Donald Trump and the Fellowship of the Alternative Facts (Part 14)

[GreyhoundFan]

20 minutes ago, RoseWilder said:

I love George Takei so much!

 

Isn't he the greatest? I'm so excited that I have a space on one of the Star Trek cruises he's hosting in January!

 

"‘People are scared’: Paranoia seizes Trump’s White House"

Quote

A culture of paranoia is consuming the Trump administration, with staffers increasingly preoccupied with perceived enemies — inside their own government.

In interviews, nearly a dozen White House aides and federal agency staffers described a litany of suspicions: that rival factions in the administration are trying to embarrass them, that civil servants opposed to President Donald Trump are trying to undermine him, and even that a “deep state” of career military and intelligence officials is out to destroy them.

Aides are going to great lengths to protect themselves. They’re turning off work-issued smartphones and putting them in drawers when they arrive home from work out of fear that they could be used to eavesdrop. They’re staying mum in meetings out of concern that their comments could be leaked to the press by foes.

Many are using encrypted apps that automatically delete messages once they’ve been read, or are leaving their personal cellphones at home in case their bosses initiate phone checks of the sort that press secretary Sean Spicer deployed last month to try to identify leakers on his team.

...

One senior administration aide, who like most others interviewed for this story spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the degree of suspicion had created a toxicity that is unsustainable.

“People are scared,” he said, adding that the Trump White House had become “a pretty hostile environment to work in.”

...

My job is stressful, but I can't imagine working in that crazy administration.

[GreyhoundFan]

Prepare for the tantrum from the tangerine toddler: "Federal judge in Hawaii freezes President Trump’s new executive order"

Quote

A federal judge in Hawaii has frozen President Trump’s new executive order temporarily barring the issuance of new visas to citizens of six-Muslim majority countries and suspending the admission of new refugees.

U.S. District Judge Derrick K. Watson froze the order nationwide.

Watson was the second of three judges to hear arguments Wednesday on whether to freeze the ban. A federal judge in Maryland said he also could rule before day’s end after a morning hearing, and the same federal judge in Washington state who suspended Trump’s first travel ban was set to hear arguments starting at 5 p.m. Eastern.

The hearing in Hawaii came in response to a lawsuit filed by the state itself. Lawyers for Hawaii alleged the new travel ban, much like the old, violates the establishment clause of the First Amendment because it is essentially a Muslim ban, hurts the ability of state businesses and universities to recruit top talent and damages the state’s robust tourism industry.

...

 

[onekidanddone]

 

15 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Prepare for the tantrum from the tangerine toddler: "Federal judge in Hawaii freezes President Trump’s new executive order"

 

Hawaii?  Isn't' that where the Muslim-commie-scary-brown Obama was born?  I can see FoxSpews and the orange zombies building a 'connection'.  I thought this time Orange Julius Cesar would have had it all worked out so it was legal. Would somebody PLEASE  hand him a copy of the Constitution. 

I am supportive of taking him to court over the (he says it is not a Muslim ban) Muslim ban, but how do we start to file court cases against him for the other Executive Orders?

39 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Isn't he the greatest? I'm so excited that I have a space on one of the Star Trek cruises he's hosting in January!

 

"‘People are scared’: Paranoia seizes Trump’s White House"

My job is stressful, but I can't imagine working in that crazy administration.

I would think anybody choosing to work for him would have to sell their soul. Kelly (my toaster is a camera) Conway and Sean (air quotes) Spicer  come to mind.  The career Feds are another story. The head of EPA's Environmental Justice office up and quit rather than work under Pruitt and TT. 

[RoseWilder]

I doubt that Trump is going to respond well to this: 

I hope Trump and Sessions get in a verbal cage match and end up taking each other down in the process. 

[Howl]

On 3/14/2017 at 1:45 PM, RoseWilder said:

I wish there were more Republicans like Evan McMullin. I don't agree with all of his positions, but I think he has integrity and genuinely cares about people. 

I'm with you on this. 

Quote

Stand Up Republic, a nonprofit organization led by former independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin and his running mate, Mindy Finn, is launching a public campaign aimed at building support among Republicans for consolidating the various congressional Russia-related investigations into one empowered and fully funded select committee. 

He's the ideal guy to do this, in a Buckaroo Bonzai sort of way. 

1. He's an ex CIA operations officer.  He knows how to go about getting the goods and I'm sure has many, many contacts in the CIA
2. He was chief policy director for the House Republican Conference in the U.S. House of Representatives
3. He was a senior adviser on national security issues for the House Committee on Foreign Affairs
4. He worked briefly as an investment banker after graduating from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania; he'll know how to follow the money

He's well connected to the House, but not a congressman.  When somebody says "get to the bottom of this", because of his CIA connections, he may very well already know what the bottom is or where to go to find it.

I know that McMullin is working hard to position himself for 2020, but sorting out the Russian influence is critical to our democracy -- it's that serious, and I get no cynical vibes from him. 

It may be that various "never Trump" Republicans called on him to do this, or else he volunteered or they worked it out over beers.  

Anyway, Go Evan! 

[onekidanddone]

48 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Isn't he the greatest? I'm so excited that I have a space on one of the Star Trek cruises he's hosting in January!

 

"‘People are scared’: Paranoia seizes Trump’s White House"

My job is stressful, but I can't imagine working in that crazy administration.

I would think anybody choosing to work for him would have to sell their soul. Kelly (my toaster is a camera) Conway and Sean (air quotes) Spicer  come to mind.  The career Feds are another story. The head of EPA's Environmental Justice office up and quit rather than work under Pruitt and TT. 

2 minutes ago, Howl said:

I'm with you on this. 

He's the ideal guy to do this, in a Buckaroo Bonzai sort of way. 

1. He's an ex CIA operations officer.  He knows how to go about getting the goods and I'm sure has many, many contacts in the CIA
2. He was chief policy director for the House Republican Conference in the U.S. House of Representatives
3. He was a senior adviser on national security issues for the House Committee on Foreign Affairs
4. He worked briefly as an investment banker after graduating from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania; he'll know how to follow the money

He's well connected to the House, but not a congressman.  When somebody says "get to the bottom of this", because of his CIA connections, he may very well already know what the bottom is or where to go to find it.

I know that McMullin is working hard to position himself for 2020, but sorting out the Russian influence is critical to our democracy -- it's that serious, and I get no cynical vibes from him. 

It may be that various "never Trump" Republicans called on him to do this, or else he volunteered or they worked it out over beers.  

Anyway, Go Evan! 

He wouldn't get my vote as I'm a big blue Democrat, but he has my respect. All the other Republicans who spoke out against orange shit stain caved in like damp tissue.

10 minutes ago, RoseWilder said:

I doubt that Trump is going to respond well to this: 

I hope Trump and Sessions get in a verbal cage match and end up taking each other down in the process. 

I'm getting whiplash watching all of this.

[47of74]

Awaiting the furious 3 am tweet storms

https://apple.news/A7jUmVo8QQayXR9s-5i5dQw

A federal judge in Hawaii issued a nationwide order Wednesday evening blocking President Trump’s ban on travel from parts of the Muslim world, dealing a political blow to the White House and signaling that proponents of the ban face a long and risky legal battle ahead.
The ruling was the second frustrating defeat for Mr. Trump’s travel ban, after a federal court in Seattle halted an earlier version of the executive order last month. Mr. Trump responded to that setback with fury, lashing out at the judiciary before ultimately abandoning the order.

[GreyhoundFan]

An interesting analysis: "The Lesson of Trump’s 1040"

Quote

Donald Trump’s Form 1040 for 2005, disclosed by Rachel Maddow on MSNBC on Tuesday night, left political questions unanswered about the president’s Russian ties and business conflicts. But it clarified an important policy question: Should the alternative minimum tax be repealed? Answer: No.

In a world of honest policymaking, that clarification alone would be enough to change the trajectory of the tax debate now unfolding. Instead, it highlights how dishonest the debate has become.

If not for the alternative minimum tax, a part of the code that applies to wealthy taxpayers, Donald Trump would have paid just 4 percent of his reported $150 million income in federal taxes in 2005.

But thanks to the AMT — which disallows excessive deductions so that the very rich pay something closer to a fair share — Mr. Trump paid tax equal to 25 percent of his income. That’s still too low; the merely affluent, who earn six and seven-figure incomes, are subject to similar rates and rules. But it’s better than it would be if there were no AMT.

So, of course, a linchpin of the tax reform plans by Mr. Trump and congressional Republicans is to get rid of the AMT.

That is not policymaking. It is a type of con in which Republicans change the tax law i to further personal and special interests, rather than the public interest, while claiming that tax cuts will spread prosperity. They won’t. Repealing the AMT would result in a loss of nearly $460 billion in revenue over 10 years. It would be akin to another Republican goal — repealing the estate tax, which would also benefit the very wealthiest Americans, at a revenue loss of $226 billion over 10 years. Those tax cuts would occur as roads crumble, bridges weaken, school buildings deteriorate and tens of millions of people suffer from otherwise avoidable want and fear.

To understand how deep and gratuitous the Republican tax con is, you have to watch what Republicans do, not listen to what they say.

...

The article goes on to outline times the Repubs have screwed over the poor and middle class.

[onekidanddone]

49 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

An interesting analysis: "The Lesson of Trump’s 1040"

The article goes on to outline times the Repubs have screwed over the poor and middle class.

19 billion times and counting?

[onekidanddone]

 

1 hour ago, 47of74 said:

Awaiting the furious 3 am tweet storms

https://apple.news/A7jUmVo8QQayXR9s-5i5dQw
 

 

 

 

Trump at his Nazi errr Campaign  ummm pep rally called the judge's ruling "terrible". Please for the love of God, somebody get him a thesaurus.  

[GreyhoundFan]

15 minutes ago, onekidanddone said:

 

Trump at his Nazi errr Campaign  ummm pep rally called the judge's ruling "terrible". Please for the love of God, somebody get him a thesaurus.  

I'm surprised he didn't stomp his foot and stick out his lower lip, just like the tantrum-throwing toddler he is. And we all know he doesn't read anything except Breitbart's website, so the thesaurus is out.

[RoseWilder]

It warms my heart to know Trump had such a bad day: 

 

[RoseWilder]

This is absolutely sickening. What a sociopath: 

 

[JMarie]

39 minutes ago, RoseWilder said:

It warms my heart to know Trump had such a bad day: 

 

Why did he have another campaign rally?  Is there an upcoming election that we're not aware of?

[RoseWilder]

Hahahahaha 

 

[47of74]

26 minutes ago, JMarie said:

Why did he have another campaign rally?  Is there an upcoming election that we're not aware of?

Did it look anything like this?

 

[candygirl200413]

He told a reporter that he is planning to do a rally EVERY two weeks!! HOW IS THIS ALLOWED?! While he is trying to remove funding from the arts, elderly people, SO much!!!

[JMarie]

41 minutes ago, candygirl200413 said:

He told a reporter that he is planning to do a rally EVERY two weeks!! HOW IS THIS ALLOWED?! While he is trying to remove funding from the arts, elderly people, SO much!!!

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/trump-i-will-hold-rallies-every-two-weeks/article/2617533

Quote

President Trump told reporters after his Nashville rally that he planned to hold the events "every two weeks."

"Great crowd, great people, great spirit," he said Wednesday. "We're going to do these rallies every two weeks."

Trump's first campaign-style rally as president was in Melbourne, Fla., in mid-February.

The president also has a rally scheduled in Louisville, Ky., on Monday, less than a week after his Nashville event.

 

So maybe he'll do some work tomorrow (while pouting about the travel ban), then leave for Florida on Friday, go back to DC on Sunday, then hold another rally on Tuesday (while pouting about whatever will have happened since Thursday, his last work day).

Who says being the president is a full-time job??

[Cartmann99]

3 hours ago, RoseWilder said:

This is absolutely sickening. What a sociopath: 

 

I would really like to know what Meals on Wheels recipients who voted for Trump are thinking right now. 

[quiversR4hunting]

He also wants to slash medical research. Which means rare diseases  (lupus,  MD, MS, 1p36 deletion, etc) won't get funded and the progress and cancer and "common" diseases will suffer too. 

He makes me so....

[GreyhoundFan]

"Here are the federal agencies and programs Trump wants to eliminate" The list doesn't copy well, so you'll have to take a look. It's sickening.

 

 

9 hours ago, JMarie said:

Why did he have another campaign rally?  Is there an upcoming election that we're not aware of?

Because he needs more stroking of his massive ego. And, don't forget that he's already registered for the 2020 election.

 

 

8 hours ago, candygirl200413 said:

He told a reporter that he is planning to do a rally EVERY two weeks!! HOW IS THIS ALLOWED?! While he is trying to remove funding from the arts, elderly people, SO much!!!

Because Agent Orange and the Repubs couldn't care less about arts or elderly people.

[JMarie]

8 hours ago, Cartmann99 said:

I would really like to know what Meals on Wheels recipients who voted for Trump are thinking right now. 

Or parents/guardians of preschoolers who watch PBS.  Or people who travel via Amtrak.  Or anyone who receives assistance through LIHEAP (let them freeze!).  Or anyone involved in humanities, the arts, or the environment.  And less help when the environment is damaged (less funding for FEMA).

But goodgolly, we're going to have a big beautiful wall!

[formergothardite]

Are we sure the wall isn't to keep us in once they turn America into a dystopian wasteland? 

[47of74]

I see fuckhead is trying to weasel his way out of the accusation he made earlier this month;

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/15/politics/trump-wiretapping-nunes-sessions/index.html

Quote

In the face of firm denials from House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes and Attorney General Jeff Sessions of any evidence that President Barack Obama wiretapped then-candidate Donald Trump, Trump appears now to be walking back his explosive accusation by redefining the terms of the charge.

"Wiretap covers a lot of different things," Trump told Fox News' Tucker Carlson in an interview aired Wednesday night. "I think you're going to find some very interesting items coming to the forefront over the next two weeks."

White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer made a similar argument in the White Press press briefing Tuesday, telling reporters, "The President used the word wiretap in quotes to mean broadly surveillance and other activities."

To be clear, when President Trump made the accusation in four early morning tweets on March 4, he did not describe surveillance in broad terms. He specifically accused the outgoing president of ordering wiretapping of the incoming president.

To paraphrase Worf, Have the courage to admit your mistakes fuckhead....or are you a lo'Be Vos?

[GreyhoundFan]

43 minutes ago, formergothardite said:

Are we sure the wall isn't to keep us in once they turn America into a dystopian wasteland? 

My the odds be ever in your favor...

 

"Disciples of a False Prophet"

Quote

The con Donald Trump committed on his voters is slowly coming undone. He is not honest. He is not a brilliant deal maker. He is not even competent.

His entire life, Trump has sold shimmer and called it silver. It was and is all an illusion, a brand built on selling banality with braggadocio. He shaped vapors into dreams and delivered them to those hungry for a taste of the showy, hollow form of the high life he came to represent. He was successful at exploiting those with an ostentatious appetite for the air of success. Trump’s life story is a pyramid scheme of ambitions.

He took that history to a people struggling through a drought of opportunity and he exploited their weaknesses: a shrinking sense of economic security and growing nativist tendencies.

But Trump doesn’t speak so much from facts as from feelings. For him, the truth is malleable and a lie is valuable. He creates his own reality rather than living in the reality of others. Deception is just a tool; betrayal is just an inconvenience.

Now even some of the people who once supported him with vigor are being forced to remove the scales from their eyes. They are now the betrayed disciples of a false prophet.

...

Trump’s lies, his brand and his presidency are like a house of cards and the truth is a box of matches. It’s becoming ever more likely that the consuming flames — destined to reduce the entire edifice to ashes — are imminent, as Trump slowly converts former acolytes into disappointed adversaries.

How very true. Hopefully he can be stopped before he ruins too many more parts of our society.