Three (now four) new books about Trump's last days reveal the extent of Trump's madness

[lizkat]

I'm more concerned about climate change--specifically the four years we lost not doing anything about it, not to mention the decades we spent pretending it was a far-off problem, or not even real. Right now fires are spreading smoke coast to coast, which of course will only contribute to the problem. With forests burning down we are returning less oxygen to the planet. We already have "heat domes", droughts are becoming common, and global temperatures are rising faster than expected. I don't know about you, but I entertain thoughts that maybe it's too late to save this planet.

This piece about how deforestation activities in the Amazon rainforest (and related increase in farming there) may already have turned the rainforest area into a net contributor rather than a CO2 sink and therefore a mitigator of climate change is certainly not reassuring.

Amazon rainforest now appears to be contributing to climate change

The first broad look at all of the gases that affect how the Amazon works—not just CO2—reveals a system on the brink.

www.nationalgeographic.co.uk

 

[Thomas Veil]

It's a kind of old thread, but here we are again...gaping at Trump's madness.

Woodward/Costa book details GOP infighting over how to handle Trump after election loss

In their new book "Peril," Bob Woodward and Robert Costa document how top Republicans struggled to manage Donald Trump's exit from the White House while also trying to convince him to help the party down the road. Filled with scenes of backbiting, temper tantrums, and expletive-filled phone...

www.cnn.com

Some of the more incredible quoted passages:

But after the Electoral College affirmed that Biden wonthe White House in December, McConnell delivered a floor speech recognizing Biden as President-elect. Trump called McConnell immediately afterward and "spewed expletives," according to the book.
"And this is the thanks I got?" Trump asked. "You never really got me. You don't understand me."

While Trump publicly released a picture smiling shoulder to shoulder with McCarthy, privately he was attacking McCarthy behind his back, according to Woodward and Costa.
"This guy called me every single day, pretended to be my best friend, and then, he fucked me. He's not a good guy," Trump told friends at a February dinner, making clear he was still angry with McCarthy. "Kevin came down to kiss my ass and wants my help to win the House back."

Then Graham gave Trump a dose of tough love in a phone call, telling Trump, "You fucked your presidency up," according to the book. Trump abruptly hung up.

Woodward/Costa book: Worried Trump could 'go rogue,' Milley took secret action to protect nuclear weapons

Two days after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, President Donald Trump's top military adviser, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, single-handedly took secret action to limit Trump from potentially ordering a dangerous military strike or launching nuclear weapons, according to...

www.cnn.com

Even crazier, we've heard that Gen. Milley took steps to keep Trump from going out of control, but this stuff is just fucking bizarre to read:

Woodward and Costa write that Milley, deeply shaken by the assault, 'was certain that Trump had gone into a serious mental decline in the aftermath of the election, with Trump now all but manic, screaming at officials and constructing his own alternate reality about endless election conspiracies.'
Milley worried that Trump could 'go rogue,' the authors write.

In response, Milley took extraordinary action, and called a secret meeting in his Pentagon office on January 8 to review the process for military action, including launching nuclear weapons. Speaking to senior military officials in charge of the National Military Command Center, the Pentagon's war room, Milley instructed them not to take orders from anyone unless he was involved.
"No matter what you are told, you do the procedure. You do the process. And I'm part of that procedure," Milley told the officers, according to the book. He then went around the room, looked each officer in the eye, and asked them to verbally confirm they understood.

Then Milley received a blunt phone call from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, according to the book. Woodward and Costa exclusively obtained a transcript of the call, during which Milley tried to reassure Pelosi that the nuclear weapons were safe.
Pelosi pushed back.

"What I'm saying to you is that if they couldn't even stop him from an assault on the Capitol, who even knows what else he may do? And is there anybody in charge at the White House who was doing anything but kissing his fat butt all over this?"
Pelosi continued, "You know he's crazy. He's been crazy for a long time."
According to Woodward and Costa, Milley responded, "Madam Speaker, I agree with you on everything."

Apparently Milley was so worried that Trump would lose it completely, he made sure everyone's attention was laser-focused on every little thing Trump did.

After the call, Milley decided he had to act. He told his top service chiefs to watch everything "all the time." He called the director of the National Security Agency, Paul Nakasone, and told him, "Needles up ... keep watching, scan." And he told then-CIA Director Gina Haspel, "Aggressively watch everything, 360."

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump took a light touch, the authors write, and Kushner told aides he did not want to be the point person for an intervention. Then-Attorney General William Barr tried to talk sense into Trump, telling him the claims of fraud were bogus. "The problem is this stuff about the voting machines is just bullshit," Barr said, according to the book.
"Your team is a bunch of clowns," he told Trump.

"You've got to return to Washington and make a dramatic return today," Bannon told Trump, according to the book. "You've got to call Pence off the fucking ski slopes and get him back here today. This is a crisis."
The authors write that Bannon told Trump that January 6 was "the moment for reckoning."
"People are going to go, 'What the fuck is going on here?' " Bannon believed. "We're going to bury Biden on January 6th, fucking bury him," Bannon said.

And perhaps the only funny passage in the book:

"If these people say you had the power, wouldn't you want to?" Trump asked.
"I wouldn't want any one person to have that authority," Pence said.
"But wouldn't it be almost cool to have that power?" Trump asked, according to Woodward and Costa.
"No," Pence said. He went on, "I've done everything I could and then some to find a way around this. It's simply not possible."
When Pence did not budge, Trump turned on him.
"No, no, no!" Trump shouted, according to the authors. "You don't understand, Mike. You can do this. I don't want to be your friend anymore if you don't do this."

"I don't want to be your friend anymore if you won't do this." Omigod, could anything sound more like a sulking, spoiled three year old?

And maybe the part that most reveals Trump in full would-be dictator mode:

...then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper...had just announced at a news conference that he opposed invoking the Insurrection Act in response to the protests.
"You took away my authority!" Trump screamed at Esper in the Oval Office. "You're not the president! I'm the goddamn president."
But Trump wasn't done, according to the book, turning to the rest of his team in the room. "You're all fucked up," he yelled. "Everybody. You're all fucked. Every one of you is fucked up!"

Jesus H. Christ...

 

[Edd]

It's a kind of old thread, but here we are again...gaping at Trump's madness.

Woodward/Costa book details GOP infighting over how to handle Trump after election loss

In their new book "Peril," Bob Woodward and Robert Costa document how top Republicans struggled to manage Donald Trump's exit from the White House while also trying to convince him to help the party down the road. Filled with scenes of backbiting, temper tantrums, and expletive-filled phone...

www.cnn.com

Some of the more incredible quoted passages:

Woodward/Costa book: Worried Trump could 'go rogue,' Milley took secret action to protect nuclear weapons

Two days after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, President Donald Trump's top military adviser, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, single-handedly took secret action to limit Trump from potentially ordering a dangerous military strike or launching nuclear weapons, according to...

www.cnn.com

Even crazier, we've heard that Gen. Milley took steps to keep Trump from going out of control, but this stuff is just fucking bizarre to read:





Apparently Milley was so worried that Trump would lose it completely, he made sure everyone's attention was laser-focused on every little thing Trump did.



And perhaps the only funny passage in the book:

"I don't want to be your friend anymore if you won't do this." Omigod, could anything sound more like a sulking, spoiled three year old?

And maybe the part that most reveals Trump in full would-be dictator mode:


Jesus H. Christ...

Didn’t know Bannon was still advising Trump towards the end of his term. Also, the “ski slopes” thing made me annoyed that Pence is a skier so I clicked on the link. Don’t see a reference to him skiing anywhere so maybe that’s Bannon talking out of his ass.

I’m obsessed with skiing guys, I know it’s weird. I try to hide it.

 

[Alli]

My favorite of all the new revelations is that Dan Quayle seems to have saved the nation. Who saw that coming?!

 

[Thomas Veil]

And the follow up is that President Biden has expressed strong support and backing for General Milley. That was heartening to read.

Woodward's book is just another depiction of how mentally unstable Trump is, and if Pence and the Cabinet were not going to remove him, then it fell to Milley, as a last resort, to make sure that Trump didn't try to launch a military coup.

 

[User.45]

It's a kind of old thread, but here we are again...gaping at Trump's madness.

Woodward/Costa book details GOP infighting over how to handle Trump after election loss

In their new book "Peril," Bob Woodward and Robert Costa document how top Republicans struggled to manage Donald Trump's exit from the White House while also trying to convince him to help the party down the road. Filled with scenes of backbiting, temper tantrums, and expletive-filled phone...

www.cnn.com

Some of the more incredible quoted passages:

Woodward/Costa book: Worried Trump could 'go rogue,' Milley took secret action to protect nuclear weapons

Two days after the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, President Donald Trump's top military adviser, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, single-handedly took secret action to limit Trump from potentially ordering a dangerous military strike or launching nuclear weapons, according to...

www.cnn.com

Even crazier, we've heard that Gen. Milley took steps to keep Trump from going out of control, but this stuff is just fucking bizarre to read:





Apparently Milley was so worried that Trump would lose it completely, he made sure everyone's attention was laser-focused on every little thing Trump did.



And perhaps the only funny passage in the book:

"I don't want to be your friend anymore if you won't do this." Omigod, could anything sound more like a sulking, spoiled three year old?

And maybe the part that most reveals Trump in full would-be dictator mode:


Jesus H. Christ...

I wouldn't believe any of it if this all wouldn't fit perfectly with the profile of a malignant narcissist in a crisis of self-worth.

 

[Roller]

I wouldn't believe any of it if this all wouldn't fit perfectly with the profile of a malignant narcissist in a crisis of self-worth.

The parallel to Nixon is fascinating — both he and Trump experienced psychological crises as their presidencies ended. But Trump's was (and is) even more dangerous, as he's convinced himself, his "base," and much of the Republican party that the election was stolen from him. They've weaponized this baseless claim for use in future elections.

I think the only reason we haven't heard more from Larry Elder, who complained about rigging before the election, is the magnitude of Newsom's victory. But you can bet that every close or nearly-close election lost by a Republican going forward will lead to complaints that the results were manipulated.

 

[User.45]

The parallel to Nixon is fascinating — both he and Trump experienced psychological crises as their presidencies ended. But Trump's was (and is) even more dangerous, as he's convinced himself, his "base," and much of the Republican party that the election was stolen from him. They've weaponized this baseless claim for use in future elections.

I think the only reason we haven't heard more from Larry Elder, who complained about rigging before the election, is the magnitude of Newsom's victory. But you can bet that every close or nearly-close election lost by a Republican going forward will lead to complaints that the results were manipulated.

Agree, though to be fair Democrats also question to legitimacy Of trumps victory. Which I mean teen was heavily facilitated by Russian social engineering.