Donald J. Trump wins Presidency

I swear Trump is doing this on purpose, tying everyone up in knots about the FBI/Russia/hotels/tapes and getting them too distracted to actually notice the havoc he is causing elsewhere.

He is a walking disaster area, and very dangerous as he has no idea of what he is doing. He scares me and I don't scare that easily. LL

His foreign policy (whatever it is this week) is a disaster already, and the complete opposite of what he promised to do as a candidate. I find that unforgiveable; US domestic matters are a matter for Americans, but their foreign policy affects all of us, frequently badly.

He's going to drive more and more nations to align with Russia, IMO, because Putin may be a barsteward, but he's a sane, calculating barsteward who thinks more than one move ahead. Maybe the rest of the world should sanction America, and leave them all to shoot each other, instead of innocents thousands of miles away?

A new twist in the Russia business:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-06-25/top-cnn-editor-demands-review-all-future-russia-stories-after-embarrassing-screwup

It is looking very much like CNN and others either fell for a hoax, or plain and simply invented 'evidence'. Which may explain why a good few, including me, couldn't make head nor tail of it.

Breitbart's version of this mess:

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/06/25/very-fake-news-scandal-cnn-jeff-zucker-network-flack-refuse-to-comment-russia-retraction/

The scandal surrounding CNN’s mishandling of a very fake news hit piece on President Donald Trump and his associates grows bigger on Sunday night as the network’s president Jeff Zucker and public relations team are refusing to comment to anyone — even to CNN media reporter Brian Stelter — about what happened.
Stelter, in his Sunday evening newsletter named for the television program he hosts Reliable Sources, credited a Breitbart News investigation with forcing what he admitted is an embarrassing retraction for his employer CNN....etc.

I freely admit to being totally lost now.

Europe's once positive world view of US slips under Trump.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Slightly more Europeans now view the United States unfavorably under President Donald Trump than favorably, according to a survey of public attitudes in three dozen countries that comes as Trump prepares for a return visit to the continent early next month.

The Pew Research Center survey released Monday also found scant confidence outside the U.S. in Trump's leadership on the world stage, with many opposing his plans to build a wall along the U.S-Mexico border and withdraw the United States from international climate change and trade agreements.

Trump likely would be heartened by the fact that a majority said they see him as a strong leader, but that positive view was outweighed by even larger majorities who view the real estate developer and former reality TV star as arrogant, intolerant or dangerous.

Last year, a median of 61 percent held a favorable opinion of the U.S. across France, Germany, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom, compared with 26 percent who held unfavorable views. Since Trump, who has held office for five months, opinion in these countries was 46 percent positive to 52 percent negative. The change marked the first time since the final year of George W. Bush's presidency in 2008 that the public in these European countries has expressed more unfavorable than favorable views of the U.S., the survey found.

Bush's ratings fell after the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003 and never fully recovered in some countries, where he was viewed as engaging in "cowboy diplomacy." The shift in European attitudes was disclosed less than two weeks before Trump visits Poland and Germany after the Fourth of July holiday to meet with U.S. allies and other leaders.

Trump's first overseas trip as president last month took him to the Middle East and Belgium and Italy, where he lectured NATO allies about increasing their defense spending. He also disappointed European and other leaders by refusing to recommit to a landmark climate agreement that the U.S. and other nations had agreed to in 2015.

Trump announced shortly after returning to Washington that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate pact. The survey also found scant confidence outside the U.S. in Trump's ability to lead on the world stage, with fewer than 3 in 10 respondents, or 22 percent, expressing confidence.

Pew has produced the survey annually since 2002, during Bush's first term. Monday's edition is the first conducted since Trump took office in January. According to the survey, a median of 22 percent across all 37 countries surveyed expressed confidence that Trump will do the right thing when it comes to international affairs. That means that if the results from each country are ranked in order, 22 percent is the midpoint, with the percentage expressing confidence in Trump falling above or below that point in equal numbers of countries.

The 22 percent rating also marks a steep drop from the closing years of Barack Obama's presidency, when a median of 64 percent expressed confidence in Obama's global leadership. The results are based on telephone and face-to-face interviews conducted among 40,447 respondents in 37 countries in all regions of the world between Feb. 16 and May 8.

The survey found widespread disapproval of some of Trump's major policies. The promised U.S.-Mexico border wall is opposed by a median of 76 percent across all 37 countries, rising to 94 percent in Mexico.

More than 7 in 10 disagree with Trump's proposals to pull the U.S. out of a landmark climate change agreement and withdraw from multinational trade deals such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Trump has pulled the U.S. out of both agreements, although the survey was conducted before his June 2 announcement on exiting the Paris climate accord.

More than 60 percent disapprove of Trump's proposal for a temporary ban on people entering the U.S. from six majority Muslim countries. More than half the respondents in four countries — Hungary, Israel, Poland and Russia — support the proposal. Opposition was strong in several largely Muslim countries, including Jordan, Lebanon and Senegal.

U.S. courts had blocked two versions of Trump's travel ban, but he won a partial victory Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court said he could go forward with a limited version of the ban. The high court also agreed to hear arguments in the case in October. The ban applies to visitors from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

While 55 percent see Trump as a strong leader, larger majorities of those surveyed said they see him as arrogant, 75 percent; intolerant, 65 percent; and dangerous, 62 percent.

https://www.mail.com/int/news/us/5311232-europes-positive-world-view-us-slips-under-trump.html#.1258-stage-hero1-4

I actually think Trump's right about manmade climate change, the climate has been changing for a very long time without assistance from puny humans.

And it's up to the US government to say who does, or who does not, enter the country.

BUT - I find it troubling that he mouths off without thinking through the consequences - see Saudi Arabia, orbs, etc. That foolishness is leading to an enormous, powerful anti-Saudi alliance across the Middle East and elsewhere.

It's not as if anyone greatly likes the Saudis, anyway......

Make what you will of this:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-06-26/three-cnn-employees-resign-over-russia-collusion-fake-news-retraction

A few days ago we noted that CNN was forced to retract one of their bombshell 'Russian collusion' stories when it was apparently revealed that the whole thing was nothing more than their latest, anonymously-sourced fake news debacle. Like most CNN stories on the topic, this one carried a salacious title ("Congress was investigating a Russian investment fund with ties to Trump officials") which implied some nefarious plot by the Trump administration to stage a coup in the United States.

Within 36 hours, however, CNN was forced to retract the story and issue an apology to Anthony Scaramucci (presumably for the whole libel thing)....etc.

It really doesn't help when supposedly respectable media outlets make up complete bullsh*t.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-06-27/cnn-exposed-undercover-sting-producer-admits-russia-story-fake-news-pushed-ratings-0

"CNN Caught Cold" In Undercover Sting - Producer Admits Russia Fake News Story Pushed For Ratings

This may explain why the whole thing was so hard to follow.....

France has celebrated Bastille Day, a turning point in the country's revolutionary war, with a military parade down the Champs-Elysees every July 14 for 100 years

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4647552/Trump-visit-France-Macron-s-request-Bastille-Day.html#ixzz4lKPnpucr
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

I hope someone keeps reminding Trump that no, this isn't 1944, and no, he isn't liberating Paris.....

Trump trashes media, cheers wins at $10 million fundraiser

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican donors paid $35,000 apiece to hear familiar a message from President Donald Trump: The media, particularly CNN, keep trying to take him down, and yet Republicans just keep on winning elections. He noted with pride that his party had won four special elections this year.

The president was whisked a few blocks from the White House to the Trump International Hotel, his name-branded Washington venue, for an evening of hobnobbing behind closed doors Wednesday with major party financiers, including Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn.

One attendee stood out: Nevada Sen. Dean Heller, part of a small group of Republicans whose objections just a day earlier had doomed — at least for now — the Senate's effort to repeal and replace President Barack Obama's health care law.

Trump did not single out Heller, but Wynn, the lead fundraiser for the Republican National Committee, gently jabbed him by urging all Republicans to come together to support the president's agenda. Breaking with the tradition of his predecessor, Trump barred reporters from the event, despite an announcement earlier in the day that a pool of reporters would be allowed inside. Two people in the room, demanding anonymity to discuss a private event, relayed the messages given by Trump and Wynn.

"It's a political event, and they've chosen to keep that separate," White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said when asked why the event was closed to the media. Trump's first re-election fundraiser comes some 40 months ahead of Election Day. Joined by first lady Melania Trump and top advisers, he held court for about two hours at an event attended by about 300 people that raised more than $10 million. The money is to be spread among Trump's campaign, the RNC and other GOP entities. More at link.

https://www.mail.com/int/news/world/5317782-trump-trashes-media-cheers-wins-10-fundraiser.html#.1258-stage-hero1-8

I don't know what on earth got into CNN to fabricate that 'Russia' story, LL. CNN has had a bit of a dodgy reputation recently, but that - ! Far from damaging Trump, it's rebounded completely and strengthened him.

Trump insults MSNBC hosts Mika Brzezinski, Joe Scarborough on Twitter.

U.S. President Donald Trump ridiculed the looks and temperament of a female cable television host whose show he says he has stopped watching days after commenting on the "nice smile" of an Irish reporter.

In a series of tweets Thursday morning, the president went after Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough, who have criticized the president on their MSNBC show Morning Joe.

"I heard poorly rated @Morning_Joe speaks badly of me (don't watch anymore). Then how come low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe, came … to Mar-a-Lago 3 nights in a row around New Year's Eve, and insisted on joining me. She was bleeding badly from a face-lift. I said no!" More at link.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/trump-twitter-fox-comments-1.4183636

I am sorry to say this as I know many people think the sun shines out him of but Trumper is not behaving like a mature, worldy-wise leader of the Free World but more like a gossipy, retarded old biddy, the kind portrayed as being the village troublemaker in a novel.    He is 6 years younger than me, but comes over as a foul-mouthed, sexist bully.   He is no good example for any other leader (or would-be leader).   A proper man would rise above the criticisms levelled at him, or at least use moderate language to refute the claims, but not him, he reminds me of a fat nasty kid we had in junior school who bullied anyone he could - he didn't try his tactics on me, I topped him by quite a few inches!!    A US friend has messaged me - she is a firm Republican - and says that she will be walking away from the GOP; in fact she is looking to having a long holiday in Canada (like 3+ years) and may not return to the US until there are major changes at the top of the party; she's not an easily frightened person but says Trumper scares her witless.     LL

But LL, Trump's supporters don't give a flying one if he insults some hatchet-faced media harpy - these people are absolutely awful, and would sell their own grannies for ten seconds in the spotlight.

Obama pandered to them, Trump doesn't - and why would he bother 'refuting' their crap? CNN, supposedly one of the world's most respected outlets, has just been caught red-handed making up complete sh*te about non-existent 'Russian scandals'. Now this one's playing the victim because she picked a fight with Trump and he retaliated by mentioning her plastic surgery?

I LMAO-ed, and I doubt if I was the only one.

Sorry, I disagree, but that is all I am going to say re this.   LL   

Thing is, LL, there is, IMO, a great deal wrong with the US right now, and I suspect the country is heading for a mighty fall - but that's not because of Trump. He's just the culmination of the madness, not least because Washington has, over the last sixteen years, squandered every bit of sympathy the rest of the world had for America after 9/11, which is Bush and Obama's doing, not Trump's. I don't think Jesus Christ himself could rescue the US from its downward spiral.

But a hatchet-faced blonde talking head getting into a fight with a former reality TV star, and losing the insult contest? That's just bread and circuses stuff, entertainment, and totally unimportant.

Oops!

http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2017/06/30/james-okeefe-cnn-associate-producer/

A new video released Friday morning by James O’Keefe and his Project Veritas shows a CNN associate producer mocking President Donald Trump and declaring that American voters are “stupid as sh*t.”



I must confess, I find CNN CEO Zucker well, repulsive. It would not be at all surprising, IMO, if one of these days he gets busted for kiddie porn, or even worse.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-06-30/new-york-times-forced-retract-longstanding-17-intel-agencies-lie-about-russian-hacki

New York Times Forced To Retract Longstanding '17 Intel Agencies' Lie About Russian Hacking

You couldn't make this up...oh wait, they did. And so did Clinton.

Trump voter-fraud panel’s data request a gold mine for hackers, experts warn.

Cybersecurity specialists are warning that President Donald Trump’s voter-fraud commission may unintentionally expose voter data to even more hacking and digital manipulation.

Their concerns stem from a letter the commission sent to every state this week, asking for full voter rolls and vowing to make the information “available to the public.” The requested information includes full names, addresses, birth dates, political party and, most notably, the last four digits of Social Security numbers. The commission is also seeking data such as voter history, felony convictions and military service records.

Digital security experts say the commission’s request would centralize and lay bare a valuable cache of information that cyber criminals could use for identity theft scams — or that foreign spies could leverage for disinformation schemes.

“It is beyond stupid,” said Nicholas Weaver, a computer science professor at the University of California at Berkeley.

“The bigger the purse, the more effort folks would spend to get at it,” said Joe Hall, chief technologist at the Center for Democracy and Technology, a digital advocacy group. “And in this case, this is such a high-profile and not-so-competent tech operation that we're likely to see the hacktivists and pranksters take shots at it.”

Indeed, by Friday night, over 20 states — from California to Mississippi to Virginia — had indicated they would not comply with the request, with several citing privacy laws and expressing unease about aggregating voter data.

“Mississippi residents should celebrate Independence Day and our state’s right to protect the privacy of our citizens by conducting our own electoral processes," said Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, a Republican, in a statement.

Trump took to Twitter Saturday morning to bash the reticent states.

"Numerous states are refusing to give information to the very distinguished VOTER FRAUD PANEL. What are they trying to hide?" he wrote.

Trump launched the "election integrity" commission in May, tapping Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach to lead the charge. The commission’s main task was to study voter fraud, a subject of interest to Trump, who has baselessly claimed that millions of people voted illegally in the 2016 election.

White House officials also said the commission would recommend steps to help secure the “integrity” of the voting systems. In this vein, the letter asks how the commission can help local officials address “information technology security and vulnerabilities.”

But cyber specialists say the missive and its directions has the exact opposite effect. And the commission’s request comes at a time when the Trump administration is already under fire from Democrats who say it is doing little to protect the electoral process from hackers.

Technical experts say the voter data that the commission wants to assemble would quickly become a single treasure trove for cyber criminals and foreign intelligence services. Identity thieves could use information such as addresses, birth dates and the last four digits of Social Security numbers for digital impersonations, and foreign spies could use it to fill out dossiers on Americans they hope to blackmail.

“This information is particularly sensitive because it can be matched up with other stolen or publicly available information to build a more complete profile for an individual and target them for fraud or other exploitation,” said Jason Straight, a data breach expert who serves as chief privacy officer at the business solutions firm UnitedLex.

Specifically, researchers have shown that voter rolls are “the most useful external source of data” when fraudsters hope to identify people in anonymized health or medical records, Hall said.

Security specialists said they were especially perturbed about Kobach’s claim that the commission would publish all the voter data it receives.

While much of the data the commission requested — including addresses and dates of birth — is already publicly available in states or from third-party vendors, states restrict access to that information in various ways.

If the commission publishes all the voter data it receives, it “could result in the commission making voter data more widely accessible than it otherwise would be from the state itself,” Straight said.

The White House pushed back on these fears.

"Information being requested is already publicly available according to state law from which it would be released," noted Marc Lotter, a spokesman for Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading the panel with Kobach.

“The federal government takes cybersecurity very seriously,” he added. “No publicly identifiable information will be released to the public and the information will be managed consistent with federal security guidelines.”

Kobach’s office did not not respond to requests for comment.

Ways exist to secure large quantities of voter data — Hall pointed to the Electronic Registration Information Center, a state-run nonprofit that helps officials clean their voter rolls, as one example. But that organization uses strong encryption to protect its information, he noted.

“It's hard to imagine all the work that went into making that private and secure is happening in the week before the commission's first meeting,” said Hall.

“The federal government takes cybersecurity very seriously,” he added.

Yeah, right!

I have come to the conclusion that the US has been in a downward spiral since 9/11, and is actually not too far off being a failed state, under all the bombast.

Sample:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-07-01/horrific-catastrophic-court-ruling-send-illinois-financial-abyss

First Maine, then Connecticut, and finally late on Friday, confirming the worst case outcome many had expected, Illinois entered its third straight fiscal year without a budget as Republican Governor Bruce Rauner and Democratic lawmakers failed to agree on how to compromise over the government’s chronic deficits, pushing it closer toward becoming the first junk-rated U.S. state.

By the end of Friday - the last day of the fiscal year - Illinois legislators failed to enact a budget, and while negotiations continued amid some glimmers of hope and lawmakers planned to meet over the weekend, the failure marked a continuation of the historic impasse that’s left Illinois without a full-year budget since mid-2015, and which, recall, S&P warned one month ago will likely result in a humiliating and unprecedented downgrade of the 5th most populous US state to junk status....etc.

How on earth can that happen - and it's not just Illinois, several other states are teetering on the brink, too. All it needs now is for the rumbling Yellowstone Park volcano to finally blow up, or the West coast to slide into the sea.

Donald Trump may visit UK this month, but date 'being kept secret to avoid protests'.

Donald Trump may visit the UK briefly this month en route to celebrate Bastille Day in France on 14 July.

UK Government officials are reportedly “on alert” for a flying visit from the US President as he travels to Europe, but the UK stopover would only likely be confirmed 24 hours in advance.

A White House source told The Sunday Times, “There is a window of opportunity for the President to visit Britain when he is in Europe later this month.

“It is likely it will be hastily arranged and it is possible no official confirmation of his visit will be given until at least 24 hours before to stop any large-scale protests against his visit from being mobilised.”

Westminster reportedly does not have any official requests from the US to prepare for a visit by Mr Trump, but the President is expected to fly to one of his golf courses in Scotland for an informal trip and he may wish to see the Prime Minister.

The news comes after a state visit from Mr Trump was scrapped in June over fear of protests and there was no mention of him in the Queen’s Speech.

Theresa May was strongly criticised for taking a soft approach with Mr Trump when she visited him in Washington DC earlier this year, refusing to publicly call him out on his previous remarks against women and people of colour.

She has not seen the President since he allegedly disclosed Israeli intelligence in a meeting in May with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov and US ambassador Sergei Kislyak.

“We continue to work with the United States and we continue to share intelligence with the United States, as we do with others around the world,” said Ms May.

His visit to Scotland is also likely to be controversial.

He opened a golf resort in Menie, Aberdeenshire, in 2012 after a lengthy battle with local residents and protesters, and a documentary called You’ve Been Trumped recorded the ordeal.

The President then bought Turnberry, a golf course in Ayrshire, for an undisclosed sum two years later.

The business ventures made a loss of around £9.5 million last year, according to documents filed with Companies House.

During a recent trip to Scotland, local protesters held up Mexican flags by his course in Aberdeenshire to show solidarity with the people of Mexico, who Mr Trump had called “rapists” and “drug dealers” on the campaign trail.

Former First Minister Alex Salmond revealed the 16 irate letters Mr Trump had sent him to complain about wind turbines being built near his resort – a battle the President lost in court in 2015 – and First Minster Nicola Sturgeon has publicly called Mr Trump a “misogynist”.

During a recent trip to Scotland, local protesters held up Mexican flags by his course in Aberdeenshire

1. There's far more to the whole Menie business than meets the eye, which is rarely reported.

2. They weren't 'local protestors', they never are - the locals tend to be delighted to have well-paying jobs that don't involve rusty oil rigs. They were the usual unwashed rent-a-mob - this revolting creature that calls herself a 'comedian' is generally one of the ringleaders:



Sturgeon thinks she's hilarious.

Poland 1st: Why Trump visits ex-communist nation before UK.

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — President Donald Trump is breaking with tradition by visiting Poland, an ex-communist country in central Europe, before making a presidential visit to longtime allies Britain, France or Germany.

The White House has stressed Poland's importance as a loyal NATO ally and its potential as an energy partner as reasons for the visit, which he will make Thursday just before attending a Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. But there are several other reasons that make Poland a logical early destination for the new U.S. president.

POLAND FIRST FOR A POPULIST WELCOME

Trump will be welcomed in Poland by populist leaders who are closely aligned with his worldview and who gained power in 2015 with the same brand of nationalistic, anti-Muslim rhetoric that has put both the new U.S. leader and the Poles in conflict with leaders in Western Europe. Like Trump, Poland's leaders seek to restore more national sovereignty and weaken international institutions like the European Union. Some political observers worry that the visit could further deepen divisions between Poland and its Western European partners. There is also concern Trump's visit could embolden the Polish government and encourage what the EU sees as an erosion of the rule of law in Poland.

WARSAW CAN PRODUCE CHEERING CROWDS

Trump can probably count on large enthusiastic crowds to greet him in Warsaw, where he is expected to give a major televised address to the nation. In fact, according to Polish media reports, that is exactly what Poland's government promised the White House in its invitation. To make good on that pledge, ruling party lawmakers and pro-government activists plan to bus in groups from the provinces to hear Trump's speech. A warm reception would certainly be a plus for Trump after his somewhat awkward debut in Europe in May. He also could get a frosty reception at the G-20 due to his recent decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate accord and other policies. Some NATO allies have also been annoyed by Trump's repeated calls for them to increase military spending.

POLAND SEES U.S. BOOTS ON THE GROUND

Poles, on the other hand, can expect only praise from Trump on their defense expenditures. A U.S. ally in Iraq and Afghanistan, Poland is one of the five NATO members that spends the expected 2 percent of gross domestic product on its military. The Poland-U.S. security relationship has also gotten a boost this year with the deployment of some 5,000 U.S. troops to Poland as part of two separate American and NATO missions. The deployments are meant to reassure allies on NATO's eastern flank that the alliance is serious about protecting them from Russian aggression.

Many across the region hope to hear Trump commit himself to NATO's Article 5, which says an attack on one member is an attack on all. After months of waffling on that defense pact, Trump finally did so in June standing alongside the Romanian president in the Rose Garden. Still, it would mean a lot to an anxious region to hear those words spoken on soil closer to Russia.

POLISH AMERICANS VOTE IN U.S. ELECTIONS

The hundreds of thousands of Polish-American voters in the United States represent an important constituency in several battleground states, and last year they helped give Trump the edge he needed in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. They will certainly be grateful for Trump's visit to Warsaw, especially since he has chosen to address Poles at Krasinski Square, a location that symbolizes Polish heroism during World War II. That large square has a memorial to the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, a courageous but doomed uprising against Nazi Germany that resulted in more than 200,000 Polish deaths and the destruction of Warsaw.

ENERGY TIES

During Trump's visit to Warsaw, he will also attend a summit devoted to the Three Seas Initiative, an effort to expand and modernize energy and trade links among 12 countries located between the Baltic, Adriatic and Black seas. One driving purpose of the initiative is to make the region less dependent on Russian energy. Under the project, U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which began arriving in Poland in early June, would have the potential to supply more of the region. The visit coincides with efforts by Trump's administration to become a net exporter of oil, gas and other resources to boost U.S. revenues and influence.

It is quite beyond me how shipping gas across the Atlantic is in any way better than using pipelines; it simply cannot make economic sense, so I suspect it's being subsidised somewhere along the line.

Still, not too many opportunities for disaster to strike in Poland - as long as they keep Trump away from sword dances and orbs.