Election Year 2016

[princess 1,712]

I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration

September 5, 2018Blind Gossip

 

SOLVED!

[New York Times] The Times today is taking the rare step of publishing an anonymous Op-Ed essay. We have done so at the request of the author, a senior official in the Trump administration whose identity is known to us and whose job would be jeopardized by its disclosure.

I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration

I work for the president but like-minded colleagues and I have vowed to thwart parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.

President Trump is facing a test to his presidency unlike any faced by a modern American leader.

It’s not just that the special counsel looms large. Or that the country is bitterly divided over Mr. Trump’s leadership. Or even that his party might well lose the House to an opposition hellbent on his downfall.

The dilemma — which he does not fully grasp — is that many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations.

I would know. I am one of them.

To be clear, ours is not the popular “resistance” of the left. We want the administration to succeed and think that many of its policies have already made America safer and more prosperous.

But we believe our first duty is to this country, and the president continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to the health of our republic.

That is why many Trump appointees have vowed to do what we can to preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting Mr. Trump’s more misguided impulses until he is out of office.

The root of the problem is the president’s amorality. Anyone who works with him knows he is not moored to any discernible first principles that guide his decision making.

Although he was elected as a Republican, the president shows little affinity for ideals long espoused by conservatives: free minds, free markets and free people. At best, he has invoked these ideals in scripted settings. At worst, he has attacked them outright.

In addition to his mass-marketing of the notion that the press is the “enemy of the people,” President Trump’s impulses are generally anti-trade and anti-democratic.

Don’t get me wrong. There are bright spots that the near-ceaseless negative coverage of the administration fails to capture: effective deregulation, historic tax reform, a more robust military and more.

But these successes have come despite — not because of — the president’s leadership style, which is impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective.

From the White House to executive branch departments and agencies, senior officials will privately admit their daily disbelief at the commander in chief’s comments and actions. Most are working to insulate their operations from his whims.

Meetings with him veer off topic and off the rails, he engages in repetitive rants, and his impulsiveness results in half-baked, ill-informed and occasionally reckless decisions that have to be walked back.

“There is literally no telling whether he might change his mind from one minute to the next,” a top official complained to me recently, exasperated by an Oval Office meeting at which the president flip-flopped on a major policy decision he’d made only a week earlier.

The erratic behavior would be more concerning if it weren’t for unsung heroes in and around the White House. Some of his aides have been cast as villains by the media. But in private, they have gone to great lengths to keep bad decisions contained to the West Wing, though they are clearly not always successful.

It may be cold comfort in this chaotic era, but Americans should know that there are adults in the room. We fully recognize what is happening. And we are trying to do what’s right even when Donald Trump won’t.

The result is a two-track presidency.

Take foreign policy: In public and in private, President Trump shows a preference for autocrats and dictators, such as President Vladimir Putin of Russia and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, and displays little genuine appreciation for the ties that bind us to allied, like-minded nations.

Astute observers have noted, though, that the rest of the administration is operating on another track, one where countries like Russia are called out for meddling and punished accordingly, and where allies around the world are engaged as peers rather than ridiculed as rivals.

On Russia, for instance, the president was reluctant to expel so many of Mr. Putin’s spies as punishment for the poisoning of a former Russian spy in Britain. He complained for weeks about senior staff members letting him get boxed into further confrontation with Russia, and he expressed frustration that the United States continued to impose sanctions on the country for its malign behavior. But his national security team knew better — such actions had to be taken, to hold Moscow accountable.

This isn’t the work of the so-called deep state. It’s the work of the steady state.

Given the instability many witnessed, there were early whispers within the cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment, which would start a complex process for removing the president. But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis. So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until — one way or another — it’s over.

The bigger concern is not what Mr. Trump has done to the presidency but rather what we as a nation have allowed him to do to us. We have sunk low with him and allowed our discourse to be stripped of civility.

Senator John McCain put it best in his farewell letter. All Americans should heed his words and break free of the tribalism trap, with the high aim of uniting through our shared values and love of this great nation.

We may no longer have Senator McCain. But we will always have his example — a lodestar for restoring honor to public life and our national dialogue. Mr. Trump may fear such honorable men, but we should revere them.

There is a quiet resistance within the administration of people choosing to put country first. But the real difference will be made by everyday citizens rising above politics, reaching across the aisle and resolving to shed the labels in favor of a single one: Americans.

The writer is a senior official in the Trump administration.

Similar: Bread And Butter Character

Senior Official:

[Optional] Do you think this senior appointed official is a hero/coward/patriot/traitor/something else? Why? Please keep your comments civil.

 

 

____________

 

SOLVED!

Senior Official: Miles Taylor from Department of Homeland Security

After months of speculation about which Senior Official claimed to be Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration, Anonymous himself has come forward!

In a shocking reveal, the man who wrote the editorial is Miles Teller!

What?

Oh, wait.

Never mind.

Not Miles Teller. Miles Taylor.

Miles Taylor is a Former Department of Homeland Security official.

Here is a photo of Miles Taylor.

It would have been more exciting if it was Miles Teller.

Anyway, from The New York Post:

‘Anonymous’ is former DHS official Miles Taylor

Former Department of Homeland Security official Miles Taylor on Wednesday revealed himself as “Anonymous,” the author of an op-ed vowing resistance to President Trump.

Taylor boasted in September 2018 of “working diligently from within to frustrate parts of [Trump’s] agenda and his worst inclinations” and last year wrote the book “A Warning.”

Washington gossip for years swirled about the person’s identity, with many Trump officials denying they were the person.

Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley publicly denied writing the initial op-ed in the New York Times.

Taylor, a former DHS chief of staff, tweeted, “Donald Trump is a man without character. It’s why I wrote ‘A Warning’…and it’s why me & my colleagues have spoken out against him (in our own names) for months. It’s time for everyone to step out of the shadows.”

It’s been two years since the original editorial, so we’re sure the fact that Miles Taylor is outing himself now, just one week before the election, is no coincidence.

Teller has actually been in the White House. Here is a photo of him in the Oval Office with President Donald Trump.

No one guessed this one correctly. Given that Miles Taylor is not exactly a household name, that is not surprising.

Again, Anonymous is Miles Taylor, not Miles Teller.

By the way, if you haven’t seen Whiplash, rent it this weekend. It’s an excellent movie, with both Miles Teller and JK Simmons giving amazing performances. In fact, Simmons’ performance earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

 

This whole election is giving us whiplash.

 

Everybody get out there and VOTE!

[princess 1,712]

This BI seems to be hitting mainstream media:

 

Author of 2018 'Anonymous' op-ed critical of Trump revealed

By Jake Tapper and Jeremy Herb, CNN

Updated 4:43 PM ET, Wed October 28, 2020

https://www.cnn.com/2020/10/28/politics/anonymous-new-york-times-oped-writer/index.html

[dixiedoodah 1,003]

Honestly, I bet there are a lot of people who denied being anonymous who right now wish they had been. It’s probably the only way they would’ve had a chance of salvaging their reputation. There are after all, only so many spots opening up on Fox news in any given cycle. 

[Hoyaheel 1,874]

I have to laugh or I'd spend all my days cursing and crying....

Also, effing Taylor supported the policies to put kids in cages and take them from their families AFTER he wrote the damn oped. No respect for him. If he had blown the whistle and resigned in protest, maybe. All he did was continue to support the administration from his cushy job. They're all fucking criminals.

Ok, apparently the cursing is omnipresent....

Edited October 29, 2020 by Hoyaheel

[branchop 319]

I signed up to help with the election polls this year!  It has been a steady line every day.  Last night was the longest after polls closed we stayed.

I must say it has restored my faith in humanity.  People are kind to us, to each other.

The number of checks and balances in place also astound me.   We have to balance a minimum of four different ways - with completely independent machines. 

The hours are long (I am working over 40 hours a week) and Election Day looks to be a minimum 16 hour day.   Even so I told my husband I would do this again.
 

[Hoyaheel 1,874]

This North Carolinian really appreciates your effort - thank you Branchop!!

[princess 1,712]

More Than 9 Million Texans Cast Ballots Early, Topping State's Total Turnout In 2016

https://www.npr.org/2020/10/30/929578710/more-than-9-million-texans-cast-ballots-early-topping-states-total-turnout-in-20

Some of the interesting bits:

 

Texas hit a significant milestone with just four days to go before Election Day: the number of early voters who cast ballots in the Lone Star State this year has now passed the entire total cast in all of 2016.

So far, 9,009,850 Texans have voted, according to a tally compiled by U.S. Elections Project.

---

Texas joins Hawaii as the first states to surpass 2016 voter turnout figures through early voting alone, said Michel McDonald, a political science professor at the University of Florida who also runs the U.S. Election Project.

---

For decades Texas has been a reliably red state, voting for the Republican presidential nominee in every general election since 1980.

However, 2020 is proving to be a remarkable year, for a variety of reasons.

Recent polls show President Trump holds a slim lead in the state over his Democratic challenger Joe Biden.

Trump leads by 2.3 percentage points in the state, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average. That prompted the organization to move to its "Toss Up" category, joining traditional swing states Nevada, Pennsylvania, Florida and Ohio.

---

Overall, more than 83.5 million Americans have voted thus far, McDonald's analysis shows, including 29.5 million people who voted in person and nearly 54 million people who voted by mail.

[princess 1,712]

I am stocking up on supplies this weekend so that I don't have to be out and about next week unless I want to.  I have no doubt we will have riots no matter who is declared the winner.

[witchkitten 309]

I also think there will be protests no matter who wins but I’m actually more scared of the protests if Trump loses. Not only is Trump going to encourage violence, but his supporters have shown more of a willingness to use guns and explosives. 

Edited October 31, 2020 by witchkitten

[Hoyaheel 1,874]

Walmart pulling guns and ammo from shelves now due to fears of civil unrest ...

I'm taking election day off (I have a ton of discretionary days I need to take before end of calendar year) but not to stay home - I'm taking my husband on a field trip to shop at the Asian market, and then Costco 🤣

[Hoyaheel 1,874]

2 hours ago, Hoyaheel said:

Walmart pulling guns and ammo from shelves now due to fears of civil unrest ...

Apparently they reversed the decision. Not sure why - it's not a 2nd amendment issue - they're a private retailer and can choose to sell or not as desired. Probably too much blowback....

[dixiedoodah 1,003]

Is it time to start the halloween candy crunch and day drinking yet??

[witchkitten 309]

Seriously. I’m a big ball of stress. I will be obsessively watching returns tonight. I already warned my husband he’s on kid duty. 

[dixiedoodah 1,003]

My husband has a hockey game tonight and I’m sure the kid will run away with boredom so I can obsess by myself tonight. 

[princess 1,712]

Fuck, fuck, fuck. 

[princess 1,712]

Anyone else still in shock at how close this is?!?!

[dixiedoodah 1,003]

just going to delete the rest of what I said and leave it at

 

rage. I am feeling rage. 

Edited November 4, 2020 by dixiedoodah

[princess 1,712]

Please be true, please be true...  COME ON PENNSYLVANIA!!

 

The Remaining Vote in Pennsylvania Appears to Be Overwhelmingly for Biden

The president leads by nearly 700,000 votes, but there are 1.4 million absentee votes outstanding.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/04/upshot/pennsylvania-election-results-ballots.html

 

[princess 1,712]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2020/11/05/trump-biden-election-live-updates/

• Arizona: Biden’s lead in the vote count narrowed to about 68,000 votes early Thursday. Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said her state has just under 450,000 ballots left to count, and that we would have a "much more clear picture” Friday. Maricopa County, the state’s largest jurisdiction, said it will release another round of counts around 9 p.m. Eastern time
• Georgia: Trump’s lead in the vote count in Georgia slipped below 13,000 votes as of Thursday afternoon. The state has roughly 42,000 ballots left to count; an additional 8,900 requested overseas and military ballots may arrive by tomorrow’s deadline. Officials in Fulton County, where much of Atlanta is located, say that they’ve finished counting and will upload the results soon. Democratic-leaning Chatham County, where Savannah is located, had the biggest outstanding ballot count, at 17,157.
• Nevada: New ballot counts were released starting at noon Eastern time. Biden’s lead grew slightly there as new counts were tallied.
• North Carolina: Election officials said they will review about 41,000 provisional ballots from voters whose eligibility may be questioned, along with around 110,000 outstanding absentee ballots, according to the Charlotte Observer. They expect to finalize their count by Nov. 12. Biden is about 76,000 votes behind Trump.
• Pennsylvania: Trump maintained a lead of about 108,000 votes, but that was expected to shrink as more ballots were counted in heavily Democratic areas. Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar (D) said Thursday that it may be possible to know the state’s presidential winner as soon as tonight.

[princess 1,712]

It’s been a good day 😎

[Hoyaheel 1,874]

My college roommates and I have been doing a book club since the end of summer (zoom, of course, we're on 3 different continents anyway 😉) and we had our monthly meeting this past Saturday - we were smart and decided ahead of time that Nov 7 would be for election discussion, not the book, and the election was called 30 minutes before we started! So crazy. We enjoyed some cocktails! 

My bestie shared a graph that was in The Economist recently - I really wish I could upload photos to share. Super interesting look at"western" political parties on axes of liberal/illiberalism and populism. Came out of a democracy research project in Sweden. 

Maybe the link will at least let people see the chart? I can't tell because I have access to the journal through my university libraries....

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/10/31/the-republican-party-has-lurched-towards-populism-and-illiberalism

 

[princess 1,712]

3 hours ago, Hoyaheel said:

My college roommates and I have been doing a book club since the end of summer (zoom, of course, we're on 3 different continents anyway 😉) and we had our monthly meeting this past Saturday - we were smart and decided ahead of time that Nov 7 would be for election discussion, not the book, and the election was called 30 minutes before we started! So crazy. We enjoyed some cocktails! 

My bestie shared a graph that was in The Economist recently - I really wish I could upload photos to share. Super interesting look at"western" political parties on axes of liberal/illiberalism and populism. Came out of a democracy research project in Sweden. 

Maybe the link will at least let people see the chart? I can't tell because I have access to the journal through my university libraries....

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2020/10/31/the-republican-party-has-lurched-towards-populism-and-illiberalism

 

Yes, can see the chart.  I also tweaked some settings, as a moderator can you add attachments?

[Hoyaheel 1,874]

Nope, every time I try to upload a file I get an error message that the uploads fail 😞

[princess 1,712]

Every time I think things can't get crazier, it does.  Have you ever seen a cat that just starfishes out and refuses to get stuffed into a cat carrier?  I feel like Trump will starfish himself at the front door of the White House on January 20th and refuse to leave. 

 

Trump threatens 30-day reign of destruction on the way out of office

Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN

Updated 9:52 AM ET, Tue December 22, 2020

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/22/politics/donald-trump-white-house-countdown/index.html

 

(CNN)Joe Biden will be president in 30 days. Until then, the question is how much damage can be done by a vengeful, delusional soon-to-be ex-President swilling conspiracy theories, whose wild anti-democratic instincts are being encouraged by fringe political opportunists.

Donald Trump will retain the awesome powers of the presidency until noon on January 20, and there's never been a time when he has been subject to as few restraining influences or has had a bigger incentive to cause disruption.

 

The President is spending day after day in his White House bunker, entertaining crackpot theories about imposing martial law, seizing voting machines and staging an intervention in Congress on January 6 to steal the election from Biden.

Surrounded by the last dead-end loyalists, Trump is flinging lies and political venom like King Lear in a crumbling Twitter kingdom, alarming some staffers about what he will do next.

 

On Monday, he huddled with a cabal of Republican lawmakers who plan to challenge the election on baseless claims of fraud at a special session of Congress to ratify the results on January 6.

Two ways Trump can hurt America

Trump can further damage the United States in the coming days in two ways -- by aggressive design and by his passive neglect of his sworn obligations to lead.

His attempts to crush American democratic traditions by claiming a landslide victory in an election that he lost and that was not especially close fits into the first category. The President's behavior has sown huge mistrust of the fundamental underpinning of the US political system -- fair elections -- among millions of his voters and threatens to compromise the legitimacy of Biden's White House.

 

CNN's Barbara Starr reported Tuesday that there is concern among executive office staff and the military's leadership that Trump could use his power as President and commander in chief in dangerous ways in the last days of his term. "We don't know what he might do," one officer in the Pentagon said. Another added: "We are in strange times."

 

Trump's indifference to multiple crises stirred by his rule make up the second category of his political vandalism. This includes his apathy about a raging pandemic that has infected 18 million Americans and killed nearly 320,000 as an aching nation marks its darkest holiday season in generations.

There is no substitute in the US governing system for the engagement of a President during a massive national enterprise. But there is also no sign that Trump cares to offer leadership to ensure the success of the mammoth vaccination program that holds hope of eventually ending the pandemic. This after his denial of the virulence of Covid-19 undoubtably worsened the death toll.

 

Trump is also running interference for Russia, prioritizing the interests of an adversary over America's after a massive cyberattack blamed on the Kremlin.

These infractions add up to the dereliction of presidential duty on a grand scale. It is impossible to imagine any other president of the modern era behaving in such a way or for either of the political parties to tolerate his abuse of power. Former President George W. Bush's neglect during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 seems tame by comparison.

The current President's anti-democratic behavior since the election is validating the fears of critics -- and more than 80 million Biden voters -- who worried about his unchained behavior in a second term. Like many fading strongmen leaders, his antics are becoming more unhinged as the prospect of losing power becomes tangible.

Madcap schemes

Even Trump's White House staff is concerned about what happens next, at a time when Washington is already braced for a flurry of politically self-serving or legally dubious presidential pardons in the coming weeks.

 

"No one is sure where this is heading," one official told CNN's White House team on Monday in a disturbing behind-the-scenes glimpse at the mayhem unfolding in the West Wing. "He's still President for another month."

 

The madcap schemes of some of Trump's acolytes -- such as retired Gen. Michael Flynn's mooted plan to send troops to battleground states to redo elections that the President lost -- have no chance of playing out. Even if Trump's renegades had the competence to mount such a threat, the courts have shown zero tolerance for the President's autocratic attempts to destroy US democracy. It is unthinkable the military would deploy to reverse a popular vote on US soil.

 

Trump's extremism is also unfolding in the context of a landmark election after which the safety valves of the courts, the electoral safeguards in the states -- and eventually on parts of Capitol Hill -- stood firm in defense of democracy.

 

But the fact that a defeated President is even hearing theories about imposing martial law in the Oval Office is unfathomable in the world's oldest, most influential democracy.

Were it not for the outrageous assaults on the rule of law over the last four years and the evidence of a presidency tethered to the erratic personality of Trump, it would not be at all believable.

 

"The rest of the world is watching all this. It is just making people wonder. What is going on in America?" an incredulous John Kasich, the Republican former governor of Ohio, said on CNN's "The Situation Room" on Monday.

 

Trump's loss of composure is grave enough from a domestic point of view. But it sends a signal to US adversaries of a vacuum of leadership. His bizarre refusal to endorse his government's assessment that Russia is behind the cyberattack suggests there is a 30-day window of impunity for enemies dedicated to tarnishing US national interests. The thought of an agitated, emotional President faced with any sudden foreign policy crisis is not a reassuring one.

Barr breaks with the President

Attorney General William Barr, who had accommodated many of the President's political assaults on the spirit of the law, has comprehensively broken with Trump as he prepares to leave office before Christmas.

 

Barr said Monday that he saw no need to appoint a special counsel to probe baseless claims of electoral fraud. He drew a similar conclusion about Trump's demands for an investigation into Biden's son Hunter, who is already the subject of a criminal probe into his business dealings. In his farewell news conference on Monday, Barr said he saw no reason for the federal government to seize voting machines, a step advocated by Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani. And he said the massive cyber breach of the US government "certainly appears to be the Russians."

 

Although Trump's most fervent loyalists have turned against him for his political apostasy toward the President, Barr remains a credible figure among many Senate Republicans and his comments will have strengthened Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's effort to stop any of his caucus seeking to mount a futile challenge to the election during a joint session of Congress to ratify the election result on January 6.

 

But Barr will be gone in a few days, potentially allowing the President to lean on Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen, who faces a tense few weeks leading the Justice Department before Biden's inauguration. Should he refuse to bend to the President's will, it is not impossible that Trump could fire him and seek a willing accomplice for his assaults on the rule of law -- emulating President Richard Nixon in the so-called "Saturday Night Massacre" in 1973.

 

In an ominous sign for the days ahead, Trump told young conservative voters in Georgia over the phone Monday that "we won this in a landslide" and said he needed "backing from ... the Justice Department, and other people finally have to step up."

Plotting a stunt in Congress

Trump's meeting with Republican lawmakers on Monday was the latest troubling sign that he is prepared to tear down the integrity of the US electoral system on the way out of the Oval Office door.

 

The group is preparing to "fight back against mounting evidence of voter fraud. Stay tuned," White House chief of staff Mark Meadows tweeted, giving fresh life to falsehoods comprehensively debunked by the Supreme Court, multiple judges and Republican state election officials ever since the election.

 

The effort will not succeed in invalidating Biden's election since Democrats control the House of Representatives and there is no sign that a majority of Republicans in the Senate -- most of whom are now acknowledging that Biden is President-elect -- will play along. But the pro-Trump lawmakers can stage a stunt that would make a mockery of democracy and further sow distrust of America's political system among the President's fervent supporters -- a scenario that could cause years of damage.

 

Fringe figures around Trump besides Giuliani and Flynn include Sidney Powell, the lawyer who only just a few weeks ago was ousted from his legal team over her bizarre claims of a massive international plot involving the late Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, China, Democrats and the Clintons to steal the election.

Trump has floated an idea of embedding Powell as a special counsel inside the White House Counsel's Office to investigate claims of voter fraud. The current counsel's office has pushed hard against the idea, sources told CNN.

 

"There's a high level of concern with anything involving Sidney Powell," one source close to the President told CNN's White House team.

Another of Trump's conspiratorial fellow travelers, populist guru Steve Bannon, and the hawkish trade adviser Peter Navarro also have the President's ear, the sources told CNN.

"I think we are seeing just how desperate Trump is becoming himself. And how desperate the last remaining rats on the ship, if you will, are becoming because of that," Lawrence Wilkerson, a former top aide to ex-Secretary of State Colin Powell, said Monday on CNN's "OutFront."

 

[dixiedoodah 1,003]

Every day I think he can’t possibly be any more nuts and every day I am proven wrong. He must know exactly what they have on him and how badly screwed he is when he leaves town. I cannot wait for him to be gone. I am tired of his super spreader events raising the Covid numbers in town and impacting my life. I am tired of the stupid people he’s brought to town with him. I am tired of the idiots on my neighborhood Facebook page fighting to defend him. I am tired of not being able to call my dad without a horrible sense of dread about how the call is going to go and will this be the day that we no longer speak to each other Because he has been brainwashed by a cult.  I am tired of him being here. I am ready to move on.