;)
The Commentariat -- February 7, 2018
Afternoon Update:
Maggie Haberman & Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "Rob Porter, the White House staff secretary, said Wednesday that he would resign his position, a day after a news account that quoted his two ex-wives accusing him of physical abuse during the course of their marriages. 'These outrageous allegations are simply false,' Mr. Porter said in a statement. Mr. Porter's ex-wives, Colbie Holderness and Jennifer Willoughby, both went public in The Daily Mail with accounts of what they described as physically and emotionally abusive behavior."
Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "... scandal has threatened to dim one of the Democratic Party's brightest Southern stars[: Mayor Megan Barry of Nashville, Tenn]. And though many residents of Nashville, a bastion of social liberalism in a deeply conservative state, have been willing to dismiss with a kind of Gallic shrug her admission of a monthslong extramarital affair with the police officer leading her security detail, other aspects of the episode are mounting, leading some here to wonder how long she can hang on.... [Over & above trips the couple took together at taxpayer expense,] this week, The Tennessean also reported that Ms. Barry had recommended Mr. Forrest's adult daughter, Macy Amos, for an entry-level job that Ms. Amos later landed in the city law department."
Thomas Kaplan of the New York Times: "Senate leaders, disregarding President Trump's threats to shut down the government, neared a far-reaching agreement on Wednesday to set spending levels on military and domestic spending for the next two years, breaking the cycleof fiscal crises that have bedeviled the Capitol since last summer. The accord was expected to also include disaster relief for areas hit by last year's hurricanes and wildfires. Nevertheless, it sparked immediate opposition from the leader of House Democrats, Representative Nancy Pelosi, who said she could not agree to any budget deal that was not accompanied by a promised debate over legislation to protect the fate of young immigrants brought to the country illegally as children, known as Dreamers.... 'Without a commitment from Speaker Ryan comparable to the commitment from Leader McConnell, this package does not have my support.' She was referring to a promise by Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, to begin debate on immigration soon, a commitment not matched by Speaker Paul D. Ryan." ...
... NEW LEDE: "Senate leaders, disregarding President Trump's threats to shut down the government, struck a far-reaching agreement on Wednesday that would add hundreds of billions of dollars to military and domestic programs over the next two years, breaking the cycle of fiscal crises that have bedeviled the Capitol since last summer." ...
... The Whacko in the White House, Ctd. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "A week ago, President Trump stood before Congress as an improbable unifier. 'Tonight,' he declared, 'I call upon all of us to set aside our differences, to seek out common ground and to summon the unity we need to deliver for the people.' This week, Mr. Trump is back to being a disrupter. After accusing Democrats of being un-American and even treasonous for refusing to applaud during his State of the Union speech, he said on Tuesday that he would welcome a government shutdown if he cannot reach a spending deal with Congress that tightens immigration laws. A week ago, Mr. Trump called for a grnd compromise with Democrats on the legal status of the undocumented immigrants known as Dreamers -- a deal, he said, 'where nobody gets everything they want, but where our country gets the critical reforms it needs.'... On Tuesday, his chief of staff, John F. Kelly, said that many Dreamers failed to register for protected status with the government because they were 'were too afraid to sign up' or were 'too lazy to get off their asses.' He said he doubted Mr. Trump would extend the March 5 deadline that shields them from deportation."
Greg Sargent: "No, Trump has not been 'contained.'... Trump's ongoing assaults on law enforcement, and his active encouraging of outside allied efforts such as the Nunes memo, are currently doing untold damage.... Republicans have either gone along with, or actively participated in, efforts by Trump and his allies to prepare a large swath of the country to dismiss the legitimacy of any outcome [of the Mueller investigation] in which serious wrongdoing is discovered and accountability is meted out in kind.... The only way to mitigate this is for Democrats to take back the House and demonstrate to the country what functional oversight, undertaken in good faith, really looks like."
Frank Rich: "... the immediate goal in this anti-law enforcement jihad, led by the White House and abetted by congressional stooges like Devin Nunes and Paul Ryan, is to discredit the Mueller investigation before it nails Donald Trump. But to say this cultural shift is a sudden metamorphosis for the GOP, brought on by Trump's supposed hijacking of the party, is revisionist history. Trump pushed an open door. His assault on Justice and the FBI is merely heightening and exploiting the dangerous anti-government toxins that GOP leaders humored in the Republican base well before he arrived -- much as his administration's overt white supremacism and xenophobia is the apotheosis of a racist Republican strain dating back to Barry Goldwater's opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Richard Nixon's Southern Strategy.... The GOP retreated from tacit tolerance of the crazies in their ranks only after Timothy McVeigh's bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, leaving 168 dead. But only temporarily."
The Emperor Has No Hair. Jonathan Chait: "... it may seem cheap and low to mock Trump's absurd efforts to conceal his hair loss. But Trump is a man obsessed with image in ways that go beyond the normal human concern with looking presentable. Image is Trump's moral code. He dismisses his political rivals for being short. He sees his succession of wives as visual testament to his own status. He selects his Cabinet on the basis of their looking the part. He conscripts the military as a prop to bathe himself in an aura of presidential grandeur." ...
... Unlike Vladimir Putin, our president* is not immortal.
Preaching to the Choir. Brian Stelter of CNN: Devin "Nunes is telling people to stay tuned, promising more revelations to come -- but he's really only speaking to Trump's base. He has declined non-Fox interview requests and avoided opportunities to speak with the Capitol Hill press corps."
Jeanne Sahadi of CNN: "Trillion-dollar-plus deficits were the hallmark of the financial and economic crisis a decade ago. Now they'll be making a comeback -- this time during a very healthy economy -- and years sooner than expected."
*****
The Useless Idiot. Thomas Kaplan & Mark Landler of the New York Times: "President Trump on Tuesday called for shutting down the government if Congress does not crack down on illegal immigration, even as congressional leaders were closing in on a major budget deal to help ensure the government remains funded into 2019. 'I'd love to see a shut down if we can't get this stuff taken care of,' Mr. Trump said at a meeting with lawmakers and law-enforcement officials to discuss gang-related violence. 'If we have to shut it down because the Democrats don't want safety,' he added, 'then shut it down.' Mr. Trump's comments, though combative, had little to do with the delicate negotiations on Capitol Hill to keep the government open past Thursday, a fact that appeared to elude Mr. Trump. Congressional leaders from both parties were nearing a deal to raise statutory spending caps on military and nonmilitary spending for the current fiscal year and the next one. That agreement could ease the way to passing a temporary spending measure before the government is set to shut down on Friday. A deal on the spending caps would also clear a path for Congress, in the weeks ahead, to fund the government until the fall -- sparing the country of the fiscal showdowns that continuously bedevil the government." Emphasis added. ...
... Jacqueline Thomsen of the Hill: "Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) criticized President Trump to his face on Tuesday for saying he would 'love to see a shutdown' during a meeting with lawmakers and administration officials. 'We don't need a government shutdown on this,' Comstock said during the White House meeting with Trump, according to a pool report. But Trump interrupted her and doubled down on his willingness to have another shutdown over the immigration battle. 'You can say what you want; we are not getting support of the Democrats,' Trump said." ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: "But Trump interrupted her...." Well, of course he did. Comstock is a girl, & girls have no business disagreeing with real men. Not only that, she was suggesting compromise, which real men don't do. Plus which, Comstock is part of the committee trying to reform the way the House shoves sexual harassment complaints under the table. And worstest of all, she was one of three dozen high-profile Republicans who said they would no longer support candidate Trump after the WashPo released the "Access Hollywood" tape. ...
... Kelsey Snell & Tamara Keith of NPR: "The House passed a bill Tuesday evening to avert a government shutdown on Thursday, as Senate leaders still hope to clear the way for years of budget harmony this week with a long-term spending agreement. But as Congress worked on keeping things running, President Trump made a fresh call to shut down the government over immigration. Trump made the comments during a roundtable briefing at the White House on threats from the MS-13 criminal gang. He appeared to endorse shutting down the government if Democrats do not agree to increases in military spending and funding for a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico. 'I'd love to see a shutdown if we don't get this taken care of,' Trump said. 'We need to strengthen our borders, not by a little bit but by a lot.'" ...
... Erica Werner & Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly said Tuesday that President Trump is not expected to extend a March 5 deadline for when legal protection and work permits begin to expire for young immigrants known as 'dreamers' -- raising the stakes for lawmakers struggling to reach a solution.... Kelly's comments come as lawmakers are trying to craft a plan to grant permanent legal protections to dreamers and resolve other aspects of the immigration system. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that a debate on immigration policy will begin once a new short-term spending agreement is passed this week.... Any immigration legislation will require the support of at least 60 senators to clear procedural hurdles and earn final passage -- putting a premium on bipartisan ideas that can prevail in the closely divided chamber." Mrs. McC: A number of Kelly's remarks were, um, nasty & untruthful. No surprise. ...
... Like This. There are 690,000 official DACA registrants, and the president sent over what amounts to be two and a half times that number, to 1.8 million. The difference between [690,000] and 1.8 million were the people that some would say were too afraid to sign up, others would say were too lazy to get off their asses.... -- John Kelly, in remarks to reporters yesterday (emphasis added) ...
... Charles Pierce: "There's a lot of the old ethnic Boston in this guy. That is not a compliment." ...
... Noah Lanard of Mother Jones: "Immigration experts cite a number of reasons why some Dreamers didn't apply for DACA before the Trump administration closed the application process last year. These include fear of telling the government they were undocumented, better options for obtaining legal status, and failure to meet the Obama administration's requirements.... Kelly's claim incorrectly implies that more than 1 million eligible Dreamers have not applied for DACA. The Migration Policy Institute estimates that 1.3 million people are eligible for DACA. Capps says more than 900,000 have applied -- meaning that the application rate is about 68 percent. He adds that the 1.3 million estimate includes people who are not eligible for DACA because of criminal convictions, so the actual application rate among eligible Dreamers is likely higher.... Donald Trump has told DACA recipients who are now losing protections 'not to worry.' Kelly repeated on Tuesday that Dreamers 'are not a priority for deportation.' Despite those assurances, former DACA recipients have already been detained. Thomas Homan, the acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said last week that his agency will detain any person who is in the country illegally." ...
... Also, Too. Gideon Resnick of the Daily Beast: "The fee to apply for and renew DACA is almost $500, a steep cost for an individual who might be already attending university." ...
... The Bad Sport. Amy Sorkin of the New Yorker: "Before the Super Bowl this year, Trump tweeted out demands for standing during the anthem; the players did stand, for reasons of their own, leaving him with no one, immediately, to berate.... It took him until Tuesday morning to find his true, bitter post-Super Bowl voice. The subject was ... the deaths, in the early-morning hours on Sunday, of Edwin Jackson, a linebacker for the Indianapolis Colts, and Jeffrey Monroe, a driver for a ride-hailing app.... They were struck and killed by a driver whose alcohol level ... was about three times the legal limit.... On Monday, the Indiana State Police announced that [the drunk driver's] real name was Manuel Orrego-Savala, that he was a Guatemalan who had been deported from the United States twice, and that he appeared to be in the country illegally.The President responded, 'So disgraceful that a person illegally in our country killed @Colts linebacker Edwin Jackson. This is just one of many such preventable tragedies. We must get the Dems to get tough on the Border, and with illegal immigration, FAST!'" He went on to morph this into an argument against "chain migration." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: The odds are that numerous other innocent people were killed this past weekend by documented American alcohol-impaired drivers. According to a CDC report (updated June 2017), "Every day, 28 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. This is one death every 51 minutes." Statistically speaking, Trump should be expressing his hatred for all Americans. Yet Trump uses these two deaths to promote his racist, xenophobic political aims. ...
... Trump Has Great News for His White Supremacist Friends (Like Kelly)! Jeff Stein & Andrew Van Dam of the Washington Post: "President Trump's proposal to cut legal immigration rates would delay the date that white Americans become a minority of the population by as few as one or as many as five additional years, according to an analysis by The Washington Post. The plan, released by the White House last month, would scale back a program that allows people residing in the United States to sponsor family members living abroad for green cards, and would eliminate the 'diversity visa program' that benefits immigrants in countries with historically low levels of migration to the United States. Together, the changes would disproportionately affect immigrants from Latin America and Africa.... But by reducing the country's overall population, the plan could eventually reduce the overall growth rate of the U.S. economy. Under Trump's plan, the U.S. economy could be more than $1 trillion smaller than it would have been two decades from now. That's largely because the economy would have fewer workers."
Your Gossip Break. Gabriel Sherman of Vanity Fair: "After the much-hyped Nunes memo failed to deliver the narrative reset that the White House hoped for, Donald Trump is discussing a shake-up to his West Wing, three sources familiar with the president's thinking told me. These people say the president is increasingly frustrated that members of his administration aren't going to war for him, and he's being encouraged by his daughter Ivanka to bring in new blood.... Trump has recently told advisers he wants a 'killer' to steer the White House's response to Robert Mueller's investigation and craft a midterm election message for him to stump on this fall.... The president's top choice for the strategist position is Jason Miller, who served as communications director for Trump's presidential campaign.... Trump had wanted Miller to join the administration during the transition, but Miller withdrew after it was revealed he had an extramarital affair during the campaign with former Trump aide A.J. Delgado.... Trump has publicly clashed with Chief of Staff John Kelly after Kelly took a more active role in White House policymaking and messaging."
Generalissimo Trumpo. Greg Jaffe & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "President Trump's vision of soldiers marching and tanks rolling down the boulevards of Washington is moving closer to reality in the Pentagon and White House, where officials say they have begun to plan a grand military parade later this year showcasing the might of America's armed forces. Trump has long mused publicly and privately about wanting such a parade, but a Jan. 18 meeting between Trump and top generals in the Pentagon's tank -- a room reserved for top secret discussions -- marked a tipping point, according to two officials briefed on the planning. Surrounded by the military's highest ranking officials, including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joe Dunford, Trump's seemingly abstract desire for a parade was suddenly heard as a presidential directive, the officials said. 'The marching orders were: I want a parade like the one in France,' said a military official.... 'This is being worked at the highest levels of the military.'" ...
... Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: All that pomp & circumstance should show Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) that Trumpo is no "Cadet Bone Spurs." Even Bob Mueller (who, incidentally, is an actual, much-decorated military hero) will know who's boss & drop this witch hunt thing. This is so-o-o-o-o ridiculous. ...
... Jaffe & Rucker claim last year's Bastille Day Parade was Trump's inspiration, but maybe not ...
... digby: "Remember this has nothing to do with his trip to France. He wanted it for the inauguration. ...
... Steve M. doesn't think the TrumParade is a big deal: "... he'll just spend hundreds of millions of dollars to ship weaponry to the streets of D.C. because he's an overgrown eleven-year-old boy still mentally living in the 1950s, and also because he's a crushingly insecure plutocrat who needs a steady succession of gaudy displays in order to feel that he's adequately demonstrating his own greatness to the world. This parade won't be part of a grand plan to crush democracy in America.... This will just be a pointless moment of excess, with Trump using weapons the way, in his hotels, he uses gilt." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Say, maybe the whole parade thing is a plot by "his generals" to keep Trump busy with something less alarming than fiddling with the buttons on the nuclear football. As Elliot Hannon of Slate points out, "Under normal circumstances, this doesn't seem like something that would rise to the level of the president, but Trump needs projects to keep him occupied." He could spend hours & hours picking out all the participants & tanks & bands & all. Like "House of Cards"' Frank Underwood with his toy soldiers. But BIGGER!
John McWhorter, in a New York Times op-ed, claims that the decline in quality of Trump's speech is not a sign of dementia but of settling into his comfort zone. He no longer feels a need to present himself in the trappings of "quietly composed phrasing," as he did as a young man. Or something like that. "Since he is someone who neither reads nor reflects, his linguistic comfort zone has always been the unadorned." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: So I suppose Trump's current "comfort zone" makes it okay for him to accuse half the Congress, and frankly, half the country, of treason. Very presidential. Oh wait. Apparently I have no sense of humor:
... Dan Merica & Jim Acosta of CNN: Sarah Sanders said "Donald Trump was 'clearly joking' Monday when he accused stone-faced Democrats of treason for not standing and applauding during his State of the Union address, according to multiple White House spokespeople. 'He was making the point that even when good things are happening they are still sitting there angry,' she said." Hilarious.
This Russia Thing
... Tal Kopan of CNN: "Chief of staff John Kelly said the White House is reviewing a Democratic memo on the investigation into a Trump campaign associate and he has ordered authorities to give their recommendations on how to handle it by Thursday, after which the President will make his final decision on whether to release the memo and whether to redact it. Kelly said the memo came in late Monday night and on Tuesday, he and White House counsel Donald McGahn met with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein for a 'great conversation.' He said the White House was not leaning any way on the memo.... 'But at the end of it all, it'll be guys like Rod Rosenstein, Chris Wray from FBI, certainly the national security attorneys at the White House giving the President a recommendation on that,' [Kelly said.]" ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Wow, that's funny -- because Trump ignored the recommendation by Rosenstein & Wray when it came to the Nunes memo. Rather, he released the memo, without redactions, over their objections. Whaddaya bet Rosenstein & Wray take the same position on the Democrats' memo, especially because it's probably accurate. ...
... Matt Ford of the New Republic: Whatever Trump decides, the Democrats have trapped him. Mrs. McC: Unless, of course, Trump releases the unredacted Democratic memo & it "totally vindicates 'Trump,'" as did, according to "Trump," the Nunes memo.
**Tom Hamburger & Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post have quite a compelling report on Christopher Steele & how he sounded the alarm to U.S. intelligence officials (& to Sen. John McCain) about Donald Trump's dangerous interactions with the Kremlin & Russian financial interests. Here's how the report ends: "... in September..., Steele spent two days behind closed doors, talking to Mueller's investigators." ...
... The Collaborators. Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "Two leading Senate Republicans released a document late Tuesday that they said bolstered Republican allegations that the Justice Department relied heavily on a politically tainted dossier in seeking permission from a secret federal court to eavesdrop on a former Trump campaign aide. The document, a letter sent last month to the F.B.I. and Justice Department by Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, quoted from Justice Department requests to the court to spy in late 2016 and last year on the former aide, Carter Page.... The letter said the Justice Department's initial application to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to spy on Mr. Page, filed in October 2016 after he had left the Trump campaign, 'appears to contain no additional information corroborating the dossier allegations' posed by Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence agent who had been working with a research firm paid by the Democrats." ...
... Here's Chuck & Lindsey's excellent memo (redacted pdf), which criminally refers Christopher Steele to the DOJ. It's practically 8 pages long (AND has small-font footnotes!), so you'll probably need the rest of the day to read it. Maybe Chuck & Lindsey can brief you with pictures of Christopher Steele in a trenchcoat, Michael Isikoff carrying a pencil & notepad & wearing a porkpie hat with a "PRESS" card tucked into the ribbon, & mean Hillary in a pantsuit. Or a sock puppet presentation could help. (Have Trump's briefers thought of sock puppets?) The memo alleges Steele lied to the FBI about talking to the press but later, in a British court case, admitted having done so. As Hamburger & Helderman report, Steele went into hiding after the dossier became public. No wonder. He had Chuck & Lindsey, among many others, on his case. ...
... In a podcast, Mike Isikoff discusses his September 2016 meeting with Steele & Glenn Simpson of Fusion GPS.
Sessions Kisses up. Maegan Vazquez of CNN: "Attorney General Jeff Sessions says he believes the FBI needs a 'fresh start' following FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe's decision to step down.'Well, I have believed it was important to have a fresh start at the FBI, and actually, it was in my letter to the President when I recommended (former FBI Director James) Comey's removal. I used the words, "fresh start," and the FBI director is Chris Wray, a very talented, smart, capable leader," Sessions told the Washington Examiner on the day McCabe left the bureau. The interview was published on Tuesday. Sessions also said there has been an 'erosion' of public trust in the DOJ, telling the Examiner that the department needs to earn that back 'because the heart and soul of the Department of Justice is very good.'"
Alex Jackson of NBC News: "Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday that Russia is already trying to influence the U.S. midterm election, warning that it will be difficult for the United States to 'preempt' it. In an interview with Fox News from Bogotá, Colombia..., Tillerson said Russia was gearing up to meddle with the 2018 U.S. elections following the playbook it used in 2016. 'I don't know that I would say we are better prepared, because the Russians will adapt, as well. The point is, if it's their intention to interfere, they are going to find ways to do that. We can take steps, but this is something that, once they decide they are going to do it, it's very difficult to preempt it.'... Tillerson's comments echoed an alarm sounded last month by CIA Director Mike Pompeo, who told the BBC, 'I have every expectation that they will continue to try and do that.'"
Don't Stay Sick or Get a Crummy Job, People. Or Else. Tony Pugh of McClatchy News: "After allowing states to impose work requirements for Medicaid enrollees, the Trump administration is now pondering lifetime limits on adults' access to coverage. Capping health care benefits -- like federal welfare benefits -- would be a first for Medicaid, the joint state-and-federal health plan for low-income and disabled Americans. If approved, the dramatic policy change would recast government-subsidized health coverage as temporary assistance by placing a limit on the number of months adults have access to Medicaid benefits.... At least five states -- Arizona, Kansas, Utah, Maine and Wisconsin -- are seeking waivers from the Trump administration to impose lifetime Medicaid coverage limits.... However, advocates say capping Medicaid benefits would amount to a massive breach of the nation's social safety net designed to protect children, the elderly and the impoverished.... Low-wage workers who may not get health coverage through their jobs could also reach their Medicaid coverage limit 'as if it's their fault that their job isn't offering insurance,' said Leonardo Cuello, director of health policy at the National Health Law Center.... Time-limiting health coverage runs the risk of pushing sick people into costly emergency rooms where they'll receive indigent care paid for by taxpayers."
Patricia Mazzei & Agustin Armendariz of the New York Times: "Four months after Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico, a picture is emerging of the contracts awarded in the earliest days of the crisis. And ... lawmakers [are raising] questions about FEMA's handling of the disaster and whether the agency was adequately prepared to respond.... Lawmakers fear the agency is not lining up potential contractors in advance of natural disasters, leading it to scramble to award multimillion-dollar agreements in the middle of a crisis.... FEMA insists no Puerto Ricans missed a meal as a result of the failed agreement with ... an Atlanta entrepreneur with no experience in large-scale disaster relief and at least five canceled government contracts in her past.... FEMA relied on other suppliers that provided 'ample' food and water for distribution, said William Booher, an agency spokesman. But there is little doubt that in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Maria, Puerto Ricans struggled with access to food." ...
... Charles Pierce: "If this reminds you of that tiny Montana company that got the really big contract to restore power in Puerto Rico, that's only because it should. Seventy years ago, 70 airmen lost their lives in the effort that saved Berlin [-- the Berlin Airlift]. Today, we have substituted profiteering and ineptitude for sacrifice and creativity. Running the country like a business, as it were."
Matt Phillips, et al., of the New York Times: "After days of sometimes wild moves in stock markets, investors on Wall Street refocused on the ongoing strength in the American economy as shares of consumer companies helped lead broad indexes higher. A sometimes-panicky global market sell-off -- begun Monday when the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index lost more than 4 percent, its worst decline since August 2011 -- dissipated through the day, and the S.&P. 500 ended Tuesday's session up by about 1.7 percent. The Dow Jones industrial average gained about 2.3 percent." ...
... Matthew Nussbaum of Politico: "... Donald Trump has yet to address the swings in the stock market since Monday's plunge, the largest single-day point drop in the Dow.... Before [the Friday-Monday] drop, Trump boasted about the stock market once every 35 hours [this year]." Emphasis added.
Christian Davenport of the Washington Post: "SpaceX successfully launched what is now the world's most powerful rocket Tuesday, a towering behemoth known as the Falcon Heavy that tore through the sky with the thundering force of 18 Boeing 747 jetliners. Lifting off at 3:45 p.m. from the same launchpad that sent the crew of Apollo 11 to the moon, the rocket sent up a mountain-sized plume of smoke and a rattling roar across Florida's Space Coast, where thousands gathered to watch. The mission represented the first test of the massive rocket, powered by 27 engines in three first-stage boosters that are essentially strapped together. The maiden flight also marked the first time a privately financed venture ever attempted to launch a rocket so powerful that it was capable of hoisting a payload out of Earth's orbit. As a promotional stunt, SpaceX founder Elon Musk loaded the Falcon Heavy with his own cherry-red Tesla Roadster carrying a spacesuit-clad mannequin named 'Starman' in the driver's seat. Musk said he planned to send the convertible, built by another one of his companies, into an orbit around the sun that would take it near Mars."
Maggie Astor & Julie Creswell of the New York Times: "The casino mogul Stephen Wynn resigned Tuesday as chairman and chief executive of his company, Wynn Resorts, in response to sexual misconduct allegations spanning decades. In statement, Mr. Wynn said he was stepping down because 'an avalanche of negative publicity' had created an environment 'in which a rush to judgment takes precedence over everything else, including the facts.'" Mrs. McC: Because all the women are liars.
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Reader Comments (30)
A parade like France? Or like Russia? Or North Korea?
On McWhorter: So the noticeable regression in the Pretender's speech patterns only means he's backslid to the language of his childhood where he's most comfortable? Somehow that doesn't reassure me.
Add to that the news that his handlers provided three quiet hours for him to read the four (at most) page Nunes memo. Now he's reported to have read the ten page Dem response, which I understand includes details and even has footnotes.
Did they give him 11 hours, in short stretches with breaks in between? Ten to read and one to dream about his parade?
Someone needs to ask Liarbee. Curious minds want to know.
The Times article on "comfortable" speech is totally bogus. His sentences don't have structure and don't make sense. The contortions the author goes through to "prove" a rational basis for Trump's language are ridiculous. And Trump's working vocabulary is very small. Remember, Trump went to "the best" schools and universities. One doesn't get far in university with a 5th grade vocabulary.
He's demented: get over it.
And how come a MOCA is a substitute for an MRI? (they both start with M?)
Why is anybody pretending that Trump is compos mentis any more?
Anyone who doesn’t cheer madly for him is a traitor who hates the country (ie, him). Same for anyone who doesn’t agree with him (hater, ergo, traitor). If he doesn’t get his way, shut down the country. People make fun of him, he’ll show them! Where’s my tanks? And all the guns? And all “my” generals, and “my” soldiers? We’re gonna have the biggest parade ever. And LOTS of tanks! I’ll show everyone. And brown people? I’ll show them too! I’M in charge, not them. Poor people? I HATE poor people. They smell. And they don’t play golf. Clearly inferior to rich people like me who worked hard for their money and deserve EVERY FUCKING PENNY! So fuck them if they think I’m going to pay for their Medicaid while they mooch off the money in MY treasury. That’s MY money. And those other brown people in Puerto Rico? They’re hungry? Too bad. That bitch of a mayor insulted me when I went out of my way, took time away from my golf game to VISIT THEM! And not a single one grovelled before my excellence. They probably have never had caviar like I serve at Mar a Lago. They can starve. And where the fuck are my plans for nuking that little creep in North Korea??? I want those plans and I want them NOW! Now dammit. And, and, and... now they want to blame me for the stock market?? Me, who went to Wharton? Who is very smart, and, and, and made it so big in the first place? BIG! When Sean Hannity PROVED it was Obama’s fault for the market crash? And, and, and...where’s my blankie? I need my blankie! And a Big Mac, and FOX!!!
I've been hearing whispers about Ivanka's desires to push out Kelly because he's too controlling of her racist Daddy. I had bought into the narrative that Kelly might in the end be a force for good to control the Pussy Grabber from his worst instincts, but now I've had enough of this POS.
What kind of supposedly "decorated General" actively disparages his fellow citizens and shoots off completely unnecessary racist diatribes while fully aware that the microphones are hot and the cameras are rolling? Since when did being a leader include being a transparent asshole who cusses like a sailor, smears political adversaries, and denigrates those aspiring to become Americans with false racist narratives.
He can parade around in his uniform all he wants but he doesn't deserve an ounce of respect since he's been installed in the White House. The military uniform can't hide that giant white hood on his head. He's as neo-Nazi as Stephen Miller, but with the US Army stamp as a cleansing filter.
I'm wondering if Trumpus Moronus Maximus told his generals that he wanted a 21-nuke salute.
Victoria, your right. That article danced around reality.
Lets not overdue the Trump military march. The reason is simple. An opportunity to feel very important.
I have an idea for Congress. Since the only reason that Trump wants the wall is to protect America, the wall bill should make sure that the wall is named. The Barack Obama wall!!
Or to sum up, the media gives Trump to much rationality for his actions. It is 100% Trump. Serious mental illness.
Every day. Every damn day. I can't decide: do we like our racists hidden under bland dog whistles, or do we prefer outright racist stinkbombs, designed to appeal to the lowest of the low in this country? These people are sick puppies, not that it excuses them-- how did we come to this?? It's time to totally ignore the big baby "in charge," as his handlers are far scarier. Treason, huh? Well, he is intimately acquainted with that... And there is no reason to expect any more of the repugnants/deplorables in congress-- totally brainwashed morons. State legislators are the petri dishes-- ours refuse to accept Alito's refusing to get involved in the gerrymandering case-- they are just like Dear Leader: sue the Democratic state supreme court judges. So many idiots/clunkweasels in so many places...
There's the Mickey Mouse parade at Disneyland. That would be
the perfect venue for the POS* in his clown car, maybe with Ryan
strapped to the roof.
*president
@safari: Quite right! Your second paragraph's questions raise the ante and respect for this man goes by the wayside. Trump evidently has a thing for uniformed males––don't hear much about the females who serve in our military–-I'm waiting for him to disparage Duckworth although I imagine he's been warned and duck tape has been applied to that mouth of his whenever he's on the verge.
Great respect has always been this country's modus operandi for our military and for good reason but I sometimes think we forget that these people have clay feet as much as the next guy. I have always thought it dangerous to shroud anyone or any thing with a blanket of perfection.
As early as 1944, a writer named John McCarten wrote in "The American Mercury": "It may not be his fault but it is surely his misfortune that the worst elements on the political right including its most blatant lunatic fringe, are whooping it up for General MacArthur." And why was he such a darling of the far right ? Because he encouraged them to believe he shared their views that the New Deal signaled the end of Western civilization. Here was a man that would be a perfect fit for our great leader–-lots of pomp and circumstance along with bluster and bumptious self regard. A parade? You bet!
And as to that parade: The amount of money that this is going to cost will be excessive plus the streets will have to be repaired from all those tanks barreling on it. Does congress have to sign off on this? Can the president just give the red light on stuff like this and money for it be damned? Trump's "don't rain on my parade" has been his theme song ever since he set foot in a position he is unsuited for.
and I wonder––-will he want a marching band with twirlers?
Good News!
Democrats flipped a Missouri state House seat Tuesday, marking the 35th seat that has changed from red to blue since Donald Trump became president.
Mike Revis, 27, defeated his Republican opponent in a special election Tuesday by 3 percentage points.
That's a really neat uniform Bea gave to DiJiT.
To go along with that dictatorial look, here is a real presidential memo (real as in "not the Onion, not a joke") establishing what amounts to a version of the National Countertrerrorism Center (NCTC), but with expanded scope. It won't just look for "terrorists", but for anyone who presents a "threat."
This is the kind of thing the East German Stasi used to do -- compile files on people who might be a "threat."
It will be V-e-r-r-y Inte-r-r-res-s-sting to see how this effort deals with our citizens who obtain a variety of assault weapons and who like to play sojer in the woods and sew militia patches on their cammies.
You'll be reading a LOT about this in der lugenpresse.
Patrick; Not to worry because it states right in that memo "to be
conducted in a manner that is consistent with the Constitution".
Now, who would ignore the Constitution. Don't answer that.
Forrest: Ja, Ich verstehe.
A couple days ago I mentioned Hoover and his resemblance to Trump. Today Jeet Heer writes that the menace of Trump is not McCarthyism, but Hooverism. Heer says that Trump will become truly frightening if he moves beyond name-calling and starts abusing the powers of the state. I would like to tell Mr. Heer that many of us think Trump is already "truly frightening" because we have observed factually that he has already put actions in motion in significant ways that definitely show he is abusing this nation's worth and safety. Nevertheless Heer makes his point that Hooverism is the right comparison and gives us a reminder of the difference between McCarthyism and the FBI wheeler and dealer who had the "dish" on everyone who mattered and needed to be the biggest and the baddest because of his own deep sense of insecurity.
https://newrepublic.com/article/146973/menace-trump-not-mccarthyism-hooverism
@Patrick, despite having signed it, there's no way the dear leader read it beforehand much less understand what it means. Too many words and no pictures.
Question:
If the government shut down in the middle of the Pretender's military parade, would the parade halt and stay where it is until the government resumed its function?
More seriously, hope the Dems are already scrambling to put a price tag on this gargantuan serving of Pretender egoboo (short for ego boost in old sf fanzines). Cost estimates should include the event itself, the road repair it will entail, and the cost of interference with ordinary D.C. business functions, all added to all his weekend travel expenses to his golfing wombs, and loudly and repeatedly publicized far and wide.
The message: Caring for a baby in the White House is very expensive-- in so many ways.
NYT: Breaking News
Senate Close to Deal on 2-Year Spending Bill, Ignoring Trump
The key word here is 'ignoring'. Can't wait to see the response.
Ken,
Didn't you hear? Mexico will pay for the parade.
Also, wondering how this "French-style" military parade plays with all the winger Francophobes.
You remember, the ones who roundly hated the French (and still do) for not going along with the Decider's made up War of Choice, assholes like Jonah Goldberg who wrote a piece on reasons to hate the French, and Confederate congresscriminal Bob Ney, who demanded that the congressional dining room change the name of French Fries to "Freedom Fries". A few short years later, ol' Bob was wishing he had some'a that there freedom after being flung into a federal pen for a looooong list of charges connected to other crooks like Jack Abramoff and Tom Delay.
It seems winger "patriotic" self-righteousness is often joined at the hip to criminality. Just look at Trumpy.
By the way, in retrospect, it appears the French were right.
Guess we'll have us a French-style military shindig after all!
We can call it the Ass-tille Day Parade.
The Jeet Heer essay on the threat of DiJiT Hooverism (thanks PD) says DiJiT is trying to put DOJ and FBI under his thumb, after which he can pursue Jedgar-like control.
He doesn't have to succeed. He has DHS under his thumb, and its law-enforcement agencies are much less professional and disciplined than the FBI. They have badges, guns, and domestic surveillance powers much like the FBI and DEA. They seem much more amenable to Trumpism. Watch for DHS badge-flashers to start to act more and more like "national police."
Trump Style Health Care
Got the flu? Get Jesus. Yup. If you don't have it yet, there's still time to convert to real-deal evan-gel-i-cal Chriz-janidee.
"Texas minister Gloria Copeland, who sat on the Trump campaign’s evangelical executive advisory board, denied the country is in the midst of a severe flu outbreak in a Facebook video that went viral because, 'Jesus himself is our flu shot. He redeemed us from the curse of the flu.'"
So, got that? To hell (whoops...sorry 'bout that)--to heck with sciencey stuff and doctors and lib'rul experts. They're all goin' to...um...heck.
Be like a real Trumpy and get your shot of Jesus. There's no such thing as a flu season. Jesus tol' me so.
But there is an open season for declaring lib'ruls traitors. That season is EVERY season!
Have a blessed day, y'all!
I hope they do an accurate head count on this parade. And no, you can't include the military participants.
Pretty good chance the repaving contract will go to a republican supporter. And no, you can't call it rebuilding our "failing roads and bridges".
Drumpf wants the parade to deflect from his erectile malfunctions, but more importantly to cater to his one true love in life: ill-gotten cash. He'll strong arm every agency to funnel all goose-stepping activities to his Emoluments Hotel, and all the invited dictators will be given special metal spoons to slurp their caviar down with as a sign of his appreciation.
Dan,
There's a two-man company out in Montana that already has a lock on that contract.
Should be a humdinger of a job though, all those gigantic missile transports and row after row of 28 ton Bradley Fighting Vehicles should chew those DC roads up faster than you can say "I went to the Wharton School. WHARTON!" I'm guessing the Glorious Leader will want at least a dozen nuclear tipped missiles (he'll probably be okay if they don't bring their silos with them), and they should do some damage too.
So let's see....that'll be $100 million for the contract, $10 million for supplies, $10 million for labor, and the rest will be profit. Who sez Confederates are inept?
Wonder who Fox will bring in to do play by play and color for the Big Parade? Too bad Tom Clancy has gone to that big TOC in the sky. I'm sure Fox'll find one of their "experts" who will turn out later to have faked his qualifications. The usual. A fake announcer for a fake parade for a fake president. The Republican Way.
@safari: Conveniently, the Trump Emoluments Hotel is right on Pa. Ave. All the other dictators can just step right out of their hotel & onto the grandstands to admire U.S. might.
Thanx! Bea McCrab for posting the best bad hair day evah!
Frank Rich (linked above) offers a suggestion as to one reason for Generalisimo El Trumpo's upcoming display of proxied penile prowess, aka Trump's French-Style Military Parade Honoring El Generalisimo hisself:
"His aim here, I’d suggest, is not just to impress North Korea and other American adversaries but to draw the military closer to him for when the crunch comes. He is hoping that the generals he constantly flatters (and appoints to White House posts) will be 'loyal' to him when federal law enforcement, including the judiciary, or a potential post–Election Day Democratic majority in Congress, try to hold him accountable."
This very realistic opinion immediately reminded me of what's going on now in the Maldives. Americans being the tunnel vision types, we often get news of the outside world only tangentially or accidentally, especially given the ongoing monkey show in the White House, but it's bedlam in the Maldives.
President Yameen, a right-wing dictator and Trump-like figure, has been battling it out with the Supreme Court which had disfigured a number of his recent edicts. Yasmeen had the offending judges arrested and forced the remaining ones to retract all rulings against him. The linchpin in all of this is who controls the military. So far it's Yasmeen whose very own generals "...stormed the supreme court building and took several judges into custody, including the chief justice."
A year ago I would never have considered straining credulity so garishly by suggesting that the United States of America could end up like a postage stamp dictatorship in the Indian Ocean, where they invite tourists from the west to spend (and spend and spend) romantic getaways in protected areas but publicly flog fornicators (don't go, Donald! Wait...on second thought...).
But that was a year ago. Today? I'd believe almost anything. Now we have an insecure maniac who calls people who don't applaud him traitors, who's looking for an excuse to drop nuclear weapons on North Korea, who, with his goons in congress, is looking at all points to overturn the rule of law, who wins with Russian collusion and then refuses to punish them even after Congress orders it.
As a student (even an indifferent one) of authoritarian rulers, he has to know that control of the military is essential if the burgeoning dictator is to survive and flourish. If you lose their support and those you've been stepping on come for you, it's the Gaddafi, Hussein, Mussolini, Ceausescu necktie party with a bit of the old Second Amendment thrown in for fun.
And if there are many more generals like Flynn and Kelly, things could get dicey in one quick hurry.
Trump WILL get rid of Mueller. He's not smart or courageous enough to play it any other way. Of course he'll take the coward's way out and have someone else do it, but somehow, he will try to derail Mueller's investigation. Will this Supreme Court stand for it? It's entirely possible. If not, Trump may put out a call to "his" generals.
We may not end up like the Maldives, but I never, in a million years, to throw out that threadbare expression, would believe we could be where we are now either.
That bad hair video. Holy smokes! Looks like Darth Vader with his helmet off.
Eeeeeek.
Trump pull off a coup? Definition of coup: A brilliant, sudden, and
usually highly successful act.
Trump might pull off his wig, or Stormy Daniels unmentionables,
but a coup? That first word "brilliant" says it all.
@Ak haha, that's a great comparison of the giant bald egg.
I find the body language of Drumpf extremely interesting here in the video. It starts with his hair already showing signs of falling apart (not enough hairspray, damnit!), galloping up and down like it's ready to take off. Then, as he mounts the stairs, he starts moving probably the fastest I've ever seen him, (can we call it "running"?). And yet, the second the hair gel gives way and the strands peel off, waving in the wind like the flag he desecrates, he surprisingly slows down to a creep.
Let's be honest, he has to feel the grip of fur flapping wildly in the wind, and know he's fully exposed in the back. He wakes up every day building his nest just right for this exact reason. But I can't decide if the slow creep is trying to play it cool, like nothing's happening, maybe they won't notice? Or is it more like a self-hate strategy, where he recognizes his obvious flaws and is absolutely enraged that he's exposing his self-perceived weakness, loathing up the last steps in utter fright and dismay? His eyes look bewildered as he turns and waves goodbye, probably a desperate face-saving measure as he crawled into Air Force One to stew and direct his anger on the world that gave him baldness.
And BTW, he deserves all the mockery in the world for being such a nasty human being.
Cadet Bone Spurs, aka Baldy, asks for this derision.
I offer a mea culpa. After the shock election result I was quick to say that Pelosi should step down as Minority Leader in the House, to make way for someone more charismatic, more forceful, who could energise and lead the party. I could not have been more wrong. Nancy Smash demonstrates just why we need politicians in politics. She can read, she can speak for eight hours without water, without executive time, she runs rings around those "sedants" in golf carts, and does it in damned heels.