The weekend before the apocalypse was pretty low-key by the standards of our new terrible reality. On Friday, Emperor Baby Fists took a meeting with Steve Harvey, who had spent the days previous to the meeting in a firestorm of bad publicity for mocking Asian men. Considering Harvey’s outdated views on women, dating, sex and relationships, it’s no surprise that he would agree to meet with President P-ssy Grabber. What happened next was pretty classic though. Following Congressman John Lewis’s public comments that Trump is not a legitimate president (because of all of the help he got from Russia), Trump decided to tweet about the civil rights legend:
Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2017
mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk – no action or results. Sad!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2017
Congressman John Lewis should finally focus on the burning and crime infested inner-cities of the U.S. I can use all the help I can get!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2017
“All talk, talk, talk – no action.” It’s been said many times that most of Trump’s attacks on other people are largely the complaints which could be lodged against him. John Lewis has been all action since he was a kid – he literally has more than fifty years of activism, disruption, advocacy and protest in his background and he’s still challenging and working and being a vital voice for the left. Some would even argue that he’s a living saint and the soul of America. Anyway, it’s pretty classic of Baby Fists to attack a civil rights icon on MLK weekend, right?
And then this happened – Saturday Night Live returned and their cold open was Alec Baldwin’s Trump doing a take on Trump’s insane press conference:
After which Trump’s itchy Twitter fingers just had to complain:
.@NBCNews is bad but Saturday Night Live is the worst of NBC. Not funny, cast is terrible, always a complete hit job. Really bad television!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2017
Is this all a giant feint so we aren’t discussing the real story, which is that Trump wants to dismantle NATO and he thinks the EU is over? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Photos courtesy of WENN.
I want him to go away. I don’t care how it happens, he should just go away.
I wonder if CIA operatives are as crafty and interventionist as we’ve been led to believe. There are a million ways they could discreetly dispose of our national headache, let alone sabotage his administration. Trump is an idiot for antagonising them and I will shed no tears.
This is what I’m hoping. They need to sneak some poison into his oatmeal or something. Or leak some truly damaging information (like his tax returns, which I’m sure will reveal all …)
I think Russia and/or the GOP will bring him down. I’m pretty sure something will happen in the next two years.
My husband keeps claiming that if something happened to the turnip before inauguration, Joe Biden would be come President. Is it a sin that I am wishing something would happen?
Let’s hope so. I thought something similar about the intelligence agencies- remember Hoover? If not, I truly believe Trump will bring himself down in the most spectacular manner because he just can’t help himself. It’s just a case of when. And, hopefully, sooner rather than later before too much damage is done.
@Stella in NH: Joe Biden would make a great president.
@Agapanthus: Exactly, something will happen and I think Russia will be involved in his downfall.
So true. If it’s not us another country will. The other intelligence agencies are already digging further into his ties with Russia. And MI6 was responsible for the Russian dossier to begin with. The FBI is just incompetent as well already know.
Politics aside, i don’t know how you can welcome the intervention of an outfit as evil and destructive as the CIA.
Their (evil) record is proven since the 1950s. Congress has held investigations every single decade into how the CIA operates and published reports that you can google. And every decade, surprise surprise, we discover that the CIA lies, cheats, tortures, advances propaganda, obsfucates, assasinates, regime changes, organises death squads and assasinations and much much more. And despite promises to change, they carry on as normal because that is the reason they were created in the first place.
And they are not above doing it in the US or to the American people.
For goodness’s sake WMDs in Iraq and how that was sold to the American people is classic CIA operations. They operate in plain sight.
They are masters at creating falsehoods /propaganda in the media of whichever country they operate such that the country becomes destabilised and revolution/civil war breaks out and the sitting government is removed in favour of a CIA backed puppet. The populations of those countries realise too late that they have been gaslighted into removing their own govt.
And in every single case, the CIA backed puppet govt has been worse for the people in those countries.
Let’s hope for everyone’s sake that is not what is going on here, because the USA will end up with a worse option than Trump because that is also a proven result of CIA operations.
And Israel’s MOSSAD no longer wants to share intelligence with the US because they believe Trump will give any and all information directly to Putin. I suspect both MI6 and MOSSAD have a lot of bad information about Trump and his dealings with Putin.
@LAK as “evil” as they are they have prevented more mass war as well. Brought down corrupt leaders without having to send in boots on the ground, a big reason we didn’t have a full out blown with Russia and Cuba years ago.
They may have got WMD wrong and they admitted it. They are also the same agency that warned both Bill Clinton and BUSH about a future 9/11 and the dangers of Al-Qaeda with Bin Laden. Both ignored it and we got 9/11 just like the CIA warned.
Their Oath is to take out all enemies of America internally and external, and they do even if it seem morally and nationally corrupt. “The CIA oath reads: “I, [name], do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”
Definitely no CIA apologist but reality is they aren’t just the “bad guys”, they have probably also saved Americas butt
many many times and it is rarely acknowledged and we will never know really. Are they perfect no but in the business of spying the good goes along with the bad. Trumps behavior tells me they aren’t making this stuff up, this is the same man that said it was OK to grab women. Marries younger women when his current grows older, changes every first years after he they get “old”. He lies constantly, almost every word out of his mouth is a lie. Christopher Steel the man that first turned in this Dossier was MI6 not CIA and is well know accurate intelligence agent.
CIA can’t operate on US soil. It would have to FBI, Secret Service, BATFE, or DHS. Just saying …
I’m fully convinced that the GOP is just biding their time, waiting for him to lose favor with the public, before they set the impeachment process in motion. For a lot of them, I think Pence was always the end game. I believe Pence himself has been planning this from the start – he would never have won the presidency, otherwise.
Isabelle: ‘they’ve prevented more wars as well’ if you believe that i have a bridge to sell you. ‘Saved America’s butt’ i guess you think only America’s butt is worth saving and therefore don’t care if the rest of the world is deliberately destabalised.
Those ‘corrupt regimes’ are CIA installed puppets who were branded corrupt after they stopped playing US games. They are sold to the American public as bad guys and regime changed and the America safer, meanwhile the regime changed countries are plunged into nightmare lives.
The CIA oath doesn’t cover the fact that they operate as if the rest of the world is the enemy and act accordingly. There is barely a continent or war or regime change in the past 50yrs that didn’t have the hand of the CIA directing it. From Vietnam to Cuba to Nicaragua to Honduras to Afghanistan to Iran to Iraq to Syria. Has any of that made the world or America safer?
Further, the countries they destabilise don’t have to offend the US for the CIA to act. Preemptive strikes that only succeed in making situation worse for the locals and for America.
How does that square with their oath?
And by the way, Osama bin Laden was as much a USA puppet as those corrupt regimes, but he was OK as long as he was fighting the Soviet Union. The washington Post once wrote a saccharine article about him in which they called him the warrior of peace. That’s how much he was welcomed.
You don’t want to be a CIA apologist? Try apologising to this guy….
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrice_Lumumba
Oh wait he is dead. For the ergregious reason of wanting an independent Congo.
Megan: i know the CIA are supposed to work externally just like our MI6, but every thing happening to Trump right now is classic CIA propaganda template. Complete with Russia as a bogey man.
I won’t cry.
@stella, I believe that if Trump was removed because his campaign was involved with Russia in defeating Hillary, (an arrested for treason, as he should be) then Pence would be gone, too, as “fruit of the poison tree,” the House of Representatives would vote for President. I would be Rubio would be the Chosen Boy.
@Lak sounds like you have been reading a lot of conspiracy stuff on the CIA to be honest. Every single agency with America has corruption or stories of it, including the CIA. There isn’t one single agency in America without it black marks, not one.
While the CIA isn’t allowed to “arrest” or conspire against Americans inside the US, they are allowed to provide information through investigations if Americans are suspected being involved in foreign intelligence.
Oh, hell yes. PLEASE.
I’m going to give Trump a chance. I don’t want to be angry and upset about him being President for the next four, possibly eight years. I don’t need the stress of being full of hate and venom for the next several years. My blood pressure is already on the high side and doesn’t need to get any worse. The media is out for blood so I don’t bother watching CNN and all those other dumb media outlets who are continually digging for dirt to make news out of it. I don’t wish to spend my time on this type of nonsense. Breaking news my a**.
Some of us do not have the privilege of giving him a chance. My sister is physically disabled and right in the firing line of the ACA’s repeal. My brother is severely mentally ill. I am a queer woman who is still of reproductive age. I also work in the medical field. Most of my coworkers at my job are non-white. Several of them are Muslims, if not first-generation émigré from the Middle East and West Asia. I am gravely concerned for their safety over the next four years.
I understand people who aren’t in a position either emotionally or physically to take up the fight, but this isn’t a situation where sitting back and waiting will fix anything when it comes to those of us who can. Please do not condescend to people who are filled with anger and venom right now because many of them have a lot to lose because a segment of the population filled with anger and spite for THEIR existence put a dangerous man in power. For some people, anger and spite is the only way you manage to keep your head afloat above oppression. It’s how you keep the world from crushing you.
Well said, Veronica. Most of us have a lot to lose. I have never felt the sense of fear and uncertainty that I do now.
give him a chance to do what?
take away health care from millions of people, including several million children?
start a registry for Muslims?
start WWIII with his tweets? or, continue to ignore his security briefings and be unaware of any threats facing our country?
take away freedom of the press and start jailing people who criticize him?
hand our country and/or national security information over to Russia?
@veronice and Tate, right there with you both.
THANK YOU @Doofus! Exactly!
Sabine, Trump has already shown us who he is. Sometimes miracles do occur, but I wouldn’t hold out hope. We’re talking about what? 70 years of ingrained behavior with this man.
While I will say he seems to change his viewpoints frequently , he’s surrounded himself with people from hell – namely, his advisors and cabinet.
I wish Ivanka could get through to him. I’ll admit it – I USED to watch The Apprentice because I found him unintentionally funny – I would never have dreamed this living nightmare would occur. Anyway, when his kids were his advisors on the show, he especially seemed to look to Ivanka for validation. Unfortunately, they all blew smoke up daddy’s a$$. Sad! (< 😉)
THANK YOU @Doofus! Exactly!
Sabine, Trump has already shown us who he is. Sometimes miracles do occur, but I wouldn’t hold out hope. We’re talking about what? 70 years of ingrained behavior with this man.
While I will say he seems to change his viewpoints frequently , he’s surrounded himself with people from hell – namely, his advisors and cabinet.
I wish Ivanka could get through to him. I’ll admit it – I USED to watch The Apprentice because I found him unintentionally funny – I would never have dreamed this living nightmare would occur. Anyway, when his kids were his advisors on the show, he especially seemed to look to Ivanka for validation. Unfortunately, they all blew smoke up daddy’s a$$. Sad! (< 😉)
I personally probably have nothing to lose but just can’t support someone like Trump who on occasion says he wants to unite but mostly aims to divide. I grew up poor. Dad a house painter, mom worked in a factory. My family went through times with no health insurance through no fault of their own, and my brother had severe asthma & then the added stress of financial difficulties paying his medical bills caused my mom an anxiety disorder, our lights or phone were shut off sometimes, and ultimately we lost our home. I used planned parenthood for years for my healthcare. And received financial aid to attend college. My brother and I no longer worry for health insurance or need social programs, but I know others do.
Me too.
Plus the list of performers just got smaller lol:
Bruce Springsteen cover band cancels plans to play at Trump inauguration gala
The list of musicians who are performing at Donald Trump’s inauguration festivities just got even smaller.
The B Street Band, a highly regarded Bruce Springsteen cover band, has announced that it will not perform at the Garden State Presidential Inaugural Gala in New Jersey.
“With deepest apologies to our fans and the New Jersey Inaugural Ball committee, the B Street Band is withdrawing from performing at this year’s inauguration Gala,” the band said in a statement cited by Backstreets. “Our decision is based SOLELY on the respect and gratitude we have for Bruce and the E Street Band.”
The B Street Band performed at President Obama’s inaugural celebrations in 2009 and 2013, and were asked to perform at the 2017 ceremony before they knew who the new president would be.
The band members said that they would back out of performing at Trump’s inauguration if the Boss asked them to, and it seems Springsteen wasn’t comfortable with them playing his music at anything related to celebrating Trump’s electoral victory.
The band has insisted that it’s not at all political, although it says it’s received a torrent of negative feedback after news broke that it would play at the inauguration.
Maybe Donald can put together the von Trump family singers? If they can sing, “So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen ” and actually leave, all the better.
LOL good idea.
“The von Trump family singers” –Addie, that is pure genius. I just let out a barky laugh that scared the shite outta my dog.
The SNL parody was tragically more coherent than the actual conference.
Baldwin’s work on Trump’s gestures is on point
It really was. It was funny and Trump’s impression is genius but they didn’t begin to capture how bewildering and surreal the whole thing was in real life.
I honestly thought to myself, “I hope Alec Baldwin has a bodyguard.” Because I would not put it past Trump to have a hitman, honest to God. And Alec walks the streets of NYC all the time.
The fact that I even had this thought about a PEOTUS is terrifying. Yet here we are!
You’re right, Bex. FAR more coherent. Can you imagine the hell this “Presidency” (need the quotes or I can’t say it) will bring into the lives of not only Americans but people all over the world?!?
Alec is great, I love the “You’re in/Urin” part xD
I liked the references to the sons.
@Christin: I cried with laughter at the part with the sons!
“And I’m Eric” 😂
The skit was absolutely golden!
I’d like to shower it with praise…
I feel drained.
Of course his twitter rantings are diversions from the real issues – that press conference last week was to defect from the dismantling of the ACA which was being done in the dead of night with no replacements.
NATO has become a toothless organisation (it always has been) and it has lost its standing in the world recently, they way it behave over Aleppo was shameful. But we do need something like it, it like the EU in its current form needs to change and become more accountable and transparent.
He hasn’t been inaugurated yet and he’s behaving like Hitler.
To follow up on “He hasn’t been inaugurated yet and he’s behaving like hitler”. He started turning his people against the press so they will distrust the written press, which they has and the rest is a piece of cake. Now everything they talk about is fake news. I bet deep down in their soul his people and those who voted for him knew they made a big mistake but are so embarrass they will not admit to their mistake. I hope they are preying for forgiveness knowing what this man is capable of. He will be taking this country to a very dark place just so he to enhance pocket of his friends, family and himself. Trump and his SOS pick is looking at the oil from the Middle East. I remember during the primary DT yelling, “take the oil”, no they will try to take the oil and will start ww111, jmo.
If you read much twitter you know many of those people have no souls.
What should NATO have done about Aleppo?
They should have first off kicked the Russians off the council or stopped them for participating in discussions because of a conflict of interest (read, they were behind it all). The way NATO is setup basically allowed Russia to stop them from interfering. If a council member is engaged in illegal behaviour they should be repercussions that don’t affect how NATO is run.
Russia stopped NATO from helping and it was of their own doing as there was no blow back from the other council members to the Russians.
You’re thinking about the UN, not NATO.
And it’s impossible to ‘kick out’ any permanent member out of the Security Council, short of its dissolution.
Does the pres have the right/authority to cancel NATO?
Lady D: No, he can’t. Withdrawal, termination, etc. of a treaty require Congress ratification. Yet, as commander in chief, he can undermine NATO from within: defaulting on dues, tardy deployment of troops, and so on.
@DigitalUnicorn, ummm, NATO was created partly as protection from Russia. So it would be pretty darn tough to kick them off an organization when they were the reason it was created.
I’m sorry, but your ignorance of a basic fact like this is how the Republicans can get Americans to vote against their own influence (Yay!! Obamacare is going to be repealed, but I have the ACA, so I’m fine!! ) Please….turn off Fox News and Rush Limbaugh and read some real papers.
I just found that Twitler meme the other day and it has not become my gravatar. There is also a great one showing side by side Trump’s take on the press and Hitler’s. Too many damn parallels. This man is a tyrant and allowing him to ascend to power without nary a peep is treasonous – thanks GOP.
Trump has narcissitic personality disorder, untreated ADD, is said to have an amphetamine habit AND is a dangerous authoritarian who CAN NOT be criticized or critiques. Most likely, he colluded with Russia to win this election, so the election is illegitimate. His approval is between 37 and 39%, a historic low, as it should be. It will only go lower. He will be in the low 20s if not impeached and removed for treason. Hopefully, we can survive as a world until he is.
NATO- North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It is an alliance established after WWII to counter point the Warsaw Pact. If the Soviet Union attacked any member then it was seen as an attack on all members. So what does NATO have to do with Syria? The UN is the one that should have done something.
SEATO (South East Asian Treaty Organization) was the off-shoot of NATO but that was disbanded years ago.
My pedantry is in full force today: the Warsaw Pact formed after NATO. It was the US who made the first aggressive move.
This is true. The Warsaw Pact did form after.
I don’t think his rankings are *intentional* diversions though. I think these are genuinely his priorities. They only look like diversions to the rest of us because we don’t share his bewildering narcissism.
That’s how I feel too. I don’t think he is smart enough to do it intentionally. He has ALWAYS gone after anyone who criticized him.
I haven’t followed it closely, but I know that the GOP doesn’t want the ACA. How can it be dismantled without a replacement?? What happens to the millions who have signed up for it?
I bet there are GOP-ers who signed up for it too.
I don’t know if it’s good or bad that Trump is still on Twitter. People can see what he really is but at the same time he’s getting closer to causing an international incident. I truly believe Trump could cause WWIII or give USA to Russia.
He has already pissed off China which is not good and he has not even taken office. I honestly think he will piss off Russia at some point, then just watch some information to be “leaked”
I can see him being impeached before too long. The man has no filter and should have never got into politics
I’d say bad because he can’t control his babyish twitter tantrums. He’s so thin skinned, that the smallest things piss him off and he starts with nasty, immature tweets. We’ll probably see another war if he can’t stop Twitter
An Israeli paper had a story that Israeli intelligence agencies are being told by our intel agencies to not share information with the Trump administration because they fear the info will get right to Russia. Scary, terrifying times. I have a stomach ache when I think of this.
I posted this yesterday, but it’s worth a reposting for those who missed it. A tv listing from a Scottish newspaper about an upcoming series.
http://twitter.com/htscotpol/status/820628216935223298
They have humor and the worst is that it is accurate
I love this as much as I did yesterday!
I saw this, too. I found it oddly comforting, knowing they realize how insane this whole thing is even as swaths of Americans seem inexplicably fine with Trump at POTUS.
This is awesome – how I wish it was fiction! Everyone that I discuss politics with is terrified – for US as a nation, as a power in the world, for everyone who is not a white man, for the young women who don’t all seem aware of how close they are to lacking power
over birth control. Mike Pence is clear on his opposition to the pill as well as IUD. I am not sure about the people that I don’t discuss politics with. It seems that they are quieter, but that may be from me blocking everything they post on FB…..
It has like 30k retweets LOL I’ve seen it yesterday, it is so surreal they are actually spot-on.
Gallows humor always works for me.
The Scots are awesome and they have experience with trump which is why they continue to speak up.
I hate Donald J. Twitler so much.
Don’t let Der Kommisar hear you!
Same here. And I am disgusted by those who voted for him. They have put us all in grave danger.
As well as those who didn’t vote at all.
Yes, I should not forget those who sat it out.
And those in the GOP scurrying to take advantage of his idiocy. I don’t care what your politics are, stand on the right side of history. This is bigger than seizing an opportunity to repeal the ACA.
Me, too. I despise him with a burning passion, for all the things he stands for, he is a truly horrible human being.
See you in the Gulag.
He canceled his planned visit to the Smithsonian’s African-American History Museum today. I seriously doubt this barely educated, culturally ignorant Cheeto knew who John Lewis is. As a result of his insulting behavior, even more members of Congress are boycotting the inauguration.
And he is STILL insisting the intelligence community is wrong while Putin is right, whining about Hillary, and provoking China. China seems to have had enough.
Meanwhile, Paul Ryan isn’t even hiding how evil he is any more.
Apparently ,Bild’s redaction ( sorry I don’t know the word : editors?) had to rewrite their Trump’s interview to be understandable because he forgot some words when he talked with the journalist .He forgot the subject or verb or adverb and has few vocabularies
Really? Do you have a link for that? I would love to share that story. I have been saying for a while that I think he has early Alzheimers. He claimed the intel agencies postponed the date of his briefing and they said, No, it was always for Friday. I think he forgot and I truly believe that he has his kids with him all of the time because he can’t remember stuff.
Also, did you see the rage in his face at the end of the 3rd debate? And his rage when Jim Acosta pushed for a question at the press conference?? This is a rage-filled insecure NPD man who I really do think has Alzheimers.
I doubt he knows either. Yet I know who John Lewis is and am not even American.
I gave this to Susanne yesterday, lightpurple, and I’m giving it to you today. Paul Robeson on a solidarity visit to an Edinburgh pit in 1949.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0bezsMVU7c
Lovely video. And a classier distraction than the Orange One will ever accomplish.
Thanks for that. Yes, it is lovely. Such a talent.
I’m going to focus some positive energy today on writing my governor and state legislators to create a public memorial of some sort for Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Ed Brooke, who was the first African-American attorney general in any state and a US Senator who, unlike Republicans of today, fought to extend and protect the Voting Rights Act, co-authored the Fair Housing Act, fought to strengthen the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, fought for women’s rights by authoring the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, which allows married women to have credit in their own names, fighting to protect Title IX, which requires equal educational opportunities for girls, including athletics, and fought for women’s reproductive freedom. He also blocked several of Nixon’s nominees for Cabinet and Supreme Court positions and was the first Republican to call for Nixon to resign or be removed from office. There’s a courthouse named for him in Boston but I think there should be something more.
This is a righteous way to spend the day.
I have done my five hours of work. I’m also on an emailing/phoning kick today vis a vis GP surgery opening hours within the NHS. There are pitchforks in our village over the latest announcements. We don’t want want Sunday and evening surgeries. We want our memory clinic, our asthma clinic and all the other services we have painstakingly built up in our rural area that save us having to trek to a hospital to access them. That’s why we voted for these services and not extended hours surgeries every time our GP practice did a consultation.
Gah.
Sounds like a noble, righteous activity as well. Paul Ryan, evil troll, has spent the last few days retweeting his congressional followers tweeted statements parroting Ryan’s “plan” for our health care. It is very thoughtful of him to provide me ammunition to hurl back at them when I call at night and leave voicemails explaining how stupid his “plan” is and why it is not viable.
Best of luck with not shouting, like wot I do!
I am actually deriving too much joy from reading the responses people are posting on Paul Ryan’s twatter. Ryan posted a video of himself talking about how we all must unite and be happy and, I guess we are supposed to ignore that Ryan is trying to undo everything MLK did.
I hope he never soils the African-American History Museum, the Holocaust Museum or any other museum in DC with his nasty, hulking presence. He has no knowledge, no education, no sense of history, it would only be for show.
Amen.
Don’t count your blessing because with the Orangutan for a President he probably didn’t know that American men landed on the moon first. And he said he is the least racist PLEASE
Good point, SusanneToo. I guess we should be grateful.
I was actually thinking about him and his lack of respect and understanding of history on the way in to work today. We were listening to Martin Luther King, Jr. speeches in honor of it being MLK day today. I don’t know how anyone can learn about world history or listen to the speeches of a passionate man who fought for these very basic human rights to happen in the United States, and not be moved by that. How can you go walk through any Civil Rights museum or exhibit and not be in quiet reverence for all of the abuse or lives lost? I feel that the education that Donald J Trump received was lost on him for him to spew the disgusting rhetoric that he does on a daily basis. John Lewis deserves nothing but respect for all that he fought for and I can imagine it is completely disheartening to be fighting for the same sh*t all over again.
lightpurple, that about sums it up. I’d add that he absolutely has/had no idea who Lewis was.
I’d bet money that he googled John Lewis just to see where he was from and then his tiny hands went flying to Twitter.
I don’t think he even did that. I think he just made a giant assumption.
He cancelled his visit to the Smithsonian’s African-American history museum, ON MLK day, of the WEEK he is to be inaugurated?
I don’t even know why I’m surprised anymore.
There was a “scheduling conflict”. With what was not clear.
The Smithsonian released a statement saying he was never actually scheduled. His camp made an inquiry about a visit today but it went no further than that.
Of course his twitter rants are a diversion. You (and the media) have to be more responsible than that. Don’t be so easily diverted
The problem is that most people glaze over when it comes to actual policy and governance. If I had a dollar for the number of times people have PROUDLY told me they dont follow the news or politics. Hard news isnt shinny. The people like shinny. A POETUS whose blunders paired down to 140 characters is useful in this age of stupidity. If the masses cant get worked up over the president elect undermining Nato (even though Article 5 of the treaty has only ever been invoked once and that was in defence of the US!), and what really riles them up is Trump attacking a civil rights legend or a beloved actress or a satirical tv show, then you need to ride that.
what’s shinny mean?
With the exception of those rants where he attacks the likes of a civil rights icon or the family of a fallen soldier. Those rants need to be addressed.
Let’s see those tax returns, Trump.
Someone please release the evidence of Trump’s treason with Russia, do it now.
In addition to the diversion, his twitter rants also inflame and incite his loyal, ignorant base of voters and gives them overt approval for continuing to be the racist, etc., etc., etc. little schmucks they are.
I really don’t understand why his supporters believe he is the Messiah and will make America great again.
He always says what he wants to do but never how.
Because he doesn’t have any actual plans or ideas. Never did. He’s the one who’s all talk and no action. I still believe that he never intended to actually win the Presidency, that it was all about self-promotion and nothing more. And since he would never admit that, or step down, he’s going full speed ahead with his nonsense and cronyism. The next 4 years are going to be hell.
You’re right, he didn’t want to win. Have you seen his face after it was clear that he won? Or when he met Obama in the WH? He’s scared but, like you said, doesn’t want to admit it.
I bet Malaria Trump is also pi$$ed that he won. All she wanted was to be a trophy wife, not FLOTUS.
He definitely started running for president as a joke. No ideas and didn’t know what a presidents job actually was. During the debates he never answered a question. Just kept saying “well, Hillary said” or “Hillary doesn’t” it was ridiculous to watch. He, like us, never ever in a billion years expected to actually be elected!
@Sarah, you mentioned you “do not understand why his supporters believe he is the messiah…”. I remember about 30 years or so ago there was a preacher by the name of Jim Jones. He took his followers from USA to Guyana, WI. He took all their SS Checks, if they were on food stamps and other public assistance he had them signed over everything to him, all their worldly possessions. He brainwashed them, had his followers so brainwashed that they gladly drank koolaid he prepared for them. Over 900 of followers died in the jungle worshiping this false god. DT reminds me of this man. I can see this happening right here in 2017. I’m very afraid of this man. Imo he’s evil and nothing good will come of his presidency, JMHO.
I know what you mean. The next four years will be tough and you’re not alone, many people are afraid of Donald and his plans.
I have heard of Jim Jones, thanks for the tip, I’ll google him.
He’s their messiah because (1) he looks like them (aka white), (2) despises Obama as much as they do, (3) is determined to reverse everything Obama has done (see (2)) and (4) freely speaks against all those “left” causes they so despise – you know the ones: clean air, water, freedom of speech, freedom of religion (not theirs), etc.
Yep!
John Lewis has more patriotism is his little finger and has sacrificed much more for his country than the whole Trump clan put together. So typical of the Orange Cheeto to attack a great American like Mr. Lewis. I doubt he even knew who he is and what he’s accomplished. SMDH.
What a sh*tshow!
You should follow Evan McMullin on twitter. He had a great response to this and is quickly being dubbed the leader of the Trump post.
Did you see last week’s episode of Blackish? What you just said about John Lewis reminded me of Anthony Anderson’s amazing monologue in that episode.
“I love this country even though at times it doesn’t love me back. For my whole life my parents, my grandparents, me, for most black people, this system has never worked for us. But we still play ball, tried to do our best to live by the rules even though we knew they would never work out in our favor, had to live in neighborhoods that you wouldn’t drive through, send our kids to schools with books so beat up you couldn’t read them, work jobs that you wouldn’t consider in your nightmares.
Black people wake up everyday believing our lives are gonna change even though everything around us says it’s not. Truth be told, you ask most black people and they tell you no matter who won the election, they don’t expect the hood to get better. But they still voted because that’s what you’re supposed to do.
You think I’m not sad that Hillary didn’t win? That I’m not terrified about what Trump’s about to do? I’m used to things not going my way. I’m sorry that you’re not and it’s blowing your mind, so excuse me if I get a little offended because I didn’t see all of this outrage when everything was happening to all of my people since we were stuffed on boats in chains. I love this country as much — if not more — than you do. And don’t you ever forget that.”
That’s great. Thanks for sharing that. 👏🏻👏🏻
‘You think I’m not sad that Hillary didn’t win? That I’m not terrified about what Trump’s about to do? I’m used to things not going my way. I’m sorry that you’re not and it’s blowing your mind, so excuse me if I get a little offended because I didn’t see all of this outrage when everything was happening to all of my people since we were stuffed on boats in chains’
White liberals not getting their way is definitely one of the things driving their outrage as it’s clearly something they’re not used to. I’m anticipating a backlash to the backlash.
He’s such a mess.
(can’t believe he is going to be president in a less than a week. F**************ck)
I think all rational people should wear black armbands on Friday.
I plan on wearing all black. I’m still in shock.
That’s a great idea!
@Embee Planning on doing the same. Glad it is a work day so I will be occupied while this travesty happens.
The UK papers today are full of photos of the tiny-fisted despot meeting Michael Gove – I find it impossible to believe that so much repulsive, self-serving, duplicitous egomania can appear in one room without the world spinning off into oblivion.
If anyone wants a reason to gouge out their own eyes, google the pics.
The Daily Mail LOVES and WORSHIPS him, it’s so sick.
The Mail loves anyone hated by us “bleeding-heart liberals”. Plus the repulsive Gove’s wife writes for them.
Funny how liberal’s a term of abuse now. Like feminist.
Ho hum.
The Daily Mail…. every time I see Katie Hopkins’s stupid face and articles, I want to throw up.
His office’s wall is full of his magazine covers and his interviews
Whats the feeling in France over Marie LePenns visit to Trump Towers last week? Because if its already confirmed that shes getting her campaign financing from Russian Banks and shes cavoting at Trump Towers, then shes definitely part of Putins plan to tear down the Western bloc. Just curious how thats being seen there.
If France put Marine Le Pen as President of France, then this just proves Donald Trump right about France. THEY ARE FRENCH IDIOTS WHO SUCK AT WARS.
@Ramona I was also wondering the same thing when I saw that he met with Le Pen.
TBH I only know how awful she is from the commenters here, so would definitely like to hear their thoughts on it.
This is all so terrifying.
I have a good friend who is French. She is as terrified of Le Pen as I am of Trump.
@Ramona, from what I’ve heard, they didn’t meet. Baby Fists’ team denied any meeting (which of course means nothing considering the team) with her or someone from FN. So she basically did a photo op eating a sandwich inside Trump Tower. It’s kind of funny to think that even the Orange One thinks LePen is too low for his standards (mind you, she’s old for him, if it had been her niece… I dunno).
As for France, I’m afraid she’ll go into the 2nd round and we’ll have to do like we did when her father made it that far: the left will vote for Fillon to make sure she doesn’t get in (I never thought my grandad would have to vote for Chirac). It’s part of the reasons why the Right primaries where so popular this year, many in the French left got cards to make sure Sarkozy wouldn’t be in because we expect to have to vote for a Right candidate in the 2nd round. Not a big fan of Fillon, I would have “preferred” Juppé despite the fact that he’s an acknowledged criminal and did time for corruption, but it’s still better than LePen
The thumbs, the thumbs.
Gove has just been on Daily Politics, the wormy little man. I’ll never forgive him for messing up everything good the school I’m a governor of ever tried to do.
My fear is that he will try and interfere with Brexit thus pissing off the EU who will make it even more difficult for us than its going to be.
My fear is that we will end up as a) a tax haven and b) an Atlantic Bridge-via-trade-deal that will only last as long as the chaos President Orange Twat creates does.
Watched Gove and clips of his sycophantic Trump interview on the Beeb this morning. Vomit.
And the thumbs picture, my god. Crap on a cracker.
I couldn’t watch anything.
I’m way beyond disgusted with May, Gove, Davis, Hammond, Johnson and Farage and the association with the OrangeCheeto will make it more unwatchable.
Not to talk about the Brexit Broadcasting Channel and A. Marr giving airtime to the ‘fascistest’ elements of British political society.
The Northern Ireland administration has all but collapsed – throwing, I might add, Brexit into even further disarray – and it’s minor news in comparison to the prospect of our lunatic fringe hitching the wagon of UK PLC to the lunatic fringe of a mantoddler US president.
It beggars belief.
It was only a matter of time before the NI devolved parliament imploded, there is still too much hate.
Its time like this i fear for not only the future but for the young – their futures are being screwed by old men who have nothing to hold onto but their own fear, hate and prejudices.
The Northern Ireland Assembly has collapsed and an election has been called for March 2nd. The two main parties in the power-sharing government were split on Brexit and while that was not the reason for the collapse it will very likely play a part in the upcoming campaigns.
@hogtowngooner
Just curious (or terrified?) about what will happen if an anti-Brexit party gets the majority in the NI Parliament. If NI and Scotland have majority Remain and England/Wales don’t, I just don’t see Brexit looming, I see the United Kingdom imploding.
Terrible times ahead.
@Sixer
The whole thing beggars belief!
Silver – the Northern Ireland Assembly runs on a coalition basis. Under the Good Friday Agreement, everything has to have a majority in both communities to pass. Aside from the obvious step back that’s happened for the province itself with recent events, the Brexit implications are thus: if there is no Northern Ireland Assembly, how does the government achieve its constitutional duty of consulting all devolved parliaments on it? (Remember: we joined the EU before devolution, so this wasn’t an issue going in as there were no devolved parliaments to consult).
I’m to the point where the next time I hear someone say “We must be respectful,” I’m gonna implode. Why can this baby fisted Oompa Loompa degrade minorities, cry out when someone criticizes him, AND disrespects those who have stood up for their country i.e John Lewis and John McCain? The moment someone says anything to him they get a “you need to be respectful.” No. I don’t wanna hear “two wrongs don’t make a right,” because I was taught in math that a negative x negative gives me a positive. And when someone is THIS negative, being complacent only gives him more power. So I will continue to be “disrespectful” until this man implodes and dies from a heart attack.
@Sam My husband didn’t implode, but rather EXploded on a total stranger (a friend of a friend on Facebook) when she commented about being respectful, “give him a chance,” Obama destroyed the country, blah blah blah….He just lost it, and went OFF on this lady. She responded, then he responded again, and back & forth it went. Eventually my friend who made the original post (some meme about how we’re stuck with him so we should just come together) shut it down by deleting the whole thing. It’s insanity. I will never understand the thought process of someone who supports this poor excuse of a man.
The way that they “respected” President Obama for eight years?
The hypocrisy is astounding.
and, Lorelai, Priebus (new Chief of Staff for Drumpf) is actually claiming that the GOP never questioned Obama’s legitimacy. and is actually saying that Obama should “step up” and “defend” Drumpf. umwhat?
like Mugatu…”I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!”
Now, everytime my brother puts up a negative article about Trump or one of his minions, a FB friends comments to “Just let it go”. At which point we both rag on him.
My mom says that crap. She tells me that going after Trump and Trump supporters is dividing “this great country” and that there are no sides and there is one America. She also makes fun of family members for posting anti Trump stuff on social media, saying they have no life and are going to make themselves sick about it for the next four years. She was all ” ugh your aunt and so and so and so and so need to get a hobby. Trump is president. Let’s hope he unites our great country.”
I just roll my eyes, I already unloaded on her on fb and then apologized. Ugh I wish it wasn’t my own my. My husband’s friends and relatives are one thing!
The only silver lining to Trump’s attacks on Rep. Lewis is that at least 20 Dems are now refusing to attend the inauguration. I hope that at least some of the former presidents will break tradition and refuse to attend as well. As each day passes, it is becoming more and more clear that Trump is a tyrant in the making and a puppet of Putin. Other bad news over the weekend: he is booting the press pool from the White House and he sent *another* tweet bashing the U.S. intelligence community and suggesting that CIA director John Brennan was responsible for leaking the “fake news” to the media last week.
Trump is extremely dangerous and needs to be stopped now. Once he’s elected, he will either dismantle the CIA (as he already suggested doing a few weeks ago), or he’ll replace the directors of the intelligence agencies with his own lackeys, who will set out to destroy good Americans who pose a threat to him, like Rep. Lewis.
in the comment section on Facebook Trump followers were losing their minds about the boycott, which i found interesting, wondering why they would care so much. Their idol is being sworn in, what difference does it make to you if 20 people are not there to witness it.
Oh no, they were livid, claiming that it was again dividing the country, showed no class etc etc.
Since it is obvious to me since November that Trump and his followers are apparently the only ones allowed to ‘tell it as it is’ ‘kick the establishment’ s butt’ and what have you and have not appreciated any goodwill expressed by the likes of Obama and HRC, I think it is the right move to behave like they do and fight fire with fire. It seems to be the only thing they cannot handle.
Were they equally outraged about Scalia and his toadies Thomas and Alito boycotting President Obama’s SOTU address No? Yeah, didn’t think so. #trumptardtears
@SusanneToo I completely agree, but maybe let’s not use ‘tard’ as an insult? Please?
Yeah, it’s infuriating. And I bet those are the same people who claimed Obama was a Kenyan Muslim and refused to accept him as a legitimate president. Their hypocrisy is astounding.
And what really grinds my gears is when people say things like, “Now you know how we felt when Obama got elected!” I mean, what?!?! Obama is a former U.S. Senator, a constitutional law scholar, a man with class and dignity who brought our country back from the brink of economic collapse, who restored the world’s confidence in the United States. Obama did nothing but improve this country.
Trump is an ignorant, ego-maniacal fascist and Putin puppet with zero government experience who will likely start a nuclear war within the next few months. I just … don’t understand how his supporters can’t see that.
@LP You’re absolutely right. Sorry. I’ve corrected it – #trumpturdtears
No problem! Standing with you in solidarity!
While John Lewis was risking his life for the sake of basic human rights, trump was getting one of his many draft deferrments based on bone spurs in he can’t remember which foot. Going to ‘Nam was just so not for rich white boys, it was for persons of color and poor white boys who couldn’t afford college. (Gotta say some rich white boys actually volunteered for duty. Like John Kerry and Al Gore. Losers! Sad!)
You just illustrated the difference between a trump supporter and everyone else. Acknowledged a misstep, apologized and corrected. Bravo!
Exactly! I saw a farewell interview with President Obama last night and one of the questions he was asked was regarding things he might have done better. His answer was so genuine and humble, he mentioned that healthcare.gov should have been better, and he said that he often questions himself – and would probably think of a better answer as soon as the interview was over!
Trump would NEVER admit to any sort of imperfection of any kind.
I was in a progressive church yesterday, for the first time since the election, and was invigorated by the songs calling for justice and equality. And I thought for a moment — the Moral Majority/Tea Party etc has lost their claim to the moral high ground, so perhaps protest/change could foment in liberal churches? But then the sermon was about turning the other cheek, etc and I lost hope. I know that’s the Christian message, but isn’t this a time for outrage, and action?
It also highlighted that racism was more important to the alt right/tea party etc, than their morals/standards. The Obama family is everything they say they strive for (loving, intact family, not a whiff of scandal) while Trump is everything they deplore with three marriages, lots of scandals etc. What kind of mental gymnastics do they have to go through to support him?
I definitely live in a bubble as I still don’t understand how he won.
Turning the other cheek doesn’t actually mean becoming a doormat. One person who worked closely with MLKing pointed out that if you turn the other cheek, the person slapping you has to figure out a different way to continue the attack (if you think about how one person slaps another). So he interpreted it as putting the attacker a bit off balance so you have an opening to show them a different way of doing things.
Daily WTF: What I don’t understand is why he is allowed to continue to attack great Americans and American cities? He wants to degrade an economic boomtown like Atlanta? He has zero foresight and his continued attacks on the people he is supposed to lead further delegitimizes him.
There is so much wrong in that tweet about John Lewis that I could scream. Honestly, I don’t know how I can to tolerate this stupid POS for the next 4 years. It’s not going to be good for my health.
I think this, more than any of his numerous other Twitter tantrums, offended me the most.
We’re five days away from inauguration and he’s STILL pulling this shiz. A normal, mature PE would have simply said “John Lewis is entitled to his opinion. I look forward to working together”. But not Babyfists. Nope, everything is an attack and a threat and everything requires a childish response.
Like, bad enough he has the gall to say this to a man like John Lewis-a civil rights legend. At a time when Trump was getting deferments to avoid going to Vietnam, John Lewis was getting his head bashed in by the police, men sworn to protect citizens like him, as he fought for rights bestowed on all Americans by the Constitution. And he did it all through non-violence. But no, after a lie filled rant, he waits a few hours and DOUBLES DOWN on it. He basically stewed on it all day and saw that no one was supporting him except the Orange Faithful and couldn’t deal with it, so he attacked him AGAIN.
And then, the most grossly laughable part of it was that he then backs out of an appearance at the African American History Museum in the a predictably schoolyard bully coward move. I’m actually okay with this-that museum doesn’t need to be tainted by the footsteps of a fascist like the Pissinator.
Donald Trump thinks he can do what he wants now that he is president – dictatorial behavior.
Funny how he took 17 minutes between his first and second tweet. Lunatic.
He was probably looking up spelling to avoid another “unpresidented” error.
Haha… I noticed that too.
I always wondered how the Earth would end. Would it be a giant meteor? Climate change? Aliens? Or would a Mango-colored turd tweet us into a nuclear war. Guess what kids, we could find that answer to question starting this week!
Also, does Trump actually think “I did a great job this week. Let me turn on SNL to watch them praise me!”?
Yes, why in the world does he keep watching it? It can’t be good for his blood pressure. Go have a taco bowl and relax, Donald.
Alec has promised to keep doing it (he’s only getting scale pay for it) until Trump releases his tax returns. In case that miracle occurs, we should urge Alec to pull a birther and keep doing it until Trump proves it’s not a fake to our satisfaction…. and we want to see the long form, Donald!!!! We could keep that going for years.
John Lewis talks the talk and walks the walk. This man was literally almost killed fighting for what he believed in. John Lewis knows all too well about brutes like Trump. This man has done more in his lifetime than Trump has done in his pathetic life.
And to also assume because he’s black his district is crime ridden??????
Wow I’m so silly, I thought he meant John Lewis the company!! (I’m in the UK). I legit wondered what on earth they could’ve done to annoy him?!?!?! Ugh, this man….
Lets see – haven’t even moved into to the White House yet and has already made an enemy out of women, minorities, freedom fighters, Intelligence Community/Five Eyes, China, Taiwan, North Korea, Mexico, democrats etc.
Here’s hoping that Five Eyes takes down the devil and his henchmen aka Pence, Reinus, Ryan, Mitch Mcdevil, Bannon, Flynn and several republicans who betrayed their country. Not only taking down the devil but also shows the tampering that happened during the election and proves that Hillary Clinton should be the rightful 45th President of the United States.
Here’s hoping that during the inauguration, Trump loses his shit and screams at his own people/supporters after seeing the thousands of protesters. That in the moment of the heat and the fact that his ego takes over, he confesses on live TV that Putin helped him win and he better help him get rid of the protesters as well.
You left out Kellyanne Witch of the West in that list of slimeballs. She’s near the top for me.
Add Germany to that list. He’s claiming that he’s going to put a 35% tax / tariff on all German automobiles. I can’t even. We will be involved in a trade war by the end of the year, recession / depression here we come….again.
Jabba also slipped in a vague preview of Trumpcare, foretelling the cancellation of the Medicaid expansion, which concerns me and my neighbors personally. I have been expecting that news as it rides on the coat tails of the repeal of Obamacare, which I had for two years. I had no healthcare and was getting HBP Meds from Mumbai, so Obamacare was a blessing to me.
Yes, the monthly premiums got higher and it was a bit of a struggle. So what will Trumpcare bring? I’ll be watching.
And I honestly feel keeping a close eye on everything Jabba the trump is vital. One must be ever vigilant I think. Also fighting against his sexist racist tyranny is my civic duty.
I humbly stand right next to John Lewis. And many many others.
And very importantly, honoring Martin Luther King Jr today.
Occasionally, some trump apologists visit these threads to get in their na, na, na,na,na, na’s. If they, or anyone else needs a reminder of what a vindictive, cold piece of shit trump is, just see the following. This is in addition to his command to all career diplomats to GTFO effective 12 noon, 1/20/17.
http://theweek.com/speedreads/673274/trump-plans-fire-head-dc-national-guard-middle-inauguration
Yes, and apparently, as of this past Friday, nobody had thought to plan a menu and order food for the Inaugural Luncheon with him and Congress. So, he’ll get sworn in, have a luncheon with no food with his new frenemy Paul Ryan, watch a parade featuring a bunch of high school bands, some members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Jon Voight, one or two financially-strapped Rockettes, and Toby Keith, as the guy in charge of the security detail for the event, all ambassadors and all US attorneys and agency heads walk out the door, and he’ll have nobody actually running anything for him.
Related: is anyone else getting pop-up ads for “Free Inauguration Tickets,” right here and right now, on this very site? I’ve just seen my third one.
Guess demand isn’t too high if they’re still trying to GIVE them away four day before the event!
Yes, Lorelai, I keep getting them. On this site and others. They are barking up the wrong tree, lol. I can’t believe they don’t have enough takers on Breitbart, etc.
yup, noticed that too. I wonder if that’s normal?…I’m betting not. usually, it’s one of the hottest tickets in town. with Drumpf, not so much.
I heard that there are 6 times as many requests for the women’s march bus parking permits than for inauguration bus parking.
trump-200 buses, Women’s March-1200 buses, Obama/2008-3000 buses.😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2017/01/12/200-buses-have-applied-for-city-parking-on-inauguration-day-1200-have-applied-for-the-womens-march/?utm_term=.b0b21a7bfdaf
I’m really hoping the news coverage of the inauguration shows a side-by-side comparison of the crowds for Friday’s ceremony vs. those of the last few presidents. I’m guessing there will be large swaths of empty space both at the Capitol building and long the parade route.
Hey LightPurple do you know of any anti-Trump stuff happening in Boston on Friday? My BF and I haven’t figured out what we wanna do, short of boycotting the inauguration. Oh, and getting really, really drunk….
They will just have to order pizza from the place with Hillary’s sex slaves huddled in the non-existent basement.
@SusanneToo that’s hilarious!!
And I think that tickets to Obama’s inauguration were being scalped/sold for $$$, not given away for free (via PAID ads?!)
Good grief, this is all just such a farce.
Is anyone planning to march either in Washington or in your own areas Saturday? If you are, organizers of the marches are asking that people register so that they can provide numbers to the media (which they know will be under the actual numbers because most people won’t register) and so they can have adequate arrangements for safety and facilities.
Marching in Boston.
Marching in Chicago. Registration complete.
Marching in San Diego and registered to do so!
I live by Orlando. I have to take care of a friend this weekend so I can’t. But we’re both wearing pink pussyhats on Saturday
My daughter and granddaughter are marching in St. Louis and my sister-in-law is marching in Memphis, TN. They want me to try and make pink pussy hats for them. I would also but never know what I have going on as far as having to watch grandkiddos.
Marching in Cincinnati, sister marching in Cali, and brother marching at the scene of the crime in DC. #notourpresident
Yes I’m going to the march in DC. Seeing the number of people (especially women) rising up and refusing to accept this as normal is the only bright spot in this whole sh*t show.
I can’t make it to a march this weekend so I will be donating to the ACLU and Planned Parenthood on Friday.
Be careful out there to those of you who are going to a march. Trump’s America won’t be very friendly to protests. His ego can’t handle it.
So I was dumb and didn’t realize the march was the next day, Saturday, so my husband could totally watch my kids.
I have several friends who are going to go, but my best friend and I are so hesitant to go to DC because of the so called Bikers for Trump and the other deplorables providing “security.” We could march here in Philly, but DC is so close and I would love to rile up the orange one in person. I just feel like it might be a scary environment (as in, being physically hurt).
my friend and i are first time marchers, heading to D.C. i think its going to be an amazing experience!
Marching in Austin TX. Will proudly carry my handmade protest sign that reads “GRAB *THIS* PUSSY, DRUMPF!” with a painting of a snarling tigress. I will be shocked if any of the protests nationwide will get much (if any) news coverage. It also won’t be surprising if some of us aren’t attacked and injured by DT’s Brown Shirts or trumpturds. I sure hope I’m wrong.
You know, if the man could get off twitter, and read those briefings that you know, let him know what’s going on with his job I would feel just a teenie tiny bit better. But he can’t, which means he has no clue, and will not get a clue, which will lead to an unstable administration. This is bad, and pretending that you can be the leader of the free world on a wing and a prayer is naive at best. We can’t afford to ignore this, we must stay informed and get involved.
We need a leader not a tweeter
Your comment reminded me of the Simpson’s movie: “I was elected to LEAD, not to READ.” — President Schwarzenegger
Sadly, I would prefer a President Schwarzenegger to a President Trump :/
I truly doubt that trump will do any of the actual work and will have Pence do mostly everything. Idk who’ll do the VP duties. Wasn’t that his pitch to Kasich? That Kasich would basically be POTUS? Trump doesn’t want the job, so he won’t do it. He’ll stay on Twitter and continue to be a loose cannon. Pence and Ryan will keep him around to distract from their evil (yes, evil) plans. I just hope he doesn’t start a war.
SNL did a great job of showing up Trump’s props and planted fans. That news conference was a disgrace but gives insight into how Trump will continue to avoid the truth. Yea … Trump likes to come off like a tough guy, to the media and to North Korea. We’ll see where this leads him in real life.
Reposting this here.
The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. […] To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.” ― Theodore Roosevelt
I read an interesting historical snippet recently: apparently the only other President (I really wanted to type “President”) to scorn the daily intelligence briefings was JFK, in the early days of his presidency. He, too, apparently thought he was above such things. But I gather that after the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, he realised that perhaps he ought to be a bit better briefed – he then became obsessive about being well-informed.
Sadly I can’t see this one having the self-awareness or humility to admit he may have been wrong. Bwhahahahahahahahaha – I can’t even believe I typed that. OF COURSE he wouldn’t.
(Apologies if I’ve got that wrong – would be very interested to hear an American take on it.)
The daily briefings didn’t start until 1964, under LBJ. When JFK entered the WH he was surrounded by hawks. He was skeptical but listened at first. He learned pretty fast, though. This is an interesting article. I was a college freshman during the missle crisis. I remember having my little transistor radio to my ear the whole tense time. We really thought we were about to have a nuclear war. Of course, we were prepared. In grade school in the 50’s we were taught to get under our desks and cover our heads to survive the blast. Such innocent times.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/12/trump-daily-intelligence-briefings-history-jfk-cuban-missile-crisis-214521
Thanks so much for putting me straight, Susanne – I’ll read that in a minute.
The 1980s were similar: Ramond Briggs’ When the Wind Blows &The Edge of Darkness captured those Cold War days perfectly. We were told to take a door off its hinges & prop it against the wall to create a makeshift shelter. God, it sounds insane now.
Edit: Fascinating article Susanne. Anyone here think that this one will show “the capacity for intellectual or moral growth” ……..
I remember hiding under the school desk and wearing dog tags, and several neighbors actually built bomb shelters. We had a windowless room in our basement and my parents installed a floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall cabinet with shelves full of canned goods. I grew up scared.
Trump has had everything handed to him on a silver platter. He has never known what it’s like growing up poor, being told you were less because the color of your skin, have your own government and police officials use their power to opress and assault you.
John Lewis has. He literally put his life on the line for the benefit of others. Trump will never be half the man John Lewis is on his worst day.
The first picture- wow, no words
This is a catchall comment about Kidman, Saldana, anyone spouting off about “Democracy” and supporting it and our country.
What’s happening IS NOT DEMOCRACY AT WORK! Only a moron doesn’t see that.
And, the problem with celebrities voicing their opinions isn’t they they have one (idiotic or not, they’re entitled to them just like the rest of us); it’s that they have a platform not afforded to most people. It’s a double-edged sword.
It’s capitalism on so many levels. Government in general is only as good as the people in it; democracy has no transcendant virtue. It’s a mechanism of government.
But institutions do transcend the behavior of the people who create them. And America’s democratic institutions have always had to be strong in the face of the real American virtue–capitalism. You don’t need to support a president because he is not the institution, he is just the democratic exercise. You support the rule of law, the independent judiciary, and the free press because those are the institutions of liberal democracy.
By rule of law law, I mean popular franchise. Political parties that curb voting rights are anti democratic.
Bolton (neo-con from the Bush era) wants to dismantle NATO so I assume that means he’s Trump’s pick for State. Can’t stand the man; treats people badly, throws around offensive terms, just a terrible diplomat…right up Trump’s alley.
I loved this site before it become too political; I read it now for what is wrong – attacking anyone who disagrees, name calling, etc. I favor the old John Lewis who stood for something, not the new one. I am a black woman, by the way, and feel this way about many other black leaders. Attacking everyone associated with Republicans is not helping anyone.
How many Republicans skipped Obama’s first inauguration? Who refused to perform for Obama? Who refused to dress Michelle? Who was attacked to the point they refused or changed minds about being at inauguration? 2020 political map favors the Republicans. I am a Democrat who didn’t vote for Clinton or Trump. Certainly no fan of Trump and hope my party will learn its lessons so I can vote for its candidates in national elections again.
I completely get your frustration. Good thing it’s just a celebrity gossip site. It can be an interesting pulse, but I skip a lot of political posts. Plenty of people think Democrats–like binary thinking–are/is part of the problem, not solution.
It’s attacking Trump, not everyone associated with Republicans. It’s associated with Trump. John Lewis has worked with Republicans his whole career. He’s standing for what he believes is right regarding Trump. Trumps ties to Russia are concerning, to say the least. No one would be acting like this if the President -elect was John McCain.
Trump is different. He incites bigotry, misogyny, mocking the disabled, on and on. He ran on a campaign that was divisive. He’s an immature, thin-skinned, narcissist tweeting away attacking people like Arnold over his TV ratings.
um, John Lewis IS STANDING FOR SOMETHING. do you not get that? he’s not attacking all republicans, just the Russian-puppeted one. he feels that a foreign gov’t interfered with our election to get this unqualified, rapist bigot elected and he’s STANDING AGAINST THAT.
“How many Republicans skipped Obama’s first inauguration?” no idea but whatever number it was, they did it because 1) he’s black 2) he’s a democrat or 3) they believed the birther nonsense. NONE of those are equivalent to the reasons that some dems are not attending this year.
Go comment on another story then. I know I pick and choose what articles I want to read and comment on. It is literally that easy.
As of the election results in November it became, for me, impossible for this site to be too political. I come for the sanity!
Same here. It’s so easy to just NOT visit a site if you feel the comments are upsetting. But I come here to be around sane people and I appreciate you guys and the bloggers so much for providing us with this forum to vent our frustrations.
And I always find it a bit odd when people zero in on the comments that they deem to be “divisive”, particularly when so many of the comments here are rational and insightful political commentary that is largely lacking in the current American political climate.
@marie, maybe you’re not reading things right. All this is about the mean racist, sexist, homophobic, immature beast who is about to ruin our country. Trump is making the world laugh that enough Americans were naive enough to fall for his lies. Plenty of Democrats won’t go to the inauguration just like plenty of Republicans never supported or let Obama do his job. Don’t read the political articles if you only want to hear about celebrities
Marie – ordinarily I’m all for voting third party. But we have a winner-take-all system with no voter quorum required. That means boycotting the election or refusing to fill in a slot is meaningless. And one of the two front runners is indeed going to win the Presidency.
In this particular election, if you did not vote for Hillary Clinton then you helped Trump win. It’s sad that we have so little options, but that is reality.
It’s also sad that you felt Trump and Hillary were equivalent. We now will have a man in the White House with severe narcissistic personality disorder who flies into rages and vows vengeance for perceived slights from decades ago. A man who will trash the ACA and anything else he can get his hands on, with the joyful participation of Paul Ryan who has been trying to destroy the ACA, Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security and now has a stooge in the White House who may let him do it. A man who is appointing foxes to guard the henhouse, with the mission to destroy their departments. A man whose love of money is paramount and who already has profited from his position. A man with a lifelong visceral dislike of black Americans, whose father marched with the KKK wearing Klan robes, who refused to rent to black tenants, who has called blacks inherently lazy, who didn’t want black accountants anywhere near his precious money. A man who has shifted his dislike of blacks to other people of color, who is named by schoolyard bullies as they terrorize young immigrants, refugees, and Muslims in our schools and adult bullies who say they now can do what they want to all of us. We now have a President who will trash the climate change treaty, who will look the other way as Putin takes over his neighbors, and who is very likely to try to cause WWIII one way or another. A man who knows less than a first grader about how the US government functions and doesn’t seem anxious to learn. A man who does not understand nuclear weapons but has the power to launch them. A man who has nazis and white supremacists as close advisers. A man with severe untreated attention deficit problems who rarely reads and can’t remember what he says or hears. A man likely in the early stages of dementia.
How could Hillary Clinton possibly be worse than this, even if all the lies told about her by Republicans since she first started working on health care reform were true?!? If Hillary were President, we would not be in danger of nuclear war. We would not be worrying about losing vital programs like ACA, Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. We would not be inspiring fear and loathing among people elsewhere who used to like us. Well, Putin wouldn’t be too happy because he’s dealt with Hillary before and she doesn’t cave like Trump the Marshmallow. But his neighbors would sleep better at night. We would have a sane President who actually knows how our government works and who would keep the likes of Paul Ryan under control by veto. And one who knows how democracy works and why she can’t just refuse to answer questions from media or threaten the head of the Ethics office for pointing out ethical problems. Who would have had all the paperwork for herself and every appointee into that Ethics office bright and early so it could properly advise everybody about conflict of interest issues. Who actually had a plan for dealing with conflict of interest issues many months ago in case she won and who has released decades of tax forms. Who actually knows what all the departments do and who would appoint competent people with relevant experience. Who wouldn’t appoint nazis and white supremacists. Who wouldn’t cripple the government by insisting everybody be fired the instant she took the oath of office, including the guy handling the National Guards working on security for the Inauguration. Who wouldn’t try to prevent women from getting affordable access to health care. Who didn’t choose a VP anxious to impose his religion on the rest of us as he tried to do in his home state.
Even if you thought Hillary was evil, she clearly by any measure was the lesser of the only two evils in the running. In our system, like it or not, if you don’t vote for the lesser of two evils then you share responsibility when the greater evil wins.
Do his eyelids look “refreshed” to you or is it just me? His eyes look different. Maybe it’s just that a previous surgery is coming through a lot in the heading pic, though. When would he have gotten the time?
I think he changed his makeup and hair since the election or maybe a little before, he looks a little more normal even with the tanning bed goggle effect around the eyes.
He also doesn’t seem to feel obliged to smile as he did during the campaign, which is good because his smiles tend to be really creepy (especially The Grinch one). My theory has always been that he smiled because he was told people expected it, but he doesn’t really understand when and how to do it so it tends to look abnormal and out of sync. I think he has a very limited sense of humor and that’s related. I’ve seen a couple of genuine smiles on him over the years, but if you watch him pre-campaign – smiling really doesn’t come naturally to him. Hillary isn’t a constant grinner either but her smile and laugh look normal when she does it.
Contrast these First Ladies: Michelle Obama planted a White House garden to emphasize healthy eating. Melania Trump is planning on creating a “glam room” at the White House to help her get ready for various functions.
In our White House, a house in which she will never live.
I actually come here more for scathing political posts and enjoy the skewering of Emperor Zero immensely.
I appreciate that people can say what they want to, indeed feel like they have to. It’s part of our constitution.
Orange Julius Caesar’s tweets are interesting because they implicate him more than who he is going after. It won’t be long before utter implosion of this presidency.
Agreed.
Here is where I have landed — Perhaps it’s better to be so transparent (via tweets, bloviating, etc.) than to be a smiling politician who talks in happy soundbites, when he or she would sell out the public interest behind closed doors.
The most blind Tweet baby thing about the very unintelligent and quick post on Lewis, John Lewis district is pretty wealthy and the median line of income is higher. Its predominately upper to middle class. Low violence and crime. So trump judged it not on realty and facts. Shocker right? Another racist preemptive strike on Trumps part. Wonder if chuckle head has ever once in his life researched something before posting it?
trump is a moronic asshat who tweets anything that pops into his pea brain.
http://twitter.com/keithboykin/status/820265024648318976
He has pee on his pea brain.
Of course he never researched anything about John Lewis. That would take effort, and he likes his information in Twitter sized nuggets. I still am in shock that he attacked Lewis, a man of dignity, a patriot, and a living legend. Trump will be a legend too, but not the kind he would hope. He will go down as our worst president and probably won’t make it four years, just like his buddy Sarah Palin.
DT is at this point beyond supporting. He blames the CIA of plotting against him on Twitter, without a shred of proof, at the same time he rallies about fake news.
It’s deplorable. And frightening.
And did anyone else read that he’s planning on banning the press corps from the white house? They’re going to be in another building, apparently. But, at the same time I read he’s also going to include more non-traditional press outlets, so they’ll be plenty of half baked sites like info wars spreading his news. Disgusting.
Rolling Stone Mag says “Trump is a clown but he’s been bullied by the elite….media, HW and politicians”. Cant stand the guy but I agree with RS. If the US were attacked by another country would you fight with the guy that voted for Trump? Are you not all Americans? A lot of the comments are very divisive. That isnt good. It’s the beginning of a weakening country and civil war.
We were attacked by Osama Bin Laden and yes, I fought with those who voted for the moron who was too busy clearing brush from a ranch to pay attention to a security memo about plans to hijack airliners and fly them into landmarks to put federal marshals back on the planes.
And if we are attacked because of something the Orange One tweets …
Trump isn’t a clown, he’s an evil man. He wasn’t bullied, he was rightfully called out on his evil.The elite didn’t do anything, but people who recognize evil when they see it. Standing up for the oppressed isn’t divisiveness, it’s dong what’s right. None of us are willing to go along to get along if it means allowing Trump’s evil to stand. Yes, it s that simple, and we won’t give up fighting the good fight. Take your 1933 appeasement policies elsewhere.
So are you going to fight each other then? Aren’t you one country? Should you not try to understand why your fellow countrymen voted for him? Did you like how things were for the last eight years? Dont get me wrong I think Obama was an upstanding guy but there was obviously something wrong otherwise you wouldnt have Trump moving into the WH.
@joannie The short answer is no, many of us just won’t sit idly by as Trump stomps on those who are most vulnerable. We won’t stand by while Trump uses our country to make business deals. People are not just going to fall in line. This man is a threat to our country. Now is now the time to be silent.
@joannie Things have been going very well the last eight years, and they would have gone better without GOP obstruction every step of the way. Statistics for this are on my side. Also, since America is a Democratic Republic, we are all well within our rights to protest evil actions without being labelled divisive or unpatriotic. I have too much love and respect for America to allow evil to triumph without calling it out.
It sure sounds like you’d be happy in a country where dissent is only only discouraged, but not allowed. I wonder if Russia is nice this time of year…
The country has been divided for a very long time. I for one won’t be rallying around the Putin puppet. He is a dangerous man. The thing is, Trump voters have lost too. They just don’t know it yet.
Why are the bullying accusations always so one sided? Trump is a world class bully and always has been. Yet when he’s responded to the way he treats other, then it’s shame on those who respond in kind? Oh poor Trump, bullied by the elite, the media, hollywood, politicians…what about some empathy for those Trump bullies, constantly.
This
Two wrongs dont make a right and its dividing your country that’s why. I watched 60 minutes last night. They interviewed Obama. One of the things he is worried about is a divided country. And Putin/Russia. I loathe Trump but I know ppl who voted for him and they aren’t like him at all.
Sometimes it is important to disagree as a country and not sit idly by. No one wants another civil war, but honestly, if we hadn’t of had the first one, who knows how long slavery would of lasted. Freedom of speech is a constitutional right; no where in the Constitution does it say we have to play nice and bow down to whatever the leader says. That’s tyranny (or perhaps monarchy) not democracy.
Joannie- why does the idea of the country being divided worry you so much? We are often divided: over slavery, over women having the vote, over various stupid wars, and now over so many alarming things that Trump wants to do that at best will make our lives much harder and at worst will kill some of us.
We can’t be united about such important things. People don’t all agree and we’re not just choosing wallpaper for a bedroom. These are serious issues and often mean life or death to people here (and in some cases, the rest of the planet).
You sound as though you are not from the US. Is that the problem? That you don’t have a gut level understanding about how it works here and how serious the consequences of acquiescence with Trump will be? I don’t know where this idea is coming from that we need to be united, especially behind someone so mentally ill and despotic and unpredictable as Donald Trump. The man has neonazis and white supremacists as close advisers! Do you have any idea how dangerous that is? You’re worried about divisiveness while I’m worried about the guy launching nuclear missiles on a whim.
Is that your advice to anybody dealing with tyranny? Unite behind the tyrant?
Im in Canada. Trump becoming president affects us too. I also think we are on Trump overload media wise. It’s causing a bit of hysteria imo. Im not suggesting you support Trump but one another no matter how the other person voted. Why become disrespectful or lower yourself to Trump’s level by blaming ppl for supporting him in the election? I guess I didnt make myself clear.
Joannie- as a Canadian, with tax-supported health care access, you have no idea how frightening the rapid move toward dismantling the ACA and Medicaid and then Medicare and Social Security is for us. People will literally die for lack of life-saving medications and access to hospitals. Small hospitals in non-urban areas will close when they lose direct and indirect ACA funding, meaning more people will die on the way to emergency care. And many more people will be bankrupted by medical expenses at worst and driven into deep credit card debt at best. Many Americans have always been one major illness or injury away from financial ruin, and the ACA (Affordable Care Act) was the first sign of hope in my lifetime.
We have unregulated health insurance, healthcare, and pharmaceutical industries. That means medical costs are out of sight and rising, and medical insurance has been likewise arbitrarily rising in cost at the whim of the private insurers. My insurance routinely went up 30% to 35% per year before ACA and I ultimately had to go uninsured for a few years until ACA kicked in because I couldn’t afford a $5000 deductible plus premiums that cost 53% of my income. People who lost their jobs (with group insurance) would regularly find themselves hit with huge costs to keep up their insurance when their income was zero (try paying $1000 or more per month with no money coming in). This is what happens when what you have to pay is not tied to your income as it is in Canada.
Before ACA, we had low lifetime caps on insurance claims that today could easily be reached with a single illness or injury. Plus any pre-existing condition left you uninsured for at least a year and for some- forever. And if you had a claim, you risked getting your insurance cancelled and if it wasn’t cancelled outright, your premiums and deductible would certainly increase considerably. That’s what really happens in an unregulated system with for-profit medical insurance.
You can afford to have an idiot heading your government without worrying about him blowing up the planet. We don’t have that luxury, either. Our President does not have to consult with anybody and can launch nuclear weapons within a few minutes. And we have a lot of them. You will be affected also because the dust and fallout will find their way back to all of us in this hemisphere.
I am also tired of non-nuclear wars that have been going on all my life, since WWII. The next draft will have no educational deferments and will include both young men and young women, that was decided long ago. The Pentagon does not want older draftees who know they are mortal and have already started to think for themselves, that was too much of a problem in Vietnam. This is why they have fought to maintain access to high schools and early recruitment efforts aimed at all students who have reached the age of 17. They even start calling them by phone at that point in addition to setting up recruitment tables in the schools. Trump is very likely to get us into such wars and as President, he can send troops anywhere without consulting Congress by just proclaiming it an emergency. Another generation of Americans will be crippled and traumatized while destroying the lives of so many civilians elsewhere.
You have the luxury of thinking you’re saturated with Trump stories. But we have to live with the consequences and can’t afford to wait to try to resist the worst of it. Ryan has been planning his attacks on Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and the ACA for years but has been held back by Presidential veto. We will lose that protection next Friday. The Republicans in Congress have been uncharacteristically busy little beavers trying to trash things fast. I don’t know why they are in such a hurry. Even if something happens to Trump, they will still have us all by the short hairs. The Presidential line of succession is Pence (Vice President) and then Ryan (Speaker of the House). Many other programs are at risk also, and once they are dismantled or killed by underfunding it will be difficult to put them together again. The President can do a lot of damage all on his own by executive orders, but Trump has many willing partners among Congressional Republicans. Our only hope is that fear of not getting re-elected due to public opposition will surpass the profit motive which I’m sure exists (they are making money either directly or indirectly from the medical insurance people). The combination of a profit-driven heartless President and a corrupt Congress is deadly in so many ways. Add to that Trump’s despotic tendencies which will make protest more dangerous.
These are very scary and uncertain times for us here in the US. I’ve never seen it this bad, and the speed at which Trump and Ryan are moving is simply unprecedented.
Trump has not been bullied, he is a bully though. And if anyone on his team had any sense, they’d delete his Twitter.
Joannie – you do understand that an essential element of democracy involves two things, right? A government AND an opposition. The opposition takes two forms: official – the opposing political party’s elected members in legislatures; unofficial – civil society and the voice of community groups and individual citizens.
I believe they call this checks and balances.
Democracy is a process. It doesn’t have an end point. Opposition to an elected government ensures this. That’s the entire point of it.
Jwoolman, we have healthcare but we pay a premium and it doesnt get you much other than an appointment. If you want good healthcare in a timely manner its best to go private and pay for it yourself. The administration costs are through the roof and its patient care that is suffering. Ppl are waiting two years for a hip replacement and living in pain. The hospitals are overcrowded and dirty. I fear ever getting sick and having to go into one. My sister works in healthcare and has seen ppl die waiting for a doctor. It’s not all that great.
We in Canada will suffer the consequences of Trump so believe me I feel your pain.
Sixer I’m not sure if you’re being condescending or not but you’ve missed the point. Im fully aware of how a democracy works.
Is it going to be 4 years of angry tweets? I am an American living abroad (In Canada) and it is embarrassing watching it from a distance. I can’t imagine living in DC for the next 4 years. We went from intellectual to buffoon. Thanks America for voting in the Rob Ford type for President.
Why are kind, intelligent, thoughtful Presidents like Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama, considered not “tough enough and weak”. And the American public decides they need a tough talking man’s man to be President (Ronald Reagan and now Donald Trump) to show the world America’s might and strength? The ignorance is baffling.
OMG…..as I type with gloves on, hate this 37deg weather in sunny Calif. But I will forever think of Trump as EMPEROR BABY FISTS. What a perfect title.
This maggot needs to drop dead. Now. Ill never watch his face on TV.
He’s a sorry POS, an embarrassment to Americans and humanity.
You can say that again!
I’m an Army brat, and was in the service for a short time, it terrifies me this man is about to step into power, and people who are in service cannot disobey his command as commander-in-chief. I do not put it past him to pull a Marshall Law scenario, and throw us into a dictatorship… my step-mom is from the Phillipines her president has had police forces kill thousands of civilians for being addicts. I can only guess what Trump would have police force do, who are of the corrupt variety (not all law enforcement are bad, but unfortunately there are some who are blood thirsty lots!) I have such a sick feeling in my gut, and worry. Trumps hatred and the hate he spreads sickens me daily. You see the real sides of people now that he has opened up that Pandoras box.
Emperor Baby Fists is the greatest name for this sorry excuse for a president, let alone human.
My friend & I call Drumpf the Orange Turd – even has his own emoji pop up 🍊 💩
But Kaiser, I also adore the code name Emperor Baby Fists 👑 👶🏼 👊🏿. In fact, that would be an exceptional Secret Service handle for him.
My friends call him an Orange Cum stain because that’s all that will be left after his very short term in the White House.
I have to say Joe Scarborough was so on point this morning. See, I can agree with a Republican. He hit the nail on the head about Trump’s busy weekend wreaking havoc yet again. Watch the video.
Joe Scarborough: “There is a breaking point.” “His numbers will collapse into the 20s.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNHmN365-g4
We have been hearing this all Summer. Sure his numbers will drop but he will still have supporters. From his behavior he shouldn’t have any Americans support, those numbers should be below 10%. He could literally punch his ardent followers in the face with his small tiny fists and they would kiss his bloodied knuckles.