What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[Eddie Teach]

If only he was "Mr. Trump".   

[The Brain]

Tooze is wrong about trade, he says. Why should we listen to him?

[Syt]

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/07/trump-putin-press-conference-transcript/565385/

The White House Transcript Is Missing the Most Explosive Part of the Trump–Putin Press Conference

It's not clear whether the omission was intended, but the meaning of a key exchange is dramatically altered as a result.

It was perhaps the most explosive exchange in an incendiary press conference: Russian President Vladimir Putin appearing to frankly admit to a motive for, and maybe even to the act of, meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, despite repeatedly denying Russian interference in American politics during the rest of his appearance with Donald Trump in Finland on Monday.

But the exchange doesn't appear in full in the White House's live-stream or transcript of the press conference, and it's missing entirely from the Kremlin's transcript of the event. The White House did not immediately provide an explanation for the discrepancy.

Understanding what Putin said depends on what you watch or where you look. If you watch the video of the news conference provided by the Russian government, or by news outlets such as PBS and the Associated Press, you will hear the Reuters reporter Jeff Mason ask a bombshell of a question: "President Putin, did you want President Trump to win the election and did you direct any of your officials to help him do that?"

Putin then responds with a bombshell of an answer, according to the English translation of his remarks that was broadcast during the press conference: "Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Because he talked about bringing the U.S.-Russia relationship back to normal."

But recordings of the exchange were muddled for two reasons. First, the English translation of Putin's previous response was concluding as Mason began to speak. Second, the microphone seemed to pick up Mason's question halfway through—making the latter half of it easier to hear. (Mason told me that he had held on to the microphone even though an official had tried to pull it away so that he could ask Putin a follow-up question. "I don't know if they turned the sound off during the time when each of the presidents were speaking, or if it got flipped on and off. I certainly didn't touch anything.")

Technical difficulties aside, there's further ambiguity. It's unclear whether Putin said "Yes, I did" in reference to the question of whether he wanted Trump to win the 2016 presidential race, or in response to the question about whether he directed Russian officials to help Trump win. "You could interpret that to mean he's answering 'yes' to both," Mason told me, but "looking at it critically, he spent a good chunk of that press conference, just like President Trump did, denying any collusion. So I think it's likely that when he said 'Yes, I did,' that he was just responding to the first part of my question and perhaps didn't hear the second part."

But if you watch the White House live-stream of the press conference or look at the transcript published by the White House, the first half of Mason's question is not there. Without it, the meaning of the exchange is substantially different.

Compare this transcript, of what actually happened, to the White House's version. Here is the record of what took place, starting with the last part of Putin's comments before Mason's questions. Putin is describing his willingness to assist with Robert Mueller's probe (bolding is mine):

Vladimir Putin: That could be a first step, and we can also extend it. Options abound, and they all can be found in an appropriate legal framework.

Jeff Mason: President Putin, did you want President Trump to win the election and did you direct any of your officials to help him do that?

Putin: Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Because he talked about bringing the U.S.–Russia relationship back to normal.

And here's the key section from the White House transcript, which makes it seem as though Putin is still talking about the Mueller probe: 

PRESIDENT PUTIN: That could be a first step, and we can also extend it. Options abound, and they all can be found in an appropriate legal framework.

Q: And did you direct any of your officials to help him do that?

PRESIDENT PUTIN:  Yes, I did. Yes, I did. Because he talked about bringing the U.S.–Russia relationship back to normal.

Another strange wrinkle comes from the Russian government's English-language transcript of the press conference. In contrast to its footage of the press conference, which features what really happened, the transcript does not include any piece of that key exchange.

Transcripts published by the Federal News Service and Bloomberg Government mirror the White House transcript, while NPR's contains the full exchange. Confusing matters further, C-span's footage contains Mason's full question but only the second half of Putin's answer.

The varying accounts of the same remarks highlight the profound confusion that Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin have generated in the past 24 hours. The discrepancies in the accounts of what was said also underscore the extent to which the Trump presidency has challenged a common understanding of reality. Even if the omission was accidental, it appears suspicious at a moment marked by the president's repeated claims that legitimate news reports are "fake."

In an attempt to walk back other comments he made at the press conference, Trump said on Tuesday that he believed he had made himself "very clear," but then changed his mind after reviewing the transcript and footage of the press conference. Referring to his remarks about election meddling, he walked back an extraordinary comment.

On Monday, Trump said "I don't see any reason why it would be" Russia that interfered with the election. On Tuesday, he clarified that he had meant to say: "I don't see any reason why it wouldn't be Russia." One small word, one huge difference.

[grumbler]

The top law enforcement officer of the United States threatens imprisonment of a private citizen based on her political views:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/jeff-sessions-repeats-lock-her-up-chant/ar-AAAm2pE?ocid=spartanntp

He is such a contemptible little shit.

"Sessions criticized universities for " . . . "actively preventing them from scrutinizing the validity of their beliefs.""  -- Yeah, I've got news for you Pot, says Kettle.

  He's right, though.

  As long as Bob Jones University exists, his statement will always be right.

[Syt]

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/24/us/politics/trump-putin-cnn.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

Spotting CNN on a TV Aboard Air Force One, Trump Rages Against Reality

WASHINGTON — On the first couple's recent trip overseas, Melania Trump's television aboard Air Force One was tuned to CNN. President Trump was not pleased.

He raged at his staff for violating a rule that the White House entourage should begin each trip tuned to Fox — his preferred network over what he considers the "fake news" CNN — and caused "a bit of a stir" aboard Air Force One, according to an email obtained by The New York Times. The email, an internal exchange between officials in the White House Military Office and the White House Communications Agency last Thursday, also called for the ordering of two additional televisions to support Beam, a TiVo-like streaming device, to make sure the president and first lady could both watch TV in their separate hotel rooms when they travel.

At the end of the email chain, officials confirmed that tuning the TVs to Fox would be standard operating procedure going forward.

The channel-flipping flap was the latest example of how Mr. Trump, at a pivotal moment in his presidency, is increasingly living in a world of selected information and bending the truth to his own narrative. As his aides work to keep him insulated from the outside world, Mr. Trump is doubling down in his efforts to tell supporters to trust him over the words of critics and news reports.

For now, his approach is working: His standing with Republicans continues to rise, according to a series of new polls.

"Stick with us. Don't believe the crap you see from these people, the fake news," Mr. Trump said Tuesday at the annual convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Kansas City, Mo.

And then: "What you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening."

Similarly, as the negative headlines continue after Mr. Trump's meeting in Finland last week with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, Mr. Trump has shifted from blaming American institutions for a bad relationship with Russia to telling people not to believe the facts of what they have seen or heard.

On Tuesday, the president effectively said black was white when he claimed without evidence that Russians would be helping Democrats — but not him — in the coming midterm elections. In January 2017, American intelligence agencies assessed that Russia had interfered in the 2016 presidential election in an effort to help Mr. Trump.

"I'm very concerned that Russia will be fighting very hard to have an impact on the upcoming Election," Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter. "Based on the fact that no President has been tougher on Russia than me, they will be pushing very hard for the Democrats. They definitely don't want Trump!"

In his tweet, Mr. Trump made no mention of the fact that he has been told repeatedly that Russia ordered a series of attacks to sway the 2016 election. Nor did he say that he has struck a conciliatory view toward Mr. Putin even as his administration and Congress have moved to impose harsher relations.

Over the weekend, Mr. Trump claimed with no evidence in a series of tweets that his administration's release of top-secret documents related to the surveillance of a former campaign aide had confirmed that the Justice Department and the F.B.I. "misled the courts" in the early stages of the Russia investigation.

But the documents appeared to do the opposite. They presented in stark detail why the F.B.I. was interested in the former campaign adviser, Carter Page: "The F.B.I. believes Page has been the subject of targeted recruitment by the Russian government." The documents also said Mr. Page had "established relationships with Russian government officials, including Russian intelligence officers," and had been "collaborating and conspiring with the Russian government."

Analysts, including Stephen I. Vladeck, a professor who specializes in national security law at the University of Texas School of Law, said the president was "cherry picking" bits of the warrant that would be most useful to him.

In the White House, little of the outside criticism breaks through. People who have worked for Mr. Trump say he tends to view everything through the lens of a battle. His goal is bring everyone over to his view.

[FunkMonk]

State Department just put out a declaration saying the United States WILL NEVER recognize the Russian annexation of Crimea.

Won't this just induce Putin to pour even more oligarch money into Donald's pockets?  

[garbon]

[garbon]

[FunkMonk]

2018 everybody, give it up for 2018!!

[Valmy]

Well that says it all right there.

[11B4V]

[Eddie Teach]

Girl with holes at her knees is a cutie.

[11B4V]

Girl with holes at her knees is a cutie.

She's rather exotic looking. Her father must have been a G.I.

[garbon]

I feel like it is an American attempt at this tableau:

[Admiral Yi]

You win if you don't spill your beer.