Trumps Wiretapping Claims Puncture Veneer of Presidential Civility

[riversedge]

Trump’s Wiretapping Claims Puncture Veneer of Presidential Civility

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/06/us/politics/obama-trump-president-wiretapping.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=b-lede-package-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

By PETER BAKER


MARCH 6, 2017




WASHINGTON — When last they saw each other six weeks ago after the ceremonial passing of power, President Trump and former President Barack Obama parted with smiles and handshakes. But it did not take long for the surface bonhomie to degenerate into a fierce and public clash unlike any other in modern times.

While Mr. Obama has remained quiet for the most part, some of his closest loyalists moved into opposition mode, leading what some only half-jokingly call “the resistance.” Mr. Trump, convinced that Obama holdovers still in government are trying to sabotage his presidency, took the conflict nuclear over the weekend by accusing his predecessor of bugging his telephones last year.

Mr. Trump provided no proof, and the charge was quickly dismissed by intelligence veterans and, indirectly, the F.B.I., but that did not make it any less sensational or any less historic. Never in recent generations has the natural friction between current and past presidents spilled over into such a public spectacle. If sustained, it could fray the institution of the presidency, further erode the public’s already low confidence in the nation’s leadership and leave both allies and enemies with the impression of an America at war with itself.

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“We’re in a unique period,” said Newt Gingrich, the Republican former House speaker who has been an outside adviser to the new president. “Trump is a genuinely disruptive figure who threatens everything Obama stands for.”

Mr. Obama’s camp insisted they are simply defending their legacy. “It takes two people to duel, and only one seems to be aiming his weapon,” said Jennifer Psaki, White House communications director under Mr. Obama. “The uniqueness of the time is the fact that you have one unhinged and misinformed sitting president pointing his gun at a former. That is unprecedented.”


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But none of those moments compared to what America has seen in recent days. “Trump is on new ground in going after Obama,” said the historian Robert Dallek, who has written acclaimed books on John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon. Most presidents have publicly ignored their predecessors “until we get to Trump,” he added. “He is either ignorant of recent presidential history or simply doesn’t care.”...................

[Cha]

1. May be just me.. but I think that ship sailed

a long time ago..



Mahalo, rivers!

[dchill]

2. OK, good article, but the 'Veneer"...

was badly warping and peeling about halfway through that benighted inaugural address.

[world wide wally]

3. Have we already forgotten that Trump wasn't going to accept the results of the election if he lost?

[Solly Mack]

4. ...

“Trump is a genuinely disruptive figure who threatens everything Obama stands for.”

Newt Gingrich characterizes Trump's mendacious, destructive ignorance as threatening everything Obama stands for to make it seem as if Obama was Trump's only target when America, as a whole, is the actual target.

Trump, his minions, and the GOP aren't just going after Obama - though for certain they want to destroy the very memory of his presidency.

But by framing it as anti-Obama instead of what actually is - anti-American - their base will cheer the damage caused to the country because it is an attempt to hurt Obama.

Kind of like when they relied on people's hate to try and stop the ACA by calling it Obamacare. Newt's statement is the same thing - appealing to the same haters by labeling Trump's horrible actions as being anti-Obama. As undoing all the damage Obama was supposed to have caused according to them. So idiots cheer the destruction of policies that help them and keep them safe. They wear their stupid red hats in support of the destruction of our institutions.


Trump isn't merely the antithesis of Obama. Trump is the antithesis of all things good and decent - of liberty. equality, justice. Trump is the antithesis of America.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. Remember when the biggest transition tension was W keys on keyboards?

[gordianot]

6. Several in the Bush administration deserved an orange jumpsuit.

When Trump leaves he may actually get an orange jumpsuit or permanent bankruptcy. Who would mourn the loss of Donald Trump but the kind of people you would avoid having any interaction.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

7. K&R

[annabanana]

8. He is ignorant AND he doesn't care either..

disgusting pile of petty vindictive crap