The Trumpet 1-13-2017

[Matata]

Delusions of Grandeur, Lies Lies and More Lies, Cheeto-in-Chief Proves He Has Cheez Whiz for Brains


The idiot-in-chief didn't notice that most of those lining his route were protesters
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-west-palm-beach-protest_us_58a12886e4b094a129ec7216?5xoo0daqxsss8aor&

Remember when he said during the campaign that we shouldn't tell our enemies what we're going to do to protect against them? And how Clinton using a public server was wrong? Well, during his first foreign policy crisis this weekend, he and his advisors thought it prudent to address the Korean missile launch in the dining room at Mar-a-lago rather than immediately retiring to a private room. He let Abe speak first presumably since Japan is physically closer to Korea and at greater threat than the US but I think it was because cheeto simply doesn't have the mental capacity (and let's not forget lack of political experience) to handle an impromptu situation.
http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/12/politics/trump-shinzo-abe-mar-a-lago-north-korea/index.html

Resist and Persist. John Oliver for Press Secretary!
http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/2/13/14597200/john-oliver-trump-lies-last-week-tonight

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,

Recently, I had reason to become involved with someone who was diagnosed with Delusional Disorder. This is not someone who thinks they are Napoleon or Jesus, but shows some signs, although modest, of having a problem on occasion of dealing with reality.
It is part of Paranoia, but only 3% are diagnosed with Delusional Disorder because it is very difficult to diagnose.

This individual exaggerates situations and glosses over any obstacles that most normal people would consider for further action.
Only on 2 occasions did this individual cross over into psychotic behavior, believing that he could fix large problems; ie: fires in California. Only he had the answer. He called people to tell them he could fix it.

He was hospitalized, and is fine now. Stress caused his reaction, but he will still have these other tendencies.

I do believe Trump also really does suffer from Delusion Disorder. You still function, only have these tendencies. I think he fits it to a tea.

Annette

 

[Matata]

Spys Revolt. Cheeto and his administration is so untrustworthy that the intelligence community is withholding information. We have what amounts to a civil war happening in our government.

http://observer.com/2017/02/donald-trump-administration-mike-flynn-russian-embassy/
Pertinent excerpts:
Now those concerns are causing problems much closer to home—in fact, inside the Beltway itself. Our Intelligence Community is so worried by the unprecedented problems of the Trump administration—not only do senior officials possess troubling ties to the Kremlin, there are nagging questions about basic competence regarding Team Trump—that it is beginning to withhold intelligence from a White House which our spies do not trust.

That the IC has ample grounds for concern is demonstrated by almost daily revelations of major problems inside the White House, a mere three weeks after the inauguration. The president has repeatedly gone out of his way to antagonize our spies, mocking them and demeaning their work, and Trump’s personal national security guru can’t seem to keep his story straight on vital issues.
That’s Mike Flynn, the retired Army three-star general who now heads the National Security Council. Widely disliked in Washington for his brash personality and preference for conspiracy-theorizing over intelligence facts, Flynn was fired as head of the Defense Intelligence Agency for managerial incompetence and poor judgment—flaws he has brought to the far more powerful and political NSC.

Flynn’s problems with the truth have been laid bare by the growing scandal about his dealings with Moscow. Strange ties to the Kremlin, including Vladimir Putin himself, have dogged Flynn since he left DIA, and concerns about his judgment have risen considerably since it was revealed that after the November 8 election, Flynn repeatedly called the Russian embassy in Washington to discuss the transition. The White House has denied that anything substantive came up in conversations between Flynn and Sergei Kislyak, the Russian ambassador.

It’s debatable whether Flynn broke any laws by conducting unofficial diplomacy with Moscow, then lying about it, and he has now adopted the customary Beltway dodge about the affair, ditching his previous denials in favor of professing he has “no recollection of discussing sanctions,” adding that he “couldn’t be certain that the topic never came up.” That’s not good enough anymore, since the IC knows exactly what Flynn and Kislyak discussed.

In pretty much every capital worldwide, embassies that provide sanctuary to hostile intelligence services are subject to counterintelligence surveillance, including monitoring phone calls. Our spy services conduct signals intelligence—SIGINT for short—against the Russian embassy in Washington, just as the Russians do against our embassy in Moscow. Ambassadors’ calls are always monitored: that’s how the SpyWar works, everywhere.

Ambassador Kislyak surely knew his conversations with Flynn were being intercepted, and it’s incomprehensible that a career military intelligence officer who once headed a major intelligence agency didn’t realize the same. Whether Flynn is monumentally stupid or monumentally arrogant is the big question that hangs over this increasingly strange affair.

A new report by CNN indicates that important parts of the infamous spy dossier that professed to shed light on President Trump’s shady Moscow ties have been corroborated by communications intercepts. In other words, SIGINT strikes again, providing key evidence that backs up some of the claims made in that 35-page report compiled by Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence official with extensive Russia experience.

As I’ve previously explained, that salacious dossier is raw intelligence, an explosive amalgam of fact and fantasy, including some disinformation planted by the Kremlin to obscure this already murky case. Now SIGINT confirms that some of the non-salacious parts of what Steele reported, in particular how senior Russian officials conspired to assist Trump in last year’s election, are substantially based in fact. This is bad news for the White House, which has already lashed out in angry panic, with Press Secretary Sean Spicer stating, “We continue to be disgusted by CNN’s fake news reporting.”

There are pervasive concerns that the president simply isn’t paying attention to intelligence.

How things are heating up between the White House and the spooks is evidenced by a new report that the CIA has denied a security clearance to one of Flynn’s acolytes. Rob Townley, a former Marine intelligence officer selected to head up the NSC’s Africa desk, was denied a clearance to see Sensitive Compartmented Information (which is required to have access to SIGINT in particular). Why Townley’s SCI was turned down isn’t clear—it could be over personal problems or foreign ties—but the CIA’s stand has been privately denounced by the White House, which views this as a vendetta against Flynn. That the Townley SCI denial was reportedly endorsed by Mike Pompeo, the new CIA director selected by Trump himself, only adds to the pain.

There is more consequential IC pushback happening, too. Our spies have never liked Trump’s lackadaisical attitude toward the President’s Daily Brief, the most sensitive of all IC documents, which the new commander-in-chief has received haphazardly. The president has frequently blown off the PDB altogether, tasking Flynn with condensing it into a one-page summary with no more than nine bullet-points. Some in the IC are relieved by this, but there are pervasive concerns that the president simply isn’t paying attention to intelligence.

In light of this, and out of worries about the White House’s ability to keep secrets, some of our spy agencies have begun withholding intelligence from the Oval Office. Why risk your most sensitive information if the president may ignore it anyway? A senior National Security Agency official explained that NSA was systematically holding back some of the “good stuff” from the White House, in an unprecedented move. For decades, NSA has prepared special reports for the president’s eyes only, containing enormously sensitive intelligence. In the last three weeks, however, NSA has ceased doing this, fearing Trump and his staff cannot keep their best SIGINT secrets.

What’s going on was explained lucidly by a senior Pentagon intelligence official, who stated that “since January 20, we’ve assumed that the Kremlin has ears inside the SITROOM,” meaning the White House Situation Room, the 5,500 square-foot conference room in the West Wing where the president and his top staffers get intelligence briefings. “There’s not much the Russians don’t know at this point,” the official added in wry frustration.

None of this has happened in Washington before. A White House with unsettling links to Moscow wasn’t something anybody in the Pentagon or the Intelligence Community even considered a possibility until a few months ago. Until Team Trump clarifies its strange relationship with the Kremlin, and starts working on its professional honesty, the IC will approach the administration with caution and concern.

I previously warned the Trump administration not to go to war with the nation’s spies, and here’s why. This is a risky situation, particularly since President Trump is prone to creating crises foreign and domestic with his incautious tweets. In the event of a serious international crisis of the sort which eventually befalls almost every administration, the White House will need the best intelligence possible to prevent war, possibly even nuclear war. It may not get the information it needs in that hour of crisis, and for that it has nobody to blame but itself.

John Schindler is a security expert and former National Security Agency analyst and counterintelligence officer. A specialist in espionage and terrorism, he’s also been a Navy officer and a War College professor. He’s published four books and is on Twitter at @20committee.

 

[ksinger]

You will soon understand, Der Gropeführer's power is real and will NOT be questioned!

http://shareblue.com/in-despotic-declaration-trump-senior-advisor-says-trumps-power-will-not-be-questioned/

 

[lovedogs]

You will soon understand, Der Gropeführer's power is real and will NOT be questioned!

http://shareblue.com/in-despotic-declaration-trump-senior-advisor-says-trumps-power-will-not-be-questioned/

ugh, that statement was beyond ridiculous. Such a terrible sound byte, and so terrifying that he meant it.

 

[redwood66]

Spys Revolt. Cheeto and his administration is so untrustworthy that the intelligence community is withholding information. We have what amounts to a civil war happening in our government.

http://observer.com/2017/02/donald-trump-administration-mike-flynn-russian-embassy/

This is a big problem. I am very concerned about the use and misuse of SIGINT. It is also a HUGE problem if individuals are playing politics with our most vital classified information. I think Flynn needs to go whether this proves to be totally true or not.

 

[smitcompton]

Hi,

I am going to push back here. I heard Steve Miller on Meet The Press and his point was that when they rewrite or decide to take another action on the Executive order, it will be found that the President does indeed have the last word and ultimate power on that action. He said the Judiciary is an equal branch, but its exceeding its authority, and in the end Presidential power will win.

Constitutional experts(Alan Dershcowitz,SP, Prof Turly) agree the ruling was quite broad and if re-written without inclusion of residents here, would pass most courts including the Supreme Court.

The emphasis reported is slanted. It did not seem to me that he said the Pres cannot be questioned/

The man, Mr. Miller wrote this executive order, and Alan Dershcowitz (SP) said he ought to be fired by the Presdient, for he wrote a terrible Executive Order.

Annette

 

[AGBF]

I am going to push back here. I heard Steve Miller on Meet The Press and his point was that when they rewrite or decide to take another action on the Executive order, it will be found that the President does indeed have the last word and ultimate power on that action. He said the Judiciary is an equal branch, but its exceeding its authority, and in the end Presidential power will win.

Constitutional experts(Alan Dershcowitz,SP, Prof Turly) agree the ruling was quite broad and if re-written without inclusion of residents here, would pass most courts including the Supreme Court.

The emphasis reported is slanted. It did not seem to me that he said the Pres cannot be questioned/

The man, Mr. Miller wrote this executive order, and Alan Dershcowitz (SP) said he ought to be fired by the Presdient, for he wrote a terrible Executive Order.

I happened to have watched "Morning Joe" where Joe Scarborough, a former Republican Congressman reigns, yesterday morning. I am very thankful that he, although generally conservative, does not hold your beliefs, Annette! I found this précis of the show on-line today.


‘Autocracy for Young Politicos’: Joe Scarborough rips “little” Stephen Miller
By Leah McElrath | February 13, 2017

The serious threat that Donald Trump and his administration pose to the republic of the United States is even being recognized by the usually fawning media pundit, Joe Scarborough, in his reaction to the shocking statements made by Trump senior advisor Stephen Miller.
MSNBC

Donald Trump senior advisor Stephen Miller appeared on the political talk shows and made a series of disturbingly despotic statements about the administration’s view of executive power, including the appalling declaration that “…our opponents, the media, and the whole world will soon see, as we begin to take further actions, that the powers of the president to protect our country are very substantial, and will not be questioned.”

The consistency of Miller’s statements across his appearances on various shows makes it extremely clear this message came from the administration itself and was not a one-off instance of overreach by a staff member.

The idea of the president having supreme power that cannot be questioned was so absurd that even Morning Joe co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski called it out as autocratic (a system of government in which one person has absolute power):

gasps)

FORD: That’s a White House advisor, right?

BRZEZINSKI: Oh my God. That’s not even funny. You can’t even —

SCARBOROUGH: Oh my God. It’s so much worse than I ever thought.

BRZEZINSKI: It’s much worse. It’s much worse.

SCARBOROUGH: Wow.

FORD: One hundred percent correct.

SCARBOROUGH: One hundred percent correct. It is a fact, and you will not deny it, a fact that was actually a lie. And then again, he learned this, I guess, in ‘Autocracy for Young Politicos 101.’

BRZEZINSKI: Okay, you told me not to say it!

SCARBOROUGH: Hold on a second, when he said, what did he say about the power…?

HEILEMANN: ‘The powers of the president are very substantial and they will not be questioned.’

BRZEZINSKI: This guy.

SCARBOROUGH: ‘They will not be questioned.’ That is — they — no no, they are questioned, my young little Miller.

BRZEZINSKI: Lad.

SCARBOROUGH: They will be questioned by the court. It’s called ‘judicial review.’ Alexander Hamilton and James Madison wrote about it in the Federalist Papers. It was enshrined in Madison’s Constitution. Andrew Jackson, you go into your president’s office, you know, that one? And you look on the walls, and there are all these pictures of Andrew Jackson and books of Andrew — he talked about judicial independence, he talked about the importance of the judiciary. You really need to go back and read the Constitution. And seriously, the White House has got to stop embarrassing themselves —

Given Scarborough’s history of potentially unethical access to Trump, acting as both an advisor and a cheerleader for Trump’s candidacy and his administration, it is significant when even he refers to a Trump surrogate by saying, “He learned this in ‘Autocracy for Young Politicos 101,'” and feels the need to review, on-air, the mechanisms of checks and balances among the three branches of federal government.

Make no mistake: The autocratic and authoritarian designs of the Trump administration are real and urgent. In December, more than 1,200 historians signed a letter appealing to Americans to “prevent tragedy before it’s too late.” And Timothy Snyder, a Yale professor with expertise in authoritarianism and the Holocaust, warned in an interview that we have “at most a year to defend the Republic, perhaps less.”

Keeping in mind the messaging from the Trump administration, read Synder’s words:

The constitution is worth saving, the rule of law is worth saving, democracy is worth saving, but these things can and will be lost if everyone waits around for someone else. If we want encouragement out of the Oval Office, we will not get it. We are not getting encouragement thus far from Republicans. They have good reasons to defend the republic but thus far they are not doing so, with a few exceptions. You want to end on a positive note, I know; but I think things have tightened up very fast, we have at most a year to defend the Republic, perhaps less. What happens in the next few weeks is very important.

Chilling, yes? Yet, there is good news: Trump and his advisors are overtly demonstrating the threat they pose to the separation of powers early in his tenure, leading even previously supportive pundits like Scarborough to become alarmed enough to use accurate descriptions like “autocracy” for the threat, and causing Americans throughout the country to mobilize, contacting their elected representatives to express their concern in unprecedented numbers.

Our Constitution is indeed worth saving, and if Trump’s unprecedented unpopularity is any measure, the majority of Americans know it is endangered under this administration — even Joe Scarborough."

AGBF