The Trump Presidency | Biden Inaugurated

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He’s tweeting to his base. He wants them to fight for him when the Mueller report is done.
At this point he might be thinking that Mueller will have him on something; whether it’s obstruction, collusion, or financial links to Russia, or all 3.
It’s going to be interesting to see if he’ll try to shut Mueller down.
 
I think obstruction and 'collusion' (or whatever it will be termed when the time comes) are going to be very hard for the Special Council to prove to the extent that it convinces a completely unmotivated GOP to take action against him and for enough of his base to abandon him. Some sort of smoking gun seems a lot more likely to emerge from the financial ties/money laundering angle, or something completely out of the box like the Stormy Daniels thing.

I think he still has a decent chance of riding all this out even assuming he's guilty of all charges, probably about 50-50 from what we currently know for certain.
 
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yeah, it could be something else altogether, like the Monica Lewinsky issue.
A scandal about Stormy would be awesome.
The way he’s going after FBI guys though won’t cause Mueller et al to miss anything as they dig deeper into his organization. While they have to remain professional you’d imagine they’re extra motivated to nail him.
 
Don't like the CIA and the FBI for what they have done in the past, but if there have been something dodgy they have to investigate. It's their job. Trump can't tell them not to do their job.
 
Santi_Mesut_Alexis_87 said:
Don't like the CIA and the FBI for what they have done in the past, but if there have been something dodgy they have to investigate. It's their job. Trump can't tell them not to do their job.
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I'm finding it a bit weird having these former FBI/CIA guys so vocal on Twitter against Trump. Obviously for many of them Trump has made himself an enemy of the institutions they gave their lives to, and in some cases (e.g. Comey) its personal, but I'd expect them to show a bit more professionalism. Tweets like Brennan's just help feed the Trump camp's narrative that these institutions are inherently biased against him.
 
2cents said:
I'm finding it a bit weird having these former FBI/CIA guys so vocal on Twitter against Trump. Obviously for many of them Trump has made himself an enemy of the institutions they gave their lives to, and in some cases (e.g. Comey) its personal, but I'd expect them to show a bit more professionalism. Tweets like Brennan's just help feed the Trump camp's narrative that these institutions are inherently biased against him.
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Yes but we complain when nobody holds him to account then we complain when they do.
 
Silva said:


McCabe's lawyer with some shocking formatting
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Much better.
 
2cents said:
I'm finding it a bit weird having these former FBI/CIA guys so vocal on Twitter against Trump. Obviously for many of them Trump has made himself an enemy of the institutions they gave their lives to, and in some cases (e.g. Comey) its personal, but I'd expect them to show a bit more professionalism. Tweets like Brennan's just help feed the Trump camp's narrative that these institutions are inherently biased against him.
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That's true, but Trump has started the institutions since the first day.
 
Raoul said:
SNL mocking Devos

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It's funny (especially the "safe learning environment for guns" line) but I can't help but feel they missed a trick by not going the full Fey/Palin route of literally transcribing her words, and making that the joke. She was genuinely bad enough to get those laughs without the help of zingers & McKinnon.
 
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Mockney said:
It's funny (especially the "safe learning environment for guns" line) but I can't help but feel they missed a trick by not going the full Fey/Palin route of literally transcribing her words, and making that the joke. She was genuinely bad enough to get those laughs without the help of zingers & McKinnon.

But then being a satirical show in the age of Trump must be a bitch of a task. Even for one as storied as SNL.
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Yeah that would've been better than McKinnon's script. She did do a pretty good job of capturing the essence of Devos' idiocy though.
 
Raoul said:
Yeah that would've been better than McKinnon's script. She did do a pretty good job of capturing the essence of Devos' idiocy though.
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As a Brit, I'm neither as nostalgically enamoured, nor as ironically bored of SNL as the average American might be. I'm kind of culturally fascinated by it, and it's long and unique comedic legacy (of which political satire is a huge part) but I'm detached enough to see that this era has relied way too much on McKinnon, and her impressions of everyone from Kelly-Anne, to DeVos, to Sessions, to Mueller, to May, to Merkel, to whoemever. To the point where a lot of the intended sting can get lost in the inherent sameyness.

If you've never seen a McKinnon SNL impression, then sure, it bangs. But if you've seen more than 4, less so.
 
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Mockney said:
As a Brit, I'm neither as nostalgically enamoured, nor as ironically bored of SNL as the average American might be. I'm kind of culturally fascinated by it, and it's long and unique comedic legacy (of which political satire is a huge part) but I'm detached enough to see that this era has relied way too much on McKinnon. To the point where a lot of its intended sting can get lost in the sameyness.
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SNL is an odd phenomena in American culture. Most people are sure that the SNL they grew up with and watched from their teens to twenties was the funniest. For me that was the late 80s through around 2000ish. Norm MacDonald was comfortably the best at Weekend Update (or the Fake News as he called it well before Trump started using it). There was a website called fakenews.net dedicated to all things Norm in the 90s. I feel like SNL's humor got a bit too PC after around 2005ish, and once you start imposing such standards on comedy it generally stops being funny.
 
Raoul said:
SNL is an odd phenomena in American culture. Most people are sure that the SNL they grew up with and watched from their teens to twenties was the funniest. For me that was the late 80s through around 2000ish. Norm MacDonald was comfortably the best at Weekend Update (or the Fake News as he called it well before Trump started using it). There was a website called fakenews.net dedicated to all things Norm in the 90s. I feel like SNL's humor got a bit too PC after around 2005ish, and once you start imposing such standards on comedy it generally stops being funny.
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At the risk of getting distracted by a pointless non-sequiter SNL discussion, if my outside objectivity is useful for anything here, it's in pointing out (or confirming?) how amusingly nostalgic such "in my day" opinions of a near 50 year old show that's produced everyone from Bill Murray to Kristen Wiig via Eddie Murphy, are.

As someone mostly aware of SNL through cultural osmosis, the Blues Brothers/Wayne's World films, and post-Digital Short-era YouTube clips (SNL was bizarrely litigious beforehand. I remember downloading James Brown's Celebrity Hot Tub Party on Limewire in the early 00s like it was contraband!) I actually tend to consider the 2005 cast - that you consider the cut off - as one of the GOATS. I mean, if you look at the line up for that season, it's pretty much a Who's Who of current TV royalty. And while you could say Norm McDonald or Phil Hartman were a classy aspect of your preferred era, I could counter with the artistic poison that was Adam Sandler, David Spade and Rob Schnieder.... So...?

Point being. McKinnon is great. As is Baldwin's Trump. But they need a wider roster to adequately deal with the wide ranging madness of the Trump era. Also SNL casts are as subjective as musical tastes. Also also, give more shit to Cecily Strong. And not just because I feel incredibly attracted to her.
 
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Mockney said:
At the risk of getting distracted by a pointless non-sequiter SNL discussion, if my outside objectivity is useful for anything here, it's in pointing out (or confirming?) how amusingly nostalgic such "in my day" opinions of a near 50 year old show that's produced everyone from Bill Murray to Kristen Wiig via Eddie Murphy, are.

As someone mostly aware of SNL through cultural osmosis, the Blues Brothers/Wayne's World films, and post-Digital Short-era YouTube clips (SNL was bizarrely litigious beforehand. I remember downloading James Brown's Celebrity Hot Tub Party on Limewire in the early 00s like it was contraband!) I actually tend to consider the 2005 cast - that you consider the cut off - as one of the GOATS. I mean, if you look at the line up for that season, it's pretty much a Who's Who of current TV royalty. And while you could say Norm McDonald or Phil Hartman were a classy aspect of your preferred era, I could counter with the artistic poison that was Adam Sandler, David Spade and Rob Schnieder.... So...?

Point being. McKinnon is great. As is Baldwin's Trump. But they need a wider roster to adequately deal with the wide ranging madness of the Trump era. Also SNL casts are as subjective as musical tastes. Also also, give more shit to Cecily Strong. And not just because I feel incredibly attracted to her.
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Yeah they definitely need a wider roster and frankly better writing (imo). That said, I don't watch the entire show, just bits here and there these days.
 


Back in the 80s Trump was actually very sensible and humble. Not sure what happened to him now.
 
SNL suffers from always having about one or two decent bits and the rest being dross each programme. Weekend Update is always the best part and Che and Jost are really good. They always overuse their best cast member when the rest aren't quite up to it. Lorne Michaels should do what they did with the Saturday Live show here in the UK that Ben Elton presented and have a strong comedian hosting the show and more stand-up segments from other up and coming comedians.

Sandler, Spade and Schneider were funny so I don't know why Mockney is calling them poison. If you go back and watch the first few seasons of the show from the 70's they are painfully shite. Nostalgia really does dull the senses.
 
prath92 said:


Back in the 80s Trump was actually very sensible and humble. Not sure what happened to him now.
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This is the Trump I grew up with. Something happened along the way where he became addicted to being center of attention and then built the rest of his career around being in the spotlight.
 
Raoul said:
This is the Trump I grew up with. Something happened along the way where he became addicted to being center of attention and then built the rest of his career around being in the spotlight.
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Going bankrupt multiple times will do that to you. His self-esteem hit the floor and then never really recovered.
 
Grinner said:
Sandler, Spade and Schneider were funny so I don't know why Mockney is calling them poison. If you go back and watch the first few seasons of the show from the 70's they are painfully shite. Nostalgia really does dull the senses.
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I agree about the 70s. The original SNL cast are almost as hallowed as the Pythons are. Which is fitting, as anyone whose actually watched the original Python shows in their entirely would find them every bit as interminable as those early SNLs, where Murray & Radnor playing stereotype “geeks” was considered a highlight of counter culture comedy. Comedy dates worse than any genre though. ‘Tis was and will always be the way.

As for Sandler et al. I stand by my derision. I’m sure they were fine on SNL back in’t day, but their cultural imprint since has been poor at best, culturally degenerative at worst. Of all the illustrious SNL alum, however dated, the first few casts still gave us Blues Bros, Ghostbusters & Trading Places. Their late 80s/early 90s followers made Wayne’s World, Austin Powers & Troy McClure. The McKay/Ferrel era created Old School, Anchorman, Elf etc and the post 2005 crew are responsible for 30 Rock, Parks & Rec, Brooklyn 99 and Last Man on Earth...

Sandler, Spade and Schneider have been stealing a living as dated, lazy, quasi-racist cruise ship comics for over a decade. The most enduring, not dead cast member of their era is Chris Rock, who achieved said status by almost entirely disassociating himself from them.... Untill Sandler’s brand of corporate sponsored holiday scam filmmaking caught him mid-divorce.
 
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Just for the sake of accuracy, Will Ferrell's Celebrity Jeopardy is the best thing that's ever been on SNL. Glad I could clear that up, you're welcome.

Also Adam Sandler has some extremely funny films. Happy Gilmore, 50 First Dates, Wedding Singer and Spanglish are all very good.
 
Kentonio said:
Just for the sake of accuracy, Will Ferrell's Celebrity Jeopardy is the best thing that's ever been on SNL. Glad I could clear that up, you're welcome.

Also Adam Sandler has some extremely funny films. Happy Gilmore, 50 First Dates, Wedding Singer and Spanglish are all very good.
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Don't forget Grown Ups 1 & 2.

I'm actually serious :lol: Love Kevin James!
 
SirAF said:
Don't forget Grown Ups 1 & 2.

I'm actually serious :lol: Love Kevin James!
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I think I watched the first one, but I don't really remember it. It'll have to give it another go. Click was also pretty good too. Oh and Billy Madison has some bits in that still make me laugh my head off, although I wouldn't try and claim it was a 'good film'. :lol:

 
2cents said:
I'm finding it a bit weird having these former FBI/CIA guys so vocal on Twitter against Trump. Obviously for many of them Trump has made himself an enemy of the institutions they gave their lives to, and in some cases (e.g. Comey) its personal, but I'd expect them to show a bit more professionalism. Tweets like Brennan's just help feed the Trump camp's narrative that these institutions are inherently biased against him.
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I think they're conscious that those institutions, however flawed, existed before Trump and will continue in some form after him. Their structure in inevitably politicised but Trump seems to be not only trying to politicise them further, he seems to be trying to personalise them. They're old school enough to reject that.

I also think some of these reactions are actually directed at the Republican party, and particularly at those Senators etc who already think that at some point they'll need to disown Trump.
 
Trump reportedly made White House staffers sign NDAs that last beyond his presidency
http://www.businessinsider.sg/trump...te-house-staffers-penalties-2018-3/?r=UK&IR=T
  • Senior White House staffers were pressured to sign nondisclosure agreements, The Washington Post reported on Sunday.
  • One draft NDA viewed by The Post said violators could face $10 million penalties.
  • The NDAs also applied to “all times” after President Donald Trump’s term in office.
President Donald Trump required senior White House staff members to sign nondisclosure agreements that not only threatened stiff financial penalties for violations but extended far beyond Trump’s time in office, the Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus reported on Sunday.

According to a draft agreement Marcus said she viewed, violators could face penalties of $10 million for each unauthorized release of “confidential information,” though it’s possible the final NDAs reduced the penalty amount. The agreement applied not only to staffers’ White House tenures but “all times thereafter.”

Though some staffers initially resisted the agreements, they signed them after pressure from Trump’s first chief of staff, Reince Priebus, and the White House Counsel’s Office, The Post reported. The staffers also reportedly believed the NDAs most likely weren’t enforceable.
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sglowrider said:
Trump reportedly made White House staffers sign NDAs that last beyond his presidency
http://www.businessinsider.sg/trump...te-house-staffers-penalties-2018-3/?r=UK&IR=T



    • Senior White House staffers were pressured to sign nondisclosure agreements, The Washington Post reported on Sunday.
    • One draft NDA viewed by The Post said violators could face $10 million penalties.
    • The NDAs also applied to “all times” after President Donald Trump’s term in office.
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Read an article saying this NDAs aren't legally enforceable.
 
Santi_Mesut_Alexis_87 said:
He looked very kind and nice here, someone you can easy talk with.
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He wasn't an odious twat when he was younger. Even up until a few years ago he was more liberal than right wing.

I haven't liked Trump since his Apprentice days but in the last two years he has taken it to a new level. A life of being surrounded by sycophants and getting exactly what you want plus going senile are to blame.
 
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