;)
The Commentariat -- April 30, 2018
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Katherine Faulders, et al., of ABC News: "The Trump campaign has spent nearly $228,000 to cover some of the legal expenses for ... Donald Trump's personal attorney Michael Cohen, sources familiar with the payments tell ABC News, raising questions about whether the Trump campaign may have violated campaign finance laws. Federal Election Commission records show three payments made from the Trump campaign to a fir representing Cohen. The 'legal consulting' payments were made to McDermott Will and Emery -- a law firm where Cohen's attorney Stephen Ryan is a partner -- between October 2017 and January 2018. Cohen has said that he did not have a formal role in the Trump campaign, and it is illegal to spend campaign funds for personal use -- defined by the FEC as payments for expenses 'that would exist irrespective of the candidate's campaign or responsibilities as a federal officeholder.'"
Marco's Major Gaffe. Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "'There is still a lot of thinking on the right that if big corporations are happy, they're going to take the money they're saving and reinvest it in American workers, ... '[Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)] told the Economist in a recent interview. 'In fact they bought back shares, a few gave out bonuses; there's no evidence whatsoever that the money's been massively poured back into the American worker.'" ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Sometimes, especially right around election time & when no actual Senate votes depend upon it, Marco sounds remarkably like a Democrat. Not to worry, Mitch, when you need Marco's vote, you've got it.
Jill Colvin of the AP: "More than a year has passed since ... Donald Trump held the only solo news conference of his administration -- a rollicking, hastily arranged, 77-minute free-for-all during which he railed against the media, defended his fired national security adviser and insisted nobody who advised his campaign had had contacts with Russia. 'President Trump is more accessible than most modern presidents and frequently takes questions from the press,' says White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. The president often answers shouted questions at so-called pool sprays, in which a small group of rotating reporters is given access to events such as bill signings and Cabinet lunches. Trump has also taken to answering shouted questions on the White House lawn as he arrives at and departs the White House.... But the format also gives the president far more control than he would have during a traditional question-and-answer session. Trump can easily ignore questions he doesn't like and dodge follow-ups in a way that would be glaring in a traditional news conference."
Arthur Allen of Politico: "A West Palm Beach doctor's ties to Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago social circle have enabled him to hold up the biggest health information technology project in history -- the transformation of the VA's digital records system. Dr. Bruce Moskowitz, an internist and friend of Trump confidant Ike Perlmutter, who advises the president informally on vet issues, objected to the $16 billion Department of Veterans Affairs project because he doesn't like the Cerner Corp. software he uses at two Florida hospitals, according to four former and current senior VA officials. Cerner technology is a cornerstone of the VA project.... IT specialists at the VA felt that [Moskowitz] was out of his league in evaluating the Cerner deal.... [A source] said Moskowitz's involvement was one of the irritants in [former VA Secretary David] Shulkin's dealings with other White House-appointed officials, which contributed to his being fired March 28."
Daniel Politi of Slate: "Guns will be banned from the premises when Vice President Mike Pence speaks at a National Rifle Association convention in Dallas on Friday. Before and during the speech, attendees are prohibited from bringing 'firearms and firearm accessories, knives or weapons of any kind,' the NRA wrote as it announced Pence's presence at the conference. The NRA is blaming the Secret Service.... 'Wait wait wait wait wait wait you're telling me to make the VP safe there aren't any weapons around but when it comes to children they want guns everywhere?' asked Matt Deitsch, a Parkland student who helped organize the March for Our Lives rally." ...
... Update. AP: "... Donald Trump will be at the National Rifle Association convention in Dallas on Friday. A White House official said Monday that Trump will attend the group's annual meeting." Mrs. McC: No guns again, I guess.
Paul Walsh of the (Minneapolis) Star Tribune: "Richard Painter, a longtime Republican who was chief ethics lawyer for George W. Bush's White House, intends to run for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota this year as a Democrat, according to a filing he made recently with federal elections officials. Painter, a persistent and frequent critic of ... Donald Trump on national cable TV news appearances and on Twitter, is expected to announce his candidacy at a Monday news conference. He's running for Democrat Al Franken's former seat. Franken resigned Jan. 2 in the wake of numerous sexual harassment allegations. Gov. Mark Dayton appointed Lt. Gov. Tina Smith to be his successor. That seat is up this fall in a special election, and Smith has said she intends to run for the right to finish the term through 2020."
*****
Today in Government by Malevolent Ignoramus
Jack Ewing & Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "What began as a way to protect American steel and aluminum jobs has since become a cudgel that the Trump administration is using to extract concessions in other areas, including car exports to Europe or negotiations to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement with Mexico and Canada. As a May 1 deadline looms, the decision on whether to grant permanent exemptions to the steel and aluminum tariffs, and to whom, appears likely to come down to the whims of President Trump, who has seesawed between scrapping and rejoining global trade deals.... The German government said in a statement that Ms. Merkel, Mr. Macron and Ms. May agreed that if the tariffs go into force, 'The European Union should be ready to decisively defend its interests within the framework of multilateral trade rules.' The uncertainty is sowing chaos in international supply networks." ...
... Keith Bradsher of the New York Times: "China will refuse to discuss President Trump's two toughest trade demands ... -- a mandatory $100 billion cut in America's $375 billion annual trade deficit with China and curbs on Beijing's $300 billion plan to bankroll the country's industrial upgrade into advanced technologies -- ... when American negotiators arrive in Beijing this week, people involved in Chinese policymaking say, potentially forcing Washington to escalate the dispute or back down.... Beijing feels its economy has become big enough and resilient enough to stand up to the United States." Mrs. McC: Do notice how brilliantly Trump timed his trade wars to coincide with his Nobel Peace Prize plans. Maybe somebody should have told him that angering his "good friend Xi" is not a great way to achieve international goals re: North Korean nuclear capabilities."
Michael Hayden, in a New York Times op-ed, on how Trump's apparent inability to distinguish between truth & fiction stresses intelligence agencies. "To adopt post-truth thinking is to depart from Enlightenment ideas, dominant in the West since the 17th century, that value experience and expertise, the centrality of fact, humility in the face of complexity, the need for study and a respect for ideas." Mrs. McC: Interesting, because Hayden suggests, without directly saying so, that Trump is a medieval man, unfettered by external realities & dependent instead upon some sort of metaphysical momentary, mutable "knowledge." (Also linked yesterday.)
Sari Horwitz of the Washington Post: "Former FBI director James B. Comey on Sunday called the House Intelligence Committee's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election 'a wreck' and deemed its report a 'political document.' In a conversation about his book, 'A Higher Loyalty,' on NBC News's 'Meet the Press,' Comey said the report, released by House Republicans on Friday, did not represent his 'understanding of what the facts were' before he left the FBI." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Ryan Goodman of Just Security: "The dueling House Intelligence Committee reports on Russian election interference, released on Friday, provide new information that adds significantly to a picture of obstruction of justice and abuse of power on the part of ... Donald Trump in the Russia investigation.... The information is provided only in the Minority report, and the bulk of these revelations depend on testimony by former FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe, whose credibility as a witness in some respects may be under a cloud.... The FBI General Counsel and FBI Director's chief of staff listened in on James Comey's side of at least some phone conversations with the president, in which Mr. Trump reportedly engaged in efforts to alter the course of the Russia investigation.... Both the FBI Director and Deputy Director interpreted one of the president's phone calls as threatening Comey if he did not lift the cloud of the Russia investigation.... The FBI Director and Deputy Director were also concerned that the president was threatening to take action against McCabe if the FBI Director did not lift the cloud of the Russia investigation.... The Minority report ... ties the specific timing of McCabe's testimony to Mr. Trump's going after not only McCabe but also the FBI's General Counsel [James Baker]. (Emphasis removed.) (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Zoe Tillman of BuzzFeed: "Since the fall, the US Department of Justice has been overhauling its manual for federal prosecutors. In: Attorney General Jeff Sessions' tough-on-crime policies. Out: A section titled 'Need for Free Press and Public Trial.' References to the department's work on racial gerrymandering are gone. Language about limits on prosecutorial power has been edited down. The changes include new sections that underscore Sessions' focus on religious liberty and the Trump administration's efforts to crack down on government leaks -- there is new language admonishing prosecutors not to share classified information and directing them to report contacts with the media."
Eliana Johnson of Politico: "White House physician Ronny Jackson will not return to his role as the president's personal physician, according to two senior administration officials, after a string of allegations caused the Navy rear admiral to withdraw his nomination last week to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. Sean Conley, a Navy officer who took over Jackson's role as the president's personal doctor last month, will continue in the role, the officials said.... Jackson has denied the allegations and has returned to work in the White House Medical Unit." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Just can't figure out why that is, what with Trump claiming Jackson is one of the finest men he's ever met & Sen. Jon Tester should resign for bringing forward serious allegations against him. You might just conclude Trump's repeated expressions of "outrage" are "fake." ...
... Update. Nicholas Fandos & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "It was unclear if Dr. Jackson ... would remain in the White House in any capacity or if he would retire from the military."
... White House Vetting = Loyalty Oath to Trump. Ashley Parker, et al., of the Washington Post: In order to secure a job as spokeswoman for Jeff Sessions, Sarah Isgur Flores had to "kowtow to Trump.... The early 2017 episode ... underscores the extent to which Trump demands loyalty in vetting administration officials -- even well-qualified Republicans like Flores seeking jobs on the personal staffs of Cabinet secretaries, who historically have had considerable leeway to do their own hiring. Credentialed candidates have had to prove loyalty to the president, with many still being blocked for previous anti-Trump statements. Hundreds of national security officials, for example, were nixed from consideration because they spoke out against Trump during the campaign. But for longtime Trump loyalists, their fidelity to the president is often sufficient, obscuring what in a more traditional administration would be red flags."
Kirk Semple of the New York Times: "A long, grueling journey gave way to what could be a long, uncertain asylum process Sunday as a caravan of immigrants finally reached the border between the United States and Mexico, setting up a dramatic moment and a test of President Trump's anti-immigrant politics. More than 150 migrants, part of a caravan that once numbered about 1,200 and headed north in March from Mexico's border with Guatemala, were prepared to seek asylum from United States immigration officials. But in what was likely to be one of many curves on the road, the migrants were told Sunday afternoon that the immigration officials could not process their claims, and they would have to spend the night on the Mexican side of the border.... With the migrants on the doorstep of the United States, Mr. Trump, in a tweet last week, ratcheted up his rhetoric, vowing 'not to let these large Caravans of people into our Country.'... Attorney General Jeff Sessions called the caravan 'a deliberate attempt to undermine our laws and overwhelm our system.'" ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Ya know, JeffBo, these people are obeying U.S. & international law in seeking asylum. Moreover, if 150 people would "overwhelm our system," then it's a piss-poor system. Since your boss has been bellyaching about these asylum-seekers for at least a month, it's not exactly as if you didn't know they were coming. Thanks for making the U.S. look feeble & inept, not to mention mean & xenophobic.
Gardiner Harris & Isabel Kershner of the New York Times: "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo came to Israel Sunday in the midst of the worst crisis in relations between Israelis and Palestinians in years, but he did not meet a single Palestinian representative and mentioned them publicly once. For decades, American diplomats saw themselves as brokers between the two sides, and secretaries of state typically met Palestinian representatives on regional tours like this one. When relations between the two sides deteriorated, the United States sought to bridge the divide. No more." ...
... But John Bolton Is a Great Diplomat! Chas Danner of New York: On "Fox 'News' Sunday" & "Face the Nation," "President Trump's new national security adviser, John Bolton, floated the idea of using the 'Libya model' to denuclearize the Korean peninsula on Sunday, despite the fact that North Korea has previously cited Libya's disarmament and subsequent destabilization as a reason to distrust the U.S.... Bolton ... did not acknowledge what happened in Libya after it gave up its weapons of mass destruction. Several years later, in 2011, the country was destabilized by a civil war, during which the U.S. and its allies intervened militarily against [Muammar] Gaddafi, directly leading to the end of his 42-year rule as well as his capture, beating, and death and hands of rebel fighters. And the country has been in crisis ever since." ...
... Mrs. McC: Why am I thinking that Bolton's gaffe -- along with Trump's plans to scuttle the Iran nuclear deal AND his threat to walk out of the Korea talks in a tantrum -- are kinda disincentives for Li'l Kim to denuke North Korea? Move over, Larry, Moe & Curly. It's Donnie, Mike & Johnnie now. And nastier. ...
... Update. Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Mr. Kim and his father built a nuclear arsenal for the very purpose of ensuring the security of their state against the kind of [U.S.] intervention that happened in Libya...." Mrs. McC: Ah, I guess that answers my question.
... MEANWHILE. Hyonhee Shin of Reuters: "In initial small steps toward reconciliation, South Korea said on Monday it would remove loudspeakers that blared propaganda across the border, while North Korea said it would shift its clocks to align with its southern neighbor." Which calls for this:
... Also significant is this represents the second time in history Trump has been known to laugh & the first time it wasn't at someone else's expense.
** Frank Rich writes a feature piece on Roy Cohn & Donald Trump & New York City's version of the self-anointed mob of crass hustlers & transactional barbarians. If you just loved those Barbara Walters specials & think Diane Sawyer (not to mention Hillary Clinton) is so classy, this is a must-read. When the story of the 2016 election is written, the author will be Rich or someone with his talent & clear-eyed worldview. All the rest is crap -- Brokawesque pablum for the clueless devotees of popular yarns.
Jacqueline Thomsen of the Hill: "The sapling gifted to President Trump by French President Emmanuel Macron has disappeared from the White House lawn less than a week after the two men planted it there, according to multiple media reports.... HuffPost, quoting an unnamed source, reported that the tree is intact and was under quarantine rules imposed by U.S. Customs. The policy requires that plants imported into the U.S. be quarantined for a period of time to avoid spreading diseases or importing species of invasive insects." Mrs. McC: My first guess would have been Trump did it with his widdle hatchet but is claiming Obama did it. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
What We're Missing. E.J. Dionne: "In a normal environment, the Republican Congress's assault on food-stamp recipients, the administration's waivers allowing states to erode Medicaid coverage, and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson's proposed rent increases for some of the country's poorest people would be front and center in the news. But poor people lack the media cachet of Stormy Daniels, Michael Cohen or a president who rants uncontrollably over the phone to his favorite Fox News show or to a crowd of enthusiasts, as he did Saturday night in Washington Township, Mich.... And governing? It seems almost beside the point. Thus does the unraveling of regulatory protections for workers, the environment and the users of financial services rush forward with little notice. This is where the Trumpian circus benefits the Trumpian project."
GOP Reps. Have Problems Chaplain Couldn't Fix. (No Kidding.) Melanie Zanona & Scott Wong of the Hill: "Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) told the House Republican Conference Friday morning that he fired Chaplain Patrick Conroy because members felt like their 'pastoral needs' were not being met and not for a political reason, according to several Republicans inside the room. Ryan told members his decision to ask Conroy to step aside had nothing to do with politics, a policy conflict or a prayer. A number of lawmakers had approached Ryan and told him they needed someone in the chaplain's role who could offer more 'spiritual counseling,' according to Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), who attended the meeting. Ryan agreed, he told the members."
Jen Chaney of Vulture: "As soon as Michelle Wolf finished delivering her blistering White House Correspondents' Dinner roast of the Trump administration and the members of the press that cover it, she was, not surprisingly, criticized for much of what she said. Oddly, however, a lot of that criticism zeroed in on something that Michelle Wolf did not actually say: a joke about Sarah Huckabee Sanders's appearance." Among the crack journalists who objected to remarks never made were Maggie Haberman of the New York Times (Mrs. McC: who got an award at the ceremony for the "nuance" & "context" she applies to her reporting about the White House) & Mika Brzezinski, both of whom were the subjects of Wolf jokes. Mrs. McC: Guess you can't get all that much nuance into a tweet. ...
... Hannah Levintova of Mother Jones reprints some more outraged reactions to Wolf's routine & a couple of apt defenses.
Michael de la Merced & Cecilia Kang of the New York Times: "Sprint and T-Mobile announced on Sunday that they had reached a deal to merge, moving to create a new telecommunications giant -- and betting that regulators would finally allow the American wireless service market to shrink to just three national players." (Also linked yesterday.)
News Lede
Guardian: "Ten journalists have died in Afghanistan in a coordinated double suicide bombing in Kabul and a shooting in the eastern Khost province, on the deadliest day for media workers in the country since the fall of the Taliban. Nine journalists died in the Afghan capital when they gathered at the scene of the first of two blasts. Ahmad Shah, a BBC reporter, was shot dead in a separate incident in Khost province, near the border with Pakistan. In Kabul, a suicide attacker riding a motorbike blew himself up in the Shash Darak neighbourhood, near the Nato headquarters and the US embassy, at about 8am. A second bomber, holding a camera and posing as a journalist, struck 20 minutes later, killing rescue workers and journalists, including an Agence France-Presse photographer, who had rushed to the scene. At least 25 people were killed and 45 injured in total."
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Reader Comments (18)
So the sapling from France been quarantined so that it can’t spread disease and nasty little invasive bugs across the land? Excellent idea.
We should have done that with the sap from Queens. Unfortunately, that sap has spread a variety of deadly diseases. And nasty invasive bugs? How about killer species like the Zinke stink bug, the Pruitt pus weasel, the Bolton night crawler, the anti-biodiversity Jeffbo cockroach, the DeVos dum-dum dung beetle, and the Pence-ipede, not to mention the Trumpish family leeches.
Should have stuck that sap in quarantine for at least a dozen years.
John Bolton thinks North Korea should follow the Libya Model for denuclearisation because that worked out so well for Gaddafi, Libya, Europe, and all of us.
I wasn't planning to watch the WHCAD, but with all the furore I thought I should form an opinion. So, IMHO, I thought that some things she said we here at RC say, but not many people say aloud. The WHPC lap up SHS lies and obfuscations without a single call out. The people who give a man a mulligan for assaulting women and bragging about it, seducing his friends' wives (or trying to, or thinking he does), for stirring up frenzied loathing at his rallies against the press, against any protest, including individuals who then have to be escorted from the arenas for their own safety (!!!!), who watch all these people conniving every day, monetising their positions, are whining about a comedian pointing out that they are making a killing on this spectre, and not holding anyone accountable for the many egregious acts of this maladministration working against the interests of the vast majority of the people they "serve".
The other point was the press giving scant attention to issues continuing to damage the country and hurt people, only one of which is the Flint water supply. Others include vote suppression, furtive attacks on the ACA and the CFPB and all Federal Depts, sectarianism in the judiciary. Only those of us in the news weeds are informed on many of these. I think Wolf is less "funny" because she is so acerbic and takes no prisoners. She is angry. I felt her rage. We all need to be angry through November and beyond. I'm not sure this is the time for funny though. I remember George Carlin, who sometimes told us things about ourselves we didn't want to know. He was often less "funny" and more judge, jury and executioner.
IMVHO.
(Apologies for poor sentence structure.)
@Gloria: Quite right about Wolf's anger. When I read some of her one-liners, they didn't seem nearly as offensive as when I heard them. I thought maybe it was her grating voice that put me off, but you hit it on it: it was her anger. The same lines delivered by a more accomplished comedian -- like Stephen Colbert who would say them under the pretense of a naive bewilderment -- could evoke a laugh. Your audience isn't going to laugh with you when you're berating them. Guess they don't teach that in comedy school.
Yes, Mrs. McC., but I'm glad it was not Colbert delivering those lines this time. Though he sure took a beating after his gig. We need to energise people as many have been by this monolog (eg read comments in your link at MJ). And this is being said aloud now, finally: “... Sarah Huckabee Sanders stands at that podium every day and spits out lies,”. I want the WHPC embarrassed for their obsequiousness, to be intimidated into doing their job. Even Morning Joe is calling it " hammered Trump supporters for holding the president of the United States to a lower standard of personal conduct than a stand-up comic". Dems need to run this through every election from now till Nov 2020.
Plus, you know, I thought PC was démodé.
Hear hear, Gloria! Yes, she was pretty acidic, although I haven't heard the whole thing yet, and those people and institutions deserve any beating they get... Snowflakes falling...
Fkkk'em if they can't take a joke.
As I remember it, Margaret Talev's introductory remarks about the comedienne were much different than her apologetic letter that has just appeared. Certainly backed off.
One oddity that I recall, when Wolf was making her remarks re Sarah Huckabee Sanders the camera did not readily zoom to Sanders to capture a reaction. Her face hidden by the podium throughout much of the zings. Yet, the camera(s) otherwise seemed capable of zooming to Reince Priebus or Jake Tapper to capture their reaction when they were mentioned. Was a script available beforehand?
Charles Pierce has some words on the night and Freedom of the Press.
Gloria,
Excellent comment.
Anger is cathartic. Controlled anger, not the sort of drooling, blind rage inculcated by the fraud of a president* at his hate rallies, and by the ignoramus Confederate media screamers.
Something that has always vexed me about many liberals and progressives is the ability to see both sides of an issue and not to fly into an immediate state of cognitive dysfunction at the blowing of the dog whistle. Why does this vex me? It should be a good thing, right? And it is. But it sometimes keeps us unfocused.
Do we have our own dog whistle triggers? Sure. Put a picture of Trump in front of me and my blood pressure immediately skyrockets. But here's the difference. That same sort of reaction occurs for many on the right when they are tweaked by some reference to made up bullshit on the part of Trump and his media whores and defenders. There is good reason to be angry at Trump. There is zero reason to mad at Hillary Clinton for running an underage sex slave operation. Or personally arranging the deaths of Americans in Benghazi.
Many wingers can go from zero to sixty on the blind rage scale within milliseconds. Anger and rage are their metier. They have been parboiled in hatred and fury for decades. Progressives have gotten there more slowly, prompted, over time, by the actions of hee-roes of the haters.
Worse, those dreaded "undecideds" or independents often overthink things. They have been sucked in by the "both sides" crowd. When the "both sides do it" and "both sides are to blame" rationales are in play, Democrats nearly always lose.
I have to hand it to them, but wingers do not falter when it comes to voting. They are knee jerk like you read about. This isn't a reflection of their perspicacity. It's a demonstration of their true-believer-no-matter-what status.
Democrats aren't nearly as relentless or inflexible. Which is why anger has become a necessary component. After Hillary lost, I heard a lot of stay-at-homers say that they were just giving up, disgusted with both sides. So they didn't vote. And we got Trump.
We don't need disgust (although it's there to burn with this rodent in the White House). We need anger. We need people to be pissed off that this pig is trying to destroy our democratic institutions, enrich and aggrandize himself, and go out of his way to attack any and all who refuse to recognize him as their king and demand a return to good government, reliance on facts, and democracy itself.
I didn't hear the Michelle Wolf comments, but I've skimmed plenty of rebuttals about how awful she was to poor Liarbee Sanders.
Bullshit. Sanders--and the whole Trump Clown Show--is awful to the entire country every day.
Get mad, stay mad. Vote.
Does anyone else think it's amusing (wryly) that the knuckledraggers at the Me, Me, Me Show in Michigan last week were chanting "Nobel, Nobel, Nobel"?
I guarantee you that the percentage of that crowd that can name more than a single winner of the Nobel Peace Prize is smaller than that of gun knobbers who will willingly recite the most important part of the Second Amendment.
The guy who threatened to nuke an entire country out of pique could get a Nobel Peace Prize? Okay, I can see where Hitler, Ayatollah Kohmeini, Henry Kissinger, (and Trump) have all gotten Time Person of the Year awards, but Nobels are different. Or should be.
But now, Trumpbots who are all about their hero who promised to "bomb the shit" out of Muslims and who cheer on his love of the NRA, are suddenly enamored of world peace?
Peace enters into Trump's calculations about as much as concern for the poor. He cares about Trump getting a big prize and being able to lord it over everyone he deems an enemy.
And I know we're getting way ahead of things here (he could still fuck it up like he fucks up so much else), but the groundswell has already started to hand a peace prize to a bully, a racist, and a coward. It would be a travesty were it to come to pass.
I'd have to pack up my own Nobel and mail it back to Stockholm if that were the case.
@Ak: to use Donald Trump and Nobel Peace Prize in the same sentence is appalling. Seriously, can anyone think the committee would give any serious thought/credence to this none possibility? The Nobel honor would lose all credibility.
This smacks of Roger Stone/Roy Cohn schemes to get the most outrageous statement(s) out there...and then 'some folks are gonna take it seriously."
See, we're even talking about it!
I'd be happier to see trumpvus' picture on a U.S.A. postage stamp
than on a Nobel medal. Seriously.
Where in the World is Javanka and John Kelly? (sung to "Carmen Sandiego theme)
The Javanka sightings, so prevalent at the start of the Trump Disaster (Javanka skiing, Javanka having fun, Javanka schmoozing with world leaders, Javanka striding purposefully into meetings to talk about shit they were completely ignorant of) have become as frequent as Steve Bannon's trips to AA.
Whatever will we do about peace in the Middle East if Young Jared is not on the case? And how can women in America exist without their goddess-like figure of Ivanka to show them how to be the best they can be while trying to get by on a measly $25 million a year, all the while making sure the slaves at her factories in China don't scamper off?
And what about General Poke You in the Eye Kelly? Has he become the White House bootblack? "Hey, Johnny, make 'em shine like an oiled up porn star, willya? I gotta go tweet about the failing New York Times..."
I mean, I don't wanna say that All Trump All the Time (with in-between ranting and insults from warm up act Liarbee Sanders) is boring, but I miss the haughtiness, the unearned superiority, the sense of douchebag entitlement on display whenever Javanka emerged to let the little people gaze on them in wonder and despair of never being as beautiful or rich.
Well, never mind, Washington isn't cool enough for such as Javanka. They'll hie themselves back to Manhattan, there to commiserate with their former friends about how they would have saved the world, if only...
And Johnny? He can find a quiet sinecure at some winger think tank and write a memoir about his days of corralling the Trump Monster.
Adios, blanket heads. We'll miss the lies, the hypocrisy, the pocket lining, the fraudulence, the grifting, the flop sweat. But there are incompetents galore to take your places. How 'bout that 'bagger dude with the sign "Get a brain, morans"? He'd be perfect as Trumpy chief of staff. Head Moran.
Forrest,
Great idea! Is there a plugged nickel stamp?
There is good news and joy this morning at the National Arboretum as the Bald Eagle couple, Mr. President and The First Lady, welcome into the world, the first of their two eggs, hatched at Noon. As usual, both parents are attentive and protective. The watch is now on for the hatching of the second egg, which was laid 3 days after the first egg. To help diffuse the anger and hatred currently in D.C., check out the webcam of the nest of the DC Eagles: https://www.dceaglecam.org
Ak: Let's stick with the postage stamp which is only issued
posthumously. Friday in Dallas, but no guns allowed. Were they
remembering JFK?
Re: Cohn, Cohen and the Pretender, thanks to Frank Rich and Bea's latest posting:
Money is fungible, which to these rats means that any of it can be used at any time to pay anyone for any purpose.
It's the first law of economics, stupid. What's the problem?
The amusement, if any can be found short of a Pretender tweet, is that the money Ma and Pa from Heartland, USA, contribute to make sure those brown people are turned away from our borders and all babies are carried to term is going directly to those who have nothing but contempt for their stupidity.
"Torture works, believe me! Matter 'a fact, we need to kill their whole families!"
-Donald Drumpf, Nobel Peace Prize candidate and disgusting human being.