Imagine being a refugee and waiting for years and years, jumping through every ridiculous hoop, then being arrested when you land. Fuck everyone who told me to be calm
Them: Donald Trump is actually a really good guy for refusing to take the president’s 400K salary. See he’s really not in it for himself or the money!
Reality: Because Melania and Barron Trump will remain in Manhattan and Donald Trump himself will be staying at Trump Tower as much as possible during his presidency, one floor of Trump Tower may be converted into a round-the-clock command post for the Secret Service. This safety precaution will cost the government roughly $1.5 million per year and the money will be pocketed by Donald Trump’s own company.
“… it was clear that Hitler had little use for the modest salary of 45,000 Reichsmarks he earned as Reich Chancellor, or for the annual expense allowance of 18,000 Reichsmarks; early in his Chancellorship, therefore, he publicly renounced both salary and allowance in a propagandistic gesture designed to advertise the spirit of selfless dedication in which he ruled the country.” Richard Evans – The Third Reich in Power
Here is probably the most interesting part of the article.
It is common policy, however, that politically appointed ambassadors resign at the start of a new administration. It is less common to have no replacements in line.
As many as 80 ambassadors for countries, agencies and issues – such as the ambassador for global women’s issues – have been discarded at once.
The move now threatens leaving many countries without Senate-confirmed envoys for months and cutting off a direct line to the President, and some in countries which have sensitive relations to the US.
Wait… seriously?
Seriously and it’ll take a while to fill those spots.
apparently what happened (if i’m not mistaken) is that these ambassadors traditionally offer up their resignation at the start of a new presidency but almost always keep their position, like the resignation is just a symbolic gesture? but trump’s team didn’t realize that and they actually accepted people’s resignations but they can’t admit that the trump admin is actually that fucking stupid so they’re just….going with it
we gone full isolationists now
its almost like he has no political experience and wasn’t fit for the job or something
!!!!!!
oh, no, let’s be clear: this was not done in error. from the article:
[Trump’s] transition team had said on 23 December there would be “no exceptions” for ambassadors requesting to extend their postings past Inauguration day, in contrast with other Presidents
as in: they decided a month before the inauguration that they were going to oust these individuals and then did not come up with a plan for replacing them
this is going to be long, but trust me, it’s worth reading. i’m not joking, parts of it sounds like it could be taken straight out of a detective novel, but it’s unfortunately very real, and while this is likely just the tip of the iceberg, it’s already shaping up the be the greatest political scandal in US history
on the 11th of January Buzzfeed published a 35 page long report they claimed were compiled by a former British agent, which contained intel on how Russia has compromising information about Trump [x]
this included a memo which said Russia allegedly has audio and video recordings of Trump making several sex workers perform “golden showers” (aka pissing on each other) in the presidential suite at the Ritz Carlton hotel, because Barack and Michelle Obama had previously stayed there
people were quick to call it fake news, and the alt-right neo nazi’s on 4chan took credit, claiming this was just an elaborate prank which they had been able to fool the CIA with
but plot twist: the report is real
it had fuck all to do with 4chan
not only is it real, it turns out the man behind it is Christopher Steele, a highly thought of and sought after ex-m16 agent [x]
the CIA, FBI, and the British government all regard him as a reliable source, and he’s considered as one of the single most well respected IC personnel on Russian affairs
Steele was hired by someone through a research and investigative firm in Washington by one of Trump’s republican opponents in the primary campaign (speculated to be Jeb Bush)
however, by the time Steele began his research, the primary was over. the original client dropped out, but he was later hired by a new (anonymous) democratic client
by July he had collected a significant amount of material
the material was based on Russian sources he deemed trustworthy, and unsurprisingly had nothing to do with 4chan (even if the alt-right neo nazi propaganda machine would like you to believe otherwise)
he delivered the report to his client, but also delivered a set to former colleagues in the FBI because of the gravity of its content
sometime this fall he asked the FBI for more information on the investigation, but he heard nothing back because instead of looking into the report, the FBI was obsessed with investigating Clinton’s emails
so Comey was well aware of the potential ties between Trump and Russian when he decided to fuck over Clinton 11 days before the election by announcing they had found more emails
Steele suspected there might be a cover-up in progress
frustrated by the FBI, Steele let himself be persuaded to share his findings with Washington editor of Mother Jones, who first reported on the existence of the report on the 31th of October [x] (this was before any of the 4chan posts were made)
several news outlets have confirmed that they already knew of the report back in October, and a journalist at the BBC were personally informed of the piss tapes by the the firm who hired Steele during the final week of the election campaign [x]
BBC decided not to publish the story, as they had no way to confirm it
however, the journalist later used an intermediary to pass questions to active duty CIA officers dealing with the case file
the CIA officers reply was: "more than one tape", “audio and video”, on “more than one date”, in “more than one place” – in the Ritz-Carlton in Moscow and also in St Petersburg – and that the material was “of a sexual nature”.”
McCain got his hands on the report as well, and dispatched a trusted emissary, a former US official, to meet Steele [x]
the meeting was like something taken out of a fucking detective novel, as the emissary was told to “look for a man with a copy of the Financial Times”
convinced by Steele and his excellent reputation, McCain arranged a one-on-one meeting with Comey on
on the 9th of December, and handed over the report
McCain has later confirmed that the report published by Buzzfeed was the same report he was in contact with [x]
the CIA view these claims presented in Steele’s dossier as credible, which is why they ended up in an
highly classified intelligence report on Russian interference
Steele had nothing to gain by spreading false information
the former m16 agent is now currently in hiding, fearing for his life after he was outed as the agent behind the report [x]
even though the information in the report is unverified, and does likely contain errors (it’s human intel after all), Steele makes it clear through his own actions that he at least believes it’s true, as he’s the one who personally handed the report over to the FBI, and pushed for an investigation
Nothing but My Aching Soul 