Donald Trump and the Fellowship of the Alternative Facts (Part 14)

[fraurosena]

Oh my. Today's apparently very stressful for our Tangerine Toddler. The Tantrum Tweets have begun!

We all know it's because Comey is due to testify before the investigative committee today. Here's what FT had to say:

Quote

Just hours before Mr Comey was due to testify, the president took to Twitter early on Monday to claim Democrats “made up and pushed the Russian story as an excuse for running a terrible campaign”. [...]

Republicans hope Mr Comey’s appearance before the house intelligence committee on Monday morning will put an end to accusations Mr Trump colluded with the Russians authorities. Devin Nunes, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, told Fox News on Sunday he had not seen any evidence of collusion between the Russians and the Trump campaign team. Tom Cotton, a Republican senator, told CNN: “There’s no fire here, not a camp fire, not a candle, not even a little spark of any kind of collusion. I think ultimately that matters more to most Americans given the nature of the allegations that have been made in the past several months about Donald Trump and his campaign and some of his associates.”

The Dems think otherwise:

Quote

However, Adam Schiff, the house intelligence committee’s leading Democrat, told Meet The Press on Sunday: “I was surprised to see director Clapper say that because I don’t think you can make that claim categorically as he did. I would characterise it this way at the outset of the investigation: There is circumstantial evidence of collusion. There is direct evidence, I think, of deception and that’s where we begin the investigation.” He added: “There is certainly enough for us to conduct an investigation...The American people have a right to know and in order to defend ourselves, we need to know whether the circumstantial evidence of collusion and direct evidence of deception is indicative of more.”

Paul Rand had this 'brilliant' idea to catch the leakers:

Quote

“It is very, very important that whoever released that go to jail, because you cannot have members of the intelligence community listening to the most private and highly classified information and then releasing that to the New York Times,” Mr Paul said. “There can only be a certain handful of people who did that. I would bring them all in. They would have to take lie-detector tests. And, I would say, including the political people, because some political people knew about this as well.”

Because catching the leakers is way more important than impeaching the parasitic presidunce for collusion and corruption now, isn't it?

[47of74]

The latest from Branch Trumpvidian land...

kwwl.com/story/34951651/threatening-note-sent-to-muslims-at-des-moines-center

Quote

A leader of the Islamic Center of Des Moines plans to meet with authorities to discuss a threatening note found in the center's mail.

Dr. Samir Shams is president of the center, and he says he found the handwritten note Sunday morning. The writer said Muslims were a "vile" people and said President Donald Trump would "do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the Jews." The note was signed only "Americans for a Better Way."

Shams says Muslims have to take such notes seriously. He says he plans to meet Monday with the FBI.

Ugh.  I hope the fornicate sticks that did this are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

[fraurosena]

4 minutes ago, sawasdee said:

Sorry, I had to share this. A friend's suggestion - rather than TT's State Visit to the UK being hosted by her Maj and Philip, why not have Prince George (going on 4) and Princess Charlotte (going on 2) as the official hosts? Much more age appropriate company!

Owww... those poor kids! They'd never recover from the trauma...

[GreyhoundFan]

"‘He’s baaaack!’: Trump’s visits to Mar-a-Lago are stretching Palm Beach’s budget and locals’ patience"

Quote

PALM BEACH, Fla. — It is high season in South Florida: blue skies, low humidity, warm temperatures and increasingly regular visits from the president of the United States.

With those visits, the busiest time of year for longtime residents of Palm Beach has taken on a new unpleasantness. Airplane noise, traffic and a rash of angry confrontations between pro and anti-Trump demonstrators are beginning to seem like the new normal.

“He’s baaaack!” warned one resident on a neighborhood blog. “Get out your earplugs it is going to be another noisy weekend!”

President Trump’s trips here — which have added up to more than half of the weekends since his inauguration — are also forcing a brewing budgetary crisis for Palm Beach County, which faces the prospect of millions of dollars in unexpected costs associated with aiding in securing the president’s luxury estate.

“I’m not sure that anyone understood that when the president referred to Mar-a-Lago as the ‘Southern White House’ he really intended to visit almost every week,” said Rep. Theodore E. Deutch (D-Fla.), who represents Palm Beach and is pushing for federal appropriators to address the growing costs. “There are a lot of people who come to Palm Beach County over the entire winter to enjoy the weather and enjoy the golfing.”

“When the president chooses to do the same thing, it raises a whole host of other issues,” he added.

Palm Beach County officials are warning about the ballooning costs associated with paying time and a half to sheriff’s department deputies to secure the president’s exclusive members-only club — a pricetage that is already more than $1.5 million — and county commissioners are pleading with federal officials to step in and relieve the financial burden.

“I would never consider a proposal that says we’re not going to use our county resources when the president’s here. It’s our patriotic duty,” said County Commissioner David Kerner. “Its just unfair that burden should be borne alone.”

Kerner has proposed an inventive solution: levying a “special benefit” fee on Mar-a-Lago to recoup some of the cost. The alternative, according to Kerner, is raising taxes for everyone or making cuts to the budget.

...

Boy, that will cause a tantrum, a special tax on Mar-a-Lago!

 

[fraurosena]

2 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

"‘He’s baaaack!’: Trump’s visits to Mar-a-Lago are stretching Palm Beach’s budget and locals’ patience"

Boy, that will cause a tantrum, a special tax on Mar-a-Lago!

 

Not only that, but that special tax could also cause a loss of those high-paying members, who the tax would be deflected to of course. So even more loss of income for the Tangerine Toddler.

Oooooh, I like that idea!

(rubs hands in gleeful anticipatory delight - despite being fully aware that there's a snowflakes chance in hell of this tax happening)

[GreyhoundFan]

Is he delusional or just stupid?: "Mulvaney: Trump's budget shows 'compassion' to supporters"

Quote

Mick Mulvaney, the White House budget director, pushed back Sunday against critics of President Donald Trump's budget proposal, saying it shows compassion to the voters who elected Trump.

"The president knows who his voters are. His voters are folks who pay taxes as well. And I think for the first time in a long time, you have an administration that is looking at the compassion of both sides of the equation," Mulvaney said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"Could I, as a budget director, look at the coal miner in West Virginia and say, 'I want you please to give some of your money to the federal government so that I can give it to the National Endowment for the Arts?'" Mulvaney explained. "I just think we finally got to the point in the administration where we couldn't do that."

The budget director also pushed back on criticism that Trump's budget would do little to reduce the nation's debt, saying the White House hopes to balance the budget over the next decade.

"No, we won't be able to balance the budget this year, but we're working on trying to get it to balance within the 10-year budget window, which is what Republicans in the House and the Senate have traditionally done in the last couple of years," Mulvaney said.

 

 

 

[fraurosena]

@GreyhoundFan, John Oliver had a nice take-down of the skinny-budget proposal, mentioning that twat-weasle Mulvaney's comments.

By the way, in answer to your question: he's most definitely both delusional and stupid. 

[GreyhoundFan]

10 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

@GreyhoundFan, John Oliver had a nice take-down of the skinny-budget proposal, mentioning that twat-weasle Mulvaney's comments.

By the way, in answer to your question: he's most definitely both delusional and stupid. 

Yes, he was extra-funny last night. I stayed up late to catch his show.

 

"How two old-school Washington insiders became the cool kids of Trumpism"

Quote

The day after a tape of Donald Trump bragging about sexually assaulting women went public in October, Matt Schlapp, the chairman of the American Conservative Union, appeared on Fox News to defend him.

A minute after his segment ended, his wife and fellow pundit Mercedes called to say it might be time to take a break from television.

Matt had done a fine enough job. He looked great — white teeth, whiter hair, purple tie, comfy physique of a lobbyist who enjoys a good happy hour. He had signaled his continued support for the GOP nominee while also denouncing as “repugnant” his language in the shocking “Access Hollywood” tapes. And he seemed genuinely sympathetic when Marjorie Clifton, a Democratic strategist sharing the segment with him, began to cry.

But under the circumstances, it just looked bad, Mercedes told him. And the Schlapps had their five daughters to think about.

So Matt and Mercedes, members of the Republican establishment who had been defending Trump longer than most, drove to “Victory Farm,” their weekend home in Virginia, to ponder whether to stick with him. They split a bottle of wine and debated well into the night.

The decision was unanimous.

“We decided to double down,” Matt said.

“Of course we did,” said Mercedes.

The mogul’s “grab them by the p---y” banter may have horrified them, but the Schlapps decided life would be better under a President Trump than a President Hillary Clinton. And so far that appears to be true — at least for the Schlapps.

“They’ve become a really fun new power couple,” said Ari Fleischer, the former White House press secretary who worked with them in the George W. Bush administration.

...

Ari Fleischer and I have radically different ideas of fun.

[fraurosena]

We have a thread, Hypocrisy, thy name is Republican. I think it just might be time for a 'Faux News, shining beacon of hypocrisy' thread too:

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/fox-news-host-kimberly-guilfoyle-kill-snoop-dogg-bow-wow-donald-trump-video-secret-service-a7638946.html

Quote

Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle has said that the Secret Service should pay Snoop Dogg and Bow Wow a 'visit' following the controversy around Snoop's recent music video.  [...]

In a Thursday segment of Fox News' The Five, the show's five hosts took turns attacking the rappers for their actions, until Guilfoyle was asked by her colleague Greg Gutfeld: "What should the Secret Service do?"

"Kill them?" Guilfoyle responded, to chuckling from her co-hosts. "Kill them."

She continued, apparently failing to see the irony in her comments: "I think it would be fantastic if Snoop and wannabe-Snoop got a visit from, like, the federal marshals, and let's see how tough and gangster they are then."

I am utterly appalled that this pitiful excuse of a woman can utter these things on national television and go unpunished, and frankly, it makes me seethe with rage. How dare that twit wish death upon another human being? All because her widdle feelings were hurt by a sarcastic music video?

But I suppose she's a Christian and a repub, so that makes it ok then.  

[GreyhoundFan]

5 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

We have a thread, Hypocrisy, thy name is Republican. I think it just might be time for a 'Faux News, shining beacon of hypocrisy' thread too:

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/fox-news-host-kimberly-guilfoyle-kill-snoop-dogg-bow-wow-donald-trump-video-secret-service-a7638946.html

I am utterly appalled that this pitiful excuse of a woman can utter these things on national television and go unpunished, and frankly, it makes me seethe with rage. How dare that twit wish death upon another human being? All because her widdle feelings were hurt by a sarcastic music video?

But I suppose she's a Christian and a repub, so that makes it ok then.  

I agree, you should start a Faux News thread! I'm appalled by her too. If her name was Amal and she had dark skin and hair, they wouldn't have even allowed her on the air.

 

The WaPo published a couple of good articles about why Agent Orange and his ilk hate cities: "Why does Donald Trump demonize cities?" and "Trump and the populists see themselves at war with big cities".

[fraurosena]

 It seems Comey just confirmed there were links between the Russians and the Toddler's campaign.

I say 'seems' deliberately. Although Olbermann has a good point about the wording, it should also be noted that Comey uses the word 'whether' in the second part. So I think we can conclude that they are indeed investigating the nature of any links. This implies such links were found. However, by using the word 'whether' he does not confirm that coordination between the campaign and the Russians occurred. Or at least he's saying that they haven't found such coordination yet, but that they are investigating such.

Oh, and here's a MoJo article on the matter:

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/03/james-comey-fbi-russia-investigation

 

[GreyhoundFan]

3 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

 It seems Comey just confirmed there were links between the Russians and the Toddler's campaign.

I say 'seems' deliberately. Although Olbermann has a good point about the wording, it should also be noted that Comey uses the word 'whether' in the second part. So I think we can conclude that they are indeed investigating the nature of any links. This implies such links were found. However, by using the word 'whether' he does not confirm that coordination between the campaign and the Russians occurred. Or at least he's saying that they haven't found such coordination yet, but that they are investigating such.

 

Oh, no doubt that Comey has carefully scripted every single word.

 

"Trump’s Method, Our Madness"

Quote

Sometimes, when psychoanalysts begin treatment with a new patient, they quickly find themselves feeling that they can’t make sense of what is going on. The patient’s statements and behavior simply don’t add up, and the flurry of dissociated statements and actions can quickly begin to produce something like a disorienting fog.

Most seasoned clinicians will have learned that they shouldn’t attribute this confusion, which is typically accompanied by a distinct form of anxiety, to their lack of skill. Instead, adept clinicians take the experience itself and the accompanying anxiety as significant data, indicating that they are dealing with, if not psychosis in the strict diagnostic sense, at the very least something in the vicinity of psychotic-like phenomena.

Freud distinguished between neurosis and psychosis by arguing that while the former is psychically localized, the latter is relatively global. In neurosis, individuals break with a portion of reality that they find intolerable. As a result, their overall relation to reality remains more or less intact, but becomes impaired in one aspect of their personality.

In contrast, because psychotic individuals tend to find reality as a whole too painful to bear, they break with it globally, and construct an alternative, delusional, “magical” reality of their own. This alternate relation to reality, manifesting itself in the initial meetings with the patient, is at the root of the clinician’s confusion.

Now many of us throughout American society at large, after an interminable electoral campaign and transitional phase into the presidency of Donald J. Trump, have experienced a form of disorientation and anxiety that bears a striking resemblance to the clinical situation I have described. And recent events indicate that this feeling is not going to abate any time soon.

...

It's a lengthy article, but a good read.

[fraurosena]

Grrrrrr! Yes, that's me growling. Argh. I'm watching Comey's testimony now. Who is this fuck Gowdy? He's ONLY focussing on finding who 'leaked' the info. As if THAT is the most important issure at play here!!!

[GreyhoundFan]

2 minutes ago, fraurosena said:

Grrrrrr! Yes, that's me growling. Argh. I'm watching Comey's testimony now. Who is this fuck Gowdy? He's ONLY focussing on finding who 'leaked' the info. As if THAT is the most important issure at play here!!!

Gowdy is a sanctimonious prick. He was of the major whiners and screamers about Hillary and Benghazi.

[fraurosena]

Oh, the fear-mongering going on is unbelievable. Harping on the poor citizen's name that was leaked to the press. Next time it could be you, it could be me, it could me anybody... Holy fuckity-fuckity-fuck! 

[Jennifer Hart]

 

[fraurosena]

Fuck Nunes!

Clinton's campaign too! But...But Hillary!!!

Really?

[VelociRapture]

2 minutes ago, Jennifer Hart said:

 

I'm sleep deprived and need more coffee, so please excuse me if I'm mistaken, but I thought there was some sort of FBI procedure for announcing things that Comey was following. Something about not commenting on new investigations (like the Trump campaign investigation) emote a hearing, but commenting when an old investigation was reopened (like the email shit)? Can someone explain whether this is true or if I'm so sleepy that I'm starting to become delusional?

[fraurosena]

Wow, Comey just confirmed they knew at least at the beginning of december that the Russians were attempting to discredit Clinton and help Trump.

[47of74]

Yeah and guess who the Tangerine Toddler just accused of having Russian ties?

That's right!  Hillary Clinton!

nypost.com/2017/03/20/trump-accuses-clinton-campaign-of-russia-ties/

Quote

President Trump on Monday questioned the Clinton campaign’s alleged Russia ties less than an hour before House Intelligence Committee holds its first public hearing on the Kremlin’s involvement in the 2016 election.

“What about all of the contact with the Clinton campaign and the Russians? Also, is it true that the DNC would not let the FBI in to look?” Trump said in a Monday morning tweet.

FBI Director James Comey and NSA Director Mike Rogers are testifying on the issue Monday morning on Capitol Hill. They’ll also be asked about allegations Trump made that President Obama tapped Trump Tower during the 2016 election.

What about you shutting the fornicate up, Donald?

[JMarie]

Today marks two months in office, and there's a hearing that could potentially remove Trump from office.  Spin it however you want, but trying to remove a newly-elected leader after just a few weeks is troubling.  Sad, even.

Is anyone else watching Comey at the hearing, but seeing Andy Bernard from The Office?

[Destiny]

For the good of the world, twitter NEEDS to take his fucking account away. Sigh. 

[iweartanktops]

On 3/17/2017 at 10:13 AM, fraurosena said:

Ugh. What a blatantly rude little tangerine toddler he's being! 

 

 

I'm trying to catch up after taking a break. I did see this last week, and could not roll my eyes hard enough. 

Ass hole. 

On 3/17/2017 at 1:52 PM, fraurosena said:

I have no idea what the Tangerine Toddler is trying to say as he's spouting his usual nonsense about wiretapps again, but just look at the new Leader of the Free World's non-verbal communication, especially when he says they might have something in common.

 

Never mind. I'm still on last week's posts and I'm getting tired. 

On 3/18/2017 at 2:13 AM, Cartmann99 said:

Yesterday, I pondered how the conservative pro-life Christians are going to defend Trump's budget. Well, here comes Erick Erickson with the answer:

Erick, honey, you are such a shitweasel.

For those that need a refresher, Erick is referring to Matthew 25:31-46. The quick and dirty, is that Jesus comes back and divides everybody up into sheep and goats. Sheep are good folks who spent their lives being awesome by feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless, nursing the sick, etc... while the goats said "Bootstraps!" and "Sucks to be you!" to the folks the sheep were helping.

Jesus turns to the sheep and says "You guys totally rock, wanna come hang out with me for eternity?" and then turns to the goats and says "You were flaming jackasses during your time on earth, so you will get punished for eternity". Jesus then waves goodbye as the goats slowly sink into a forbidding hole in the ground, while a recording of Sarah Palin screeching at an earsplitting volume blares from the hole.

Erick is betting that Jesus didn't mean for "the least of these" to mean everybody, and if you believe in the whole Judgement Day scene, that's a risky position to take. It's especially risky, if you combine it with Luke 10:25-37.

The refresher for that is, this man is asking Jesus what he has to do to gain eternal life. Jesus tells him he has to love God with all of his heart and don't be a dick to your neighbor. The man then asks Jesus, how do I tell who is my neighbor?

Jesus says, it's story time:

This dude was travelling and some robbers attacked him, stole his clothes, beat the crap out of him and left him on the side of the road. Not cool. Two other men came by and ignored him, but this guy from Samaria saw him, put him in his car, and took him to the Holiday Inn where he cleaned his wounds, ordered him a pizza, and then they watched PBS all evening because they were scary liberals.

Anyhoo, the Samaritan had to go sell some restaurant supplies or something the next day, so he offered the hotel manager some money to look after the injured guy until he could get back and settle up with the hotel manager.

Jesus then asked, who was a true neighbor to the injured man? The man answers: "Duh, obviously the Samaritan who went out of his way to help the hurt man is the hero, and not those two jackasses who looked the other way."

Jesus then nodded and asked the guy if he wanted to be Facebook friends.

Yes, I took a little artistic license there with the parables, but you get the gist. 

 

On 3/18/2017 at 4:55 AM, prayawaythefundie said:

@Cartmann99 If anybody had told me bible stories like you just did, I might not have slept through so many lessons of religious education in secondary school. In elementary it was still fun, lots of colouring pictures of noah's arc and stuff. 

I'm in tears! 

I saw that tweet last week, and I just about died. It's hilarious and deeply troubling that evangelicals are actually changing who Jesus was, to fit certain (hateful) narratives. These mental gymnastics must be exhausting! What a fucking shame. 

And I'll try to catch up on the next few pages later. I need to take this in doses right now. 

Jesus only cared about fellow Christians...  stupid, stupid, STUPID. 

[candygirl200413]

I'm still torturing myself watching this hearing and it is such bull shit.

[GreyhoundFan]

45 minutes ago, VelociRapture said:

I'm sleep deprived and need more coffee, so please excuse me if I'm mistaken, but I thought there was some sort of FBI procedure for announcing things that Comey was following. Something about not commenting on new investigations (like the Trump campaign investigation) emote a hearing, but commenting when an old investigation was reopened (like the email shit)? Can someone explain whether this is true or if I'm so sleepy that I'm starting to become delusional?

No, @VelociRapture, you're not delusional, everyone in Agent Orange's orbit is delusional. It was my understanding that the FBI normally doesn't comment on new investigations, but if subpoenaed, they have to provide Congress the information requested. I could be wrong, but that is how I understand it. This whole situation is a great big Charlie Foxtrot.

 

"NY Attorney General Hires Prosecutor To Target Trump: Report"

Quote

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has reportedly hired a prosecutor to examine the activities of the Trump administration.

Schneiderman has tapped public-corruption expert Howard McMaster from the office of former Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, The Wall Street Journal reported. Bharara was fired by Trump last week even though he was in the middle of a number of investigations, including one allegedly involving stock trades by Trump’s Health And Human Services Secretary Tom Price.

Schneiderman spokesman Eric Soufer confirmed McMaster’s hiring, and told the Journal that McMaster will work on a range of “civil and criminal investigations ... including public corruption,” and potentially litigation against the Trump administration.

Last month, at a meeting of the National Association of Attorneys General, Schneiderman revealed that his office was discussing strategies and doing research to determine what kind of action could be taken to address concerns about Trump’s potential conflicts of interest, and possible violations of the emoluments clause of the Constitution, which prohibits anyone holding a federal “office” from accepting payments from foreign entities.

...