Trump is refusing a 2nd debate

[MattinBama]

No apology necessary, my friend. We both know that a centerpiece of trump’s strategy the last 5 years has been to inundate the public with non-stop insanity, double-speak messaging, and absurdity. The press can’t keep up, neither can the opposition, and it all becomes background noise.

I can’t possibly imagine where Trump’s team would have figured out such a strategy.

Is Trump’s Chaos Tornado a Move From the Kremlin’s Playbook?

It’s terrifying to think that the Trump administration is simply winging it, in a swirl of lies, contradictions, and Twitter rants. A scarier possibility is that there is, in fact, a plan, taken straight from Putin 101.

www.vanityfair.com

 

[selmaborntidefan]

I can’t possibly imagine where Trump’s team would have figured out such a strategy.

Is Trump’s Chaos Tornado a Move From the Kremlin’s Playbook?

It’s terrifying to think that the Trump administration is simply winging it, in a swirl of lies, contradictions, and Twitter rants. A scarier possibility is that there is, in fact, a plan, taken straight from Putin 101.

www.vanityfair.com

Let's simply set aside the notion that this lunatic is a 3-dimensional chess player. He's NOT the Nick Saban of politics. EVERYTHING with this guy is run through the filter of narcissism. Every President of the TV age has had at least a touch of narcissism, but most were able to go ahead and do their jobs and (sometimes) think about the country.

Not. This. Dude.

 

[Chukker Veteran]

Let's simply set aside the notion that this lunatic is a 3-dimensional chess player. He's NOT the Nick Saban of politics. EVERYTHING with this guy is run through the filter of narcissism. Every President of the TV age has had at least a touch of narcissism, but most were able to go ahead and do their jobs and (sometimes) think about the country.

Not. This. Dude.

I think he’s just making knee jerk decisions on the fly with no grand strategy. He bases them on his instinctive sense of what is divisive and hateful and goes from there. Consequences be damned, full speed ahead.

 

[Go Bama]

I can’t possibly imagine where Trump’s team would have figured out such a strategy.

Is Trump’s Chaos Tornado a Move From the Kremlin’s Playbook?

It’s terrifying to think that the Trump administration is simply winging it, in a swirl of lies, contradictions, and Twitter rants. A scarier possibility is that there is, in fact, a plan, taken straight from Putin 101.

www.vanityfair.com

Matt, that article was written in April, 2017. It is uncannily accurate. It is long but worth the read.

Clint Watts, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute who has studied Russian propaganda for years, sees major similarities between Putin’s and Trump’s approaches. “Create chaos in the system, such that you don’t know what is the truth or not the truth,” he says. The Kremlin does this by flooding television and digital media with biased coverage and wanton spin. The Trump administration has discovered something equally effective: lying to reporters and publicly attacking critics are like tossing grenades into the media eco-system. The press is constantly scrambling to respond to a never-ending river of slime, and the system is gradually overwhelmed.

Once this quagmire—in which truth and lies are knotted up and nothing is incontrovertible—is established, the final aim comes into view. “You don’t even know what is real information anymore, and without that, no one can hold you accountable,” Watts says. As the Kremlin has long known, once you’ve successfully swamped truth, you’re no longer accountable for your actions. Mounting evidence from the administration’s first month or so in office suggests that this is the Trump team’s goal: to produce a state of disorder between themselves, the media, and the public, so that it becomes all but impossible for Trump and his team to be held accountable for conflicts of interest, shady relationships, and abuses of power. It’s how Moscow has entrenched a super-rich oligarchy and a thinly veiled authoritarian regime: by hiding behind its splashy dramaturgia. Trump is quickly learning his own variation on this theme. “There is a sense that he will purposefully move the conversation onto colorful [BS], away from the really serious stuff,” Pomerantsev says. The Kremlin has provided him with a blueprint for ruling with impunity by way of misdirection, disorder, and political stagecraft.

 

[MattinBama]

Matt, that article was written in April, 2017. It is uncannily accurate. It is long but worth the read.

I’ve referenced them using this playbook from time to time but took me a while to find an article about Putin’s rise to power that doesn’t only focus on the few big scandals beyond the wall of chaos that let him get where he is now.

While I may not believe Trump is smart enough to orchestrate it by himself people like Miller & Bannon no doubt have paid attention to it to help amplify the effect. The alt-right/white supremacist sects have long had crushes on Putin’s regime.

 

[Nolan]

At this point it appears that Biden is going to win on Nov 3.

What concerns me most right now is what happens in the 80 days between then and Jan 21.

Which brings up another strong case for democratic reform. Why is there 80 days between administrations? It is totally unnecessary.

The inauguration was once even later, in March or April, I believe, but was moved to January as the ability to travel advanced.

Well, it is 2020 now, and inaugurations should be the first Monday in December. Enough of this un-democratic lame duck foolishness.

 

[B1GTide]

Which brings up another strong case for democratic reform. Why is there 80 days between administrations? It is totally unnecessary.

The inauguration was once even later, in March or April, I believe, but was moved to January as the ability to travel advanced.

Well, it is 2020 now, and inaugurations should be the first Monday in December. Enough of this un-democratic lame duck foolishness.

Ideally this allows for an orderly transition of power. That didn't happen when trump took office because he was not interested in anything that he could have heard from Obama. I would say that the same will apply this time. Biden will not be able to trust anything that he hears from the trumpers.

 

[Nolan]

Ideally this allows for an orderly transition of power. That didn't happen when trump took office because he was not interested in anything that he could have heard from Obama. I would say that the same will apply this time. Biden will not be able to trust anything that he hears from the trumpers.

I get it. But it’s 2020, we can do a transition of power in a matter of weeks. Get the old POTUS out, the new one installed, and they have the holidays to settle in. Congress isn’t doing anything in December anyway. It’s remarkable how we cling to these antiquated procedures.

 

[B1GTide]

I get it. But it’s 2020, we can do a transition of power in a matter of weeks. Get the old POTUS out, the new one installed, and they have the holidays to settle in. Congress isn’t doing anything in December anyway. It’s remarkable how we cling to these antiquated procedures.

I can't pretend to know enough about it to propose a new timeline. But I agree that there is a huge risk with a petulant child losing his position.

 

[Bamaro]

Ideally this allows for an orderly transition of power. That didn't happen when trump took office because he was not interested in anything that he could have heard from Obama. I would say that the same will apply this time. Biden will not be able to trust anything that he hears from the trumpers.

Depends. The upper levels are useless sycophants. The lower levels, the ones ho actually do the work/analysis etc are career workers and not political appointees.

 

[Crimson1967]

Inauguration Day used to be March 4 but the 20th amendment (ratified in 1933) moved it to January 20. It would take a constitutional amendment to change it again.

 

[Rolltide51]

Inauguration Day used to be March 4 but the 20th amendment (ratified in 1933) moved it to January 20. It would take a constitutional amendment to change it again.

well.. if the dems win the senate.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

Depends. The upper levels are useless sycophants. The lower levels, the ones ho actually do the work/analysis etc are career workers and not political appointees.

I suspect he has a very good idea of whom he can trust...

 

[TIDE-HSV]

well.. if the dems win the senate.

Then what? Have you really looked at the amendment process?

 

[Rolltide51]

Then what? Have you really looked at the amendment process?

not since the 70's when i was in school.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

not since the 70's when i was in school.

2/3rds of both houses, then it goes to the states (ignoring the other two routes). That said, if what happens between 11/3 and 1/20 is as grisly as it could be, I could see a groundswell for it...

 

[Rolltide51]

2/3rds of both houses, then it goes to the states (ignoring the other two routes). That said, if what happens between 11/3 and 1/20 is as grisly as it could be, I could see a groundswell for it...

thanks, that a good update and i appreciate it. when i said i when i was in school in the 70's i shold have also mentioned that i wasn't paying attention most of the time. on another note, don't we need to reconsider lifetime terms for the supreme court judges.

 

[TIDE-HSV]

thanks, that a good update and i appreciate it. when i said i when i was in school in the 70's i shold have also mentioned that i wasn't paying attention most of the time. on another note, don't we need to reconsider lifetime terms for the supreme court judges.

The Constitution says the appointments are "for good behavior." So, it's doubtful that their terms can be limited to a number of years or age...