Outside the Beltway

Trump’s Most Despicable Tweet to Date

There are no adequate words.

Steven L. Taylor
86

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I was perusing Twitter this evening while watching TV and saw the following:

Here we have the President of the United States (!) trying to turn a massacre at a high school into political fodder to criticize the FBI for pursuing the investigation of Russian meddling in the US elections. This is made worse (if that is possible) because this week the indictments handed down against 13 Russian citizens provided stark evidence that the meddling did occur. Indeed, it is bad enough that he can’t see beyond his own concern about being accused of collusion to focus on the fact that there is clear evidence of a foreign government trying to interfere with our campaign processes.  Oh no, he has to use 17 dead students and teachers to help in the process.

There are no words.

What’s worse, based on some of the feedback on Twitter, this dodge will work with some supporters.

This is stunningly grotesque.

This is a short post because I am not sure what else to say.

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86 responses to “Trump’s Most Despicable Tweet to Date”

  1. Kylopod Avatar
    Kylopod

    While I agree this is indeed a despicable tweet, it isn’t his “most despicable tweet to date.” Not by a long shot. I could give a long list if I wanted to, but while we’re on the topic of mass shootings, how about the one he gave the day of the Orlando club shooting?

    “Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism, I don’t want congrats, I want toughness & vigilance. We must be smart!”

    What was most revealing about this tweet was his complete lack of empathy, and his attempt to turn a massacre that had just occurred hours before into an opportunity to brag–and also to support his terrible prejudice against Muslims. It’s hard to beat that in “despicability.” The man isn’t just corrupt, he’s a monster of a human being, and the Orlando tweet makes that very clear.

    29
  2. DONNA HARPER Avatar
    DONNA HARPER

    @Kylopod:

    hard to believe this crazy person is at the helm of our country. scares the hell out of me.

    20
  3. Kylopod Avatar
    Kylopod

    @DONNA HARPER: Richard Nixon seemed mentally a bit off. (I’ll leave it to psychiatrists to speculate what was wrong with him.) He was also a bigot, and deeply corrupt. There are striking parallels between the Russia scandal and Watergate.

    But I don’t believe even Nixon would have behaved this way. He was a corrupt, paranoid, and self-absorbed man who went to his grave proclaiming his innocence in the Watergate affair. But even he would not have reacted to a mass shooting with the complete indifference we see in Trump, and so easily try to turn it into an opportunity to score political points.

    15
  4. Steven L. Taylor Avatar
    Steven L. Taylor

    @Kylopod: No doubt that “most despicable” is a contest and one’s mileage may vary. The one you cite is vile. I think this one is worse because he is not only showing no empathy, he is using the event as a political shield. It is horrific.

    Having said that, I certainly don’t want a debate about relative vileness to detract from pointing out how horrible this tweet it.

    14
  5. They Saved Nixon's Brain Avatar
    They Saved Nixon’s Brain

    I could say a few things to take your mind off of this Trump character.

    I don’t give a shit what happens. I want you all to stonewall it, let them plead the Fifth Amendment, cover up or anything else, if it’ll save it, save this plan. That’s the whole point. We’re going to protect our people if we can.

    The Jewish cabal is out to get me. The Jews are irreligious, atheistic, immoral bunch of bastards.

    But it’s not just the ratty part of town. The upper class in San Francisco is that way. The Bohemian Grove, which I attend from time to time — it is the most faggy goddamned thing you could ever imagine, with that San Francisco crowd. I can’t shake hands with anybody from San Francisco.

    Bill Rogers has got — to his credit it’s a decent feeling — but somewhat sort of a blind spot on the black thing because he’s been in New York. He says well, ‘They are coming along, and that after all they are going to strengthen our country in the end because they are strong physically and some of them are smart.’ So forth and so on. My own view is I think he’s right if you’re talking in terms of 500 years. What has to happen is they have to be, frankly, inbred. And, you just, that’s the only thing that’s going to do it, Rose.

    I have the greatest affection for them [Negroes] but I know they’re not going to make it for 500 years. They aren’t. You know it, too. The Mexicans are a different cup of tea. They have a heritage. At the present time they steal, they’re dishonest, but they do have some concept of family life. They don’t live like a bunch of dogs, which the Negroes do live like.

    There are times when an abortion is necessary. I know that. When you have a black and a white.

    4
  6. Elliott Avatar
    Elliott

    SO the president said what we’re all thinking..

    I’m about to hurt your little feelings pal.

    people with common sense have been preaching since BEFORE the Sandy Hook shooting happened that a tin sign doesn’t provide security, only the perception of security.

    Sandy Hook happened and we all wept. We had to watch as 20 beautiful children were killed by and evil, crazy person who killed his mother to get guns.

    and then you all blamed the NRA and by extension, you blamed ME.

    I can assure you all that the coach that got shot? he would have given his eye teeth for a pistol, when Cruz was shooting kids.

    Every one of those teachers in Sandy Hook would have given all they owned for a gun to protect those babies.

    those parents put their faith in a SIGN..because people like you told them that evil people would obey the sign.
    they believed.
    people like me are tired of preaching. we’re tired of telling you and showing you that it’s YOU who has to protect your babies..a sign won’t do it, a law won’t do it.
    crazy people don’t obey laws. they don’t care about signs.

    you can’t blame the guns. the Tsarnaev brothers used pressure cookers. KITCHEN COOKWARE.
    the largest mass murder in the USA was committed with a couple of airplanes.
    but you LUVS YOU SOME GUN FREE ZONES!!!! You love them SO much that Janet Reno and Bill Clinton REWROTE THE LAW after the supreme court struck it down!!

    when will you care enough to protect your children the same way we protect the president, his kids, banks, and every other valuable thing??
    If you can’t do that, at least own up to what you’ve wrought because I’m getting real tired of being the villain.

    this isn’t rocket science.

    19
  7. de stijl Avatar
    de stijl

    @Elliott:

    and then you all blamed the NRA and by extension, you blamed ME.

    Yes. I’m busted.

    I blamed you personally for Sandyhook.

    I was distraught that day, and you were nearby and working on my last nerve, so I lashed out and blamed you, Elliott.

    If anyone was a victim that day in Sandyhook, it was definitely you, Elliott.

    when will you care enough to protect your children the same way we protect the president, his kids, banks, and every other valuable thing??
    If you can’t do that, at least own up to what you’ve wrought because I’m getting real tired of being the villain.

    Obviously, you advocate more weapons in the hands of more people in more places.

    When is it enough, then? If we pursue your plan and then there is another mass shooting, your next step therefore would be to arm more people.

    How exactly would have more armed people in more places prevented the Las Vegas massacre last year? Dude was alone in a locked room.

    you can’t blame the guns. the Tsarnaev brothers used pressure cookers. KITCHEN COOKWARE.

    How would have more armed people in more places prevented the Boston Marathon bombing that you so helpfully brought up to bolster your “case” for universal carry?

    The brothers weren’t even there when the bomb exploded.

    Plus, I’m pretty certain that the pressure cooker was blameless in the matter. My best guess is that it was the explosives inside that were the main culprit in causing the explosive damage.

    You may want to research and practice the concepts of how to construct and to provide evidence for your arguments.

    If you can’t do that, at least own up to what you’ve wrought because I’m getting real tired of being the villain.

    Chin up, lil buddy! It takes a strong person to weather the slings and arrows of martyrdom.

    43
  8. Daryl's other brother Daryll Avatar
    Daryl’s other brother Daryll

    @Elliott:
    Wow, the crazies, with their pistol prosthetics and their hero fantasies, are out in force.

    24
  9. Trialdog Avatar
    Trialdog

    I can’t imagine how livid you must be with the democrats and the fact they are fundraising off the shooting. Utterly despicable.

    Oh, and if you follow the news, you know Trump never denied Russia meddled in the election. He just didn’t know the Democratic Party was colluding with and paying them to do it.

    5
  10. Doug Mataconis Avatar
    Doug Mataconis

    “Trump’a Most Despicable Tweet To Date”

    Sorry my friend, but I think he’s already surpassed that bar. This morning, Trump tweeted out an out-of-nowhere attack on Iran and the Iranian nuclear deal. Most likely in response to an overnight story about Benjamin Netanyahu.

    At the same time in my Twitter headlines? A story about more than 60 innocent Iranians dying in a plane crash.

    Welcome to the “Hold My Beer Dude” Presidency.

    14
  11. JohnMcC Avatar
    JohnMcC

    Exactly my feeling. I’ve made a couple of short remarks to this effect here in the last week or so. Pres Trump and friends has reduced me to shaking my head mournfully.

    Visit Cheaha and take a long stroll on the Pinhoti Trail. You’ll feel better after birdsong wakes you up and coffee comes from a camp stove.

    3
  12. Bruce Henry Avatar
    Bruce Henry

    @Trialdog: Trump repeatedly denied it.

    7
  13. Mikey Avatar
    Mikey

    @Elliott:

    I’m getting real tired of being the villain

    Awww, poor baby. Does it upset you when people point out how you enable those who murder children by the dozen, and enrich those who profit from the massacres of innocents?

    19
  14. cruithni Avatar
    cruithni

    Despicable? Truth hurts, I guess.

    1
  15. Kathy Avatar
    Kathy

    This is so disingenuous. I mean, if America’s Federal law enforcement agency cannot take care of more than one thing at a time, then you may as well close it down.

    12
  16. CSK Avatar
    CSK

    @Kylopod:

    Let’s break that Tweet you cited into its components:

    Appreciate the congrats for being right…Notice he begins by lavishing praise on himself. Notice also that he invented the impetus for it. Did you hear or read anyone congratulating him? I didn’t.

    I don’t want congrats… Of course you do. That’s all you want.

    It’s almost comic how utterly transparent his pathologies are.

    13
  17. OzarkHillbilly Avatar
    OzarkHillbilly

    @Elliott: Let me say what we all are thinking: You’re a fvcking idiot.

    And for the record I’m a gun owner.

    18
  18. HarvardLaw92 Avatar
    HarvardLaw92

    @Kylopod:

    Malignant narcissists are incapable of feeling empathy.

    9
  19. Leonid Avatar
    Leonid

    I am wondering how this indictment relates to collusion? It appears mueller extended his mandate and want to send investigation into limbo to cover his failure to find anything that implicates trump.

    3
  20. CSK Avatar
    CSK

    Well, here’s another Tweet from Donny last night:
    “General McMaster forgot to say the results of the 2016 election were not impacted or changed by the Russians and that the only Collusion was between Russia and Crooked H, the DNC and the Dems. Remember the Dirty Dossier, Uranium, Speeches, Emails and the Podesta Company!”

    This is gibbering lunacy.

    15
  21. Leonid Avatar
    Leonid

    Maybe mueller confused saint pete florida with saint petersberg russia and he thinks it is under usa jurisdiction? Also does he has a right to investigate all evils of this world or he should focus strictly on collusion issue as per his mandate? Seams he is enjoying public attention and want to be on a scene as much as possible.

  22. HarvardLaw92 Avatar
    HarvardLaw92

    @Leonid:

    “No kolluzion iz heer. Trump honest man vith heart of ze bear, Natasha. Iz good myan like Puteen. Do not look beehind kurteens”

    Sorry, failed effort. No vodka and borscht for you today.

    25
  23. Leonid Avatar
    Leonid

    @HarvardLaw92: @HarvardLaw92: seems you take all vodka for today)) dont drive under influence !!!

  24. Liberal Capitalist Avatar
    Liberal Capitalist

    @Elliott:

    SO the president said what we’re all thinking. I’m about to hurt your little feelings pal. (insert argument to universally arm every American)… If you can’t do that, at least own up to what you’ve wrought because I’m getting real tired of being the villain.

    Elliot, it’s great to have you here. I think it’s great that you position yourself to represent what we are “all” thinking.

    And, I have no doubt, that with the armed gang that you hang with at the range, you are all thinking these things, with a superhero fantasy of saving everyone with a blaze of bullets from your open-carry weapon, likely envisioned in slow-motion with blood splattering everywhere ala Quentin Tarantino.

    I envision your tribe has the NRA sticker, the Trump sticker, and a “Killary for Prison” sticker as well on their vehicle… some may be of the group that loves to “burn coal”, because global warming isn’t real, and burning coal will teach those snowflakes, you betcha.

    But we all don’t think that, nor do we all plan to arm up.

    Don’t confuse Trump’s win with a validation of your fevered ammo dreams. Do keep in mind that in the election, more Democrats voted than Republicans. And many of the Republicans voted for party rather than person. So when you look at “all” the people, you are likely less than the “loyal 28%” that supported Bush in his worst days.

    But Elliott, thanks for telling me pal… It’s great to know what the minority wants. I can thank folks like you for supporting the NRA… “The NRA donated $10,000 to help train the Parkland shooting suspect to use a rifle.” So, another safe gun owner, until he wasn’t, right?

    If you feel that you are being picked-on for self-identifying, Elliott, you are not. It’s just the belief that arming everyone will address the challenge.

    Restoring the ban on assault rifles is a start. It won’t prevent all killings, nor will it prevent an dedicated individual from creating a mass casualty event. But it will eliminate one avenue. And I am ok with making that change.

    And don’t get me wrong… I am not here to eliminate ALL guns. I believe rifles for hunting are valid. Singe shot or multiple shot. Get the NRA back to its charter: Supporting Hunters and safe gun ownership. Not being the shill for the gun industry and shamelessly funding the GOP. They get bushels of “hopes and prayers” for your 10’s of millions.

    Finally, an observation: I think your comment was based on the tweet being discussed by Steven. But it’s interesting that it came right after the lengthy Nixon quote. Sounds like he wanted to tell us what we were all thinking as well, pal.

    18
  25. becca Avatar
    becca

    @Daryl’s other brother Daryll: I’m really liking Leonid, though he’s obviously NRA, as in Not a Real American.

    6
  26. Leonid Avatar
    Leonid

    @becca: i am sorry come over to mess up little bit your party of drunked harwad graduates. You guys so enjoy yourselfs. Remember masturbation is a sin !!

  27. HarvardLaw92 Avatar
    HarvardLaw92

    @Leonid:

    I am wondering how this indictment relates to collusion?

    Luckily, you have a lawyer ready to explain that for you. Please read this document – the order empowering Mueller’s investigation – and point out to me where, anywhere in it, you find the word “collusion”.

    It appears mueller extended his mandate and want to send investigation into limbo to cover his failure to find anything that implicates trump.

    Actually, no. He’s directly following his actual mandate (not what your handlers told you that his mandate is). Let’s break that one down for the class, shall we?

    1) any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump

    This is what you’re inaccurately trying to characterize as “collusion”. It’s accurately termed “violating and/or conspiring to violate federal election laws”. That might be off of the table now; it might not be, but that’s immaterial. Since you read our handy order from the DAG, you will have noted that there are two more items on it we have yet to examine. So let’s do that.

    2) any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation

    Short and sweet version? “Anything other related matters you may find while you’re looking into #1, whether directly related to #1 or not? Yea, you can investigate those crimes as well”.

    and finally

    3) any other matters within the scope of 28 C.F.R. § 600.4(a).

    Again, short and sweet version? “If you find that any of the subjects of your investigation are attempting to impede it – through, say, ‘perjury, obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence, and intimidation of witnesses’ – you can investigate those crimes also.”

    So, as you can see, Mueller’s mandate is a great deal broader than you thought it was. Maybe you should smack your handlers and demand extra vodka from them for setting you up to make a fool of yourself in front of your new American friends.

    Oooo, I left out my favorite part of the order:

    If the Special Counsel believes it is necessary and appropriate, the Special Counsel is authorized to prosecute federal crimes arising from the investigation of these matters

    Not only is Mueller a Special Counsel, he’s been empowered as a direct prosecutor with regard to anything he might find that merits prosecution. No presenting his stuff to a US Attorney and hoping that guy will green light prosecution for our friend Mueller, no. None of that for our hero. He gets to DIRECTLY prosecute. Go directly to grand jury, collect $200.

    Isn’t law fun? 😀

    24
  28. Steven L. Taylor Avatar
    Steven L. Taylor

    All, please note that @Elliott is likely just cutting and pasting this response across the web. My post and Trump’s tweet had nothing to do with signs, the NRA, or even about preventing shooting or blaming anyone.

    That tweet is all about Trump seeking shameless political cover. The reality is that one could be an AR-15 owning NRA member who ridicules “no guns allowed” signs and still find that tweet offensive.

    Elliot might as well be a bot, as far as forwarding this conversation goes.

    17
  29. Leonid Avatar
    Leonid

    @HarvardLaw92: to many alphnumeric for a drunk guy. Talk you once you will get sober

  30. Steven L. Taylor Avatar
    Steven L. Taylor

    @Leonid:

    It appears mueller extended his mandate

    His mandate is to investigate Russian meddling in the election. This indictment is perfectly in line with that charge.

    You can read the document empowering Mueller here.

    10
  31. HarvardLaw92 Avatar
    HarvardLaw92

    @Leonid:

    Run along now, Boris. You’ve been outed.

    8
  32. Steven L. Taylor Avatar
    Steven L. Taylor

    @CSK: Yeah, I saw that one, too and just didn’t have the energy to deal with it as well.

    3
  33. Steven L. Taylor Avatar
    Steven L. Taylor

    @HarvardLaw92: I see you beat me to it, and with far more detail.

    4
  34. HarvardLaw92 Avatar
    HarvardLaw92

    @CSK:

    This is gibbering lunacy.

    Well, it’s aimed at gibbering lunatics anyway. It makes perfect sense to them 😀

    7
  35. Blue Galangal Avatar
    Blue Galangal

    If it’s any comfort, Dr. Taylor, those “supporters” on Twitter are likely paid Russian actors. “Leonid”‘s English is actually pretty bad compared to most, who seem to have taken the adoption of common American grammatical mistakes and misspellings to a new level.

    3
  36. Leonid Avatar
    Leonid

    But trump appears right saying no collusion?)) Because if someone just couple years ago would tell that 13 friends of ocean( someone pls tell mueller – hollywod is more dangerous then vodka ) with budget of 100k could undermine american democracy i would laugh. And i do as of this moment. I remember at one point hillary pointed on FBI as a main culprit of her loss and russia was only second? Fbi swiftly joned forces of good and comy was fired attempting to make up for hillary. Now, after trump is vindicated by mueller, russia is a primary suspect ? Nice try.

  37. Leonid Avatar
    Leonid

    @Steven L. Taylor: i could take your word i guess. so collusion is not in the focus? or you want to say it was direct communication between those 13 individuals and trump team?

  38. Leonid Avatar
    Leonid

    @Blue Galangal: and your point is? you are discussing russia, naturally it is my concern. I am wondering if your russian is better then my english?))

  39. Sleeping Dog Avatar
    Sleeping Dog

    Frankly nothing Trump tweets or say surprises me any longer and I’ve used up my quota of outrage. Now I’m simply focusing on putting the Republicans into the minority in Congress and defeating Trump in 2020, if he survives that long and is renominated.

    6
  40. Leonid Avatar
    Leonid

    I just checked. I am talking to political scientist from alabama? I must disclose, i dont care about alabama obviously it is a wrong place to seek something intelligent about russia there. You only good in brosch and vodka. Trump is all yours. you guys could entertain yourself with your funny conspiracy theories. Wrong venue. Thank you for being such nice company though.

  41. TommyLee Avatar
    TommyLee

    Leonid is simply toying with all of you simple minded, brain washed #libtards. And again, …as with always, …you’re all too brainwashed and uneducated to even see it. What a sad society of over privileged, under disciplined, spoiled youth that has unfortunately been allowed to infest this great country, …ugh

    It saddens me so to see what #libtardism has done to this great country. I think we need to have a national American spanking day. And just whip all you idiots one good time. Just a good ‘ole ass busting to try and put some respect and discipline into those ignorant little minds.

    Liberalism, …or rather #libtardism isn’t some trend, or as you idiot narcissists want to believe, a higher level of human evolution, …but instead, …its more accurately described as the modern day zombie apocalypse of America.

    You all want to belly ache about Trump, …yet you’re the very ones that ensured his election by throwing little baby temper tantrums all over America. Americans like myself, who were raised with discipline and resect by their parents rather than TV and social media, simply got tired of all your crying, and undisciplined spoiled brat bullsh*t.

    #libtardism is nothing more than a cancer meant to undermine, destabilize, and destroy this great country from within. Anyone in their right mind can see that. You all need to be deported to an actual socialist country, …and forced to live there.

  42. MBunge Avatar
    MBunge

    I wouldn’t defend Trump’s tweet but the lack of self-awareness in Steven L. Taylor’s response is instructive. The election of Donald Trump could have led to a re-emphasis on the importance of social, cultural, and political norms. That is not what happened. Instead, we’ve seen more and more norms tossed out the window by NeverTrumpers.

    When Ross Douthat publicly called for, in the pages of the New York Times, the deceitful and dishonorable use of the 25th Amendment to remove Donald Trump from office…did Steven L. Taylor call that “despicable” or “stunningly grotesque?” How many words of criticism has Steven L. Taylor had for ANYTHING done or said by a Trump critic? Has he expressed concern over Donald Trump receiving 95% negative media coverage? Has he given credit to Donald Trump for doing even a single positive thing since assuming office?

    The elite and elite-adjacent (like Steven L. Taylor) who have congealed over the past couple of decades into viewing themselves as a permanent ruling class that doesn’t have to obey the rules declared war against Donald Trump. Steven L. Taylor has stood by silently while things have been said about and done to Donald Trump that he would have been outraged over if it involved anyone else in politics. But he does want to climb up on his high horse when Donald Trump fights back against this withering assault.

    We can have war or we can have normality but you can’t call for the latter while practicing the former.

    Mike

    2
  43. HarvardLaw92 Avatar
    HarvardLaw92

    @Leonid:

    But trump appears right saying no collusion?

    Possibly, possibly not. It’s immaterial at this point. Mueller, almost from the outset, was focused on other criminal behavior.

    Short version:

    “Did Trump and Friends conspire with Russians to violate federal election laws?” was always, always, always going to lead to “Did Trump and Friends ever (important word there – ever, so look it up) conspire with certain Russian, shall we say, criminal interests to launder money in violation of federal law, and does that behavior rise to the level of racketeering?”

    Trust me on this one. IF Trump indeed did conspire to violate election laws, it would be, by a long shot, one of the least criminal things he’s ever done. Investigating Trump is what we prosecutors like to term a “target rich environment”.

    9
  44. becca Avatar
    becca

    @Leonid: Honestly, I call BS on your Slavic persona. You still sound like Jake to me.

    And my reference to NRA still applies.

    6
  45. HarvardLaw92 Avatar
    HarvardLaw92

    @MBunge:

    And, at last, it finally makes sense.

    You don’t, per se, like Trump.

    You just hate us …

    This whole daily show of fellating Trump you’ve been on is just a fit of pique that actually has nothing to do with Trump 🙄

    20
  46. HarvardLaw92 Avatar
    HarvardLaw92

    @TommyLee:

    You know, all of these postings showing up out of the blue lately, remarkably always at close to the same time, share certain verbal tendencies which anybody whose livelihood is dependent on words, their meanings and their usage picks up on.

    It would be an interesting exercise to examine their source IP addresses …

    13
  47. Looking for rain Avatar
    Looking for rain

    The Tweets are stunning for the amount of discord sowed at a time Americans need clear focus on implementing protections from immediate danger. Having lost two people (nursing professor and aide to elected official to US Congress) to an active shooter, I am ready for a meaningful change that prevents access to automatic and semiautomatic weapons to young men who have lost their way in this world.
    Watching the parents, teenagers and elected officials respond to the mass shooting for the umpteenth time evokes tears of untold grief. Condolences from people funded by the NRA ring HOLLOW; they have lost their credibility.
    Reading posts to your article, I am accutely aware of whether the content sows discord, per a Russian organization’s strategic goal (see 02/16/18 Special Counsel indictment, item #6), or if the content sparks the best in our nature to resolve this scourge.

    2
  48. TommyLee Avatar
    TommyLee

    @HarvardLaw92:

    This statement is somewhat amusing to me …hahaha

    Maybe in a day and age prior to the existence of VPN’s, …this may have been an idea?
    However, as of today, …it would prove to be nothing more than an exercise in futility.

    Still, …I smiled as I read it …hahaha

  49. TM01 Avatar
    TM01

    Limited resources.
    Using them to discover some Russians have Facebook accounts.

    But OMG! Trump is horrible for pointing this out!

  50. wr Avatar
    wr

    @MBunge: Dude, you swallowed every bit of Russian propaganda, repeated it here, and then voted for the worst president in history. And as always you are trying to blame everyone else for your idiocy.

    7
  51. Liberal Capitalist Avatar
    Liberal Capitalist

    @TommyLee:

    #libtardism

    Awww…. that’s so cute!

    We have an independent thinker here folks! Welcome to the fray… I can’t wait for the value you add in these conversations!

    6
  52. James in Bremerton Avatar
    James in Bremerton

    Elliot says “SO the president said what we’re all thinking..”

    Elliot is going to quite busy stuffing his rank opinions into an alarming number of his own orifices.

    3
  53. Guarneri Avatar
    Guarneri

    “This is a short post because I am not sure what else to say.”

    Well, what you could say is that sadly this has become the dominant culture in political discourse, for politicians, pundits, media and Everyman. That’s not a defense, it’s simply a factual observation.

    Al Gore claiming Republicans want to poison children if they don’t agree with his legislative goals. Political ads with children blown up by atomic bombs or grandmothers shoved off cliffs. Obama castigating police in thinly veiled racial overtones. Tax policy claimed to be fatal to people. WRT Florida, second amendment or gun control efficacy arguments recast as murderous culpability. I could go all day long.

    It’s a general issue. Selective outrage is part of the problem. You, of all people, should know better and note it as such.

    1
  54. Guarneri Avatar
    Guarneri

    @HarvardLaw92:

    Clever repartee, there. Never had much respect for Harvard.

  55. gVOR08 Avatar
    gVOR08

    Hey, don’t blame Trumpsky for this, he’s just following orders.
    https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/russian-trolls-flood-twitter-after-parkland-shooting-n848471

    3
  56. gVOR08 Avatar
    gVOR08

    @Elliott: Your comment, as several have demonstrated, is what the military calls a target rich environment. I’ll confine myself to objecting to your inclusion of the president and his (adult) kids in a list of valuable things.

    4
  57. gVOR08 Avatar
    gVOR08

    Sorry @They Saved Nixon’s Brain: Don’t think the downvoters realized those are all Nixon quotes.

    I sometimes ponder whether the Republican Party is at an all time low, or if it’s always been this bad. Good data point.

    2
  58. HarvardLaw92 Avatar
    HarvardLaw92

    @Guarneri:

    Clever repartee, there. Never had much respect for Harvard

    Sour grapes

    7
  59. oldgraymary Avatar
    oldgraymary

    Didn’t the FBI drop the ball on the brothers as well?

    1
  60. Steven L. Taylor Avatar
    Steven L. Taylor

    @Guarneri: Actually, there is a difference between political hyperbole (which I agree is often outsized and unhelpful) and trying to use a tragedy as personal political cover.

    Let’s not try to create false whataboutism comparisons.

    9
  61. Steven L. Taylor Avatar
    Steven L. Taylor

    @Guarneri: Criticizing someone’s elite education doesn’t strike me as an impressive way of undercutting their comments.

    12
  62. HarvardLaw92 Avatar
    HarvardLaw92

    @TommyLee:

    This statement is somewhat amusing to me …hahaha

    Maybe in a day and age prior to the existence of VPN’s, …this may have been an idea?
    However, as of today, …it would prove to be nothing more than an exercise in futility.

    Still, …I smiled as I read it …hahah

    So, in other words, you’re confirming that you’re aware of the methods utilized to evade identification and correlation when trolling. How and why do you know this?

    Statements like that one are why the first thing we lawyers generally advise our clients to do is shut up and not say another word. You’re not remotely capable of thinking broadly enough or far enough ahead to grasp all of the impacts of and inadvertent revelations contained in what you might say. 🙄

    (but thanks for confirming my supposition)

    9
  63. HarvardLaw92 Avatar
    HarvardLaw92

    @TM01:

    Limited resources.
    Using them to discover some Russians have Facebook accounts.

    But OMG! Trump is horrible for pointing this out!

    Um, no, friend. Essentially unlimited resources and using them to discover far more than what some Russian hackers do in their spare time. This series of indictments was a political move designed to 1) put Trump into a box with respect to firing Rosenstein and/or Mueller, and 2) put Congressional Republicans (due to the fact that we’re now well into a midterm election cycle and they can’t afford to be dragged into being tied with Trump’s mess) into the unenviable position of having to oppose their president if he makes moves in that direction. You guys really do think one-dimensionally.

    Let me make an effort at putting the scope of this thing into terms you may be able to understand:

    “Collusion” (which is a misnomer to begin with) opened the door. It got the ball rolling. That’s all. It has served its purpose and we’ve moved well beyond it now.

    Mueller’s team isn’t currently drowning Deutsche Bank in subpoenas – to the extent that it felt the need to bring in external lawyers specializing in compliance to help it cope with and navigate complying with them – to find out what some Russian hacker kiddies, or for that matter Trump kiddies, may have done with respect to an election.

    Would you like to take a stab at explaining to the rest of the class why a special prosecutor would be issuing subpoenas to obtain a hugely broad scope of banking records?

    (I’ll help you out with that one: it has zero to do with “collusion” 🙂 )

    8
  64. Grewgills Avatar
    Grewgills

    Leonid
    Sam Jackson has some words for you

    2
  65. Kylopod Avatar
    Kylopod

    @HarvardLaw92:

    And, at last, it finally makes sense.

    You don’t, per se, like Trump.

    You just hate us …

    This whole daily show of fellating Trump you’ve been on is just a fit of pique that actually has nothing to do with Trump

    Isn’t that what I’ve been saying all along? Here’s what I wrote at OTB last June:

    Based on what I’ve seen, he’s adopted a point of view not all that different from Scott Adams. Neither of them seems all that right wing, and yet ever since Trump’s rise they’ve both attempted to forge a niche of snarky anti-anti-Trumpism. It goes something like this: they see people calling Trump dangerously unfit for the office, and they conclude with impeccable logic that the reason so many people are saying it is not that it’s obviously the truth, but rather that to agree with them would be to follow the herd.

    The irony of this is that, in trying to make themselves sound smarter than the rest of us, they’re actually proving that they’re not thinking at all. It’s an exercise in mindless, knee-jerk contrarianism disguised as independent thinking.

    8
  66. Steven L. Taylor Avatar
    Steven L. Taylor

    @Kylopod: The Scott Adams comparison is apt.

    5
  67. Kylopod Avatar
    Kylopod

    @gVOR08:

    Don’t think the downvoters realized those are all Nixon quotes.

    Maybe not. But I have been noticing in this thread and a couple others over the past day that there seem to be a larger number of downvotes than usual for seemingly normal comments–and more upvotes than usual for wacky comments. For instance, Elliott here actually has gotten 18 upvotes as of now. The Trumpists seem to have come out in full force.

    1
  68. Steven L. Taylor Avatar
    Steven L. Taylor

    @Kylopod: This post must have been linked to somewhere that usually doesn’t interface with OTB.

  69. They Saved Nixon's Brain Avatar
    They Saved Nixon’s Brain

    This post must have been linked to somewhere that usually doesn’t interface with OTB.
    Hell?

    1
  70. They saved Nixon's Brain Avatar
    They saved Nixon’s Brain

    @gVOR08:..Don’t think the downvoters realized those are all Nixon quotes.

    Or maybe they loved me!

    1
  71. SC_Birdflyte Avatar
    SC_Birdflyte

    @Elliott: You are one sick puppy. Go online. I’m sure there’s a psychiatrist in your area who could help you.

    1
  72. They Saved Nixon's Brain Avatar
    They Saved Nixon’s Brain

    test

  73. Leonid Avatar
    Leonid

    just found article
    Enjoy

    https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/17/sunday-review/russia-isnt-the-only-one-meddling-in-elections-we-do-it-too.html
    ———
    That heavy-handed intervention made some Americans uneasy. Thomas Carothers, a scholar at the Carnegie Institute for International Peace, recalls arguing with a State Department official who told him at the time, “Yeltsin is democracy in Russia,” to which Mr. Carothers said he replied, “That’s not what democracy means.”

  74. Brian Avatar
    Brian

    @Trialdog: “I mean, it could be Russia, but it could also be China. It could also be lots of other people. It also could be somebody sitting on their bed that weighs 400 pounds, okay?”
    “Every time he sees me he says, ‘I didn’t do that, and I really believe that when he tells me that, he means it,” Trump said of Putin last November.
    “The Russia hoax continues, now it’s ads on Facebook.”
    “For 11 months, they’ve had this phony cloud over this administration, over our government. And it has hurt our government. It’s a Democratic hoax that was brought up as an excuse for losing an election that frankly the Democrats should have won,”

    5
  75. ben Avatar
    ben

    @They Saved Nixon’s Brain: you’re a racist asshole. go crawl back into the hole you came out of. prick.

  76. ben Avatar
    ben

    @They Saved Nixon’s Brain: oh I just read that those are all Nixon quotes. sorry, I take that back. carry on…

  77. Catchling Avatar
    Catchling

    Something I’m surprised more people haven’t brought up is that this ludicrous argument from Trump could, if it held water, be very easily be applied to the

    investigation into Hillary Clinton

    , which he and his deplorables would never call a waste of time (except for their dislike of the outcome). That one was happening at the same as the one into Russian interference, and it was about a goddamned private email server.

    Of course, regardless of the investigation’s merits, there’s no reason to think it (or the Russia one) took any resources away from somehow nabbing Cruz.

    And I’m unsure just what the FBI could have done that remains consistent with NRA principles. Lock him up for the violent crimes he’d already done? Those were state-level offenses. Keep him under literal 24-hour surveillance so they’d know when he was approaching the school? Keep him away from assault weapons? (Yeah, I know how ridiculous and unpatriotic the last one sounds.)

  78. Kylopod Avatar
    Kylopod

    @ben: Well, I guess that supports gVOR08‘s theory that the downvotes were by people who didn’t realize those were Nixon quotes. I’d surmise most of us political junkies here have heard at least some of those quotes before, or were otherwise familiar with the fact that Nixon was an unreconstructed bigot. But to an innocent onlooker I could see how it might look like that comment was expressing the commenter’s own opinions.

    1
  79. An Interested Party Avatar
    An Interested Party

    There’s going to be a day in the near future when Republicans will be forced to make a choice…they will see incontrovertible evidence that the sleaze bag in the White House has committed treason and other high crimes and they’ll have to decide whether to stand by the rule of law or stand by this degenerate…what will they do…

    1
  80. They Saved Nixon's Brain Avatar
    They Saved Nixon’s Brain

    @ben:..oh I just read that those are all Nixon quotes.
    carry on.

    An honest mistake I’m sure. Apology accepted.
    I am perplexed about just what you might be expecting from Nixon’s Brain other than quotes from Nixon.

  81. Kylopod Avatar
    Kylopod

    @They Saved Nixon’s Brain:

    I am perplexed about just what you might be expecting from Nixon’s Brain other than quotes from Nixon.

    Well, your handle isn’t Nixon’s Brain, it’s They Saved Nixon’s Brain, a reference to the cult B-movie, I take it. I was already familiar with some of those quotes, but I wouldn’t have automatically guessed from your handle that you were going to start speaking in Tricky Dick’s voice.

    1
  82. They Saved Nixon's Brain Avatar
    They Saved Nixon’s Brain

    @ben et al.:..I suspect it is presumptuous of me to expect many of the readers here to know who William Rodgers or Rose Mary Woods were.

  83. They Saved Nixon's Brain Avatar
    They Saved Nixon’s Brain

    @ben et al.:..I suspect it is presumptuous of me to expect many of the readers here to know who William Rodgers or Rose Mary Woods were.

    You will have to look them up. Moderation queue will not let me post links.

  84. Franklin Avatar
    Franklin

    @Kylopod: I was the first person that I know of to compare Trump to Nixon, pretty early in the campaign for the Republican nomination. There are some similarities, but by most accounts Nixon was passably smart despite his paranoia. Nobody but DJT himself thinks that Trump is even a little smart.

  85. Kylopod Avatar
    Kylopod

    @Franklin:

    There are some similarities, but by most accounts Nixon was passably smart despite his paranoia.

    He was not just smart but competent. There’s a case to be made that if not for Watergate he’d be remembered as a good president–and that’s in spite of the fact that he kept the country mired in Vietnam for years after promising to end the war swiftly.

    But still, there are parallels. They both really were first-class bigots; while other presidents pandered to bigotry, they had it in their bones. And they weren’t just bigoted, but were about the strangest and most unstable personalities ever to occupy the White House. I see parallels popping up all the time. For instance, there was that recent report about a voter commission that flagged “Hispanic surnames,” which reminded me of the time the Nixon Administration targeted BLS employees with Jewish-sounding surnames.

    1
  86. Elliott Avatar
    Elliott

    @gVOR08: would that be the military of your day, where people who don’t know what gender they are join to get a sex change or the military of my day where we don’t care what you say but if you want a fight, you’d better bring a form of ID so we know where to ship the carcass?

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