Sarah Huckabee Sanders Version of Covfefe

[GreyhoundFan]

She's off to a great start. End sarcasm. "Sanders threatens to halt briefing as transgender troop ban dominates"

Spoiler

President Donald Trump's announcement that he would ban transgender Americans from serving in the military dominated the White House press briefing on Wednesday, with spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders at one point threatening to end the on-camera session if reporters didn't ask about other topics.

The surprise announcement on Twitter of the transgender service member ban — which so far has included no detail about how it would be implemented — prompted an immediate outcry from gay rights activists and earned a rebuke from several Republican lawmakers, too.

Sanders described the move, which reverses a policy by President Barack Obama, as a "military decision" but gave few details.

"If those are the only questions we have, I'm going to call it a day," Sanders said at one point, adding that she'd take questions on other topics. A few reporters asked about the ban anyway.

Here are the highlights of the briefing.

• Sanders defended the transgender troop decision, saying it was about "military readiness."

"The president has expressed concerns since this Obama policy came into effect," Sanders said. "But he's also voiced that this is a very expensive and disruptive policy, and based on consultation that he's had with his national security team, came to the conclusion that it erodes military readiness and unit cohesion made the decision based on that."

The White House and Department of Defense will move to implement the decision lawfully, she said.

• She described the move as a "military decision," despite the fact that Pentagon officials were referring reporters to the White House about it earlier Wednesday.

She said Trump decided on Tuesday to make the change and informed Defense Secretary James Mattis after that.

Sanders also denied that the president had betrayed his earlier commitment to fight for the transgender community.

• Trump still wants Jeff Sessions in his job, at least for now, Sanders said, even though the president keeps complaining about his attorney general.

"You can be disappointed in someone but still want them to continue to do their job," Sanders said. "And that's where they are."

Sessions was at the White House on Wednesday but did not meet with Trump, Sanders said.

• Trump will donate this quarter's salary to the Education Department.

Sanders told reporters that Trump, who has pledged to give away his $400,000 annual salary, will donate $100,000 from this quarter to the Department of Education.

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos made an appearance to thank Trump for the gift, which she said would go toward a science, technology and math program.

Gee, I bet that $100K will go to one of Betsy's favorite charter schools.

[GrumpyGran]

3 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

"If those are the only questions we have, I'm going to call it a day," Sanders said at one point, adding that she'd take questions on other topics.

"If you don't let me do whatever I want, I'm still going to take my salary and stay at home watching T.V.!" You know, that never worked for me.

3 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

Trump still wants Jeff Sessions in his job, at least for now, Sanders said, even though the president keeps complaining about his attorney general.

"You can be disappointed in someone but still want them to continue to do their job," Sanders said. "And that's where they are."

Sessions was at the White House on Wednesday but did not meet with Trump, Sanders said.

She's about to get Trumped.

[candygirl200413]

Don't be silly @GreyhoundFan the money is going to fund guns to fight off the grizzlies! (my sorority sister tweeted that and it did put a small smile on my face).

 

 

[GreyhoundFan]

"Sanders welcomes cameras back to the White House briefing with a strategic monologue and letter from ‘Dylan’"

Spoiler

Reporters came to Wednesday's White House press briefing — the first since new communications director Anthony Scaramucci lifted a ban on TV cameras — armed with tough questions about President Trump's Twitter campaign against his own attorney general and his decision to bar transgender people from serving in the military.

So what did incoming White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders do? She devoted the first six minutes of the session to totally unrelated subjects that showed Trump in the best possible light.

First, Sanders announced that Trump had donated his second-quarter salary, $100,000, to the Education Department, then she called up Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to extol the wonderful things the president's contribution will fund.

“I want to start by saying how grateful I am to the president for this generous gift,” DeVos said, before revealing that the money will go toward hosting a camp focused on science, technology, engineering and math.

Then Sanders returned to the podium and offered “a little reminder of why we're all here every day, which I imagine for most of us is because we love our country and want to make it better.”

She continued into a personal reflection on becoming the first mother to serve as White House press secretary.

“That says less about me than it does about this president,” Sanders contended.

Finally, she read a letter from a Trump-adoring 9-year-old named Dylan and said that such readings will be regular additions to news briefings from now on.

“You're my favorite president,” the child wrote to Trump. “I like you so much that I had a birthday about you. My cake was the shape of your hat.”

This was a smart strategy for Sanders, though journalists were not thrilled by her avoidance of the news of the day.

... < lots of great tweets >

Irking reporters was precisely the point — and a prime example of why, as I wrote Monday, putting the briefings back on television is a smart move by the White House. The first six minutes of Wednesday's briefing were an infomercial for the president, carried live on every cable news channel.

What's more, the White House and its allies can point to journalists' reactions, like the ones above, and perpetuate the idea that the media is full of Trump-hating cynics. Sean Hannity's next monologue practically writes itself: Why don't these alt-left, destroy-Trump hacks love kids and moms and America?

When she did take questions, Sanders quickly ran out of patience for questions about Trump's ban on transgender service members. And though she had details in her response to Dylan, including the number of gallons of paint it would take to coat the exterior of the White House residence (300), she offered few about the ban and its implementation.

“Guys, I really don’t have anything else to add on that topic,” she said. “As I do, I’ll keep you posted. But if those are the only questions we have, I’m going to call it a day. But if we have questions on other topics, I’ll be happy to take them.”

The first televised briefing of the Sanders-Scaramucci era (not counting their introductory remarks on Friday) sent a clear message that the White House plans to use these sessions to Trump's advantage in ways that reporters probably won't like.

Par for the course.

[candygirl200413]

So who thinks that letter was written by an adult or someone's poor child that isn't actually Dylan?

[GreyhoundFan]

Shaking my head: "Sarah Huckabee Sanders Suggests Trump ‘Weighed In On’ Son’s Response To Russia Meeting"

Spoiler

WASHINGTON ― White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Tuesday all but confirmed that President Donald Trump dictated his son’s public response to a meeting with a Russian lawyer. Her statement directly contradicts the president’s legal team and may place him in legal jeopardy, as there are multiple ongoing investigations into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia last year.

The Washington Post reported Monday evening that Trump personally drafted what turned out to be a misleading explanation for Donald Trump Jr. meeting with a Russian lawyer in June 2016. The meeting was held after Trump Jr. was promised the opportunity to collect damaging information on Hillary Clinton that could help his father’s campaign.

Sanders pushed back on the Post’s story, yet appeared to confirm Trump’s involvement by claiming he merely “weighed in, offered suggestions, like any father would do.”

“Look, the statement that Don Jr. issued is true,” she said. “There’s no inaccuracy in the statement. The president weighed in as any father would, based on the limited information that he had.”

The Post’s report and Sanders’ response directly contradict Trump’s lawyer, Jay Sekulow, who said previously that the president was not involved.

Trump’s campaign is under investigation for possible collusion with Russia during last year’s presidential campaign, and his son’s meeting is the clearest indication that that may have happened. Trump’s own involvement in crafting the statement, as the Post reported, would almost certainly draw the attention of the multiple investigations ― particularly that of special counsel Robert Mueller, who is probing whether Trump obstructed justice.

Trump and his administration have continually dodged questions about the matter, and on Tuesday, Sanders launched into a confusing slew of talking points in order to claim that investigators and reporters should focus on Clinton and Democrats instead.

“If you want to talk further about a relationship with Russia, look no further than the Clintons,” she said. “If you want to talk about having relations, which you seem obsessed with doing, look no further than there. If you want to talk about somebody who’s been tough on Russia, look at President Trump. He wants more fracking, more coal, more energy, a stronger military, a stronger defense. Those things aren’t good for Russia. I think the distinctions are very clear, and you want to create a narrative that doesn’t exist.”

Sanders again tried to downplay the mounting scandals involving Trump’s campaign and Russian interference, casting them as a “PR stunt” created by Democrats. 

In a usual refrain, she attacked the reporting as “fake news,” criticized reporters for “fueling a false narrative about this Russia collusion” and emphasized that the reporting was “a phony scandal based on anonymous sources.”

"Fake news" -- she really is one-note, isn't she?

[JMarie]

On ‎7‎/‎27‎/‎2017 at 5:19 PM, GreyhoundFan said:

Finally, she read a letter from a Trump-adoring 9-year-old named Dylan and said that such readings will be regular additions to news briefings from now on.

“You're my favorite president,” the child wrote to Trump. “I like you so much that I had a birthday about you. My cake was the shape of your hat.”

Doesn't Dylan realize that a hat would muss up Trump's hair?  Ah, to have a child's naiveté again....

[GrumpyGran]

36 minutes ago, JMarie said:

Finally, she read a letter from a Trump-adoring 9-year-old named Dylan and said that such readings will be regular additions to news briefings from now on.

Then I'll read the District of Columbia phone book, War and Peace and The Joy of Cooking. Next I'll show some 8 mm travel documentaries backwards(this really happened to me in grade school) and a slide show of the trip I took to Bible camp when I was 12. I'll take questions after that if we have time.

[JMarie]

5 minutes ago, GrumpyGran said:

Then I'll read the District of Columbia phone book, War and Peace and The Joy of Cooking. Next I'll show some 8 mm travel documentaries backwards(this really happened to me in grade school) and a slide show of the trip I took to Bible camp when I was 12. I'll take questions after that if we have time.

You could read Green Eggs And Ham, like Ted Cruz did a few years ago in a lame attempt at a filibuster.

[Childless]

7 hours ago, JMarie said:

Doesn't Dylan realize that a hat would muss up Trump's hair?  Ah, to have a child's naiveté again....

How many of us think Dylan's letter was actually written by Trump or one of his minions.

[GrumpyGran]

6 hours ago, Childless said:

How many of us think Dylan's letter was actually written by Trump or one of his minions.

Eric. And he actually signed it "Eric." They just changed it for the press briefing.

[onekidanddone]

I'm hungry.  I'll think I'll me some covfefe cake for lunch.

[GrumpyGran]

2 hours ago, onekidanddone said:

I'm hungry.  I'll think I'll me some covfefe cake for lunch.

"Let them eat covfefe cake."

Edited August 2, 2017 by GrumpyGran
now punctuation is leaving me!

[Audrey2]

@GrumpyGran, It's the Trumping down of America (re: your edit). All Americans are now required to give up their IQ points that are more than Trump's, so he can make his brag that he's the smartest person in the country. That way we can fit in with Trump's administration and the Branch Trumpvidians.

Edited August 2, 2017 by Audrey2

[GrumpyGran]

18 minutes ago, Audrey2 said:

@GrumpyGran, It's the Trumping down of America (re: your edit). All Americans are now required to give up their IQ points that are more than Trump's, so he can make his brag that he's the smartest person in the country. That way we can fit in with Trump's administration and the Branch Trumpvidians.

Next week he'll sign an executive order completely getting rid of the rules of grammar. He'll call grammar a regulation. And Betsy DeVos standing right behind him.

[JMarie]

Today's letter was from "Frank," who was turning eleven.  So he's the same age as Barron.  I don't think any Trump wrote today's letter because a. the size of the White House's lawn, and b. Trumps don't do manual labor.

[candygirl200413]

Also he legit just called the WH a dump

[apple1]

She is a really poor liar.

(We all have phone calls that are not over the - you know - phone; they are in person, so it's not ACTUALLY lying...) Gag.

[GreyhoundFan]

Another good one from Alexandra Petri: "Stephen Miller and Sarah Huckabee Sanders: Ask a reasonable question, get a stupid answer"

Spoiler

I have a probably erroneous notion (stemming from watching too many utopian fantasies about well-run governments like “The West Wing” and “Veep”) that in the distant past there was a time when news conferences were informative and gave useful answers to members of the media that allowed them to write better stories about the things that were happening.

If such a time ever existed, it is over now. Here is a summary of Wednesday’s news conference. It is, I think, representative of how every news conference goes in this Trump era, on-camera or off-, in that it was both uniquely alarming and entirely predictable. You can print all the answers in advance except for the one terrible and alarming surprise that is guaranteed every day to take the news cycle by storm and devour it slowly.

[Twenty minutes pass after stated start time of news conference]

Sarah Huckabee Sanders: Here I am. First, an attempt at folksy and winning banter that will go over like a lead balloon. Now here is a terrifying person who will speak on behalf of President Trump, or maybe just a Cabinet secretary. Not Rick Perry, as he turned out to have charisma and at one point during his Q&A, which lasted more than the regulation eight seconds, he gave something that almost resembled an actual answer to a reporter’s question and I could barely drag him off in time. Today, to alarm and unnerve you, I have brought Stephen Miller from the large rock outside the oval office where he customarily suns himself and feasts on the bones of small rodents. He is here, as our custom is, to defend a policy idea that is bad.

Stephen Miller: The president’s new green-card policy is really not so bad, and we did it to make black people’s lives easier.

April Ryan: That doesn’t seem true.

Miller: Too bad there is no opportunity for us to discuss it now but maybe someday when our lives have calmed down I can tell you why.

Reporter: Do you have any statistics to support why this bill limiting immigration will actually help create jobs?

Miller: No, it’s just a feeling I have

Reporter: Have there been studies that contain information that you can cite?

Miller: I have the names of authors of studies, is that what you mean?

Reporter: No.

Miller: SHH, LET ME FINISH ANSWERING.

Reporter: Was your answer going to actually give me information or …

Miller: Nope! But I can list up to MULTIPLE names of people who have written studies and I can’t tell you what the studies said but I can tell you that they ABSOLUTELY SUPPORT this policy which is good.

Reporter: The actual data on immigration and jobs seems to be in pretty direct conflict with what you have just said to be the case.

Miller: LISTEN, IF YOU’RE NOT CAREFUL I WILL SEND CHEAP IMMIGRANT LABOR TO THE NEW YORK TIMES. IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT? Look I don’t know what the numbers say. Who among us can? But more important, I feel in my common sense that this is a good policy. My gut tells me so, specifically the bacteria, who are very avid viewers of Fox and Friends.

Jim Acosta (pointedly wrapping himself in a flag and releasing several eagles from his vest pockets): STEPHEN, IS THIS WHERE WE ARE AS A COUNTRY? WHAT ABOUT LIFTING A LAMP BESIDE THE GOLDEN DOOR? WHAT ABOUT THE HUDDLED MASSES YEARNING TO BREATHE FREE? Is requiring immigrants to speak English and possess advanced skills — is this what the Statue of Liberty means?

Miller: Well, actually the poem was added to the statue LATER. Really the statue doesn’t have to mean that immigrants are welcome. You know who carries torches usually? Angry mobs. Maybe she’s saying GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM YOU JOB THIEF, ever think about that? I mean who among us can really know what a statue means. I don’t know what any statue means. You can’t pay any attention to things that were added later, be those things poems or so-called constitutional amendments.

Reporter: Wouldn’t this policy give an unfair advantage to immigrants from English-speaking countries —

Miller: WOW. WOW. DO YOU HEAR YOURSELF? Way to show your “cosmopolitan bias.” “English-speaking countries.” WOW. Typical elitist, assuming that the whole WORLD can’t speak English as well as people from countries where English is the primary spoken language? You should be ashamed. NO FURTHER QUESTIONS!

Sanders: Here I am again. And, to add insult to injury, I will read another letter from a child. This is my only source of joy, these letters. These children don’t remember a time before. To them, this is normal. Today’s child’s name is Frank and he wants to mow the White House lawn. In three months when a child is spotted mowing the white house lawn and complaining that he has not been paid at any point, this will be why. Now, your questions.

Reporter: Does President Trump think white people are discriminated against?

Sanders: I don’t know. Who can truly know what another person is thinking?

Reporter: Can you ask him?

Sanders: I can, but I won’t.(1)

Reporter: Did the president lie about what the Boy Scout leaders said in praise of his speech?

Sanders: No. He said something that was not factually correct, a very different thing than a lie.

Reporter: Does he accept that Russia was involved in the election?

Sanders: “Accept”? I don’t know. I can’t say what is in his heart. I don’t have any sort of special access to him. All I can describe are the words that come out of his mouth in speeches, which I watch on TV as do the rest of you.

Reporter: Do you have anything to say about the removal of 755 diplomats from Russia?

Sanders: No.

Reporter: You said you would.

Sanders: Well, I don’t.

Reporter: Are you going to ask?

Sanders: Probably not. Not a subject that really interests me all that much, to be frank with you. If I do, though, in some fluke accident, happen to find out what the president thinks about this, I may tell you, but then again, I probably won’t.

Reporter: How does the president feel about this new green-card policy?

Sanders: I don’t know. Why do you keep asking me what the president thinks? We are clearly two separate people.

Reporter: How do you see your job?

Sanders: My job is to convey the president’s message.

Reporter: What does the president think about Sen. Jeff Flake’s criticism?

Sanders: On that, as on any subject, I don’t know what the president thinks. How could I? Everything he says and does comes to me as a total and unpleasant surprise. In fact, if you find out what he thinks on any given subject, please do not tell me. If I wanted to know, I would ask. And I have no plans to ask. Thanks guys, see you tomorrow, when I will read a note from a child named Fern who wants President Trump to come butcher her prize pig.

(1) Actual exchange from Tuesday’s news conference:

Q: Sarah, you just told April that you would have to ask the president if an apology would be appropriate. Are you saying you will ask him and get back to us?

Sanders: No, I said I would have to in order to answer that question.

Q: Well, could you please?

Q: Would you?

Sanders: I’ll let you know if I do.

Sadly, the press briefing was so absurd that she didn't have to stretch much. My favorite part: "I have brought Stephen Miller from the large rock outside the oval office where he customarily suns himself and feasts on the bones of small rodents. He is here, as our custom is, to defend a policy idea that is bad."

Edited August 3, 2017 by GreyhoundFan

[onekidanddone]

Did you see her response to Trump's lie (gee what else is new) about the call from Mexico's president? She made her sneer face and acted all offended.  Then she admitted well maybe it wasn't a phone call but it was some "communication". Well shit Sarah either he talked on the phone or he didn't. Spin it anyway you want it is still a lie.

Edited August 3, 2017 by onekidanddone

[GreyhoundFan]

"Sarah Huckabee Sanders says she’ll get back to you on that. Chances are she won’t."

Spoiler

It’s a stock response of every White House press secretary who’s either caught off guard or is trying to dodge a sticky question. When a reporter asks a tough question during a briefing, the reply from the podium is often a punt: “I’ll get back to you on that.”

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, President Trump’s press secretary, invoked some version of IGBTYOT 10 times on Thursday , which may be a record for a single briefing, if records for such things were kept. Among other topics, she vowed to get back to reporters after they asked questions about: foreign aid to Egypt; the president’s ban on transgender members of the military; the arrest of a Russian dissident; the possibility of a presidential pardon for former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio; the job status of the Internal Revenue Service commissioner; and the White House’s reaction to federal approval of Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods Market.

Don’t hold your breath waiting for her to follow up.

White House reporters say it’s unusual for Sanders, or her predecessors, to make good on a promise to get back to them with an answer. They tend to regard the get-back-to-you line the way a creditor reacts to being told the check is in the mail: They’ll believe it when they see it.

Bloomberg News reporter Margaret Talev, for example, asked Sanders earlier this month about a report that the U.S. Air Force intended to purchase two Boeing 747s once used by a bankrupt Russian airline as a cheaper alternative to building a new Air Force One. “Can you verify the accuracy of the story?” Talev said. “Do you know if that’s correct?”

Sanders said she’d check and reply later. Talev never heard back.

During the same briefing, CBS News reporter Chip Reid asked the press secretary if it would be “appropriate” for the president to apologize for telling police officers to be “rough” with suspects, a comment police officials and others had criticized. Sanders replied she would let him know if or when she knew.

She hasn’t, Reid said.

“I don’t cover the White House on a regular basis so I wasn’t sure what to expect,” he said. “But as I was leaving the briefing room that day a few people who cover the White House full time told me not to expect her to get back to me. So I wasn’t surprised that she did not.”

At a briefing in mid-July, Fox News Radio reporter Jon Decker asked Sanders if the president viewed Russia as “a friend, a partner, an ally or an adversary?” Decker had asked a variation of the question two days earlier. Another reporter had asked a similar question the day after that. Neither had gotten an answer. On the third try, Sanders still didn’t have a response, but vowed, “I do assure you I will certainly work to make sure I get that answer to you.”

More than a month later, there hasn’t been an answer.

John Gizzi of Newsmax got the I’ll-get-back-to-you treatment from Sanders in July when he asked her if Trump was willing to negotiate with Republicans in Congress about reforming Social Security and Medicare. Weeks later, Gizzi still hasn’t gotten an RSVP from Sanders. He blames himself, in part, for “not pursuing or pressing [her] harder.”

On the other hand, Gizzi did get a follow-up response from Sanders when he inquired about the U.S. delegation to former German chancellor Helmut Kohl’s funeral. Sanders delivered the details at a briefing in June. “I was impressed,” he said.

Gizzi rates Sanders as “above average” in following up on his questions, the same Lake Wobegone-ish mark he’d give “most” of the nine press secretaries he’s dealt with in covering the White House. “But none can be perfect and reply every time because there aren’t enough hours in the day,” he says.

In fact, given the many questions any White House faces, it’s unlikely a press secretary could have all the answers right at his or her fingertips. So the get-back-to-you formulation makes sense as a hedge against speaking prematurely or without a full command of the facts.

But reporters suspect it can also be a convenient way to avoid talking about an issue that might embarrass the president, particularly in front of a roomful of journalists and a bank of live TV cameras.

Asked about her record of replying, Sanders said in an email she tries “to respond to as many questions as fully as I can at each briefing. I have also on several occasions followed up with reporters and answered their questions after the briefing when I can.”

Asked in a subsequent email if she avoids inconvenient questions by declining to follow up, Sanders didn’t follow up with an answer.

I don't know why anyone would expect her to actually do her job.

[GrumpyGran]

22 hours ago, GreyhoundFan said:

“to respond to as many questions as fully as I can at each briefing. I have also on several occasions followed up with reporters and answered their questions after the briefing when I can.”

"...but I'm clearly either not qualified or not inclined to do my job so I prefer to read fake letters from fake children."

[GreyhoundFan]

"Sarah Huckabee Sanders’s provocative veiled threat to Congress'

Spoiler

In the first White House briefing since the administration announced the phasing out of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders issued a remarkable challenge to lawmakers: They need to pass something on immigration, she said repeatedly, or else.

“That's their job,” she said, “and if they can't do it, then they need to get out of the way and let somebody else who can take on a heavy lift and get things accomplished.”

She repeated: “Again, if they can't, then they should get out of the way and let somebody else take their job that can actually get something done.”

And then: “Again, if Congress doesn't want to do the job that they were elected to do, then maybe they should get out of the way and let someone else do it.”

This is a remarkable tone for the White House to be setting on the eve of a number of critical fights and pieces of legislation. We knew President Trump was willing to unleash his Twitter account on GOP congressional leaders, and during one Q&A, he left open the idea that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) might need to be replaced if he can't deliver. But Sanders's repeated comments make clear those weren't just one-offs; this is now the White House's official strategy and talking point.

To recap, the things on Congress's to-do list are: averting a government shutdown, passing the first major tax reform since 1986, a hurricane relief bill for Harvey (and the possibility of emergency action required for Hurricane Irma in Florida), a massive to-be-determined infrastructure bill and now comprehensive immigration reform. (Sanders made clear Trump doesn't want “just a one-piece fix.") Oh, and don't forget that Trump wants Congress to resurrect health care and get that done, too.

Even if this wasn't a Congress in which failure and gridlock have become the norm, that would be a daunting set of tasks. Trump has now set the bar so high that he's basically guaranteeing Congress will fail, by his standards. And Sanders so casually adding comprehensive immigration reform to their to-do list Tuesday — and basically giving them six months to complete it before DACA is phased out — was the equivalent of a gut punch to congressional leaders, given years and years of failure on that issue. Having the White House pile that on is almost cruel.

Former McConnell aide Josh Holmes quickly hit back at Sanders on Tuesday afternoon.

... < tweet >

The reaction from congressional leaders has been more muted. In response to the DACA announcement, for instance, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.) said Congress must now work to legislate the issue “with the president's leadership.”

The problem, as I noted earlier Tuesday, is that Trump has shown little appetite for providing that leadership. He has demonstrated that he much prefers to leave things to Congress and blame them when they fail. Even more troublingly for GOP leaders, Trump doesn't just get out of the way; he is forever changing his positions and giving Congress conflicting signals, leaving leaders without the opportunity to apply presidential pressure on members. Trump's only priority seems to be passing something, but even on that front, his efforts are usually counterproductive. Even in urging large-scale action on immigration, the White House on Tuesday declined to say specifically what it wanted from a bill or whether Trump would sign a straight replacement of just DACA.

And there is zero reason to believe any of this will change any time soon. Indeed, Trump only seems to be growing more frustrated with Congress and more willing to lash out at it and threaten it. Tuesday's example was the latest indication of a looming showdown and irreconcilable, inherent problems between Congress and the White House.

This will get worse before it gets better.

Okay, so she's becoming even nastier. I wonder how long until she resigns to spend more time with her family.

[GrumpyGran]

45 minutes ago, GreyhoundFan said:

“That's their job,” she said, “and if they can't do it, then they need to get out of the way and let somebody else who can take on a heavy lift and get things accomplished.”

She repeated: “Again, if they can't, then they should get out of the way and let somebody else take their job that can actually get something done.”

And then: “Again, if Congress doesn't want to do the job that they were elected to do, then maybe they should get out of the way and let someone else do it.”

Was she talking to herself?

[JMarie]

On ‎8‎/‎2‎/‎2017 at 4:30 PM, JMarie said:

Today's letter was from "Frank," who was turning eleven.  So he's the same age as Barron.  I don't think any Trump wrote today's letter because a. the size of the White House's lawn, and b. Trumps don't do manual labor.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2017/09/15/11-year-old-mows-lawn-white-house-meets-president-trump/669760001/

So Frank actually got invited to the White House to mow the lawn, after the school year already began.  He has his own business and aspires to be a Navy SEAL.  Barron, on the other hand, um, well, he... goes to school?