Trump 12: Nevertheless, She Persisted (Let's do the same!)

[Destiny]

8 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Okay, can I just borrow him on occasion?

I guess. I love him and his sexy, sexy brain. It makes him so hot! *fans self*

[RosyDaisy]

Kind of off topic. My feline headship has a hissy fit when he hears or sees Trump on tv.

[Destiny]

Just now, RosyDaisy said:

Kind of off topic. My feline headship has a hissy fit when he hears or sees Trump on tv.

Your feline headship is wise. Animals know. 

[GreyhoundFan]

2 minutes ago, RosyDaisy said:

Kind of off topic. My feline headship has a hissy fit when he hears or sees Trump on tv.

Smart feline!

 

Interesting article: "President Trump wants to put on a show. Governing matters less.". It's a lengthy article, worth a read. Here are some key points:

Quote

Last spring, while reporting The Washington Post’s biography of Donald Trump, I asked an executive who had worked for Trump for more than three decades to help me understand a central contradiction about the man: How could he be at once the micromanager who in the 1980s would call an employee at 2 a.m. and order her out of bed to clean up litter he’d noticed in the lobby of one of his buildings, and also the boss who was so detached that he claimed to be ignorant of his hotels’ finances as they fell into bankruptcy?

The executive offered this guidance: “If you’re ever confused about Trump’s motives, go to showman first.” The building lobby was a showcase for the Trump brand, requiring the close attention of the man behind the name; the finances were backstage stuff, easily ignored.

Those words keep coming back to me as the timeworn rituals of Washington are washed out by the bright glare of President Trump at center stage. News conferences, diplomatic summits, relations with Congress, campaign-style rallies — the public-facing aspects of the presidency are being blown up, flipped on their heads, transformed into platforms for the master marketer to play out his unique approach to brand enhancement.

What Washington has been trained to perceive as disorder — a blizzard of contradictions, a president saying one thing while his top appointees say the opposite — is actually a long-running theatrical event, The Trump Show, a time-tested method by which the star builds excitement, demands attention and creates soap-operatic story lines that at least superficially seem like success. The most important thing about this presidency, to the man in the Oval Office, is how it looks.

...

Similarly, Trump’s daily delivery of detours and distractions in the White House is meant in part to mask discord or disarray. But more than that, it’s a continuation of a career-long strategy to focus the audience’s attention on the man in the moment. In this show, what happened yesterday, last week or 10 years ago is always crowded out by what the master of ceremonies is doing right now. He has been, and must remain, the sole focus of attention.

The Trump Show is simultaneously disturbing and effective. He uses it to take credit, levy blame, bully enemies and entertain supporters. I watched Trump’s marathon news conference this month from a barbecue joint west of Dallas, where some in the lunchtime crowd nudged one another with delight as the president skewered reporters and made outrageous claims. The audience read the proceedings as a show: When one man told his friends that Trump wasn’t actually answering questions about the role Russia may have played in influencing last fall’s election, his lunchmate replied, “He’s just smacking down the media.”

Already, Trump is constructing his presidential brand as a series of personal moments — anecdotes about jobs saved, denunciations of wayward opponents, boasts about his victories. He may not sound presidential in his rhetorical style, except in his sometimes-stilted news conferences with foreign leaders, when he is uncharacteristically subdued, speaking in longer, more complex sentences and in softer, quieter tones. His energetic handshakes with whiplashed heads of state, the al fresco power tableaux he stages every weekend at his Mar-a-Lago beachfront estate, his prime-time announcement of his Supreme Court pick in the stately East Room — this is already the most theatrically minded presidency since Ronald Reagan’s.

Yet the Trump Show is elementally different from Reagan’s media-savvy presidency. Reagan’s image-maker, Michael Deaver, created dramatic settings for his boss in service of policy themes. When Reagan stood in front of the Berlin Wall and dared Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall,” the point was to enhance the message: a push to end the Cold War.

...

For decades, Trump has devoted his time and energy more to the facades of his enterprises than to their underlying structures. When the board game manufacturer Milton Bradley introduced a Trump game in the 1980s, its namesake was guaranteed 60 percent of the profits. When the game’s inventor visited him at Trump Tower, Trump didn’t even want to see how it was played. But although his contract didn’t require it, Trump volunteered to fly up to Milton Bradley’s plant in Massachusetts to stage a media event where he could be seen as a job creator.

The key to his business success, Trump wrote in several of his books, was to solidify in the public’s mind that “Trump” meant ambition, wealth and a distinctly personal expression of success. Some of his ventures would flop, and some would make piles of money, but he would sit at the core of all of them, insisting that he — not his staff or his company — was the star.

Everything else serves that idea — his relations with women, bankers, the media, the public. Details are important only when they affect the brand. If he’s not quite certain whether the nation should have a strong dollar or a weak one , or if he’s planning to speak “in a broad sense,” as his press secretary put it, rather than in detail, in his first address to a joint session of Congress, or if he appears not to be fully informed about the nation’s one-China policy — that’s beside the point of the Trump Show.

...

Diplomacy and politics have traditionally depended heavily on nuance and shades of meaning. The Trump Show spurns subtlety. Trump has always put more energy into staging a riveting performance than into the measures by which business titans are normally judged (steady profitability, happy stockholders, fulfilled employees, good deeds). He focuses on how things look, positioning his dates, girlfriends, wives and children as avatars of wealth, dressed and posed to impress the common man.

So it should come as no surprise to hear from top staffers that Trump approaches the hiring process much as a casting agent decides which actors get roles — whether it’s a crusty combat general in charge of the Defense Department or a silver-haired alpha male executive at State, the look matters.

Similarly, when Trump blasts cable news channels in his tweets, speeches and news conferences, that reflects both his extreme dedication to watching coverage of himself and his decades-long role as TV critic. Throughout his career, Trump has made a daily habit of critiquing those who cover him, calling up reporters and sending writers hand-scrawled comments on their stories. Their work, in his view, is a reflection of his image-molding efforts — a show about his show, and he has always felt proprietary about it.

...

In The Post’s interviews with Trump, he often took on a strange, puzzled look when confronted with some contradiction between what he’d said in the past and what he was saying now. “Only you people care about that,” he’d say, whether the topic was his tax returns, his coarse relationships with women or his longtime liberalism in the years before he decided to paint himself as something of a conservative. The show is always now.

Great theater both entertains and confronts. Trump gets the first part — his brand of performance aims to deploy his audacity and his authority to rev up the audience and soak up attention. But neither at his campaign rallies nor in the opening weeks of his presidency has he challenged the crowds’ thinking. The Trump Show is, as ever, a spectacle, a cavalcade of provocations. It is designed not to prompt thought or even to persuade, but to sell tickets to the next performance.

...

 

[JMarie]

Is Trump in Palm Beach again this weekend?  If he is, that would be four weekends in a row.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/president-trump-mar-a-lago-trips-cost-taxpayers-millions/

Quote

During his eight years in office, Mr. Obama racked up about $97 million in travel costs. Mr. Trump is on pace to eclipse that by the end of his first year. 

 

[Cartmann99]

Been working on a little surprise for my FJ friends. 

_______________________________________________________

Sung to the theme from Green Acres, by Melania Trump.

 

Trump Tower is the place to be.

Grift-a-Lago is the life for me.

Cash, spreading out so far and wide.

Keep that D.C., just give me Trump Tower to hide.

 

New York is where I'd rather stay.

I get allergic being away.

I just adore a penthouse view.

Dah-ling I love you, but give me Park Avenue.

 

*wrinkles nose* The chores      (First Lady duties)

*smiles broadly* The stores

*wrinkles nose* Hot air             (politicians in D.C.)

*smiles broadly* Times Square

 

I am Trump's wife.

Bravo! City life!

Trump Tower, I am here!

 

For those unfamiliar with Green Acres, here's the theme song:

 

[Destiny]

1 minute ago, JMarie said:

Is Trump in Palm Beach again this weekend?  If he is, that would be four weekends in a row.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/president-trump-mar-a-lago-trips-cost-taxpayers-millions/

I don't think so, because the New York times just reported that his motorcade left with no notification of where the president was going, and, one would assume, no reporter on board. 

 

[Cartmann99]

Looks like he went over to his hotel.

 

[Destiny]

Oh for fuck's sake, he's the god damned president. He doesn't just get to go to dinner randomly. I feel so bad for his security detail. No thanks to that job. 

[fraurosena]

And here's why he went there.

http://thkpr.gs/1f204315d513

Apparently Kuweit is holding a 60.000 dollar party there.

And no, no, of course there is absolutely no conflict of interest!

< end sarcasm >

[RoseWilder]

There's another Republican who has come to terms with the fact that the Trump ship is going down, and he wants off: 

 

[onekidanddone]

8 minutes ago, RoseWilder said:

There's another Republican who has come to terms with the fact that the Trump ship is going down, and he wants off: 

 

I'm trying not to get my hopes up..but please please please with a bigly cherry on top....

3 hours ago, JMarie said:

Is Trump in Palm Beach again this weekend?  If he is, that would be four weekends in a row.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/president-trump-mar-a-lago-trips-cost-taxpayers-millions/

 

Well fuck that.  I want somebody to pay for my vacations.  I'd like to take the train across Australia. So please my fellow American tax payers send me checks. 

Will Agent Orange feel the Bern?  

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2017/02/25/sanders-burns-trump-with-taunting-tweet-about-the-size-of-his-inauguration-crowd/?hpid=hp_rhp-top-table-main_trumpcorrespondents-525pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.df4c0b8883c8

As my daughter would say Tee Hee.

[JMarie]

3 hours ago, fraurosena said:

And here's why he went there.

http://thkpr.gs/1f204315d513

Apparently Kuweit is holding a 60.000 dollar party there.

And no, no, of course there is absolutely no conflict of interest!

< end sarcasm >

Class, let's say it together:  e·mol·u·ment

[clueliss]

http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/steve-kraske/article134855504.html#storylink=cpy

I could have put this in a few places, but since it talks about Senator Nancy Landon Kassabaum's opinions of guess who I'll put it here (also discusses Brownback).  I miss Nancy.  We need leadership like she had and not the morons we've got now.

[laPapessaGiovanna]

 I finally managed to paste the link to the Viareggio Carnival lampooning of Trump and his MAGA.

And here's Spain's plea for the second place.

India too

 

[fraurosena]

Beware, major case of   ahead!  

US government memo on the danger of leaking to media has been leaked

[Howl]

@GreyhoundFan, that article is spot on.  I'm going to read it in total.  Thanks for posting. 

[Childless]

21 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Smart feline!

 

Interesting article: "President Trump wants to put on a show. Governing matters less.". It's a lengthy article, worth a read. Here are some key points:

 

All hot air and no substance.  No surprise.  He's been like that since I remember first hearing about him as a child in the 80s (yeah, I didn't buy his bullshit even as a kid).  Why would he suddenly change now?  It definitely speaks to how pathetic the U.S. is that enough people were hoodwinked by this charlatan to get him elected to the presidency when a child was smart enough to recognize his bluster as garbage when she heard it.

[RoseWilder]

I found a few interesting tweets about the Trump-Russia stuff: 

 

And here's an interesting twitter thread about Trump-Russia: 

To read the full twitter thread, click on this link: https://twitter.com/Khanoisseur/status/826255647968632832

 

[47of74]

The NY Times is going to run an ad during the Oscars tonight;

occupydemocrats.com/2017/02/25/new-york-times-just-released-epic-anti-trump-ad-air-oscars/

Quote

The New York Times is running an advertisement on television just days after they were shut out of a White House press briefing by the Trump administration.

Entitled “The Truth Is Hard,” the ad explores the meaning of truth in a poignant critique of the post-fact Trump era, where we are seeing the President of the United States deny reality itself in favor of his own tyrannical delusions.

The Times’ first ad since 2010, it is set to air during the Academy Awards and presents a very important message that all Americans need to hear.

Of course Agent Fornicate Face wouldn't know the truth if it came up and bit him in the ass.

[loveformusic]

3 things:

1. Of course our good ol' jolly President can't take a joke...if he won't be at the Presidential Correspondents dinner, I sincerely pray that Alec Baldwin will. Wishful thinking, but a girl can dream, can't she?!

2. Funny how Trump tweets that the new head of the DNC was part of a "rigged" election...sound familiar to anyone?

3. I was just recommended to check out this site: forget about Alternative Facts! This "Alternate Universe" is so much better.

I also just checked out that new New York Times Ad - I still can't believe Trump has the audacity to call a publication like this "fake news". smh.

[47of74]

Yeah, Orange Fornicate Face has noticed the NY Times is going to take out an ad

 

[onekidanddone]

35 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

The NY Times is going to run an ad during the Oscars tonight;

occupydemocrats.com/2017/02/25/new-york-times-just-released-epic-anti-trump-ad-air-oscars/

Of course Agent Fornicate Face wouldn't know the truth if it came up and bit him in the ass.

Poor thing.  He keeps demonstrating how weak and orange thin skinned he is.

13 minutes ago, loveformusic said:

3 things:

1. Of course our good ol' jolly President can't take a joke...if he won't be at the Presidential Correspondents dinner, I sincerely pray that Alec Baldwin will. Wishful thinking, but a girl can dream, can't she?!

2. Funny how Trump tweets that the new head of the DNC was part of a "rigged" election...sound familiar to anyone?

3. I was just recommended to check out this site: forget about Alternative Facts! This "Alternate Universe" is so much better.

I also just checked out that new New York Times Ad - I still can't believe Trump has the audacity to call a publication like this "fake news". smh.

 

39 minutes ago, 47of74 said:

The NY Times is going to run an ad during the Oscars tonight;

occupydemocrats.com/2017/02/25/new-york-times-just-released-epic-anti-trump-ad-air-oscars/

Of course Agent Fornicate Face wouldn't know the truth if it came up and bit him in the ass.

The Gray Lady will not be bullied into silence. 

[RoseWilder]

It's so surreal that Trump is violating the Constitution and being totally corrupt right in front of our eyes and the Republicans are pretending like nothing is happening. If Clinton had done even 1 of the things that Trump has done since taking office there would have been 57 investigations by now. 

[GreyhoundFan]

Thank you @Cartmann99, I love the updated Green Acres theme!

 

23 hours ago, Destiny said:

Oh for fuck's sake, he's the god damned president. He doesn't just get to go to dinner randomly. I feel so bad for his security detail. No thanks to that job. 

As much as I hate to point this out, former presidents would go out to dinner randomly. It's a major pain in the backside to local/state/federal law enforcement and to the public, as roads have to be closed down and traffic stopped whenever the president goes through. Some in the past were really bad about it, GHWB had a favorite restaurant in Virginia, where he and Barbara had dinner fairly frequently. Bill C was one of the worst because, not only did he like to go places, but he'd always be WAY late, so roads would be closed at the direction of the Secret Service for a long, long time. People would call dispatch (I used to be a police dispatcher), screaming, and we couldn't tell them why traffic was stopped or how long it would be blocked. So, as much as I despise the tangerine toddler, at least his new conflict of interest hotel is only a few blocks from the White House, so fewer people are inconvenienced. I had nightmares of him wanting to visit his golf course in Virginia frequently, hosing our already terrible traffic.

 

Nothing like the cabinet having to play nursemaid to the toddler: "Trump’s Cabinet has to work as a cleanup crew"

Quote

...

And after Trump alarmed European allies by declaring NATO obsolete, Vice President Pence flew to Munich and Brussels, where he reassured a worried continent that the president remains “fully devoted to our transatlantic union.”

One of the unofficial duties of Trump’s Cabinet, it seems, is cleaning up the statements of the man they serve. Five weeks into Trump’s tenure in office, his deputies have found themselves softening, explaining and sometimes outright contradicting the president.  

This public and often yawning gulf between Trump and his agency heads has added to the sense of chaos and turmoil emanating from the White House, sending his secretaries scrambling to interpret their boss’s exact positions and leaving other nations confused as to who, exactly, speaks on behalf of the administration.

“It puts the Cabinet officials in an awkward position,” said Ryan Williams, a Republican strategist. “They serve the president and obviously don’t want to contradict him, but at the same time they have to articulate administration policy, which sounds like an oxymoron — contradicting the president by articulating administration policy — but that’s been the case in some instances so far.”

When Pence traveled to Europe this month to offer bland assurances — a message of support for NATO and cooperation with the European Union — he managed to temporarily soothe nervous allies. But diplomats and foreign leaders nonetheless emerged from 2½ days of meetings with the vice president uncertain whether he really spoke on behalf of the president or if his dull diplomacy could yet be undone by a tweet or stray remark from Trump just days later.

...