"If it's what you say, I LOVE it!" Granny Starver & The Turtle WARNED Trump about the shutdown.

[Miles Archer]

Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell tried to talk Trump out of shutdown standoff explaining there was ‘no way to win’



https://www.rawstory.com/2019/01/paul-ryan-mitch-mcconnell-tried-talk-trump-shutdown-standoff-explaining-no-way-win-report/

Senior Republicans tried to talk President Donald Trump out of his planned standoff over the border wall, the Washington Post reported in a deeply sourced article about the start of the shutdown published Saturday afternoon.

According to the report, Trump was “warned repeatedly about the dangers of a shutdown but still opted to proceed.”

****

McConnell “told the president that he had no leverage and that, without a clear strategy, he would be ‘boxed in a canyon,'” the report says. McConnell pointed out that even if Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) wanted to make a deal with Trump her caucus would forcefully oppose it.

“Then-House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) talked with Trump by phone for 45 minutes the day before the shutdown, warning that he saw no way to win as he paced in a Capitol hallway just outside a conference room where House Republicans were meeting. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy warned about the perils of a shutdown during the Christmas season,” the report says.

Trump’s own aides are “freaking out,” the report says.

[leftieNanner]

1. three vile and hideous men

nt

[Ilsa]

30. They resemble creatures from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Vorgons and whatever.

[tclambert]

36. Trump's tweets do resemble Vogon poetry,

except the tweets make even less sense.

[smirkymonkey]

43. My very first though.

The three men I hate the most in this world. They are so disgusting and hideous. I can't even say what I want to happen to them.

[smirkymonkey]

47. My very first though.

The three men I hate the most in this world. They are so disgusting and hideous. I can't even say what I want to happen to them.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. How very interesting.

How big a leap is this to deciding that they need to get rid of him somehow, before he damages the GOP beyond repair?

That would be a miracle, for sure.

[Miles Archer]

4. Here's what I think is going on with McConnell, especially in light of this

1). EVEN THOUGH he has a LONG history of LOVING every opportunity to screw with Democrats, I don't think that's what at the heart of this.

2). Trump made McConnell look like a chump once, and McConnell has been quoted as saying "You never learn from the second kick of a mule."

3). I am assuming that McConnell, unlike Trump, can read...so everything we are discussing here about the NYT Russia story is common knowledge to McConnell as well.

4). My personal feeling is that McConnell is pretending to be behind Trump, but in reality, he is staying out of it and is giving him enough rope to hang himself.

5). Mitch is up for re-election in 2020, and so are a lot of other Republican senators. I wrote this the other day on DU, and I know the wind can blow in unexpected directions, but I do not believe McConnell will allow his own ambitions (including holding a majority in the Senate, which seems less likely given the blue wave in the House and Trump's current behavior) to be swept away by Hurricane Trump.

6). All McConnell needs to do is pull Speaker Pelosi aside and say "go for it, the Senate will back you up" and impeachment becomes a very real thing. That may seem like an EXTREME long shot, but maybe not, in light of everything else I wrote here.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. You've been watching him much more closely than I have.

You may well be onto something.

I hope so. If he talks to Madame Speaker that way........anything could happen.

Even impeachment.

[Scruffy1]

6. I hope you are right.

He did Trump's dirty work for him on the Kavanugh confirmation after he specifically told Trump "anybody but Kavanaugh." Now he's been sucker punched. The real delima comes about if Trump has information that would lead to McConnell"s demise if he caves. I think this whole thing is going down like a ship sinking and soon someone is going to crack. There is a whole lot of Republican senators up for relection and I think we'll find out soon if any have the nerve to revolt. Mitch doesn't dare take the Russian money now so a good shar of his power is already gone.

[erronis]

44. Micturtle has already taken the rUSSRians money. NRA and otherwise.

He is paid for and owned. Announcing that "I will no longer take roubles for my favors" is probably not that politically smart.

[DENVERPOPS]

48. It won't do any good

It won't do any good for the Repubs in the House and Senate to do a mutiny. Way too many of them already are complicit in taking money from Russia, laundered thru the NRA to their campaign coffers. McConnell got a couple of million and others got a big bunch of money also. Both in the Senate and House, by the way........

[Buckeyeblue]

19. I agree with everything but #6

If the Senate Republicans voted to convict, I think a good many of them would either not make it through the primary or would see a lot of people stay home in 2020.

But I can definitely see McConnell telling 45, this is your baby. He's not going to pass the CR because he doesn't want to become a target. And he's also not going to negotiate because this isn't his battle. I think he runs the risk of looking like a weak leader.

But...if he felt this strongly about a shutdown being the wrong strategy, why not get the votes to override the veto? All he has to say is, I need to protect Kentucky. He would be hailed a hero in the press.

[FakeNoose]

33. Also, Trump has chosen his hill to die on

... and McConnell has every intention of sitting back and watching him do it.
I just wish it weren't so painful for the rest of us.

[Nasruddin]

40. Riding it out

Perhaps, like others say, he is just riding this out.
I'm with you thru #4. I think he's trying to keep his profile as low as possible so he doesn't
take any incidental damage.

He has nothing to worry about - there's no blue wave strong enough to knock out the Republican majority in the Senate, or take away his seat in KY. Unless he's dirty too, and there is some risk of it coming out.

[JohnnyLib2]

51. Again, this Kentuckian agrees with you.

McConnell is shrewd and calculating in ways that Trump can never be. It's not hard to imagine him smirking as Trump flames out.

[dalton99a]

16. Here:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-the-white-house-waiting-inside-trumps-defiance-on-the-longest-shutdown-ever/2019/01/12/c512af0c-15ee-11e9-b6ad-9cfd62dbb0a8_story.html
‘In the White House waiting’: Inside Trump’s defiance on the longest shutdown ever

[janx]

18. Wash Post:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/amphtml/politics/in-the-white-house-waiting-inside-trumps-defiance-on-the-longest-shutdown-ever/2019/01/12/c512af0c-15ee-11e9-b6ad-9cfd62dbb0a8_story.html?noredirect=on&__twitter_impression=true

[kentuck]

7. But Trump said...

That the Party was beautifully unified ???

[Miles Archer]

9. As Bob Dylan sang, "They smile in your face, but behind your back they hiss."

They're cowards. They won't be moved by one or two who find their spine. They won't be moved until they see a green light from McConnell. That may never happen, and it probably won't, but if they do, this is over. Bigly and quickly.

[Mr.Bill]

34. That's the best proof that it isn't.

[EarlG]

8. I wonder if they can see the poll numbers moving away from them

and this is McConnell starting to slink towards the exit. “Hey don’t blame me! I told him this was a bad idea BEFORE IT EVEN GOT STARTED!”

[Miles Archer]

13. No one is going to give McConnell, or the party, benefit of doubt.

He;s got two options...sink Trump, or go down with him.

And I'm pretty sure Limbaugh and Coulter would be OK with President Pence.

I also think the talk that's come out in the last two days to issue a primary challenger is bogus. First, I don't think the GOP has the guts to do that. Second, they're playing chicken when it comes to removing Trump from office. I'd bet the farm that McConnell is holding onto the chance that Trump will be re-elected in 2020 that he will as well, and that he will remain leader in a Republican-majority Senate.

That's beyond foolish. Before Flynn, Manafort and Cohen...before the shutdown...before the NYT report...I can see how he could keep those fantasies alive. Now? Look at the speed of the news cycle. Look at what's happened in the last month? I don't believe for a second that we've seen the last of it, or the worst of it. And by the time the 800,000 Federal employees go from "worried about eviction" to actually BEING evicted, nothing will put THAT fire out. As the pundits have said, even if he DOES end the shutdown, there will be people with damaged credit and vanished nest eggs.

This is all going to leave a mark. A big, big mark.

[MyOwnPeace]

27. Lots of "angry ones" out there..........

Ones being overlooked at the moment because of the other prominent issues - those being clobbered by the crashing "Trump" economy. I'm sure there are a lot of "pissed off" Trumpsters out there that just lost a shit-load of their retirement fund - or college fund for their kids.
That is going to leave a mark and there is no way that this administration (I know, what a joke to call it that!) has NO plan to figure out a way to help a recovery. Hell, they can't even figure out a way to plan a meeting to figure out a way to recover!!

[erronis]

45. But the trumpsters will never accept the Dem positions. They'll do anything

to justify their prior decisions supporting dump(R)s. Even flailing out at everyone else.

[malaise]

10. Let me put it as nicely as I can

Fuck the fucking fuckers!

[Miles Archer]

14. Too nice.

[malaise]

20. Yah think?

[akraven]

25. Just add one thing (for Nancy):

[DENVERPOPS]

49. Amen

but first, get the "football" away from him at any cost. When finally going down, psychopaths like to go down with a big bang.
pardon the pun......SERIOUSLY PEOPLE, THIS IS OF REAL CONCERN.......

[malaise]

53. Excellent point

Welcome to DU

[allgood33]

11. Then why the hell doesn't Mitch put the bills to a vote in the Senate. Why punish

innocent people trying to make a living and serving their government?

[Miles Archer]

15. See what I wrote above...

...he's playing chicken, he's playing a waiting game, he's feigning support of Trump while hoping he'll walk away without a scratch.

[MyOwnPeace]

28. McTurtle does NOT care about you!

He's trying to save his own shell so that he can live to see another term.

[brush]

12. trump is so stupid he didn't realize that us Dems controlling the House changed everything.

Now he's stuck in this shutdown and doesn't know how to get out of it.

[Miles Archer]

17. He thought he was either going to charm or bully / intimidate Nancy Pelosi

Neither of those things happened.

You may have noticed that he's returned to calling Chuck Schumer "Cryin' Chuck" but he does not have a nickname for Speaker Pelosi, who terrifies him.

He's never had to deal with a fearless woman wielding that much power. This is his worst nightmare.

[brush]

21. Yep, the Speaker doesn't play. I don't think trump really knew how things...

work when the opposition party takes control of the House or Senate. He's used to repugs just kissing his ass and he thought that was going to continue.

[BumRushDaShow]

22. "but he does not have a nickname for Speaker Pelosi"

Wikipedia begs to differ! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nicknames_used_by_Donald_Trump

(I can't believe someone took the time to compile these )

High Tax, High Crime Nancy Pelosi
MS-13 Lover Nancy Pelosi

I won't link to the footnote references to those stupid names as they are sourced to Newsmax and Faux Snooze.

[Miles Archer]

23. Should have qualified "not currently."

I assumed he had one or more in the past, haven't heard them lately though...have we?

[BumRushDaShow]

24. She just got sworn in last week! Give him time.

[MyOwnPeace]

29. He ain't gonna' throw poo............

he knows she'll shove it down his throat!!!

[BumRushDaShow]

32. It's either that or have to deal with this guy

Not that she won't tell him to stuff it where the sun don't shine.

[Miles Archer]

39. No he ain't...

...look what just showed up on Twitter, after my post:

John Santucci
?
Verified account

@Santucci
John Santucci Retweeted Donald J. Trump
Maybe I’ve missed it - but I’m pretty sure there has not been a nickname given to Speaker Pelosi

Link to tweet

Donald J. Trump
?
Verified account

@realDonaldTrump

I will be interviewed by Jeanine Pirro at 9:00 P.M. on @FoxNews. Watch @JesseBWatters before and @greggutfeld after. All terrific people. I am in the White House waiting for Cryin’ Chuck and Nancy to call so we can start helping our Country both at the Border and from within!

6:37 PM - 12 Jan 2019

Link to tweet

[Rorey]

26. Perfect depiction of Individual 1

[barbtries]

31. he's a runaway train.

not a fucking clue. could not care less who gets hurt. so, is McConnell going to eventually do the right thing here? Trump's cult will not win elections.

[erronis]

46. McCon can't do the right thing to make right the things he has totally screwed up so far.

Sorry about that sentence, but in my humble opinion, McConTurtle has already hurt the country so much and so deeply that any motions he makes now are like a bandaid on destroyed limb.

I hope he lives long enough to be punished a lot more. I don't care if he repents or writes a book full of mea culpas. Those are cheap and everyone else will have them out at the same time.

[barbtries]

50. i don't think he'll ever apologize.

stealing a SCOTUS seat was the proudest moment of his life. sociopaths have no conscience. all that will make him do the right thing now is the belief that continuing to do the wrong thing will hurt him politically.

i think he's evil. him and dick cheney. fucking evil.

[TwistOneUp]

35. Why isn't this titled, "Donnie and the two ho's"? nt

[DallasNE]

41. That Sounds Like CYA

Why wouldn't Ryan and McConnell gone to Trump together and lay it on the line. As it is, their efforts were pathetic and went nowhere. This is just another example of how Republicans, for whatever reason, are ill-suited to govern. They don't know how to get anything done. As it is, Rush Limbaugh is more of a political force than Ryan, McConnell and Kelly combined.

[Xipe Totec]

42. Strange game. The only winning move is not to play.

[elleng]

52. 25th AMENDMENT

[Hermit-The-Prog]

54. trump loves hitler, mussolini, stalin, putin, et. al.

Trump believes he can leverage his (cult of personality) base to become dictator for life, passing a dynasty to his spawn. He believes the wall is his means of achieving this.

McConnell wants to ensure permanent, RW rule by people just like himself.

Also,