"Fire and Fury" The book that demonstrates that Trump is unfit to serve as president

[southernhybrid]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2018/01/04/we-already-know-the-alarming-truth-about-trump-michael-wolffs-book-just-confirms-it/?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-e%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.961ade1ace41

Forgive me if someone has already started a thread about this book about to be released on January 9th, and already #1 on Amazon. This book has been the subject of hours of news coverage on CNN and MSNBC as well as in WaPo, the NYTimes and many other news sources. Trump's desperate lawyers have already issued a meaningless cease and desist order in an attempt to stop the release of the book. The book has direct quotes from many current and former Whitehouse staff that reinforces what most of us already suspected. It basically concludes that Trump is an idiot, doesn't ever read, has very poor attention span, etc. etc.

A just-published excerpt from Michael Wolff’s new book, “Fire and Fury,” should make that question more urgent. While there has been much focus on Stephen K. Bannon’s claim that Donald Trump Jr.’s meeting in Trump Tower was “treasonous” and “unpatriotic,” the book also paints a vivid picture of a president who is surrounded by people who know he does not temperamentally belong in that office.

The excerpt paints a White House in chaos, riven by factional warfare among aides, with even his loyalists denouncing him as wholly uninterested in, or unable to keep pace with, the substantive details of the job. And there’s this:

Reigning over all of this was Trump, enigma, cipher and disruptor. How to get along with Trump — who veered between a kind of blissed-out pleasure of being in the Oval Office and a deep, childish frustration that he couldn’t have what he wanted? Here was a man singularly focused on his own needs for instant gratification, be that a hamburger, a segment on “Fox & Friends” or an Oval Office photo opp. “I want a win. I want a win. Where’s my win?” he would regularly declaim. He was, in words used by almost every member of the senior staff on repeated occasions, “like a child.”

Wolff’s conclusion after talking to numerous people close to Trump: “My indelible impression of talking to them and observing them through much of the first year of his presidency, is that they all — 100 percent — came to believe he was incapable of functioning in his job.”

One of the many pieces that I've read about this book claims that Wolf has recorded hours of these conversations with Whitehouse staff. You really can't make this shit up.

If this is being discussed somewhere else, please merge my post with the other discussion.

 

[braces_for_impact]

Michael Wolff isn't really a traditional journalist. He's more of a rumormonger (although he's a decent writer) and a lot of what is reported in the book is unsourced. So, I am overall, skeptical. The problem as I see it though, is that even if say, 3/4 of the book is complete and utter fabrication, that still leaves a horrible, fucked up situation in the White House. The other problem, as far as I see it, is that because of the incredibly unprofessional behavior and outright commitment to lyng at every possible opportunity, there's nothing that I've heard of in that book that I think could be beyond this administration. I certainly have no trust of Bannon suddenly giving up the goods, either. He's not as smart as he thinks he is, but he's still a lyng, bigoted scumbag.

 

[Elixir]

Michael Wolff isn't really a traditional journalist. He's more of a rumormonger (although he's a decent writer) and a lot of what is reported in the book is unsourced. So, I am overall, skeptical. The problem as I see it though, is that even if say, 3/4 of the book is complete and utter fabrication, that still leaves a horrible, fucked up situation in the White House. The other problem, as far as I see it, is that because of the incredibly unprofessional behavior and outright commitment to lyng at every possible opportunity, there's nothing that I've heard of in that book that I think could be beyond this administration. I certainly have no trust of Bannon suddenly giving up the goods, either. He's not as smart as he thinks he is, but he's still a lyng, bigoted scumbag.

As you imply, verbatim accuracy of the book is pretty much beside the point. To the extent that it becomes an issue pushed by the administration, they'll only be shitting their own bed - especially if there are large chunks of recorded conversations. No way will they want any of that to become public...

 

[southernhybrid]

If Wolf really does have hours of recordings from the discussions he had with the Trump staff members. it would certainly make his book seem pretty credible, even if it it's not 100% accurate. Plus, I think most of us have already believed that these things are true of Trump and his enablers. The book has been the hottest topic since early yesterday on most major news stations as well as major written news sources. The fact that Trump and his minions are going nuts over the soon to be released book, makes me think they are fearful of the book's release. And, why would Trump's idiot lawyers try to stop the release of the book, if they weren't worried?

Maybe it will all die down in a few days, but I do think this book just adds to the belief that Trump is totally unfit to serve. Of course, Congress will have to actually do something and that may not happen, but it could add to the incentives that people already have to get out and vote against the Republican enablers in the midterms. Let's hope.

 

[laughing dog]

Well, regardless of the book's accuracy, it has Trump tweeting that Bannon has lost his mind.

 

[ZiprHead]

From what I've seen in the news, it was Trump himself that let Wolff into the White House. Can't find a link to that however. My guess is Trump thought he would get glowingly rave reviews of his performance, another sign of his extreme narcissism.

 

[Elixir]

From what I've seen in the news, it was Trump himself that let Wolff into the White House. Can't find a link to that however. My guess is Trump thought he would get glowingly rave reviews of his performance, another sign of his extreme narcissism.

Central Casting... all his personnel decisions are based on his (probably flawed) notion of "Central Casting". Ya gotta have a character who takes notes and records the epic history of the Greatest President EVER. Wolff met the description that Cheato had in his head for someone from Central Casting who fit the image so ...

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Well, regardless of the book's accuracy, it has Trump tweeting that Bannon has lost his mind.

As much as I hate to agree with Trump, that's probably the most accurate statement to ever come out of his twitter feed.

 

[RavenSky]

"You Can’t Make This S--- Up": My Year Inside Trump's Insane White House

article by Michael Wolff in the Hollywood Reporter:

After the election, I proposed to him that I come to the White House and report an inside story for later publication — journalistically, as a fly on the wall — which he seemed to misconstrue as a request for a job. No, I said. I'd like to just watch and write a book. "A book?" he responded, losing interest. "I hear a lot of people want to write books," he added, clearly not understanding why anybody would. "Do you know Ed Klein?"— author of several virulently anti-Hillary books. "Great guy. I think he should write a book about me." But sure, Trump seemed to say, knock yourself out.

Since the new White House was often uncertain about what the president meant or did not mean in any given utterance, his non-disapproval became a kind of passport for me to hang around — checking in each week at the Hay-Adams hotel, making appointments with various senior staffers who put my name in the "system," and then wandering across the street to the White House and plunking myself down, day after day, on a West Wing couch.

"You can't make this shit up," Sean Spicer, soon to be portrayed as the most hapless man in America, muttered to himself after his tortured press briefing on the first day of the new administration, when he was called to justify the president's inaugural crowd numbers — and soon enough, he adopted this as a personal mantra.

He had been elected president, that through-the-eye-of-the-needle feat, but obviously, he was yet … Trump. Indeed, he seemed as confused as anyone to find himself in the White House, even attempting to barricade himself into his bedroom with his own lock over the protests of the Secret Service.

To say that no one was in charge, that there were no guiding principles, not even a working org chart, would again be an understatement. "What do these people do?" asked everyone pretty much of everyone else.

How to get along with Trump — who veered between a kind of blissed-out pleasure of being in the Oval Office and a deep, childish frustration that he couldn't have what he wanted? Here was a man singularly focused on his own needs for instant gratification, be that a hamburger, a segment on Fox & Friends or an Oval Office photo opp. "I want a win. I want a win. Where's my win?" he would regularly declaim. He was, in words used by almost every member of the senior staff on repeated occasions, "like a child."

and confirmation of what Mitch McConnell had seen early on as the silver Trump lining: "He'll sign anything we put in front of him."

Hoping for the best, with their personal futures as well as the country's future depending on it, my indelible impression of talking to them and observing them through much of the first year of his presidency, is that they all — 100 percent — came to believe he was incapable of functioning in his job.

Happy first anniversary of the Trump administration.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/n...insane-year-inside-trumps-white-house-1071504

yeah... I will be reading the book

 

[ZiprHead]

From what I've seen in the news, it was Trump himself that let Wolff into the White House. Can't find a link to that however. My guess is Trump thought he would get glowingly rave reviews of his performance, another sign of his extreme narcissism.

Central Casting... all his personnel decisions are based on his (probably flawed) notion of "Central Casting". Ya gotta have a character who takes notes and records the epic history of the Greatest President EVER. Wolff met the description that Cheato had in his head for someone from Central Casting who fit the image so ...

In Wolff's own words.

"I interviewed Donald Trump for The Hollywood Reporter in June 2016, and he seemed to have liked — or not disliked — the piece I wrote. "Great cover!" his press assistant, Hope Hicks, emailed me after it came out (it was a picture of a belligerent Trump in mirrored sunglasses). After the election, I proposed to him that I come to the White House and report an inside story for later publication — journalistically, as a fly on the wall — which he seemed to misconstrue as a request for a job. No, I said. I'd like to just watch and write a book. "A book?" he responded, losing interest. "I hear a lot of people want to write books," he added, clearly not understanding why anybody would. "Do you know Ed Klein?"— author of several virulently anti-Hillary books. "Great guy. I think he should write a book about me." But sure, Trump seemed to say, knock yourself out."

There's other juicy tidbits in there too.

Oops. Ninja'd by Ravensky.

 

[Elixir]

yeah... I will be reading the book

You know who won't be reading it (even if he could)...
But he'll still state authoritatively that nothing in it is true.
More popcorn, please!

 

[RavenSky]

Of course, Congress will have to actually do something and that may not happen, but it could add to the incentives that people already have to get out and vote against the Republican enablers in the midterms. Let's hope.

Trump is Congress' useful idiot, so it is up to us to get out the vote in November.

- - - Updated - - -

Well, regardless of the book's accuracy, it has Trump tweeting that Bannon has lost his mind.

Which, apparently, are the exact words Bannon used about Trump.

 

[Patooka]

The book itself won't be anywhere near as entertaining as the verbal contortions Fox news/Breitbart etc will make because of it release. That's the part I'm looking forward to.

 

[ZiprHead]

yeah... I will be reading the book

You know who won't be reading it (even if he could)...
But he'll still state authoritatively that nothing in it is true.
More popcorn, please!

Seems to me that trying to supress the book due to NDA violations is pretty much admitting the things in the book are true.

 

[Elixir]

yeah... I will be reading the book

You know who won't be reading it (even if he could)...
But he'll still state authoritatively that nothing in it is true.
More popcorn, please!

Seems to me that trying to supress the book due to NDA violations is pretty much admitting the things in the book are true.

Zackly! Just like the "leaks":
"The leaks are real, but the News is Fake"
-DJT

 

[RavenSky]

I am surprised (though perhaps should not be) at how many people believe Bannon wrote this book

 

[TV and credit cards]

I wonder if any of the talking heads are asking where the Chief of Staff was while this guy was walking around the White House for a year interviewing people.
Something's rotten here, and I'm not talking about Kellyanne's cooch.

 

[RavenSky]

I wonder if any of the talking heads are asking where the Chief of Staff was while this guy was walking around the White House for a year interviewing people.
Something's rotten here, and I'm not talking about Kellyanne's cooch.

After the election, I proposed to him that I come to the White House and report an inside story for later publication — journalistically, as a fly on the wall — which he seemed to misconstrue as a request for a job. No, I said. I'd like to just watch and write a book. "A book?" he responded, losing interest. "I hear a lot of people want to write books," he added, clearly not understanding why anybody would. "Do you know Ed Klein?"— author of several virulently anti-Hillary books. "Great guy. I think he should write a book about me." But sure, Trump seemed to say, knock yourself out.

Since the new White House was often uncertain about what the president meant or did not mean in any given utterance, his non-disapproval became a kind of passport for me to hang around — checking in each week at the Hay-Adams hotel, making appointments with various senior staffers who put my name in the "system," and then wandering across the street to the White House and plunking myself down, day after day, on a West Wing couch.

And why "Kellyanne's cooch"? Why not Trump's crotch?

Smells like #casualsexism

 

[Ford]

I wonder if any of the talking heads are asking where the Chief of Staff was while this guy was walking around the White House for a year interviewing people.
Something's rotten here, and I'm not talking about Kellyanne's cooch.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/michael-wolff-my-insane-year-inside-trumps-white-house-1071504

After the election, I proposed to him that I come to the White House and report an inside story for later publication — journalistically, as a fly on the wall — which he seemed to misconstrue as a request for a job. No, I said. I'd like to just watch and write a book. "A book?" he responded, losing interest....

Since the new White House was often uncertain about what the president meant or did not mean in any given utterance, his non-disapproval became a kind of passport for me to hang around — checking in each week at the Hay-Adams hotel, making appointments with various senior staffers who put my name in the "system," and then wandering across the street to the White House and plunking myself down, day after day, on a West Wing couch.

 

[blastula]

Other than providing new quotes and new feud dynamics, it mostly confirms prior reporting about the situation there. It's a disaster.

I wonder if Trump's best girl Ivanka will get the same Bannon disavowal treatment.

Ivanka Reveals the Truth About Trump’s Hair—And Mocks It, Too

“She treated her father with a degree of detachment, even irony, going so far as to make fun of his comb-over to others,” Wolff writes, as extracted in . “She often described the mechanics behind it to friends: an absolutely clean pate—a contained island after scalp-reduction *surgery—surrounded by a furry circle of hair around the sides and front, from which all ends are drawn up to meet in the center and then swept back and secured by a stiffening spray.”
...........
“The color, she would point out to comical effect,” Woolf continues, “was from a product called Just for Men—the longer it was left on, the darker it got. Impatience resulted in Trump’s orange-blond hair color.”