QOTD: "Immoral, Ignorant, Lazy" Trump

New York Times reporter Michael Schmidt, author of "Donald Trump v. The United States,"  on MSNBC discussing the Malignant Loser's former chief-of-staff Gen. (ret.) John Kelly's impression of his boss:

"So when Kelly came in as chief of staff, he thought that the problem around Trump was that he was not staffed properly and they needed to create a process around him, and that's what the chaos of the first six months of the administration was about. But when Kelly comes in as chief of staff, what he realizes is that the problem is not just the fact that there's not a process and that he's not being staffed as well as he could, but that Trump himself was the problem, that Trump was far dumber and immoral and ignorant and lazy than he ever thought he was.

Within a few days, he becomes terrified because here he is, the top staffer to the president of the United States, and he's realizing that the president of the United States is far more limited and potentially dangerous than he ever thought, and at that point, there was no one else to call. He was -- it was just him and Trump, and he basically spends the next 18 months trying to manage Trump as much as he could." (our emphasis)

One could add such descriptors as corrupt, compromised, sociopathic and delusional. Of course, Kelly's assessment comes years after it might have made an impact of the Malignant Loser's support. He had a "duty to warn," and ignored it.

 

New York Times Does Trump's Dirty Work, Shivs Rosenstein

Curious timing on this New York Times report by (among others) Michael Schmidt, of shabby Clinton emails reporting infamy:

The deputy attorney general, Rod J. Rosenstein, suggested last year that he secretly record President Trump in the White House to expose the chaos consuming the administration, and he discussed recruiting cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Mr. Trump from office for being unfit. 

Mr. Rosenstein made these suggestions in the spring of 2017 when Mr. Trump’s firing of James B. Comey as F.B.I. director plunged the White House into turmoil. Over the ensuing days, the president divulged classified intelligence to Russians in the Oval Office, and revelations emerged that Mr. Trump had asked Mr. Comey to pledge loyalty and end an investigation into a senior aide.

"Spring of 2017."  That's an elephantine (no pun) gestation period for this story, isn't it!?  But, coming now, it provides a fortuitous boost to the "deep state"/ "the Justice Department is out to get me" narratives being pushed by Putin asset Donald "Rump" Trump at a time when Rump's slavering to spike the Special Counsel's investigation by taking out Rosenstein for cause. Meanwhile, a person in the room at the time has said Rosenstein made the wire comment sarcastically and never made a comment about the 25th Amendment.

Is it just us, or does this smell more than a little like a malicious, misleading "leak" that the Times, eager for a "scoop," lapped up and spit out half- baked? Because there's some serious Rump- bolstering stenography going on here.

It's certainly had a predictable effect, with the usual suspects jumping on it as proof! Proof! of the deep state conspiracy and corruption in the DOJ.  Send in the clowns:

Shocked!!! Absolutely Shocked!!! Ohhh, who are we kidding at this point? No one is shocked that these guys would do anything in their power to undermine @realdonaldtrump.

Rosenstein Suggested He Secretly Record Trump and Discussed 25th Amendment https://t.co/ZTEwS8E1iJ

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) September 21, 2018

Laura Ingraham (tweet since deleted -- wonder why? Maybe this?):

Rod Rosenstein must be fired today.  @realDonaldTrump

— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) September 21, 2018

Once again, The Times carries Rump's water, with consequences that may be on us sooner rather than later. 

BONUS:  Charles Pierce sees much the same --

If you were a mendacious, criminal president* with a lot to cover up and the walls closing in from all sides, isn't this exactly the story you'd want out there as an excuse to fire Rod Rosenstein and then appoint someone who would fire Robert Mueller? Isn't this exactly the kind of story that you would want out there in order to superheat the boilers of paranoia that drive your base, especially on the same day that you walked back your promise to feed the base declassified parchments from the Illuminati who run The Deep State? Isn't this exactly the kind of story you would want out there on the day the news breaks that your old personal lawyer is talking to Mueller's people about your campaign, and Russia, and god alone knows what else?

BONUS II:  Marcy Wheeler is of the same mind, and notes the effect of The Times piece is to spin the story as if the decision to bring Mueller in was made by Rosenstein acting "erratically."