Brutal assessment.

Thanks for posting?

It's a perfect fit.

Chaos in American government (won't that be nice in a crisis? Or while Pooty is stealing another major corporation?); Discord within NATO; US inability to craft a coherent Middle East policy; ad infinitum.........

Only thing (so far) he doesn't win is lifting sanctions on him and his kleptocrat friends; but I'm sure that's coming, stay tuned.

with overwhelming, veto proof margins.

I half expect our pResiDunce will enforce them the way he does the ACA..............

They're presenting him with quite a pickle. Veto it, pocket veto it, sign it. Doesn't matter, Almost zero repug senators or congress is willing to publicly support his pro russia friendship stance. They're daring him to keep trying to deliver for his master.

Bill Browder's assessment of the impact of these new sanctions was that they were seriously damaging to Putin. As in everything unravels for him now, and he's going to spend all his time just trying to stay out of prison.

Russian oligarch money is about to become toxic. Browder said their accounts are going to be frozen by every bank in the world. If that happens, Putin is no longer the Strongman Protector, he's the Major Liability.

I think we should spend the next ten years fixing Russia's gangster problem. For good. The progressive common-sense Russians who have been targeted with murder and torture for trying to fix things would welcome our help. And that's the best revenge, rooting out every single last little conspirator anywhere that had anything to do at all in the slightest way imaginable with this @$@$% horror.

They need to go.

I'drather have a failing GOP president than a winning one.

I don't want failure to the extent of hurting American people--or any other people, either.

Humiliate the presiDunce, the GOPee Party, but don't hurt people who have already suffered.

...."successful" by Repug terms would take the country down as well. Tax reform in the way they want it will destroy the economy and entrench a deeper income disparity. The environment would be under even more threat from a functional president. A hard working Repug president could even have repealed the ACA. A Pence-like president would end all regulation of industry. Would effectively destroy unions.

"Competent" Repug presidents do things like take us into phony wars like Iraq----which brought on the great recession of 2008. And destabilized the entire middle east.

We are screwed under Repugs whether they do it through shrewd competency or tawdry grifting. Always nothing but rotten except towards the top 1%.

Trumpy's White House is grossly dysfunctional because an orderly hierarchy of authority is nonexistent. Kelly will find this out immediately, and will then understand how completely futile his position will become. Kelly will NOT have the authority that he needs, and he's likely discovering this right now. He's had a long and rewarding career in the military. He made a massive mistake in getting associated with Trumpy, just like everyone before him. Kelly traded his integrity for a promotion.

how distinguished career men can align themselves with the obviously mentally unbalanced person in the WH. How can anyone with self respect listen to the drivel this maniac spouts, and keep quiet? Does Kelly need the $$$ this badly, that he will sell his very soul for it? When tRump orders him to kill a fly, will he?

It is possible that he is truly doing this in an effort to protect the country from the dysfunction in the White House. I really wonder how long he will last.

that since DHS controls ICE and "Mexican walls", as well as "Muslim bans" were top priorities that haven't been realized "on day one" or "within the first 100 days", then it is possible Kelly was given an ultimatum, and agreed to a "lateral", perhaps at the behest of some unknown "someone" (maybe McMaster?) to move Preibus out, and have an instant replacement ready (he already has all the clearances). I expect he could also dismiss both Bannon's and Mooch's bullshit easier than Preibus, but I doubt he'll be in there that long either.

The question is who would be nominated as a replacement for DHS Secretary.

Wonder if that's just rumor or if they figure that's the one safe way around the rules and the consequences of flat-out firing Jeff Sessions.

And I ironically recall similar stuff going on under Raygun with James Baker -

The military is nothing if not CHAIN-OF-COMMAND conscious. It's built-in. It is sacrosanct. The hierarchy is EVERYTHING. And if this so-called White House is awash with discord and multiple little fiefdoms and power centers and openly hostile and incompatible warring factions - just because the boss somehow likes chaos - this guy will be a VERY bad fit. And he won't last long. For his own sense of self-respect, if nothing else. I can't see how he'll find himself to be a good fit. This madhouse operates counter to EVERYTHING he knows and into which he's put his faith, and has followed to the letter, and under which he's worked his way up the ranks and achieved success and respect, over years and years of military service.

I don't see how he'll be allowed to do it his way, the way he's used to doing it in the military command structure. I just don't see how this will work. Nobody else in there (with rare exceptions) has even served in the military. And they're all basically in it for themselves, while busily genuflecting to The Donald and trying to show outwardly that they're only in it for him. Bullshit. They're all busy trying to build their own power structures and their own individual protection rackets and force fields. They're all most interested in loyalty - that is - loyalty to THEMSELVES and how long THEY can survive in those big-shot White House jobs they still have. They'll say it's about loyalty to the so-called "pResident" (since you bet they know how important that loyalty thing is to him). But it's really loyalty to their own self-preservation.

My father served in the Army and Navy. He always exhibited an almost obsessive desire to bring order to chaotic situations -- no matter what they were. And honestly, he was respected for having a knack for "getting things in order." He was one of the youngest supervisors after his discharge for a major corporation.

After rejecting the job several times, Kelly may feel compelled to do what he can to turn the disaster that is the WH around.

I don't think he'll be successful, but I can see why he might feel the need to try.

It makes sense. I don't think he'll be successful either, but I would expect someone in the military to have discipline and order and chain-of-command DOWN. Especially someone who's risen to the rank of general. You're very good at hierarchy by that point. Wonder who will give him the biggest problems? "The Mooch"? Jared? Bannon? Ivanka? The people who work with/for a general have to submit to rank and be willing to take orders. I don't see how either one of those three fully complies. ANYONE who claims or insists that he or she has standing open access to the Oval Office is probably loathe to give that up. How it looks to the rest of "the help", dontchaknow.

"Failing president". I really hope he reads this because it is so spot on. He is a monumental disaster and the sooner the republicans realize that and get rid of him, the better.

(*Invoke the 25th Amendment against Pres. #45) But after reading a post below, I'm agreeing that we should hold off for a little while--let him f*ck up the GOPee brand so badly for 2018 and 2020 that people won't be able to stand another GOPher in Congress OR the presidency.

What a shit show!

86 that bastard!!!

And ZERO out ANY remnants of his God-forsaken "administration."

With Mike Pence waiting in the wings to become 46, the question is how much of Trump is enough to drive voters away from the Republican Party brand so that they don't vote in Pence or another Republican in 2020.

I never thought I'd say this, but I want Trump to stick around long enough to soil all the little interest groups that put him in the Oval Office, and I want the stench to linger through Election Day 2020.

Pence will appear to be much better than trump as president, and therefore more likely to be re-elected in 2020. Pence, in many ways, is more dangerous to our human rights than trump.

leaving trump in place is too dangerous. If this happens, we will very likely be living in a police sooner than we think.

So we'd best be on the lookout

Trump is who he is and has never grown up or changed. All of the fools who supported or voted for him got exactly what they voted for.

The GOP is out of ideas. They have been for a decade or more. They cannot legislate, they cannot govern. Their only policy is cut taxes for the rich. Period.

Total and complete failure.

We, as a nation, have been played.

Worst part is, half our Country, motherfucking STILL, doesn't realize it.

Teh Stoopid, it burns.

always has been. He inserts himself into the accomplishments of others, but he personally does nothing but rant and rave and bullshit. He has scammed a pretty good living off this MO, but that was while he had the protection of lawsuits and gangster lawyers. Those protections aren't working now, and he is exposed, as the know nothing, do nothing hollow creature that he is. There's no escaping his stench.

his opinions about a variety of subjects and revealed who he is and how he operates. The problem is that prior to his entering politics he tended to leave his messes and screw ups behind him on rather small scale. Now he is in a position to cause harm across the world and leave scars that our governing bodies (and those who live on planet earth) will live with for a very long time.

He is ignorant of history and only interested in how he benefits from being in the office he currently occupies. He is quite literally living in one of the most historic places in our country but is seemingly uninspired to know the details of the past for our nation. And you know what they say about those who don't learn from history....

So he goes on about his merry way, making one mistake after another, dumping former minions with no regrets, no apologies. He has destroyed any illusions that he would be pivoting to a more dignified person. That he would somehow transform himself to what we all expect from the person occupying the office of President.

What he has done is bring the office of President down many pegs to a Reality Show. Instead of Pomp and Circumstance or Hail to the Chief, we get a Ringling Brothers version of governance. We have foul mouthed tirades and palace intrigue. No one really knows whose head will roll next. Maybe his loyal fans ACTUALLY LIKE the changes. As for the rest of us, we stand slack jawed at the chaos, the indignity that has invaded the Executive branch. Disgust barely covers it. We look to the members of Congress who can make this go away or at least stop the bleeding only to see they appear no more able to do anything about it than we can. They have the power but refuse to wield it because of their own serious misdeeds and culpability. Afraid of losing their positions if the full details of who brought this nasty infection upon us, they say little and do even less.

We are at a critical stage and I do believe it can't go on at this pace much longer. Every single day brings on new horrors and insults to the very Constitution most of us revere. I don't think waiting until 2018 elections is wise. There is plenty of time between now and then for tRump and his thugs to do irreparable damage to the governing bodies, the economy and the spirit of the USA. He has already done tremendous damage to those things already, not to even mention coarsening our culture to a new low. I just hope that our leaders who are in a position to deal with this problem in a quick, decisive manner will do so.

In the meantime, our work is cut out for us. We must not let them forget for one day we are watching them and taking notes. It will be our job to pay attention to who tries to help and who stands by and watches Rome burn to the ground.

It's a terrible choice to think of making. trump? Or Pence? COLOSSAL ICK, either way. Either way we lose, and 2020 can't come soon enough. But with trump, this gnawing nag of "...he's gonna get us all killed..." keeps prowling through my head. I dread a Pence presidency because he's such a religious fanatic. While I fear the onset of Christian Sharia Law under his tenure, one thought I actually tend not to have is "...he's gonna get us all killed..."

Small comfort, though.

VERY small.

terrible choices indeed.

My thoughts exactly stated in a very articulate way.

I agree with you that wishing to keep him in place so Pence doesn't become President is not the way this should go. For all we know, Pence will go down with him. If we on DU do believe in our democracy and constitution, then we should be doing everything in our power to get rid of him first. He is destroying everything and made the US a laughing stock of the world.

Except this:

“And when the White House is failing, you can’t replace the president.”

Why, exactly, can't the president be replaced?

The GOP is revealed a failed party as currently constituted. Maybe the naked Emperor is not just tRump but the whole GOP.


Sad and frustrating part is the country has wasted a lot of precious time to come to the conclusion progressive have known since 1980; Republicans‘ vision for US is fatally flawed and corupt.

and we are really seeing that now. They are dipping and dodging playing wack-a-mole with their never-ending self-inflicted crises while failing at any type of governance.



Meanwhile the 3-year old in the Oval Office yells at the TV.

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It is of paramount importance to him and he will try to use money to sway a gullible electorate even if it bankrupts the country. An example is the spending bill just passed by the House that is a thinly veiled vehicle to win the veterans vote by throwing money at them and it will probably work.

voter "suppression" = stealing the rights of millions to vote.

dump thinks he can maintain the reich through another term.

They always knew what he was and they got on board anyway. I think a lot of political career will die over this misplaced support.

or teaparty person would consider to be a very good and successful president.

Therefore, deplorables, teapartiers, very thought process is deadly to the human race.

And we are surrounded by them.

45 doesn't want to be "president."

He wants to be a totalitarian dictator.

His real agenda is to pack the federal courts with
extreme rightwing judges, and then he can rule
by fiat and just ignore the legislative branch.

The courts will then back up whatever he wants.

and conviction based on obstruction of justice and ethics issues alone. They just need to have the courage to do it.

Oh.. I hear a book titile coming....

Saint Donald of God

Hmmm... not so good...

because we knew, even before he raised his tiny hand to take the oath of office, that he was an abysmal failure and that he would act accordingly. And he has.

Also, that they are thorough. If they are then they will get the dirt on Pence and his involvement (and he IS involved) as well as Ryan.

The Mad King is a roiling disaster, and he's going to take everyone down with him.

Definitely a failure since he was hoisted—not elected—into the position.

I don't think that "better deal" thing is good enough. It doesn't speak to ME, anyway.

We can't just run on "we're not Trump." That's not good enough.