On this week's podcast, the COMMENTARY crew addresses the elephant in the room. That's all I'm going to say. It's an elephant. It's in a room. Give a listen.
This is an unofficial transcript meant for reference. Accuracy is not guaranteed.
Some guy
welcome to. The commentary magazine pack has today is Monday March six. Twenty seventeen, I'm John Paul towards the editor of commentary, the seventy two year old monthly of intellect
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today, a good
while our senior editor high Abe Ion no Rossman are associate at her high Noah John.
As we have a crazy weekend, we had a crane
the weekend and that's all, I can say, was a crazy weakens with the present getting up in the middle of the night on Saturday and telling us that he's just disappear,
didn't grand angry, because Barack Obama was tapping his wires. I believe and spell the word tat TCP, which lead me to believe that maybe he had taken an overdose of diamond tap and was
trip, but ok, so so,
we can have wide. What's he saying does he know something does not know something. Did it come from a story? Bright part. Did the story bright bird come from a single source store
by a Louise Mench in HEAT Street in October, in what is now and if he doesn't know wisely pick up a phone call. Somebody is presently as aids in call anybody in the governments. They tell me what you know in their obliged tone what they now what
he tried to misdirect because he was angry about Jeff sessions were accusing himself last
in the matter of russian
the question of russian involvement in the twenty sixteen election. He kicked people off
aims he was having temper tantrums in full view of reporters in the oval office. How reporter
were actually outside the window. I don't really understand of the oval office to see him yelling and screaming at the people which suggest may be somebody wanted them to see. The trump was
Remain because I worked at the White House and you can't just walk by shovels office on the walkway unless somebody lets you, through their like snipers stuff, will watch
to make sure that no one should out of the window
golf personally was yelling. They was yelling at that Marilla go in the deep he. He told Chris
you have news max that he was you know.
It was true when he was going to get to the bottom of it.
Ok so and our friend bread Stevens, then tweeted outline deleted the tweet and there was a big country
Merci over him saying the President
mentally ill. So the fact is
here we are live in two months.
Question is: what does he know is crazy? That's basically
what people are asking who pay a lot of attention to politics? Is the president crazy? I I
My jaws dropping like he did this to himself. No one else is, and in anybody who claims any fan of the president who claims that he did himself a favour by making this
three days scene, which only by
stirs the case for an independent prosecutor, studying the question involvement Spacex election to determine whether there was an illicit wiretap of him.
Even if it wasn't illicit, even if it was like through the face a court
Whatever else was going on, I thought he didn't want an independent, but I thought you didn't want an investigation into a sixty intellectual. I don't want any of that. So now,
we're talking about this. Why are we?
talking about this well here
Why are we talking about this?
This is crazy, not just getting out. I don't. I don't know that he's crazy, etc. That is neither either, but you know it
We left off the last podcast by saying, ok after that, that great
each which, by the way in part, was raved about not only because it was.
But because it was the sort
some relief that that we that we tuned interest to see this sir
We turned interest to see this speech and in the August, setting that we can make fun of on other occasions, but this time I think we were very happy to have it be big, happy
then all the pomp was was in place and that he wasn't destroy
with his with his nonsense only
Stop saying, ok! Well, to see! If you will,
let's see how he responds, he stayed off twitter.
Let's see how he responds to the van breaking stories about about the Obama administration, leaving breadcrumbs intelligence, Breadcrumbs Forum and
sure sure enough here yard next time. Talking about what
what he did. You know
a bad about. Basically, what you're saying this podcast is ACE is a soap opera ever the end of every chapeau. America's literary lightly is basically a cliff
it's a cliffhanger and the next show we have to let you in on what will happen that the resolve, the clipping, that that did that's precisely
was all a dream,
no, not enough as it were, but you know today
vanity question. One sort of legal standard for insanity is the is the idea that the person in question knows the difference between
right and wrong and does
does voracity, reality right right right? Ok, so, but, but I guess but there's
sort of legal?
moral dimension, but were where, if
if they know that their doing wrong than they're- not crazy, crazy right, trumps, this this
This brings into question trumps ignorance here because I'm not sure that he saw
tweet as any more explosive than any of his other tweets.
He necessarily has the
knows the sort of historic weight of of doing what he did. I think he thinks he was just
a boiling up steam once he couldn't have cousin, true manic fashion within an hour or so he was tweeting furiously about the apprentice and rate.
He's an Arnold swords and errors.
Removing himself from the programme or being removed per the president's assertion himself. He couldn't possibly around the firestorm than he ignited just because he was often onto another tangent. What one thing
I think that, ok, so if he didn't know the farce term that he ignited this raises the court. This raises the simple fact of the extreme self destructiveness of his behaviour. If he wanted to ignite the Firestone,
which is something that I am sure fans of his are asserting, because road
yet through Obama, even his enemies. They always all distractions, trying to distract us from Jeff sessions and from this story,
that story to holds giant distraction. I it it's,
seems to be not true, well cause he went moved on to
nonsense about the apprentice, some more than at Heathrow everybody in the White House into a crisis. So, according to reporting this happen, he made these tweets and then the White House Councils office goes not
tells everybody to shut up, keep off social media? Stop talking, let led the council's office said the terms with
I don't know twelve hours. I guess coms people were all
over ten. Ok, we need to women who swains on these terms of the White House Council is the in House law. Farm of these of the of the White House is the president's personal lawyers and the White House. His lawyers and the purpose of the White House Council is to make sure that what the President's as on what the white
does conforms with american lie in existing law electoral law during election years and stuff like that so dead, there's a White House cancels AIM is done on again and he down again or downloading Anna can't remember, and so he said you ve all got to stop talking as we have to.
Figure out what that what this is in words, if in
we don't know what happened the end and it's not clear that everybody knows what happened and we have to know what it is that work,
using somebody of did somebody put in
wiretap on. Did somebody go to of the foreign intelligence, security court
remember what Pfizer stance, war for an intelligent, something or other court and get away.
Prince was it tromp? Was it somebody close to tromp? Was it? Was it a computer in
I'm tower, I was speculating fifty
minutes ago, that there could be some buzz
our confusion, because maybe somebody was looking was facing it to according
Paul man afford the fired campaign director of transfer. I campaigned to weapons.
Live in Trump Tower
So maybe there was a vice, a worn out for transparent. That was, for man affords apartment and not for Trump. I mean I've just making that up. I'm saying to right now I just made that up. I have no idea, but nobody has any idea. So that's what that's what Miguel? That's, what the council did
and then the communications people are Sarah without Sarah Huckabee who
Ex force chance by sir
Kelly and Conway who doesn't seem to work for anybody or works for everybody and
by Sir and some other
people, and so they actually go on tv on Sunday and
I don't know what they did. They just sort of babbled. Accordingly,
reports that we had early on. It was this bright bird story that was sort of linked to the many story that prompted
It's bizarre tweet at a nowhere at national level as well, that we have to explain this to so
There was a story, I'm bright bird dot com say
Basically, this that Obama had tapped trumps. Followers wires,
The story seems to be sourced back to a peace by our friend Louise Mench, who is a former British MP now as her freelance american journalist and also a author of chocolate.
Others who doggedly as a dogged the anti tramper reported in
October that there was a secret face, a court warrant out for Trump investigating Trump personally.
Now. There is no evidence except her piece of this is true, so we have a game of telephone. In other words,
ordinarily, what you would have it in a device:
hoping story. Is that one somebody report something and then there is another piece of reporting
advances that that adds to it that builds on top of it. But that is not what
going on these days was going on these days. Is somebody says something and then another person picks up the report and repeats it, and then people say I you see. There are two sources
right barred and Louise meant, but bright, do anything. Independent Louise meant there still
only one source and that's what he's mention that's for five months all well, today, all that's gone away, no one in the White House, and we are close to the White House citing anything remotely closer, even implying that it was a bright Bart, Mench story that their citing some real. You know authentic caitive reports that have been echoed in a lot of other places about internet, specifically in the New York Times, and specifically that the story about the Obama administration, leaving a trail of intelligence breadcrumbs for investigators that there were communications interception of
of a Trump associates. Specifically MIKE Flynn, contacting the russian Average National. The three week national security adviser contacting russian diplomatic officials. There were swept up in very routine intercepts of russian diplomatic consequent communications traffic. Now the fact that those transcripts summarised, I suppose, by whoever was privy to them, summarised from importers, made it into
public reports is the subject of a lot of consternation and some real, genuine concern and should be banned. A little story said that
nine oh boy
administration. Officials confirmed this was weeks ago, right weeks ago, that nine officials confirmed that there was contact between
kiss lack the russian ambassador and MIKE Flynn five.
Calls, and one is definitely regarding sanctions really specifically
Growing sexual live on the day that Brocklebridge announced sanctions, arrive. Ok are solved the deadline or move ok, yeah, thirty, five diplomats, thirty five russian of men, were removed from the country in response to the hacking of twigs, extend influenza. Don't tell me
We're gonna, make it easy on your right. Ok, so nine officials, in fact-
revealed the fact of a revealed in public the fact of a wired up of intelligent secret
and that's pretty scandalous, like you- can say that it's ok, because we
you need to know when it got flint out of there, but the simple fact of her is they're not supposed to do that and and there you know,
really that's was to do that so that this is where gets complex,
because the Obama people are are behaving
badly, unless you think
a priore. That Trump must be destroyed and run.
From office and everyone who works for him must be won from office and the election result of twenty. Sixteen must somehow be overturned, in which case you now without guy,
Everything is permitted right. We basically it's
Open season- and he is a unique threat and you can basically do whatever the hell you want due to him, because he doesn't respect democratic norms and he doesn't care about anything and
so let's all go crazy and the simple fact of the matter is this: this
idea, Trump Mayor
not be an authoritarian who threatens the country. This idea threatened,
the future of our democracy, just about quest for the period on it. But if Trump had said that a trump had said I was being
under intercepted in these things, showed up in public and that undermines x, Y and Z, and we should all fear for the use of this the sanctity of good governance he had begun.
Only for ground to be a victim in this situation. Instead, what he feels like a victim.
Feels, but everybody says he thinks he's saying things that make us question his sanity right, literally everybody's questioning his mental state.
You know in some sense the Obama people are giving Trump a sort of taste of of the of the Taliban and medicine back at them. In that the leaking intelligence Breadcrumbs story was a taunt from from the
on people and shore and and much laxity balances. Look if we can get the end,
so crazy that being another, that they won't be able to see their next step, that that that they're, just gonna respondents were to blind rage. We have them and hats, that's precisely what what they got trumpeted Ben roads
the notorious are famous or what you know. What have we want to call him? The deputy national security adviser, hoo hoo bragged David Samuels of the New York Times about the echo chamber he created in the media to sell the IRAN deal lit
we had a tweet Saturday morning, saying no Obama didn't put it up. The present
didn't wiretap you abandon wiretap, you face a court, you know face. A courts exist to protect Americans from people like you, Mr President, said Ben roads. This
supports your taunting theory, because that has really been rose. Taunting you with two fingers, you now and then
and then, of course, slingshot the cow on your head, like Monty Python, in the Holy GRAIL, God knows what the cows gotta, because its power
this is all they got. I mean this is the thing like this
a pretty good series of heads against Trump and the administration, the first six weeks and ok. Maybe there are a lot of bread crumbs. Are you to say that a lot of bread crumbs, so you dry them all crazy and create league which once that go nowhere in paralyze administration
Maybe this is all they got well. There was one thing that was it
to that. We are not familiar with yet, and that is the stories about Jeff sessions. Contact with Russians indicates that there was a telephone call and if there was a telephone call to kiss Leah than there are transcripts and the same process that got Flynn will eventually come out
fur sessions, wealth, sash sessions, said in his press conference accusing himself that if he had known that this would have become an issue he would have spoken quote more accurately. Unquote.
I just want to point out defend Jeff sessions. If you want to say that
This process is all politicized. It was being attacked by L, Frank and whose economy- and you know hates Devereux. All Republicans in his terrible guy said that he wished that he had spoken more accurate,
We, which is to say I shouldn't, have lied. He said
the he lied in his press conference,
He said he had lied under oath. I wish I
spoken more accurately, so that is
I've been it's not orwellian. I added costs or William speakers cleverer
that's it offers I became so.
Here's here's, here's where we are so we have an attorney jelly. That's it we're choosing himself in you know in in in a key
after you know that may have some effect on the future of the country, because he chose to speak less accurately and by the way he's
edit and then defenders demonstration are still going on twitter and in places in saying this was not fair.
L, Frank and ask him a question about something else, and he answered it and you know he answered it. He wasn't answering the question that Franklin,
and if you got a you look at the transcript he
volunteered that he had had no contacts.
Did not ask him. Have you had contacts, he said? Well, you know I'd people call me a sorghum. I haven't had contacts and then turn that he had contacts. I mean it,
Disqualifying, but it's bizarre well sessions refused himself citing the OJ rules. He didn't say I'm refusing myself because of contacts with Russians. He said he's refusing himself because, as an instrument of the campaign, he is obliged to accuse himself for campaign related investigations. I know down
from per se in Congress, needs to get on this whole. I was monitored. My wires were tapped thing, but it
it's a campaign related investigation that has all the possibility to end up. In the hands of D J so essential, you have it
then Agee refusing himself and a president calling for
instigation and necessitates an independent council pretty much
that's crazy, headland, ass, great, a wider and wider worded, and rightly so. But what do you think Trump wants the investigation now nokias right? Nobody wants exactly, but I mean it. I say: oh buddy, it knows no running around him once at every everybody, every let every liberal of the country wants there to be an independent processing right. It does
horses passionately- noticing special prosecutor, Independent Council, whenever term you want, but but that, but that leads me to the he's not sort of finally crazy theory, because a minute
If you really want, if you wanted to sort of get to the bottom of a of of of which hunted to their, can only serve to find himself. That would be crazy. I don't think he does want to well. Ok, so you're saying that
that that validates the crazy theory or at invalidates the crazy theory it in
it involves. The crazy theory goes out of the EU. Wants it out, I think that's out of it. I think he's going to actually go down that that road right over there
but he said Barack Obama TAT to my wireless okay. This is terrible right.
So I guess that's all we wanted to do was write. Rock Obama tat my wires and everybody else in the combat everybody else in the country could we'll get to that in a minute, but everybody else's saying. Well, then, what right?
so he tapped your wire. So don't we should we know what we why
Have your wires was allowed to tap you. Are you your accusing what President states of of actually
sir veiling, an American who was not under indictment are under threat or something like that. You know me
we should know about that. Has ever been enormous abuse of power, and so what's he gonna do like ok,
say an Earl just move on right, Tang Arnold Schwarzenegger
getting bad ratings on the apprentice, but
where the apprentices ratings were tanking when he in the last couple years that he was running a bag, I'm not gonna. You know me to go there, though I just
What I mean, I alone
he wants to investigate it. The way he wants to get our investigators touch humor fur for meeting with Putin, and I mean to say he doesn't row. I forgot about the donut tweet
right. Nobody was funny I saw like I was actually that was that was trolling rang. Okay, this is ridiculous,
everybody in Washington has met with Sergey cautiously act? So here's a picture of here's a picture,
consumer eating it don't adheres? Diane Feinstein is met with Kingsley ACT. Claremont Gaskell's met with
like all these centres are met with? Who were claiming that any meeting with us
Ambassador is itself
we're facie evidence that you're a russian agent and that deserve
a little teasing on his part, and then he did it and it was oh. How can you possibly stage story? You know because they should like do little due diligence.
Their part to make sure somebody like do you know everybody stinks at this. Everyone sucks at this
occasions in Washington now it's like don't tweet
that you're not allowed to meet with Kisyak. If all you need to do is due to second search on twitter to find the picture of you meeting with Kisses ACT. Two years earlier, like
Anybody here play this game. That's what Casey Single seventy was managing the New York mats and their. Firstly, this is countries too
forty one years old already like. Can anybody here play this game?
great social media is not two hundred and forty years old, like twitter is only ten years older, eleven years older than nine years old. So people really dont know how to play the game. You don't know, you know that there were things, but now they well. I hope, because this is like it's just embarrassing. I've seen
Let's do both like she up what think. Well, I will have been ageless with horror. The twittered aspect of the game has rules to plan and I think it's a sort of race to the bottom and that the nets and, if ever launched heading there
twitter is just look out. All right is is Gacek, like gotcha
how you think I do think you got me. I've one guy I've gone back and looked at your twitter feed, and I see that in twenty eleven you said that you liked star wars, three not hated it. So I don't know you have no credibility at a thing
I don't think about you. I had a thing on twitter today, briefly on the blog, where I had asked. Imagine how close how much closer than normal is administration would seem without Twitter, because it very act
but behind the scenes its debts busily and effectively deconstructing the regulatory state erected under Brok bomber. These efforts to pursue legislation, while they seem pretty chaotic and public, are moving forward. We're talking about some very big reform. Some very big repeal efforts, tax code reform, a bomb care repealed
and so forth, but on twitter, you know it's one crazy thing after another: one crazy episode that preoccupy the minds of most of the media in the present Americans at the dinner table, but also in our opinion makers, and so that what I got was a self righteous stream of indignation from Trump sceptics and
girls who were aghast and even the notion that this administration could be can portrayed as normal. Well, listen, here's one of the things that should give them even more arduous and and and sort of make people who are thinking about this ideological struggle. Struggle in the long term think a little differently about it, which is the tall in came out today from Monmouth and
gibes, whether Paul's. That basically suggests the tramp has an approval rating of some.
Between forty and forty two and forty five percent, with his disapproval, Redding somewhere between forty and fifty one percent. So what does this tell us? I think it tells us very basically that this has been in two months or almost two months of hell and the people who voted for him or the people in the entirety of the country who voted former would have voted for a more
If you look at adults as opposed to registered voters, what has happened since the election has not shaken them from the idea that their willing they voted form, and they want to give him a chance to see if he can succeed,
and and they knew what he was when they voted, formed Salem liked. It sounded like it, but he's
in person. He was today that he was on November eight today that they voted for him and he is a crane,
The personal twitter already get takes it to people in these hyper aggressive and all this and the proof of the pudding will be in the eating. They want to see what he is going to do, and that is a solid base.
Not a good base because he still a minority president and if he doesn't get another ten percent of those people to like to like him by the time his
you now fourth year is through. Then he will have a very great deal. Those are sort of traditional metrics that we used to gauge presidency like they, the efficacy and long term effects. That's not the reward structure that is established for social media.
Right for people to learn social media. It's right worry, instant gratification is rewarded and emotional preening. That's what Donald Trump by the way is seeking seeking the approval of his twitter followers with inflammatory his sentence one and then just your backdrop
disappear rights over it's really, and then you can you get it this new posts having it's it's a two track game I mean so he's on twitter that he sees seeking the approval of of of
bays and then in terms of actual policies, as you say, actually going really doing? Exerting on the question becomes we're talking about this little before we started the show. What are the poor?
that's furrowed. The one seeping into the other, in other words, does does what we consider to be crazy or potentially crazy on Twitter,
does it have a possibility of seeping into the policymaking? Why,
It already has in some sense there is a story in politico today. The second story
follow up to a story that they did last week about how
There are long knives out in the White House for White House Chief of staff rights previous and
story is psychotic. Does that
The articles, not psychotic, the people who are quoted in the article are psychotic and they are psychotic politically and organs
patiently institutionally psychotic and what they say is the front ranks previous as chief of staff,
is interfering with their with the work that they are trying to do now.
He is. Essentially the c o of the administrative over.
The structure is ease. The ceo of the White House Trump is that she is the chairman of the board or
could call him the c o and rights this the chief operating officer, either way he is
close to know, everything that is going on here is supposed to be the gatekeeper.
A term that is used negatively about him in the course of this.
Gory by somebody quotas anonymously and the ideas he's trying to get in my way of my personal relationship, but tromp he's trying to interfere
we have meetings and he shows up at our meetings. Yeah he's the boss. That is what he is supposed
No everything that is going on, so he can sort through
oh the signal on the noise, get rid of the noise and bring the signal to Trump. That is, he supposed.
To be going to meetings,
in white houses, pass the idea that the chief of staff was at your meeting with something that meant that the meeting was efficacious and might lead to actual policy changes. That is not the that is not. What is
oppose this. The story is he's making it huh
for me to be some lunatic getting into
pumps ear and rising him up and and being a trump can spin
stir and getting him to get hysterical about my issues. I don't know
HU. The sources are, I mean, I'm guessing
then all Moreau, Samantha galled, this crazy person who was on the apprentice and that ceiling dropped on her head
what episode did Lenny fired door and now she's back as some kind of seniors
for the White House which
itself is perhaps unimpeachable offended by the way that she is employed, but you know it's like they are
easy that is, a debt is a crazy view of how White House should run so.
Most of them- have never worked, and why has before so fine, but I mean no war.
Immigration can run like that. This notion, like the guy
I who was hired to run the White House is, is bothering me
there is now more important than he had he's running he's coming into my meeting in trying to find out what I'm doing like. Are you out of your mind, specifically because he's impulse control, because he represents some sort of a tether
more internal examined is right when I say this by the way, as somebody who is profoundly and has long been profoundly unimpressed by rights previous who himself on election day, was saying you ve trumpets loose, and you know- and I you know it's
that during the conventionally thought from was gonna lose privately and you know is it is. It is an incredibly you know, and I think
Some have no principle whatsoever, since what Trump represents is exactly the opposite of what he thought the Republican Party should be in do when he was.
Its chairman and the sea
revise of its autopsy, so he twists himself into ideological and political pretzels in order to maintain power, and that's contemptible. Having said that,
he's the White House Chief of staff and should know what's going on so yes, the lead
king into the policy process, and there are other forms of leading into the policy process. I have mentioned this before, as you know,
family is family Anne, Elliot Abrams, as happens to be the brother in law. The husband of my late sister, Rachel, but
Elliot. Who is one of them? The most able people in in american Foreign Power
see as we now worked, you now for base
sixteen years and two different administrations in every possible, practically every senior position, so he there he was up, for
Secretary of State Rex Tiller wanted him that I have I by the way, as I talk about this, I've never spoken to Elliot about it or anything like that. I'm just bring this up as an example. I literally have not spoken to him.
So he is telling them
once the harm as deputy secretary of State, he is refused by tromp or because Bannon whispered in trumps here about something or
from saw something about a piece of Elliot rode after they had this meeting were Elliot was this was to shake his hand and then get the job and its,
three weeks later and there still is no deputy secretary of state. So you know that is that is
mad. This leaching into the policy process and
hundreds and true added it will get worse by the way? If
things like today's attempted to head on previous works and, and the impulse
and the impulse control guy is out
and you know, and then then down the line we will. We will see more of it more and more of the crazy bleeding into into the actual than straight. There was a detail in a story by Susan Glaser in the politico glass Glasser. Thank you about that particular episode and it couldn't be confirmed, but it was somebody who told her that they thought that possibly he was confused, Elliot Abrams, with Elliot calling who is a former state department, counselor and who is extremely vocally critical of the trumpet ministration on multiple occasions across multiple platforms, much more so than Elliot Abrams. The lack of us of a state department, deputy secretaries. Actually are
really big deal, and I was in Ukraine last month the people at the embassy we're talking about how they didn't have any instructions, because there's no debts they grant change there. I thought you were that last someone pointed out this month and there still isn't one so the nail policies and there's there's no deputy at defence and there's no deputy treasury, and this story about previous says that Stephen Manichean, who is that
through secretary is mad at previous, because previous blocked his person for deputy
secretary. Who is yes yet
their Stafford Goldman Sachs who thus bringing the number of Goldman Sachs would have brought the number of Goldman Sachs Vets to eight, and you may remember that Trump spent the entirety of his campaign. Talking about governments,
acts as though it were the gain of did? I believe I love that rules that was at cruising them
no, no, no, no not always go hide. It proves how work hurts work. That was a comment about hiding yet had he grows, and the debt of vice versa, Lion, TED and borrowing money, and so
entire administration will be run by Goldman Sachs EM, so manoeuvring doesn't have a deputy, I'm right. That's right than small and
television does never deputy and that's abandoned and trumps fault and Madame, doesn't have a deputy, and we don't know whose fault that is, and
God knows who else does never deputy? I don't know, I mean who cares of the deputy
commerce. These are the three most important cabinet departments, maybe except for the house, except for health in human services,
we don't know of that. That was the other great story about the man this leaching into the policy process, which is that somehow MAC Mulvaney the Allenby director has now take.
Over negotiating over the health care repealing, replace Obama care.
Bill from Tom Price? Who is the health, inhuman service secretary and the leading thinker and figure in the house on health care?
She was from the republican side for the
ten years and
mulvaney, who is the Olympics
director and thus it simply responsible for restructuring. The budget has somehow rested. Control of the Obama CARE bill thing from price, so
they're, all crazy or
they're all same and their working in a crazy environment, and- and I and you know I
continue to not want to you, no one
to remain in a more
I read and olympian relationship to this administration and said? Well, you know this. Is that the other thing, but it all
emanates from the top
only two months and look? They couldn't
They got a year, though pass attack, spilled, packs, a happy ass, a healthcare bill, they'll be deregulation. The taxpayer will have
low tax country. There could be an economic boom, there's already been a stock market. Bull problem with the stock market boom is
already priced in the economic boom. So what happens? If there's no economic boom, then you could have not only not an economic boom, but a stock market crash that price did and economic boom. That doesn't happen. So
You know I've ever achieve better perform is what I'm saying waiting for him to two underperform among the people who were with him
and everybody was waiting for the same thing with Barack Obama and those people were never not with him. It didn't matter what happened didn't matter
the economy perform gather men about fifty year, but he got fifty three
I first heard the votes the floor, where the trunk got forty six
I'm drunk our borders. Eight, zero, Burma and the floor is probably about thirty eight for trouble, but that's the floor
that doesn't mean that the ceiling as any higher
performing means that he can raise the ceiling not performing
in these days of forty five percent forty five point six forty five point: seven per
than any income to get reelected with that and what's more
democratic, they don't like they don't like liberals, the hate, the don't and they want to the him a the. But if he doesn't know, if things don't get better and if everything is just a total mass they're, not gonna like
my guess, but forty percent of them are like they're happy there's, no, damn,
crap, they don't like they don't, like liberals, the hate, the media, and they want to give him a chance. But if he doesn't know, if things don't get better,
and if everything is just a total mass they're, not gonna like
they turned them. They turned on George W Bush, whom they love they loved, because everything was a mess that was a mess in Iraq was a mess with Katrina. You know
was a mess. Here was a mess there and you know, and basically the last three years of his administration,
we're slow, you down were slow fade into the financial meltdown. So could
I've happened in one term sure, thanks Carter, no Jimmy Carter, Jimmy Carter
again, he was, he was very popular. He went to close. You want to close a victory in seventy six. He was very popular.
You know he promised much the scenarios drain, the Swami wasn't you'll, be a guy Washington. He wasn't gonna run the heat
You know in the White House, so we could save money and he was good up this amount. The other thing,
any stank stank as presidency. A bad ideas, which is one thing, but I mean he was the day- was the administratively disaster. He didn't get us legislation through Congress, his own Congress democratically, which turned on him and his idea
were bad and then there were, but get out than there were some overlapping world crises that he mishandled, that when his fifty percent to forty percent in four years in his around Europe operation when terribly wrong right,
and by the way we want here- and he said we had an inordinate fear of cannibalism right now, it was a terrible, was a terrible preside over this there's. This matter there are real, has a fundamental seen all the things that we traditionally measure in a normal presidency on economics in foreign policy, but one of those things that would prevent him from getting a second turn, as it is a major scandal, and how do we define a major scheme?
and from this administration that is seems it's too early in the marketplace,
and now it is too early to tell cause it's all smoke, it's all smoke and, and all of it involves
these cells, I'm your address. Scandal means it would punctuate it. Would it wouldn't define new cycles for months? It would be an evolving story, would involve congressional investigations. Department of justice investigations, media investigations. It would be the singular focus for quite some time, and I just don't know
we have a singular focus for quite some time anymore didn't. But it also has to be something with with a final resolution. I mean it has everything I think
we all the Russian all the Russia stuff has the potential to become white noise. Eventually, if, if it's
it's just yet another story about more people who spoke to more people with with seven seventh paragraph mentioned that there is no evidence of collusion. If, if that keeps happening for, however many more
that's not what's gonna, do it right on some saying we don't know yet we don't know what the scandal might be. We don't know if there will be a scandal and the scandal has to take place during the administration not prior to it.
Ultimately, you know
what, however, you want to slice it, then you know
from now fees and serb game playing and twenty sixteen, then then you now comes up against Hillary Clinton and Jim call me and call me basically saying: I'm not indicting her cause. I'm too scared, but I probably would if under other circumstances, because she via could she at least on seven occasions, mishandled, classified information in a manner that would have sent other people to jail so
that smoke and come on forever, like you can say, oh look, there was trouble with the Russians and all this and then Trump can say Hilary Hilary, Hilary and everybody
the stalemate. But if it's twenty eighteen em
That secretary does acts or something happens with a Trump business right where it turns out that you know the Trump
Emily has taken two billion dollars, something or other in some country, because they wanna make nice with Trump, and then we have some treaty thing and then Congress has to get involved, and then there is the monuments clause. It's not based on someone renting a room at the home.
It's like a genuine by minors, not affect public opinion. You say it will, I think, we're being primed through all of what we're happening what's happening right now, to not real
to those sort of the chase. Never they become really the bay on our since, in areas with the base
didn't even leave Nixon, you know Nixon
still had you know thirty percent of the public, or do you now twenty twenty seven percent of the public behind him,
when it was clear, he was gonna, be indicted. You know
Come on? I'm Watergate and you know he could have you didn't he resigned because he wanted to be heeded, wanna be impeached, so you don't want to live through an impeachment, but he could have done it. Clinton Dennis Clear was more popular than he when Clinton did it, but I'm just
like you know, bases hold. They think they're guy is being mistreated, but that doesn't mean that everybody who is a Republican is the base. Trump was not a particularly popular now he gets ninety percent support among Republicans, but so what? So? If that drops to seventy at some point in the presidency and the democratic support is fine,
I've percent and the independent support is forty percent. Then he has the lowest number ever and the only
the question, then, is what happens in the mid term. Elections. Is their room open up for good candidates to you now in in districts that aren't you know they didn't vote for Trump by thirty points. Is their room for them to you know not some people off scare, the budgets is out of Republicans and cause also but bunch of republican to feel like there's a problem. This is what we keep saying and we don't know and key
it happened. Yes will it happened? Probably not, but it could. You just don't know what you know, what hoping that he's gonna vanish, which is, I think, largely what I hear I hear from my friends all the time like this can't go on. I mean it can't go on Sean King, this moron, who writes for the New York Daily NEWS. This were black lives matter, idiot, basically tweeted today, can't we
I have a vote to get Trump out of office will recall here: can we have a vote after a year to get from power?
office will know, see. There's this thing called the constitution, you more
but I mean that, as that is the kind of thing it's really great, that somebody like him is paid to express an opinion. We literally doesn't know what the constitution says, but you know that is
kind of thing people to say. I can't go on like this a canker, oh who guess it can surely can who's gonna, stop it. But what Jerry,
What? What? What would he? What would be hit wealth? What would I, unless it's the same
he was. He was also swept up in this in the in the footage of the of the of the White House rant of the fighting.
But what would be interesting- and I hope he doesn't
because I was a. Hopefully he does bring jobs back and whatnot. If trumped does not do this
It would be interesting to watch the base to see if in fact, veil
were and are with him because of because they,
feel genuinely that they ve been neglected and they haven't had jobs and and and and they want opportunities that that have not been provided them before.
And if they will then say, we ve been let down above by virtue of not getting these.
Unreasonable and entered nobly aspire to things or, if they just one or two,
rant and raven be angry. Last I'd have a basis, loves this. They like, let's re, writing like who it's driving nuts. They like that. It's make within respectable republicans and beltway types and media figure.
Lose their revenue. But then there is the other point which I think but builds UNAIDS point, which is a was an identity politics, candidate right he was, he was the first african American. There was hope it was change was
How many would life of Julia S always or female identity politics, and he was black identity politics and he was dreamer identity, politics him? He was identity, politics
the question is: is trumps base in private?
early driven by you now by a sense of having been screwed and wanting the country to change economically. So they can get a chance, or is this white identity politics and will are they with him because they undressed
send that these other people are their enemies now and that their interests do not do not conform with the interests of the union
not all Americans together. It's a zero sum game. If they get it, I don't so. I'm sticking with him because he's the only one who wants to give it to me and wants to stick to them right now
after having been told by all sorts of post election- that analysis that we were wrong tube
We have people have been round to look at their noses at at the trumps border because with what they, what their, what they want, is actually something of noble and and ran reasonable, as is a shot and if they ve been ignored, made made. Maybe a bunch of them might prove themselves
less deserving of of well. This study will inevitably, where thin I mean. If this really
at night severally two years, not necessarily because that's that's the virtue of the virtue of identity. Politics is that the stick never ends medicinal resetting. Never, and this has nothing to do,
They then do politics, the Obama wired have thing he does red affect yes, because
trying to destroy him, because
they are right now. This is not a considered a developed view, but you know it if, if this is the view that, but it would be the sort of band tonight in a higher end view- is there trying to destroy him because they are globalist, internationalist socialists and they
him as the greatest threat to their agenda of turning America into a european super state run by
you know it international global network of bankers and and bureaucrats, and
so, whatever he died, they are trying to destroy him because they know that he is gonna, stop them, and so whatever they do is illegitimate and whenever he doesn't response is understandable and that that is the identity. That goes to my point. That dad no point will economic consideration
even enter into it, even if the right a lack of performance on his part, one another about their or the flowers the floor and then flooring go anyway. That's what we don't know, I'm saying that's one way of looking at what's going on here, or it could be that it's just he got elected you don't fifteen to twenty percent of the people who voted for him or more didn't like him, but voted form
they didn't want Hilary and there still, as I say, the key is that they are still there giving him a chance, but you know the people who wanted
proves a Rubio or you know anybody else, but voted for him. We'll have to be knit up by him into a you'd have they'll have to it. They will have to somehow be brought in to
attempt with him by him if there is a real set back, you know Bush knit together a majority in part because of his response to nine eleven unexpectedly.
Graceful and tough and sober and serious. And then you know, then then he either took it too far. Harbor you want to characterize a rock, but that was the key to him becoming. You know. The majority president was his response to this national crisis that everybody felt that they were in on and then of course, his response to another NASH prices, which was the financial meltdown
not now covered them and glory. I would say that the behaviour of the last six weeks on this, I think we can close on we could talk about, does not give one confidence that in a comparable situation and, let's think about the comparable situations in the past right.
Carter. Seventy nine had sandinistas take over Nicaragua the idea that there were several brigades in Cuba and the iranian hostage crisis. We re revolution, followed by the uranium hostage crisis and gas lines and three mile island all in the same year, and he well founded. I yes and the invasion of Afghanistan,
gas at the end of the year, so that was one year was like maybe the worst year in american history in some ways a world this. It was just like a crazy year and yet his response to it made it possible for him to get reelected right. So George H, W Bush there's a recession
that follows his white house. Sheaf soft say we ve done everything we want to do, and basically we ve done everything. Our legislative agenda is done as of Mars.
You're a pearl of ninety ninety one so whatever so, basically Le Clueless and I've touch him. That was the end of him and you know, but though, what were the crises that he faced at me? He didn't face bad crises and the one that he faced, which was the invasion of Kuwait he handled well, but in conclusively right. So
Basically, it didn't hold, it didn't cast its spell for half a year and a half and he lost the presidency. Clinton had
do crowbar towers and what else they have
first, World Trade Center bombing cobbler towers against sitting, but he had a huge economic boom that that ballast at him-
so in Turkey's evident right when the peace dividend, which was that which which brought about the economic boom, so terrorist tax, didn't have the salience they do now
after some way go under
right now you write railroad kind of the wave of domestic.
Yet not yet right and wrong
rush. Limbo is responsible for all that. Well, Waco is they're doing
and I was Jews. The clauses area just department that
There are killing and killed kids at wake up, right wing terrorism now being fuelled by talk, but I'm just saying that likely outplacement, so so
It's unlikely that there is ever going to be a maintenance every man again, but I just say that the set up the composition, the behaviour of Trump and his people and the White House and around the good does not give one much confidence
in the face of a national crisis, things are gonna go well, is all I can say anyone want to make the counter
I wanted. I want to add to that argument. As we were saying in the in the back office, I mean we're this sort of a. I don't wanna say: playful has very serious but sort of an element of Whimsie to our discussions about whether or not this present and is truly unhinged, and that goes away when there is an international crisis. I mean when not if there will be an international crisis for the military dimension, possibly involving states, possibly not, who knows, but it will require that very serious decision to engage in at least the use of air power
I simply american deployments, and we don't know how this precedent will respond to that situation, and I dont know what kind of information he's he's getting. Well, we never know right. We never know how any work, and I was born lordly him. Your eye that he reacts right what's seems like he's, is primary concern basin, these last six weeks or how it affects public opinion. How I can
Cape public opinion around and those are also situations in which tweets cannot be brushed off now, Guy Fair, if we ever,
for on the brink of potentially engaging someone in the end. He you know if he and he fires off some some sort of
and thought, through misspelled thread that that's going to affect decision making abroad right well
its whimsical to talk about whether or not the president's crazy, in fact is all all
political leaders are narcissists and all great political leaders have to have some in our very self aggrandizing or boost successful political years. After have some aggrandizing of sense of Self
the thing that is so alarming I think about about about Trump is the degree to which all of this is about what? What in yet issues called covered or Hebrew cover. That is. It is all about the the respect that is being paid to him or not being paid to him. He wants his covered and when he doesn't get is covered and when he thinks that a bomber and his people are given the arm in arm, are playing him false and treating him with disrespect. That's when he goes bananas, because it's all about him and that's all
it's all kind of reflected back on him, and so in world crises. You could say that the president should have some sense of covered
the country, in other words it out that that the question is if the country is being tested and if he's being tested in the country is being tested by you know and illegitimate political leader abroad, who,
trying to seize territorial, do something or show as about though some one said. You know that, where the weak horse that you know we ve lost our will to fight him to be strong, that's a quality that you can want a president, a house,
to some degree, but not so overwhelmingly that he can't see anything beyond it and I think the bad weekend was a bad weekend. It's a bad week. It was a good last Tuesday and you know maybe he can recover and have another good
tomorrow, we'll try to have a good Tuesday. I hope you have a good Tuesday and whenever you listening to this, that you had a good Tuesday, if it's after Tuesday and of its poor tuesdays habitat. If it's Tuesday habit, then I'm John passports for dollar Rossman than a green wall to keep the candle burning.
Transcript generated on 2020-02-26.