Trump 29: Divider In Chief or Liar In Chief? WHY NOT BOTH?

[GrumpyGran]

7 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

My question is if she has to get in line behind all the other people who drop on their knees to do Herr Orange a - shall we say  - service every time he unzips his fly?  That's gotta be a big ass long line of women and men. 

Maybe that's what "Executive Time" is.

[AmazonGrace]

Uh Trumpster says he "just recently found out about it"

Um, FBI background checks? He doesn't bother with asking about them either?

 

[Ali]

I was driving yesterday on the freeway way before dawn and I felt like someone was staring at me. I looked at the vehicle passing me and discovered they had window decal of an orange buffoon with a cheesy grin. It covered the entire back window.

[fraurosena]

We know this, but it's good to remind oneself every once in a while: Birds of a feather flock together in this WH.

Exhibit A:

I think I'd like to be part of his 'executive time' tomorrow. I'll gladly stand in line and await my turn. I'll let him unzip his fly, and I'll kneel down before him... and clamp my teeth down hard over whatever's dangling out, shake my head from left to right with sharp movements, and spit it on the floor in front of him. I'll cover the bloody bits with my hobnailed shoe and squish them to pulp.

Then I'll look up to see how it feels when I treat him with all the respect he deserves.

[47of74]

44 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

We know this, but it's good to remind oneself every once in a while: Birds of a feather flock together in this WH.

Exhibit A:

I think I'd like to be part of his 'executive time' tomorrow. I'll gladly stand in line and await my turn. I'll let him unzip his fly, and I'll kneel down before him... and clamp my teeth down hard over whatever's dangling out, shake my head from left to right with sharp movements, and spit it on the floor in front of him. I'll cover the bloody bits with my hobnailed shoe and squish them to pulp.

Then I'll look up to see how it feels when I treat him with all the respect he deserves.

Two things.

A. Yikes.  Did not need that horrible mental image.

B. It's probably so small and probably retreated back up into Herr Orange's main body.  Or it detached itself and ran away on its own. 

[fraurosena]

7 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

Two things.

A. Yikes.  Did not need that horrible mental image.

B. It's probably so small and probably retreated back up into Herr Orange's main body.  Or it detached itself and ran away on its own. 

It's probably hiding in that thing glued down on his bald pate.. giving a whole new and quite literal meaning to the phrase "dickhead".

[GrumpyGran]

Ruh-row. He's not getting much support for his parade. Even Tom Cotton thinks it should be in the heartland where more Americans will have the opportunity to see it.

But Tom, how will he be able to force all of Congress and the SCOTUS and his whole staff to attend and applaud him if it's that far away from Washington? He don't want no parade in Omaha! He doesn't even know where that is! And Little Rock? Oh, no, he will never have a parade somewhere where things are little.

OTOH, maybe Tom can convince him to have it in Arkansas and they can rename it Tremendous Rock, Arkansas.

[GreyhoundFan]

4 hours ago, fraurosena said:

I think I'd like to be part of his 'executive time' tomorrow. I'll gladly stand in line and await my turn. I'll let him unzip his fly, and I'll kneel down before him... and clamp my teeth down hard over whatever's dangling out, shake my head from left to right with sharp movements, and spit it on the floor in front of him. I'll cover the bloody bits with my hobnailed shoe and squish them to pulp.

Then I'll look up to see how it feels when I treat him with all the respect he deserves.

You know...I believe Lorena Bobbitt still lives near DC. Maybe we can schedule some time for her to pay a visit to the Orange Menace...

 

The WaPo just published this developing story: "A second White House aide has resigned amid past domestic abuse allegations, which he denies"

Spoiler

The abrupt departure of speechwriter David Sorensen comes after his former wife claimed that he was violent and emotionally abusive during their turbulent two-and-a-half-year marriage — allegations that he vehemently denied. Rather, Sorensen said he was the victim of domestic violence in their marriage.

Sorensen’s resignation comes two days after another administration official, staff secretary Rob Porter, departed after two ex-wives said that he physically abused them.
This is a developing story. It will be updated.

 

[AnywhereButHere]

I’m looking for a news story but see nothing written yet. MSNBC’s Chris Matthews is reporting that, surprise surprise, the White House will not release the democrats’ memo. 

This morning it was on track for release, but he’s trying to sneak the reversal of opinion into a late Friday, Olympic busy news cycle, hoping that no one will notice.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/dem-fisa-memo-trump-today-2018-02-09-live-updates/

Edited because I found a post of the story.

[47of74]

Fuck that guy.  Seriously.  Fuck him.  He tripped over himself to release that piece of shit Nunes wrote but now a legitimate memo he refuses to release. 

[AuntK]

On 2/8/2018 at 8:59 PM, Howl said:

Lewandowsky and now Porter?  What the heck?  Is this like West Wing Peyton Place?

Yeah, I think Hope has some issues. Lewandowsky was married with a bunch of kids and Porter is a twice-divorced abuser, and then there's Donnie. Hope sure can pick 'em, can't she?

[fraurosena]

How to make money off of the presiduncey 101.

Developers Seek $6 Million Tax Break for Trump-Managed Hotel

Quote

As President Trump’s family business prepares to open a hotel in the Mississippi Delta this fall, its local development partners have asked the State of Mississippi to subsidize the project with up to $6 million in tax breaks, according to documents obtained through an open records request.

If approved, the benefits could offset nearly a third of the projected $20 million in costs for the hotel, which is owned by the local developers, Dinesh and Suresh Chawla.

The Chawla brothers are already financing the project through a bank loan, but Dinesh Chawla said in an email to The New York Times that the Mississippi tourism tax rebate would “improve our cash flow.” The Chawlas, who applied for the rebate in late December, are also planning to use city and county property tax abatements, records show.

The development in Cleveland, Miss., is expected to be the first in a new line of upscale hotels the Trump Organization is rolling out under the name Scion. The Trump Organization, which will brand and manage the Mississippi hotel, but not own it, did not respond to requests for comment.

Mr. Chawla, in the email, said that the Trump Organization played no role in the rebate application and that his company first considered applying for it in 2015, two years before he teamed up with the Trumps. He said the Trumps and the Chawlas had agreed that any rebate — which Mississippi offers in an effort to draw tourists — would not figure into fees paid to the Trumps.

Still, if the state approves the tax rebate for the Chawlas, it could indirectly, but personally, benefit the president, who owns the family business through a trust, an arrangement that raises some constitutional concerns, critics and legal experts say.

In lawsuits filed last year, a number of lawmakers, academics and state attorneys general contended that Mr. Trump was violating the Constitution’s emoluments clauses, which essentially prohibit the president from accepting certain gifts from foreign or domestic governments. A federal judge in New York dismissed one case, while a federal judge in Maryland signaled recently that he might allow another to proceed.

“The country’s founders included the emoluments clauses as a big bright-line rule,” said Jed Shugerman, a professor at the Fordham University School of Law who helped write a legal brief in support of the plaintiffs in the emoluments litigation. Assessing the Chawlas’ application, he argued that while some state incentives are allowable, “Mississippi has discretion to give the tax rebate, and if they do award it to this hotel, then they are likely giving Trump an emolument.”

In preparation for the same brief, John Mikhail at Georgetown University Law Center studied 40 dictionaries from the founding era and concluded that the term “emolument” was almost always defined more broadly than the Trump administration has interpreted it. Still, some legal experts argue that domestic emoluments are allowable so long as Mr. Trump does not earn them from his service as president.

“If you’re applying the original meaning of emolument, the Mississippi transaction you’re describing could reasonably be called one,” Mr. Mikhail said. “Whether or not it’s the precise kind of emolument prohibited by the Constitution is a more difficult question.”

Even without a legal problem, the rebate request demonstrates how the president’s sprawling business operation can intersect with state and local governments that rely on federal funding, creating a perception of potential conflicts of interest. Government officials from Florida to New Jersey have confronted the balancing act that comes from having a Trump property in their backyards.

When he became president, Mr. Trump decided not to sell off his assets, but he promised that new hotel branding or management projects would be subject to approval from an outside ethics adviser, Bobby Burchfield. In general, Mr. Burchfield is required to review transactions or contracts between the Trump Organization and local, state or federal agencies as well as certain deals with private entities, he has said. Because the Trump Organization itself did not request the Mississippi rebate and would receive no direct benefit from it, Mr. Burchfield said he is unlikely to scrutinize it.

The Chawla brothers, who are seeking the rebate from the Mississippi Development Authority, seemed confident that it would be approved. Although the authority is still reviewing the application, a business plan the Chawlas submitted to local officials in December stated that the hotel “utilizes local tax credits and the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) Tourism Tax Rebate program,” and that “our development team is securing final agreements.”

The executive director of the authority, Glenn McCullough Jr., has shown support for President Trump and is an appointee of the state’s Republican governor, Phil Bryant.

The partnership between the Chawlas and the Trumps materialized after Mr. Bryant, also a Trump supporter, introduced members of the two families during the presidential campaign.

In his email to The Times, Dinesh Chawla said political influence had not played a role in the development. “No contact with Governor Bryant or his executive staff has been made regarding the project, other than our general discussion about what the project contains,” he said. “The project is subject to review by financial auditors, construction supervisors, and it cannot be bypassed by executive staff, nor the Governor to my knowledge.”

Clay Chandler, a spokesman for Mr. Bryant, said the Chawlas had followed the same procedure as other applicants for the tax rebate.

“Mr. Chawla’s project has been in the works since before the presidential election,” he said. “State law guides the application process, and state law alone will determine if any application is approved.”

Mr. Bryant had ties to the Chawlas before the election, having honored their father, V. K. Chawla for his contributions to state tourism. And he called their family after their father’s death in 2015, the Chawlas’ corporate website said. That year, Suresh Chawla wrote an article that appeared in local newspapers about how his father, an Indian immigrant, had sought and received business advice from Mr. Trump decades earlier.

Mr. Bryant saw the article and invited Suresh Chawla to attend a campaign event in Jackson, Miss. in August 2016, where the governor introduced Mr. Chawla to Mr. Trump, according to the Mississippi Business Journal.

After Mr. Trump took office, executives from the Trump Organization reached out to the Chawlas about teaming up.

At the time, the Trump Organization, known for five-star luxury properties bearing the Trump name, was beginning a new line of four-star hotels called Scion Hotels and Resorts and a budget-friendly chain called American Idea hotels. The Trump name will not appear on these hotels.

The Chawlas, who own 17 hotels in the Mississippi Delta, including Comfort Inns and Hampton Inns, agreed to brand their new Cleveland project, which was already under construction, the Scion West End. They also agreed to convert three of their existing hotels into American Idea properties.

On Dec. 28, the Chawlas submitted the tax rebate application for the Cleveland hotel with the Mississippi Development Authority, according to a redacted partial copy of the application obtained through the records request. The Trump name was not mentioned anywhere in the application, an agency spokesman said.

The tourism program, according to the agency, is set up to allow a developer to recoup some of the sales taxes collected on a property to “reimburse the applicant for eligible costs incurred during the project’s construction.” The agency said 23 tourism rebate applications had been approved under the program, including 10 for hotels.

A rebate for the Chawlas would be capped at 30 percent of the projected $20 million in eligible costs, or about $6 million, their application said.

The Chawlas estimated that the project would draw tens of thousands of visitors, including many from out of state, and that it would eventually create more than 100 jobs, the application said.

Dinesh Chawla said in the email to The Times that he was “working very hard and ethically to create jobs, tourism opportunities, and a chance to showcase our Delta culture in food, music and the arts to the whole world.”

Plans call for a 96-room boutique hotel as part of a complex that includes eight buildings. There would be two restaurants, as well as a meeting and event center and a spa, according to a copy of the business plan, which was obtained through a public records request. The hotel rooms are expected to cost between $145 and $185 a night, though the Chawlas have not finished setting the rates.

“We are inviting the world to the Mississippi Delta,” the Chawlas wrote in the business plan.

 

[Howl]

12 hours ago, AnywhereButHere said:

This morning it was on track for release, but he’s trying to sneak the reversal of opinion into a late Friday, Olympic busy news cycle, hoping that no one will notice

Yesterday (Friday) was truly Olympian in the West Wing Olympics.  There was pairs skating (Hope and Porter),  free-style moguls skiing (hitting a bazillion bumps and then launching into the air and twirling around trying to explain why John Kelly knew Porter was a security risk for MONTHS and did nothing), and curling.  Have you ever watched curling?  I stumbled across curling on TV, and it's um, arcane. I have a sense it's a lot like the legislative process at times.  You can use a cat in place of a curling rock and it makes just as much sense.

Anyway, in unofficial events there was the usual Friday afternoon break for recreational back stabbing among WH staff & aides with resultant leakage to well-placed journalists, probably using some encrypted social media app.  Yes, our WH continues to leak like a screen-door on a submarine. If it's a really busy day, I envision leakers having to take a number, and wait for their favorite  journalist to get back to them.  The beatings will continue until morale improves. 

And Thank Rufus, there's Andy Borowitz to put Trump's response to news of Porter's ill treatment of his ex wives in perspective in a way that is utterly hilarious and desperately grim. I really wish we had a laughing/crying emoji, like the comedy/drama masks. 

Trump Gives Wife Beater Praise He Usually Reserves for Child Molesters and Nazis

Spoiler

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—In comments to reporters at the White House on Friday, Donald J. Trump stirred controversy by lavishing an alleged wife beater with praise that he historically has reserved for child molesters and Nazis.

Reporters who heard the President’s comments were taken aback since, in the past, the President had given no indication that he held wife beaters in the same high esteem in which he holds supporters of child abuse and white supremacy.

“We knew that President Trump considered child molesters and Nazis very fine people, but this was the first time he had put wife beaters up there, too,” Tracy Klugian, a member of the White House press corps, said. “We wanted clarification as to whether he considered wife beaters as fine as those other two groups, or finer.”

John Kelly, the White House chief of staff, accused reporters of attempting to drive a wedge between three of the President’s most cherished constituencies.

“Donald Trump has made it very clear that he can be the champion of wife beaters, child molesters, and Nazis at the same time,” Kelly said. “He doesn’t play favorites.”

 

[Tikobaby]

18 minutes ago, Howl said:

Yesterday (Friday) was truly Olympian in the West Wing Olympics.  There was pairs skating (Hope and Porter),  free-style moguls skiing (hitting a bazillion bumps and then launching into the air and twirling around trying to explain why John Kelly knew Porter was a security risk for MONTHS and did nothing), and curling.  Have you ever watched curling?  I stumbled across curling on TV, and it's um, arcane. I have a sense it's a lot like the legislative process at times.  You can use a cat in place of a curling rock and it makes just as much sense.

 

We always call curling "Mops & Pots"....as in, "Honey, they're doing Mops & Pots, come and watch with me!"   Love the vid, by the way.

[fraurosena]

And precisely what shall be done about this? Yup, you guessed it. Nothing. Nothing at all.

Unless you guys all go out and vote in droves, this kind of thing will go on, and on, and on, until the US is nothing but a two-bit banana republic.

[47of74]

Damn, he guessed it.

Quote

Appearing on Breitbart Radio on Monday morning, a reporter for the conservative website defended an article he wrote that posits that “feminists” are turning to witchcraft to combat President Donald Trump.

Using the Twitter hashtag #MagicResistance, tech writer Charlie Nash told Breitbart editor-in-chief Alex Marlow in all seriousness that feminism and witchcraft have become “increasingly entwined,” reports Right Wing Watch.

According to Nash’s post at Breitbart, he discovered an article at The Baffler that suggested a rise in women becoming witches, with Nash writing, “Though a large percentage of ‘feminist witches’ undoubtedly limit themselves to the aesthetic alone, an increase in political mass hexes shows a portion of the movement delves deeper.”

Speaking with Marlow, Nash claimed, “You’ve got the basic things like the Etsy stores, the Witchsy stores, where they link feminist issues with witchcraft and Wicca and there’s other kind of occult symbols, but then you also have these groups of people who are actually trying to hex the president.”

No, dipshit.  We haven't hexed the Orange Fornicate.  He's doing this all to himself. 

[fraurosena]

1 minute ago, 47of74 said:

Damn, he guessed it.

No, dipshit.  We haven't hexed the Orange Fornicate.  He's doing this all to himself. 

Rampaging Rufus!  Next thing we know there'll be modern day Salem witch hunts. 

[fraurosena]

Proper form:

- no longer than one page

- no more than 9 (nine) bullet points, in large font

- must include colorful graphs, pictures and charts

 - must include at least 7 (seven) references to TRUMP name

- to be read out loud in the Oval Office

- reading must not exceed 5 minutes 

[47of74]

Now fuckstain is whining that his buddies weren't given due process.

Quote

Trump's comments come in the wake of former White House staff secretary Rob Porter resigning Wednesday after his two ex-wives came forward with allegations that he abused them physically and emotionally during their marriages.

The president on Friday praised Porter, saying he hopes the former aide has a "great career ahead of him." He also said Porter did a "very good job" during his time in the White House and highlighted that Porter "says he's innocent."

Critics of the president noted that Trump failed to mention either of Porter's alleged victims in his statement. One of Porter's ex-wives provided media outlets with photos of herself with bruises she said were inflicted by Porter.

The Washington Post reported Friday that White House speechwriter David Sorensen had also resigned after his former wife claimed he was violent and emotionally abusive during their marriage. Sorensen denied the allegations, saying he was the abuse victim.

 

[47of74]

And here's a man after my own heart...

 

[onekidanddone]

58 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

And here's a man after my own heart...

 

And fuck:

• Scott Pruitt. 
• President Stephen Miller
• Ben Carson
• Sean Hannity
• fuck infinity

[Destiny]

Damn, he guessed it.

Appearing on Breitbart Radio on Monday morning, a reporter for the conservative website defended an article he wrote that posits that “feminists” are turning to witchcraft to combat President Donald Trump.
Using the Twitter hashtag #MagicResistance, tech writer Charlie Nash told Breitbart editor-in-chief Alex Marlow in all seriousness that feminism and witchcraft have become “increasingly entwined,” reports Right Wing Watch.
According to Nash’s post at Breitbart, he discovered an article at The Baffler that suggested a rise in women becoming witches, with Nash writing, “Though a large percentage of ‘feminist witches’ undoubtedly limit themselves to the aesthetic alone, an increase in political mass hexes shows a portion of the movement delves deeper.”
Speaking with Marlow, Nash claimed, “You’ve got the basic things like the Etsy stores, the Witchsy stores, where they link feminist issues with witchcraft and Wicca and there’s other kind of occult symbols, but then you also have these groups of people who are actually trying to hex the president.”

No, dipshit.  We haven't hexed the Orange Fornicate.  He's doing this all to himself. 

Uh. As a pagan myself: ....WHAT? There’s so much wrong with that I can’t even list it all. Wonder what he would make with the mister who actually considers himself a witch?

[onekidanddone]

10 minutes ago, Destiny said:

No, dipshit.  We haven't hexed the Orange Fornicate.  He's doing this all to himself. 

Uh. As a pagan myself: ....WHAT? There’s so much wrong with that I can’t even list it all. Wonder what he would make with the mister who actually considers himself a witch?

My husband is Wiccan and I'm an atheist Jew, so I suppose we are the most evil ever.

[Audrey2]

41 minutes ago, onekidanddone said:

And fuck:

• Scott Pruitt. 
• President Stephen Miller
• Ben Carson
• Sean Hannity
• fuck infinity

Please add Ryan Zeinke, who's destroying our parks and monuments. 

[Cartmann99]

17 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

You know...I believe Lorena Bobbitt still lives near DC. Maybe we can schedule some time for her to pay a visit to the Orange Menace...

*put on bifocals* You know that some of our younger FJ friends probably had to do a Google search when they read that... 

I don't know who most of the people are on the covers of the tabloids at the grocery store, so I guess it all works out in the end.