Dana Milbank shows us how the wheels are coming off.

[ginnyinWI]

This administration, I think, has passed a tipping point. Just look at this morning's tweet storm. DJT isn't going to change. In fact he will probably get worse, much worse. And all his lackeys will go down with him if they don't get out.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/sean-spicer-is-the-latest-trump-casualty-he-wont-be-the-last/2017/07/21/06dfbf72-6e54-11e7-b9e2-2056e768a7e5_story.html?utm_term=.898482c55a6b&wpisrc=nl_opinionsA&wpmm=1

During the primaries, when he was chief strategist to the Republican National Committee, Spicer told friends that he was confident Donald Trump wouldn’t win the nomination and that if Trump did, both Spicer and RNC chairman Reince Priebus would have to do some soul-searching about whether they could remain in their jobs.

Not only did Spicer and Priebus continue, but also they became fierce advocates for Trump during the general election and took senior roles in his White House. A cynic would say they saw Trump as their meal tickets. A more charitable interpretation is that they were hoping to tame Trump, to temper the crazy. Mike Pence, who had reservations about Trump but accepted the vice presidential nomination, made a similar calculation.
...

In business, Trump tended to destroy those around him, walking away from failure relatively unscathed while others — lenders, partners, vendors — paid the cost. Something similar is happening to those around Trump now, but this isn’t a casino — it’s our country.

Nobody has been more slavishly loyal to Trump than Attorney General Jeff Sessions, one of his earliest supporters in the Senate; now Trump is publicly savaging him. Trump is likewise disparaging Rod J. Rosenstein, the man he appointed to be the No. 2 at the Justice Department, as well as the special counsel that Rosenstein appointed. Trump has publicly contradicted Secretary of State Rex Tillerson twice (on Qatar and Russia sanctions) and has denied Tillerson even the dignity of staffing his own agency. Trump accepted Chris Christie’s over-the-top support during the campaign, then cast him aside.

[dalton99a]

1. Trump was chosen by Putin to wreak chaos and destruction

[RKP5637]

3. Exactly! Trump, is an invasive force. Many Americans still can't seem to comprehend what it's

all about!

[DK504]

12. A systematic dismantling of our government and country.

The Yah-hoos still don't understand they have been supporting a traitor and his cabal of criminals, AKA, family. What will it take to make these idiots come to the light and realize they are going to lose everything and become the over worked poor and serfs beholden to the Conglomerates.

[RKP5637]

13. Many are likely in positions they are in life as they have always been clueless, so I doubt

they will change. Some will, but IMO many won't.

[Gabi Hayes]

29. Trump found out about Democracy in Chains

https://www.kirkusreviews.com/features/nancy-maclean/

Absolute must read

------------

"---Democracy in Chains expands on Jahne Mayer’s reporting in Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right. Where Mayer follows the radical right’s money trail, MacLean examines its intellectual origins—“the master plan behind it,” as she writes in her book’s introduction. Her findings will leave you deeply concerned for our democracy"

[jmbar2]

30. Most important book I have read all year

Now all the RW nonsense makes sense - not good sense, but there is a rationale behind it, however evil. We must understand the problem in order to know how to protect democracy. The task ahead of us is enormous. Please read this book.

[Gabi Hayes]

31. Buchanan as evil as Strauss and his "noble liars?"

Start a thread on it!!!

Cheerio!

[zentrum]

45. This

[Juliusseizure]

50. Trump's support is largely race based

They don't care if he lies, colludes, etc. Obama's presidency, Clinton's merging of minority elecorate, and their fear that demographic shifts would make their vote irrelevant, threatens white hierarchy and power.

Trump was a leading figure in the birther movement and the man to maintain it. So he can shoot someone and they wouldn't care. Its not so much him as the idea.

[uponit7771]

7. Yeap, Putin's revenge ... he wants America to have the Russia version of Yeltsin and the chaos he

... caused.

[lark]

10. Exactly dalton99A.

He flatters drumpf, gives him money, then turns on him and embarrasses drumpf every time he can. Example - letting the cat out of the bag that drumpf said firing Comey got rid of the tremendous pressure on him, that came directly from Russia to make drumpf look bad Also the picture that Russia released of drumpf, Kislyak and Lavarov yukking it up was quite problematic for drumpf. Putin's got so much dirt on him and has promised him so much, drumpf just takes it and pretends he doesn't notice that Russia is not his best friend, no way no how. Russia's aim is not to help drumpf because they like him, they think he's stupid, greedy and pliable to their wishes so they want to leverage this to get everything they want, then they will cut off his head by releasing all the dirt on him and the whole party and destroy our government.

[lunatica]

17. He's Putin's useful idiot

So are all of Trump's children.

[workinclasszero]

14. Trump was hand picked by Putin to neuter America

Take us off the world stage so Russia and China will be the leaders of the world in this century.

They are breaking up the EU as well.

Trump's mission is to turn the USA into a banana republic dictatorship with total 1% rule and the rest of us living in garbage dumps.

All republicans are 100% on board with this of course.

[broadcaster90210]

42. Bingo

And we are just about destroyed because of it.

[Hieronymus]

52. We're gonna hear lots from Trump ..

now that congress voted for more sanctions on Russia.

[RKP5637]

2. All slow learners! They still don't get it. Trump is for Trump! He doesn't give a F about

anything else.

[dalton99a]

5. Nothing is more important to Trump than loyalty - to him

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/sessions-learns-loyalty-can-be-a-one-way-street-with-trump/2017/07/20/4cafacc8-6d97-11e7-b9e2-2056e768a7e5_story.html
Sessions learns loyalty can be a one-way street with Trump

It's one of the Trump family values:

http://www.snopes.com/donald-trump-jr-tweet/

[uponit7771]

8. fuckin horrible buncha people

[VOX]

19. They are all absolute garbage.

[kwassa]

40. How can one be loyal to insanity and abuse?

[Iliyah]

4. As Nancy P just quoted "I don't care"

t-rump, his fucked up administration, including Pence, and the whole GOPs alongwith their fucked up billionaire donors all need to go straight to their right wing evangelist's hell, and please DO NOT take the good ole USA with ya.

Fuck them to the infinite number.

[Ilsa]

27. I've been thinking of the types of Hell trump should endure.

I think he should be placed naked on a two foot pedestal with a moat of germy stinking shit around him, while his ex-wives and girlfriends and Melania stand near the moat, with millions of women behind them, pointing at his coat-button penis, disparaging his sexuality, telling him they had to fake it, telling him he had to cheat to get anything done, reminding him of his bankruptcies, and that his parents still think he's a worthless POS.

[defacto7]

48. Think Hieronymus Bosch

Garden of Earthly Delights, the third panel. Get a close look. There's an excellent menagerie of hells for your "Trump in hell" dreams.

[Stuart G]

6. What Trump don't know...He will go down, and down far..very far...nt

[PatSeg]

9. He is making enemies out of

pretty much everyone. In the end, its possible he will have no one left, not even family.

[PJMcK]

22. His family

It will be fascinating to see which member of his family will get thrown under the bus by the Idiot. Will it be Junior for admitting he had the massive meeting with the Russians? Will it be the fetid cipher SIL for his inability to solve all of the "easy" issues Trump gave him? (You know, Mid-East peace, government reform, etc.). Will it be Wife #3 for publicly humiliating him? Does he even remember his other son, the Vintner? We know it won't be his Precious because, like all cads, he thinks he still might be able to tag her.

[PatSeg]

25. Really

I don't think he feels loyalty towards any of them and his paranoia will have him believing they are conspiring against him. If darling daughter takes Jared's side against him, he'll probably throw her under the bus as well. The world is so unfair to poor Donnie and everyone is just using him.

[onetexan]

11. yep its clear by now once these opportunists

who've hitched their wagon to 45's train to nowhere have outlived their usefulness he drops them like a hot potato by first disparaging them & distancing himself from them. This idiot has no idealogy or principles that drive him. Rather he is driven by his narcissism & lust for glory.

[Boomerproud]

15. Milbank gets paid for writing what we've been saying for a year now.

Who is living in reality, I ask you. I agree that we (not just POtuS) have passed the tipping point. When the house of cards falls, it will be extremely ugly.

[Grammy23]

16. The pundits keep saying that trump's fans will stay with him to the bitter end.

And to a certain degree, they may be right. But that is the HARD CORE of his fans. Some came on board reluctantly and tentatively---not unlike some of his staff and key figures like Pence. I think some of those staffers (who know far more than we do at this point) are starting to regret their decision but are in way too deep to just back out now. I suspect some of them are afraid of tRump and what he will do to them if they leave BEFORE he wants them gone.

Putin is achieving many of his long wished for goals. TRump is delivering on the chaos, disruption and changes that Putin wanted to happen. I think tRump is so far up his own ass that he still hasn't figured out he is being used by Putin. He really thinks Putin is his friend. Ain't that a laugh?? When Putin gets done with him, he probably already has a plan for tRump that tRump won't like.

I keep thinking as the defections, firings and resignations mount, maybe---just maybe--- the fools will start to open their eyes! One can only hope they will start to see that trump's rhetoric and lies do not match what they can see and hear for themselves. Let sanity prevail. I am already sick to death of trump's brand of insanity!

[Cosmocat]

21. Here is the problem - it isn't about him

He didn't win the general election cause all the people who voted for him thought he was super awesome.

He won because there was an evil liberal who was "worse."

There are a A LOT of people who know he us a pos, but decades of hate framing liberals has them brain washed that democrats are worse.

[Duppers]

34. That is true.

My idiot brother hates TRump but hated HRC much more.

[jmbar2]

32. When he falls, his followers could become dangerous

They will not deal well with with the Cognitive Dissonance. May feel that his removal is the signal for armed insurrection. We need to gently embrace those who can be embraced, and recruit them towards helping to restore democracy.

[Duppers]

35. I have a "moderate" rethug brother and can

tell you I have tried and was met with the wall of spite and hate. They will not accept any info that contradicts fux and limpballs. They HATE liberals. So, from my experience, I assert that there will be little to no recruitment.

[uponit7771]

38. +1, even Nixon had 24% approval after he resigned !!! The rest of the nation knew better

[Enoki33]

18. As was pointed out trump has always left a trail of devastation behind every

chaotic situationth he seems to intentionally create. Those that choose to ignore that reality and hitch themselves to his coattail deserve every bit of degrading treatment they receive. Unfortunately it is our country that will temporarily pay the greatest of price. Still we must resist.

[peggysue2]

20. As was said . . .

many months ago:

'Everything Trump touches, dies.'

Think I read that on Rick Wilson's twitter feed. Yes, that Rick Wilson, a confirmed conservative. Also a Never Trumper.

The 'everything' includes people in the Trumpster's orbit, beyond his family, of course. At least thus far. We're witnessing a simple truth in Trumpworld: the idea of loyalty is a one-way street for The Donald. He has a mobster mentality. The Godfather always protects himself and his base interests.

Horrifying much? Yes, a nightmare.

[PJMcK]

24. Good quote

I hadn't heard that one, peggysue2, but it's appropriate. Everything and everyone Trump is involved with ends up with a mess.

Look at his casino businesses. How do you fail at a gig where people willingly give you their money? Yet he bankrupted three casinos, stiffed his contractors and workers and severely damaged Atlantic City's economy.

Look at all of his weird businesses. Steaks, vodka, board games and the like. These are not the kinds of activities that a really smart or really rich person would get involved with.

As I wrote upthread, it'll be fascinating to see which family member will be first to get kicked to the curb. I'm betting on the malodorous enigma SIL; he's not blood related and Jared's legal and financial problems will become overwhelming as they are exposed.

ETA: It's interesting that none of his golf businesses fail. In fact, they do pretty well especially considering that the business of golf has been in decline for a long time.

[lindysalsagal]

23. This pretty little twinkie will be savaged by the press.

He won't know the players, the histories, the contexts, the locations...He won't even understand the press' questions, something one might need to do if he were supposed to supply answers. I give him 3 weeks, but possibly he'll go down after his second press
meeting.

[Hekate]

26. My pity for the people he's ruining is mitigated by the fact they thought they could control him...

They saw him for what he is, but campaigned vigorously across the nation for him. They thought they could control him.

...Power more than country loved...

They gambled on being able to control this abomination, and they lost. And they're taking us down with them. *holes. Ratfckrs.

[workinclasszero]

28. Exact same thing happened with Hitler

The conservative pols in Germany thought they could control Hitler but he never did pivot either. Germany and the world paid a horrible price for that mistaken notion.

[spiderpig]

33. Do you mentally project into the future (assuming we have one)

and speculate on how historians will judge this insanity?

To quote Charlton Heston in the original Planet of the Apes, "It's a MADHOUSE!"

[More_Cowbell]

36. Spicer made his choice

Lying about the inauguration crowd size in his first press conference. He wasn't trying to tame Trump *then*.

[mr_lebowski]

37. FIRST ... you spurn me for Eddie ... then you throw him off like an old overcoat for Rocky!

You chew people up and then you spit them out again!

[Honeycombe8]

39. Excellent article. I wish I could be as certain as she is that the admin is going to crash&burn.nt

[SMC22307]

41. Dana Milbank is a he. (n/t)

[orleans]

44. oh, he's a *lot* more than just a "he"

https://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4168258

[Honeycombe8]

54. Oh, that's right! LOL. Sorry. nt

[Alice11111]

43. With Christie, there was Bridgegate & he prosecuted Kushner's

Dad, not that he didn't deserve it, but he evidently did more time, and Christie was abnormally fervent.
Still, it's Awkward. Too bad Christie can't get his old job back and prosecute Kushner Jr.

Christie is one of the smarter and more competent of the vile creatures.

[malaise]

46. The RNC and ReTHUG leadership allowed this to happen

all for greed and power. Fuck them all.

LOCK THEM UP!

[raven mad]

47. Gee, Jeffie - isn't karma fun?

When I think of the people you have deliberately set out to destroy, Jeffie? Especially at "home" (cue up Sweet Home Alabama).... Payback rocks.

This is priceless.

[McCamy Taylor]

49. Trump is a mobster and FBI informant. What do you expect?

He is a conman who is not even loyal to his own criminal associates.

[Juliusseizure]

51. Read about malignant narcissists early on

It's a personality disorder. Everything he's done is consistent with it and I've used it as a roadmap. Shallow sociopaths who create chaos to retain control through fear, pathologically lie, require worship, attack those they can't control, gaslight, etc.

[Renew Deal]

53. The one person he has not forgotten, betrayed, disappointed, or criticized: Putin