5309

I felt this way about everything Trump does, every single answer to a question where he talks about how he knows more than anyone else, still can’t believe he got even 5% of the vote.

5310

This handshake technique comes from an old bit that used to get tossed around many decades back, and it’s probably something that Trump picked up from his father. There is some truth to handshakes having an impact on first impressions, but unless it’s extremely negative then it’s fairly minor and quickly overcome (for better or worse) with any personal interaction thereafter. So why do some people still focus on it? Probably for the same reasons Trump cares about the size of his hands.

5311

I get the psychology behind handshakes. I totally understand that on some level, men do judge other men on their handshakes. A limp, clammy handshake is inevitably going to make someone seem like a milquetoast, and a firm crisp handshake reflects positively on the person, but Trump’s blatant gorilla grab jerk-and-yank? Fuck that. It’s dumb and obvious and only makes me think he’s compensating. It literally has the opposite effect on me.

5312
5313

There are definitely a subset of people who respond positively to this kind of bullshit. In my experience, they tend to be babyboomers, who embrace the kind of good ol’ boys stuff.

5314

My understanding is because the President can basically declassify anything at any time. He could literally Tweet out state secrets or tell them to a crowd if he wanted. Hell, he could email them to the Chinese and just say, “Yeah, I declassified them.”

There are no laws against the President being fucking stupid and mishandling material. Because it was never an issue before and no one ever thought it ever would be. Plus the President is, ultimately, the final word on this sort of thing. You can’t go over his head. If he wants to Tweet out the nuclear codes, legally there is nothing saying he couldn’t.

5315

As a Canadian, I was proud of Justin. We’ll probably be invaded next week for our water and women, but hey, we had a good run.

5316

Trump will have to find Canada on a map first. I think you’re safe.

5317

Anyone could miss Canada, all tucked away down there…

5318

I dunno, maybe someone will tell him Canada has oil.

5319

Overall I feel that our Prime Minister acquitted himself well. He was respectful, and at the same time stated that we have fundamentally different views in some areas. He also acknowledged that you don’t go to someone else’s house and criticize how they do things. The unspoken message is that once back home, that could change if the behaviour is egregious. But as Trudeau also stated, we have a long-standing and unique partnership that is too valuable to just throw away.

In terms of the handshake thing, it pretty much went as I predicted. Trudeau boxes, so I wasn’t surprised to seem him maintain balance, poise, and not give an inch. Politically, he did not want to seem “weak” and succeeded through an effortless (looking) tug of war. At the same time, he was smiling and cheerful and the gift he brought Trump was a photo of Pierre Elliott Trudeau (Justin’s father) with Trump in 1981, acknowledging tacitly that Trump was a “big man” back then, big enough for the Prime Minister to meet at the time.

And whoever came up with the idea to do a Women’s Entrepreneurship conference as a major event of the trip deserves an award. Trump gets to improve his image with women (slightly), Trudeau gets to make the point that he’s an avowed feminist, and Ivanka is included which makes Trump happy. And in this case, it’s appropriate to include her because whatever else you may think about her, you cannot deny that Ivanka is a female entrepreneur.

5320

Excellent post, @Ephraim.

Thank you.

-xtien

5321

5322

Word is that Flynn just resigned.

5323

Yep, AP and CNN both confirming. Flynn is out. Thank goodness for small favors.

Next up, the shitshow of whoever Trump puts forward next.

5324

Word is that it could be petraeus, who honestly would be an excellent choice. The guy is a good man, and brilliant.

But after the hoopla about Clinton emails, it would be hard to defend perhaps.

5325

It’s worth watching what Flynn does next. If his “consulting” firm gets a new high-profile contract or he takes a lucrative job. Someone has a lot of leverage right now, lets see if Flynn cares about the optics of this.

5326

Not sure how well Petraeus will do, after all he had issues with letting people see classified intel as well.

5327

Perhaps. Ya think?

Which is why they don’t defend anything. He’ll just tweet something stupid about how the Academy Awards show is probably going to discriminate against Mel Gibson, or something, and all the media cats will run after that toy for the next two weeks. Already they couldn’t care less about how terrible he is with security and email servers himself. When he threatened to put her in jail for…whatever.

How many days in and his administration is already lost its National Security Advisor due to a scandal. Great job.

Any rational conservative (or Republican…they are different things) who voted for him should not only be embarrased, but be ashamed.

-xtien

5328

And no one will investigate shit if that happens. Fucking partisan bullshit. I saw an investigation is being called for regarding the White House leaks but of course no one’s concerned about Trump’s Russian ties & all that other apparently “trivial” crap.

And then lying to federal investigators about it. I’m sure they’ll pick him, he’ll be confirmed by spineless Republican Senators, and the GOP will just pretend they didn’t rail for months about emails & private servers.