Do you get the feeling that the Trump-Roberts spat is another distraction?

[vlyons]

Trump reads all week about how House seat after House seats flips to Dem, and what a loser he is. And how the Dems are going to nail his ass to the wall. Next Trump reads all the bad press about how he sold America's honor and values about the Kashoggi murder for 30 pieces of silver from the Saudis.

And what is the media talking about now? The Trump-Roberts spat. Is this a distraction?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. No. Roberts dissed him and he had to respond. He can't help it.

That's how he rolls. Even though there's no possible benefit to him from pissing off the Supreme Court he can't stand to let anyone criticize him without insulting them.

Trump isn't any kind of criminal mastermind (although he's a criminal) who throws distractions around intentionally like chaff. He creates distractions but not with any sort of plan in mind - just because he's an agent of chaos and everything he does is by definition distracting.

[PJMcK]

18. He's like The Joker but without a brain

"Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order, and everything becomes chaos. I'm an agent of chaos...”

“Do I really look like a guy with a plan? You know what I am? I'm a dog chasing cars. I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it! You know, I just... *do* things.”

[duforsure]

2. I agree

And Melodia is also being used as a distraction by trump. HE's trying to control the news cycle for himself again, and is getting more desperate because its not working , and more people are running from him and the gop very quickly now. His Saudi Prince murder problem is eating his lunch now, with his russian and putin problems.

[lunatica]

3. No. It's actually quite signifant and possibly historic

A lot of Presidents have been quite disappointed in their Supreme Court picks because no matter what their political leanings are most of them are free to be more loyal to interpreting the constitutionality of the cases brought before them. The reason is that they don’t have to be loyal to any President. No one can fire them. They are truly free of politics.

This has proven itself true throughout our history. Many a President has been served a bitter blow by their chosen Supreme Justices.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

4. I think most don't disappoint.

RBG will vote with liberals most of the time. Thomas will vote with conservatives all of the time. There is predictability with close association to the nominating president's party. Yes, there have been a few isolated surprises, but the court is mostly predictable.

The Ninth has been predictably "left" as compared with the others. I don't know why the Chief Justice pretends to deny this.

This is one big reason that it's important to elect Democratic presidents and senators. Trump knows he can steer the courts to the right, and he'd love to preside over the demise of a few more liberal justices.

[lunatica]

9. Bush did a lot to appoint Republican judges

Yet the Muslim ban was stopped in its tracks.

It happens a lot more than you would think. Justice Roberts is not a rubber stamp Republican.

And to add an opinion here, the Constitution written by the founding fathers, in spite of their historic personal failings by our modern definition, was crafted as a Progressive document. It truly is a living document which so far has served us well. Justices and Presidents come and go but the Constitution remains so far.

[oberliner]

24. Do you think Bush would have supported the Muslim ban?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

32. I doubt it. Bush was a dick in many ways but he was never dickish about immigration

in the way Trump is. I don't think he'd have approved putting kids in cages or threatening to shoot immigrants. In fact, I can't think of any other president in living memory who'd have done those things.

[lunatica]

34. No

He made sure not to blame Muslims for 9/11. He blamed “terrorists”. It is FOX News that loves to say, “Islamofascist terrorists”.

[Dale Neiburg]

5. As so often when he indulges his paranoia and native vindictiveness,

it has the additional benefit (from his pov) of distracting from his many failures.

I have to say, though, that it does warm the cockles of my heart to see DJT, whose survival is likely to depend on one or more favorable SCOTUS decisions in the fairly near future, getting into an unnecessary and utterly avoidable pissing match with the Chief Justice.

[Stellar]

6. I can't remember where I heard it...

but it was suggested that Trump wanted to change the narrative to keep his midterm losses out of the media as well as his daughter's email story etc. So he's changing the subject, have people talk/concentrate on other things.

[lunatica]

10. If so he has failed

If we are any indications.

[PJMcK]

19. Trump's "plan" will never work

Robert Mueller's investigations grind onwards as do the cases he's sent to other jurisdictions. The Democrats in the House will begin more investigations and hearings after the new Congress begins.

Meanwhile, Trump keeps pissing off people that could be his allies. He's painting himself into a dangerous corner.

He's an idiot.

[TreasonousBastard]

7. New Yorkers know that this is Trump's modus operandi, and always has been...

He has never really succeeded at anything, and failed at a lot, but his PR operation (largely himself) always found something to brag about to take the edge off the failures.

This is the first time in his life he's actually been responsible for anything. In the past he could just walk away from failure and bankruptcy, but this is a whole new game. So, he's relying on his big mouth that got him out of trouble in the past.

Now it's getting him in trouble.

[janterry]

8. This exactly

[duforsure]

11. He's doing just like he's done with other institutions

He attacks using political affiliations , and then promotes them as the enemy of the people because they don't serve him over country, and has been busy doing this . He claims its political for others when they disagree, and then he makes it politically for him by appointing loyalist who serve him and his demands. Repeats. The DOJ, trying to do this to the military, the judicial system, and has already done this to other departments. This is also like Putin did in Russia. Trump's anti-Democracy, anti-American, and anti Law and Order. He wants absolute power to do as he pleases without consequences, and is now daily pushing all limits to do that against us.

[mucifer]

12. No he is trying to get his deplorables to question anything ANY democrat has said

even if it's a judge or a Navy Seal or a Gold Star Family. The GOP is complacent in almost every word he says.

[oberliner]

25. John Roberts is not a Democrat

[mucifer]

31. true but he was defending judges appointed by dems so clearly he must be the bad guy

according to trump and his deplorables.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

33. Just wait. If he ever writes an opinion in a case that goes against Trump or against

an outcome he wants, Roberts will magically turn into a Democrat, just like long-time Republicans Comey and Mueller, who in Tiny's tiny brain are now partisan Hillary-loving Democrats (along with Adm. McRaven).

[empedocles]

13. The Supremes may get their backs up a bit

Like stories, or jokes, that are close to home - we feel and relate to them more.

[OnDoutside]

14. No, Roberts is just another Republican who will be asked, "What did YOU do under Trump, grandad ?"

and is just covering his ass.

Trump may USE this to distract, but he will do so at his peril, as any Mueller subpoena case could go before the Roberts Court.

[cheyanne]

17. Roberts has fallen into a trap.

Trump needs to deligitimatize all centers of power. Now that Roberts has criticized him, he can gin up his war on the judiciary at the top level.

Also Roberts is aware that the court has broken with tradition to side with the DOJ on the census question case. He needs to distract from that.

[OnDoutside]

20. As a lifetime appointment, Roberts doesn't have to answer to anyone, but he will surely care about

how the Roberts' Court will be judged by history. On the other hand Trump needs to be careful not to bite the hand that could save his sorry ass. He may well do as you suggest, but if he does it too much, it would only encourage Roberts to screw him over....after all his has got his two rwnj buddies, so he's happy enough to not need Trump anymore.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

28. Exactly Roberts is there fore life.

[FarPoint]

15. A big part of me senses ..

Roberts wants to preserve the integrity of the Supreme Court...he is Chief Justice and I believe he doesn't want to appear as a tRump minion...this is his legacy....tRump is a purulent bag of puss.

[Vinca]

16. No. He doesn't think about anything that deeply, it just spews out of his head as random BS.

[phleshdef]

21. No.

[SKKY]

22. No, I don't actually....

...but what I can't figure out is if Trump has lost his ability to control the new cycle, or if we (And the media to some extent) have learned to not be distracted by his BS and just focus on the pitch. To use a baseball reference.

[GoCubsGo]

23. It's a distraction, but that wasn't his main intent.

He has been denigrating the judicial system and law enforcement since he was running for office. He is just being a good, little mushroom-dick fascist, who is trying to undermine all the institutions that limit his power. He attacks anyone who gets in his way--the FBI, the courts, our intelligence agencies, the press, high-ranking officers in the military, Congresspersons and Senators who speak out against him... This battle with Roberts is just more of the same. Only in this case, it seems to be backfiring on him. I don't think he was expecting Roberts to push back.

[elocs]

26. No.

[onenote]

27. No.

[brooklynite]

29. For thew millionth time, nothing Trump does suggests strategic thinking.

[beachbum bob]

30. its unprecedented to have a SUPREME COURT CHEIF JUSTICE to COMMENT on anything a president

may say.

This is far from a distraction and WE MAY HAVE TO THANK TRUMP later in making Roberts a moderate on the Supreme Court....no Chief Justice is going to take trump's crap

[True_Blue]

35. I think Trump wants the Khashoggi murder to go away

like yesterday. When the media first started reporting on Khashoggi's murder, Trump distracted them with the caravan. After that, it was constant caravan updates on the news. I believe that Trump was somehow complicit in Khashoggi's murder. Khashoggi was banned from Saudi Arabia 2yrs ago for criticizing Trump. Usually when the Saudis want to get rid of a journalist, they imprison them for life and kill them or let them die in there. They don't ban them and then try to kill them later in another country. Maybe this has something to do with why Kushner wanted the Saudi Royals out of the way and the murderous Crown Prince in charge. I think there's a lot more to this story than meets the eye and I hope the media doesn't take their eye off the ball this time.

"Saudi Arabia bans journalist for criticising Donald Trump"
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-donald-trump-journalist-banned-for-criticising-us-president-elect-a7456956.html?amp