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Donald Trump and his Coterie of the Craven (part 16)


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**Echo**  US reader here--but can't AFFORD to subscribe to many papers (only Washington Post at present; had short-time to the NY Times)---and these extensive quotations are FANTASTIC, because many paper limit free articles to 6-10 a month. :you-rock:

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8 hours ago, IrishCarrie said:

Guys, I've been meaning for sometime to thank all of you who post these articles. Being Irish, I only read about Trump in our own papers when he's done something particularly idiotic or dramatic (lots of giggles on Irish TV over him saying the boat was one place when it was another...) and it's been great to be able to easily access a daily update here. I'm kind of obsessed :my_confused: and FJ is now my first port of call for my fix for some time now!

So cheers, friends :beer:

So... every day??

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1 hour ago, JMarie said:

So... every day??

Lol, no, we have our own idiot politicians to focus on too, you know!

Chief one at the moment is our Minister for Health, who's planning on spending €300million of taxpayers' money on a new maternity hospital and then giving it to a religious order of nuns. Bad enough if they were "regular" nuns, but it's actually the order that have been highlighted as significant abusers of children - a whole report was published on it a few years ago.

You've got Donald. We've got our own tools :my_cry:

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So I don't know if anyone just read this article yet posted by the NYT but just the first few  paragraphs alone got me so anger and sad.

Comey Tried to Shield the F.B.I. From Politics. Then He Shaped an Election.

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WASHINGTON — The day before he upended the 2016 election, James B. Comey, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, summoned agents and lawyers to his conference room. They had been debating all day, and it was time for a decision.

Mr. Comey’s plan was to tell Congress that the F.B.I. had received new evidence and was reopening its investigation into Hillary Clinton, the presidential front-runner. The move would violate the policies of an agency that does not reveal its investigations or do anything that may influence an election. But Mr. Comey had declared the case closed, and he believed he was obligated to tell Congress that had changed.

“Should you consider what you’re about to do may help elect Donald Trump president?” an adviser asked him, Mr. Comey recalled recently at a closed meeting with F.B.I. agents.

He could not let politics affect his decision, he replied. “If we ever start considering who might be affected, and in what way, by what we do, we’re done,” he told the agents.

 

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I see man baby isn't attending the correspondent's dinner.

huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-rally-white-house-correspondents-dinner_us_58fb9273e4b018a9ce5bc877?uje

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President Donald Trump will hold a rally for supporters in Pennsylvania next Saturday in an apparent attempt to divert attention from the White House Correspondents Association dinner in Washington, D.C. being held the same day, which he has refused to attend.

Trump announced plans for the event on Twitter on Saturday around noon:

The president revealed that he would not go to the dinner in February, breaking with the precedent set by recent presidents. He is the first president not to attend the dinner in over three decades.

In addition, for the first time since the event’s inception in 1921, no members of the White House staff are expected to attend the dinner.

Does it make me a bad person if my first thought is that the rally will probably look like this?

ManBabyRally.png.cb0528041046665f91178c930610bd98.png

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Apparently now Lord Dampnuts doesn't want to meet with the Holy Father;

huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-doesnt-appear-interested-in-meeting-with-the-pope-in-italy_us_58ed096de4b0c89f9121ef42

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President Donald Trump will visit Italy next month for a meeting with world leaders ― but one leader he isn’t seeking time with is Pope Francis.

Trump has not requested a meeting with the pope during his trip to Italy for the Group of Seven (G7) summit on May 26 and 27, according to a report from Reuters.

The Vatican confirmed the Holy See had not received any requests from the White House for a meeting between the two men.

U.S. presidents have historically sought out meetings with popes during trips to Italy and the rest of Europe, making Trump’s omission unusual. Francis and Trump have not previously met. 

 

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@IrishCarrie , @samira_catlover, and any others of you who can't subscribe to the news outlets:

I don't subscribe to any at all outside of my country. I use twitter instead, and follow all the international newspapers and other outlets that I'm interested in that way. Usually, the tweets contain links to the complete articles they refer to, and no subscription is needed to be able to read them. An additional advantage is that twitter is almost always (one of) the first way(s) the latest news is posted.

Also, if you feel you would like to contribute to their journalistic efforts but don't have the financial means to take a full subscription, you could choose to donate an amount of your choice as an alternative.

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9 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

I think he's afraid of the Holy Water. 

i_m_melting.thumb.jpg.d729e1dd6044ad1dcb5d5043ffa3447b.jpg

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19 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Sigh: "The White House reveals what next week’s ‘big announcement’ on taxes will look like"

Yeah, I'm sure it's a great plan. (end sarcasm font) The only people who will get a tax cut will be mufti-millionaires and billionaires.

I really hope my Trumped Up Trickle Down joke, where they flip the tax rates upside down so the wealthiest Americans pay the least is not hiding behind curtain number one. :pray:

14 hours ago, IrishCarrie said:

Being Irish, I only read about Trump in our own papers when he's done something particularly idiotic or dramatic (lots of giggles on Irish TV over him saying the boat was one place when it was another...) 

...and today in idiotic American news, we have another story featuring Donald Trump doing something unusually idiotic... :doh:

 

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Ask, and you shall receive, @Cartmann99!

The tangerine toddler's tweets invariably make me go "wut?" But this is particular tweet deserves a resounding "WTF?" with capital letters.

 

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1 hour ago, fraurosena said:

I think he's afraid of the Holy Water. 

i_m_melting.thumb.jpg.d729e1dd6044ad1dcb5d5043ffa3447b.jpg

Or Lord Dampnuts is afraid that he'll either spontaneously combust the second he steps into the Pope's presence.

Seriously, Dampnuts has to play up to the more Catholic than Francis reich wing of the church that loves him and hates Francis so this will probably earn him points with that crowd.

 

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Quote

Lord Dampnut tweeted I am committed to keeping our air and water clean but always remember that economic growth enhances environmental protection. Jobs matter!

@fraurosena, Down is the new up and up is the new down!  Remember, we're in the 24-hour window when Lord Dampnut is unsupervised while Jared and Ivanka observe Shabbat. 

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I am committed to keeping our air and water clean but always remember that economic growth enhances environmental protection. Jobs matter!

I keep thinking about this particular tweet, as if there's some hidden meaning.  From history, I think it means, when unchecked growth causes massive pollution, then citizens start to think more environmental protections are in order.

Someone who is probably not Trump, but on his behalf, issued this quote [from CNN]:

Rigorous science is critical to my administration's efforts to achieve the twin goals of economic growth and environmental protection.

[I think the above might be what Trump meant to say, but they didn't get his phone away from him in time.]

. . . .

"...rigorous science depends not on ideology, but on a spirit of honest inquiry and robust debate."

Laughed/cried at this.  There hasn't been much honesty coming out of the White House, and debate is shut down as fake.

The March for Science was very well attended in Nashville, despite being wedged in between thunderstorms.  These things give me some hope.

 

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OK, more data later as I learn how to transfer photos from phones to the Internet. (Yes, we LIKE technology, but have neo-Luddite skills.) My household has six college degrees among 2 people, but at the DC March for Science, we were SERIOUSLY underbrained.

 But would you believe, my lab-coated husband (who looks like Santa Claus, balding on top, big white beard,  wire-rimmed glasses, and....ummm...a Person of Substance) got grabbed for audio interview in DC by a correspondent for LeMonde (plus about three others, video and audio, plus about 60 photo-ops)?  FWIW, he gave great sound-bites!

Oh, and on the reverse of the sign for science ("No Science Funding = No Future!") was the Women's March for Washington---"Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to GOD!"---got at least 10 photos, with people asking us to stop in march for shots!)

Whacking great slogans, between DC and other places:

"Wanted, dead or alive: Shrodinger's cat: dead or alive!" (sorry, can't figure how to set umlauts)

"I've seen smarter cabinets at IKEA!"

It's really weird marching in DC to shouts of "What do we want? SCIENCE! When do we want it? AFTER PEER REVIEW!"

#RESIST

 

 

 

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16 hours ago, 47of74 said:

Okay, the thing that just made me laugh in that article is the Tweet from the orange twit (below). He is the King of Delusionalland.

 

pope.PNG

 

 

 

11 hours ago, Howl said:

@fraurosena, Down is the new up and up is the new down!  Remember, we're in the 24-hour window when Lord Dampnut is unsupervised while Jared and Ivanka observe Shabbat. 

They need to hire a babysitter for him every week while they observe Shabbat. That might save the world.

 

 

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"Trump visits a Trump-branded property for the 12th weekend in a row"

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Since his first trip to Mar-a-Lago in early February, the longest stretch Donald Trump has gone without visiting one of the properties that is part of his private business empire has been six days. From March 27 to April 1, he didn’t spend time at Mar-a-Lago or at the Trump International Golf Club in Florida or at Trump National in Virginia or at his hotel down the street from the White House.

Of the 94 days he has been president, he has spent all or part of his time at Trump-branded properties on 33 of them, or an average of once every 2.8 days.

...

He has visited one of his private properties on at least one day during each of the past 12 weekends. On Saturday, he had dinner at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, his second such visit since being inaugurated and his fourth this year.

A new poll from The Washington Post and our partners at ABC News finds, though, that most Americans don’t see this as a conflict of interest. Forty-three percent of Americans see these trips as a conflict, but a majority, 54 percent, don’t. (The question posed to respondents: “Do you think that Trump spending time at properties he owns represents a conflict of interest because it promotes those properties, or do you think this is not a conflict because he has the right to go where he wants?”)

...

There’s a broad split by party and by 2016 vote choice, as you might expect. Half of those who voted third party think it’s a conflict, as do 72 percent of those who voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton. But among Republicans and Trump voters, fewer than 1 in 10 see it as a conflict. Importantly, among independents — a group that has been more critical of Trump than of other recent new presidents — fewer than half express concern.

There hasn’t been any indication that Trump is particularly concerned about questions over the amount of time he spends at his private business properties. This poll suggests that, politically at least, that indifference is warranted.

The charts in the article are quite illustrative.

 

"Why Trump should think twice before blaming someone else for his meh 100 days"

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President Trump is nearing 100 days without a victory. By way of explanation, he has pointed his Twitter trigger finger at the media, at Democrats in Congress, at conservative House Republicans — at pretty much everyone but himself.

...

But maybe Trump should hold up a mirror. More than half of Americans think Trump hasn't accomplished much in his first 100 days (56 percent). Of those less-than-impressed Americans, almost half blame the president for getting so little done, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

...

Given how rarely Trump expresses humility or regret, acknowledging that he's got a learning curve could help buy him a grace period. Assigning blame elsewhere just doesn't seem to be working for him.

A caveat to this data: It's nearly impossible to separate the blame game from partisanship. Democrats are more likely than others to say Trump has not accomplished much. And only those who doubted Trump's accomplishments were asked who is most responsible. Most Republicans and Trump voters think he has accomplished a good amount.

Also, blaming the president for inaction 100 days in is not unusual. In the first three months of President Barack Obama's term, 49 percent of Americans who thought he struggled to get anything done shouldered him with the blame. (Though they split it 40-40 between President Bill Clinton and Republicans in Congress during Clinton's first 100 days.)

...

But Trump perhaps has more to prove than his predecessors. To have a successful presidency, he must make good on his central campaign pitch that someone with no previous political experience can govern the nation better than the politicians.

So far, he hasn't been very convincing. His approval ratings are the lowest of any modern president's three months in. His leverage with Congress appears to be little to none. The Post-ABC poll found that a majority of Americans also criticize Trump's temperament, judgment, empathy and honesty — and they don't trust him in a crisis.

Trump, in short, is having a crisis of confidence. And that's why turning to himself when assigning blame for these first 100 days may be so crucial for him to regain his footing. A dose of humility could go a long way, perhaps, if he addressed Americans like this: "Hey guys, I know we've failed to get Obamacare repealed and that my travel ban is stuck in the courts again. But I'm new to this. Give me another 100 days."

This Post-ABC poll has data points that suggest Americans might be ready to hear him out. A majority think Trump is a strong leader. (The percentage is far lower than Obama's, but it's something.)

...

In addition, hardly any of Trump's supporters have buyer's remorse. Republicans polled think Trump is more in touch with them than the rest of the Republican Party is. In other words: Trump's job approval may be taking a hit, but not among his supporters. They still have faith that his business skills will translate to politics.

The rest of America isn't so sure, and Trump's habit of assigning blame elsewhere doesn't seem to be assuaging their concerns.

There are many charts in the article. What really struck me is the section I bolded.

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The political/emotional /situational /empathetical deafness shown by tRump is NOT NORMAL! If I were that soldier, I'd throw the goddam star back in his face - using my amputation for a photo opportunity, when he doesn't even understand WHY I am getting the Star? Congratulations on your amputation? At least Obama didn't use these events as propaganda opportunities - but then he was a decent man.

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1 hour ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Okay, the thing that just made me laugh in that article is the Tweet from the orange twit (below). He is the King of Delusionalland.

 

pope.PNG

 

 

hahanogif.gif.2f6eeee5a4c0c28f498c722bcea915eb.gif

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I'm not sure if this is satire (sometimes it's hard to tell!).  I found it in the comments section of a Tegan and Sara video.

Quote

Trump is doing a MAGNIFICENT job so far, but he really needs to put a wall on the Canadian border too. Vegan and Sarah are a reminder that a Canada poses another kind of threat, a cultural ideology that threatens to undermine Wholesome American Values™. They're teaching our children that it's somehow cool to be a Canadian, or to live the Canadian lifestyle. They espouse the dangerous view that it's acceptable to have pride in being a Canadian, or any lesser country. And this is how they reach children with their treacherous message, through propagandists like Megan and Sara, who sing these horrible songs. Be wary of Canadians, for their treachery knows no bounds!

"Canadian lifestyle"

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15 hours ago, Howl said:

@fraurosena, Down is the new up and up is the new down!  Remember, we're in the 24-hour window when Lord Dampnut is unsupervised while Jared and Ivanka observe Shabbat. 

So Jared and Ivanka don't roll on the Shabbos?

 

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The parasitic presidunce says he has a different kind of presidency.

Quote

"It's a different kind of a presidency," Trump said in an Oval Office interview with The Associated Press, an hourlong conversation as he approached Saturday's key presidential benchmark.

Trump, who campaigned on a promise of instant disruption, indirectly acknowledged that change doesn't come quickly to Washington. He showed signs that he feels the weight of the office, discussing the "heart" required to do the job. Although he retained his signature bravado and a salesman's confidence in his upward trajectory, he displayed an awareness that many of his own lofty expectations for his first 100 days in office have not been met.

"It's an artificial barrier. It's not very meaningful," he said.

Trump waffled on whether he should be held accountable for the 100-day plan he outlined with great fanfare in his campaign's closing days, suggesting his "Contract with the American Voter" wasn't really his idea to begin with.

If it wasn't his idea, who's was it then? Ohhh, I know! Hillary, of course!

Quote

One hundred days are just a fraction of a president's tenure, and no president has quite matched the achievements of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who set the standard by which all are now judged.

Still, modern presidents have tried to move swiftly to capitalize upon the potent, and often fleeting, mix of political capital and public goodwill that usually accompanies their arrival in Washington.

Trump has never really had either.

A deeply divisive figure, he lost the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton and had one of the narrower Electoral College victories in history. Since taking office on Jan. 20, his approval rating has hovered around 40 percent in most polls.

Trump's early presidency has been dogged by FBI and congressional investigations into whether his campaign coordinated with Russians to tilt the race in his favor. It's a persistent distraction that Trump would not discuss on the record.

 I think I'm speaking for all of us when I say we want– no, we need to know exactly what he said off the record.

Quote

Furthermore, his three months-plus in office have amounted to a swift education in a world wholly unfamiliar to a 70-year-old who spent his career in real estate and reality television. [...]

H.W. Brands, a history professor at the University of Texas at Austin, said Trump is learning that "the world is the way it is for a whole bunch of complicated reasons. And changing the guy at the top doesn't change the world."

Trump won't concede that point.

But he acknowledged that being commander in chief brings with it a "human responsibility" that he didn't much bother with in business, requiring him to think through the consequences his decisions have on people and not simply the financial implications for his company's bottom line.

"When it came time to, as an example, send out the 59 missiles, the Tomahawks in Syria," Trump said of his decision to strike a Syrian air base in retaliation for a chemical weapons attack. "I'm saying to myself, 'You know, this is more than just like 79 (sic) missiles. This is death that's involved because people could have been killed. This is risk that's involved.'"

"Here, everything, pretty much everything you do in government involves heart, whereas in business most things don't involve heart," he said. "In fact, in business you're actually better off without it."

So there you have it, he's admitting he doesn't have the most important requirement for the office: a heart. 

Quote

Stylistically, Trump remains much the same as during the campaign.

He fires off tweets at odd hours of the morning and night, sending Washington into a stir with just a few words. Trump still litigates the presidential campaign, mentioning multiple times during the interview how difficult it is for a Republican presidential nominee to win the Electoral College.

Ugh. Like Elsa sang so eloquently, let it go already! 

Quote

He is acutely aware of how he's being covered in the media, rattling off the ratings for some of his television appearances. But he says he's surprised even himself with some recent self-discipline: He's stopped watching what he perceives as his negative coverage on CNN and MSNBC, he said.

"I don't watch things, and I never thought I had that ability," he said. "I always thought I'd watch."

That right, toddler dear, act like an ostrich. 

Quote

For the moment, Trump seems to have clamped down on the infighting and rivalries among his top White House staffers that have spilled into the press and created a sense of paranoia in the West Wing. He praised his national security team in particular and said his political team in the White House doesn't get the credit it deserves for their work in a high-pressure setting.

"This is a very tough environment," he said. "Not caused necessarily by me."

Oww, poor widdle presidunce. Work is hard, ya'll. Who'd have thunk?

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9 hours ago, JMarie said:

I'm not sure if this is satire (sometimes it's hard to tell!).  I found it in the comments section of a Tegan and Sara video.

"Canadian lifestyle"

Definitely not satire.  Definitely voted for Trump.  From his (?) YouTube page:

Quote

This is a CANADA FREE ZONE. Please refrain yourselve's from commentating or referencing CANADA or CANADIANS on my YOUTUBE PAGE. This is a page for PATRIOTIC AMERICAN'S who believe in Uncle Sam and Wholesome AMerican Values™. Thank you for you're understanding!!!

 

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President Clinton is getting some jabs in at Lord Dampnuts;

kcrg.com/content/news/Bill-Clinton-jokes-Clinton-Center-has-been-bugged-420198544.html

Quote

Former President Bill Clinton appears to be mocking President Trump's allegations of wiretapping.

Bill Clinton poses with a bug statue at the Clinton Center. (Bill Clinton / Twitter)

Clinton tweeted on Sunday "Breaking: we just learned the Clinton Center has been bugged."

The tweet has a picture of Clinton next to a big statue of a grasshopper. That statue is part of "Extreme Bugs" exhibit at the Clinton Presidential Center in Little Rock, Arkansas.

 

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