Trump's Inartful Dodges
A look back at a year of presidential blame shifting
During a policy retreat in September, Donald Trump attributed his signature orange hue, which seems to be caused by the amateurish application of bronzer, to energy-efficient lightbulbs. "The light's no good," he told House Republicans. "I always look orange. And so do you. The light is the worst."
It was hardly the most consequential instance of Trump's blame shifting in 2019, but it was part of a pattern for a president who seems constitutionally incapable of accepting responsibility. Here are some of the more memorable examples from the last year.
Border Song. "The federal government remains shut down for one reason and one reason only: because Democrats will not fund border security," Trump said in January. Yet it was Trump who caused the shutdown by insisting on money for his "big, beautiful wall" along the southern border—money that Congress still has not approved.
Hanoi Shuffle. After his February meeting in Hanoi with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ended abruptly, Trump initially blamed Kim's insistence on a complete lifting of economic sanctions in exchange for only partial progress on denuclearization, saying, "Sometimes you have to walk." A few days later, he argued that Democrats had helped spoil the summit by inviting his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to testify while Trump was in Hanoi, which he said "may have contributed to the 'walk'"—i.e., Trump's own decision to end the meeting.
It's Not the Crime. While it turned out that Trump was telling the truth when he denied that his campaign had illegally conspired with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election, his public and private efforts to impede, curtail, or stop investigations of that question needlessly prolonged the "witch hunt" he blamed on Democrats and the "Fake News Media." Those efforts filled an entire volume of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's March report, which detailed obstructive behavior that made it look like Trump had something to hide.
18th Century Airports. During an Independence Day speech, Trump claimed the Continental Army "manned the air" and "took over the airports" during the Revolutionary War. He attributed the flub to a teleprompter failure that had forced him to extemporize.
Love Him or Leave. After Trump supporters at a July 17 rally chanted "send her back" when he mentioned Rep. Ilhan Omar (D–Minn.), who was born in Somalia, he claimed "I felt a little bit badly about it" and "started speaking very quickly," which was not true. Trump's attempt to distance himself from the spirit of the chant was especially implausible because just a few days before he had suggested that "'Progressive' Democrat Congresswomen"—a reference to Omar and three other minority representatives, all of whom were born in the United States—should "go back" to the countries they "originally came from."
Do Us a Favor. To this day, Trump insists that his July 25 telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy—Exhibit A in the case for impeachment—was "perfect" and "totally appropriate," even though his request for an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading contender to oppose him in this year's election, alarmed several administration officials. Instead of conceding that it was even a little bit unseemly to mix foreign policy with his own political interests, Trump has blamed all the fuss on hostile underlings, treasonous Democrats, "corrupt journalists," and even Energy Secretary Rick Perry.
First Resort. In October, Trump suddenly reversed plans to hold next June's Group of 7 summit at his golf club in Doral, Florida, after his advisers and congressional allies warned him that the appearance of self-dealing and self-promotion would provoke an easily avoided controversy. Trump blamed Democrats who "went crazy" and reporters who cited "this phony Emoluments Clause."
There was more, including Trump's claims that the impeachment inquiry and the Fed were responsible for economic developments more plausibly linked to his trade war. But I have run out of space, which is what happens when you try to catalog this president's inartful dodges.
© Copyright 2020 by Creators Syndicate Inc.
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
Happy 2020, from the only time zone that matters!
The TDS zone!
I just watched a performance be Meghan Thee Stallion. It made me wish we will be overcome by the jihad.
Welcome to the Boring Twenties!
ITT the squirrel starts of the year by getting owned hard by Cyto.
And I start off the year misspelling off.
Uhg failed closed blockquote
Maybe it was the Democrats who caused the shutdown by insisting on no money for the wall? You understand that it takes two sides to have an argument? Idiot.
That was going to be my quote too. Takes two to tango,
The sad (!) thing is that there are a zillion things Trump has been a bonehead about. There was no need to pick such half-hearted examples.
Beyond that …. “Build the wall” was unequivocally a central issue in the 2016 general election. I think it was a reasonable inference to conclude that Trump had a mandate from the people to actually go ahead and build some sort of wall.
No, that is not a reasonable inference. One vote every two or four years has to stand for everything. You cannot pick any single item off the agenda and deduce that is what people wanted over everything.
Yeah… that makes sense…
Guy runs on a chant of “build that wall”, but you can’t infer that there is support for building a wall.
Sheesh.
That is pretty much exactly why we have elections.
The converse is also true. Many of the democrats in the house ran on anti-Trump platforms, particularly on immigration.
No single candidate matches most voter’s preferences. People can like Trump for some reasons, hate him for others. A lot of people voted for Trump just because he wasn’t Hillary.
You are saying that everyone who voted for Trump wanted the wall. That is unknowable.
“I think it was a reasonable inference to conclude that Trump had a mandate from the people to actually go ahead and build some sort of wall.”
He might have had a mandate from the Electoral College, but he certainly did not from “the people.”
Based on the Constitution, the People declare their mandates, when speaking of the President, via the electoral college.
Not via whatever weird system you’ve cooked up in your head.
Happy New Years scrotum garglers.
On the subject of Trump….. “Please change your definition of ‘truth’ to ‘dodges'”, Says Jacob. And here’s a list of supporting evidence of that ‘truth’ we need to call ‘dodges’.
I like trump. Thanks for share post.water softener now
First Resort. In October, Trump suddenly reversed plans to hold next June’s Group of 7 summit at his golf club in Doral, Florida, after his advisers and congressional allies warned him that the appearance of self-dealing and self-promotion would provoke an easily avoided controversy. Trump blamed Democrats who “went crazy” and reporters who cited “this phony Emoluments Clause.”
Are you suggesting Donkeys did not raise objections and never mentioned emoluments?
Poor Jacob. His TDS has scrambled his brain.
Yes, silly, selfish donkeys who raised objections and mentioned phony emoluments… They obviously DID go crazy!!! Because Trump SAID so! And Government Almighty TELLS us, plainly, that Government Almighty LOVES us DEARLY, more deeply than we can ever know! And Our Lord and Saviour, Donald Trump, personifies Government Almighty! He knows NO sin!
Ye unbelievers!!!!
Scienfoology Song… GAWD = Government Almighty’s Wrath Delivers
Government loves me, This I know,
For the Government tells me so,
Little ones to GAWD belong,
We are weak, but GAWD is strong!
Yes, Guv-Mint loves me!
Yes, Guv-Mint loves me!
Yes, Guv-Mint loves me!
My Nannies tell me so!
GAWD does love me, yes indeed,
Keeps me safe, and gives me feed,
Shelters me from bad drugs and weed,
And gives me all that I might need!
Yes, Guv-Mint loves me!
Yes, Guv-Mint loves me!
Yes, Guv-Mint loves me!
My Nannies tell me so!
DEA, CIA, KGB,
Our protectors, they will be,
FBI, TSA, and FDA,
With us, astride us, in every way!
Yes, Guv-Mint loves me!
Yes, Guv-Mint loves me!
Yes, Guv-Mint loves me!
My Nannies tell me so!
That is one impressively deranged response, completely untethered from the post you are replying to.
Trump’s inartful Dodges-
A collection of Dodges made after the early 70’s (not including trucks) owned by Trump.
*crickets*
Fuck you guys. That was funny.
Ok, kudos.. that was funny.
If you’d said low riders, which truly can be artful, especially on the hood, you probably would have gotten more applause.
Happy New Year Everyone!!! 🙂
[even you, Jacob Sullum]
Drumpf can dodge all he wants, but it no longer matters. #TrumpUkraine is the biggest scandal in world history — yes, surpassing even #TrumpRussia — and now he’s been #Impeached. Just as I predicted.
2020’s #BlueWave will be even more enormous than 2018’s.
“While it turned out that Trump was telling the truth when he denied that his campaign had illegally conspired with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election, his public and private efforts to impede, curtail, or stop investigations of that question needlessly prolonged the “witch hunt” he blamed on Democrats and the “Fake News Media.””
Libertarians opposed to due process.
Libertarians opposed to wasting tax money on pointless investigations, as dragged out by those being investigated. I am being investigated for murder at 17 PM on Bimsday, the 33d of Bumberbember. I have time-stamped video of myself innocently enjoying my birthday party (and I have a secret list of 7 of my friends who attended) at 17 PM on Bimsday, the 33d of Bumberbember.
But I sit on all that, don’t reveal it, and raise ALL sorts of objections and diversions! About how the Russians are assisting the Prussians, who are hiding Hillary’s email server in Ukraine! I could have easily proven my innocence, but instead, I waste endless tax dollars to stretch out the investigation, and try and set myself up as some sort of persecuted, suffering marty! While lying, and thereby making myself look more guilty!
As a taxpayer, wouldn’t you be pissed off?
That is a mentally deranged take on the events of the last 3 years.
The investigators knew that there was no coordination between the Trump campaign and the Russians before they even started the investigation. Heck, one of the two guys they claim sparked the investigation was actually working for them on catching Russian criminals. The other guy repeated a Wikileaks rumor that the investigators told him themselves.
And you are claiming that saying “I hope you can see your way clear to letting him go” is the same as withholding evidence for years?
Your analogy is seriously flawed – in the case of the Russia investigation, the investigators had all the tapes, knew exactly who did the murder before they ever talked to you and only targeted you because they wanted to dig into unrelated areas in order to snoop around in hopes of finding something they could actually pin on you.
The Mueller report doesn’t even allege anything like what you are talking about.
“Libertarians opposed to wasting tax money on pointless investigations, as dragged out by those being investigated.”
That’s what I said. Libertarians opposed to people demanding due process. Never assumed Libertarians would oppose due process of all things, but you’re showing that it’s not that fringe a thing,
“But I sit on all that”
I know. Only the GUILTY wouldn’t allow cops to search their person or homes. Trying to delay stuff. Hell, pleading the Fifth should GUARANTEE prison time for wasting taxpayer monies.
“I could have easily proven my innocence, but instead, I waste endless tax dollars to stretch out the investigation, and try and set myself up as some sort of persecuted, suffering marty!”
Yes, it is YOUR job to prove you didn’t do something. Not THEIR job to prove you did. Innocent til proven guilty is the kind of thinking that leads to people getting away with crimes.
“As a taxpayer, wouldn’t you be pissed off?”
What are your thoughts on defense lawyers period? They seem to be big wastes of taxpayers time by not having their client just prove their innocence, right?
Shorter version… Just shut up and report to the gulag, dissident.
I know that Trump LOVES it when His followers chant “put her in jail” about the likes of Hillary, so maybe Trump is projecting a bit, when he thinks that Democrats want him jailed… How many major-office-holding Democrats are calling for Trump to be jailed? None that I have heard of!
They “merely” would like to take away His nuclear football, with which He could destroy human life on the planet! Different standards should apply! He is responsible for the duties of the POTUS! NOT for getting distracted all the time (and distracting us) from the serious business of the nation! If He was so innocent, then WHY so much trying to confuse and distract the investigators? And getting his private lawyer (not an office-holing official) to run SOOO much of His show for Him?
I haven’t studied it all day every day… I have other things to do. I have a VERY hard time believing that it is ALL due to some vast left-wing conspiracy!
Let’s see…. who is the top ranking democrat? I know… Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.
quick google….
Pelosi tells Dems she wants to see Trump in prison
I mean… come on, son! Aside from the fact that this has been a major theme in Democrat politics ever since “lock her up” became a thing… The New York State Attorney General ran for office on a platform of investigating and harassing Trump, his family and anyone associated with Trump. The entire platform was “I am going to put Trump in jail” for crimes not only not specified, but not even purported to be discovered yet. The platform was “I will go digging until I find some evidence I can use to prosecute these people”.
And you actually take the time to write no Democrats of consequence have called for Trump to be jailed? What an idiot.
Shilling for your team is a noble cause, I suppose. But dang! I mean, “the Big Lie told oft” is the strategy of the day for the Progressive movement, but you gotta at least have some little hook of plausibility in there.
OK, thanks, I stand corrected! From your source…
“I don’t want to see him impeached, I want to see him in prison,” Pelosi said, according to multiple Democratic sources familiar with the meeting.
That paints Pelosi as kinda bloodthirsty… It ain’t called for, IMHO… Pelosi lacks common-sense self-restraint, then!
“SQRLSY One
January.1.2020 at 10:23 am
OK, thanks, I stand corrected!”
AHAHAHAHAHAH YOU FUCKED UP, SHIT UP A THREAD AGAIN AND NOW I GET TO LAUGH AT YOU EVEN MORE AHAAHAHAHAJ
DRAMA LLAMA DOESNT ACTUALLY KNOW DICK ABOUT ANYTHING AAHAHAAHAHJ
Says the drama troll who “wins” by posting nothing but childish gibberish, and NEVER admitting error (like plain english written on a web site about speaking german).
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
Do I “win” now, Tulpa-Satan style?
AAHAHAHHAHAJA
“How many major-office-holding Democrats are calling for Trump to be jailed? None that I have heard of!”
AHAHAHAHAHAHA THE HIGHEST RANKING DEMOCRAT IN THE COUNTRY SAID IT AHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA YOU PROVED YOU KNOW LITERALLY NOTHING ABOUT THIS AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAJ
I WIN SO MUCH AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAJAHAH
I LOVE HOW MUCH YOU FUCK UP CONSTANTLY AND LET ME LAUGH AT YOU AHAHAHAHAJAJ
I was corrected by Cyto, who OFTEN fills (I assume his) posts with fact and logic. Now you (whose posts are 99.99% childish insults and sub-moron-level trolling, and very rarely much of anything more) claim the credit! Did you also invent the theory of relativity? Or did you perhaps even create the universe as we know it?
Inquiring minds want to KNOW, dammit!
AAHAHAHAHAHHA YOU CANNOT STOP CRYING AHAHAHAAHAHAHAH<B CRY MORE DRAMA LLAMA AHAHAHAAHAHAHAH
YOU WERE COMPLETELY WRONG AGAIN AHAHAHAHAAHHAAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHA
I WIN SO HARD AHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
“SQRLSY One
January.1.2020 at 10:57 am
I was corrected”
AHAHAHAHAHAHAH BECAUSE YOU WERE LOUD WRONG AGAIN AHAHAHHAAHHAAHH
YOU LOSE AND I WIN AGAIN AHAHAHAHAHAHAH
Tulpa-Satan… Trying to bring respect to, and goodwill towards (??? Morons? Conservatives? Trolls? Throwers of hissy fits at the keyboard?) SOMETHING or other, and failing miserably! How much happiness is this all bringing for you?
Happy New Year! I hope that you can find something to do, that brings you more genuine happiness than thread-shitting can EVER do!
AHAHAHAHAHAHAH OMFG YOU’RE STILL CRYING AHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA
HOW DO YOU KEEP GIVING ME THIS MUCH WIN AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
THE
HIGHEST
RANKING
DEMOCRAT
SAID IT
AND
DRAMA LLAMA
HAD
NO
IDEA
AHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH
I WIN
SO HARD
HAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
When the butt plug comes loose, the diarrhea flows.
I think this is where “Shut up, Tulpa!” goes.
“How many major-office-holding Democrats are calling for Trump to be jailed? None that I have heard of!”
you already got smacked around about who called for it…but, precisely, what crime did Trump allegedly commit?
We KNOW what Hillary did. The same corrupt FBI decided it wasn’t bad enough…..but rumors that they knew to be false were good enough to get FISA warrants.
USA Constitution spells out that money matters are determined by Congress, not the POTUS. Yes, I know, Congress has, sad to say, signed over a LOT of powers (like tariffs related to “national defense”, which Trump has stretched like an infinite rubber band, to metals for example, even though DoD says “bullshit” to that). But still… Then Trump takes Congress-authorized SPECIFIC money for specific DoD projects, and diverts it to wall-building! Trump shits on the USA Constitution regularly… Now he has added to it, using Congress-authorized (foreign aid) funds for his own campaign-related manipulations. If he’s so innocent, then why did he use his own private lawyer, not an appointed official, to run large parts of the show, here? HOW MUCH do we NEED from Trump, before conservatives will finally admit that investigations (and possible impeachment) is warranted?
“USA Constitution spells out that money matters are determined by Congress, not the POTUS. ”
Monies got distributed by the deadline set. Not a crime.
“Then Trump takes Congress-authorized SPECIFIC money for specific DoD projects, and diverts it to wall-building!”
…thanks to other laws passed by Congress. Still no law broken.
“Now he has added to it, using Congress-authorized (foreign aid) funds for his own campaign-related manipulations. ”
Investigating corruption is one of the core jobs of the executive. And the monies got distributed by the deadline regardless. Again, no crime.
” If he’s so innocent, then why did he use his own private lawyer, not an appointed official, to run large parts of the show, here?”
Why didn’t he use the apparatus that has tried to illegally remove him from office for years? Cannot imagine why he would not.You realize that this apparatus does not set policy. The President alone does. They do what HE says. He is under zero obligation to do what they want.
“HOW MUCH do we NEED from Trump, before conservatives will finally admit that investigations (and possible impeachment) is warranted?”
A crime would be nice. You still haven’t managed to name one in spite of thrashing around.
“…the apparatus that has tried to illegally remove him from office for years?”
Details please. I admit I don’t study up as much as Cyto has, for example. I’ve not heard of this. Have the Democrats tried to assassinate him, force him to resign at gunpoint, or what, before the currently-ongoing (Constitutionally authorized) impeachment attempt?
The IC lied to the FISA courts to get warrants to spy on Trump’s people. It is undeniable that they lied to the courts. That is exceptionally illegal, mind you.
Lying to courts is clearly a crime, yes. But if “Trump’s people” (being spied on) do nothing wrong, then that is NOT a step towards “illegally removing Trump from office”… Unless yet FURTHER lying in court is directed at removing Trump from office (with lies about direct doings of Trump, not his minions). Surely we haven’t gotten yet, to deliberate punishing of people, for what their minions have done, contrary to what they were told to do? Well wait a minute, though, in the USA military, this is WAY common! Air Force generals have been shit-canned for aircraft ACCIDENTS under their command! If it’s good enough for “Trump’s generals”, WHY ain’t it good enough for Trump? Just trying to be fair, here…
You are literally advocating for general warrants her sqrsly, you authoritarian fuck.
Just admit you’re a banana supporting authoritarian at this point sqrsly. You hate trump so you want to remove and imprison him by any means necessary.
Basically. He has principals…not principles.
SQRSLY, just remember…anytime you can justify ignoring due process because you dislike somebody, it makes any time you want it that much more difficult to argue giving to you.
Money matters originate in the house then go through the senate to the executive you fucking dumbass. Each party has an ultimate say.
So the POTUS can spend the money any way he pleases? This is what an “ultimate say” means… Which Constitution have you been reading?
Congress passed the law. The law has not been ruled unconstitutional. It is a bad law, but Trump neither voted for it nor signed it.
Hey strawman sqrsly appears. You should investigate the delegation doctrine and educate yourself. The executive has fairly wide latitude to withhold spending based on reviews and allowances previously passed by Congress. This was testified to by the OMB who stated reviews were normal reviews.
Apparently you were too busy eating shit to learn how government works. Appropriation bills give quite a bit of leeway on how the executive spends. They do not list out every penny on how and when it is to be spent.
Sorry you are uneducated.
It is funny how fucking retarded sqrsly is here. He says trump using words is worse than 2.5 years and 30 million spent on trying to get trump.
“Using words” includes crimes. Offers of hush money, illegal commands (from a commanding officer), offers of murder for hire, libel, slander, lies in court, these are all cases of “using words”. What… “using words” is only a crime if Democrats do these kinds of things?
“Using words” includes crimes. Offers of hush money, illegal commands (from a commanding officer), offers of murder for hire, libel, slander, lies in court, these are all cases of “using words”. What… “using words” is only a crime if Democrats do these kinds of things?”
Can we limit your insanity to things he actually did?
If he’d order “his general” to “come over here and push this big red button on my nuclear football for me”, then the button-pushing isn’t “something he actually did”, so your point is fairly worthless. Billions mass murdered under Trump commands; Trump didn’t “do anything”.
But here is something that he SAID that encourages political violence, and that’s pretty bad! He’ll pay the legal bills of those who beat up non-violent protestors at Trump rallies! What does THAT say to the expectation of protestors, to get “impartial justice” from the legal establishment, when a POTUS (Chief law enforcement officer of the land) says those kinds of things?
https://time.com/4256809/donald-trump-l/
Trump May Pay Legal Fees of Man Who Sucker-Punched Protester
“Billions mass murdered under Trump commands”
When did that happen?
I didn’t say that it did… Practice your reading skills! Would ANY intelligent reader interpret my words as me saying that it did happen?
Me: Can we limit your insanity to things he actually did?
SQRSLY: If he’d order “his general” to “come over here and push this big red button on my nuclear football for me”, then the button-pushing isn’t “something he actually did”, so your point is fairly worthless. Billions mass murdered under Trump commands; Trump didn’t “do anything”.
So, no, you cannot limit your insanity to things he actually did.
“But here is something that he SAID that encourages political violence, and that’s pretty bad! He’ll pay the legal bills of those who beat up non-violent protestors at Trump rallies!”
Democrats were FUNDRAISING for Antifa goons who assaulted people. And the people at the rallies weren’t “non-violent protestors”.
“What does THAT say to the expectation of protestors, to get “impartial justice” from the legal establishment, when a POTUS (Chief law enforcement officer of the land) says those kinds of things?”
Oh, I had no idea the JUDICIARY was a PART of the EXECUTIVE branch. That’s a new one.
The Attorney General reports to the POTUS… As do (directly or indirectly) boatloads of people in a position to prosecute you… Or to prosecute a person that just beat the shit out of you, while you were non-violently protesting. Those of us who live in the real world, KNOW that we can get fired from our jobs, for a fake reason. The boss doesn’t like my haircut, or my politics? Boss fires me because he “lost confidence in me” at the job. It’s that simple.
So you, the peaceful protester who got the shit beat out of you… You and your family want some justice. You want the violent person off of the streets, to protect society. But the CHIEF law enforcement POTUS of the land, has made it clear that He does NOT like to see prosecuted, those who use political violence to supposedly further the aims of the POTUS! HOW would that make YOU feel as one of the prosecutors in the POTUS’s chain of command? Are you going to do a good job, or will you find an excuse (to protect your job) to let the violent ones go?
Are you willing to graciously smile when a future Democrat POTUS lets it be known that he or she doesn’t like it, when prosecutors thoroughly go after antifa goons? Have you ever heard of “what’s good for the goose, is good for the gander”? Are you looking forward to a future Weimar-Germany-like USA, where commies and national socialists duke it out on the streets? And POTUSes smile, and offer up money for the legal defenses of THEIR thugs?
None of what you said is true dumbfuck.
“Using words” includes crimes. Offers of hush money, illegal commands (from a commanding officer), offers of murder for hire, libel, slander, lies in court, these are all cases of “using words”.
These are all OK ethically, morally, AND legally, on planet JesseAZ? Is there any intelligent life on planet JesseAZ?
Words are words dumbfuck. Actions are where morals and ethics lie.
But you LIED when you said, basically, that none of my words-examples were crimes! And I see NO reputable citations (or even any citations at all) from you, to back up your outrageous lies!
THIS is why I have to take with a grain of salt, all the lies and bloviations here on these pages, by the lying likes of you!
So by your “morals”, lying all day, every day, for any reason, seems to be totally OK! Only ACTIONS matter! You know that they say that the Evil One is know (accurately IMHO) as the “Father of Lies”, don’t you?
None of your examples are crimes until an action occurs dummy.
Offers of hush money, illegal commands (from a commanding officer), offers of murder for hire, libel, slander, lies in court, these are all cases of just “using words”.
Add to this, also, yelling “fire” in a crowded theater, inciting riots, fighting words, theft by deception (false representations about products), and JesseAZ just does NOT give ONE tiny shit! Lies are OK by JesseAz… Just like the Evil One = Father of Lies, it’s all OK!
Stop digging the hole dummy. First there were no illegal commands. He is not constitutionally bound on any actions he performed. The legislative branch can not limit is constitutional powers. There is a reason Congress didnt include actual crimes there and went with the non criminal abuse of power. Seeking a hit for hire requires an actual offer of money and attempted exchange. It is why cops and the FBI wait for a transfer of money you fucking dumbshit. Likewise hyperbole and comedy ave never been held up as a crime. Slander has an actual legal definition of which you’re too fucking dumb to understand. For example calling trump a criminal is not legal or criminal slander, imbecile.
As for the lies, please be specific. Because most of what idiots lie you claim as lies are a difference of opinion or a different reading of complex data.
Just admit you’re uneducated dumbass.
“He is not constitutionally bound on any actions he performed.”
Is it only Trump, under whom POTUS = dictator, is OK with JesseAZ? Or under ALL “R” POTUSes? Are you ready to apply your magnanimous offer of POTUS = unbound, unfettered dictator to apply to a “D” POTUS as well?
I for one, hope and pray that JesseAZ-vision-land does NOT come true, more than it has already!
Specific about the lies? How about YOUR lies, when you stated that lies are all A-OK with JesseAZ (as well as A-OK LEGALLY), since only ACTIONS matter! JesseAZ LOVES lies! And we can see it in your posts!
PS, do you read the news much? Hare you never seen how often people are prosecuted (civilly or criminally) for “lying” by FILLING OUT FORMS incorrectly!!! This is pure speech; no “actions” are taken! Oh, and, go forge the signature on a prescription, especially for pain pills… Lie by saying it is the doctor’s signature, not yours. See what happens. Or even, drop a couple of cuss words at the IRS, on your tax returns!
What planet did you say you were from?
Probably going to have to provide you an example due to your limited intelligence…
Obama was thought of as ethical and good for the words as it related to the press, far more so than Trump. Yet obama utilized whistleblower laws and warrants on journalists more than any president in history. His actions, the things that matters were immoral and unethical.
Trump has yet to utilize any of the actions his predecessor did, yet you decry his ethics and morality. This is because you’re an idiot.
Why should I be bitching up a storm about a man who no longer holds political power? Trump, on the other hand, carries the nuclear football! Duh!
This is pure whataboutistic bullshit here… What about Genghis Khan? I guess that all the crap that Genghis done… It must be all A-OK with you then!
Yes–it IS all citing precedent(‘whataboutism’).
You were not shrieking like a little girl when the previous holder of the nuclear football did far worse.
You cannot expect someone to treat as serious something that you did not treat as serious when the shoe was on the other foot.
If it was okay when you did it, it’s okay when Trump does it.
If it is OK when Genghis Khan did it, then it is OK when Trump does it!
I was NOT a big fan of Obama either! I’m a big fan of cutting down the size of Government Almighty! Trump has cut back a wee tad on over-regulation… Other than that, it is all STILL green-light-go, for the growth of Government Almighty (tariffs and walls come to mind)! And MORE welfare for farmers, as a band-aid for the damage done to farmers, under Trumpist trade wars!
President Trump is not Dennis the anarcho-syndicalist – ‘Elp ‘Elp I’m being repressed
It doesn’t even make sense if you do accept due process. The IG report basically stated the FBI had all the exculpatory information they needed in 2016 but Mueller persisted. Sullum blaming the delays on Trump is fucking retarded. Mueller and democrats knew they had nothing. When Nunes showed america they had nothing, Schiff put out a report full of lies defending the investigation. at that point Mueller knew he was fine and started a series of unrelated show trials for Manafort. He pieced in some indictments that had no intention of going to court, seen by him scrambling when a russian corporation went to court for discovery.
The entire 2 5 year fiasco is solely on Democrats. Sullum is full retard on this point.
This is the prevailing narrative. It is also profoundly dishonest. Over a 2.5 year period, Trump gave overwhelming cooperation with the investigation – including not only access to hundreds of witnesses but also millions of dollars that he could have easily blocked.
And long, long, long after the evidence as to any wrongdoing by the Trump campaign was crystal clear, the investigation continued pushing. They began cherry picking third-hand reports of conversations where he says he wants the investigation shut down and calling that obstruction. You have to have that certain form of mental illness in order to call that obstruction.
Remember, this is an “investigation” that never actually had any real reason for existing.
We now know that the people who created the investigation did not in fact suspect that Russians were infiltrating the campaign. We also know that (even if you want to argue the first point) they did not act as people who wanted to protect the political process from foreign interference would act. They never sought to work with Trump or his campaign officials. They never even attempted to inform them of the threat. Instead, they looked for opportunities to set up American citizens for process crimes in order to gain more leverage.
Saying “wrap it up, already” about an investigation that was unequivocally nothing more than a sham and had unarguably already reached the conclusion that there was no Russian involvement with the Trump campaign of any note is hardly obstruction of justice.
I know you guys at Reason have been apoplectic about that for a couple of years now – but we’ve seen enough to know that the entire thing was J. Edgar Hoover level abuse of government power – by the investigators, not the investigated.
Look, I get it. The guy is beyond obnoxious. But don’t let the principals get in the way of understanding what is right in front of you.
I am still stunned the FISA report has not galvanized the country. It is a damning indictment of the FBI, and our intelligence agencies leadership. These people engaged in clearly seditious behavior.
I don’t think they know what it is telling us.
The media instantly reported it as “FISA Report proves Trump was Lying!!” Even most of the right-media has failed to latch on to the depth of the problem – perhaps due to the IG’s insistence on using an “internal affairs” style standard where in every instance the benefit of the doubt is given to the employees of the FBI, and no effort is made to corroborate or refute what he has been told.
Even something as utterly implausible as telling the court that the Dossier source was “reliable” when that source ‘reliably’ told them that the stuff in the dossier was nonsense – and nonsense that wasn’t even transcribed properly by Steele on top of that – is termed “a mistake” by the IG report. That language undersells the whole thing to the point that you have to actually look at the actions they took and ask “what is reasonable”. Only “alternative media” seems to be interested in doing this, and they are all motivated by political affinity.
It would really be nice if we had an actual 4th estate that was up to the challenge of reporting on abuse of power in the federal government, rather than a propaganda machine and a counter-propaganda machine in the alt-media.
The IG report is insane
It accurately reports abuse then calls the abuse “mistakes “
The media takes that one liner and concludes nothing to see
Similar insanity in Comey parsing “negligent vs careless” WTF they are synonymous
We live in very strange times
Horowitz basically testified under oath he is constrained by IG rules where he can not declare intent unless he has proof. He testified under oath it looked shitty as hell to him.
A. He did not have documentary or testimonial evidence of corrupt intent. B. He also did not have satisfactory explanations for what was clearly corrupt behavior. C. He told the senate that no one associated with this investigation should feel exonerated. And the conventional wisdom is … A. paraphrased as “The IG found no evidence of political bias!”
Basically.
And weve learned from Reason this year they dont actually do anything a good journalist would do, like read the IG report or listen to the Horowitz testimony so they just push the paraphrased narrative of the d.c. media.
Such is journalism in the 21st century, no longer even a pretense of objectivity. The mob(s) want Sturm und Drang, and maybe blood, and in the era of most clicks wins, the media is eager to comply.
FISA has only rejected a very few warrant applications, which either means it gets very few, or that the FBI is super dooper careful most of the time, or that FISA doesn’t check any warrant applications. I know where my suspicions are.
That Soviet level of application approval has been going on since 1978. That’s the real disgrace. It makes this one FISA whine even more mysterious.
Hey, that’s not fair…. they reject nearly 2% of applications.
Another completely disingenuous take.
The Cohen bit alludes to the fact that by undermining the President in the middle of negotiations with a dictator, the Democrats allowed the foreign dictator to believe that he can simply outlast the current US President. Because of that, he was able to resist sticks and carrots offered up by the President.
Whether that is true or not is entirely conjecture – both by the president and by pundits (unless the president was told as much in his private meetings, which seems doubtful). But proclaiming that this statement means that Trump walked because he was mad about congress and Cohen is kinda silly. I mean, a lot of what Trump does makes no sense to me… but that really makes no sense. Whereas walking because the other side has become intransigent due to their impression that you do not have the political power at home to deliver on either your threats or your promises is an entirely reasonable conclusion.
He’s right. This is a silly application of the emoluments clause.
Presidents have hosted foreign leaders at their personal estates for all of US history.
In this case, Trump happens to have a golf resort. He would have hosted his big business meetings there, now he wanted a big government meeting on his home turf. It is not unreasonable. And it is not obviously shady dealing… it is just a couple of weeks booking for a golf resort that is fairly fully booked anyway.
Now, the opposing take is not entirely unreasonable either. Crying corruption at even the appearance of impropriety is the duty of the loyal opposition. And pulling the summit was probably the right thing to do, even though the idea that the point was to turn a buck is pretty stupid. But don’t pretend that he doesn’t have a right to bitch about it. That’s just silly.
Ok, overall this list is just dumb. Is this the best you have compiled? One colossally stupid gaff about airports, several entirely reasonable rebuffs of the opposition, and “he didn’t immediately agree with our assessment and issue forth apologies”?
This is Trump, for crying out loud. He does stupid stuff for breakfast. Surely there’s actually something real out there. The left is absolutely certain that he is actually a genocidal dictator who is much worse than Hitler, hell-bent on destroying the free press, free elections and remaining in office for life (all while secretly being under the thrall of Vladimir Putin). He had to have said something of more substance than this list to earn that reputation.
Well, he did beat Hillary. And by doing that he shattered the 2016 Millennial fantasy of righteous progressive government uber alles.
And perhaps more significantly, he threatened the entrenched power system in D.C.
That’s it in a nutshell. There are so many things to get him for, but all are the same power grabbing as every past President, and the other politicians approve of grabbing as much power as possible. Obama’s could easily have been impeached for illegal recess appointments alone — didn’t the Supreme Court knock him back 9-0 on that?
The impeachment is a joke. The only real question is why Pelosi rushed it and now is stalling it.
The only good thing to come out of this is making impeachment more likely for following Presidents, just as the filibuster has been weakened by each side in escalation. Tying power up in stupid word battles is fine with me.
“Tying power up in stupid word battles is fine with me.”
Sad to say, but I have to agree with you… Government Almighty usually spends ?? 80% or more of its effort on getting bigger. Stupid distractions WILL divert it from getting always bigger!
Impeachment is a joke, because of “R” control of the Senate, and the sure-fire bet that 99% of “R” Senators will vote to excuse the “R”-POTUS. … But yeah, keep on distracting Government Almighty from guzzling those steroids and growth hormones…
Happy New Year!
Speaking of jokes… sqrsly ladies and gentlemen.
Says a world-class comedian… Are you making a killing in stand-up comedy, perhaps? Where’s your venue? What’s on the menu?
You’re starting out the year by taking repeated beatings.
I dont need jokes, everyone is already laughing at you. Keyword at.
“The impeachment is a joke. The only real question is why Pelosi rushed it and now is stalling it.”
Two reasons:
1) to distract from the Horowitz report and give their media wing (aka corporate media) something else to talk about. Even “FauxNews” spent half their time talking about impeachment, instead of nonstop “former administration uses secret police to try to frame elected president”.
2) Progressives, especially the politico-media caste, continue to have no idea how ridiculous they look. I’m sure they thought the impassioned testimony of their apparatchiks and activist “experts”, with the media pushing their narrative all out, would trick us rubes at least somewhatUS Instead, the more it went on the more ridiculous it looked, and the whole thing landed with a thud. Unfortunately for Pelosi, they were already all in on impeachment and couldn’t pull back. Proposal for censure instead was even more humiliating. They rushed ahead figuring their brainwashing would eventually work. That somehow “Trump is officially impeached now!” would be a rallying cry to scoop us rubes along with them. Only it wasn’t, and Trump plus some R critters continually pounded them on the explicitly partisan vote.
So now the Horowitz report has seemingly blown over, and half the job is done. She’s holding it back because she has nothing. It could turn out to be the equivalent of a poker player getting called on a bluff and just mucking her hand. But they’ll try to play the “McConnell is unfair card!” as long as they can, really only stalling for time against their inevitable failure.
It’s not smart, but the Ds don’t have any other moves besides taking ridiculous positions and making ludicrous claims and getting the media to push their narrative (see the above article for an example).
It won’t work, but maybe they’ll luck into war with Iran…
But hey, it works on the sqrlsys, Mike Laursens, and chemjeffs of the world.
So that’s something
Way to ring in the New Year with a dumb as fuck TDS article.
Hopefully you’ll keep publishing Stossel and Robby is tolerable from time to time
Couldn’t possibly lead in the new year with another year of economic growth, record low unemployment and record stock market
Oh yeah? If the Drumpf economy is so great, then why did our billionaire benefactor Charles Koch only increase his fortune by $2.65 billion in 2019?
#DrumpfRecession
#HowLongMustCharlesKochSuffer?
For your sake I really hope you’re a parody account
However you really stay in character so I’m thinking you’re insane
Not a parody account. I’m just really committed to the Koch / Reason agenda of further enriching billionaires through policies like unlimited, unrestricted immigration and abolishing the minimum wage.
I’m starting to think Jacob is a parody journalist.
The charitable take would be that these articles are written for a web log, where clicks are money. And the only thing that gets the comments section stirred up these days is TDS. Therefore, TDS is what the rabble shall get.
And that would be understandable.
Unfortunately, Reason hasn’t changed in the 2 years I’ve been here.
The writers seem extremely emotionally committed, and these articles are consistent over at least the stretch of time I’m familiar with.
They should turn the whole thing over to Stossel and Harsanyi. They can let Robbie write an article here and there, plus allow ENB to write about her failure trying to be an undercover sex worker (because, honestly, who the hell would pay for that?).
An oldie but a goodie:
“I have to tell you, it’s an unbelievably complex subject,” Trump said. “Nobody knew that health care could be so complicated.”
Not just a goodie but the best, most perfect dodge. If Trump, not just the smartest man in the world, but the smartest man it is possible to be, didn’t know how complicated health care could be, it just goes without saying that nobody else could possibly have known. Who could have imagined that a shitload of people who absolutely hate your guts and wield as much or more power as you would be effective obstructionists to every last item on your agenda? Who could have guessed that a hand-waving “make it so” was not actually how the Imperial Presidency works? Who knew that Tweeter-in-Chief was not an actual position of power? Not Trump, apparently. Blaming those mean old Democrats for your failure to get shit done is only evidence that you’re too stupid to realize you were going to have to deal with those mean old Democrats in order to get shit done. You’re like a football coach whose plan to win the big game is to score more points than the other team. That’s not a plan, that’s a goal. If you didn’t realize the other team has the exact same goal, you’re an idiot. Do you actually have a plan to achieve your goal?
Right, it’s the president’s job to create legislation.
Awesome point
Only a complete fool believes in this “party of personal responsibility.” They have none and take none and are best epitomized by their moron in chief, who couldn’t take the slightest bit of blame for even stupid miscues.
“The light’s no good,” he told House Republicans. “I always look orange. And so do you. The light is the worst.”
It was hardly the most consequential instance of Trump’s blame shifting in 2019, but it was part of a pattern for a president who seems constitutionally incapable of accepting responsibility.
Um this is obviously a joke Jacob. Of the self deprecating variety. This may be your weakest effort ever.
Libertarians are the new Puritans.
Am I the only one who looked at this and saw–
Why do the Arabs want to clean the house of Israel?
click here
I just watched a performance be Meghan Thee Stallion. It made me wish we will be overcome by the jihad. Click here
Well played
Of this decade, most certainly