes it look good for the Dems, until they nominate shitty candidates that nobody turns out for.

Please...no Hillary
AND NO DEVAL PATRICK!!!!!!!!

[Corrian]

There seems to be a lot of thought that Republicans might run a guy against their own candidate in 2020. That should split their party even further...

I mean...That's if Trump is even Republican by then. Who knows with him.