I’m going through another one of those rough times where every news story and sports story and media story is profoundly depressing. I’m just… so tired. 2018 is canceled. It’s been canceled for a while. The only things that could conceivably save this year? I mean… the midterms could be amazing, and Brett Kavanaugh could wither on the vine after repeatedly perjuring himself in Senate testimony. I don’t know. The hurricane is coming to the South and Mid-Atlantic and everything is just completely awful all at once. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has devoted all of his morning rage towards Bob Woodward’s book, Fear, and behind-the-scenes he’s becoming even more deranged about the New York Times op-ed.
A procession of denials by Cabinet secretaries and White House officials has done little to abate Donald Trump’s rage over the anonymous op-ed The New York Times published on Wednesday. Flying to Fargo, North Dakota, on Friday, Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One that he wants Attorney General Jeff Sessions to investigate the writer of the piece. Trump’s escalation of his war against the Times, close on the heels of the rollout of Bob Woodward’s new book, Fear, has sent the West Wing into paroxysms of paranoia and suspicion. “It’s a hall of mirrors,” one Republican close to the president told me.
Trump continues to be in a dark mood. “Rip-sh-t,” one person familiar with his thinking told me. “He’s punch-drunk,” one outside adviser said. “He’s been hit so hard this week he doesn’t know what to do.” Another outside adviser to the White House added, “He’s not happy he has saboteurs of unelected people trying to pull off a coup d’etat.”
With Trump so far unable to execute a strategy to stanch the drip-drip-drip of damaging disclosures, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump have taken the lead in getting control of the crisis. (The Washington Post reported that Trump said the only people he could trust were his family.) Earlier this week, they told Trump they were deeply troubled by the accounts in Woodward’s book and blamed Chief of Staff John Kelly for many of the leaks, an outside adviser close to them told me. “‘He’s destroying your presidency,’” Ivanka told her father, the outside adviser, who was briefed on the conversation, said. Their hunt for the author of the Times op-ed may bring them into the final chapter of their long-running feud with Kelly.
According to three sources, Jared and Ivanka floated a theory on Wednesday that Kelly could be behind the Times op-ed. Under this scenario, the sources said, the op-ed was written by Zachary Fuentes, the deputy chief of staff, at the direction of Kelly. Jared and Ivanka have told people they suspect this because Kelly is the only one with an ego so large as to have convinced himself that he’s saving the country from Trump, which was one of the op-ed’s principal arguments. On Wednesday night, Ivanka and Jared laid out for Trump the theory that Fuentes might be the author, an outside adviser with knowledge of the conversation told me. (A White House spokesperson said this is “untrue.” Fuentes has denied writing the piece.)
VF goes on and on about the palace intrigue and how Ivanka in particular seems to be gunning for John Kelly to lose his job. What’s weird is that I don’t even think Jared and Ivanka’s theory is that half-baked. If the argument is that John Kelly is a megalomaniac who talks out of both sides of his mouth, then yes, I agree, he could have been the anonymous columnist, or he could have had a hand in its writing. For what it’s worth, Ivanka and Jared both strenuously deny that this is what’s happening behind the scenes. So it’s probably true then. Who gets fired first, Jeff Sessions or John Kelly?
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Avalon Red and WENN.
This would be a comedy of idiots if they didn’t wield so much power. I hope they all go down in flames.
@Veronica
Lol….indeed.
When I see how close this man is coming towards genuinely losing what little mind he has left, all I feel is pure schadenfreude. I think back to when he kept using Barack Obama as his own personal dart board, day in day out, for how many years?
Barack made being President look easy, so he thought he could do it too. Ha-Haaa!
Enjoy, fat POS.
I can only hope daughter-wife was holding a mirror in front of devil daddy when she said ‘he is ruining the presidency’. As for a leaker who hides his identity, he should ask his pal John Baron about that..
This fool thinks he is Michael Corleone and has that level of loyalty. He is lucky if he is Mike and that co worker he called will cover his shift at Burger King on Tuesday.
If he was Michael Corleone, he could actually run the country.
Yes. I’d rather have a real gangster instead of this ship of wanna be fools.
Zing !!!! Dammmmmmnnnnnn…..
I needed that laugh. Thank you so much.
lmao, I was thinking of Michael Corleone! Only difference is, Michael had his sanity and wasn’t just a ball of pure evil like 45. But the growing paranoia and alienation made me think of him.
And smart Valerie, Michael was very smart.
And Michael was a veteran….
@Beanie. That’s right. Wow, this fictional character is looking more and more Presidential by the day, isn’t he.
and Tiffany, Michael “won” custody of his children
It would all be a lot funnier if he wasn’t gaining steam on the “turn this person over to the government, this is treason” rant he’s been on since this broke. The GOP are falling in line behind that sentiment and it is dangerous.
Kaiser, I agree, the news has been even harder to bear lately than usual. Serena, Olivia, Kavenaugh. Even seeing Les Moonves get booted isn’t much of a consolation because he’s still going to end up with millions in some sort of pay out. I’m even afraid to get my hopes up for the midterms because I think the Republicans and the Russians will do everything to steal votes and elections this fall. Ugh, I’m so depressed.
The Russians will rig the elections again. Not a single thing has been done to safe guard against it and apparently, they are still doing it on a smaller scale. They have their asset in that position for a reason and they are not about to relinquish the power that brings them.
Also, notice Donald keeps warning that the russians will meddle again for the democrats? That means that the Russians WILL meddle again for Republicans. It’s DT’s tried and tested “projection as defence” strategy.
This has been my concern for a while. Everyone’s calling us to get out and vote, but we DID vote in 2016, and frankly in 2000, but between gerrymandering, probably electronic irregularities, Russian/dark money, a completely politicized Supreme Court, etc etc etc the whole idea of elections feels like gaslighting at this point, a way of convincing us that all is fair, and that we don’t really know what we really do know… It’s just so rigged… On a separate note — Les Moonves — love how these guys walk away with hundreds of millions despite prob illegal behavior. But a woman tennis player can’t argue over a totally valid issue without all kinds of handwringing and censure.
Bella, I’ve seen and enjoyed your comments here for a long time, so I know you aren’t a Russian plant, but one of the tactics in Russia’s active measures campaign is to create and encourage voter apathy, and what you are saying sounds very much like that. They won’t have to hack our election system if they can just convince enough voters to not show up because their vote is meaningless.
Yes, the government (both state and federal) should be taking election hacking very seriously and doing everything they can to prevent it, but aside from us howling at the top of their lungs for them to take action, the most effective thing we can do is actually have faith in the system, get our asses to the polls, and VOTE! If everyone voted, the sheer quantity would overwhelm any outside interference, and any attempt to do so would be so blatantly obvious it could never go undetected.
@Sue, the voter turnout in the 2016 election was pretty low, only 61%. Over a third of the eligible voters just didn’t show up. Who is to say that the result might have been different if they had, but I like to think it would be.
It’s absolutely shocking Sue, just how unfair the world is right now. But the one thing we can’t do is to stop fighting because it can always get worse.
Much worse.
BUT, I actually think if you guys can find a way to drag out Dem voters in unprecedented numbers, it might be enough to overwhelm them despite the heavy rigging.
I’m glad to see Obama out there though. Very refreshing indeed.
Thanks Bella and Dara, your points really cheered me up, here’s hoping…I do still think the wave will have to be a tsunami to get past the rigging, but maybe if more people do turn out and we really build a strong opposition, all things are possible…
@Dara
Looks like we were posting at the same time……. I actually agree with absolutely everything you’ve said…. My comment regarding my thoughts that the russians will rig the elections again is because I’m a bit shocked at how quiet people are being about it…..i would have expected massive protests in front of congress demanding that something definitive be done to prevent a second round of rigging…….prevention is always more effective than cure.
But just to clarify and re-iterate, since my comment was confusing….yes, i think the russians and Trump will cheat again, BUT, BUT, BUT let’s not forget that they only *just* got him over the finish line, so they can *absolutely* be overcome. But as you said, it will take people doing the responsible thing and not hiding behind stupid, infuriating reasons like “They are just as bad as one another”. No….no they are not. There’s always a far worse choice, as the more extreme Bernie Democrats are finding out now.
I think if everybody made it a point to vote early and then get *at least* one person (or more) they know to vote early, then hopefully, things should turn out the way they should.
@Bella – when I first heard the stories of interference, I couldn’t fathom why it wasn’t being shouted from the roof tops, why every major news outlet wasn’t doing special reports about all of it. What I hope is that there is actually a concerted effort going on behind the scenes to counter any potential hacking, and everyone is just keeping quiet about specifics so as to not tip off anyone with how exactly they are going about it.
I also think stories about hacking and interference might do as much damage as the potential hacking itself. The more people doubt the integrity of the system the more likely they are to simply opt out, and apathy is a threat much harder to fight.
@ Dara
You’re right. I will shut up about the hacking. 🙂👍
I can believe Ivanka is trying to get rid of Kelly if only for the fact that he instituted the policy of no more open door to the president. Ivanka was one who walked in any time she wanted to do so and Kelly put a stop to that. And how does this fall under the Justice Dept to investigate? Can anyone explain? Also I preordered Woodward’s book to have something to read on the plane to and from Disney World and to read at night. Wonder how many comments I will get.
it doesn’t fall under the investigation in the DOJ – there is no criminal behaviour in writing and publishing the letter (according to pundit with constitutional law backgrounds, not me!)
That’s how I feel!
Have we ruled out that it was not Ivanka/ Jared who wrote the op/ed? Just to stir things along?
Orange Voldemort is retweeting white supremacists and Russian spammers this morning.
Princess Nagini despises Kelly because he tries to limit her access while she would prefer to interrupt meetings whenever she wants. Kelly also was responsible for cancelling her planned trip to China, at our expense. God only knows what else he has cancelled on her. Hey, Kelly, she’s plotting a trip to Africa with Lindsey Graham and I don’t want to pay for it.
Uday and his booty call were killing and eating alligators at our expense and Tiffany was front row at NYFW at our expense. Why are we paying for Secret Service for these pieces of sh1t? President Carter’s grown children did not have SS coverage. Oh, I fogot. Mr. Carter has ethics and morals. Never mind.
Adult children of former presidents have never had SS protection before these grifters moved into OUR White House. They see it as an opportunity to outsource their security costs to the American public and, since they are unable to feel shame, see no problem in taking a government handout on an expense they (should be) able to afford for themselves. Just another tiny example of their lack of decency, morality, and the outrageous double standard they apply to themselves.
Instead of tweeting about that crap, he should be more concerned about a cat 4-5 hurricane hitting the US this week.
Javonka have been looking to oust Kelly for awhile, they will use this as an excuse, whether he did it or not. Not that I’m feeling sorry for Kelly, the more time these evil idiots spend stabbing each other in the back, the less time they have to push through harmful legislation.
So Pence volunteered to take a lie detector test. This is both funny and frightening. I imagine a live TV event with senior admin hooked up to polygraphs. Let’s hope this is the serpent eating itself and out of destruction, creation of something better and stronger will emerge. I think many of us now appreciate better how tenuous our democracy is and how often it has let down some of our fellow citizens. We shall overcome.
Pence is so cold that they won’t even be able to find a signal.
First laugh of the day.
#45looks like hell all the truth are coming back to haunt him. I saw the interview with Omarosa yesterday on msnbc. O said some of the staff at the WH would text each other #TFA, meaning , 25th Amendment, whenever he says something 😝 crazy. O also said the first thing he does in the morning is get a print out of his texts. Alex Witt asked her why, she said he wants to see how much “likes” each text get. Next he would reads the clippings from the news papers to read the favorable news about him. Btw, I believe Kelly Ann con job was the one who wrote the OP-Ed. She lies just like her boss, so when she denies writing it I just roll my 👀.
He gets a printout of his tweets??? He is such an old person.
@Chaine, thanks, good catch. I’m always texting, that was my mistake.
I hope everyone eligible to vote, vote November 6th, no excuse!!
Kaiser, as someone who has lived on the Gulf Coast for 50 years and been through many hurricanes, I feel for you. I’m hoping for the best for all those in Florence’s path. Good luck.
Kaiser, good luck if it barrels through Virginia. Do what you need to do, and do it well in advance!
These 2 were ousted from having anything to do with the Presidency early on and have been trying to worm their way back into a position where they can have direct access to and control of the Orange Sh!tstain.
I hope Mueller indicts them pretty soon.
Ivanka and Jared have LONG been rumored to be some of the biggest leakers in the White House. Who do you think leaked the story that Donald Trump only trusts his “family”? Would that have come from his family, i.e. his daughter?
Let’s not forget that Kellyanne Conway was just interviewed about her marriage, and she says to the reporter that her quote is from “a source close to the couple.” The reporter laughs and says, no it’s all on the record and is being recorded.
Everyone of them is leaking and will throw any other person under the bus in order to stay in the Hunger Games.
Every person who has ever worked with/for drumpf has emerged covered in 💩.
To be fair, they seemed to like to roll in it in the first place, which is why he asked and they accepted.
Good point.
So all these cabinet members and White House officials saying they did not write the op ed piece. How many also mentioned they were not part of this “secret society “ dedicated to protecting the country from 45?
No one voted for John Kelly or whoever wrote this. This a coup and we are letting it happen. Congress needs to act now. Impeach or we should be rioting in the streets.
General strike should have been planned starting December 2016 and implemented Spring 2017. Rioting will only call out the paramilitary, but a sustained work strike would shut down the vaunted American economy and finally force a probable end to this situation.
The coup already happened when Trump took office under the stain of illegitimacy.
Trump thinking he can trust his family (especially Jarvanka) is just more evidence of how dumb he is.
It’s just a question of who will throw who under the bus first. Does anyone believe that any of these selfish me, me, me, goons would take a hit to protect another?
Noticed he did not mentioned wife #3. I guess she is one of the snakes 🐍 he says is all around him. I guess he heard about her lover, so she cannot be trusted. Let’s hope he sees the writing on the wall, the day of reckoning is fast approaching for the dotard.
That pic of Ivanka going in for a smooch is creepy!
I wonder if today is all about planning a hella distraction to make everyone “forget” about that book when it comes out tomorrow. . . ?
Whomever wrote that op-ed is a coward. Would we categorize Kelly or Mattis as cowards? I think it’s someone like Javanka…or someone lurking behind the scenes with an agenda to pass…like that totally creepy and racist weirdo Stephen Miller.
They need to worry about that hurricane more than that damned book.
Of course they do, but will they? No. Look at the state Puerto Rico is still in. He’s such a selfish a**hole, he’s not thinking about the hurricane AT ALL. He does NOT care.
He tweeted that HE is going to write the book on his presidency.
Yeah. After he learns to READ a book.
The book is already written. It reads: “Rigged! Fake news. Witchhunt! Angry dems. Obummer Crooked Hillary Lying Chuck. Butter emails. Border Wall. ISIS. MS-13. 25A. I love Putin and little Rocket Man. @foxandfriends @hannity #MAGA”
I have a crazy conspiracy idea. First of all, the op ed had loaded terms used bu very particular people, i.e. lodestar, adult in the room and others I can’t think of right now.
What if it was Nagini who wrote it to rile up the “prez” and gain control? Steve Bannon trying to get back in. Melania got her boyfriend to write it hoping to induce a rage stroke? So many possibilities.
The only thing I don’t believe is that this was written by a member of the “resistance”.
Jared in a moment of misplaced regret and morality. Just Jared.
John Kelly was my first guess as soon as the op-ed was published. He has been deluding himself in to thinking he can manage and control this chaos since he took over for Prebus.