The Slow-Motion Coup d’Etat picks up steam

[GURPS]

The Slow-Motion Coup d’Etat picks up steam

Leak of full transcripts of presidential conversations with foreign leaders a milestone in effort to paralyze the Trump administration.


At the same time, there has been unprecedented obstruction of Trump’s ability to staff his administration. Even non-controversial nominees are slow-walked by Democrats. Vast swaths of the federal bureaucracy remain under the sway of Obama holdovers and those who consider Trump illegitimate.

The purpose in all this has been to freeze and paralyze the Trump administration. If Trump could not be prevented from taking office, and cannot be physically removed from office, he will be prevented from functioning as president.

Trump, because of his own personal and administrative volatility, unpredictability and inconsistency, was a vulnerable target for such an effort.

The effort to paralyze the administration was advanced significantly today with the release by The Washington Post of leaked full transcripts of Trump’s conversations with the leaders of Mexico and Australia soon after he took office. There had been leaks about those conversations previously, but never the full transcripts.

The leak is being celebrated and the transcripts quoted (often out of context) for the purpose of scoring political points against Trump. But more than that, this represents yet another dangerous example of how leaks have been weaponized to try to paralyze the Trump administration.

David Frum, a harsh critic of Trump, writes at The Atlantic, Why Leaking Transcripts of Trump’s Calls Is So Dangerous

Leaking the transcript of a presidential call to a foreign leader is unprecedented, shocking, and dangerous. It is vitally important that a president be able to speak confidentially—and perhaps even more important that foreign leaders understand that they can reply in confidence.

Thursday’s leak to The Washington Post of President Trump’s calls with the president of Mexico and the prime minister of Australia will reverberate around the world. No leader will again speak candidly on the phone to Washington, D.C.—at least for the duration of this presidency, and perhaps for longer. If these calls can be leaked, any call can be leaked—and no leader dare say anything to the president of the United States that he or she would not wish to read in the news at home.​

 

[hotbikermama40]

The Slow-Motion Coup d’Etat picks up steam

Leak of full transcripts of presidential conversations with foreign leaders a milestone in effort to paralyze the Trump administration.


At the same time, there has been unprecedented obstruction of Trump’s ability to staff his administration. Even non-controversial nominees are slow-walked by Democrats. Vast swaths of the federal bureaucracy remain under the sway of Obama holdovers and those who consider Trump illegitimate.

The purpose in all this has been to freeze and paralyze the Trump administration. If Trump could not be prevented from taking office, and cannot be physically removed from office, he will be prevented from functioning as president.

Trump, because of his own personal and administrative volatility, unpredictability and inconsistency, was a vulnerable target for such an effort.

The effort to paralyze the administration was advanced significantly today with the release by The Washington Post of leaked full transcripts of Trump’s conversations with the leaders of Mexico and Australia soon after he took office. There had been leaks about those conversations previously, but never the full transcripts.

The leak is being celebrated and the transcripts quoted (often out of context) for the purpose of scoring political points against Trump. But more than that, this represents yet another dangerous example of how leaks have been weaponized to try to paralyze the Trump administration.

David Frum, a harsh critic of Trump, writes at The Atlantic, Why Leaking Transcripts of Trump’s Calls Is So Dangerous

Leaking the transcript of a presidential call to a foreign leader is unprecedented, shocking, and dangerous. It is vitally important that a president be able to speak confidentially—and perhaps even more important that foreign leaders understand that they can reply in confidence.

Thursday’s leak to The Washington Post of President Trump’s calls with the president of Mexico and the prime minister of Australia will reverberate around the world. No leader will again speak candidly on the phone to Washington, D.C.—at least for the duration of this presidency, and perhaps for longer. If these calls can be leaked, any call can be leaked—and no leader dare say anything to the president of the United States that he or she would not wish to read in the news at home.​

 

[hotbikermama40]

It's bad enough to vociferously wish for the pilot (POTUS) to crash the plane (USA) you're on; it’s inexorably worse to take direct action that purposely sabotaged the plane's operations just to make your wish come true.

 

[Hijinx]

I cannot understand why the source (sources) of these leaks has not been found.
Where is our intelligence agencies, the FBI, WH security, the Secret Service.?

Are they sitting around playing with themselves?
Or are they in fact still working for Obama?

You can bet your ass that this crap needs to stop, and the people doing it need to disappear.
Permanently. --------------------------Without trace.

2 or 3 would send the message.
One thing you can say for the Clinton's , they knew how to do this.

 

[Wishbone]

I cannot understand why the source (sources) of these leaks has not been found.
Where is our intelligence agencies, the FBI, WH security, the Secret Service.? >> Leaking ####!

Or are they in fact still working for Obama? >> Take a page from the democrats play book. Pin it on him regardless of guilt.

You can bet your ass that this crap needs to stop, and the people doing it need to disappear.
Permanently. --------------------------Without trace. >>

It needs to stop, by the most merciless, painful means imaginable.

 

[Hijinx]

It needs to stop, by the most merciless, painful means imaginable.

Amen Brother.

There is no excuse for them not finding the link and whoever the "Journalist" who receives that leak and prints it is still walking around in one piece.
Time for a Ron Brown flight.

 

[Midnightrider]

No leader will again speak candidly on the phone to Washington, D.C.—at least for the duration of this presidency, and perhaps for longer.

you idiots sound like Hillary supporters crying about the Russians while ignoring the content of her emails.
The reason no leaders will take trump seriously isn't because of leaks, its because of his words. The guy talked down to the Australian prime minister while showing how ignorant he was of the situation. All he was worried about in either conversation was how he looked.


the leaks aren't the problem. If he wasn't such a tool they wouldn't have any of this kind of stuff to leak.

 

[GURPS]

the leaks aren't the problem. If he wasn't such a tool they wouldn't have any of this kind of stuff to leak.

Trump is NOBODY'S Tool .... and the left is going to leak everything they can get there hands on

 

[Monello]

The WaPo needs to be held accountable for printing the conversations. What gain is it for them to be party to a crime.

 

[Sapidus]

Trump is NOBODY'S Tool .... and the left is going to leak everything they can get there hands on

It's true the transcripts show he is a tool of the Mexicans and they got exactly what they wanted. He is a tool of the Australians they got exactly what they wanted.

We will see if he is also a Russian tool before long.


Great negotiator MY A** He sounded more like a whiny brat.

and people advocating violence or death to the leaker and then complaining about Hillary and all her lies and treason. Good grief. What is good for the goose is good for the gander if you believe the lies about Hillary

 

[Gilligan]

the lies about Hillary

What lies are those?

 

[Wishbone]

He sounded more like a whiny brat.

We need an Irony Meter installed on the forums.

 

[Midnightrider]

The WaPo needs to be held accountable for printing the conversations. What gain is it for them to be party to a crime.

again, you sound just like clintonites crying about leaks when what trump said is the problem. If he didn't say such stupid #### they wouldn't have anything to leak. now you want to silence the press because they are letting us know just how idiotic our president sounds when he is talking to leaders of other countries. :sad:

 

[glhs837]

again, you sound just like clintonites crying about leaks when what trump said is the problem.

Well, consider the difference. Whomever leaked stuff about Hillary was a private citizen with no legal obligation to keep things confidential, or if they did, it was as a civil contractual matter between two parties. Whereas I'm pretty sure nobody gets to have access to the Presidents phone call transcripts unless they sign some legal documents requiring them to maintain confidentiality of everything they have access to.

 

[Hijinx]

again, you sound just like clintonites crying about leaks when what trump said is the problem. If he didn't say such stupid #### they wouldn't have anything to leak. now you want to silence the press because they are letting us know just how idiotic our president sounds when he is talking to leaders of other countries. :sad:

Man you've got it bad.
The President's phone was listened to and transcribed.

First unless he wanted it listened to and transcribed it should have never been listened to.
second, he did not give anyone the authority to release the transcription..
That was done by a spy. YES a spy. A traitor.
No matter what justification this agent working against the President of the United States may have the fact remains that this spy released unauthorized bootlegged copies of a communication between two heads of state. That's called Spying and the one doing it is a traitor.
The treacherous sumbitch should be shot.
The low life press that releases this material is part and parcel of a ring dedicated to bring down the President of the United States.

Those are the facts and yes: It is sad that misguided people would do this.

 

[Midnightrider]

Well, consider the difference. Whomever leaked stuff about Hillary was a private citizen with no legal obligation to keep things confidential, or if they did, it was as a civil contractual matter between two parties. Whereas I'm pretty sure nobody gets to have access to the Presidents phone call transcripts unless they sign some legal documents requiring them to maintain confidentiality of everything they have access to.

There are an awful lot of assumptions in your post, but you don't even try to address the content of trumps conversation and how that is really what is damaging to our relationships with foreign leaders. The leaks are secondary.

 

[Hijinx]

There are an awful lot of assumptions in your post, but you don't even try to address the content of trumps conversation and how that is really what is damaging to our relationships with foreign leaders. The leaks are secondary.

The contents of the conversation is not the point.
The point is that some traitor leaked it.
The leaks are not secondary, the leaks are a part of national Security.That is failing.

 

[GURPS]

..... but you don't even try to address the content of trumps conversation and how that is really what is damaging to our relationships with foreign leaders. The leaks are secondary.

A Leak That Really Hurts

Presidents need to be able to converse openly, honestly, and bluntly with foreign leaders. They sometimes need to reveal things that they cannot say publicly. This allows them to develop both personal and working relationships. Though it can be unpleasant to contemplate, politicians need this kind of flexibility to move past public pronouncements and get down to their nations’ real interests.

Neither Trump nor his foreign counterparts can have such flexibility in their mutual dealings if they fear that their remarks will be leaked to the press and then to the public.

For example, the Post’s transcript shows that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull of Australia told President Trump that he thinks the Germans made a huge mistake in letting in so many refugees. Turnbull even linked that decision to the Brexit vote in Britain. He’ll now have to answer for that comment at home and whenever he next meets with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor. Similarly, the Post quotes President Peña Nieto musing about “creative ways” to pay for Trump’s border wall. In public, Nieto’s position is far more intransigent, but it is a good thing that he was able to level with our president and explain the constraints of his own political situation. In the future, Turnbull, Nieto, and every other foreign leader will think twice before opening up.

There is also another risk. Tamara Cofman Wittes, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, speculated on Twitter that President Trump may now “refuse notetakers at other major phone calls/meetings.” This would not be unreasonable of him. After all, he can only tolerate so many leaks that damage his ability to do his job before he says enough is enough.

 

[Chris0nllyn]

Man you've got it bad.
The President's phone was listened to and transcribed.

First unless he wanted it listened to and transcribed it should have never been listened to.
second, he did not give anyone the authority to release the transcription..
That was done by a spy. YES a spy. A traitor.
No matter what justification this agent working against the President of the United States may have the fact remains that this spy released unauthorized bootlegged copies of a communication between two heads of state. That's called Spying and the one doing it is a traitor.
The treacherous sumbitch should be shot.
The low life press that releases this material is part and parcel of a ring dedicated to bring down the President of the United States.

Those are the facts and yes: It is sad that misguided people would do this.

Doesn't the white house transcribe most of their conversations? I don't think someone was tapping his phone.

 

[Midnightrider]

yep, EXACTLY the BS Hillary's supporters did when russia hacked the DNC. They screamed and yelled about spies and espionage to distract from the content of the emails.
If these two conversations were not so full of tooliness they wouldn't be news. Hell, they wouldn't have even been leaked. There would have been NO STORY. I am sure trump has talked to other foreign leaders on the phone but the transcripts are not in the news. This story is about trump being trump as usual. You should be concerned that he wasn't really trying to get either leader to bend to his will, instead he was looking for them to allow him to make it look like they may have.
"hey mexico, please stop saying you wont pay for the wall, its ok if you don't, you are just making me look bad by saying it"