The Conversation -- January 30, 2025
⭐David Sanger of the New York Times: "... [Donald] Trump blamed diversity requirements at the Federal Aviation Administration and his two Democratic predecessors for the midair collision over the Potomac River on Wednesday night, saying that standards for air traffic controllers had been too lax. Mr. Trump cited no evidence, and even admitted when pressed that the investigation had only just begun. Moments later, he blamed the pilots of the Army helicopter that appeared to fly into a passenger jet that was on final approach to Reagan National Airport, across the river from the capital. Mr. Trump went back and forth between blaming diversity goals that he said were created by President Barack Obama and President Joseph R. Biden Jr., and then saying that an investigation was necessary.
"His instant focus on diversity reflected his instinct to immediately frame major events through his political or ideological lens, whether the facts fit or not.... When asked how he could say that diversity hiring was to blame for the crash even though basic facts about the midair collision were still being sought by investigators, he said, 'Because I have common sense.' 'For some jobs, we need the highest level of genius,' he said.... Mr. Trump named a new acting head of the Federal Aviation Administration during the news conference; none had been appointed by him until Thursday. The appointee did not speak at the news conference, nor did the head of the National Transportation Safety Board, who was also in the room." ~~~
~~~ Marie: What's the matter with this guy? We could start with "stupid bigoted buffoon," but I think we might get to "evil" and "absence of empathy" pretty quickly. See linked citation below. I find it appalling that the POTUS* immediately blames women and/or minorities and Democrats for a tragic event that occurred near his own back yard.
GOP Congressional Weenies Cede All Power to Trump. Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Congress passed a law shutting down TikTok, and ... [Donald] Trump flouted it. Congress required advance notification for removing inspectors general, and the Trump administration fired them on the spot. Congress approved trillions of dollars in spending, and Mr. Trump ordered it frozen unless the federal programs receiving it passed his ideological litmus tests.... He has sent up a crop of cabinet nominees who would have never passed muster on Capitol Hill in the past.... The new administration is quickly demonstrating that it does not intend to be bound by legal niceties or traditional checks and balances in its relationship with Congress. That has alarmed Democrats but drawn shrugs and approval from Republicans, who say that Mr. Trump is delivering what he promised even if it comes at the expense of Congress's authority and constitutional status as a coequal branch of government."
The New York Times' live updates of Kash Patel's confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee are here. ~~~
The New York Times' live updates of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s confirmation hearing before the Senate health committee are here.
The New York Times' live updates of Tulsi Gabbard's confirmation hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee are here.
You may have to make many "either/or" decisions over the next few years, even where "and" is the most accurate answer. RAS points to one.
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Marie: If you didn't see yesterday's Conversation after, say, 6:00 pm ET yesterday, I posted a number of links beginning at about 4:30 pm ET, when I returned to my onsite workplace with my arsenal of computers in better working order. So you may want to take a gander. Anyhow, plenty of news over two days to make you sick.
Dana Goldstein of the New York Times: "With a series of executive orders..., [Donald] Trump has demonstrated that he has the appetite for an audacious fight to remake public education in the image of his 'anti-woke,' populist political movement. But in a country unique among nations for its hyperlocal control of schools, the effort is likely to run into legal, logistical and funding trouble as it tests the limits of federal power over K-12 education. On Wednesday evening, Mr. Trump signed two executive orders. One was a 2,400-word behemoth focused mainly on race, gender and American history. It seeks to prevent schools from recognizing transgender identities or teaching about concepts such as structural racism, 'white privilege' and 'unconscious bias,' by threatening their federal funding. The order also promotes 'patriotic' education that depicts the American founding as 'unifying, inspiring and ennobling' while explaining how the United States 'has admirably grown closer to its noble principles throughout its history.' The second order directs a swath of federal agencies to look for ways to expand access to private school vouchers." ~~~
~~~ Marie: This is one of many reports or analyses we have seen & will see in which the writers describe Trump as "testing the limits" of something or other. Trump, IMO, is not so much "testing the limits" as he is flouting the Constitution and/or the law in most cases. And yes indeed, he'll get his little friends on the Supreme Court to reread the Constitution in bizarre ways that serve Trump's interests. ~~~
~~~ The Unitary Executive Theory of Donald J. Trump. Charlie Savage of the New York Times: Donald "Trump abruptly fired dozens of officials in the past few days -- including inspectors general, a member of the National Labor Relations Board and career prosecutors -- in ways that apparently violated federal laws, setting up the possibility of lawsuits.... There is a risk that judges may determine that some of the dismissals were illegal, but any rulings in the president's favor would establish precedents that would expand presidential power to control the federal government. Some legal experts say the purges underway appear to be custom-made opportunities for the Supreme Court's Republican-appointed majority to strike down the statutes any legal challenges would be based on, furthering its trend in recent years of expanding presidential authority." This is a conspiracy of criminals set upon stealing your Constitutional rights while dismissing the president*'s Constitutional limitations.
Andrea Shalal of Reuters: "... Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday to combat antisemitism and pledged to deport non-citizen college students and others who took part in pro-Palestinian protests. A fact sheet on the order promises 'immediate action' by the Justice Department to prosecute 'terroristic threats, arson, vandalism and violence against American Jews' and marshal all federal resources to combat what it called 'the explosion of antisemitism on our campuses and streets' since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas. 'To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you,' Trump said in the fact sheet. 'I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before,' the president said, echoing a 2024 campaign promise." Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~
~~~ Marie: This order does not "combat antisemitism" as the reporter and Trump say. (For one thing, Palestinians are Semites.) Rather, what it combats is the First Amendment, which guarantees free speech to every legal resident of the U.S., whether or not they're citizens. If non-residents violated other laws -- say, vandalized a college building -- then, yes, they could be legally deported, but not for peacefully protesting what respected world organizations have labelled genocide, or even for expressing sympathy for Hamas, reasonably labelled a terrorist organization. BTW, I don't know what things were like at UPenn when Trump and I were in college, but I promise you that U.S. college campuses back then were "infested with radicalism" (not the way I would put it) to an obviously greater extent than they are today. It's one thing not to know who Frederick Douglass was; Trump doesn't even know anything about the history he experienced.
I told you once that I was searching for the nature of evil. I think I've come close to defining it: a lack of empathy. It's the one characteristic that connects all the defendants. A genuine incapacity to feel with their fellow man. Evil, I think, is the absence of empathy. ― Gustave M. Gilbert, American psychologist who studied high-ranking Nazis during the Nuremberg trials ~~~
~~~ Marie: Thanks to RAS for the link. I didn't immediately find a reliable source for the citation, but let's assume it's accurate. This takes me back to 2009, when President Obama nominated Judge Sotomayor for a seat on the Supreme Court. In so doing, he said, "I view that quality of empathy, of understanding and identifying with people's hopes and struggles as an essential ingredient for arriving at just decisions...." Republicans went nuts. "During their opening statements at the [Senate] confirmation hearings, each [Republican senator on the Judiciary Committee] invoked Sotomayor's supposed penchant for empathy with a sense of alarm normally reserved for estate taxes," John Rollert wrote in the Christian Science Monitor. Robert Alt of the Heritage Foundation (today of Project 2025 infamy) was horrified. I think you see what I'm getting at here.
Paul Waldman in a Substack essay: "For all the articles I and others wrote about Project 2025 and the greater degree of preparation and planning they were engaged in, there was one thing we underestimated: The sheer aggression they would bring to this new Trump term. 'We're going to do things that people will be shocked at,' Trump said on his first day in office, and he wasn't kidding.... Here's how the strategy is designed to work: 1. Make a blatantly illegal policy change. 2. While the opposition gets together its legal challenge, implement the policy change. 3. Use every available tactic to delay the legal process. While that process grinds along, continue deploying the policy change. And who knows, maybe the Supreme Court will back you up in the end." Thanks to Ken W. for the link.
Jonathan Swan & Zolan Kanno-Youngs of the New York Times: "The explosive Trump administration order that froze trillions of dollars of federal grants and loans this week was published without vetting by key officials in the White House, according to three people with knowledge of what happened. The order was drafted inside the Office of Management and Budget by the agency's general counsel, Mark Paoletta, two of the people said. And it was released without being shown to the White House staff secretary, Will Scharf, or to Mr. Trump's top policy adviser, Stephen Miller.... The White House rescinded the directive on Wednesday after legal challenges and widespread condemnation and confusion, including the interruption of the Medicaid system, which provides health care to millions of low-income Americans.... [Mr.] Trump was angered by the media coverage of the order and its aftershocks.... During a bill signing at the White House on Wednesday, Mr. Trump cast blame on the media for the confusion.: ~~~
~~~ Jeremy Herb, et al., of CNN on "Inside 45 hours of chaos: The brief life and quick death of Trump's federal spending freeze." ~~~
~~~ How Is the New Trump Like the Old Trump? Well, He's Still a Screw-up. Isaac Arnsdorf, et al., of the Washington Post: The "chaotic story that unfolded eight years ago with Trump's ban on travel from Muslim-majority countries repeated itself in his second term with anabruptclampdown on federal spending this week that spiraled into a quasi-government shutdown. By the time the White House rescinded the freeze on Wednesday, the scare had briefly disrupted Medicaid payments, senior meals, special education and housing stipends. It also punctured the sense of accomplishment among Trump officials eager to take the levers of power in a more orderly and effective manner than last time.... Trump blamed the [reversal??] on media coverage. But Republican lawmakers said a surge of constituent concerns created pressure for the reversal. And Democrats -- who spent their first week locked out of power struggling to keep up with the onslaught of executive actions and upheavals -- declared victory for dealing the new president his first setback."
~~~ Oh, and He's Still an Embarrassment. This is less than half of Rachel Maddow's opening segment last night, which ran almost 30 minutes without interruption. ~~~
Trump Just Made $25MM on the Insurrection. Mike Isaac & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Meta said on Wednesday that it had agreed to pay ... [Donald] Trump $25 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit he filed over the suspension of his Facebook and Instagram accounts after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.... In a call with investors on Wednesday for Meta's quarterly financial results, [Meta CEO Mark] Zuckerberg praised the Trump administration for supporting American tech companies and 'defending our values.' He added, 'This is going to be a big year for redefining our relationships with governments.'"
Donnie's Boy. Dan Lamothe, et al., of the Washington Post: "Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has decided to remove retired Gen. Mark A. Milley's security detail, suspend his security clearance, and order an inspector general inquiry into his behavior as the Pentagon's top officer, senior defense officials said Tuesday, taking extraordinary action against a frequent target of ... Donald Trump.... Hegseth's plan ... is part of the new defense secretary's effort to reestablish 'warfighter culture' in the Pentagon, one senior defense official said.... The official portrayed Milley as a political operator while in the chairman role and said there is a desire to 'take a star' from him, meaning administration officials want to see Milley demoted in retirement."
Elon Takes Control. Emily Davies, et al., of the Washington Post: "Billionaire Elon Musk's influence over a traditionally nonpartisan agency that oversees the federal workforce culminated in the government's stunning proposal Tuesday offering employees an inducement to resign, according to four people familiar with the situation.... The proposal, emailed late in the day to many of the nation's 2.3 million federal workers, blindsided some advisers to ... Donald Trump, including officials in the budget office.... Musk has moved quickly to exert control over the Office of Personnel Management, the small independent agency that acts as a kind of human resources department for the federal government.... several of [Musk's] longtime surrogates ... have been installed in senior leadership roles at its offices in downtown Washington, the people said.... In addition to the personnel office, Musk allies are now running the U.S. Digital Service, a White House office that a Trump executive order renamed the U.S. DOGE Service.... Meanwhile, at least one of Musk's private business associates has joined the General Services Administration, which oversees federal buildings." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Musk isn't even letting Trump sign the orders, although it's obvious that dramatically signing executives orders is one of the few day-job duties that Trump enjoys. How long ya gonna let Elon grab the Sharpie right out of your hand, Donnie boy? BTW, Judd Legum must be right (see yesterday's Conversation); the WashPo has considerably softened it's description of the offer to employees; Davies, et al., never refer to it as a "buyout." ~~~
~~~ Wait, Wait! Update. Here's what Krugman writes: "It's a Scam! It's a Purge! It's a Scam *and* a Purge[.]... On paper, it isn't exactly a buyout; those who accept the offer will be placed on administrative leave but supposedly continue to be paid until September. But being told that you can stop working while receiving eight months' salary is just a buyout by another name. There are five things you should know about this plan: 1. It's illegal[.] 2. It's almost surely a scam: workers who take the offer probably won't see the money they've been promised[.] 3. To the extent that workers actually take up the offer, they'll be the workers we can least afford to lose[.] 4. The move will cost, not save money[.] 5. What this really amounts to is a purge, replacing professional civil servants with political loyalists." Definitely read on.
Chris Cameron of the New York Times: "Three of ... [Donald] Trump's most contentious picks to lead government agencies will appear in Senate confirmation hearings on Thursday, with the fate of their nominations hanging on the votes of a handful of Republican senators. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ... will face his second hearing before a Senate vote, after a grilling on Wednesday on his views on vaccines and abortion. Kash Patel, Mr. Trump's F.B.I. pick, has promised to reshape the bureau by firing its top officials and has published a list of Trump enemies. And Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic congresswoman who left her party and embraced Mr. Trump, has been nominated to oversee the nation's intelligence agencies." ~~~
~~~ Marie: These aren't "contentious picks" so much as they are patently unqualified picks. Bobby Jr., in his hearing yesterday, denied nearly everything he has ever said, and he claimed Medicaid recipients were complaining bitterly about the high cost of Medicaid insurance premiums, a weird assertion inasmuch as there are no premiums for Medicaid. Kash Patel is a conspiracy theorist & the nation's top résumé-inflator. Tulsi Gabbard is a Russophile with a fondness for Middle East dictators, too.
You Gotta Show Pluck, Chuck. Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "A group of six Democratic governors pressed Senator Chuck Schumer of New York during a tense call on Wednesday night to be more aggressive in fighting back against ... [Donald] Trump's nominees and agenda, all but begging the minority leader to persuade Senate Democrats to block whatever they could. The call ... revealed the growing tensions among Democrats about how forcefully they should oppose Mr. Trump. Mr. Schumer convened the call to discuss a collective response to the Trump administration's attempt to freeze trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans, which was pulled back on Wednesday."
Freddy Brewster, et al., of the Lever: "Months before Wednesday night's fatal midair collision of an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army helicopter in Washington, lawmakers brushed off safety warnings amid midflight near-misses and passed an industry-backed measure designed to add additional flight traffic at the same D.C. airport where the Jan. 29 disaster unfolded. Soon after a March 2023 near collision at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, House lawmakers considered a provision to increase the number of flights allowed at the facility. It is one of only two airports in the country owned by the federal government, giving Congress unique authority over its operations. The legislation was supported by lawmakers seeking more direct flights to their home states and airlines eager for expanded routes. It was opposed by lawmakers who asserted that the airport was already overstressed by flight volume in the capital region's busy airspace." ~~~
~~~ Marie: I know of only one of the journalists on the byline; that's David Sirota. He's something of a left-wing alarmist, but he has a high profile and plenty of creds. I don't know of a reason to doubt the facts & assertions in the linked article. I invite anyone wishing to correct me to do so. I certainly don't want to mislead anyone with unsubstantiated stories, but I also don't want to be so cautious that I pass up credible reporting because of my own lack of knowledge.
~~~~~~~~~~
Florida. Jacob Ogles of Florida Politics: "The Florida Senate passed an immigration crackdown developed in consultation with ... Donald Trump.... It now heads to the House, but from there heads to Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has called the bill 'weak.'... The legislation would put in statute a number of stiffer penalties for crimes if committed by undocumented immigrants. That includes mandatory death sentences for any undocumented immigrant convicted of a capital offense, such as murder or rape, as well as reclassification of criminal penalties when a deported individual returns to Florida and commits a crime." DeSantis may veto the bill, MB: because, you know, he's tougher than Trump. Thanks to Bobby L. for the link.
New York. A Catch with a Catch. Sarah Nir of the New York Times: "When an upstate New York salmon farm went out of business, nonprofits had days to find a way to catch, refrigerate and clean more than 13,000 fish."
Oklahoma. Nuria Martinez-Keel of the Oklahoman: "Oklahoma's top education official said he would support immigration enforcement raids in schools to assist with the White House's promise of mass deportations. This week..., Donald Trump threw out a federal policy that had been in place since 2011 that discouraged U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from making arrests in 'protected areas' like schools, medical centers and places of worship. Oklahoma schools Superintendent Ryan Walters said in a TV interview posted Friday that he would help the Trump administration in 'any way they see fit' to carry out immigration enforcement, including ICE raids in schools.... Walters has proposed a rule at the state Education Department, which he leads, that would require schools to ask for students' proof of citizenship or legal immigration status during enrollment. His proposal would not prohibit any students from attending public schools, but districts would have to report to the Education Department the number of undocumented children they enroll." Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Although he's lying, Trump claims agents are prioritizing the deportation of bad-assed criminals who are striking fear in the hearts of law-abiding Americans. I suppose if ICE agents raided all the schools in Oklahoma, they might find a few teenagers who have violated some laws, but any educator should know that the ICE raids would disrupt schools and frighten little children. This disruption & fear would far outweigh the benefit of catching a few teenaged lawbreakers on school campuses. Walters clearing does care about the students he is supposed to be protecting.
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Israel's Wars. The New York Times' liveblog of developments Thursday in Israel's wars are here: "Israel's prisons authority said on Thursday that it was delaying the release of more than 100 Palestinian prisoners after a Hamas-led hostage handover in Gaza devolved into chaotic scenes, with crowds mobbing Israeli and Thai hostages who were being freed after a year in captivity.... A spokesman for the Israeli prison service, said the Israeli government had suspended the prisoners' release until further notice. The prisoners were to be freed as part of the third hostage-for-prisoner swap in the ongoing cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas. Hamas released eight Israeli and Thai hostages on Thursday, including one in a tightly choreographed ceremony in northern Gaza that went relatively smoothly. But in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, the handover quickly devolved into tumult."
News Lede
Washington Post: "Rescuers are combing the Potomac River in search of survivors of American Eagle Flight 5342, which collided midair Wednesday evening with an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport, sending both aircraft crashing into the water. No survivors have been found, and police have pulled bodies from the water -- even as the deep, ice-cold water and lack of light complicate search efforts. The PSA Airlines-operated American Airlines aircraft was flying from Wichita to National Airport with 60 passengers and four crew members, and the helicopter was on a training flight with three service members on board. U.S. Figure Skating confirmed that several members of its community were on the plane." This is a liveblog. ~~~
~~~ The New York Times liveblog is here. CNN's liveblog is here.
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Reader Comments (22)
Yesterday, RAS, in response to the terrible crash at Reagan International, pointed out that whether or not Fat Hitler's nationwide curtailing of federal funding and his attempt to sweep out experienced federal employees and replace them with lickspittle MAGA sycophants had a hand in this tragedy, future such incidents are sure to follow as expertise is booted out and MAGAt idiots are let in.
In fact, Fat Hitler has already kneecapped air safety. Over a week ago he fired every single member of the Aviation Security Advisory Committee. That committee is dead. It was part of the Transportation Security Administration.
Per the TSA website...
"Established in 1989 after a terrorist attack on Pan Am flight 103 [the attack over Lockerbie, Scotland], the Aviation Security Advisory Committee provides advice to the TSA administrator on aviation security matters, including the development, refinement, and implementation of policies, programs, rulemaking, and security directives pertaining to aviation security.
The committee is composed of individual members representing private sector organizations affected by aviation security requirements."
Why was this vital committee disbanded? According to FH, TSA money needs to be diverted to more important things. Like going after brown people. Trump's obsession with his racist, white supremacist agenda will get people killed. Axing a committee whose sole job is keeping the airways safe demonstrates, as almost every other fucking thing this astoundingly inhuman scumbag does, his existential unfitness to lead anything other than a lynch party (he'd probably fuck that up too..."Where's the rope. Who brought the rope? That's not my job...".
More disasters to follow. How will FH blame Biden for this? I'm sure we'll find out. And because an Army helicopter was involved, we'll hear from Pete Hegseth, once he puts down the bottle.
Heather Cox Richardson, on substack, Stoking the anger
She writes that, since Nixon, the strategy "depended on constructing a false world....
Now, in 2025, the impulse simply to hurt Democrats no matter how badly such actions would hurt the country showed in a social media post today by Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) that the Senate should confirm Trump’s deeply problematic nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. because 'no Cabinet nominee could damage the political future of Democrats more than RFK.'"
Her link to Greg Sargent's interview with Amanda Marcotte in New Republic MAGA Trolling is worth a read, too
Let's all pray that Air Force One never crashes into the Potomac
River, especially with the president* on board.
Easy Money!
If you’re Fat Hitler, all you have to do is come up with a new scam and the morons will line up, or you wait for sycophantic losers like Mark Zuckerberg to hand you millions.
The rest of us have to work for it. But a friend just texted me to let me know that former NBA coach Pat Riley years ago trademarked the phrase “Three-peat”. Okay, it doesn’t sound like much, but anytime a sports team wins three championships in a row, it’s called a three-peat (Riley didn’t invent the term, he just trademarked it). But if you wanted to put that phrase on a T-shirt or hat, and sell it, which the Kansas City Chiefs might do if the refs help them win another Super Bowl, it could be worth millions.
I’m jumping on that train, baby. I’m gonna trademark “Trump, that Fuckin’ Asshole!” Someone wants to emblazon a shirt with that and sell it? I get a piece of the action.
I’ll make a bundle.
Come up with your own Trump Sucks line. I’ll meet you on the Riviera. That is, unless Fat Hitler demands it be renamed the Trumpiera, in which case I’ll just put a pool in the backyard and sip my margarita there.
I'd like to buy an E
C or P
I wonder if we won't see a repeat of when DeSantis illegally fired a Florida prosecutor. The courts ultimately found that what he did was illegal, but said they had no power to reinstate the prosecutor to his former position. I can see something similar happening with FH and his illegal firings.
Here is something that could make some money with a trademark, the C or P shirt.
Fat Hitler's dream White House. Maybe Melanie can help since she has experience renovating at the MAL North.
You might think that OPM stands for Office of Personnel Management, but given the recent hires it’s true name is now Office of Puerile Muskovites. .
The OPM, established in 1979 under President Carter, operates pretty much like the federal government’s Human Resources department, overseeing pay schedules, insurance, hiring practices, etc. it was put in place to derail patronage employment, relying instead on merit based hires.
Not no more. Merit based? Trump? Musk? Hell no. They want loyal bobble heads that will do what they’re told. And who needs experience?
“A report from Wired revealed that Musk lackeys have been placed throughout the structure of the OPM, an agency that acts as a human resources department for federal employees. While the insertion of former employees at Musk's Boring Company and xAI as advisers is alarming, nothing quite illustrated the point like the hiring of two former Musk associates who aren't yet old enough to rent a car.”
But wait. It gets better…
“The outlet reports that the upper echelons of OPM include a 21-year-old software engineer who formerly worked at Palantir, the analytics company owned by Musk's former Paypal partner Peter Thiel. Another unnamed employee graduated from high school this year and reportedly lists bicycle mechanic and camp counselor on their resume, alongside an internship at Musk's Neuralink.”
“Gee, Mr. Musk, I did real good on my paper route, and when I grow up, I wanna be just like you!”
“You’re hired! Your job will be to hire air traffic controllers to work at Reagan National! If one of your Hitler Youth buddies can fly a drone, he can do air traffic controlling stuff!”
All the best people.
RAS,
Love the C or P shirt. A two-fer.
I KNEW he’d find a way to blame Biden for the air disaster in DC!
But he went several steps beyond, blaming not just Biden, but Obama, women, minorities, gays and lesbians, and…what the hell, the Army too. I’ll bet there was a portrait of General Milley in that helicopter!
This whole thing long ago stopped being funny, the way this self-absorbed, spoiled child can’t stand it if there’s a big story out there and he’s not front and center to take credit or cast blame.
It doesn’t matter what the facts are or if we know anything at all about the circumstances of the event. He has to be the story. Fires in California? “I turned on the valve Democrats refused to use and saved everyone!” Never mind the thousands of homeless people who have lost everything, the firefighters who put their lives on the line or the poor people who lost theirs. “Look at me! Everyone! Here I am!”
Horrible midair collision over the Potomac, possible catastrophic loss of life? “Never mind that! Look! Look! Everyone! I’m over here! Look at me!!”
He’s a sick, twisted, warped, delusional, sorry excuse for a human being. Empathy? He couldn’t spell it, with the dictionary open to the right page. Empathy leads to actual concern for someone other than oneself, and then, god forbid! altruism! the Ultima Thule, terra incognita for an NPD prick like Fat Hitler.
Not only does it have to be all about him, he never loses the opportunity to demean someone else—anyone—into the bargain. So the show is “Look at me…Donald. Genius. Superman. Hero. And now see who the villains are I had to conquer: stupid liberals who hate America! Uppity women, mooching blacks, icky gays, Jesus hating Mooslims, all haters of our beautiful, perfect, white, America. Lucky I was here to fix it all.”
Then back to the Bleak House to issue another illegal Emperor Edict, waiting for the next big story so he can trundle his blubber in front of the cameras to take credit or cast aspersions.
This really is the best we can do?
Fuck me.
Danes respond with Moron Cakes
Shock
"Crypto exchange Coinbase hires Sinema, LaCivita"
Looks like Kash Patel is singing from the same hymnal as all the other appalling picks to run “Trump’s” country.
Lie, deflect, refuse to answer, lie, pretend ignorance (“Enemies list? Whhaaaa?”), lie, deflect. Did I mention lie?
Oh, hey…look. Fat Hitler’s inaugural approval rating is in the toilet.
Again.
According to Gallup:
“At 47%, President Donald Trump's initial job approval rating for his second term is similar to the inaugural 45% reading during his first term, again placing him below all other elected presidents dating back to 1953. Trump remains the only elected president with sub-50% initial approval ratings, and his latest disapproval rating (48%) is three percentage points higher than in 2017, marking a new high for inaugural ratings.”
Um…are we sure this qualifies as a world record mandate?
Oh, so that’s a lie too? That orange bird’s nest must look good while he’s getting a swirly.
Okay, we’ll try it without the hyperlink:
Oh, hey…look. Fat Hitler’s inaugural approval rating is in the toilet. I’m
Again.
According to Gallup:
“At 47%, President Donald Trump's initial job approval rating for his second term is similar to the inaugural 45% reading during his first term, again placing him below all other elected presidents dating back to 1953. Trump remains the only elected president with sub-50% initial approval ratings, and his latest disapproval rating (48%) is three percentage points higher than in 2017, marking a new high for inaugural ratings.”
Um…are we sure this qualifies as a world record mandate?
Oh, so that’s a lie too? That orange bird’s nest must look good while he’s getting a swirly.
https://news.gallup.com/poll/655955/trump-inaugural-approval-rating-historically-low-again.aspx
Jasmine Crockett on the plane crash
Fat Hitler promised his billionaire buddies he’d cut their tax bills to among the lowest in industrial countries. The poor dears. They pat almost nothing now.
But how to pay for such enormous tax breaks for the uber wealthy?
The Party of Traitors has a plan. You’ll never guess what it is. Spoiler alert! They plan to stick it to the poor and working class.
Yes! What a surprise!
“To pay for new tax cuts, the House Republicans’ proposal floats a series of potential overhauls of government programs. One major focus is possible cuts to Medicaid, the health care program for people with low incomes that is administered by the states. Medicaid expansion was a key tenet of the Affordable Care Act, passed under President Barack Obama. Many Republican governors initially chose not to take advantage of the new federal subsidies to expand the program. In the intervening years, several states reversed course, and the program has expanded the number of people enrolled in Medicaid by more than 20 million, as of last year.”
But what the hell…poor and middle class voters in red states that these jackals plan to screw will still vote for them. They’ll just blame all their problems on Democrats. It’s always worked in the pass.
“Whoa! Why’d you just punch me in the face?”
“We didn’t punch you in the face! That was Joe Biden!”
“Where is he? I don’t see him.”
“Yeah, he’s sneaky like that.”
Test.
How easy it must make one's life if following multiple inefficiencies, abrupt reversals and outright screw-ups you could claim that they were all part of your strategy to create chaos.
Screwing up on purpose. A new measure of meritocracy. Even better than blaming Democrats.
The Pretender's DEI:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/01/30/faa-dei-trump-fact-checker/
Not sure if this gem already made its appearance on stage here, but hollly shit is it a good one:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/1/30/is-the-us-sending-50m-in-condoms-to-gaza-as-trump-claims
The "Hamas building condom bombs with DEI money" takes a twist...turns out Dementia Donny is likely confusing Gaza, Mozambique (a province in the South of the country) with the Palestinian territory. So it's actually Mozambicans building the condom bombs and smuggling them to Hamas. Glad we got that mystery figured out, yeesh!