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White House Says Anonymous 'Coward' Behind New York Times Op-Ed Should Resign (freerepublic.com)

Earlier today, The New York Times published an op-ed from an anonymous staffer in the Trump administration, who has "vowed to thwart parts of [President Trump's] agenda and his worst inclinations," citing the president's amorality. The staffer writes: "We want the administration to succeed and think that many of its policies have already made America safer and more prosperous. But we believe our first duty is to this country, and the president continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to the health of our republic. That is why many Trump appointees have vowed to do what we can to preserve our democratic institutions while thwarting Mr. Trump's more misguided impulses until he is out of office." An anonymous [coward] shares the response from the White House: White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders ripped the anonymous senior White House staffer who wrote an op-ed for The New York Times slamming President Trump's conduct. "The individual behind this piece has chosen to deceive, rather than support, the duly elected President of the United States," she said in a statement. "He is not putting country first, but putting himself and his ego ahead of the will of the American people. This coward should do the right thing and resign," she added. Trump himself called the op-ed's author "gutless." He tweeted: "Does the so-called 'Senior Administration Official' really exist, or is it just the Failing New York Times with another phony source? If the GUTLESS anonymous person does indeed exist, the Times must, for National Security purposes, turn him/her over to government at once!"

The New York Times op-ed page editor Jim Dao described the process behind publishing the op-ed, telling CNN that the official contacted him "through an intermediary." He said that the New York Times also spoke with the anonymous individual but there are only a "very small number of people within the Times who know this person's identity." Dao didn't provide a gender for the person, but the author was described in a New York Times tweet as a "he" earlier Wednesday. [The Times later said that the tweet was a mistake and that it "was drafted by someone who is not aware of the author's identity."] Furthermore, Dao "said there was no special effort to disguise the person's writing style, for example by rewriting the piece in some fashion," reports CNN. "'There's editing in everything we do,' he said, but it's based on making the person's views 'clearer' and adhering to style standards."

A separate CNN article highlights 12 senior Trump administration officials who may be behind the op-ed.

47 of 898 comments (clear)

  1. Impossible by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I've been posting on slashdot nonstop, wasn't me

  2. Re:Yes, they should by Krishnoid · · Score: 5, Insightful

    or work for the interests of who you are working for.

    The American people?

  3. Duty to Country? by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If you think the President is unable to carry out his responsibilities, you have a duty to bring about impeachment and/or invoke the 25th Amendment.

    Going behind the back of and trying to undermine the Chief Executive in this fashion is unprofessional, cowardly, and unconstitutional.

    --
    Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
    1. Re:Duty to Country? by careysb · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Right. So who does this person confide in? Republican controlled congress or senate?

    2. Re:Duty to Country? by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If you think the President is unable to carry out his responsibilities, you have a duty to bring about impeachment and/or invoke the 25th Amendment.

      They may very well have initially (and naively) expected Congress by this point to have impeached him rather than sidling up to the trough and quietly joining along in the money grab. But since Congress hasn’t demonstrated the presence of even a nascent backbone, these insiders might figure this is the only way left they can truly serve the country... which is what they’re sworn to do, regardless of Trump’s ideas about personal loyalty.

      I mean, just look - Trump speculated this might count as treason, for Pete’s sake. He really thinks it’s all about him, not the country.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    3. Re:Duty to Country? by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If you think the President is unable to carry out his responsibilities, you have a duty to bring about impeachment and/or invoke the 25th Amendment.

      What do you do when congress is loaded with cowards who are far more interested in keeping power than performing their sworn duties?

      Going behind the back of and trying to undermine the Chief Executive in this fashion is unprofessional, cowardly, and unconstitutional.

      Unprofessional and cowardly are arguable but it's definitely not unconstitutional. The U.S. Constitution does not demand loyalty to anyone, not even the President. In fact, the U.S. Constitution is all about the limitations put upon government. The first amendment of the U.S. Constitution exists expressly so that we can speak out in opposition of those in power.

      I suggest you read the U.S. Constitution, it's pretty great, not perfect but still quite good.

      --
      Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    4. Re:Duty to Country? by mishehu · · Score: 4, Interesting

      If enough of them sign their name to it, it will force the hand. I happen to agree with David Frum's take on this. Zontar, despite being mindless, is echoing some of what David Frum also says.

  4. Re:Yes, they should by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Working for an employer you constantly seek to undermine is straight up bullshit.

    The employer is the US government, not the president. Federal employees take an oath to support and defend the constitution.

  5. Scary takeaway by Pfhorrest · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Honestly the most disconcerting thing about this is that the author cites some of the worst things this administration has done as their few "successes" and says they were accomplished despite, not because of, Trump. I think Trump is an amoral buffoon and a disgrace to the nation as much as the author seems to, but I'm honestly a little glad to hear that that buffoon is gumming up the plans of those who want to rape and pillage our country for their own profit, instead of Darth Pence streamlining that process.

    --
    -Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of all Trades
    "I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like trolls, flames, or spam."
    1. Re:Scary takeaway by quantaman · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Honestly the most disconcerting thing about this is that the author cites some of the worst things this administration has done as their few "successes" and says they were accomplished despite, not because of, Trump. I think Trump is an amoral buffoon and a disgrace to the nation as much as the author seems to, but I'm honestly a little glad to hear that that buffoon is gumming up the plans of those who want to rape and pillage our country for their own profit, instead of Darth Pence streamlining that process.

      That might be only half true, I think a lot of politics is people coming in saying "I want to do X, Y, and Z!" and then they're confronted with all the potential consequences to they end up saying, "Fine, I'll only do x and y". That was one of the big complaints with Obama, where a lot of his policies fell short of his rhetoric. But I thought that was just a consequence of a responsible leader moderating their ideas.

      In the US I think the President is the one who's supposed to play that role, they're the one with the legacy and they're the one who's supposed to be responsible for the entire country, not just a particular region or base. But Trump doesn't really care about that other stuff, so when someone comes up saying "I want to do X!" he lets them do "X!" without thinking about the consequences.

      For instance, on the tax bill I think a lot of GOP types really wanted to do a big massive corporate tax cut, both for ideological reasons but also to pay back their donors, and they went into the room trying to write a massive tax cut.

      A President worried about their legacy and feeling personally accountable for the country's long term welfare probably would have pushed for a more moderate bill, even a President Rubio or Ryan would probably have made a more moderate bill if they were the President and their deficit and long term fiscal situation was their problem. But it wasn't their problem, and Trump didn't consider it his problem, so the tax bill went through as is because no one in power was worried about the consequences.

      That's one of the problems with this Shadow Presidency, they have a lot of the power but none of the accountability, and power without accountability leads to really bad decisions.

      --
      I stole this Sig
  6. Re:Yes, they should by NEW22 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why would this push anyone with even a tiny bit of ethics left in them away from the Democrats? Are you imagining a White House full of secret Democrats? The people in the Woodward book, or this op ed, etc. are staffers for the President, a Republican president who chose his own poison, as far as who works for (or against him) inside the White House. These are Republicans trying to contain a blowhard nut. There is nothing about that that is unethical on Democrats' part.

  7. Absolutely by American+AC+in+Paris · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Whoever wrote this is a coward.

    There are no "unsung heroes" in this White House. This is an escape hatch for the people who followed power for power's sake: "oh, sure, I was really fighting the good fight inside the White House, so you should be thanking me!"

    Think there's a real problem here? Think the President is unfit for office? Then get to work on 25th Amendment proceedings if you're in a position to do so, or if not, resign and tell all of this to Congress. Don't stage a mini-coup and call it heroism. That's bull.

    It's no secret the President is unfit for this office. It hasn't ever been a secret. This staffer, and their allies? They're complicit in everything. This is just a weak-ass attempt to make themselves look good.

    --

    Obliteracy: Words with explosions

    1. Re:Absolutely by jittles · · Score: 4, Insightful

      On the other hand, if this is accurate, this IS evidence of the Deep State and if true, staffers in the WH that are more powerful than the President.

      I think regardless of the rhetoric around this op-ed, I think it's a carefully constructed message which is either by the Trump camp himself to drum up support for their cause or the Deep State trying to warn a sitting President not to mess with them "or else".

      Oh don’t be ridiculous. Even a “mere secretary” has a lot more power and influence than you can ever possibly imagine. Someone in that role is obviously trusted or they would have never made it to that position. They can not only influence what documents and people come before the person they work for, but they can also control the order in which such information is presented simply by manipulating the calendar, email, and even snail mail of their boss. This is why rich and successful people often volunteer their children to be aides to senators and other “demeaning” jobs. The influence these people hold is real. It has been the case for thousands of years. People even manipulated kings this way. So go ahead and live in your deep state conspiracy but this is the most asinine excuse you could possibly come up with to justify its existence.

  8. And he's proud of what?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What bugged me more than mucking with Donald Trump was the things he's proud of.

    Effective deregulation? Um, guys, those regulations weren't just written by some clown in a leather chair thinking, "Hey, let's make things hard for coal companies!". No. Those regulations came about because coal companies were killing people. People died for those regulations. Removing them? How many people do you want to kill off so coal barons can make more money?

    Historic tax reform? Um, no, that wasn't historic tax reform, that was a giant giveaway to the already massively rich at the cost of blowing the government's budget for at least the next 20 years. No, it's not going to 'trickle down'. No, it's not going to 'stimulate the economy'. It's going to rip off poor people and give money to the rich. I'm rich, and I look to save quite a bit from that "tax reform", and I still think it's asinine.

    A more robust military? Hello, ours is already by far the most expensive military in the world, and you want to spend MORE money on it? Howzabout spending a tiny fraction of that on peace instead?

    I know that Mr. Anonymous Coward (a different anonymous coward than this one) is a Republican, but each and every one of those 'accomplishments' is sheer stupidity.

    AC

  9. Who is an Anonymous Coward? by careysb · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "White House Says Anonymous 'Coward'..."

    So who's the Anonymous Coward that goes by the name "White House"?

  10. Does anyone get it? by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A few days before Bob Woodward book release (“Fear: Trump in the White House”), an "anonymous senior Trump official" writes op-ed on "resistance" within administration... saying basically that, "yes, Trump is bad and has his drawbacks but the White House is working well and delivers thanks to a competent team that supports the president". Meaning: Trump might be as bad as described in the book, but he still delivers, thus the book has no real value. Preemptive defense.

    --
    Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
  11. Needed: heroes by Chuck+Messenger · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Do you not hear what this person is saying? What dozens upon dozens of highly-knowledgeable people with decades of experience at the highest levels of government have been blaring from the rooftops, with ever-increasing urgency? Our current President - morally unfit, erratic, unstable, with a love for authoritarianism, and disdain for our Constitution - poses a grave danger to our Republic. To our freedom. We are in a full-blown constitutional crisis. People who value our democracy are fighting to save it. The United States, as a country, desperately needs more democracy-loving heroes like McCain.

  12. Re:ok, wtf is this doing on /.? by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I'm all for the "stuff that matters" part, but this is political minutiae.

    A manifesto of a conspiracy of deep-state moles in the White House, allegedly composed of or including multiple Trump appointees, sabotaging the policies and decisions of the duly-elected President of the U.S., rather than implementing them? Reported by the New York Times, who claims to know the author and the work is genuine?

    Sounds like "news for nerds, stuff that matters" to me. Because it matters to me, and my nerd credentials are some of the strongest here.

    They might not like his decisions. But he IS the President. And a large part of what he was elected for was to clean out ("drain") the running-roughshod-over-the-citizens bureaucrats.

    If the citizens can't bring the government to heel by electing their preferred executive and representatives, it's no longer a republic - it's an out-of-control tyranny. With the soapbox and the ballot box no longer functioning, you're on the verge of a civil war. If we go there, and our "democratic institutions" suffer or die, it will be the fault of the oh-so-self-righteous cabal claiming to be working to "preserve" them.

    (I'm reminded of a Vietnam era quote: "We had to burn the village in order to save it.")

    A little hint: To be effective at negotiation (especially when heading off a nuclear World War, but also down the scale to trade negotiations, promoting legislation, or exerting control over an entrenched bureaucracy), a President has to be competent at brinksmanship. That includes looking "crazy enough to do it" when he threatens something bad for his opposite number's interests.

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
  13. "...the president continues to act in a manner by Snufu · · Score: 4, Interesting

    that is detrimental to the health of our republic."

    You don't get to decide that.

    Regardless of your opinion of Trump's policies, he is the democratically elected representative of the people of this nation. Sabotage from within by an unelected, anonymous staffer is the antithesis of a representational republic. If the president is a danger to the nation, present your evidence and plead your case for impeachment to the nation and to congress.

    On a related note this is a new low for the NY times. They seem determined to hasten the death of old media by burning any journalistic integrity they have left.

  14. Re:Yes, they should by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 4, Informative

    For those that support this guy, you do realize he completely validated every single post anyone ever made about the Deep State, right? I mean this is as Deep State as Deep State gets.

    Except the senior administration officials were people he hired. It's not the "Deep State" if you're the dummy who hired them. Then again, were you looking for the truth or just someone to blame for this clusterfuck presidency?

    --
    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
  15. It's the coward in the WH who should resign by jensend · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The man who licks Putin's boots and bullies the refugees, the Draft-Dodger-In-Chief, the man without the courage or fortitude to have any kind of consistent moral principles whatsoever, is a coward and should resign.

    As a Republican I say that not only the nation but also the party will be better off when he's stepped down (or been declared incompetent, or impeached, or assassinated, or voted out of office if he makes it the full four years).

    Trump contradicts himself rapidly, and other than 'towards incivility' one never knows what direction he'll be pointed tomorrow. So if people don't overturn the country to implement the latest rage tweet (only to have the opposite direction tweeted tomorrow), they're not really being unfaithful to their boss, much less being traitors to the nation. They're performing the vital service of helping steady the keel of the ship of state through this self-inflicted storm.

  16. 37 people resigned/sacked from Trump by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Except this supposed 'deep state' Obama/Clinton conspiracy is by people APPOINTED BY TRUMP, who've turn on Trump.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/02/08/thirty-seven-administration-officials-whove-resigned-or-been-fired-under-trump/

    Republicans, chosen by Trump. Shallow state not deep state. 37 Republicans have turned on him so far and resigned or been sacked.

    But yeh, at the core of it is the vote. Americans didn't vote for him, and so they don't feel any need to go along with his random bullshit.

    1. Re:37 people resigned/sacked from Trump by stealth_finger · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Except this supposed 'deep state' Obama/Clinton conspiracy is by people APPOINTED BY TRUMP, who've turn on Trump.

      https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/02/08/thirty-seven-administration-officials-whove-resigned-or-been-fired-under-trump/

      Republicans, chosen by Trump. Shallow state not deep state. 37 Republicans have turned on him so far and resigned or been sacked.

      But yeh, at the core of it is the vote. Americans didn't vote for him, and so they don't feel any need to go along with his random bullshit.

      If Trump really wants Hilary locked up, he should hire her.

      --
      Wanna buy a shirt?
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  17. Re:Yes, they should by ClickOnThis · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Working for an employer you constantly seek to undermine is straight up bullshit. Either get out and berate them publicly, or work for the interests of who you are working for.

    If my "employer" appears to be unbalanced, and has the authority to start World War III, I just might be inclined to do a little undermining for the sake of the planet and the human race.

    For those that support this guy, you do realize he completely validated every single post anyone ever made about the Deep State, right? I mean this is as Deep State as Deep State gets.

    I think what you overlook is the fact that Trump hand-picked all of these people, and he has bragged frequently of his superior judgement at picking talent.

    If, as you say, he wound up surrounding himself wit a "deep state" then either:

          (a) it puts the lie to his hiring judgement; or
          (b) he's so unhinged that even the people on his own team try to stop him from causing real damage to the world.

    I'm inclined to think a little of both.

    [...] I almost think Trump penned the op-ed - it certainly will do a great job of bringing in votes for the GOP and pushing anyone with even a tiny bit of ethics left in them away from the Democrats.

    In your wet dreams. Have you read the op-ed?

    Setting aside its erudite and eloquent style -- hardly qualities one would expect of Trump -- its content is hardly the kind of commentary Trump would ever allow to be said of him. He's hyper-controlling of his image. He would never allow a negative op-ed to be written if he had any control over it. "False-flag" op-eds are just not something he's into. If he needs to write more than 280 characters, he's just not interested.

    Some telling excerpts from the end of the op-ed:

    This isn’t the work of the so-called deep state. It’s the work of the steady state.

    Given the instability many witnessed, there were early whispers within the cabinet of invoking the 25th Amendment, which would start a complex process for removing the president. But no one wanted to precipitate a constitutional crisis. So we will do what we can to steer the administration in the right direction until — one way or another — it’s over.

    The bigger concern is not what Mr. Trump has done to the presidency but rather what we as a nation have allowed him to do to us. We have sunk low with him and allowed our discourse to be stripped of civility.

    Senator John McCain put it best in his farewell letter. All Americans should heed his words and break free of the tribalism trap, with the high aim of uniting through our shared values and love of this great nation.

    We may no longer have Senator McCain. But we will always have his example — a lodestar for restoring honor to public life and our national dialogue. Mr. Trump may fear such honorable men, but we should revere them.

    Do you really think Trump would write something that lauds the late Senator John McCain?

    --
    If it weren't for deadlines, nothing would be late.
  18. Re:Yes, they should by jensend · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Note that less than half of the GOP voted for Trump in the primaries - even though by the time of the later primaries most of the other candidates had bowed out.

    There are plenty of Republicans who didn't want this President, and painting all of us with that brush is just as foolish as the prejudiced tweets from the Blowhard-In-Chief.

    We have got to fix the broken election systems in the US. People keep blaming the Electoral College, but that's not the real problem. The real problem is first-past-the-post plurality voting. In any of the early primaries, Trump would have lost every single head-to-head matchup, so any decent electoral system (i.e. any kind of Condorcet preference balloting) would have avoided this disaster. (Easy explanation from a Nobel winner here.) As long as we keep first-past-the-post primaries, both parties will frequently nominate miserable candidates.

  19. Re:Wrong, employer is EXECUTIVE BRANCH by jmccusker · · Score: 5, Insightful

    But they all take the following oath that has nothing to do with the Executive. “I, , do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.” There is a distinct difference. They work for the federal government. They're not taking a loyalty oath to the POTUS.

  20. Re:Yes, they should by Swave+An+deBwoner · · Score: 5, Insightful

    In fairness to Trump it should be noted that during the debates he stressed that the elections were rigged. So he gave us fair warning.

  21. Re:Wrong, employer is EXECUTIVE BRANCH by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Informative

    The real employer is the EXECUTIVE BRANCH.

    That is not true. Not generally and not specifically. President Trump does not sign the checks of his senior officials. Since the Carter Administration, White House senior officials, including cabinet secretaries are paid under a system separate from the GS system, because the pay of a GS-15 was considered insufficient for someone of the stature of a cabinet secretary who had been a CEO. And later, the "Senior Executive Staff" designation was also considered insufficient, so exemptions were created. But the pay structure and the way they get paid is the same, as is their employer, the United States Government. And their pay is set by the same civil service laws and under the same US code as senate staffers and Supreme Court Justices and postal employees.

    And by the way, no cabinet secretary or head of an armed or intelligence agency can make more than the Vice-President, by law.

    In case your interested, here are the salaries of non-cabinet staff from 2017. It is amazing how few of these people are still there.

    https://www.washingtonexaminer...

    And here are salaries of cabinet secretaries on down.

    https://work.chron.com/much-mo...

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  22. The Black Hole of Self-Awareness by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Funny

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 05, 2018 @08:46PM (#57261402)

    "The anonymous guy is the worst kind of scum."

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  23. Re:Yes, they should by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    or work for the interests of who you are working for.

    The American people?

    While it pains me greatly to say this, here's the problem with that and this:

    ... anonymous staffer in the Trump administration, who has "vowed to thwart parts of [President Trump's] agenda and his worst inclinations," citing the president's amorality. ... we believe our first duty is to this country, and the president continues to act in a manner that is detrimental to the health of our republic.

    Like it or not, Trump was elected President -- Trump -- not the staffers and/or cabinet members *protecting* us from Trump. They are not the President; they should not be running the Administrative Branch. If they really think Trump is unfit, they should exercise the 25th Amendment (as they apparently discussed) and try to declare Trump unfit to be President, not play babysitter and try to take away his pen and toys. (Not that VP Pence would be any better...) Otherwise, the people who voted for Trump need to experience the consequences of their actions. Ya, it'll suck for *everyone*, but that's Democracy. Maybe we'll learn to not make the same fucking stupid mistake again.

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  24. Re:Yes, they should by fahrbot-bot · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ... you do realize he completely validated every single post anyone ever made about the Deep State, right? I mean this is as Deep State as Deep State gets.

    Actually, no. The Deep State (conspiracy) refers to "the career bureaucracy of government" who are "who are relatively permanent and whose policies and long-term plans are unaffected by changing administrations." This anonymous op-ed was from someone within The White House itself, and is most likely a staffer or member of the Cabinet, as are the people involved in the described Trump babysitting -- all brought in and/or appointed by the Administration itself. So this is exactly opposite of the "deep state".

    --
    It must have been something you assimilated. . . .
  25. Re:Yes, they should by Darinbob · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Um, I think you are referring to the electoral college, because the people of America by a majority voted for a different candidate. But the electoral college doesn't always reflect the will of the people and it was not designed to do so. Being a republic or not is unrelated to this issue.

    To be fair though, the candidates presumably campaigned with the assumption of winning the electoral college vote and not to win the majority vote. So Hillary lost fair and square according to the agreed upon rules, even if it did not agree with will of the people of America.

  26. Re:Conspiracy theory, eh? by Tough+Love · · Score: 4, Insightful

    if anyone had any doubts that the deep state exists, this should pretty much put an end to them

    Doofus, these are Trump appointees.

    --
    When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
  27. Re:Yes, they should by Darinbob · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I had fully expected the Republican party to start fracturing after Trump won the primaries and then the presidency. I was surprised when the majority of his Republican critics turned around and started toadying up to him. I wonder if after the midterms and their jobs are safe for awhile longer if they dare to criticize again, but as unpredictable as things have been I'm probably wrong.

    And you can't fix the first-past-the-post system without changing the constitution, and that's highly unlikely. What you want is a change in the electorate to start favoring more moderates and centrists even in the primaries. California has a system now where the top two winners of primaries advance to the general election, even if from the same party. Hasn't been around long though so it's unclear if this will make a clear difference in the long run. Given that both major parties bitterly opposed it, it's probably a good idea.

    And I have come to the conclusion after several decades, that loyalty to a political party is the biggest vice in America.

  28. Re:Yes, they should by Kiuas · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "I'm a Bernie Bro who's butthurt that not enough primary voters voted for *MY* favorite candidate for him to win the nomination. I'm going to support trump now. And I'm happy to see the whole country burn, because I didn't get my way."

    Fixed that for you.

    This is what the Russians were going for with their information warfare campaign, although they were not necessarily interested in getting Bernie voters to flip for Trump (that's hard to achieve) as they were to get those voters to stay home and not vote at all (easier to achieve). Quoting the link:

    The indictment mentions that the Russian accounts were meant to embed with and emulate “radical” groups. The content was not designed to persuade people to change their views, but to harden those views. Confirmation bias is powerful and commonly employed in these kinds of psychological operations (a related Soviet concept is “reflexive control”—applying pressure in ways to elicit a specific, known response). The intention of these campaigns was to activate—or suppress—target groups. Not to change their views, but to change their behavior

    By the radical groups there they mean both the Trump and Bernie camps, both because those groups had the largest existing online reach (and thus, were they easiest to target) but also because you could pretty effectively use the same kind of anti-Clinton messaging to target both. So they wanted at the same time to get people who don't usually vote but are pissed at the status quo ('Drain the swamp', 'Lock her up', etc.) to go out and vote for Trump and to get people who usually vote for the democrats to stay home ('Bernie or bust', 'Walk away', etc,).

    Whether or not it made a definitive difference to the election results is not really knowable at this point, because the effectiveness of such campaigns is hard to measure, but keeping in mind that the amount of votes in the key states that flipped the result to Trump was what, around 30 000 it's definitely a possibility.

    --
    "It is the business of the future to be dangerous" -Alfred North Whitehead
  29. Re:Says who? by butzwonker · · Score: 4, Insightful

    When in public Trump does not speak like someone who has all of the issues his mortal enemies wish to claim he does.

    To a normal, unbiased observer he clearly does have these issues. That's the problem. It started very early with his childish and disgraceful inauguration crowd size rants and has continued since then.

    Republicans amongst themselves merely seem to disagree about the extent of this erratic behavior and how much it hinders the functioning of the government. Some think it's harmless and just another governance style, others think its a problem because he's acting too impulsively and refuses to listen to reason.

  30. Re:Yes, they should by dwillden · · Score: 4, Informative

    Not in 30 of the 51 separate elections. A nationwide popular vote total is irrelevant, we don't vote as a single body nationwide but in 50 states and the DC we vote in 51 separate elections and in 30 of those states he won, giving him the electoral votes for a rather substantial victory.

    --
    I'm too lazy to compose a creative sig.
  31. Re:Yes, they should by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So, racism and fake news. That's the only way anyone would have ever voted that way.

    You still don't get why Trump won. The sheer level of insufferable arrogance from upper-middle class liberals that dominate internet discussion is a massive reason why. A huge part of why nationalism (whether it's Trump or Brexit or populist parties Swedish Democrats in Sweden, Front Nationale in France, and others throughout Europe) is seeing such a surge in support is in opposition to the CONSTANT liberal circlejerking in the media and refusal to even consider that the working class isn't a bunch of idiotic, evil racists, but bases its vote on real world experiences that they go through and rational self interest.

    They are sick and tired of sneering upper middle class liberals scaremongering about anybody who isn't part of the political establishment and being called racists for wanting to maintain a national sovereignty and set of values. They are sick and tired of being told they don't know whats best for them by young people who have never experienced Britain before the EU. People are sick and tired of ad hominems being the dominant form of discourse from the left whenever issues relating to protecting our national borders and culture come up. They are sick and tired of their acquaintances screaming on Facebook UNFRIEND ME IF YOU SUPPORT TRUMP YOU RACIST BIGOT.

    The entire mendacious edifice built around shaming people who dissent against the PC orthodoxy of cultural relativism and globalism is doing nothing but backfiring on the left all over the world, and will continue to do so. The upper class journalism/media types who tend to lean left, and liberals in New York who don't see a problem with globalism are the types of people who aren't affected by it like the native working class. They get to live in gated communities and in expensive apartments surrounded by other upper-middle class liberals, and don't have to interact with those Muslim migrants who are completely unwilling to assimilate into Western culture like the working class who lives around them.

    They also aren't as affected by the complete gutting of industrial jobs, the massive increases in real estate prices completely pricing average Americans out of their home ownership or the huge pressure on the labor market and welfare system by lax immigration policies. It's easy to pat yourself on the back and circlejerk how cosmopolitan and tolerant you are for supporting virtue signalling policies when they don't directly affect you, and call everyone who dissents a bigot. The multicultural utopian worldview would quickly collapse when faced with the reality that working class people deal with, and perhaps maybe then they wouldn't just dismiss their perfectly valid concerns. And maybe the left may start seeing the votes not constantly slip away into the arms of populists who at least listen to these concerns, instead of demonizing them.

    And until all of the professional class elitists get their head out of their little bubble and get in touch with what matters to the common man, we will continue coming out to the voting booth and burning your entire globalist establishment to the fucking ground.

    --
    Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
  32. Re:Wrong, employer is EXECUTIVE BRANCH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    against all enemies, foreign and domestic

    I'd say it's their damned duty to resist.

  33. motivations and gullibility by ooloorie · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The op-ed says:

    There is a quiet resistance within the administration of people choosing to put country first. But the real difference will be made by everyday citizens rising above politics, reaching across the aisle and resolving to shed the labels in favor of a single one: Americans.

    If this were true, why publish the op-ed, something that will make such activities much harder in the future? What could a self-proclaimed member of the "quiet resistance within the administration" possibly hope to accomplish by publishing this memo?

    And what evidence is there that this is real? All we have is the NYT's word for it, and they have made numerous, serious mistakes in recent years.

  34. Re:Yes, they should by aquacrayfish · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Uh huh. You believe staffers are going to convince the Senate *AND* the House of Representatives to sign onto the 25th Amendment to remove someone their base loves? How many times do they need to demonstrate that they care more about staying in power than serving the nation?

  35. Not the "deep state" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A manifesto of a conspiracy of deep-state moles in the White House...

    Calling it "deep-state" is somewhat inaccurate here. I'm not going to go with the op-ed author's sunny sounding "steady state", but "deep-state" specifically refers to the idea that career civil and military folks who predate the administration are running a shadow government. Taking the Times at their word, this guy is almost certainly a political appointee (the other option being the vice president), given they're identified as "a senior official in the Trump administration" (mentioning that their job would be in jeopardy tends to rule out the vice president, since he can't be fired by anything shy of impeachment or being replaced as running mate in the 2020 election).

    Point is, since the author is (almost certainly) a political appointee (not civil service), who came in with the current administration (doesn't predate), it's not a "deep-state" scenario. "Shadow government" would be more accurate, given the author and his allies are intentionally running the gov't in ways not sanctioned by the Constitution, with no oversight, voter approval, etc., and "shadow government" doesn't require the extra qualifiers that describing it as the "deep-state" implies.

  36. Re:Yes, they should by apoc.famine · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I can name seven:

    Outlawing abortion
    Gutting all social services
    Spending more on the military
    Lowering corporate taxes and reducing fiscal oversight
    Large scale reduction of the federal government and removal of a majority of federal policies, rules and regulations
    Reduced education spending
    Privatization of former government projects including infrastructure building, military operations, spaceflight. education, etc.

    --
    Velociraptor = Distiraptor / Timeraptor
  37. Re:Yes, they should by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "Deep state" is just a newfangled term for bureaucrats and corporate lobbyists quietly agreeing to cooperate to preserve their own fiefdoms while screwing over the rest of us. This is not a newfangled problem.

  38. Re:Yes, they should by DrXym · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Seems to be a person who is a republican in the traditional sense - small government, free market etc. and is exasperated by the idiot at the helm. Writing an op-ed, even anonymously comes with a great deal of personal risk so I have to assume they're sincere in what they wrote. Although to be honest, I don't get the "adults in the room" argument unless the person is ex-military and feels honorbound to do what they can to blunt the stupidity coming from the top.

  39. Re:Yes, they should by drinkypoo · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You still don't get why Trump won.

    Sure we do. It's called the Electoral College, and it was designed to keep the people from electing the president.

    They are sick and tired of sneering upper middle class liberals scaremongering about anybody who isn't part of the political establishment and being called racists for wanting to maintain a national sovereignty and set of values.

    They're being called racists for being racists. Wanting to maintain racist values is racism.

    They are sick and tired of their acquaintances screaming on Facebook UNFRIEND ME IF YOU SUPPORT TRUMP YOU RACIST BIGOT.

    You can't support Trump without supporting racism and bigotry, and supporting racism and bigotry makes one a racist bigot.

    They also aren't as affected by the complete gutting of industrial jobs, the massive increases in real estate prices completely pricing average Americans out of their home ownership or the huge pressure on the labor market and welfare system by lax immigration policies.

    No, they're more affected. The industrial jobs leave the "wealthy" states (you know, the ones that pay the taxes that permit the red states to exist and function) first. Home prices are vastly higher in these states, because we have policies that make people actually want to live here. And there is no huge pressure on the labor market from lax immigration policies; immigrants overwhelmingly do jobs that other people don't want to do. However, work visa programs overwhelmingly harm the people in the states where liberals live, because those are the places where technical jobs exist. The H1Bs aren't going to the red states, except Texas which is gradually turning blue as old racists die.

    And until all of the professional class elitists get their head out of their little bubble and get in touch with what matters to the common man, we will continue coming out to the voting booth and burning your entire globalist establishment to the fucking ground.

    Well, thanks for admitting that your kind is capable of nothing better than arson.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  40. Re:Yes, they should by amicusNYCL · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Deep state operatives tell you they're working for the American people, but in fact, they think we're scum.

    Whoever sold you that line needs to pat themselves on the back.

    Seriously, the idea that there are people working behind the scenes to keep the country running on a relatively straight course, and that these people actually hate the public, is absurd. It's flat-out absurd.

    Like Biden was saying at McCain's service in Phoenix, if you want to argue against someone's position, fine. But don't question their motivation, don't act like they don't love the country or they aren't a good American or they aren't a patriot or whatever else. They might have a different position, and if you want to argue the position that's fine, but that doesn't mean they love the country any less than you do.

    Sitting there acting like you're some victim of this vast conspiracy full of people secretly running the country who hate America and hate Americans just makes you sound like a child.

    --
    "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black