Updated 4/18/2018 9:18 AM PDT
1/ Defense Secretary James Mattis wanted to seek Congressional approval before bombing Syria last week but Trump overruled him. Trump wanted his tweets to be supported by action, despite warnings that an overly aggressive strike could spark a larger dispute with Russia. A limited airstrike on three targets was the compromise. (New York Times)
It’s a terrible thought but I kinda want to see Trump really go off the deep end. This political postering holding pattern is making me feel anxious. How are you all feeling?
ProPublica takes its turn at deciphering Michael Cohen’s iffy background and the company he keeps.
Yup, where he borrows money when he needs it.
“And in 2001, Cohen borrowed money for one of his taxi companies, Golden Child Cab Corp., from one of the men convicted with Cohen’s father-in-law, Fima Shusterman, in the fraud against the IRS.”
Well, that is something, Cohen will flip.
Excerpt
"One of President Donald Trump’s longtime legal advisers said he warned the president in a phone call Friday that Michael Cohen, Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer and close friend, would turn against the president and cooperate with federal prosecutors if faced with criminal charges.
Mr. Trump made the call seeking advice from Jay Goldberg, who represented Mr. Trump in the 1990s and early 2000s. Mr. Goldberg said he cautioned the president not to trust Mr. Cohen. On a scale of 100 to 1, where 100 is fully protecting the president, Mr. Cohen “isn’t even a 1,” he said he told Mr. Trump.
Mr. Cohen is under criminal investigation for potential bank fraud and campaign-finance violations. FBI agents raided Mr. Cohen’s home, hotel and office last week, seeking documents about, among other things, a $130,000 payment he made in October 2016 to a former adult-film actress to prevent her from publicly discussing an alleged sexual encounter with Mr. Trump in 2006, The Wall Street Journal previously reported, citing people familiar with the matter.​Messrs. Trump and Cohen deny such an encounter occurred.
Investigators are examining whether Mr. Cohen committed bank fraud in using a home-equity line of credit to pay the former porn star for her silence, as well as potential campaign-finance violations related to the payment, the people said.
“Michael will never stand up [for you]” if charged by the government, Mr. Goldberg said he cautioned the president."
I too follow the Trump newz nearly daily, but have different thoughts about him. The Donald as a person, no need to comment. His election though, sort of proved some theories about how much change America is or was seeking.
If he goes off the deep end, so be it. I prefer to look at his actions and antics and lack of political “give-a-shit” as a wake up call for lifer politicians. I hope they are scared and jump into the deep too! I think they are afraid of exposing him for the eyes can always shift into their chambers.
SDNY Eric Schneiderman considers the double jeopardy rule when it comes to presidential pardons. While I see that T is presenting to his potential flippers that he is perfectly comfortable in granting a pardon in case they do not want to divulge his secrets and are loyal.
Excerpt
'New York’s attorney general has asked officials to change state law so President Donald Trump’s aides can be tried for any criminal acts committed in the state, even if they have been given a presidential pardon."
In a letter sent to New York’s top lawmakers, including Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (D) said that he was troubled by Trump’s frequent discussion of his ability to issue pardons and that he was worried those who had committed crimes in the state would escape prosecution. New York has a double jeopardy law that prevents individuals from being charged with the same crime twice, even if the charges originated at the federal level."
Sounds like something out of a film noir scenario… manipulating the legal levers in T’s favor.
And this NPR article
For 17 months I’ve found myself singing Country Joe and the Fish’s song about Vietnam, changing the words to fit the news/my mood.
Now I’ll probably add Crazy Train to my mental music, playing really loud!
@Pet_Proletariat It’s a terrible thought but I kinda want to see Trump really go off the deep end. This political postering holding pattern is making me feel anxious. How are you all feeling?
Nervous, skittish, jumpy, apprehensive, edgy, jittery, and agitated, but other than that I’m just fine.
Living on the west coast, every morning begins by looking at Twitter for a temperature check for the day to come. The last two days have been wild. So, I slept in.
HA! I am with you there.
I feel like we are in one giant pinball machine and Trump is the ball, hitting out at all the possible angles, and double/triple ramming the bumpers he really hates. Mr. Center-of-the-Universe as he likes to be is just the AGITATOR part of it. His hateful comments are just par for the course. We can decipher what’s just agida (yiddish for agitated) for T and what’s real panic, the kind you see in someone heading for the panic room. When reporters report that he’s apoplectic I am assuming they are getting their info from all his evening calls contacts, so we know what his mood is for reals.
Aside from reeling from all the chaos, with whiplash every few hours, doing as expected…sick to my stomach on this cr*p.
But I get far greater peace knowing that Mueller/FBI/SDNY are several lengths ahead of this clown. You never know what’s really down the pike though…so continuing to buckle up on this freakishly bumpy ride.
@matt I find Trump’s twitter feed completely unnecessary, I have never followed. I don’t even check, if it’s important to the news flow of the day it’ll be in the paper. 
I got that shit on alert mode, so I wake up to a bunch of push notifications from a few hours earlier 
