President Cheeto 8: Our Long National Nightmare Begins

[CTRLZero]

In an effort to get away from thoughts of the inauguration, I took a long walk.  I was tempted to get a beer, but the local taverns were all tuned in so I just sped on by.  Unfortunately, in walking past a local christian college, it was being loudly broadcast and I caught the part about "God" and "complainers".  Then I really  needed a drink...

Still hope to make it to the local march tomorrow.  I need some positive energy.

[Jucifer]

Looking ahead- and I really don't want to- what a fucking mess the next president will inherit. 

All the things that Trump dismantles will have to be put back together, starting from scratch. That's going to be a big job, and a thankless one too. If a democrat wins (I think the chances are good, O hear me lord) he or she will get the republicans' blame for the previous president's shitshow.  (See Bush jr/Obama).

I literally cannot look at pictures or video of Cheeto without feeling sick to my stomach. 

[JMarie]

1 hour ago, Audrey2 said:

Whenever I see people complaining about immigrants, I always want to ask them which tribe they belong to. I'm very proud to be a descendant of immigrants. My mother's people arrived in the 1690's, with the rest arriving in the 1810's and around 1870. My Dad's people started arriving around the time of the Revolutionary War, when my ancestor deserted from the British, and the rest came from Germany and Switzerland in the 1850's. Although my roots are completely Caucasian, I recognize that we took the land from the Native Americans. Trump supporters seem to follow the old saying, "An immigrant is anyone who comes here after I did.".

With that rationale, Melania* would be considered an (job stealing, welfare abusing, violent) immigrant.

*sorry, I can't refer to her as FLOTUS

[Jucifer]

1 hour ago, Audrey2 said:

Whenever I see people complaining about immigrants, I always want to ask them which tribe they belong to. I'm very proud to be a descendant of immigrants. My mother's people arrived in the 1690's, with the rest arriving in the 1810's and around 1870. My Dad's people started arriving around the time of the Revolutionary War, when my ancestor deserted from the British, and the rest came from Germany and Switzerland in the 1850's. Although my roots are completely Caucasian, I recognize that we took the land from the Native Americans. Trump supporters seem to follow the old saying, "An immigrant is anyone who comes here after I did.".

So true.

It made me think of this video of a native American confronting  anti-illegal immigration protestors.

 

[47of74]

And I see the giant orange tape worm was passing off President Obama's 2009 inaguration photo as his own;

Quote

As part of the peaceful transition of power, Donald Trump took over the @POTUS account on Twitter. (Barack Obama can now be found at @POTUS44.) He hasn’t tweeted anything yet, but people are already noticing something funny about the account. The cover photo — a shot of a crowd of people on that National Mall waving American flags — is actually from 2009. Meaning, of course, the photo is from Obama’s inauguration and not Trump’s.

Update: The account has since been updated and the cover photo is now an American flag.

Here's a tweet of the original image

Yeah, nothing new here.  He's a big a liar now as he was before.

[Black Aliss]

8 hours ago, louisa05 said:

Okay, because it makes me feel better, I am going to take a moment to be catty. 

They both look terrible. He always looks terrible. But she rose to the occasion to look terrible with him this morning. That dress is a mess and looks like it doesn't fit properly. And the baby blue color is not flattering or appropriate to the season or occasion. And the not long, not 3/4 sleeve with the matching gloves? Yuck. And the matching shoes? No. Just no. Way too much matchy matching going on. But we are going to have to listen to nonsense about her wonderful fashion. No. Sorry. Shut up. 

And, as usual, his clothing is wrinkled and doesn't fit properly. His pants are actually too short. And Mr. LookAtMyMoney can't afford better shoes? At least shine them up, doofus. 

 

At least she did something with her hair instead of it hanging down her chest all scraggly, as usual. According to one news report she was going for a Jackie Kennedy homage. Apparently she considers Jackie to be her role model for FLOTUS. I suspect historians will find many, many parallels  between the two.

And just what is up with those extra-long ties, and him never buttoning his suit coat. Is the tie supposed to be calling attention to his dick, or what? Steve Maxwell, does this count as defrauding even though Agent Orange is repulsive as hell to anyone who is not a 24 karat golddigger?

[47of74]

8 minutes ago, Black Aliss said:

And just what is up with those extra-long ties, and him never buttoning his suit coat. Is the tie supposed to be calling attention to his dick, or what? Steve Maxwell, does this count as defrauding even though Agent Orange is repulsive as hell to anyone who is not a 24 karat golddigger?

I'm guessing an extra long tie for an extra small dick.

 

[Black Aliss]

4 hours ago, NCLunaLovegoodFan said:

Trump looks miserable at the congressional luncheon. Well, you're the president now. Get used to these long ceremonial events. 

I'm sure he didn't care for the food. His butler said in an interview that he will only eat beef that is so well-done that it rocks on the plate.

[candygirl200413]

My dad showed me a picture and thought his hair looked a little too processed and I agreed!

My family today has had a no Trump playing and marathoning tiny house nation was definitely the move. I've been packing all day and driving down tonight for the March with one of my oldest friends mom's. My sign is ready to go as well and with a rather warm Saturday I'm excited!

 

Also I'm completely tired with so many people telling others to get behind our President. Whatever happened to respected is earned?!

[Jucifer]

17 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

And I see the giant orange tape worm was passing off President Obama's 2009 inaguration photo as his own;

Here's a tweet of the original image

Yeah, nothing new here.  He's a big a liar now as he was before.

The image is so cropped, I think it could be chalked up to laziness too. 

I remember when photoshop started and later, clips from old movies with Fred Astaire and Marilyn Monroe were integrated into commercials selling vacuum cleaners (I think). 

I remember saying to my husband, "What if the nazis had this technology, the ability to rewrite history?"

I know it's lazy to use a Hitler reference but it seems to fit. 

[Audrey2]

15 minutes ago, Black Aliss said:

I'm sure he didn't care for the food. His butler said in an interview that he will only eat beef that is so well-done that it rocks on the plate.

Wait until he has to go to other countries and eat their food!

 

Yes, despite what some want you to believe, sometimes presidents do travel abroad on the country's business.

[Palimpsest]

Well, a large contingent is setting off from here for more non-violent protests in Washington. Still more are non-violently protesting locally.  Thanks to all.

 I'm sorry.  It peeves me to admit that these days if I got knocked over in a non-violent protest I might not be able to get up.  I have pass the baton on to the younger generation.

I'd also advise all you non-violent protesters to have a wet face cloth in a plastic baggie with you.  Getting tear gassed or pepper sprayed isn't fun. 

Yeah, I was a Peacenik.  Been there, done that.  I am with all of you in spirit.  Thanks for non-violently protesting.

@Mecca.  I'm so glad you are OK.  The majority of protests today were non-violent.

[dawbs]

FWIW, I wore my pussyhat (sewn, I can't crochet or knit--and rather poorly sewn at that-I"m not especially good :P) out to do grocery shopping in my small (red) town today.
Got asked once if I was marching tomorrow, said yup, and was told good for me, there in spirit (the couple was both mobility impaired).

We're going.  (my kid is going too--so...I'm going to be avoiding the pepper spray end of the world.)
We know we've got other folks in spirit.

[GreyhoundFan]

22 minutes ago, Audrey2 said:

Wait until he has to go to other countries and eat their food!

 

Yes, despite what some want you to believe, sometimes presidents do travel abroad on the country's business.

He'll send his SS agents out to pick up a big bucket of KFC and plop that on the table in front of The Queen. Can't you see that happening?

[smittykins]

I've spent the day watching a Too Cute marathon on Animal Planet, playing MLB The Show 16 on PlayStation 4, and now Forensic Files on HLN.

Can I take a 4-year nap now?

[GreyhoundFan]

Good piece: "Donald Trump’s inauguration was a Gothic nightmare"

Spoiler

The sky over the Capitol is a dull, unpleasant shade of white. Only one of the five flags hanging over the inauguration stage has the right number of stars.

The red hats have multiplied. You could have sworn there were only a few hats, but when you turn to look again there are 18, 20, a whole sea of them.

They are not just baseball caps, red with a sharp slash of white letters. Some are beanies with pompoms. Some of them are blue, but not for long. When you look back, they have turned. Eventually they all become the same hat. Eventually the people beneath the hats all become the same young man who smiles like the world has just been given back to him, like a $100 bill that fell out of his pocket without his noticing.

Sometimes you smile at someone and discover that in the time it took for your smile to rise to your eyes, the hat has sprouted on her head. She was not wearing it before, surely, or you would not have smiled. Now she has the hat and your smile, too. You can never smile again.

There are only three college guys in Trump hats, but you see them everywhere you look. They are taking a selfie. You are in it, too. No matter how you twist, you always wind up in it.

In the picture you are smiling, but you are not smiling.

They were the ones in all the pictures on election night, and now they are here, wearing their red hats, smiling broadly. Their faces are always the same. They have white teeth and pale skin and bushy, definite eyebrows. Do not let them take another selfie. If they take another selfie with you, your soul will be lost and you will have to travel into a world of their imagining and become their plaything.

The women at this inauguration are all beautiful. Too beautiful. Their eyes gleam like the shiny lids of shut pianos. Their hair has been blown out in soft beachy waves. Their skin is tan. Too tan. This is the only variation in skin tone that is permitted. Their lips are red, the same color that Donald Trump says a patriot’s blood must be. They are very beautiful, and their nails are smooth and bright and neat like shells so that when they are Seen By A Man they will pass his inspection. They are doing what they must.

You blink and suddenly you are wearing false eyelashes. You dare not blink again. Someone else in the crowd blinked too many times and when she opened her eyes, it was 1956 and she had to iron, iron frantically, forever.

The man in front of you was the villain in “Avatar,” wasn’t he? You are not sure. And so was the man in the row in front of him, and in front of him. How did this happen?

You turn your head and the three Trump Bros have come to stand behind you to take their selfie. Now you are in their picture and it is too late. They have taken your voice and put it into a smooth bright shell.

In the crowd with you is a baby with thin yellow hair. It is urgent, the baby’s clothes say, that you know the sex of this child. This is required. Now you know and you will always know.

Jon Voight is here. Someone has wondered if Jon Voight will be here, and this is all it takes to summon him. Jon Voight must appear in every place where Jon Voight might possibly be.

Newt Gingrich has been sitting outside a long time. No matter: Newt Gingrich can keep himself warm.

You see Abraham Lincoln and a revolutionary soldier. They have come from another time to stop this thing, but then they heard the voice and were hypnotized. The voice said that it remembered them and noticed them and that they would never be ignored again. Now they must follow it wherever it leads.

The toilets have hidden their names. The names of the toilets must not be seen or Something Terrible will happen.

There are hats, so many hats. When did people start to wear alpine hats again? Everyone looks like they are in “The Sound of Music,” but not the right part.

The Cabinet files in. The Cabinet is the same old man printed 16 times in different fonts. Surely there has been some mistake. No. The mistake is in thinking that it was a mistake. You are the mistake.

Melania Trump appears on the jumbotron. Melania’s dress is electric blue like an angry sky. The top of the dress is trying to strangle her, but she is fighting it. She is strong. The dress will be subdued.

There is Congress.

Paul Ryan is smiling. Paul Ryan is always smiling. Paul Ryan hears secret music that no one else can hear. If anyone unplugs one of Paul Ryan’s secret earphones, his heart will stop.

Mitch McConnell is not smiling. Once Mitch McConnell saw something nasty in the woodshed, and he could never smile again.

Now it is nearly time.

Donald Trump’s sons come in their limos, two by two. All the limos look like hearses, and you are the thing being buried.

Donald Trump reaches the dais and smiles.

When he speaks it begins raining, everywhere.

and "Trump sank to the occasion"

Spoiler

This will be the presidency of the raised fist, not the outstretched hand.

Inaugural addresses are traditionally occasions of inclusion and healing. In that transformative moment, the new president sheds a partisan identity and assumes the mantle of national leader, president of and for all the people. If any new president should have sounded that soothing note, it was President Trump. If any nation needed to hear it, it was America today.

The state of our union is dangerously frayed. The country is in a volatile and fragile condition that requires attending to, not ignoring. More citizens voted against the new president than for him, and the reports since Election Day about Russian efforts to install Trump in the presidency have only served to deepen those anxieties. The 45th president takes office with less popular support than any president in the history of polling.

Americans want instinctively to rally around their president, no matter how hard-fought the preceding campaign. Trump squandered that reflexive national goodwill with his peevish, provocative transition. He similarly squandered the inaugural with a speech singularly lacking in grace, one that will be widely noted and long remembered for its darkness, for words such as “ravages” and “tombstones” and “decay.” That he bracketed the address with clenched-fist salutes perfectly signaled the pugnacious presidency to come.

In the early morning hours following his victory, Trump, echoing Lincoln, vowed to “bind the wounds of division.” That was a welcome, hopeful sign, but a fleeting one, erased by angry tweets and extreme appointments.

On Friday, Trump placed his hand on the 16th president’s bible, but there was no Lincoln to be found in his message — not the Lincoln of the first inaugural striving to keep together a country on the verge of civil war, nor the Lincoln at the second, with malice toward none.

Instead, Trump sank to the occasion. Rising above is not in his skill set, as badly as the nation needs it. Trump looks at the United States and sees carnage, not better angels. He stokes the worst in us, with his offensive invocation of America First and his dark vision of America in ruins.

Not that anyone, if Trump had recited words of unity and calls for civility, should have taken him at face value. His long and still-unfolding history of divisive actions speaks louder than his only rarely salving rhetoric. Indeed, he may be uniquely unequipped for that task. A man incapable of confessing error and constantly compelled to counterpunch is ill-suited to the role of presidential uniter, not divider.

Yet the absence even of ritual incantation was both telling and alarming. Presidential invocations to unity have been a staple of inaugurals for centuries. “We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists,” Thomas Jefferson said after the bitter election of 1800. “Civility is not a tactic or a sentiment. It is the determined choice of trust over cynicism, of community over chaos,” George W. Bush, taking office after a bruising recount, told the nation in 2001.

Such healing language from Trump was necessary but would not have been sufficient. Now Trump has served notice: He will not even make the rhetorical feint.

No doubt we should have seen it coming. “It wasn’t Donald Trump that divided this country, this country has been divided for a long time!” Trump felt compelled to tweet the morning before his inauguration, quoting evangelist Franklin Graham.

Certainly, partisan division predated the emergence of Trump; it would exist in his absence. Yet the worry, the dread, that so many Americans feel in contemplating Trump’s presidency, the ugly feelings stirred up by his us-vs.-them campaign, the degree to which Trump has continued to provoke and incite even after his victory — all of these counseled some recognition of the reality of the national rift.

This is Trump’s greatest test and his most glaring blind spot. He does not want to accept his role in helping create this era of bad feelings, nor his responsibility for trying to cure it.

Trump’s pivot — to maturity, to behaving like a normal politician/candidate/president — is doomed to be eternally elusive. Republicans awaited this transformation after he became the party’s nominee; the country craved it during the transition. In the course of the campaign, Trump repeatedly assured us that he knows how to be presidential. But there has been no evidence that he can pull it off, and little hope, after this least gracious of beginnings, that he even intends to try.

Sigh. I think I need a drink or three.

[Dark Matters]

I wish I could just lock myself down in my basement, like a prepper, for the next four years and not come out until I'm sure there is still an America to come out to.

[GreyhoundFan]

FYI, the Twitter account POTUS44 is the archive of Obama's official Tweets and will be managed by the National Archives. His active account will be BarackObama. This article shows his last "official" Tweet. How sad that we probably won't see anything that classy for years.

[JMarie]

1 hour ago, Black Aliss said:

At least she did something with her hair instead of it hanging down her chest all scraggly, as usual. According to one news report she was going for a Jackie Kennedy homage. Apparently she considers Jackie to be her role model for FLOTUS. I suspect historians will find many, many parallels  between the two.

And just what is up with those extra-long ties, and him never buttoning his suit coat. Is the tie supposed to be calling attention to his dick, or what? Steve Maxwell, does this count as defrauding even though Agent Orange is repulsive as hell to anyone who is not a 24 karat golddigger?

This is what Randy Fenoli, from Say Yes To The Dress, said in an interview in my local paper.

http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/television/Say-Yes-to-the-Dress-Randy-Fenoli-Trump.html

Quote

Everyone talks about Hillary Clinton's clothes, but I always think Donald Trump's suits are too big.

He doesn't know how to wear a tie either. A tie is the only place you can wear a bright color, and it covers the buttons on the front of your shirt. It's supposed to just barely cover the top of your belt buckle. Trump's tie falls below his belt buckle. For a billionaire, I thought he'd dress a little better. Hillary is mostly getting it right. I wish I was dressing her. I wish I could kill some outfits from her wardrobe, too.

Every time I see him on TV, I think of him peeing on his tie.  Not the kind of image I'd like to have about the leader of my country.

[HeathenBlondie]

 

I only saw the highlights on the local news, but holy shit that was horrible. Not just Cheeto becoming idiot-in-chief, but the ceremony and parade too! You could tell there wasn't nearly the crowds that were there for President Obama. The speech sounds like it sucked and I was glad it rained.  Melania is definitely no Jackie O, but watch how much she'll be praised for her fashion. Seeing the bigly empty bleacher seats at the parade made me laugh out loud too.

We are collectively hallucinating, right? This really can't be happening right now.

I'm spending the rest of my evening watching Good Behavior that I dvr'd. There's no way I can stomach watching the inaugural balls. The Trump and Pence families don't look like they know how to have a good time anyway.

 

[JMarie]

I just saw a picture of Kellyanne Conway.  She looks like a nutcracker!  But at least she's wearing a coat.  Melania's wearing a dress and a bolero jacket that looks like it's made from the same dress fabric.  And it was cold and damp in D. C.!  My mom would say she was asking for a cold dressed like that.

[Black Aliss]

1 hour ago, Palimpsest said:

 I'm sorry.  It peeves me to admit that these days if I got knocked over in a non-violent protest I might not be able to get up.  I have pass the baton on to the younger generation.

I'd also advise all you non-violent protesters to have a wet face cloth in a plastic baggie with you.  Getting tear gassed or pepper sprayed isn't fun. 

Yeah, I was a Peacenik.  Been there, done that.  I am with all of you in spirit.  Thanks for non-violently protesting.

This year will mark my 49th year of marching for one thing or another. (Viet Nam in '68 was my gateway protest.) I can't believe I still have to do this. Fortunately I am one tough old bird.

I will be sure to have a wet face cloth in a plastic bag, maybe a couple of extras for those who are less experienced, in case there is tear gas. Another pro-tip: a thin film of vaseline on one's face and other exposed skin is a good protectant against pepper spray. Finally, do not let those people on the sidelines with the expensive cameras take your picture. They aren't taking pictures for their personal scrapbook. Hold a sign or your hand between your face and the cameras.

[Palimpsest]

10 minutes ago, Black Aliss said:

Fortunately I am one tough old bird.

Thanks, @Black Aliss.  Good advice.  I wish I was a tougher old bird but my eyes, knees, and hips are killing me right now.

 

[Black Aliss]

7 hours ago, Palimpsest said:

My theory: Lady Lydia sent her design for Melania to Ralph Lauren along with a blackmail note and he used it.  Just be glad he put his foot down and refused to make it pink.

Speaking of Lady Lydia, I just got all stabby-ragey reading her latest entry.

Quote

Nowadays, we do not really depend that much on the news media, as even our elected officials and President have Twitter and other places to broadcast their own news without the media spin.

She goes on about how distorted the media is and how you can tell they are biased, but I had already lost it completely over the idea of Trump's undistorted tweets.

6 minutes ago, Palimpsest said:

Thanks, @Black Aliss.  Good advice.  I wish I was a tougher old bird but my eyes, knees, and hips are killing me right now.

 

I feel your pain--literally, although fortunately nowhere near as severely as yours. I'm trying to figure out which parts to get replaced now, while I'm still working, and which ones can safely wait until I'm on Medicare. I was tentatively set on starting with cataract surgery, then I read somewhere this week that one thing the GOP wants to cut back on for Medicare patients is joint replacement surgery. I guess because it's cheaper to put us all in wheelchairs.

[VelociRapture]

I refused to watch anything related to the Inauguration today. I don't want my baby or dog exposed to that shit. It's bad enough her first four years of life will be with this loser as President - I kinda wanted to delay her inevitable introduction to the clusterfuck a bit. And I won't be protesting or anything. Because newborn and safety and sleep deprivation.

To anyone who is protesting or marching, please be very careful. I'm hopeful that things will remain peaceful and civil, but you never know what may happen. Safety first!