What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[Habbaku]

I'm still okay with the plan where we just pay him $10 billion to go away.

[Barrister]

Is there any doubt that Trump is acting in Russia's interest now?

Here's the conclusion to a good David Frum article on The Atlantic.

Yesterday, the Republicans on the House intelligence committee announced that they had concluded the investigation of the Russian interference—and would soon publish a report acquitting Trump of collusion. Bad luck for them to release the report on the very day that Trump again demonstrated that something is very, very wrong in the Trump-Russia relationship. It's possible to imagine innocent explanations. And it's easy to list the plausible explanations. Ominously for the western alliance and the security of the United States, those two sets no longer overlap at all.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/03/exodus-rex/555473/

[Valmy]

It is frustrating to me that the Republicans seem to be going all in protecting Donald Trump. I mean he is an old man not likely to last long, why do so much for him when he has done so little for them? I guess it is fear of his supporters.

Anyway it just reminds me how damaging partisanship is to everything. It seems the interests of the party are the only thing anybody seems to care about, the country can be compromised so long as the party comes out of it looking good.

I don't want to single out the Republicans here because both sides do it but this just takes it to a whole new level and again if there was anything I thought I could count on these guys for it was hyper-patriotism and commitment to conservative values. But fuck all that shit, Donald Trump must be protected.

[Solmyr]

Seriously, you guys are so fucked.

You guys? You're on this planet too pal.

But for that period before everything goes up in flames, I won't be living in a fascist dictatorship.

[The Minsky Moment]

Is there any doubt that Trump is acting in Russia's interest now?

Here's the conclusion to a good David Frum article on The Atlantic.

Yesterday, the Republicans on the House intelligence committee announced that they had concluded the investigation of the Russian interference—and would soon publish a report acquitting Trump of collusion. Bad luck for them to release the report on the very day that Trump again demonstrated that something is very, very wrong in the Trump-Russia relationship. It's possible to imagine innocent explanations. And it's easy to list the plausible explanations. Ominously for the western alliance and the security of the United States, those two sets no longer overlap at all.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/03/exodus-rex/555473/

It's like the Copperweld doctrine in antitrust - a subsidiary corporation can't be said to be colluding with the parent corporation.  If you are completely owned, it's not really collusion anymore.

[Valmy]

But for that period before everything goes up in flames, I won't be living in a fascist dictatorship.

Meh. Trump is an embarrassment and a clown, not a potential Mussolini. He will be dead within a decade anyway.

[Solmyr]

But for that period before everything goes up in flames, I won't be living in a fascist dictatorship.

Meh. Trump is an embarrassment and a clown, not a potential Mussolini. He will be dead within a decade anyway.

That's plenty more than he needs to fuck up the US. Besides, you assume Trump and not Putin will be running things.

[Valmy]

That's plenty more than he needs to fuck up the US. Besides, you assume Trump and not Putin will be running things.

Internally our decentralized federal system protects us all. Externally yeah we are fucked...but once he is gone we will see what can be salvaged.

As for Putin I seriously doubt this is how Russia wants North Korea handled. This has the potential to fuck them up more than us.

[Berkut]

Putin is clearly running things.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/03/exodus-rex/555473/

[Eddie Teach]

Seriously, you guys are so fucked.

You guys? You're on this planet too pal.

But for that period before everything goes up in flames, I won't be living in a fascist dictatorship.

The President firing his Secretary of State isn't a step in that direction.

[Jacob]

I don't want to single out the Republicans here because both sides do it but this just takes it to a whole new level and again if there was anything I thought I could count on these guys for it was hyper-patriotism and commitment to conservative values. But fuck all that shit, Donald Trump must be protected.

I think you should single out Republicans, because as far as I know the Democrats have not taken it to this whole new level.

If you keep saying "both sides do it" to the extreme actions of one side, then you're doing two (related) harmful things: 1) You're normalizing the extreme behaviour; 2) You're removing incentives to not betray the country for partisan reasons, since you blaming "both sides" for the actions of one party only.

By all means, call out the Democrats for whatever terrible things they do in the name of partisanship - but right now it seems only one party is actively destroying American institutions and supporting collusion with enemies of the nation. If you're against that, you should hold the people actually taking those actions responsible, not spread the blame to those who are not doing it.

IMO, of course.

[Sophie Scholl]

I don't want to single out the Republicans here because both sides do it but this just takes it to a whole new level and again if there was anything I thought I could count on these guys for it was hyper-patriotism and commitment to conservative values. But fuck all that shit, Donald Trump must be protected.

I think you should single out Republicans, because as far as I know the Democrats have not taken it to this whole new level.

If you keep saying "both sides do it" to the extreme actions of one side, then you're doing two (related) harmful things: 1) You're normalizing the extreme behaviour; 2) You're removing incentives to not betray the country for partisan reasons, since you blaming "both sides" for the actions of one party only.

By all means, call out the Democrats for whatever terrible things they do in the name of partisanship - but right now it seems only one party is actively destroying American institutions and supporting collusion with enemies of the nation. If you're against that, you should hold the people actually taking those actions responsible, not spread the blame to those who are not doing it.

IMO, of course.

"You have some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people on both sides."

[mongers]

I think Tillerson deserves some credit for sticking with the job, I guess once he realised what he'd gotten himself into, there were any number of occasions were he could have resign with dignity intact.

I presume he didn't because he recognised what a dangerous loose cannon Trump was and so it was his duty to his country to hang in there and try and act as a moderating influence on this buffoon.

[crazy canuck]

What happened to the suicide pact Tillerson had with Mattis and Mnuchin?

[Maximus]

AP reporting that Tillerson's aid, the one who reported that Tillerson was informed by Trump's tweet and didn't know the reason for his dismissal, has in turn also been fired.

https://www.apnews.com/6b3fe76623e24c33ba17305a0e08c505/The-Latest:-Officials-say-White-House-fired-Tillerson-aide

The people in charge of the sacking have also been sacked.