Trump 38: Donald Trump and the Wall of Lies

[Emma]

Article II, section 3 of the US Constitution requires the state of the Union address, usually done in January or February. It was done as a written statement until1913. The president must be invited by the Speaker of the House (Pelosi) to give the state of the Union spech in front of congress.

[Ali]

6 minutes ago, Emma said:

Article II, section 3 of the US Constitution requires the state of the Union address, usually done in January or February. It was done as a written statement until1913. The president must be invited by the Speaker of the House (Pelosi) to give the state of the Union spech in front of congress.

It does not specify it has to be done every year or at a certain time.

[Emma]

True. But it  has been the custom to be an annual report tied to the opening of Congress for a very long time.

[onekidanddone]

1 hour ago, Emma said:

True. But it  has been the custom to be an annual report tied to the opening of Congress for a very long time.

Trump conned his way into office claiming to drain the swamp and do things his way effectively ignoring customs and laws. So karma sucks for him.

[formergothardite]

1 hour ago, Emma said:

 It was done as a written statement until1913.

Trump better start writing then, shouldn't he?  

 

2 minutes ago, onekidanddone said:

effectively ignoring customs and laws. So karma sucks for him.

Countless customs have been ignored by him so it is only fitting that getting to go on TV and give a speech is a custom that is also going to be dropped during his presidency. 

[GreyhoundFan]

"Trump two years in: The dealmaker who can’t seem to make a deal"

Spoiler

Donald Trump was elected president partly by assuring the American people that “I alone can fix it.”

But precisely two years into his presidency, the government is not simply broken — it is in crisis, and Trump is grappling with the reality that he cannot fix it alone.

Trump’s management of the partial government shutdown — his first foray in divided government — has exposed as never before his shortcomings as a dealmaker. The president has been adamant about securing $5.7 billion in public money to construct his long-promised border wall, but has not won over congressional Democrats, who consider the wall immoral and have refused to negotiate over border security until the government reopens.

The 30-day shutdown — the impacts of which have begun rippling beyond the federal workforce into the everyday lives of millions of Americans — is defining the second half of Trump’s term and has set a foundation for the nascent 2020 presidential campaign.

The shutdown also has accentuated several fundamental traits of Trump’s presidency: his apparent shortage of empathy, in this case for furloughed workers; his difficulty accepting responsibility for a crisis he had said he would be proud to instigate; his tendency for revenge when it comes to one-upping political foes; and his seeming misunderstanding of Democrats’ motivations.

Trump on Saturday made a new offer to end the shutdown, proposing three years of deportation protections for some immigrants, including young people known as “dreamers,” in exchange for border wall funding.

But before Trump even made it to the presidential lectern in the White House’s stately Diplomatic Reception Room to announce what he called a “straightforward, fair, reasonable, and common sense” proposal, Democrats rejected it as a non-starter.

“What the president presented yesterday really is an effort to bring together ideas from both political parties,” Vice President Pence said Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “I think it is an act of statesmanship on the president’s part to say, ‘Here is what I’m for. It includes my priorities, it includes priorities that Democrats have advanced for some period of time,’ and we believe it provides a framework for ending this impasse.”

Such an accord has proven elusive, however, in part because Democrats believe they have the upper hand politically in opposing Trump’s wall and feel no imperative to give ground.

“What really drove him was ‘Art of the Deal,’ that he could get stuff done in D.C. and deal with the knuckleheads,” said Republican strategist Mike Murphy, a sharp Trump critic. “People saw him as some sort of business wizard. That’s all disintegrating. It’s like McDonald’s not being able to make a hamburger.”

Trump has approached the shutdown primarily as a public relations challenge. He has used nearly every tool of his office — including a prime-time Oval Office address as well as a high-profile visit to the U.S.-Mexico border — to convince voters that the situation at the souther border has reached crisis levels and can only be solved by constructing a physical barrier.

Trump’s advisers argue the president has been successful at educating and persuading Americans, even though his efforts have not led to a bipartisan deal. “You can’t turn an aircraft carrier on a dime,” said one White House official who, like some others interviewed, spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid.

But the data tell a more troubling story for the president. One month into the shutdown, the longest in U.S. history, a preponderance of public polls show Trump is losing the political fight. For instance, a Jan. 13 Washington Post-ABC News survey found that many more Americans blame him than blame Democrats for the shutdown, 53 percent to 29 percent. And the president’s job approval ratings continue to be decidedly negative.

“Even though he thinks he’s doing a great job for his core, it’s ripping the nation apart,” said one Trump friend, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “I don’t think there is a plan. He’s not listening to anybody because he thinks that if he folds on this he loses whatever constituency he thinks he has.”

Behind the scenes at the White House, some aides acknowledge the difficulties.

“The president is very much aware he’s losing the public opinion war on this one,” one senior administration official said. “He looks at the numbers.”

Other Trump advisers insist that the president is not driven by political considerations and is focused entirely on protecting the American people and finding a solution to illegal immigration.

John McLaughlin, a pollster on Trump’s 2016 campaign, said Trump’s suggestion to temporarily extend the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which grants protections for some people brought to the United States illegally as children, is key to increasing his popularity.

“The White House needs to press that button and more often dangle that out there,” McLaughlin said. “We need to remind the voters every day that the president is willing to compromise and give legal status to DACA recipients in exchange for increased border security, but the Democrats are too intense about trying to defeat Trump right now.”

Some political professionals cautioned against rushing to judgment about the shutdown’s impact on Trump’s reelection, saying that November 2020 is a virtual eternity from now.

“This could all be forgotten in a week if and when we come to an agreement, the government opens and the wall is built,” Republican pollster Neil Newhouse said. “Nobody knows how this is going to turn out until we get a resolution. So it’s a national game of chicken.”

Trump has long seen his stewardship of the economy as his political calling card. Yet the instability in Washington is threatening to wreak havoc, with fresh gyrations in the stock market amid concerns about Trump’s trade war with China and fears of a prolonged shutdown.

Trump’s management of the impasse has also drawn criticism about his competence as an executive. The administration this past month has been playing a game of whack-a-mole, with West Wing aides saying they did no contingency planning for a shutdown this long and have been learning of problems from agencies and press reports in real time. Officials have scrambled to try to respond as best they can and keep key services operating, but they fear they may soon run out of so-called Band-Aid solutions and temporary pots of money may run dry in February, one official said.

Inside the West Wing, morale has been low in recent weeks. Mick Mulvaney, the acting White House chief of staff, has not sought to impose the same level of discipline as his predecessor, John F. Kelly, so aides flow in and out of the Oval Office, reminiscent of the early months of Trump’s presidency.

Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and senior adviser, is an increasingly powerful figure who has asserted himself, along with Pence and Mulvaney, in negotiations with lawmakers and believes there is a “big deal” to be had.

Two senior Republican aides said senators are skeptical that Pence speaks for the president, after Trump undercut him early in the shutdown.

Trump has been preoccupied by the political messaging and stagecraft of the shutdown showdown. He has personally met with outside allies to ask them to go on cable television to defend his position, and he has spent time calling those who have praised him.

The president has also gone days without speaking to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), leaving negotiations effectively at a standstill despite Trump’s latest offer Saturday.

“The shutdown has turned into a test of strength between the president and Washington Democrats, particularly the speaker, and how it ends and when will tell us a lot about whether they can forge a relationship over the next two years,” said Michael Steel, a GOP strategist who has been a top aide to former Republican House speakers John A. Boehner and Paul D. Ryan.

In private conversations with advisers, Trump alternately complains that nobody has presented him a deal to end to shutdown, complains about Pelosi and Schumer and asks how the fight affects his reelection chances. Aides said they have shown him polling that he is losing the shutdown battle and that most Americans do not think the situation at the border is a crisis, as he and his administration have termed it.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) repeatedly has told Trump that he believes Pelosi is trying to embarrass him, two people familiar with the conversations said.

Trump has accused Democrats of being insensitive to the dangers of illegal immigration. “They don’t see crime & drugs, they only see 2020 — which they are not going to win,” he tweeted on Sunday. He went on to single out Pelosi for behaving “irrationally” and acting as “a Radical Democrat.”

Pelosi and other Democrats, meanwhile, say Trump is immune to the hardships of federal workers who are going without paychecks.

“I don’t think that he understands the real-life impacts,” said Sen. Jon Tester (D), whose home state of Montana has one of the highest concentrations of federal workers. “Look, the guy was born with a lot of money, and that’s great. I wish I was born with a lot of money, too. I was born with great parents, okay? And so I don’t think he really can relate with people who live paycheck to paycheck. That’s why I don’t think there’s urgency on his part.”

 

[Dandruff]

3 hours ago, Emma said:

The president must be invited by the Speaker of the House (Pelosi) to give the state of the Union spech in front of congress.

Can they do it at Burger King?

[GreyhoundFan]

 

[AnywhereButHere]

13 hours ago, Dandruff said:

Can they do it at Burger King?

Or would that be Burder King? He’s given them enough business, after all...

 

[AmazonGrace]

 

[Howl]

I'm noticing that some of the people I follow on Twitter who have studied Russia over the long term, are starting to discuss Trump as a long-term Russian asset or having been cultivated over the long term.  They are past the point speculating on Trump as a current Russian asset; that's a done deal.  Now they are trying to put together how long it's been going on. 

 

[onekidanddone]

Trump visits MLK memorial

Quote

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has paid a visit to the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in Washington on the holiday honoring the civil rights leader.

Trump arrived shortly after 11 a.m. to pay his respects on a frigid and windy day.

He was joined by Vice President Mike Pence, who accompanied Trump in laying a wreath at the foot of the memorial statue.

Trump told reporters it was a “great day” and a “beautiful day.”

He did not respond to questions about the government shutdown during the short appearance.

Copyright © 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.

Fuck you and back off! You have no business bringing up Dr. King. One of the greatest leaders of the 20th century and all you can think of is "Its a great day". Go just GO away. 

That goes for you as well Mikey.

[AmazonGrace]

 

[fraurosena]

Hey, presidunce! Over here, look!

This is how you honor MLK.

 

[AmazonGrace]

Trump's instagram photos have been edited to make him thinner and his fingers bigger 

 

https://gizmodo.com/president-trump-posts-altered-photos-to-facebook-and-in-1831909849

[GreyhoundFan]

"Trump should not take solace from Mueller’s cryptic correction"

Spoiler

President Trump and his defenders are spiking the football as if they were heading to the Super Bowl after the office of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III publicly disputed a BuzzFeed report that Trump had instructed his attorney Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about his attempts to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Trump even went so far as to thank Mueller for “coming out with a statement,” saying, “I very much appreciate that.”

Yes, this is the same Mueller whom Trump disparages as the leader of 13 or 17 (the number varies) “Angry Democrats” who are engaged in a “WITCH HUNT!” Turns out that Mueller is not engaged in a witch hunt but a fact hunt. His willingness to set the record straight even when it helps Trump indicates his fundamental integrity — something that Trump implicitly admits by citing Mueller as an impartial authority.

But Trump should not take too much solace from Mueller’s cryptic correction. BuzzFeed may well have been wrong in writing that Trump personally told Cohen to lie (although the publication still stands by its article). But Cohen himself admitted in his sentencing plea that his lie to Congress was “in accordance with Client-1’s directives.” So while the special counsel’s team might not have evidence that Trump personally told Cohen to lie, it’s not disputing Cohen’s claim that his false testimony was coordinated with Trump’s aides in furtherance of the president’s own lies.

Trump has repeatedly denied doing business with Russia. Now his lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, admits that Client-1 was pursuing a Trump Tower project in Moscow through the fall of 2016 — in other words, long after it was common knowledge that the Russians were hacking Democratic Party computers. Trump might just have dodged accusations that he actively suborned perjury, but what he did was bad enough — he concealed his business dealings with a hostile foreign power that was helping him to win the presidency. That BuzzFeed might have gotten some part of the story wrong hardly exonerates Trump.

While BuzzFeed’s disputed report does make the rest of the press look bad by association, we should remember how much the media have gotten right. Thanks to intrepid reporting we know that the Trump campaign tried to change the language of the Republican platform to be less critical of Russia; that Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, got millions of dollars from pro-Russian oligarchs in Ukraine; that Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Flynn, had secret conversations with the Russian ambassador and then lied to the FBI; that Trump pressured FBI Director James B. Comey to shut down the investigation of Flynn; that Trump told Russian diplomats that firing “nut job” Comey eased pressure on Russia; that the high command of the Trump campaign met with a Russian representative promising dirt on Hillary Clinton; that Trump repeatedly tried to fire Mueller; that Trump tried to hide details of his meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin from his own aides; and that the FBI investigated Trump as a possible Russian asset.

And those are only some of the major revelations about the Trump-Russia connection. Non-Russia-related scoops include Trump’s reference to “shithole” African countries, his alleged involvement in tax fraud and foundation fraud, and his own aides’ disparagement of him as a “moron” and an “idiot.”

The Trump-Russia story is hard to report, because both sides are so secretive and deceptive. But what’s striking is how few scoops have been revealed to be wrong — especially now that we know Mueller’s office will sometimes steer reporters off what it believes to be an erroneous allegation. A few attention-grabbing articles — e.g., the Guardian report that Paul Manafort met with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange or the McClatchy report that Cohen met with a Russian representative in Prague — remain uncorroborated by other outlets. When that happens, news organizations such as The Post make clear that the reporting is unverified. Maybe they shouldn’t mention the allegations at all, but it’s hard to see how they can be ignored when they circulate so widely online — and when members of Congress are commenting on them, as they did after BuzzFeed’s article appeared last week.

The press and politicos would be well advised take a deep breath and not pounce breathlessly on every new story claiming wrongdoing by Trump. But occasional blunders should not distract from the larger truth: The Trump era has been a golden age of reporting. Trump rages against the “fake media” not because they get so much wrong but because they get so much right that he would rather keep hidden.

Do reporters get the facts wrong occasionally? Of course. And then they apologize and set the record straight — as Post reporter Dave Weigel did after he mistakenly posted a picture on Twitter of an empty arena that gave the impression that hardly anyone was attending a Trump rally. That stands in stark contrast to Trump’s pattern, which is to repeat lies long after they have been corrected. It’s a little rich to hear Trump say that the media have “lost tremendous credibility.” The media have a lot more credibility than a president who averages 16.5 falsehoods a day.

 

[AmazonGrace]

Trump is paying back his debts: 

 

[Cartmann99]

I'm honestly surprised that Faux hasn't offered to interrupt their primetime programming in order for Trump do his own SOTU.

[WiseGirl]

I like following Sarah because of the information she shares but it always scares the hell out of me too.

[GreyhoundFan]

A good one from Dana Milbank: "The uncanny similarities between President Trump and Martin Luther King Jr."

Spoiler

Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a moment when we pause to recall the contribution the great civil rights leader made toward the universal cause of building a wall along the border with Mexico.

Vice President Pence, appearing on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, drew an indelible line between President Trump and King. “One of my favorite quotes from Dr. King was ‘Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy,’ ” Pence said. King, he continued, “inspired us to change through the legislative process, to become a more perfect union. That’s exactly what President Trump is calling on Congress to do.”

It had not previously been obvious that Trump, in shutting down the government until Democrats agree to hundreds of miles of border wall, was fulfilling King’s dream, nor that King had been such a strong influence on a man who challenged the birth certificate of the first black president, hesitated to disavow David Duke, protested the removal of “beautiful” Confederate monuments, often retweeted white supremacists and approved of the “very fine people” marching among neo-Nazis in Charlottesville.

But Pence is a man of nuanced thinking. For example, he has determined that it is “deeply offensive” for the media to report on his wife taking a teaching job with a Christian school that attempts to exclude gay and lesbian students and teachers because of their “moral misconduct,” but he vigorously defends a man who paid hush money to a porn star alleging an affair.

Using the same subtlety of mind employed by the vice president, we, too, discover the many uncanny similarities between Trump and King:

J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI investigated King. James B. Comey’s FBI investigated Trump.

The National Security Agency eavesdropped on King. Trump said he had his phones tapped by President Barack Obama.

King wrote the famous “Letter From Birmingham Jail.” Many of Trump’s former advisers are facing jail time.

King spoke at the Lincoln Memorial. Trump boasts that he is more popular among Republicans than Lincoln (“I beat our Honest Abe”).

King was stabbed, stoned, firebombed and shot. Trump believes “no politician in history, and I say this with great surety, has been treated worse or more unfairly” than he.

King fought against the Vietnam War. Trump avoided the Vietnam War with bone spurs, then said avoiding venereal disease was his “personal Vietnam.”

King dreamed that “the crooked places shall be made straight.” Trump warned about Crooked Hillary.

King wanted his kids not to “be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Trump, in a similar vein, proclaimed that his daughter has “got the best body ” and is “very voluptuous.”

King was the greatest orator of his era. Trump says: “I have the best words.”

King was the foremost civil rights figure of his age. Trump has learned that “Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I notice.”

King was president of his class in divinity school. Trump says that “nobody reads the Bible more than me.”

King was Time’s Man of the Year. Trump’s golf resorts displayed fake Time covers with Trump’s face on them until he won the distinction legitimately.

King imagined “little black boys and girls will be holding hands with little white boys and girls.” Trump declared: “Look at my African American over here.”

Norway granted King the Nobel Peace Prize. Trump wants “more people from places like Norway” rather than “shithole” African countries.

King observed that “nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” Trump, of similar belief, declared that he is “like, really smart” and “a very stable genius.”

Admittedly, Trump differs with King on some minor, technical points. King was defined by civil disobedience. Trump thinks “it’s embarrassing for the country to allow protesters.” King believed passionately in nonviolence. Trump promised to pay the legal fees of people who “knock the crap out of” protesters at his events.

But the Pencean Dialectic shows us far more that unites them.

King worried about the lack of opportunity for African Americans. So does Trump! He said: “You’re living in poverty, your schools are no good, you have no jobs, 58 percent of your youth is unemployed — what the hell do you have to lose?”

And nothing fulfills King’s dream like miles and miles of concrete (or steel!) barrier keeping out poor, dark-skinned people.

King said: “We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.” Trump says: “We must build the wall!”

King said “hate is too great a burden to bear.” Trump feels the same — which is why he says he is building the wall out of “love.”

 

[AmazonGrace]

The Oval Office shutdown 

 

 

[AmazonGrace]

Christie burning bridges (usually he closes them) 

 

[laPapessaGiovanna]

19 minutes ago, AmazonGrace said:

Christie burning bridges (usually he closes them) 

 

I sense a presidential run...

[Howl]

13 hours ago, WiseGirl said:

I like following Sarah because of the information she shares but it always scares the hell out of me too.

Re: Sarah Kendzior, PhD, author of Flyover Country.  This woman is brilliant, and basically called it all, ALL OF IT, years ahead of time.  What is all of it? How the entire Trump phenomenon would play out. 

When she is telling us that these are dangerous times for our country and its future, and that the Trump administration is in the process of dismantling our country and selling it for parts, it's important to listen. 

I want to start listening to her and Andrea Chalupa's podcast, Gaslit Nation, but I'm a little tech challenged.  

[WiseGirl]

6 minutes ago, Howl said:

I want to start listening to her and Andrea Chalupa's podcast, Gaslit Nation, but I'm a little tech challenged.  

When you figure this out let me know. I, too, am tech challenged. Her book is excellent, but reads like a prophecy lately. Scary, scary stuff.