TGHusker

In firing Comey he may have just signed his epitaph as President.

After the botched round 1 of the ACA repeal and replace and the unfavorable rollout of round 2 - I'm wondering about how well these repubs will actually govern. It should be easy wt both house, senate and WH. But they are stumbling all over themselves. Me think that if push come to shove, they'd prefer one of them, Pence, as President. So it evidence shows they need to do something drastic, hopefully they will grow a couple and get the job done.

I'm in your same boat brother - but still a registered repub.

Why is there no collaboration of their story also? Redundant Question - excuse me. Because it was a false story. Oh and wouldn't that be ........ false news

^^^^^ So if The Donald is watching it and everyone knows he is watching it and he is such a trend setter so we watch it so that all of our friends know we watch it and think we are cool because Donald is soooo cool also and we all know "Everyone wants to be like Donald"(or was that Mike?) Our facebook world comes to the White House.

The WH story is full of holes and falling apart. I'm surprised that I'm quoting this guy, but he makes sense here: “This is actually worse than the Saturday night massacre,” Tom Perez, the new chairman of the Democratic National Committee, said at the rally organized by MoveOn.org. Perez was referencing former President Nixon’s infamous order in 1973 to fire an independent special prosecutor investigating Watergate. Other Democratic leaders have called Trump’s action “Nixonian” and a “cover-up.” After the rally, Perez told reporters that it was clear to him that former Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, forced to resign in February after he was caught lying about his communication with a top Russian official, will be prosecuted. That will be only the beginning, the DNC chair said. “When you follow the facts to where the facts lead you, I think it’s going to be clear that there was collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russian government to affect the results of this election,” Perez said. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why Comey got fired.” Asked whether he was declining to support impeachment, Perez demurred. “I’d like to know what the facts are,” he said. “And the best way to know the facts is to have an independent investigation.” http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article149758184.html

Trump picked a bad time for a melt down. I think he is consumed with news about himself. His mental state has to be questioned and therefore his ability to serve. Trump's anger is directly from his very low self esteem, which is covered up by his boastful talk and the away he verbally attacks others. If there is anything at all in the Russian investigation that comes out, this could go bad really quick as I don't think Trump has many truly loyal friends to fight with him. He isn't a true republican or conservative - they have no long term loyalty to him. One report said there were 30 leaks after the firing of Comey from within the administration. Yes, as President, Trump had the right to fire Comey and could have come out with logical reasons for the firing. But the firing was not logical at this time - maybe after the Russian investigation was done or as soon as the President took office (He should have done it then as Comey botched the Clinton investigation big time - both pro and con from the perspective of both parties). But for Trump to do it now shows 2 things in my opinion, He is consumed by his anger (reason enough for possible impeachment if proven it inhibits his ability to execute the duties of the office faithfully) and he may have something to hide (If illegal activities are revealed - he'll be impeached. The repubs won't want to tie their 2018 election prospects to a sinking ship). https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/10/us/politics/how-trump-decided-to-fire-james-comey.html?_r=0 http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/fbi/332882-comey-called-trump-crazy-report Former FBI Director James Comey reportedly told associates in March that President Trump was "crazy" for suggesting former President had wiretapped him. Comey also called the president “outside the realm of normal,” according to a report from The New York Times on Wednesday. The Times said that, in return, Trump was furious when Comey publicly refused to back his claims that he was wiretapped during the 2016 campaign before the House Intelligence Committee in March.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-trumps-anger-and-impatience-prompted-him-to-fire-the-fbi-director/2017/05/10/d9642334-359c-11e7-b373-418f6849a004_story.html?utm_term=.652c723a7560 According to this link the Assistant AG threatened to resigned. This article also notes Trump's anger at Comey for not 'being loyal' to him. Pardon me but Comey's loyalty is to be towards the constitution and the laws of land that he is sworn to protect and enforce. Regarding appointees - Trump would do well to get this behind him by hiring a person acceptable to both parties. I've heard the name Tom Ridge thrown out -a moderate Republican, 1st leader of Home Land security and former governor. He may be acceptable and already has big agency law enforcement experience.

^^^ Get a few more backbones and we may get to the bottom of this. I posted this in the comey thread also http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/10/russia-probe-senate-requests-documents-from-money-laundering-watchdog-agency.html Russia probe: Senate requests Trump documents from agency that monitors money launderingThe Senate Intelligence Committee has requested information about President Donald Trump and his top aides from a financial intelligence unit in the Treasury Department. The agency, known as FinCEN, imposed a $10 million civil penalty on Trump Taj Mahal in 2015 for multiple violations of money-laundering laws. The Senate panel has requested information about President Donald Trump and his top aides from a financial intelligence unit in the Treasury Department that imposed a $10 million civil penalty on Trump Taj Mahal in 2015 for multiple violations of money-laundering laws. The Senate Intelligence Committee wants to see any information relevant to its Russia investigation the Treasury agency has gathered, including evidence that might include possible money laundering, according to a committee aide who spoke on condition of anonymity. Also at issue: to what extent, if at all, people close to Vladimir Putin have invested in Trump's real estate empire. The request, made in recent weeks, comes as part of the Senate's investigation into whether Trump associates colluded with Russian meddling in the U.S. election. The FBI is also investigating that issue, but that probe is now under a cloud after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey.

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/10/russia-probe-senate-requests-documents-from-money-laundering-watchdog-agency.html Maybe Comey was getting hot on this: Russia probe: Senate requests Trump documents from agency that monitors money launderingThe Senate Intelligence Committee has requested information about President Donald Trump and his top aides from a financial intelligence unit in the Treasury Department. The agency, known as FinCEN, imposed a $10 million civil penalty on Trump Taj Mahal in 2015 for multiple violations of money-laundering laws. The Senate panel has requested information about President Donald Trump and his top aides from a financial intelligence unit in the Treasury Department that imposed a $10 million civil penalty on Trump Taj Mahal in 2015 for multiple violations of money-laundering laws. The Senate Intelligence Committee wants to see any information relevant to its Russia investigation the Treasury agency has gathered, including evidence that might include possible money laundering, according to a committee aide who spoke on condition of anonymity. Also at issue: to what extent, if at all, people close to Vladimir Putin have invested in Trump's real estate empire. The request, made in recent weeks, comes as part of the Senate's investigation into whether Trump associates colluded with Russian meddling in the U.S. election. The FBI is also investigating that issue, but that probe is now under a cloud after Trump fired FBI Director James Comey.

Knapp - I'll add to the bizarre- land with this comment/question: Can we have Pres Obama back? (ok or at least a redo of the nomination process and get a Kasich/Rubio ticket)

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Embassy-Jerusalem/2017/05/10/id/789279/ Another broken promise - not moving the Embassy -- He did a good job in

This should be interesting - Sit down and get out the popcorn. We may soon be saying President Pence. Who knows were this will all lead.

CAN SOMEONE SAY SPECIAL PROSECUTER ??? This smells badly. My senior Senator here is Okla is backing the firing. He is getting too old to think straight I think. As a member of the Repub party still myself, the Repub party will hurt themselves badly if they walk lockstep with Trump on this. We'll see if any of them have a backbone. I decided to listen to some political talk just to see how Hannity and Rush are handling it. Both point back to Comey's decision not to prosecute Hillary in July. Hannity esp has built his show around supporting Trump since Trump won the nomination. -- so no surprise by either. If this was Obama - they would be crying for an impeachment hearing. At this point - I can only use one famous phrase regarding Comey's July decision - "What difference does it make?" What makes a difference is what was going on currently. Was the FBI as messed up as the admin want you to think - I don't think so - I believed Trump praised Comey not too long ago. This will be Trump's Little Big Horn in time.

Yes. Yes it is. But, but Trump says you'll be thanking him for this firing. http://www.newsmax.com/Headline/trump-twitter-comey-fbi/2017/05/10/id/789203/ In a series of early-morning tweets, Trump said Comey had "lost the confidence of almost everyone in Washington, Republican and Democrat alike," adding that "when things calm down, they will be thanking me!" Trump also slammed Democrats for criticizing Comey's dismissal now when they had criticized his handling of the Hillary Clinton email investigation. Trump abruptly fired Comey Tuesday night. The surprise decision came amid the law enforcement agency's investigation into whether Trump's presidential campaign was connected to Russian meddling in the election. Washington Post article about Comey asking for more resources before he got fired. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/05/10/comey-sought-more-money-for-russia-probe-days-before-he-was-fired-officials-say/?utm_term=.4ff68905ecf8

I just heard about this firing this morning and was shocked. A lot to ponder here. I don't agree with the firing and believe it to be totally a political save my a... move. If you want to fire the guy, you do it after your name is cleared of the Russian investigation. If Trump has nothing to hide, he has nothing to fear from the investigation. Wait until it is wrapped up and then move on wt a new guy if you have lost confidence in him. This smacks of something smelling like dead fish. Some articles: I think this article and comments from Mr Conservative, Charles Krauthammer who get's it right and I agree with his assessment - my link took me to...... Brietbart Maybe they get a few things right once in a while. I've quoted it in full so you don't feel 'stained' going there http://www.breitbart.com/video/2017/05/09/krauthammer-highly-implausible-to-claim-comey-was-fired-for-how-he-handled-clinton-investigation/ On Tuesday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” columnist Charles Krauthammer argued that Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein’s claim that FBI Director James Comey should be fired due to his mishandling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s emails is “highly implausible.” Krauthammer said, “[A]ccording to the letter by the deputy attorney general, this is about something that occurred on July the 5th. This, it’s — so we start out with something that is highly implausible. If that was so offensive to the Trump administration, what you would have done is, in the transition, you would have spoken with Comey, and said, we are going to let you go. That’s when a president could very easily make a decision to have a change. That’s not unprecedented. But to fire him summarily with no warning, in the middle of May, because of something that happened in July, is almost inexplicable.” He continued, “Do we really believe that Donald Trump, after all these months, decided suddenly he had to fire this guy because he damaged Hillary back in July? Another implausible conjecture.” Articles supporting the firing - basically for botching investigations, being independent, etc. http://nypost.com/2017/05/09/why-james-comey-had-to-go/ https://www.wsj.com/articles/comeys-deserved-dismissal-1494380259 10 Scandals under Comey's watch (I'm not familiar with this website) https://news.grabien.com/story-10-major-fbi-scandals-comeys-watch Trump's biggest Gamble - we'll see if it ends like the Nixon Saturday Night gamble (which I remember in my youth) From US News and World Report (the Mag I grew up reading wt my Dad) https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2017-05-09/in-firing-fbi-director-james-comey-donald-trump-takes-his-biggest-gamble-yet Jeffrey Toobin, the CNN legal analyst, could barely contain his disbelief of that explanation on the air. "The FBI is running an investigation of Donald Trump's campaign and Russia and apparently it's getting too close for comfort. That's the only rational conclusion you can draw from his firing," he said. Toobin posited that this will allow Trump to eventually appoint "a stooge who will shut down this investigation ... maybe Chris Christie, someone who will do his bidding." The integrity of the ongoing investigation will surely be questioned, but the probe won't end. It will be up to Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, a career officer whose wife ran for a state office as a Democrat, to show independence and continuity as the White House begins the search for a permanent replacement. "If Hillary Clinton had won … Director Comey would have been fired immediately and the same Democrats that are criticizing the president's decision today would be dancing in the streets," White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday night on Fox. But on Comey, Trump forced Democrats into a vice. While they loathed his impact on Clinton, some eventually came to see him as a steady bulwark in the Russia investigation. That conundrum was clear when Schumer addressed reporters Tuesday and called for an independent special prosecutor to pick up the pieces of an investigation that's been rocked. When pressed on his opinion of Comey, Schumer said, "I never called on the president to fire Director Comey. I had a lot of questions about how he handled himself." Trump knows that to many Americans, Democrats will look hypocritical defending Comey now after trashing him so incessantly. In less than four months, this president has fired the acting attorney general, a prominent U.S. attorney in New York and the FBI director. In his prior life, "you're fired" was a dramatic line to cap a reality television show. Now, Trump is employing it at the highest possible levels to reshape his presidency – and possibly history. (made bold by TG)

My first thought about Zunkerberg - he could get the young voters. Trump may have opened the door for some of these non-trads unless he closes it wt his poor performance. Regarding Knapp's graph above - Looks like Joe Biden is running in spite of his denials. He'll be 74 then - a young pup compared to Bernie. (Al Franklin - give me a break ) However, I think the Dems would be best suited to go with a fresh face. I would no longer consider E Warren as a fresh face anymore. Her opportunity was this last go around and I'm not sure why she didn't try other than the establish Dem party wanted no one whose name wasn't Hillary Clinton. Warren would have beaten Trump.

Not so fast my friend with that broad brushing of Oklahoman's which I am one. Rep. Markwayne Mullin doesn't have the free ride you think he might have. This guy and my rep from Tulsa both got elected at the same time to the House. They both committed to serve only 3 terms. My rep is holding fast to that commitment and this will be his last term in the House. Mullin, however, keeps saying he is 'thinking about it' actually he tells some 'I'm praying about it' which boils my blood as a Christian. He gave his word and he is to keep it even if it hurts him. Many in his district are pretty tired of his 'going to DC as a owner of a large plumbing company (95 Red Vans going around per his ads) like he is 'Mr Smith Goes to Washington" - Jimmy Stewart wanna be. He had a primary opponent the last time around when he refused to comment on his pledge - saying that can wait until after the election. So now that it is after, he 'is praying about it'. If the Indian Tribe endorses him again, he very well could win. But if it is left up to the common voter, he may have a difficult time. His district includes 'Little Dixie" - SE Okla which is heavily Democratic. A good opponent could beat him and I would welcome it. He is one of those 'conservative' politicians who has gotten bitten by the power bug of politics. Speaking of Oklahoma - the way the republicans are leading this state, I would not be surprised to see some cracks in the republican wall turning the next 2 election cycles. When my wife and I first moved to Okla in 1978, this state was as heavily Dem as it is now Republican. Other than I believe one Senator, our congressional representatives were Dems and the Dems had control of basically all of the State offices.

We are all that type of person. That was the point of the post. Now, some people can recognize their discomfort and work through it and possibly change their beliefs. For example, Knapplc was a conservative Christian, now he's not. The irony of your post can be found in your beliefs of all Republicans and how you react when confronted with something that doesn't fit that view.... There's no irony. If I ever meet a decent, tolerant, republican in real life, I will change my opinion. Pretty much all the republicans here in Idaho are like Raul Labrador. If you want some edification, do some research on Labrador. He's a real piece of work. Your filtered bias are showing through very loudly - kettle calling the pot black going on here. Your statements prove the point of the article. Part of growing up and maturing is realizing that none of us have life down pat, none of us have 'arrived' - we each have issues and can be wrong & biased on topics. Self deception is the worse kind of deceptions. To think otherwise is arrogant and shows a brilliant lack of humility.

Ok, so many of us feel that the 2020 election can't get here soon enough. It is never to early to start speculation. This article throws out the name of California Sen. Kamala Harris. Could she be the savior of the Dem party - a new generation, a female and daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India. She is making all of the early moves to get noticed while politically denying any interest (sure sign she is interested in DC speak). http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article149309374.html Vito Chiesa, a registered Republican who chairs the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors in California, said he tried to get a meeting with Harris in Washington. “She’s in such demand,” he said. “She’s kind of a chosen one.” Harris is the charismatic daughter of immigrants from Jamaica and India. Obama called her brilliant and “by far the best looking attorney general in the country” (he later apologized for what was deemed a sexist remark). She seemingly has the ingredients to energize the Democratic base, and her next tasks if she runs are centered in two places: Washington and the rest of America. Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/politics-government/white-house/article149309374.html#storylink=cpy

Tried the bold in the War of 1812 - Brits burnt down the white house instead and our foray into Quebec didn't go so well. However, there will be a distraction. It doesn't have to be manufactured as Trump appears to stumble into them regularly.

Come defend this all you fiscal conservatives. No fiscal conservative would call Trump conservative. Stop dumping him into that camp. I don't call him a moderate either only an opportunist - doing whatever it takes to make himself look good. He would have gone liberal if that was the quickest way to the top. Remember before he ran he held all kinds of liberal positions or so he said.

I think we need rank choice voting (aka instant-runoff voting). It was passed by Maine last year, so it can be done at the state level. Doesn't require moderate parties, since you could vote for individual candidates across party lines. If we had the instant runoff voting we would not have ended up wt Trump. Rubio was most peoples # 2 choice I think by a large margin. I also don't think you see Rand Paul leaving the race so early. Trump won those early primaries with cross over voters in the open primaries. If it was a Dem plan to rig the election by nominating the 'easiest' candidate for Hillary to beat, it sure backfired.

While the mantra is that we can 'term limit' these rascals with out with our votes, it never happens. I think it is time for term limits and the blocking of previous Congressmen from working in industries they formerly oversaw as a part of their responsibilities in Congress. Also ban them from becoming lobbyists.

Someone, maybe zoogs mentioned the other day - a moderate party. I use to think moderate = mushy, no convictions. Now I'm beginning to think it means effective govt. Here is a thought: Get Senator Rand Paul and Senator Booker from NJ run as a unification ticket. (yes far fetched but something radical has got to happen)