Building Confidence

The NY Times is unexpectedly fair and balanced in covering Trump's suspension of 'war games' with our South Korean ally.

Ending the joint military exercises could help Mr. Kim persuade his people, especially hard-line generals, to agree to denuclearize and focus on building the country’s poor economy, said Cheong Seong-chang, a senior analyst at the Sejong Institute in South Korea. Still, Mr. Trump’s announcement stunned many South Koreans.

Well, yes. Even iron-fisted dictators have to deal with rival factions. The NoKo military-industrial complex is surely at least as empowered as its US counterparts so this easily-reversed gesture may give Little Rocket Man some running room.

That said, heaven help us if Obama had tried something similar. And the usual questions remain as to whether Trump has the impulse control, patience and team-building skills to lead the US down this long and winding road.

But as Byron York notes, it is not as if the old playbook was producing yardage. C'mon, maybe one day historians will be writing about the Age of Trump, In a good way!

ERRATA: Football metaphors in June while the Best Team Bargain Shoppers Can Buy is trampling out the grapes of wrath? I can't explain it either; maybe I've been blogging too long without a helmet.

Comments

[Captain Hate]

Trump is blowing the doors off just how badly the old way of doing things kept any progress from being made. Every incumbent should be nervous.

henry could you give me the backstory on what's going on with gerrymandering in Wisconsin?

[Thomas Collins]

Re Bosox payroll: Well worth it. You probably notice that Hanley Ramirez, Pablo Sandoval, Rusney Castillo and Adrian Gonzalez are key aspects of this year's team.

[henry]

its the Gil vs case at the Supreme court. R's won the Gov, Assembly, Senate in 2010. As you know the left went bananas in general. This is a bit of lawfare to be sorted out.

The Rs drew up new districts without inviting any Dems to the table (the Dems did the same thing last time), so automatically the left sued over the districts.

They came up with a novel approach: the representation as elected does not match the proportion of voters by party. (The old all the lefties are in Milwaukee and Madison problem). So they got through the appeals courts with this theory that any districts that don't produce results which closely match the R/D split statewide in votes are discriminatory.

The Supremes have been sitting on this for a couple years, but the old districts are still in place for now. It is one of 4 redistricting cases the Sup[remes are sitting on that watchers expect to get decided in a clump, and soon.

[Thomas Collins]

Who says President Trump isn't an inclusive internationalist? He's bringing the whole world to the US, Mexico and Canada!

https://weei.com/blogs/scott-mclaughlin/north-america-lands-2026-world-cup-gillette-stadium-could-host-games

[matt - deplorable me]

I think we should do a countdown on the IG report, sort of like what they did with the IRS scandal.

This is getting ridiulous.

[henry]

Another way to look at the gerrymandering think in WI, the Dems are doing locally what they've been trying to do nationally... switch from a system of independent political entities to a national list thing: popular vote nationally to control the Presidency (one big state with illegal voting such as CA screws all), then proportional lists by state (which is the fix they are trying to cram through the SC).

[Thomas Collins]

I even think many of Trump's supporters have underplayed his accomplishments in moving negotiations along regarding a real peace deal for the Korean peninsula. Austin Bay, I think, has it right: Trump's strategy has been long in the making and, so to speak, trumps how other POTUSes have dealt with the NoKos.

https://www.creators.com/read/austin-bay/06/18/the-deep-history-behind-the-trump-kim-singapore-summit

[Thomas Collins]

If Obama had achieved similar progress by June of 2010, Oligarch Media would be demanding a second Nobel Peace Prize for Obama. Gail Collins of NY Times would have supported cancelling the 2012 elections and awarding Obama a second term.

[Bullion Cube]

If Obama had gone Fox and Friends couldn't have floated "Historic meeting between two Tyrants " as a good thing.

[Extraneus]

Tomorrow at 3PM, Matt. Congress gets it at noon I believe.

[henry]

Not sure what this is about. Haven't been following his local corruption activities.

ABC News
@ABC

BREAKING: Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen likely to cooperate with federal prosecutors in New York as his attorneys leave case, sources tell @ABC News.

https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1006906114259156992

[B. Goldwater]

Similarly, the fulmination over Trump cancelling war games in North Korea’s neighborhood also seems overdone. Yes, this has the appearance of being a big concession….but these exercises were mainly a big ticket provocation. But they were also implicitly a threat to China. The Trump critics might consider whether the US wound up giving China a free concession, which is generally a big no-no in negotiations.

However, it has not been sufficiently recognized that North Korea has declared a moratorium on its own provocation, that of its missile tests. That’s not part of the thin summit agreement, so Kim Jong Un could reverse it, but it’s a meaningful concession.

AsMoon of Alabama summed up the deal as a handshake:

This is not a deal, just a declaration. The ‘denuclearization’ commitment by the DPRK is aspirational. There is no equal commitment from the U.S. side. There is no time frame. As predicted the DPRK will not give up its nukes. It had good reasons to build them and the same reasons will let it keep them.

[Tom R]

This will make a lot of people here happy. I am surprised that only 53% of Republicans view Mueller in a negative light. Based on the consensus here I figured that number would be much higher.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/06/13/mueller-investigation-trump-poll-643491

[Tone Def]

ABC

No replacement counsel has been identified as of this time.

Cohen, now with no legal representation, is likely to cooperate with federal prosecutors in New York, sources said. This development, which is believed to be imminent, will likely hit the White House, family members, staffers and counsels hard.

After the federal raids on Cohen’s properties, President Trump lashed out in a tweet, writing, “Attorney-client privilege is dead!”

He told reporters at the White House that the move against his longtime personal attorney, which he likened to a break-in, was a “disgraceful situation.”

“It’s an attack on our country in a true sense. It’s an attack on all we stand for,” the president said during a meeting with senior military leadership at the White House. “That is really now on a whole new level of unfairness.”

[clarice feldman]

I regard the ABC piece as utter speculation and wishful thinking.

[Extraneus]

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-06-13/cohen-reportedly-preparing-cooperate-prosecutors

"Trump should be super worried about Michael Cohen," a former White House official said. "If anyone can blow up Trump, it’s him."

Priebus? Scaramucci?

[henry]

Former White House Official? ValJar is most likely. Possibly Rhodes.

[Extraneus]

Andrew McCabe Sues Justice Department and Inspector General Over Firing…

[Captain Hate]

ABC's use of "sources said" is made up sewer journalism.

[Extraneus]

Good point.

[Tone Def]

Corroborated Cappy..

[Drip Dry]

https://www.haaretz.com/us-news/trump-lawyer-cohen-s-business-partner-flips-1.6113570

[Captain Hate]

This will make a lot of people here happy. I am surprised that only 53% of Republicans view Mueller in a negative light. Based on the consensus here I figured that number would be much higher.

It's Politico. Anyone less squishy than Patterico, Erickson or Drudge will hang up on them.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

TM,

As far as giving a concession to China for nothing, I believe I saw a story yesterday that they had removed missiles from their fake islands.

If I can find a link I will post it.

[henry]

Mueller doing the evidence drip game vs Manafort (all Ukraine lobbying based). No indictment of Podesta (Manafort's partner in this?) or Vin Weber (his other partner?)

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/13/mueller-rebuts-manafort-with-new-evidence-of-us-lobbying.html?__source=twitter%7Cmain

[Drip Dry]

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/04/24/cohen-trump-attorney-legal-minefield-546336

[James D.]

And the usual questions remain as to whether Trump has the impulse control, patience and team-building skills to lead the US down this long and winding road.

With respect, the only people asking those questions haven’t been paying attention for the last year and a half.

[Miss Marple the Deplorable]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/06/asia/south-china-sea-missiles-satellite-intl/index.html

Above story says they have removed them.

But then, 2 days ago, there is this:

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2150226/china-puts-missiles-back-contested-south-china-sea

So apparently they are playing a game of hide and seek.

I wonder what Pompeo told them when he went to China yesterday.

[Threadkiller]

You should have been here, Tom, when a poll in 2012 showed that less than 30% of Republicans thought that Obama was born in the US.

The Afterbirthers were not happy.

[Jim Eagle]

Your Latin phrase of the day:

Nihil sub sole novum.

I can't make them any easier.

[Threadkiller]

What needs to happen with the IG report release for it to be considered part of a 2 year 4D chess strategy?

Are we looking for a specific reaction?

[Davod]

So Abe Says To Merkel:

http://ace.mu.nu/archives/trump%20g7%208.jpg

[Jim Eagle]

Thursday? World Cup and US Open both start on that day.

What do you want to bet that the MFM will use those sports stories to bury the IG report? Especially, if the Russian soccer thugs go full beserker against the English or Dutch soccer thugs.

They are probably all fluffing their pillows now.

[Thomas Collins]

Nothing new under the sun, JiB.

[Captain Hate]

Amazing that someone so fixated on "Russian influence" in the 2016 election hasn't interviewed one person from the administration in charge at the time:

http://dailycaller.com/2018/06/12/mueller-russian-influence-operations/

[sbwaters]

Nihil sub sole novum.

You know, I’ve heard that before.

[clarice feldman]

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2018/06/rosensteins-rot.php

[Dave (in MA)]

Let's hope we can shoot down playing the world sleepy-time kickball championship in Boston just like we shot down the Olympics.

[Davod]

RE: "Referendum To Split California Into 3
States Gets On Ballot."

Just remember that the Socialists, sorry I mean Progressives, worked the independent redistricting investigation so well that the new districts favored them.

[Stop Waffling]

Fire Mueller and let the chips fall where they belong.

[Extraneus]

Mueller doesn't want to give evidence of interfering with the election to the company he indicted for interfering with the election.

[Extraneus]

Ryan says Trump will sign GOP's new immigration bill

President Trump would sign Republicans’ new immigration plan, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan said Wednesday, saying they wrote legislation that matches his “four pillars” approach of combining legalization for “Dreamers” with limits to both illegal and legal migration in the future.

The bill, which the GOP will put on the floor next week, is still being finalized.

But in calling for a vote Mr. Ryan is leading the House where it hasn’t gone in nearly eight years: toward a vote on a broad immigration bill that would include a massive legalization for people in the country illegally right now.

Mr. Ryan said he doesn’t know yet whether the bill has enough support to pass, saying his members will have to make decisions when they see the final language that’s still being written. But he said the process marks a victory, with moderate and conservative Republicans seeking a middle ground on something the president can sign.

[Jim Eagle]

Margot Cleaveland gives us her take on what the IG report will reveal. Pretty good analysis and she has the background to provide it in expert fashion.

http://thefederalist.com/2018/06/13/look-inspector-generals-report-doj-fbi-election-interference/?utm_campaign=ACTENGAGE

Podesta gets tied in so we will see how much they make of Kadzik's 2 little leaky adventures to the Clinton campaign.

[Poppa was a Rolling Stone]

Simona has been his voice. Last December, she told ABC's George Stephanopoulos that her then-fiancé (the couple married in March) was no mere "coffee boy," as one Trump surrogate insisted on CNN. History, Simona said, would vindicate him as "the first domino" in the Russia investigation. George takes a sip of coffee, purses his lips and fixes me with a serious look. "It's like Simona said: This is much bigger than one person," he says. "This is much more complicated than Watergate. We are talking about foreign governments, intelligence, various countries, decoys, hacking, honey pots... And, of course, one of the most-watched presidential campaigns of history. I am just in the middle of it."

When conversing with an admitted liar, it can be difficult to know what to believe. That's especially true when trying to understand the dynamics of a relationship that's been entwined with the Russia investigation since day one. Questions were publicly raised about George and Simona’s relationship a few weeks earlier, when screenshots purporting to be from Simona's Twitter account circulated online. In one, she appeared to say George's "ex kindly offered me today the evidence he was begging her back while we were engaged. Now he is threatening me." Another tweet read, "Never felt so abused in my life. I stood up for him as I believed in him – he was using and lieing [sic] to me." (Simona tells me her Twitter account was hacked.)

For now, the couple are living in Chicago, George's hometown, while he awaits sentencing. His interest in politics began nearby, in Grant Park, at Barack Obama's 2008 election victory celebration. "I said, 'You know what? I can do what he does,' " George recalls. According to his LinkedIn profile, after earning a master's degree in security studies from University College London, he floated between consulting firms and think tanks before landing a spot on Ben Carson's presidential campaign. The following year, George and Simona met on LinkedIn.

Their shared contact, Joseph Mifsud, was from the London Centre of International Law Practice, where George briefly worked and which he now describes as "like, this hotbed with potential spies and all this craziness." Mifsud was a jowly, balding academic who, according to court documents, George "understood to have substantial connections to Russian government officials." In March 2016, Mifsud allegedly advised him that the Russian government possessed dirt on Hillary Clinton in the form of "thousands of e-mails," information George is said to have divulged to the Australian ambassador to the U.K. at London's Kensington Wine Rooms. Australian officials reportedly passed the news to the FBI, igniting the investigation into the Trump campaign in July 2016..

[Captain Hate]

The Morning Homewreckers might have a new panel member:

http://www.breitbart.com/video/2018/06/13/scarborough-republican-party-primary-voters-have-devolved-into-a-trumpist-cult/

[Dave (in MA)]

Buck Sexton@BuckSexton 
Trump pulled off the North Korea summit so well, you can 
count the hours until Mueller arrests someone

[Tears Of A Lib]

Mom told me that if I posted incoherent comments it might make me look stupid, but it would make me feel better. She lied. Losing still hurts. The tears still flow. And 6+ more years of Drumpf to go. Help!

[henry]

ChaCo doing a diet thing again:

https://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/13-weeks-redux-a-fat-nerd-does-diabetes/

[DJT]

I always believed that if you work less and crook your spine enough, the American Dream is ez pz.

[Davod]

Now they are just dribbling.

[Viva]

http://foreignpolicy.com/2018/06/13/trumps-vino-vixen-compiles-loyalty-list-of-u-s-employees-at-u-n-state-mari-stull-political-appointee-state-department-international-organization-united-nations-political-retribution-chaos-dysfunction/

Compare/contrast an ENEMIES LIST

[Buckeye]

Mom told me that if I posted incoherent comments it might make me look stupid, but it would make me feel better. She lied. Losing still hurts. The tears still flow. And 6+ more years of Drumpf to go. Help!

The thought occurred to me this morning that Trump for 2 terms will necessitate lots of new insane asylums.

Libtards are losing their grasp on their manufactured alternate reality.

Good to hear confirmation from the horse's mouth ass.

[Captain Hate]

IG Report comes out tomorrow.

1. McCabe files scam lawsuit - check
2. Cohen about to flip on DJT - check
3. Recycled garbage about Rosenstein vs Congress - check

[Captain Hate]

Seattle rescinding the head tax might set off a mini civil war between the Bezos libs and the latter day Wobblys.

[henry]

4. the media suddenly cares about soccer - check
5. the media suddenly cares about golf - check

[Old Lurker]

So if Rosenstein is going to review the IG report today with Trump, does that add to or takeaway form the fight we had about whether or not Trump had even seen the damn thing before it got sent out for laundering?

The optimists will say this review is just to show him what was changed.

The cynics will say they were right all along that the 4D chess, IG Chapter, was made up by the optimists.

[Davod]

Raccoon conquers UBS skyscraper. Next, Empire State Building.

http://www.startribune.com/all-eyes-are-on-raccoon-perched-on-ledge-of-st-paul-skyscraper/485278171/

[Extraneus]

Where'd you see that, OL?

[Thomas Collins]

OL, President Trump doesn't strike me as the kind of individual who is going to read an IG report. Whether or not he has "seen" it before, he'll simply sign off if Rosenstein's summary satisfies him. Perhaps he has glanced at the "juicier" paragraphs (I use the word "juicier" advisedly in describing paragraphs of a bureaucratic report).

Same goes for the issue of declassifying docs. Trump will rely on others.

All of this is fine with me. Jimmy Carter and James K. Polk would have read the IG report in detail. Different strokes for different folks. Trump has done fine so far with his strokes.

[Beasts of England]

See if this link works for wedding pictures... Should be four photos in the album: the happy couple, the bridal party, one from the reception, and one of the nave - which may include a rare photo of Beasts without sunglasses... lol

http://s345.photobucket.com/user/BeastsOfJOM/slideshow/

[Extraneus]

Why would he let Rosenstein summarize it, of all people?

[rse]

That's the beasts steph and I had dinner with, along with dr j!

Everything looks so nice. Looks like the reception was at a dt club from the skyscrapers in the background?

[Momto2]

Mike Pampeo (not the real one)

@SecOfState70
REPORT: Jim Acosta is still in Singapore yelling at an empty balcony "Chairman Kim do you like Pumpkin pie?"

538 replies 3,289 retweets 10,389 likes

[Old Lurker]

TC, I don't expect him to read it either...sort like 800 page loan documents are to me (which I summarize to my lawyers as "you give me the money; I will give it back to you later; you have 799 pages you can use to hurt me along the way").

But what got us in a tizzy here recently was the suggestion that Trump, knowing everything that was in the draft report, was already managing the PR aspect of the Big Reveal as the showman-master he is.

[Boss 302]

Republicans in Virginia, like their co-religionists in Alabama, have picked themselves a real winner to run against incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Tim Kaine in the fall. This time, though, it’s not an aging scuzball like the Gadsden Mall Creeper, Roy Moore. This time it’s an unreconstructed Confederate meat bag named Corey Stewart.

[Old Lurker]

Somewhere yesterday, Ext.

[Extraneus]

Besides, the report's intro is the summary. At least it was in the McCabe report. What's Rosenstein got to do with it?

[Beasts of England]

Glad it worked!! The reception was at the city's original locomotive roundhouse, now a museum and reception hall, rse. It was ideal! 😎

[James D.]

Beautiful, Beasts!

Where did the happy couple go for their honeymoon?

[sbwaters]

Yay, Beasts! (You don’t look so much beasty.)

[Thomas Collins]

Rosenstein has probably read it in detail, Extraneus, and he's the Deputy AG. He would be a logical person to summarize it. Does Trump have any strong supporters in Justice who would be in a position to vet the report?

[Yvgeny]

Awesomeness...

https://www.emptywheel.net/2018/06/13/mueller-to-yevgeniy-prigozhin-sure-you-can-have-discovery-if-you-come-to-the-united-states-to-get-it/

[Extraneus]

I wouldn't expect him to read it word for word, either, but if it were me I'd have trusted aides do an all-nighter if need be, highlight the key parts and present it to me. Nobody from DoJ would be involved.

After all, they're the targets of the investigation.

Would he have the FISA warrant IG report summarized by Rosenstein, too? They guy who signed off on the bogus FISA warrant?

Makes no sense to me. And why wouldn't Sessions do it if he was going to have DoJ do it. He's not recused from IG reports, especially this one.

[Thomas Collins]

Jeez, OL. Who are the bank counsel your lawyers deal with? Any bank counsel worth his or her salt should only take 792 pages to draft incomprehensible loan covenant provisions! :-))

[Stephanie, Nene, Not your Normal Grandma]

Those pics are lovely, beasts. Hubba hubba. Both the father of the bride and the groom.

She's a lucky girl to have both in her life!

[Yvgeny]

Mueller pyroclastic flow coming..

[Beester]

Lovely church. Gorgeous bridal party. Handsome papa. Best wishes to all.

[narciso]

wonderful, beasts,

[Blue Tsunami]

8,000 years ago: A volcano caused an avalanche in Sicily 8,000 years ago that crashed into the sea at 200 mph, triggering a devastating tsunami that spread across the entire Mediterranean Sea. There are no historical records of the event – only geological records – but scientists say the tsunami was taller than 10-story building.

[Extraneus]

So that's the infamous Beasts...

[Film the best propaganda]

https://youtu.be/A838gS8nwas

I thought NORKS made it😎

[Crying shame]

https://youtu.be/dAJLJRRJY3E

[rse]

beasts-if it is the place I am thinking of, isn't the church on the national register of historic places?

[Captain Hate]

Remove this guy from the Sea Cuck mailing list:

https://usa.spectator.co.uk/2018/05/you-are-a-disgrace-listen-to-extraordinary-caller-ranting-at-the-weekly-standard/

[pagar, a bacon, ham and sausage supporter]

Beautiful Pictures, Beasts! Must have been a perfect wedding.

[Old Lurker]

Beasts "That's the beasts steph and I had dinner with, along with dr j!

Everything looks so nice. Looks like the reception was at a dt club from the skyscrapers in the background?"

So Beasts, how much discussion did you participate in regarding having tall flowers or low flowers on the tables? Just asking for a friend.

[Catsmeat]

Congratulations, Beast--and such nice pictures!

narciso, I do know Rhonda, though even though she's still on the faculty (somehow) she's been in NYC since fall 2015 (nice work if you can get it). She hates DJT so viciously that this kind of faux analysis is the result--it sounds like MODO and I wouldn't be surprised if she was trying out for a press role similar to what Dowd has been pulling lo these many years. (Cue obligatory mind image of Catherine Zeta Jones, as per ACE house rules...)

[daddy]

Good Morning!

“Mr. Wolfe was released on personal recognizance under a number of conditions, including relinquishing his passport and a prohibition of travel outside of the District of Columbia and Maryland,” the DOJ statement reads. “He is next scheduled to appear at 1:45 p.m. on Tuesday, June 12, 2018 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. That hearing will be before Magistrate Judge Robin M. Meriweather.”

I think that's 5 minutes from now. Keep us posted, DC JOMers.

[Old Lurker]

TC "Rosenstein has probably read it in detail, Extraneus, and he's the Deputy AG. He would be a logical person to summarize it. Does Trump have any strong supporters in Justice who would be in a position to vet the report?"

Since Rosenstein is up to his neck in conflicts, why, maybe the POTUS should have an AG or somethin?

As to Rosenstein reading it carefully, like everybody else in DC when a book comes out, did he look for his name in the index first?

[Extraneus]

Wasn't that yesterday?

[Buckeye]

Most excellent Beasts!

Is this your youngest or her older sister?

Is it the same gal I saw taking the selfie YouTube in the passenger seat of a Ferrari Spyder?

[Tom R]

Why would he let Rosenstein summarize it, of all people?

I'll go out on a limb and say Trump is getting the briefing from Rosenstein because he trusts him.

[Cult Cucks]

God Bless the cult of Kim and Trump seen in breitbart comments often to a mere fault.

[daddy]

Politico Headline: Poll shows Mueller’s public
image at all-time low

Rush in an excellent Hour 2 monolog is certainly contributing to Mueller's plummeting image. He's doing a fine job of showing the illegitimacy of Mueller's Lawsuits against the Russian firms that unexpectedly have turned the tables by showing up in Court to fight the charges. How do you say "Bring it on, Mueller!" in Russian?

[Extraneus]

That would seem to be the case, Tom, if it's true. Anyone have a link?

[maryrose]

Beasts:
Your daughter looks lovely and what a handsome wedding party.
You, yourself clean up pretty good.

[Extraneus]

Here's one that cites WaPo as the source for that:

http://dailycaller.com/2018/06/13/trump-doj-briefing-inspector-general-report-clinton-email/

[daddy]

Nice takedown of NYTimes hypocrite Nick Kristof by Don Surber:

NYT columnist attacks Trump for fulfilling his wish

[Cult Cucks]

Yes daddy-o it's hard for Mueller to defend himself from cowardly attacks

[Captain Hate]

Here's a principle that never, ever, ever, ever, seems to be answered.

I was told, for decades, that it was a high and mighty principle indeed that I *owed* my vote to whoever won the Republican nomination for whatever position and that it was childishness of the greatest type to refuse to vote if I did not support that candidate on his own terms and do you even politics, brah? Oh and if I didn't like the candidates winning the primaries, then go in and take over the local positions and put in the people I wanted. Because that is how that works.

Well.

Challenge accepted.

And now that for the very first time candidates that the ever so intellectual and refined and professional GOP class doesn't like are winning, suddenly REEE REEE REEE REEE REEE HOW DARE YOU SAY I MUST VOTE FOR THAT HORRIBLE BEING REE REE REE REE REE.

It's almost as if, get this, those people were lying jackalopes who really didn't mean a damn word they were bleating.

See also: dick, girl, mine and sucking thereof.
Posted by: alexthechick - Ragebunny. Hopping all around. at June 13, 2018 01:19 PM (mf5HN)