Friday, May 13, 2016

Trump is fast becoming the next Barack Obama. He's already screwing over his supporters. Look at his alliances.

Trump and AnthonyScramucci

I am crushed. Call me naive, call me stupid, whatever.

I simply cannot believe that Trump has taken on this little scrawny, mousy, 1%-er Wall Street hedge fund guy, Anthony Scaramucci, on his finance team.

Okay, he wants to raise money. I get it. But SCARAMUCCI?? The guy loathed Trump. Threw all kinds of insults his way, but what's even worse, this little dude is not for the working people. He's not for an end to fake "globalization." He's not for hedge fund operators paying their fair share. He's not for ending or curtailing the rigged financial games of Wall Street.

The guy's an un-apologetic cheerleader of the 1-percent. Of the financial predators.

And that's not all...he's got that EXTREME LIBERTARIAN, Silicon Valley tech billionaire, Peter Thiel, working on his finance team, too.

I can't believe this. I simply cannot believe this.

Trump has let me down. Big time. He's gonna screw everyone supporting him right now.

Bernie's the only guy and he doesn't have a chance.

We're screwed...again.

Let's just make money.

42 comments:

Tom Hickey said...

I guess that's a danger in trusting a .001%er to take on the .1%. :0

Bernie's the only one that still looks real.

mike norman said...

I f**king can't stand Scaramucci.

Tom Hickey said...

The tell was when Trump selected Roger Stone, and then when there was pushback against him, Trump just replaced him with Stone's longtime associate and partner Paul Manafort, who is less flamboyant than Stone but cut from the same cloth based on past performance.

Even though Stone is no longer officially advising Trump, he was on with Axes Jones as soon as the story broke about Cruz's father's alleged relationship with Lee Harvey Oswald.

See Snopes, Was Ted Cruz's Father Linked to the JFK Assassination?

This is the kind of hitting-below-the-belt politics that Stone and Manafort are famous for, and that Trump himself often resorts to.

That Trump would ever become a straight shooter given his record beggars belief.

Matt Franko said...

Here is the lastest from Stone:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id5spWru2Ko

Stone thinks there is a big GOP munnie grab around Trump... you have to see whether the $$$ are going to a SuperPAC or to Trump...

A lot of these SuperPAC initiatives are glomming onto Trump and trying to get the munnie into their PACs which could basically be a scam....

Just referencing Trump and making an appeal for munnie .... i dont think this is illegal....

chris said...

Mike, I agree... I thought you had trump right the first time when you thought he was an idiot for wanted to "renegotiate" the debt. I look forward to more of your writings on MMT. Thanks!

Simsalablunder said...

Scaramucci…sounds like something Freddie Mercury would have sung in the seventies.

Tom Hickey said...

Scaramuccia (literally "little skirmisher"), also known as Scaramouche or Scaramouch, is a stock clown character of the Italian commedia dell'arte.

Wikipedia

Kristjan said...

Trump is a all over the place for a reason, he wants everyone to see him what they want to see. That's why he is talking about defaulting on debt and then appealing to MMT-ers with US never has to default because it prints money. When he is seriously blamed on this, he will say: i was just talking about the options we have, that is one possibility.

"This is the kind of hitting-below-the-belt politics that Stone and Manafort are famous for, and that Trump himself often resorts to."

Yet it works this time around, Trump is winning against "all odds".

Ignacio said...

Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.

Unknown said...

Studying Hare's psychopathy checklist has brought me up short. By that well-accepted instrument, Trump would appear to score as an extreme psychopath. As I understand it, psychopaths are in important ways not human beings but are creatures that learn more or less to simulate being human.

lastgreek said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
lastgreek said...

"The Frog and the Scorpion"

Btw ... why does Drumpf keep saying he's being audited when he's not? The letter that was released by his tax attorneys to the media recently states that his return is under examination, not audit.

John said...

As much as I respect Mike (and Matt and Malmo and...), I've never been able to understand how they can fall for the same trick every four years: that this really is the "anti-establishment" and/or "anti-Washington" candidate, the "maverick" and/or "outsider" candidate. Desperation makes even very smart people do desperate things.

Whether its Obama, Clinton, Trump, or just about anybody in high politics, they're pretty much cut from the same cloth. Take a look at Trump's positions before he ran for the presidency, and tell me he's not a east coast liberal democrat who is the epitome of establishment thinking. Trump very occasionally says more interesting and intelligent things than the other candidates, but then he also says a helluva lot of unbelievably absurd, outrageous and dangerous things. Trump scares people because he's unpredictable and may use the power of the presidency to unusual ends.

Trump will of course try and do a deal with the Republican establishment. And that will spell the end of him: his selling point was how different he is to all those running; if he's just going to mouth ludicrous Republican mantras, why vote for a turncoat? No matter what, this time was always coming. Even if it were true that he was a self-financed candidate (which it wasn't), he was never going to self-finance a $1 billion or more campaign for the presidency. He needs the Republican machine to make that happen, and those who pull the purse strings...

Dave said...

Mike your the man. Love your blog, and you changed my financial life. I always knew Trump was a big fake, but so is Hillary. At the end of the day, you have to try to change the way ordinary people think in order to effect real change. That takes time, but fidelity to sound principles will do more to change things than any one President can. Keep doing your thing.

Matt Franko said...

John if you watch the Stone interview with Jones, Stone is warning against sending any $$$ to anyone but the Trump campaign...

A lot of these people (like Karl Rove... Ed Rollins...etc... BIG GOP names...) are scamming people on the GOP side who have $$ to give... they form super pacs and then start online and direct mail campaigns touting "Trump" this and "Trump" that... etc... and then make an appeal to send munnie... once they get it they have YUGE discretion on how they spend it and even CANT directly commmunicate or coordinate with the Trump campaign... this is NOT illegal over here... they start big marketing campaigns to raise munnie into their superPacs and it becomes a big slush fund for them...

so lets see what shakes out this is a Vanity Fair article Mike is citing wrt Scarramucci and he might just be trolling for donations to some sort of superPac he and some cronies are going to start up and raise a bunch of munnie for their own accounts and do very little wrt Trump....

Trump will have his own fund raising efforts I'm sure but Stone is out there 24/7 warning about superPac scams...

Malmo's Ghost said...

Way too early to jump ship. This is politics and politics makes for strange bedfellows. If Trump changes his tune from here on out then I'm gone. So far that hasn't happened. But until that happens, I'm guessing he's probably playing these fellas Mike hates like a fiddle. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Tom Hickey said...

Donald The Sock Puppet

Dave said...

So Tom, I guess Trump is a psychopath and suffers from multiple personality disorder. His fascination with the name Barron is pretty freaking funny.

The guy is as disingenuous as they come. I feel bad for his supporters, he will only disappoint them. He can't help himself, he's psychologically damaged.

The only good thing you can say about him is he has exposed the us political system for the dog and pony show it is. For that we should thank him.

Tom Hickey said...

Will Donald Trump Reinvent the Enemies List If Elected?

Simsalablunder said...

"A lot of these people (like Karl Rove... Ed Rollins...etc... BIG GOP names...) are scamming people on the GOP side who have $$ to give... they form super pacs"

Conspiracy…

John said...

Malmo: "I'm guessing he's probably playing these fellas Mike hates like a fiddle."

I thought that was a possibility too, but the Republican establishment must be factoring this in to their thinking. They may be nasty thugs but they're also politically smart. They're not, however, in the best of positions, and of course neither is Trump.

Is the establishment going to open up the coffers in the hope that Trump will become more malleable? Or will they just write off 2016 and ready themselves for a shot at the title in 2020? Is it a better longterm move to scuttle the ship rather than hand it over to Trump? Given their fractured history, is Trump able to convince the establishment that he's not going to be the death of the Republican party as we know it?

What would you do if you were in their shoes? Suck it up and write off 2016, because it's better for the longterm future of the Republican party? Or get behind the chosen candidate and watch him use the presidency to unusual ends and very un-Republican aims, if that is he means what he says: national healthcare, trade renegotiation, ensuring no further military engagement in the Middle East, a deal with Russia that is favourable to Russia, etc?

Trump's in a very difficult position (of his own making, it must be said), but then so is the Republican party. The party holds most of the card and can trump Trump. They have the money and just as importantly the skills to run an effective campaign. They know it and Trump knows it. Evidently, Trump is trying to woo the party establishment. Will he bend far enough, and, even if he does or appears to do so, will the party trust this wildcard?

John said...

Matt: "Trump will have his own fund raising efforts I'm sure but Stone is out there 24/7 warning about superPac scams..."

That's nothing more than a strategy to stay in the game with the party. It's a bluff, and one that's not going to fool anyone. Trump can't run a presidential campaign without the party. He knows it and the party know it. The question is, will the party get behind Trump, not will Trump do everything to assuage the party. Even if he could raise the money, which is highly questionable, the major issue is running the campaign. You need the party machine to do that.

Malmo's Ghost said...

John,

I don't think the GOP will ever get behind Trump, and I think he realizes that fact. He's a hard wired alpha like very few contemporaries. I would be shocked if he sold out to Establishment cretins in any way shape or form. I think he's going to speak his mind going forward in the so called loose cannon way he has to the present come hell or high water.

I'm paying little attention to the tabloid news cycle in play at present. As the convention nears I'll then tune in closer. If he survives the GOP knives there, the real games begin when Hillary and him go head to head in the debates. I'm sure she's scared shitless of him and his candid non PC debating tactics. I fully anticipate either he somehow meltdown there rhetorically speaking or cleans her clock and good. There will be no in between. Political theater at it's absolute best to be sure.

Joe said...

Trump needs to build big coalitions if he's going to win the presidency. That will include wall Street people and other undesirables. I don't like it either, but he can't run saying "f_you" to everybody.

Joe said...

Trump needs to build big coalitions if he's going to win the presidency. That will include wall Street people and other undesirables. I don't like it either, but he can't run saying "f_you" to everybody.

John said...

Malmo: "I'm sure she's scared shitless of him and his candid non PC debating tactics. I fully anticipate either he somehow meltdown there rhetorically speaking or cleans her clock and good."

Absolutely. Hillary and company claim that they can't believe their luck in having Trump as the Republican candidate, but I don't believe it for a moment. They know he's a street fighter and takes no prisoners. Knowing the prize is in sight, Trump may now start to control himself and not say or do anything that will kneecap him for good, which may alienate his current base. Given all the unnecessary stuff he's said and done thus far, it may be too late. I wonder if Trump ever beats himself up over all the unnecessary insults, outrageous comments and off the cuff policies that made no sense? As I've said so many times before, he could have strolled backwards into the Oval Office, but no, he just had to open his mouth. The Clintons also fight dirty, so it'll be good entertainment!

It looks like Trump has pretty much fucked himself when it comes to the Republican establishment. He seems to have come to the sudden realisation that he now knows he needs them! Otherwise why's he going on bended knee to wackos like Paul Ryan? Did he never think to himself that this day would come, when he'd have to make nice with all the people he's spat at? If he goes solo, good luck to him. As Joe says, he needs Wall Street money and other big corporate money. Will they give it to him knowing that the party isn't backing him? If Trump doesn't get the big money, the Clintons will, making Trump's position doubly difficult. And Bubba is personally manning those lines to Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and the rest of them. Trump's done business with all these Wall Street firms, but they're not going to bankroll someone who hasn't got his won party behind him.

Ross Perot is the only one who really ran for the presidency without a party behind him, and he didn't do too badly (19% and 20 million votes). Trump's got more charisma than Perot, but Perot seemed reasonable and didn't intentionally alienate people. Without a political machine, it's a lost cause, something Hillary is hoping for. And the numbers ain't turning around for Trump. The women's vote especially seems to be dropping by the day.

Tom Hickey said...

How Donald Trump convinced the Republican Party to revolve around him

Tom Hickey said...

Adelson willing to donate $100 million to Trump: report

Looks like Trump and Adelson have made a deal on AIPAC and Israel. Who knew Trump was a neocon?

Malmo's Ghost said...

Yeah, the Adelson thing is going to be hard on the smell test.

Matt Franko said...

Has NOT quieted Bill Kristol AT ALL.....

Malmo's Ghost said...

Right, Matt. They (Kristol and company) are still running hard with the third party idiocy. Could simply be a casino thing (symbiosis of some sort) and nothing more with Adelson.

Matt Franko said...

"What remains unclear is how Mr. Adelson plans to contribute his money to Mr. Trump. He will give the maximum allowed to Mr. Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee, but to spend the amount he contemplates would require donating through a “super PAC,” able to accept unlimited donations."

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/14/us/politics/sheldon-adelson-donald-trump.html?_r=0


Jury still out here...

Trump (to this point) indicating unmerited favor (grace) towards Israel... the Israel lobby ofc looking to change that over to an earned favor (works)...

Standard OT vs. NT stuff... stay tuned...

Malmo's Ghost said...

Matt,

I would bet the farm that Trump won't budge on any of his platform, even after he becomes President. I know Mike feels he's going to be a sellout like Obama, but I just don't see it that way. Trump is far too hard headed and committed to his core beliefs to give an inch--even to a $100 million contributor.

Tom Hickey said...

They (Kristol and company) are still running hard with the third party idiocy. Could simply be a casino thing (symbiosis of some sort) and nothing more with Adelson.

Adelson had what Trump wanted. Munnie. So there was the basis for a deal.

The neocons have nothing to bring to the table with Trump, so they have to manufacture something.

Will Trump make a deal to call off their attempted end run gambit, or will he just call their bluff?

Tom Hickey said...

I would bet the farm that Trump won't budge on any of his platform, even after he becomes President. I know Mike feels he's going to be a sellout like Obama, but I just don't see it that way. Trump is far too hard headed and committed to his core beliefs to give an inch--even to a $100 million contributor

That the hard edge that a negotiator presents, but in the end, he wants to do a deal. Trump is chiefly a wheeler-dealer, and he is astute enough to know that POTUS is wheeler-and dealer-in-chief.

Trump's model would be LBJ, the consummate dealer-maker.

John said...

Adelson is always the give away. He's as fanatical as they come. Anyone who has anything to do with him is a disgrace to the human race. Trump is going to lose a good deal of support by courting support from neoconservatives and deficit hawks (Ryan and crew). I suspect Adelson and Kristol are playing good cop, bad cop. Watch and see how Trump ramps up the anti-Palestinian and anti-Iran rhetoric.

And this from someone who a few days ago bravely castigated his own country for killing millions of people in the Middle East and unleashing a psychopathic Salafi state. Again, this will probably play out badly for him: he's starting to lose that aura of authenticity and a candidate willing to say uncomfortable truths. How long before the supporters who have propelled him to where he is now start to feel betrayed?

I googled Trump earlier today, and wow, just wow, the knives are out for the Drumpf. Much of the major US media are running hugely negative stories, some essentially little more than smear stories about Trump's sleazy sex demands and his very shady business dealings (let's be honest here, "Trump University" is an out and out scam), and the campaign has barely begun! Fox may eventually come out for Trump; apparently Murdoch loathes him but may yet get on board, but that's not going to be nearly enough when everybody else is throwing mud.

Ivana Trump's allegation that he once raped her has resurfaced. I never knew about it and I imagine not many voters know of the allegation. That's not going to play well, especially with women. Is it cynical to say that that is why it's resurfaced again now, not during the Republican nomination? This is going to be the dirtiest election EVER!!!

Matt Franko said...

btw NO analysis like this ANYWHERE else ....

folks we have to remember that we have knowledge that NOT MANY people have...

Peter Pan said...

With Trump, we are limited to speculative analysis. Who knows where this buffoon will go?

Dave said...


"With Trump, we are limited to speculative analysis. Who knows where this buffoon will go?"

There are patterns though, if you really look for them and ignore the noise. He talks populism, but his actions are more Imperial America. John is right, Adelson is a huge tell as to his intentions. A Trump presidency will mean war in the Middle East, however with arrests at home for anyone who dares question the Supreme Commander. Remember, his domestic platform has to be negotiated. The military platform, which he has yet to expand on, other than allowing nuclear weapons to proliferate, he can execute without consulting congress. Bush and Obama set the precedent. Add in the Partriot Act, the Ndaa, 1000 military bases, and the militarization of the police, then Trump becomes a miltary dictator. Don't think he would do it? Why because he says he admires Putin? Please. He also said he admired Ted Cruz, and that Hillary would be a great Senator. That changed, and so will his love affair with Putin.

Oh and he sure is scapegoating China. I can see this nit wit starting a World War, very easily. All so Israel, and Sheldon Adelson, can feel safe.

Dave said...

"I googled Trump earlier today, and wow, just wow, the knives are out for the Drumpf. Much of the major US media are running hugely negative stories, some essentially little more than smear stories about Trump's sleazy sex demands and his very shady business dealings (let's be honest here, "Trump University" is an out and out scam), and the campaign has barely begun! Fox may eventually come out for Trump; apparently Murdoch loathes him but may yet get on board, but that's not going to be nearly enough when everybody else is throwing mud. "

John, one wonders why it took so long for the media to go in this direction, after all you don't have to dig into dark places to find this. Trumps escapades were common tabloid fare, because he wanted it that way. It's like picking low hanging fruit. Just do a google search and you could write a years worth of articles.

Maybe they waited because Trump fooled them into thinking he was not really interested in winning, so they went easy on him to get the ratings. Now it's getting real, so they will go after him. And the debates will be toug as well, because they will ask specific policy questions, and he won't be allowed to just throw a tantrum and call Hillary names. He'll get laughed at.


Malmo's Ghost said...

Dave,

Trump answers policy question and beyond far far more than Hillary or Bernie or virtually anyone running for President ever has. Few have ever granted more press access and candidly answered question than he. He'll do just fine in debating Hillary, even if he isn't reading talking points like she will from think tanks.

And all the so called Trump dirt hurled about his past is old news. It's simply doesn't go anywhere with him because he's been relatively self deprecating regarding his past dalliances. That makes him essentially teflon to the chagrin of his vast network of leftist, corporatist, neocon, establishment enemies..

You might not like it but he's going to wipe the floor with Hildabeast. Watch.

Dave said...

Malmo I have a lot of respect for you. I have no respect for Trump, and I think the republicans are a house divided. We shall see.