The amount of insane things that Trump says and does are just so incredibly overwhelming. If any other President wrote something like this, there would be discussion of how quickly the 25th Amendment could be invoked.

The President of the United States is threatening to obliterate the economy of Turkey…and apparently has done it before. Perhaps all of Ivanka’s unsold clothing line was dumped there? Did Trump himself open a hotel that inevitably went bankrupt?

As I have stated strongly before, and just to reiterate, if Turkey does anything that I, in my great and unmatched wisdom, consider to be off limits, I will totally destroy and obliterate the Economy of Turkey (I’ve done before!). They must, with Europe and others, watch over…

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 7, 2019

 
This quote gets glanced over because Trump said and did at least 5 other things more insane than this today, but it is yet another scary reminder of the massive damage he is doing to our international standing.

NY Times article on Biden making $200k on a speech to a pro-Republican group just before the midterm election in which he praised the Republican incumbent who ended up winning by 4 points.

One- this sure doesn’t sound like a guy who is gearing up to run for President.

Two- Biden has a loooonnngg record and a whole lot of things opponents to go after.

Rudy Giuliani backtracks on his yesterday’s statement to the NY Times regarding the Moscow timeline: “calling his comments “hypothetical” and not intended to convey facts.”

You can pretty much apply that to anything that comes out of Rudy’s mouth.

Rudy Giuliani now states that the Trump team was talking to the Russians about a Moscow Tower during 2016. Possibly even up to Election Day. And that Michael Cohen might be more reliable on this issue than Trump.

Donald Trump, shockingly, had a different take on interactions with the Russians in the MSNBC article:

In 2016, Trump was denying have any business relationships in Russia. “I mean I have nothing to do with Russia. I don’t have any jobs in Russia. I’m all over the world but we’re not involved in Russia,” he said on July 26, 2016.

Newsweek article by Robert Reich discusses how the Trump shutdown results in less money flowing through the economy. Right now some 800,000 government employees aren’t collecting paychecks. Nor are hundreds of thousands of government contractors being paid. None of them can buy as much as before.

Steve Kerr- must follow on Twitter:

Sen. Harris picks MLK day to announce her candidacy. Of the declared candidates so far, she is the most formidable. Perhaps Biden and Beto get in, but she has to be considered an early front runner. NY Times mentions that this is the first time there are multiple plausible female nominees running.

My heart breaks for all the underprivileged children who have been helped by Donald Trump and will now longer benefit from this Foundation. According to the NY Times: Alan Futerfas, a lawyer for the charity, said the foundation had been seeking to dissolve and distribute its remaining assets since the 2016 election. “Unfortunately, the NYAG sought to prevent dissolution for almost two years, thereby depriving those most in need of nearly $1.7 million,” he said, citing the amount of remaining assets.

Kushner being considered for Chief of Staff, since pretty much everyone else doesn’t want the job.

Two questions-

1. Can he do that from prison?

2. Is Canseco still available?

Hey little buddy @realDonaldTrump u need a bash brother for Chief if Staff. Got a secret reorg plan already. Also worried about you looking more like a Twinkie everyday. I will buff you up daily workouts. DM me. #yeswecanseco

— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) December 13, 2018

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From the WSJ: Shahid Shafi was drawn to the Republican tenets of small government and secure borders after growing up under a military dictatorship in Pakistan. Now he is under fire from conservative activists who say he isn’t fit for a leadership position in the party because he is Muslim.