Emperor Baby Fists/President Trump made his first address to a joint session of Congress last night. And I could only watch about 20-25 minutes in the middle before turning it off in disgust. So I only got through the part where Baby Fists blamed Muslim refugees on all of the terrorism from the last two decades, because I guess no one told him that the 9/11 hijackers came from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (and all of them came here on legal visas), and none of those countries are on Trump’s “travel ban.” And here’s how you know that Trump’s travel ban was never about “keeping us safe” and was always a racist political document: Trump has delayed signing a new executive order for a new travel ban, because he knows the second he signs a new EO, he will no longer be able to bask in the glory of his good press following the Joint Session.
Anyway, there are tons of stories and “think pieces” and analyses about Trump’s speech. Here are some thoughts and stories I wanted to put in front of you.
Alternative facts. By the fact-checkers’ count, Baby Fists told about 51 lies in a 61-minute speech. Mic highlights the “biggest lies and mistruths” here.
Trump is “presidential.” Please, pundits, stop calling him “presidential.” I watched for 20 minutes and he was nothing of the kind. He was sedate (possibly sedated) and reading from a Teleprompter. That doesn’t make him presidential. He lies about terrorism and crime rates because he honestly believes America is a hellhole and only he can save the country. That’s NOT optimistic, that’s craven authoritarianism. Anyone who says different has Stockholm Syndrome.
Speaking of craven. Trump used the widow of the Navy SEAL as a prop. The SEAL died in the botched raid Trump ordered, and just this week, Trump casually rejected blame for ordering the raid with insufficient preparation, saying that it was the generals’ fault. Notice that the SEAL’s father wasn’t invited to the Joint Session. Probably because the father has been openly critical of Baby Fists.
Baby Fists’ impression. This NY Mag piece is interesting – go here to read. The headline is “Trump Treats Congress to Convincing Impersonation of a Competent President.” Which… is an interesting point. Last night, Trump behaved the way he thought an actor would play a president on TV. But was it convincing? No. It wasn’t. To be even slightly “convinced” by Trump play-acting political moderation, you have to A) forget everything about the past six weeks, B) forget everything about the campaign and transition, C) believe that Trump is a competent actor, which he isn’t.
Anyway, I’m done. I’m sure there are a million things to bitch about, so have at it in the comments. For the love of God, just don’t call this motherf–ker “presidential,” OK?
Photos courtesy of Getty.
I knew this would happen. Just because someone spiked Angry Yam’s drink with Xanax and gave him a teleprompter, does not make him presidential.
This was the same crap that the media pulled during the election. Basically, if he doesn’t literally throw sh*t like a money at the a zoo, commentators say “Well, he looked presidential…”
The bar has been set so incredibly low for this baffoon. It makes me sick.
This proves that his attacks on the media are working. They are clearly backing down because anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear knows that shit show was the opposite of presidential.
I agree Megan. I was hopeful about the media for a second but their response to last night has crushed those hopes.
I’m not seeing the media backing down – there are links in this very post to articles fact checking and calling bullshit on “sedate” Trump for goodness sake! And although the media definitely had a hand in normalizing Trump by giving him bandwidth before the election, I’m reading daily take-downs, analysis and great investigative reporting on this administration. Maybe you guys aren’t reading what I’m reading, and I’m sure some outlets are playing it safe, but tarring all media with the same brush plays right into Trump’s anti-media rhetoric and doesn’t reflect the renaissance I’m seeing in great political reporting.
@ElleVogel Media outlets are falling all over themselves to talk about his changed “tone” last night. How he sounded more presidential, etc. 61 minutes of fear mongering and lies is decidedly unpresidential and the media should have forcefully rejected this bit of theater instead of high five-ing Trump for not raving like a lunatic.
I am not saying that the media is not doing its job on investigative reporting, but their change in tone last night and this morning was pretty shocking.
The low bar has been removed, because Cheeto has a free pass. He is a “successful businessman” and tells the low-information voters what they long to hear. Never mind if what he says is true or fabrication.
Prez said: Keystone XL pipeline will create tens of thousands of jobs.
Fact: The Keystone XL will create 2,700-4,000, more like 200 pared down to 35 upon completion.
Prez said: 94 Million Americans are unemployed.
Fact: “94M Americans are out of the labor force!”
(The vast majority of them are seniors, students, and the disabled.)
Checked out of this disconnected version of someone else’s upside down reality.
Escaped to a drama series beautifully filmed in Australia “A Place to Call Home”.
When you own a demented monkey and all it does its entire life is throw its waste at the walls and then one day it doesnt , wouldnt you also be stunned into momentary silence? You would also be wise to stay on standby because that monkey will be back flinging sh*t in a matter of time. Thats where we are people. On standby.
Well put, thank you.
Well said
Best comment.
BINGO.
Brilliant analogy.
Spot on!
Merry: Liked your comment
If we are the zoo keepers, then isn’t it time to put the erratic behaving monkey in a (rest home) sanctuary? Where he may lay about, idly enjoying a peaceful paradise. This would protect the public from a daily assault to all our senses: eyes, ears, hearts, mind and spirit of a mad monkey on display that threatens peace to all.
This comment has greatly cheered me up today. Thank you.
I will be bringing this out whenever someone tells me how “presidential” Trump was during the address. It will be a gift that keeps on giving.
I too noticed he appeared sedated, and was sniffing at times. It’s so funny, he read a speech someone wrote for him and Morning Joe and the republicans on T V were acting as if he was a changed man. He’s 70 years old and he’s not going to change. He’s a mean, vindictive, racist, liar who is hell bent on trying to try to get all the people of color out of the country by any means possible. I heard Bannon on tv saying they are going to tear the country down, something like that. Btw, I’m still want to know when is he going to release his taxes. Also, I hope they form a commission to investigate the ties between DT and VPand the Russians. Also, Comey should be investigated for screwing Hillary. I understand she might have lost anyway, but let it be fair, don’t put your hand on the scale for DT.
amen to all your points. also – someone put crushed up valium in his steak and ketchup b/c there was no chance he was that calm without medication. zero.
B n A fn, I believe it was yesterday or the day before (I’m sorry I don’t remember which) but the Republicans are not going to release his taxes. So yeah. Party over country. Jerks.
Exactly. People forget that the media normalized trump straight into the WH. And now they are setting the bar so low that they are impressed he didn’t say something insane. That’s not something to strive for! I’m not impressed that our President managed to read lines of BS off a TelePrompTer! Hell they even have the DNC moderates talking about working with trump as if he’s going to do anything for us.
We cannot trust the media to do their jobs either. That’s what this entire past election cycle has taught me. Except for Teen Vogue because they seem to be the only sane publication these days. We have to fight for ourselves since everyone else seems to be content to live in this dumpster fire he’s created in a month
Agreed.
Pretty sure he’ll be back to throwing s#it any minute now. The speech was all style, no substance. There’s no healthcare plan. There’s no modified travel ban. There’s no financial sourcing for his alleged infrastructure plan. Meanwhile he’s wanting to gut critical government oversight disguised as cutting the fat.
So no, not Presidential. But it takes precious little to satisfy the low information set.
#trumprussia
“*There’s no healthcare plan.
*There’s no modified travel ban.
*There’s no financial sourcing for his alleged infrastructure plan.
*Meanwhile he’s wanting to gut critical government oversight disguised as cutting the fat.”
Such important points!
I was stunned and disgusted to see my man Van Jones, one of the TV journalists I most admire, rave that Trump had become truly Presidential last night and that he would be in office for eight years if he could continue in that way. I never ever thought I would see Van drink the Kool-Aid. With all we know of the real Trump – sexual predator, habitual liar, bigot, sexist, greedy thief-by-multiple-bankruptcies, malignant narcissist, xenophobe, opportunist-at-the-expense-of-Democracy…Jesus, Van, how could you fall for that cynical act?
Van Jones has spent months making us feel badly about lazy lower middle class white people in the Rust Belt states and how hard their lives are, and how we need to give them credit for voting for Trump. He is a sycophant and refuses to be honest about trump
Yes, I was very puzzled by that also. His feeling about Trump suddenly becoming “Presidential” seemed to be based on Trump’s remarks about the SEAL who died in the Yemen raid. Now, it would be nice to think that Trump had a revelation the first time he had to deal directly with a man dead from his orders and was humbled by the experience. But Trump really has never shown empathy for anyone (that’s not a slur but an observation, our ability to feel empathy seems to depend on a certain area of the brain that can be damaged or undeveloped). I have to wonder if he invited the man’s widow purely for the PR effect, to counteract the bad PR from the man’s father refusing to meet Trump during transfer of the body. She just buried her husband a few weeks ago. She must still be feeling raw, even though she knew his job was dangerous there really is no way to prepare emotionally for the worst. Was it really a good idea to bring her to this? To me it just didn’t feel right to use her grief to pump up Trump’s agenda this way.
Trump was unusually subdued during the speech, so it’s natural to wonder if there was a chemical reason. Maybe he was just finally convinced how important it was that he button his lip about his usual wild claims about the election and such and cool it on the dark American Carnage rhetoric. But the speech itself was all same old, same old as far as content was concerned. He continued to repeat lies that had already been thoroughly debunked as lies.
And his announcement about VOICE was very disturbing. He is trying to convince people that despite all statistics to the contrary, immigrants are more dangerous than the rest of us. He again dragged in people who had lost loved ones to “prove” his point, even as another recent widow was coming to terms with her loss after a radicalized native-born white Christian terrorist killed her Muslim husband from India.
I am furious. Our media is really really terrible, to pretend that the drugged out idiot was Presidential. Really?? He just made up a new agency to keep track of immigrant crimes, just like the Germans did to the Jews.
I am so angry at 30% of my fellow Americans the past month. Ugh.
nothing is ever his fault or responsibility, and last night he provided no ideas what to replace Obamacare with.
He recited the same ideas Price and Ryan have been pushing for years: Medical Savings accounts (The Road to Bankruptcy); buying across state lines (the stupidest idea of all time): and High Risk Death Pools for pre-existing conditions. I think Congress and Trump and their full families and all staff should test these ideas as a pilot program for five years. If any of them survive, then we’ll consider them.
It was the best speech he’s given. He stuck to the teleprompter, mostly stayed on the GOP’s message and managed to not call on the audience to beat someone up. The bar for “Presidential” is indeed low with this administration.
The creation of VOICE is utterly chilling.
Isn’t it? What about the people killed by white supremacists? Or Trump supporters? So only the families of people killed by immigrants should be heard? Or is it just another ploy to engender hate against immigrants?
“Or is it just another ploy to engender hate against immigrants?” Yes.
Immigrants are actually less likely to commit crimes, not more.
The NY Times has an excellent piece on the driving force behind Trump’s virulent anti-immigrant stance. It originated with Sessions, Bannon and Miller. They have been plotting this course for a very long time. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/28/magazine/jeff-sessions-stephen-bannon-justice-department.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fmagazine&action=click&contentCollection=magazine®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=5&pgtype=sectionfront
The most chilling aspect of VOICE is this: Will it make a distinction between immigrants who legally go through the system, and immigrants who haven’t? Has that question been answered? I was at work and missed the speech.
@Rapunzel- No, I don’t think they’ve been clear about crimes by undocumented immigrants versus legal immigrants- and I think that is intentional.
Apparently the master plan includes a dramatic curtailment of legal immigration too. Without immigrants, the economy and the country will fall apart.
It’s not like they want to switch immigration standards to those of, say, a country like Canada, which sets criteria for assets, education, language etc.
They just want to cut immigration and leave it a country of increasingly old white people (who have no one to take care of them).
No amount of anti-abortion zeal will make up for the falling birth rate and no number of locally retrained coal miners will service the nationwide health and home care needs of an aging Baby Boom.
This curbing immigration stuff is going to be absolute disaster for the economy. I’m in the central valley of CA, and it’s going to destroy Agribusiness in the state. And country. Soon, we’ll be paying 4 dollars a tomato, and we’ll have half our incomes to do it. Pathetic.
“Will it make a distinction between immigrants who legally go through the system, and immigrants who haven’t?”
I am so concerned for anyone who has an accent or looks “other”. I’m so concerned.
My adult daughter is taking pre-med in college, and some “friends” in one class told Laura she’d better start carrying around documents [because she looks Hispanic]. Well, her dad, born in Los Angeles like her, is from a Mexican-Irish background. He’s a respected judge, and his late father was a nationally-known judge. Laura looks just like her dad, dark hair and brown eyes. I guess that’s enough to excite ICE?! I was chilled and horrified to think my daughter might end up in Nazi cross-hairs. As a semi-amusing aside, my younger daughter has brown eyes but has long blonde hair [dyed]. She lives in L.A. and is invariably mistaken for an Armenian girl. When she shops in Glendale, for instance, the sales people speak to her in Armenian right off the bat. Appearances are deceiving! We all 3 have a Spanish surname, although I’m lily-white Norwegian. Fascists and Nazis now rule this country and it would make a sewer rat vomit.
Yes, the VOICE announcement is what made red lights start flashing on my dashboard. Publishing a list of crimes by “aliens” does nothing short of prep the U.S. for genocide. There is ample evidence that these same kinds of initiatives have led to violence in other countries. I maintain that his administration has a plan to wreak havoc on this country, and they are executing that plan quickly. Letting him distract us with speeches is a mistake.
I don’t get it. He goes out there and DOESN’T trip over his dick for once and “boom!” he’s “presidential”? How low is the bar now?
So low that that chick who did the limbo under the car couldn’t get down that far. LOL to the trip over his comment.
The only question I have is, when will his supporters realize that they will pay for the wall? They still think that Trump can force Mexico to pay for it.
My belief is with many states trying to make protesting a felony, resisting arrest (so subjective depending on the officer) and similar attrition to civil liberties charges felonies, that they will 1: take voting rights from those not under their thumb, and 2: fill up private prisons with their slaves to build a wall.
I never watch one second of him speaking, so thanks for the summary.
I can’t watch him speak either. How is this even the real world anymore?
I didn’t bother to watch either. I knew he would just lie his way through it.
I watched anything other than that speech. And that includes the talking head opinions afterwards.
He has a job to do, and so do the media (work for the people and actual journalism). Memo to both: This is not a reality show.
My husband made me a very large martini so I could get through it.
I chose not to watch as he makes my blood pressure soar. Took a bubble bath with a large glass of wine.
I can’t watch him either. I can’t look at photos of him. I read the news, it is enough of a horror story.
I always read the transcript. I got two sentences in and thought “Oh ok, he’s reading off a teleprompter and sticking to the script. Got it.”
I was yelling at the TV approximately 1 minute into his speech. I lasted less than 5.
Don’t forget the most appalling moment: When he said that Ryan, the SEAL, was happy in heaven because of the extended applause he was getting. Clearly the length of applause and ovations are the only thing that really registers with Easy D. It was despicable.
The other problem is not only did the pundits think he sounded presidential, his enablers and supporters did too. I can’t imagine the mileage they will get from this, all because the bar has been set so freaking low. I’m really worried about the Democratic Party’s ability to make a comeback in the face of this madness.
And I’m beyond disappointed in the press. He has been trashing and undermining them left and right and yet CNN is now practically fawning over him. The question is will Trump call their favorable poll “fake news” since it’s favorable???
I couldn’t believe he said that. Ryan would be happy for extended applause? He wouldn’t be distressed about his obviously heartbroken wife? It appeared to be one of the few times Trump strayed from the teleprompter and it was his usual narcissistic rubbish. I assume now that Ryan’s widow has appeared at Trump’s behest it silenced the call for investigation into the Yemen raid by her father-in-law.
It was the stupidest thing he could have said and I can’t believe more people aren’t calling him out for it. And I don’t know if the investigation into the raid is off, I sure hope not.
There were leaks about the pentagon’s three investigations in the news yesterday. But, frankly, Trump is the commander in chief and has the legal authority to order a raid. All the investigation will turn up is that it wasn’t successful, but we already knew that.
I kept thinking, how did he know Ryan even believed in a heaven?
I’m not sure that anyone mentioned it yet because I haven’t read all the comments, but Ben Shapiro (garbage human) claimed Pelosi, Sanders, Ellison, and Wasserman Schultz didn’t clap or stand for the widow. He used a still picture of Ellison and Wasserman Schultz that could have been taken at any time during the speech to prove his point.
Credible sources said the entire chamber stood and applauded her, and the panned out video clearly shows Pelosi. Deplorables (including my mom) are jumping on this saying that the Dems are using their hatred for Trump to disrespect the widow of a hero. Of course they won’t accept the fact that Trump is responsible for her husband’s death, that he trotted her out there as a stunt, that he had family members of people killed by illegal immigrants there as a stunt, that his words were mostly terrifying- even if he delivered them in a sedated way. Nope, it’s all about those evil dems. Obviously Obama did it with mind control.
The use of that SEAL’s widow as a prop was disgusting. But his followers all thought it was a beautiful tribute.
I wanna smack that woman for letting her husband’s death be used in this manner.
The poor woman is traumatized by grief; don’t blame her. What would be interesting is for her to revisit this situation much later on. She was taken advantage of; used like a pawn…. maybe someday she’ll see that and use it against Trump.
I can’t be upset with her. She’s grieving and I’m sure hearing the applause really touched her. I doubt she was in a state that she could understand Trump’s machinations or how he was using her to shut down calls for an investigation. Plus it was the president inviting her- how could she turn that down? My heart honestly breaks for her.
I blame her. Grieving or not, she should know better. If her grief stricken father in law can see Trump’s evil, she should too. No excuses here.
That was hard…. you could see the grief and the pain was still very present and fresh, and visceral. It was kind of hard to watch, because it really did feel like they were just using her as a “moment,” yet she was dealing with the very real, tragic death of her husband.
At the same time, I can’t blame her- regardless of politics or “moments” or delusional orange cheetos- her husband died protecting our country as a hero, and he should absolutely be honored- I’m not going to snipe at a grieving widow for taking the opportunity to see her husband honored. Unfortunately, it had political undertones… and she had to suffer through Ivanka, but if having her husband publicly remembered helps, then do it. If she looks back and regrets this, then so be it, but if in that moment, she felt a little bit of comfort, than maybe it’s worth it.
the applause comment was cringe-worthy, ugh
A shame trump didn’t show the same respect for Captain Khan and his parents. The VOICE thing is truly vile.
Yes Esmom. Even though we know it’s an act, his supporters clearly don’t. We should all be worried any time Trump comes across as legitimate.
Kitten, the reality is that his supporters always think the world of him no matter what he says or does. I was sickened by the comments on Twitter last night – “beautiful, grand, the best speech ever, brought tears to my eyes”. Just because he read complete sentences did not make him presidential and didn’t make the content inspired – it was the same old tripe he has been feeding them throughout the campaign, only cleaned up a bit by professional speech writers.
Those of us who see through the lies and are horrified by everything – his daily “bring your daughter to work” attitude, reward your family with positions they don’t deserve, use your adult kids to sign deals right and left that will make you an actual billionaire, ignore the legitimate concerns of minorities and groups who see hate crimes against them spike, claims accomplishments that are not real, bully anyone who is not a supporter… (the list goes on forever) we are no fooled. We were never going to be fooled. We know he can’t and wont change and that at best we can hope for impeachment, at worst for complete global destruction. Wearing a blue tie, being drugged or persuaded into staying on script will not make him a more legitimate president.
And where does he get off always referring to Owens as “Ryan” as if he were a close personal friend? He killed that man. And couldn’t bother to stop tweeting his typical garbage while he did so
Because he has no sense of decorum.
Because he’s the ultimate user.
I thought that was very odd. It’s pretty disrespectful to not refer to him as rank and last name.
What is really sad, also, is that on my FB feed the only thing being touted is how the Democrats didn’t stand during the ovation for the widow. Maybe, one article on what was contained in the speech. This woman has been through enough and should have never been asked to be there.
I agree. I saw a lot of how “touching” it was. It made me want to throw up. That poor woman-to be used like a prop is the lowest of the low.
I think the expressions on these military faces captures their respect for Draft Dodging Chickenhawk-in-Chief.
http://twitter.com/whileinthewild/status/836777479092203521
Yes Esmom, THAT particular moment was horrifying. I cannot imagine what emotions the widow of Navy SEAL Ryan Owens was experiencing or why she chose to attend (NOT a judgement), but his father’s abscence spoke volumes. Even in his grief, Bill Owens not only demanded answers, but he had the compassion to note trump’s mistreatment of the Captain Humayun Khan’s (Gold Star) family.
I was nauseated with trump’s smug smirk and his applause meter remark. He really does not get it. He is morally bankrupt.
Don’t even get me started on his self congratulatory tone when highlighting Megan Crowley’s story. I loved, loved, loved that she was wearing white. In my mind: MC: “I’m not your prop you jack hole”
Huh this explains a lot to me about how republicans think. Who cares if soldiers die when they go straight to heaven where they are much happier?
This is why leaders need to be SECULAR.
We need to keep up our #resistance. Get outside your rep’s office with signs, set up a town hall like we did in NY21, although she wouldn’t come. Send postcards to McConnell, Ryan and Chaffetz demanding an investigation. Do NOT give up. Make a ton of noise.
Trump said nothing new in that speech, he said the same things he said during the campaign. Plus, Trump always says he wants to this or that but never how.
I can’t listen to his speeches because I really hate his voice.
Thank you. I’m the same way. Listened to him once and that was it (and only for about a minute.) Couldn’t believe how Alec Baldwin really has his voice down. I had a professor in college that was monotone and put me to sleep almost every class. Couldn’t stand his voice either.
I didn’t watch the speech, but caught some of the glowing blubber on msnbc this morning..the bar is so low for this unstable man that now reading=genius.
I am once again tuning out the broadcast media that seem to treat this as some type of lovelorn relationship. Jon Stewart hit the nail on the head this week, when he visited Colbert’s show to describe how high schoolesque the media is about him.
Glowing blubber…👍…I can’t bear to look at him or hear him. I have to force myself to even read what he says. It’s not just his appearance, though that’s bad enough, it’s those dreadful expressions and guestures. Unbearable.
Could the bar be any lower?!?
He still has no concrete plans. That’s not Presidential. He still doesn’t want an investigation into Russia. That’s not Presidential. He blamed Obama for that botched Yemen raid (and lied that it wasn’t botched). That’s not Presidential. He still has not done a thing competently. That’s not Presidential.
Being tranquilized to the max does not a President make. But never fear, he can’t keep this impersonation up anyhow.
VOICE is horrifying but I loved the LOUD boos he got when he brought up taking away Obamacare and replacing it with stupid HSAs and tax credits. Isn’t that what we already had before Obamacare and it was horrible? How is that a solution?
I’ve realized that many Americans don’t understand HSAs. Quite a few people I’ve met don’t seem to understand it’s just pre-tax money from their paychecks and will reduce their take-home pay. I have an HSA. It’s great in conjunction with my insurance, but it’s no substitute for insurance.
I have a small one for the purpose of covering insurance cost-sharing (deductibles & co-pays) and it is more trouble than it is worth. They are constantly denying things for ridiculous reasons. After my insurance paid tens of thousands of dollars on diagnostic procedures for a liver problem, my HSA denied the $25 co-pay for the specialist on the grounds that the appointment wasn’t medically necessary – that is AFTER my health insurance paid him over a $1,000 for that very same appointment. They recently denied payment to Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary on the grounds that it isn’t a medical provider.
And the idea behind these things is so faulty. People have no idea of the actual cost of health care and cannot estimate how much they are going to need out of pocket for these things if they are ever really sick or injured
Ugh for you. AND Mass Eye and Ear not legit, seriously? One of the premier specialty hospitals in the country?
I had an HSA back in 1990. We didn’t have dental insurance at the firm where I worked, so I stuck $15 a month in there to help alleviate the pain when I needed to go to the dentist. I would never want such a thing for my primary health care.
And how about the laughs when he said he was draining the swamp? I wished they had been louder, though.
In his defense, the swamp was drained and the loser alligators were replaced with pricey piranhas and trust fund sharks. The best. Believe me.
From what I gather the Dems had made a pact to be civilized and professional. You know, unlike the republican yelling “You lie!” at Obama’s speech. “Draining the swamp” was such an outrageous claim the guffaws were inevitable though. I nearly snorted wine thru my nose.
Apparently Nancy Pelosi had instructed everybody to be respectful. Sigh. I get what she’s going for but it must have been tough to listen to in person.
I just kept thinking of the Trevor Noah video of Trump at one of his rallies saying that he hated the “drain the swamp” phrase because he thought it was hokey but he used it and people ended up loving it.
It wasn’t even his phrase and he never liked it yet he used it again last night because he knows that it resonates with his dumbass supporters. Sigh.
They were too respectful I guess, so massive human garbage can Ben Shapiro had to make up a lie saying they refused to stand or clap for Mrs. Owens and the deplorables are running with it despite no evidence to back that up.
Sign is right Kitten. I was in backwoods PA before the election and someone had a huge sign made out of a big old piece of plywood and some orange spray paint that said Drain the Swamp.
I’ve had an HSA for several years, and it’s just a tax-sheltered account that has to be funded by my deposits. The accounts help offset high-deductible insurance plans.
So basically people end up with more or less catastrophic insurance coverage with lots of out of pocket costs to keep the premiums affordable. But you get a little tax shelter that has been available for years.
They want to raise the limit of how much you can allocate to your HSA. That won’t help most middle or working class Americans who can’t afford to reduce their regular paycheck by that much. It will benefit Trump’s cronies as a tax shelter though. We use our HSA to set aside cash for deductibles, glasses, contacts, dental procedures like crowns and my kid’s braces. I can’t imagine trying to actually pay for a major medical problem with it though. One ER trip could wipe it out.
That’s what I don’t think people really understand.
Medical-related bankruptcies will likely once again spike, if the ACA is deconstructed for the insurance companies (because that’s what I think this is about — making big companies happy).
@Christin- Definitely! Repealing the ACA is just a big old love letter to health insurance companies.
@Christin, and preventable deaths will rise once again because people will put off wellness visits and follow-ups because they can’t afford them.
The bar for so-called president p*ssygrabber Trump is so incredibly low that he is praised for being able to read a speech somewhat normally. I could only watch snippets here and there mostly on the comedy shows. Otherwise, he is too grating and hurts my ears.
I will eat my proverbial hat if anyone here sincerely refers to Trump’s performance as “presidential”, but your request is duly noted lol.
Eat it! 😉
Damn. Will a tiny fascinator a la the “Waity Katy” years suffice?
Lol sure that works.
His tweets are clearly coming from a PR officer for the last few days. And then yesterday, he stuck to the auto cue. Oh lil Donnie is playing President. It wont last long. Narcissists cant help themselves, he’ll hear a criticism that challenges his lofty self image and explode again. Still, I wonder who got through to him. Personally I suspect someone showed him an episode of House of Cards and explained that he is making Mike Pence eventual coup too easy.
I really thought he seemed slightly sedated. And he still couldn’t resist going off script with the comments about the Navy SEAL being happy in heaven for getting so much applause.
As for the motivation to keep it together, as RBC says below it was probably because something big is about to hit. We can only hope.
Actually, that’s probably the only thing that would get through- he’d understand House of Cards…
And the award for best performance as a president in a reality show goes to….
Something big will be leaked soon I can sense it. Last night’s speech was to get as many people as possible to support him and denounce all the “fake news” that will hit the fan shortly. Deflect and pivot should be the motto for this administration.
I so hope you’re right.
Methinks the connections to a certain other country are becoming clearer by the week.
I watched the whole thing. I was waiting to hear how he’s going to unite the country. It was nothing but doubling-down on campaign trail stuff…. the only “new” thing was that he managed to stay on point and not go off on some infantile rant. I second the notion he was sedated btw. But nothing at all about bringing the nation together.
I watched the whole thing and it pains me to admit that this was his best speech yet. That’s isn’t saying much of course and we all know that it was a bunch of bullshit but I do think he sounded presidential *dodges tomatoes* and not like an unhinged lunatic for once.
I slept fitfully last night because I’m so worried. If there was a Trump-supporter on the fence, last night’s speech will reassure them. This is a huge problem because until his supporters turn on him, this administration isn’t going anywhere.
Last night gave him an air of legitimacy that he doesn’t deserve, but we need to be concerned about this, guys.
I’m right with you, I was distraught. I kept thinking that the Dems could bring Jesus Christ himself in to do the response and the enablers and deplorables would find a way to trash him.
As Peter Sagal tweeted, Trump was shockingly “hinged.” And that is indeed worrisome because you could sense the support, even within that chamber, solidifying.
Exactly this. I was hoping he would be his usual bloviating, red-faced, heaving mess but he was calm and collected.
My BF was at the Bruins game and I kept texting him “this is not good” because I knew it would be a slam dunk for his supporters.
It’s easy to be dismissive of Trumpsters but the reality is that it’s crucial that we get at least some of these people to turn.
Because as I’ve said a million times around here, his supporters enable and protect him. As long as they’re on the Trump train, we’re stuck with this mess because cannot do this alone. We have to have some level of bipartisan support in order to fight this guy.
Last night I got on FB and saw my Trumpster friend who has wavered a bit recently with his support in light of the marijuana and private prison issues. Unsurprisingly, he was super-happy with the speech. Sigh.
This is so bad, you guys. As soon as the speech was over I texted my BF to say “tonight will mark a major turnaround for Trump. Watch for him to get a healthy bump in the polls.”
Meanwhile, did anybody see Maddow’s Russian connection piece?
I have come to accept the fact that he will last for a while, maybe even the entire term and that, being in Canada, I am safe unless he blows everything up (see that little increase in all things military, particularly the bad uranium stuff…). in the meantime, I plan to stay the hell out of the US, much as I will miss it. A lot of people in Canada (and overseas) are saying the same thing – no matter that Trump supporters keep tweeting that that’s great news and they don’t need us. Maybe they don’t but the huge tourism industry sure does.
You know when his supporters will turn on him? When it’s coming up on 3 years, their healthcare costs are the same our worst, the coal jobs aren’t back, the high paying, no edcatishn jobs are still not falling off trees, grocery bills are higher if he actually starts building the wall/ gets an import tax law passed… when all these things hit, then they’ll connect the dots. They’ll still vote Rep, because goodness forbid women decide for themselves whether they’re a breeding pouch, and they’ll still be hating them foreigners (unless they’re imported model material) but they’ll turn on him.
God your comment is so depressingly true. I’m also resigned to the fact that he’ll last a full term. I’ll keep protesting and fighting the best that I can, but I think we need to be realistic about the fact that so many Americans are happy with him. Gah. This sucks.
I’m in Canada too but it feels way too close, and with my deep roots in the USA, this is hard – and I use my citizenship rights to call etc. Sometimes I think my friends in “safe”/ Blue states are still hiding their heads in the sand, which is frustrating. It’s going to take something impinging directly on their security to get them to act.
Meanwhile I’ve had to disengage from yet another old-white-guy friend. Zero economic anxiety, would be considered coastal elite, did well during the Obama years but still blames him for some unknown unsupported acts. My conclusion: racism + cult of personality. Staying away.
I agree, also we were talking about going to Hawaii this summer but forget it. I wouldn’t feel safe travelling to America. What if they read my Facebook page and decide to detain me a few hours because of anti trump memes? How will they treat my Hispanic husband? Forget about it. We’re not going.
Are we safe here though? I’m terrified of o’leary and people are getting pissed at Justin.
I know exactly what you mean.
I hoped he’d fall flat on his face, and he didn’t. So now we have to be ever more aware, which is already exhausting.
I hate this man with a passion.
Me too. I cannot stand to look at him and his cabinet of thugs. I had a bong in hand and all sharp objects hidden safely away while watching.
But looking at Pres. babyfists, Pence’s evil grin and Ryan’s smug mug really tested my limits.
You women are braver than me. I couldn’t even watch it. I just followed twitter feeds and then waited until it was over to assess the damage. Dangerous times, and people are just desperate to make him something he isn’t–like they did with Reagan.
I totally agree. He sounded normal and he read off the teleprompter perfectly and didn’t go off script and that’s all someone who wasn’t too sure about him needs.
What pisses me off is that he is already setting up to blame the Democrats about the new healthcare. He was saying how they have to come together and make it work because people need healthcare and Obamacare is a disaster. What!?!? First of all it was was originally a Republican healthcare model for the Affordable Care Act and tweaks were made for it. Republicans worked against it and called it Obamacare to stir everyone into a frenzy and the entire election that’s all Trump talked about. Now he wants to come together and if nothing works out its going to be the Democrats fault? Way to sneak that in there. It’s still going to be “Thanks Obama” for the next 4 years I guess. Ugh. Pisses me off.
I couldn’t get past 15 minutes of the circle jerk going on between him and the Repubs. Was there an “Applause” sign that went on every 30 seconds?
Now saying things he has refused to say or address before, or pretending he didn’t say something else like that very same morning, and now trying to act caring reading off those teleprompter remarks written for him infuriated me. It was a decent speech, but it belies everything he has been doing and saying.
I had to turn it off for my mental health. Reading a wonderful piece by Slate after it was over soothed my fears that he was going to get away with everything he has done before the speech. Nope. Some were calling the “Real” Trump to task.
That’s exactly what I called it, Jayna: an old white man circle jerk convention.
And Paul Ryan grinning and clapping like a manic seal behind Trump! “Yaaasss, yassss! This is what I sold my soul for!”
He is so repulsive. My eyes kept darting to Ryan and Pence’s evil, maniacal grins.
He was downright gleeful and giddy at every mention of gutting the ACA.
I am thankful we could not see Ryan’s lower body. He seems to get aroused at the mere thought of depriving healthcare to people.
Mitch McConnell’s face was also terrifying every time they panned to him.
Anyone, else notice how he would stick his chin up and wait for the applause? I felt like he was going to cross his arms at any second a la Mussolini.
Chin way up, eyes closed in gag-inducing ecstasy, slight nods acknowledging his acolytes applause, the smug just radiating off him? Ya, I didn’t notice anything like that 🙂
I hadn’t realized till last year that I was capable of such hate and resentment – but then this orange abomination of a man came along.
I hate the idea of hate and really, as far as I know, never hated anyone. This feeling about Trump is a new one for me and I don’t like it. But I think it’s called hate and I think that it’s being overflowed onto his supporters. Maybe if Trump was on his own and despised more fully I wouldn’t feel the same way about him. But those supporters … they are the worst because they helped him thrive.
Trust me, I don’t like it either. In fact I am almost surprised about the intensity of this emotion – and yes, it’s inclusiveness. Still, I don’t wish him any physical harm – I just hope that we are lucky enough to watch him experience a fall and humiliation so profound that even his dellusional mind won’t be able to deny it.
I agree with you both. It is an intense and unwanted emotion but I can’t seem to shake it.
@Tanguerita. “Still, I don’t wish him any physical harm.”
Well, you’re better than I am then.
I felt a very similar emotion for Margaret Thatcher. I still do really, decades later
I know what you mean. And I feel like I’m slowly going crazy. Like I’m Ingrid Bergman in Gaslight.
I immediately thought that he must have been sedated! It’s sad that being able to string together coherent sentences is all it takes to make one sound “presidential”, now.
Nina, yep. And they used to say it wasn’t enough when Obama spoke eloquently and from the heart. They yelled about teleprompters and being “elite”. Sigh.
“…By the fact-checkers’ count, Baby Fists told about 51 lies in a 61-minute speech.”
That’s chilling. 🙁
I’m mega-thankful for the rise of fact-checking sites all over the world and that they are increasingly seen as a valuable branch of journalism.
Looking at the second picture I just noticed something. He has a vagina on his neck.
oh my God, how disgusting and how true. I can’t unsee it now)) Can you imagine a fit the Baby Fists would throw if he knew?
Thank you for the laugh L84Tea. Someone should point it out to him. He’ll be grabbing at his neck all the time now. Maybe he’ll accidentally suffocate himself. 😉
How presidential to victimize a widow TWICE. First he killed her husband then used her as a prop to make himself feel better for killing him. The buck stops anywhere but with him.
Wow I am probably going to come off as anti-American but we’ve actually hit “Idiocracy” mixed with Nazi Germany levels. 😕 I am ashamed at the shear idiocy and complacency in this country right now. Apparently reading from a speech, most likely written Ryan and the GOP, from a teleprompter makes you presidential and according to the brainwashed media already worthy of a second term. Never mind the Russia connection and the past year of Hell. All you have to do is have basic reading skills. What twilight zone am I living in??? We’re screwed.
I need to get my Canadian paperwork in order.
Dude just tweeted an all caps “THANK YOU!” Wtf?
@rapunzel
He’s saying THANK YOU! For the tremendous morning log he laid in the WH toilet.
Lmao!
We all knew he’d be LAPPING UP all the praise like the thirsty piece of shit he is. I f*cking hate this.
I do too.
Which is exactly why he stayed on script and acted “presidential.” He already knows his die hards love him. He needed to get praise from the media and such for acting like an adult. I figured he’d stay on script last night. I’m sure someone told him this isn’t a rally or your inauguration, half the room hates you.
Apparently the press, or many people in this country learned nothing.
That awkward moment when you’ve moved the bar so low that just staying on script qualifies you as sounding “presidential”. You don’t have to actually ACT presidential, just SOUND like it.
The entirety of the speech as was made up of the same mess of flat out lies, gross exaggeration and racist fantasy that it always has been. Just because he didn’t present it in his usual elementary school kid style doesn’t suddenly make it acceptable.
I am so angry that so much of the press is calling him presidential simply because he gave a speech that by Trump standards was okay. There were two especially disgusting parts, the one where he said her husband is looking down in heaven happy that he had a record for APPLAUSE…and the other was the creation of the incredibly chilling sounding VOICE. Why on earth is the media falling over themselves to praise him and not freaking out about VOICE, I mean the freaking title Victims of Immigrant Crime Engagement sounds like a white supremacist fascist wet dream.
The scary thing is my friend who grew up in under an autocrat said this speech was familiar and the press reaction (only half of them calling him on his 50 something lies and most of them calling him out half assed, and VOICE not being the headline) is familiar. The United States has had issues but never like this in my lifetime…I feel like it’s become a different country.
CNN praising him..other MSM outlets as well. USA Today had a good burn piece and the New Yorker had a solidly critical opinion piece but overwhelmingly, news outlets are favorable.
I f*cking knew they’d be licking his nuts this morning.
I need to take a mental health break from Trump coverage. The rage in me over this isn’t good for my health.
My friend thinks CNN is doing it to say “hey look Trump, we are balanced, we can praise you, so stop calling us fake news and please let us into the briefing room again!”
You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time — Abraham Lincoln
I’m praying without ceasing that all of the people will wake and stop allowing themselves to be fooled before it’s too damn late. Right before my eyes and willingly and compliantly, the U.S. is allowing itself to be destroyed. The fear has always been that ultimately the U.S. would be destroyed from within and that may soon come to pass.
Stephen Colbert went live last night
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hezHSFSwa08
Sarah Silverman got right to the point.
http://twitter.com/sarahksilverman/status/836772971637166080
Wow the trumpettes are sure going at her
I had to take a full sleeping pill last night. It still didn’t knock me out soon enough.
Same evil message, just in coherent sentences because he finally hired a speech writer and used a teleprompter. And yes, possible help from some Xanax or laying off the coke right before. He’s not presidential even with all *that* help. Cheers to the democrats refusing to stand for him. That sight gave me some hope. Trumpers are crapping their pants like it was the best speech since JFK, and it wasn’t. It’s pretty sad when just being understandable instead of ranting and talking in circles is considered ‘presidential.’ Hell, I can do that. It doesn’t change his message and his ideology. All it did was show he can read.
“Ich bin ein pus@sy grabber”.
The talk heads are saying his speech was Presidential and better than the inauguration, because the press has set the bar so low for him. IMO the country and world has listened to his fear mongering rhetoric for the last year or so, that it is really to late for redemption, even with last nights speech.
I love you, Kaiser.
That is all.
So Trump’s latest tweet is a big THANK YOU. This could mean anything not just thank you for loving his very ordinary speech. Perhaps this was a way to send a message and convey something to someone who helped him in a clandestine way. Maybe his connection with Russia is involved. I don’t trust this lying man one little bit and put nothing past him. I’m probably overreaching but he could be sending coded messages through his tweets because he is being watched like a hawk.
Van Jones sold his soul to the devil last night-DISGUSTED.
I was absolutely disgusted, also. “Hugely” disappointed in him, as were all of the posters in the comments section.
But today Bernie Sanders is giving me life with all of his call-outs on that Trump speech.
Jayna, I’m with you about Bernie. I watched his response live last night. And every time I see or hear him, my heart breaks all over again that he could have been, should have been our POTUS. That man is humanity. Trump is a crime against humanity.
Am I the only one who thinks the “Love Army” idea sounds a little…silly?
CNN is becoming nonsense. Shep Smith is doing a better job calling Trump out. Shep Smith!!
I know. This is craziness.
I said it when I saw him speak at the Women’s March, he wants to join hands and sing kumbaya with Trump and the trumpsters.
I’m just not ready to join hands with people I fear are going to stab me in the back.
Me too! I wonder if many of his ilk are going to go out of their way to praise last night’s speech so they can use it to say “SEEEEEEEEE, we’re not biased!” It’s pathetic.
Be sure to follow Shadow Cabinet on twitter. Actual real policy people including Robert Reich and Lawrence Tribe weigh in on Emperor Zero’s policies, lies, and misstatements.
I’ve been following Donaeld the Unready too just for giggles.
Robert Reich is my man! Love him.
I just scrolled through the Donaeld the Unready account and made a rather undignified noise. Glorious!
@littlestrohman
Yes a snort is bound to escape you when you read some of the follies of Donaeld.
Make Mercia Great Again!
Thank you for this! Just read a few tweets and I can tell it’s brilliant. Funny because my Dad has been saying that Trump reminds him more of Henry the VIII than Hitler these days, haha.
Wow! That huckster, fraud, con man, really bamboozled and pandered to the crowd, taking total advantage of the Navy SEAL’s wife’s grief while her father-in-law rightly refused to have anything to do with him. Fawning CNN seemed to think he went in a clown and came out a president. They have lost all credibility. All of this while his sons opened the new hotel in Vancouver where they ignored the protesters and touted the Trump “brand.” Yeah, that’s our president. Gag, throw up time.
I saw a news article about the amount of security Uday and Qusay required. Made me proud of Vancouverites.
I don’t like Trump but he’s right about controlling the borders. You need to know who is coming into your country. Trump hotel opened in Vancouver yesterday and very few showed up. I think the anger is misdirected considering chinese money built it and bought his name. Why aren’t ppl mad at them? Trump has a lot of support in Canada surprisingly.
I just want to know where you get such potent weed.
LOL Me too. There is controlling borders and than there is targeting minorities and immigrants who just happen to be minorities. His VOICE program seems straight out of Nazi Germany. What about all the white supremacists, terrorists and killers who ruin lives?n There are sadly quite a few.
And I am still waiting for the Cheeto to label one of these racially motivated crimes committed by white people terrorism and/or a hate crime. I won’t count on it though.
@Anastasia ?
I think your dislike of him is clouding your judgement. I think it’s important to know who is coming in no matter what color their skin is. Look what’s happening outside of the US. What’s happening in Europe/Sweden could happen over here. It’s scary.
We have homeland security, among other organizations, who are tasked with controlling our borders in accordance with our constitution and international law. If there is a genuine problem with security, Trump could allocate yet more resources to these organizations. Blowing out the torch of Lady Liberty is little more than political grandstanding that will result in the general impoverishment of this (my) country.
We have never had completely open borders. Where do people get this insane idea?
Who said you did?
After watching part of the speech and then reading articles about it after it ended, this article saved me from a sleepless night, and Ambien helped. LOL
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2017/03/the_two_most_debased_moments_of_donald_trump_s_speech_to_congress.html
I’m a high school English teacher. I’d be highly offended and alarmed if a group of people observed me doing my job and concluded that I reminded them of a teacher. That I was teacher-like. And that was the highest praise they gave me? I’d crawl under my desk in shame and embarrassment.
But this orange turd has no sense of shame. Or decency.
Oh and I find grief porn to be absolutely disgusting.
I jokingly told my friends that I must qualify as “presidential” material because I have had to read off of so many PowerPoint presentations in my career. lol
Kaiser, this is the best synopsis/critique of 45’s address that I have read. I’ve read a few since I didn’t watch myself.
I watched the first five minutes, then kept the TV on but began distracting myself with wildlife videos on youtube as I continued to listen. This was NOT a “great” speech, as I’ve heard some Republicans declaring today. I have listened to a goodly number of political speeches over the years – including the formal study of the rhetoric of FDR, Winston Churchill and JFK among others.
The only thing that was any good about this speech is that Trump indeed seemed sedated (did they grind it into his food?) and didn’t come out and do a melt-down a la his 88 minute press conference. He was still full of lies. He still bluffed around about all of his “plans” but has no plan other than vague platitudes. And he still came off as a narcissistic putz.
On pure delivery – he was quite deficient. I happen to have worked at one time with impaired adult readers. As Trump read from the teleprompter throughout this “speech”, it struck me as being very similar in cadence and tone to those impaired readers. These folks devote so much of their effort to just deciphering the words in front of them that they are unable to “read ahead” as fluent readers do. Thus they usually read in a monotone with little inflection. And that’s exactly what Trump did for the most part.
For us: Falling into attributing actions to “the media” does not serve us well. “The media” is a whole lot of sources.
Did anyone else think Ivanka’s dress was rather cocktail trashy. And sitting her next to the widow, so she can fake fawn over her?
This Washington Post blog is absolutely the most hilarious piece I’ve read about this, entitled: Great News, President Trump Did Not Bite Any Bats in Half During His Address to Congress
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2017/03/01/great-news-president-trump-did-not-bite-any-bats-in-half-during-his-address-to-congress/?postshare=5761488392211315&tid=ss_tw&utm_term=.9e7947829ee4