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

[GrumpyGran]

13 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

My parents had the radio on for lunch when fuck face came on to spout off.

I actually said out loud I don't want to hear that orange fuck in front of my parents as I walked out of the kitchen. 

 

I know they're so proud! 

[JMarie]

2 hours ago, Audrey2 said:

Valentine's Day is a pretty sucky holiday when you hate your spouse (or when you've got an eye on Mrs. Trump 4.0 while still married to 3.0).

Yeah, but do ALL the Trumps hate their significant others?  People spend money on Valentine's Day, and we all know the Trumps are all about money.  You'd think they'd want to emphasize it.

[onekidanddone]

21 minutes ago, JMarie said:

Yeah, but do ALL the Trumps hate their significant others?  People spend money on Valentine's Day, and we all know the Trumps are all about money.  You'd think they'd want to emphasize it.

They are all such loathsome low lives I think they all hate each other and are only together for personal gain. As in the time of Cesar, they would pour arsenic in each other's glass of Trump wine if they thought they would get away with it.

[GrumpyGran]

He was apparently going to have a rally in Orlando tomorrow, on the way to Mar A Lago, I guess. Canceled. He will probably go to the scene on Saturday, or maybe on the way tomorrow. And he had another rally(ffs) scheduled in PA next week, has also canceled that. So he's not a happy camper.

Is it Kelly who tells him he can't have a rally after school children have been shot? Yeah, considering it was the rhetoric of his rallies that was fueling this guy, that would be a particularly bad optic.

[onekidanddone]

2 hours ago, GrumpyGran said:

He was apparently going to have a rally in Orlando tomorrow, on the way to Mar A Lago, I guess. Canceled. He will probably go to the scene on Saturday, or maybe on the way tomorrow. And he had another rally(ffs) scheduled in PA next week, has also canceled that. So he's not a happy camper.

Is it Kelly who tells him he can't have a rally after school children have been shot? Yeah, considering it was the rhetoric of his rallies that was fueling this guy, that would be a particularly bad optic.

Yea, just like him to bring the attention around to himself. Use the deaths of beautiful children to have a pity party because he can't have a Klan Nazi cross burning campaign rally.  I'm wondering if the rally in PA was for the special election.  @GrumpyGran how did you find out his love fests were nixed?

[GreyhoundFan]

Gee, I could have told them this more than two years ago: "Economists Beginning to Worry Trump Might Nuke the Economy After All"

Spoiler

When Donald Trump was running for president, he routinely bragged about being the “King of Debt.” “I’m great with debt,” he told Norah O’Donnell in a June 2016 interview. “Nobody knows debt better than me. I’ve made a fortune by using debt, and if things don’t work out I renegotiate the debt. I mean, that’s a smart thing, not a stupid thing.” Armed with this vast professional experience, Trump declared that as president he’d be better than anyone at fixing America’s debt and deficit problems, even insisting, incredibly, that over a period of eight years he would make America debt-free, a feat not accomplished since 1835. Of course, as everyone but the president seems to understand, screwing over your creditors isn’t something you can do as a head of state, nor is the United States government some seedy Atlantic City casino you can refinance—a fact that economists have been at pains to drive home since the president embarked on his massive spending spree.

“My view is that this fiscal expansion is probably the most foolhardy escapade in modern economic policy history,” Albert Edwards, a global strategist at Société Générale wrote in a report to clients on Wednesday. Noting that the timing of Trump’s giant fiscal stimulus was “utterly ridiculous” considering the strength of the economy, Edwards warned that Trump’s yuge tax cuts, plus a $300 billion spending package, plus a proposed $200 billion infrastructure plan “will only accelerate the collapse of U.S. financial markets as the Federal Reserve hikes rates even more quickly. . . . The post-mortem will identify President Trump’s ludicrously timed fiscal stimulus as a key trigger for the collapse.”

The ludicrous timing is the crux of the problem. As my colleague William D. Cohan notes, there’s only so much gasoline you can pour on a white-hot economy before it overheats. Last week’s market correction was primarily the result of fears that the Federal Reserve will respond to rising inflation by hiking interest rates and slamming the brakes on the whole shebang, kicking off a potential Twitter war between Trump and new Fed chair Jerome Powell in the process. That’s a dangerous position to be in when you’re already in a nearly decade-long expansion cycle. When the economy inevitably slows (which, memo to the president, is how business cycles tend to work), the debt problem gets even worse.

Even the ultra conservative Heritage Foundation is horrified by the pace at which Trump is spending money. “It fails as sound fiscal policy,” senior policy analyst Justin Bogie commented this week before reminding his audience that the guy who in their mind was Satan with a black card wouldn’t even be so rash. “This proposal would add an additional $7 trillion to the national debt,” he said, “something not even a big spender like President Obama ever proposed.” Panning the Trump University-level thinking at play, Pantheon Macroeconomics economist Ian Shepherdson added on Thursday that “This is the dumbest thing the U.S. could possibly do.”

 

[Cartmann99]

Golly gee, aren't rabid Trump fans supposed to be magically protected from the pain of his budget cuts? 

As the article noted, Ms. Daniels doesn't have a DNA sample from Trump to compare it to, but I dearly love watching folks like Franklin Graham and Mike Huckabee trying to tap dance this scandal away. 

[GreyhoundFan]

"Trump inaugural committee directed $26 million for event production to firm connected to Melania Trump adviser"

Spoiler

President Trump’s inaugural committee paid $26 million for event production services to a firm connected to a friend of first lady Melania Trump, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, who serves as a volunteer adviser in the East Wing, according to officials and newly released tax filings.

The firm passed along the vast majority of the funds — $24 million — to other vendors who provided entertainment, staffing and other services, according to a committee document detailing the spending. Wolkoff, who employed about a dozen staff members for the event, retained $1.62 million for consulting and executive production, according to a person familiar with the arrangement.

The payments that flowed to Wolkoff represented a quarter of the $104 million spent by the inaugural committee, a nonprofit group that raised $107 million from wealthy donors and corporations to celebrate Trump’s inauguration.

The revelation that Wolkoff controlled such large sums for the event raised eyebrows among some White House officials, who described her East Wing status as unusual.

Wolkoff has a pass that allows her access to the White House grounds, but lives in New York and travels to Washington every few weeks for meetings, according to two White House officials.

Stephanie Grisham, a spokeswoman for the first lady, said Wolkoff has never received a government salary and is considered “a special government employee.”

“Simply put, Stephanie Winston Wolkoff is a contracted volunteer with the Office of the First Lady and has specified duties as outlined in her contract,” Grisham said. 

Wolkoff did not return calls seeking comment.

Wolkoff was tapped to manage the inaugural event production by the committee chairman, Thomas J. Barrack Jr., a close friend of President Trump who was familiar with work she has done in New York, according to a spokesman for Barrack.

In a statement, Barrack said that the committee put on more than 20 events that were “executed in elegance and seamless excellence.”  

The inaugural committee’s tax filings, which were first reported by the New York Times, show that it paid $26 million to WIS Media Partners, a company established in California in December 2016. Corporate filings do not mention Wolkoff, but an individual familiar with the firm said she is connected to it.  

Wolkoff is a well-known figure in New York fashion, charity and event-planning circles. She was an events planner for Vogue magazine, where she was close to editor in chief Anna Wintour. Wolkoff also helped stage the Met Gala, one of Manhattan’s premier events.  

As Wintour’s right-hand woman in the events department, Wolkoff earned a reputation for being organized, disciplined and hard-working. In her role in planning the Met Gala, she oversaw the evening’s seating — complete with its hierarchies and personalities — and helped managed the egos of the A-list guest list.

Wolkoff has been friends for two decades with Melania Trump, who hired her as a White House adviser as she made the transition from New York socialite to first lady. In 2013, Melania Trump tweeted birthday wishes to Wolkoff, complete with a heart emoji. 

In a pre-inaugural New York Times story, Melania Trump said she was enamored of Wolkoff’s “impressive work ethic” and that “she has a way of connecting with people — motivating them to get the job done in the best way possible.”

Along with the payments to Wolkoff’s company, the inaugural committee also paid $25 million to another event company, Hargrove Inc. of Maryland. 

Tax filings showed that the committee contributed $5 million to charitable causes, including $1 million each to the American Red Cross, Samaritan’s Purse, the White House Historical Society and the Salvation Army, $750,000 to the Vice President’s residence, and $250,000 to the Smithsonian Institution. The committee , which has $2.7 million in cash on hand, said that it plans to contribute more if funds are available after paying its expenses. 

More money going to friends of the family.

[GrumpyGran]

Danger ahead for him today. The good people of Parkland will be gracious but they aren't happy and he's not the guy who says what they want to hear right now. I wonder what type of press coverage we will see on this.

They'd be smart to just let Melania go. They could say he has the flu. 

[onekidanddone]

1 hour ago, GrumpyGran said:

Danger ahead for him today. The good people of Parkland will be gracious but they aren't happy and he's not the guy who says what they want to hear right now. I wonder what type of press coverage we will see on this.

They'd be smart to just let Melania go. They could say he has the flu. 

I don't hold out much hope he will see any negative response from the people of Parkland. A few hand picked people for his 'speech' and that will be that.  Anybody who is not 100% TD won't be allowed anyplace near him. If I could I be there with a sign telling him the blood of dead children are on his hands.

[IrishCarrie]

OK, heres my conspiracy theory about the $26million that went to Melania's "friend"...It's a payoff to Melania herself and is her price for staying in the marriage until he's out of office!

This is total 100% speculation based on no evidence whatsoever - just in case the magazines are doing their usual trawl of FJ for gossip :-) 

[onekidanddone]

Do any of these vile people read their Twitter? Do they even write their own Tweets (except for Trump, yea he writes them). I'm talking about  Hannity, Ann Coulter, Kellyanne and all the blond clones. Does Paul Ryan, Alex Jones, McTurttle . ... Do any of them read the responses? Because the majority of them are not supportive.   The majority of them call out these fuck sticks for what t hey are. Treasonous Aryan Nation scum. Do our responses matter at all? Especially to the people on the Hill? Are we yelling to into an echo chamber? Do they care? No, I know they don't care. One after another of these dead children just come coming and they feed on it. I swear, they seem to enjoy this.

I feel broken. My kid just walked in the door and I want to go grab her, hold her and never let go. I opened the door after she walked out and locked it on her way to school.  I  yelled down the the hall of our apartment building that I loved her.  She rolled her eyes and kept on walking. 

Does anything we do matter? How will things get better when Fox Spews has taken over the narrative? When the more Muller uncovers the deeper they did in and spread the hate and lies? 

[GreyhoundFan]

Because he's an idiot: "Why is it so hard for Trump to say that evil things are evil?"

Spoiler

“It almost wouldn’t even have to be said.”

That’s how President Trump characterized his views on domestic violence Wednesday. This was a week after photographs of a woman allegedly beaten by a senior White House aide became public.

It was days after a second White House aide resigned, also following allegations of domestic abuse.

In the meantime, the president spoke and tweeted words of sympathy for accused abusers but not their victims. He passed up repeated opportunities to issue even the most anodyne condemnation of wife-beating, even as his fans on “Fox & Friends” urged him to do so, and his advisers went on Sunday shows claiming this was obviously his position.

Finally the remark that needn’t be said was said.

“I’m totally opposed to domestic violence of any kind,” Trump at last told reporters. “Everyone knows that. And it almost wouldn’t even have to be said. So, now you hear it, but you all know.”

No, Mr. President: Truly, we don’t.

In any other administration, Trump would have been correct. It wouldn’t need to be said that the president opposed domestic abuse. It would be taken for granted that the president wouldn’t harbor accused wife-beaters. That he wouldn’t consider promoting such a person. And he and his staff certainly wouldn’t allow that person, unable to get a permanent security clearance, near classified materials.

It would all have gone without saying. 

But not in this administration, and not with this president, whose knee-jerk reaction has been to defend men accused of harassing and assaulting women and to smear their accusers — including some who were minors at the time of the alleged abuse.  

You can understand why the public might be confused about where the president stands, on this and on so many other issues that would normally be unambiguous.

In another time, in another administration, it wouldn’t have to be said that Nazis are bad people. It’s an easy layup: How do you feel about Nazis? Why, I’m not a fan — that almost goes without saying!

Again, almost. 

An easy condemnation of neo-Nazis somehow eluded the president last August, after one of them allegedly mowed down a peaceful protester in Charlottesville. Instead, Trump described the torch-bearing, “Jews will not replace us”-chanting attendees at the far-right rally as among the “very fine people on both sides”; he criticized “hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides.” Meanwhile, his aides and surrogates assured the public that, honestly, Trump did dislike Nazis.

Again, in any other administration, this would have gone without saying; in this one, it needed to be asserted.

Likewise, normally it would also go without saying that members of the president’s Cabinet shouldn’t bill taxpayers thousands of dollars for a spouse’s European vacation and doctor emails to get ethics officials to sign off on the expense. It would go without saying that members of the president’s Cabinet ought not ask taxpayers to pay for a $1,600, hour-long first-class flight from Washington to New York, or tens of thousands of dollars for flights on private and military jets. 

But in this administration, apparently, it’s not assumed that such behavior is inappropriate. No, it needs to be spelled out. Because absent any public scolding, the default assumption among Trump officials might be to shake down taxpayers for as much as they can. 

Finally, you might believe it wouldn’t even have to be said that this country — where there are more licensed firearms dealers than there are Starbucks on Earth — has a gun problem. 

It almost needn’t be stated aloud that a teenager who has exhibited signs of emotional disturbance, who has been expelled from school, who was reported to the FBI after boasting on YouTube that he planned to become a “professional school shooter” should not be able to legally buy an AR-15 assault-style rifle.

If you ask Americans about gun laws, they will overwhelmingly agree that there are some gun-control measures that, it almost needn’t be said, are worth pursuing. Measures such as barring sales of firearms to those with mental illness, requiring gun licenses, having universal background checks, banning the sale and ownership of all semiautomatic and automatic firearms.

It almost wouldn’t even have to be said that, after such a tragedy, our president wants to rethink our nation’s gun policies.

It almost wouldn’t even have to be said, and it wasn’t. 

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"New Yorker: Ex-Playmate alleges Trump system for covering up affairs"

Spoiler

Washington (CNN)A former Playboy model who claims she had an affair with Donald Trump beginning in 2006 is going public with a description of Trump's alleged system for concealing affairs.

In an eight-page, handwritten document that The New Yorker obtained, Karen McDougal detailed her alleged affair with Trump for nine months from June 2006 to April 2007, when Trump was two years into his marriage with Melania Trump, the future first lady. The document was provided to The New Yorker by McDougal's friend, but she confirmed to the magazine that the handwriting in the document is hers.

The magazine's story was published on Friday.

The document describes how Trump allegedly carried out his affair with McDougal -- paying for dinner in a private bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel, offering her money after the first time they had sex and reimbursing her for travel.

"No paper trails for him," McDougal wrote, according to The New Yorker.

A White House spokesperson denied the affair in a statement to the magazine.

"This is an old story that is just more fake news. The President says he never had a relationship with McDougal," the spokesperson said.

Trump also made comments McDougal found disrespectful, including calling her mother, who was close to Trump's age, an "old hag," and a lewd, stereotypical reference to black men's genitals, The New Yorker reported, citing multiple sources.

After ending the affair, McDougal signed a limited life-story rights agreement in August 2016, granting American Media, Inc., the publisher of the National Enquirer -- an outlet that's published material favorable to Trump -- exclusive ownership of her story for $150,000.

However, the company -- run by David Pecker, a friend of Trump's -- never ran her story and, according to The New Yorker, instead used the purchase to kill the piece. The company told the magazine it did not print it because it did not find McDougal's story to be credible.

Jerry George, a former senior editor for American Media, Inc., told The New Yorker that Pecker routinely buys and kills stories, and also protects Trump, who he considers a friend.

"We never printed a word about Trump without his approval," George told The New Yorker.

The company, according to the report, also agreed to publish regular columns by McDougal on aging and wellness, and to "prominently feature" her on two magazine covers.

McDougal told the The New Yorker she regretted signing the contract.

"It took my rights away," McDougal said. "At this point I feel I can't talk about anything without getting into trouble, because I don't know what I'm allowed to talk about. I'm afraid to even mention his name."

McDougal told the magazine she hopes speaking out would convince others to avoid signing similar agreements.

According to the magazine, McDougal, a Republican, was at first reluctant to speak about her alleged affair during the presidential campaign, fearing that Trump supporters might accuse her of fabricating her account or harming her or her family. She told The New Yorker she wanted to avoid "(influencing) anybody's election" or receiving "death threats on my head."

The Wall Street Journal, however, did publish a story about the alleged affair and the arrangement with the National Enquirer days before the 2016 election.

The story's publication comes after Trump's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, said he paid $130,000 to Stephanie Clifford, a porn star who goes by the name Stormy Daniels, ahead of the 2016 election. Clifford allegedly had a sexual encounter with the President before his time in office, though Cohen said Trump "vehemently denies" any encounter between the two.

Like McDougal, Clifford was barred from telling her story but because she signed a non-disclosure agreement. A manager for Clifford has claimed the agreement is no longer valid because of Cohen's disclosure about the payment.

Clifford's attorney, Keith Davidson, was also retained by McDougal to negotiate her deal with AMI, though he no longer represents McDougal.

Trump has previously faced accusations of having several extramarital affairs before he was elected President. He has also been accused by at least 15 women of a wide range of sexual misconduct accusations, including sexual assault, sexual harassment and lewd behavior. Trump has denied the allegations and at one point threatened to sue his accusers, though he has yet to do so.

Okay, I got a good giggle out of the fact that the National Enquirer is run by a guy whose last name is Pecker. How apropos.

[Howl]

Holy crap.  I'm off of politics for a few days and find out that there is a second woman alleging a months-long affair with Trump, two years into his marriage with Melaia.  During the Clinton era these situations were referred to as bimbo eruptions.

A WH spokesliar claims these are old allegations with no basis in fact, except unfortunately a live woman is claiming that it's true and Meliania is traveling solo yet again.  She has to do this (travel solo) because something, something, something...her schedule.

[onekidanddone]

42 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

However, the company -- run by David Pecker, a friend of Trump's -- never ran her story and, according to The New Yorker, instead used the purchase to kill the piece. The company told the magazine it did not print it because it did not find McDougal's story to be credible.

Kind of like Anthony Wiener 

7 minutes ago, Howl said:

A WH spokesliar claims these are old allegations with no basis in fact, except unfortunately a live woman is claiming that it's true and Meliania is traveling solo yet again.  She has to do this (travel solo) because something, something, something...her schedule.

You mean she didn't go to Florida with him for his vacation, golf game, working weekend? 

[Cartmann99]

I think they were fighting on the plane to Florida. Watch Trump's face as he shoves Melania. 

 

[Threff]

48 minutes ago, Cartmann99 said:

I think they were fighting on the plane to Florida. Watch Trump's face as he shoves Melania. 

 

For anyone who has ever been in an abusive relationship, either with parents, or spouse, or whoever, that is a devastatingly horribly familiar watch. I can’t even....

[AmazonGrace]

I can't even can't even.

[Ali]

5 hours ago, AmazonGrace said:

I can't even can't even.

Is the choice of color for Melania's dress bothering anyone else? Wearing white while visiting people after a tragedy seems wrong to me. I know white is a funeral color in some cultures, but that is not the case in the United States. How about a gray or black or navy blue dress?

[PsyD2013]

Trump believes the students "could have done more" to prevent the shooting.  https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/5593841/donald-trump-appears-blame-florida-shooting-victims/

Adolescents are not going to report own of their own again and again and again until someone hears them.   I've asked both my son and his friends  if they would ever turn someone in who brought a weapon or drugs to school.  The answer is always no, because you don't narc on other students, because the personal fallout would be dangerous.   

The fucking Yam goes on and on about mental health services, yet his buget cuts affect the availabity of counselors and school psychologists in the schools.  Health insurance does not mean mental health services are affordable.  

[Rosalie]

1 hour ago, Ali said:

Is the choice of color for Melania's dress bothering anyone else? Wearing white while visiting people after a tragedy seems wrong to me. I know white is a funeral color in some cultures, but that is not the case in the United States. How about a gray or black or navy blue dress?

Yep. She has either really poor advisors, or she doesn’t listen to advisors at all, and have really poor fashion sense.

[GrumpyGran]

1 hour ago, Rosalie said:

Yep. She has either really poor advisors, or she doesn’t listen to advisors at all, and have really poor fashion sense.

Yes, going to her thread to discuss.

[onekidanddone]

10 hours ago, Threff said:

For anyone who has ever been in an abusive relationship, either with parents, or spouse, or whoever, that is a devastatingly horribly familiar watch. I can’t even....

Hell no that was no accident. He knew exactly what he was doing. Making look sublet enough so the untrained eye would miss it. At the same time driving home the point to her "I'm in control. You are powerless. I'll get you harder next time".

The only other viable answer is that his gait is compromised. We know he says he doesn't drink, so, and this is just wild speculation here, it could be yet another sign of cognitive impairment. My grandmother who and Alzheimer's swayed like that. Yea, but no. I still think he was shoving her.

She knew what she was getting when she married him. He cheated on wife one with wife two with her. His abusive out bursts were already well known, and did she think it would be different with her? Maybe she knew all that, but wanted that life style anyway.  Maybe she sold her soul to be able to stay in The States.