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Arkansas Granny

(31,516 posts)
Sat Jan 6, 2018, 03:39 PM Jan 2018

Donald Trump Goes Full Fredo

“I can handle things. I’m smart! Not like everybody says, like dumb. I’m smart and I want respect!”

This morning’s presidential Twitter outburst recalls those words of Fredo Corleone’s in one of the most famous scenes from The Godfather series. Trump tweeted that his “two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart,” and in a subsequent tweet called himself a “very stable genius.”

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Before the Saturday morning tweets, what should have been the biggest story of the week was Trump’s success at mobilizing the Senate and the FBI to deploy criminal prosecution as a weapon against Trump critics. The Senate Judiciary committee—the Senate Judiciary Committee! The committee that oversees the proper enforcement of the law!—formally filed a criminal referral with the Department of Justice against Christopher Steele, the author of the infamous dossier about Trump’s Russia connections. The referral was signed by the committee’s chairman, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, without even notice to Democrats on the committee, Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein said; a startling abuse of majority status and a sharp departure from the norms of the Senate, especially a 51-49 Senate.

The Department of Justice can ignore such a referral. It’s ominous, however, that on the very same day, the FBI obeyed Trump’s repeated demands and reopened a long-closed criminal investigation into the Clinton Foundation. The FBI has come under relentless abuse from Trump, who complains about its refusal to do his will. Is it now yielding?

https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/549875/?__twitter_impression=true

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ProudMNDemocrat

(16,785 posts)
1. This image comes to mind.......
Sat Jan 6, 2018, 04:03 PM
Jan 2018

[img]?w=749&h=315[/img]

When Michael gives Fredo the Kiss of Death for his betrayal before the fall of Batista in Cuba. Which still makes me think Donald Trump is an Agent of Russia doing Putin's bidding as his Puppet President.

yurbud

(39,405 posts)
7. if Putin is so smart, why would he pick such an unreliable tool?
Sat Jan 6, 2018, 09:42 PM
Jan 2018

Using Trump as a puppet makes about as much sense as the urban legend where some rednecks tape a stick of dynamite to the back of rabbit to watch it explode--but it hides under their pickup before it does.

liberal_patriot_md

(194 posts)
8. Because thats not his goal
Sun Jan 7, 2018, 01:34 PM
Jan 2018

Putin doesn’t need Trump to do his bidding on every single matter. He doesn’t need a puppet. That’s what’s being missed - along with whether there was collusion by Trump himself. Those claims don’t matter.

Putin simply wanted to sow discord and confusion in the US. He wanted to destabilize, isolate, and diminish the US. He wanted to undermine their influence in Europe.

Trump’s election is just a happy accident. He is easily manipulated and his only consistent position is to do the opposite of what Obama did. Russia is taking full advantage and so is China.

The real Russian connection with Trump is purely financial. He is and has been dependent on Russian money for years. This made his willing to use information and support from these same oligarchs and look the other way in other areas.

That’s why we haven’t seen his taxes or his financial data.

yurbud

(39,405 posts)
9. I agree with your last couple of paragraphs. I wish Mueller or one of the state AG's
Sun Jan 7, 2018, 07:10 PM
Jan 2018

put some of the evidence of that out there.

The collusion stuff is pretty slippery even if there's evidence, but the financial entanglements and possible quid pro quo would be easy to prove and on solid legal ground.

BigmanPigman

(51,591 posts)
3. This is why he may fire Sessions and replace him with
Sat Jan 6, 2018, 05:04 PM
Jan 2018

people who will derail Mueller's investigation. He can't do it directly but now he will be able to successfully do it indirectly. I read how the chain of command would work and who and how it can be done pretty quickly. If Pruitt replaces Sessions we will see the Sat Night Massacre scenario.

yurbud

(39,405 posts)
10. It would be tough to find an AG replacement stupid enough to do that since it would be
Sun Jan 7, 2018, 07:11 PM
Jan 2018

blatant obstruction.

Although Trump has a talent for attracting such people.

Nitram

(22,801 posts)
4. The FBI can open an investigation to take the heat off, but they may not expect to find anything at
Sat Jan 6, 2018, 08:17 PM
Jan 2018

all to investigate.

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