Great thread by Carlos Oswedo (formerly known as Wictor), images at link, worth looking at. Also a few tweets up the thread a bit. Freepmail me to get on/off this list.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1227350921467834370.html
Thread
I too thought the Republicans would gain seats in the House in 2018, and I too was wrong.
But @realDonaldTrump most certainly DID NOT think he was invincible.
He DELIBERATELY lost the House for multiple reasons.
Trump did not campaign for House members.
He concentrated on the Senate and GAINED seats, which had never happened before.
Sitting presidents always LOSE seats in midterm elections.
Why did Trump lose the House and concentrate on the Senate?
Losing the House flushed out the Paul Ryan wing of the party.
AND.
I can guarantee you that Trump’s Judas goats got the Democratic socialists elected.
AOC didn’t even know that her name had been submitted to a 10,000-person contest.
Americans gave the House to the Democrats because they didn’t yet trust Trump, and they wanted to see what the Democrats would do.
Now they know.
THE SYSTEM WORKED AS DESIGNED. Americans wanted a check on Trump. They worried about giving him too much power.
mentions Trump knew that the Democrats would impeach him no matter what.
So he ORCHESTRATED his impeachment. He knew that the National Security Council was crawling with enemies.
When Trump spoke with the president of the Ukraine, Trump knew that those enemies were listening.
I like @IngrahamAngle. She says she never understood why the Obama holdovers were left in place.
It’s because they were Trump’s pawns.
Trump doesn’t care about impeachment. He’s indifferent to his “legacy.”
So he GOT HIMSELF IMPEACHED
.
During the three years that the MORONS of the Democratic party struggled to pin a scarlet letter on the president—a letter that makes absolutely no difference to him—@VP Pence was flying all over the world, solidifying deals.
Here’s how Trump makes deals:
People negotiate in total secrecy, and then when the plan is announced, the other side shouts, “Gangsters! Conspirators! We will NEVER submit!”
The press says, “Trump loses again.”
The the press goes back to shiny pretty objects, and the deal is quietly implemented.
It’s happening all over the world.
“The Chinese will invade Hong Kong! That bastard Trump hasn’t condemned the Chinese!”
Trump refrains from being a posturing fool, and the Chinese don’t invade.
The worst thing you can do to yourself is to become rigid in your thinking.
I supported the Iraq invasion, and I was wrong.
YOU CAN’T GIVE ARABS ULTIMATUMS.
That’s all there is to it.
Ultimatums will never work.
As the CLOWNS of the Democratic party were falling into Trump’s endless traps, Trump and our allies were solving problems that all the “experts” said had no solution.
NOW, North Korea will never go to war with us or the South Koreans.
The Syrian Civil War.
The Syrian Kurds now have a semi-autonomous region, when in the past they had ZERO rights.
Guess who’s fighting in Syria now?
It’s Turkey versus Syria and Russia.
The Turks support jihadists, a losing strategy.
In the end, the Turks will have to withdraw.
Erdogan made the fatal mistake of sending SYRIAN JIHADISTS to Libya to support the UN-backed government, which contains Islamists.
Exclusive: 2,000 Syrian fighters deployed to Libya to support government
Anti-Turkish sentiment could grow after Ankara agrees to help fight against insurgency
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jan/15/exclusive-2000-syrian-troops-deployed-to-libya-to-support-regime
mentions What’s happening in the Middle East is that all armed Islamist movements are being defeated, either on the battlefield or in public opinion.
Turkey interfering in Libya will backfire spectacularly.
Trump got us out of these messes.
We’re still in Afghanistan, but there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.
It’s clear that India is fighting clandestinely fighting in Afghanistan, and India just announced THIS:
US Approves Possible Sale of an Integrated Air Defense Weapon System for India
Approval of the sale comes ahead of an expected trip by U.S. President Donald J. Trump to India.
https://thediplomat.com/2020/02/us-approves-possible-sale-of-an-integrated-air-defense-weapon-system-for-india/
Nationalist internationalism.
“LOOK: You people have a stake in this, so STEP UP TO THE PLATE. We’ll help. But we can’t lose American lives to do the fighting YOU must do.”
Trump lost the House so that the Democrats would implode AND not even see what he was doing all over the world.
“Democrats in the House are beating the Republicans in fundraising!”
They always do. The next election won’t depend on fundraising.
Trump planned his presidency for forty years minimum.
NOBODY HAS EVER DONE THAT BEFORE.
Everything that’s happening is ORCHESTRATED.
Very few people understand Trump. He’s not in this for himself. His ego structure is unique.
He said in 1984 that his lifestyle was “cute” but meaningless.
THE EXPANDING EMPIRE OF DONALD TRUMP
https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/08/magazine/the-expanding-empire-of-donald-trump.html
“The football thing is cute, Trump Tower and the piano and all of that, it’s all cute, but what does it mean? he says, sounding what borders on a note of uncharacteristic despair.”
“Asked to explain, he adds: What does it all mean when some wacko over in Syria can end the world with nuclear weapons?”
DOES THAT SOUND LIKE AN EGOMANIACAL BLOWHARD TO YOU?
Come on. Let’s use our brains.
Trump is the real thing. He’s proven it.
Get over the notion that he thinks he’s invincible, and he needs to be brought down a peg.
You CAN’T bring him down. He knows what you’ll try before you even think of it yourself.
Just be grateful. He’s doing what he said he would.
mentions Time to stop misrepresenting him.
Trump is older than THIS guy.
[photos of carville looking corpse-like]
Carville looks like a special effect.
This is a kind of Armageddon.
You don’t have to support Trump, but it seems that almost—ALMOST—everyone who opposes Trump does so in bad faith and for extremely warped reasons.
If you oppose Trump, do so for VALID reasons.
Don’t lie to me and yourself.
END
That bout says it all
Trump was the first individual to whom I heard the term "brand" applied. I recall people mocking him for putting his name on EVERYTHING he owns, e.g., Trump Tower, The Trump Building, Trump Parc, Trump International, Trump Castle and not just buildings, Trump Shuttle, Tour de Trump, Trump Signature Meanswear, Trump: The Art of the Deal, etc.
It was excessive but what he was doing was becoming a household name in every corner of the country.
You're right. Trump planned his presidency for forty years.