Well, well, well. It looks ol' Donny Boy isn't quiet the deal maker he made himself out to be. He has officially failed to repeal the Affordable Care Act. What happened to all that draining of the swamp stuff? Looks like the swamp got him.
And it got the GOP as well. Remember back when the Democrats had both chambers and the presidency and they really couldn't get much done (except saving tens of thousands of lives with health care, of course)? I distinctly remember being chided for my party being ineffective. Where is the taunting now?
Even more hilarious is just how popular the ACA is right now (over 50% approve). I guess Nancy Pelosi was right. Once it passed, people saw what was in it, experienced it and turns out, they love it!
The president says he's just going to let the ACA fail. That might be a problem.
Every Trump Supporter I Know (ETSIK): No. It's all a witch hunt by the liberal elites and the media. It's all lies.
Me: But it was his email with Russian contacts. Here's part of it.
---On Jun 3, 2016, at 10:36 AM, Rob Goldstone wrote: Good morning Emin just called and asked me to contact you with something very interesting. The Crown prosecutor of Russia met with his father Aras this morning and in their meeting offered to provide the Trump campaign with some official documents and information that would incriminate Hillary and her dealings with Russia and would be very useful to your father. This is obviously very high level and sensitive information but is part of Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump - helped along by Aras and Emin. What do you think is the best way to handle this information and would you be able to speak to Emin about it directly? I can also send this info to your father via Rhona, but it is ultra sensitive so wanted to send to you first. Best Rob Goldstone
On Jun 3, 2016, at 10:53, Donald Trump Jr. wrote: Thanks Rob I appreciate that. I am on the road at the moment but perhaps I just speak to Emin first. Seems we have some time and if it's what you say I love it especially later in the summer. Could we do a call first thing next week when I am back? Best, Don Sent from my iPhone--
ETSIK: Witch hunt. Liberal media. Don't believe it. Hillary is probably behind it. Fake news. Deep state nazism.
US Intelligence officials are taking a second look at conversations that took place among members of the Russian government in the run up to the 2016 election, the Wall Street Journal is reporting. In some cases, the Russians in the overheard conversations talked about meetings held outside the U.S. involving Russian government officials and Trump business associates or advisers, these people said.
According to the report, it looks like a lot of this began at the 2013 Miss Universe pageant. The players are starting to come out of the woodwork and it's only a matter of time before all the pieces fall into place. The more Trump denies collusion the more he reveals himself to be more of an idiot than I thought he was.
Donald Trump is an American who ran for office under a slogan of patriotic pride and love of country. People who love their country do not help rival powers intervene in their country’s elections, even if that intervention might have the lovely side effect of getting them elected.
I don't envy the president in his consideration regarding North Korea's latest missile test. It's a giant cluster for any president to have to tackle. The good news for Donald Trump is that even though he is massively incompetent he was at least diligent enough to surround himself with good people in both the defense and security sectors. He seems, for now, to letting them run the show and that's a good thing.
The first instinct would be to launch a preemptive strike in the next year to 18 months that it's going to take for North Korea to enable their new missile with nuclear capabilities. The problem there is that it would likely result in tens of thousands of lives lost, mostly Korean. In addition, China has no desire to see a unified Korea that is more friendly to the US. So, we end up back at sanctions which have largely been ineffective in curbing Kim Jong Un's desire to be a nuclear power. We have to decide if we can live in a world where North Korea can bomb California with nuclear missiles. I'm not sure we can.
Thus, we seem to be left with the inevitability of war.
The Star Tribune has a piece up about Trump's plan to root out and stop the imaginary voter fraud that he and his supporters believe is running rampant around the United States. It can't possibly be that people don't like them. It has to be those gol durned illegals!
So, he has sent Mike Pence out to get everyone's Social Security numbers to make sure that we are all legit. Yeah...riiiiiight...I'm giving my SS number to a well known con man! How well has that worked out in the past? And talk about BIG government. I guess it's when they do it, it's OK.
Further,
Trump and his allies have said the commission’s work is necessary to prevent what they contend are widespread instances of voter fraud. Evidence for that claim is exceedingly thin. Kobach has made it a central issue of his tenure and has achieved a total of nine voter fraud convictions. Most of the people convicted were older Republican voters, and at least one claims he was targeted for an “honest mistake.”
Who called that from a mile away?
Moi.
Again, for those who have trouble accepting reality.
Academics who have studied the issue for decades say voter fraud — particularly of the type that strict ID laws championed by Kobach and others are intended to combat — is vanishingly rare, and that voter ID requirements are a burdensome solution. A federal judge ruled that some of Kobach’s proposed ID requirements constituted a “mass denial of a fundamental constitutional right.”
President Trump is indeed the dear leader of right wing bloggers and commenters. Thank god he shows those smug liberal elites like Mika Brezezinksi whose boss rather than...oh, I don't know...run the country, fix our problems, you know, that minor stuff that gets in the way of baby's twitter time!
Nikto recently left a comment that is deserving of its own post.
Trump's popularity among conservatives is much simpler to explain than that. They derive enjoyment from hurting other people. Trump loves to hurt other people. Therefore they love Trump.
They don't give a damn about abortion, or religion, or morality, or anything else really. They just like seeing people hurt. That's why they like guns, hunting, waterboarding, war, NASCAR, boxing, you name it.
Reality TV shows like the one Trump was on are all about humiliating people, hurting them to their core. That's how Trump wormed his way into these people's hearts.
Are these people tired of their own hurt so they want to see others hurt? Or are they all just psychopaths like Trump? I don't know. But eventually they'll come to understand that Trump has been playing them all this time, and they'll be the ones that are hurting. Trump's policies are going to screw over his base royally. The question is whether they'll be able to escape the Sunk Cost Fallacy and blow off Trump and the Republican Party, which has been screwing them for more than five decades now.
I get asked to answer a lot of questions on Quora these days and it's tough to get to them all. I think I'm up to 81 now that I have not answered. I will likely pass on this one because I'm not conservative. Thankfully, however, several of the answers and comments have confirmed what I have asserted many times since the election.
Trump supporters don't really have anything they stand for. They are just against liberals and loving watching them get pissed off. Here are some of the answers and comments from this question..
Not this one. I am loving the way Trump can play the left like an entire orchestra of violins.I'm just waiting for the day when he tweets something that seems like absolute gibberish (like “gerfuffle bdank torg meankforth!” or something like that) and claims he was speaking in tongues. Now THAT is going to make for some interesting television.
Trump is living in their heads rent-free. Glad I loaded up on popcorn, Chris, cuz this is some show!
Some people would say that making liberal heads explode does make the country a better place.
I want to commend these folks on being honest. I’ve suspected that Trump supporters don’t so much support him as they are against liberals and love watching them squirm. Thanks for confirming it.
What does that say when one doesn’t actually support something but is merely against something else? “We hate smug liberal elites” isn’t much of a platform.
As a liberal, I think Donald Trump doesn’t really need liberals to react to anything he does anymore. He seems to be doing a fine job of being his own worst enemy, especially when he tweets. As someone who has raised adolescents and works with them every day as a teacher, the best thing you can do when someone is negatively seeking attention is to ignore them.
So, Mr. President, keep it up! It’s going to make Richard Mueller’s job a lot easier:)
This article in today's Strib illustrates something I have been saying all along. Trump really isn't the problem. It's the people who blindly follow him. So, starting today, I'm going to call them out, hence the new tag, Trump People. I think they need to start owning their vote and be called out for the insane shit they believe so here goes...
For Carla Dahm, right, yeah, he's a got a pair...is that why he tweets like teenage girl any time he's caught in a lie or someone criticizes him?
For Don Marben, you like his brash, take no prisoner's attitude? He calls a spade a spade? Great. You are a moron and a fool for supporting him. He has completely conned you.
For Brenda Sanderson, you sound like a Scientologist.
For LuAnn Hultgren, a tight rein on our country, you say? More control, you say? You'd fit quite well in Germany in the 1930s.
For John Lever, bomb North Korea? Rattle the saber with China? I hope your retirement and gun club salary can pay for the increased cost of...well...just about everything you buy these days.
For Elsie Abrahamson and Beret Ouren, uh...you do realize that he was pro choice up until just a few years ago when he found it politically convenient? And Roe V Wade isn't going anywhere.
For Rich Abraham, Obama hurt your feelings? Aw, shucks, precious snowflake, maybe you should take heart that he increased the defense budget every single year of his presidency.
For David Traenor, you are the exact reason why the Russians were able to do what they did in the 2016 election. Thanks, asshole.
For Kenneth Mosser, a Dumbocrat? What are you...five years old?
Honestly, these people and their blind devotion terrify me.
President Trump has said for weeks that he is not under investigation. He claimed vindication after Comey's testimony last week. But now it appears that Robert Mueller, the special prosecutor in this case, is investigating Trump himself for possible obstruction of justice. As has been the case with past presidents, it's not the crime itself that they get dinged for. It's the cover up.
What could possibly be so bad about Russia that Trump would go to such lengths as to put himself in legal jeopardy?
Quite possibly the most disturbing thing I have seen yet from the Trump Administration. Other than SecDef Mattis, what a bunch of mindless sycophants. Is Trump so insecure that he needs that much praise? And how about all the out and out lying? He hasn't done anything!
USA Today has a piece up regarding Trump's pick to run the FBI, Christopher Wray. Check out this part.
The most troubling issue that Wray may face is the fact that his law firm — King & Spalding — represents Rosneft and Gazprom, two of Russia’s largest state-controlled oil companies. Rosneft was prominently mentioned in the now infamous 35-page dossier prepared by former British MI6 agent Christopher Steele. The dossier claims that the CEO of Rosneft, Igor Sechin, offered candidate Donald Trump, through Trump’s campaign advisor Carter Page, a 19% stake in the company in exchange for lifting U.S. sanctions on Russia. The dossier claims that the offer was made in July while Page was in Moscow.
Troubling indeed. Here are my questions:
Why did Trump pick him?
Did he work for Rosneft and Gazprom while his firm represented both of these entities? If so, how?
Wray has a lot to answer if he is going to become Trumps pick for the FBI.
My first reaction to James Comey's testimony yesterday was not the remarks themselves but the reaction to them from various media.
CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, The Washington Post and most of the regular news media looked at the entirety of his testimony and gave fairly honest reporting. The right wing media (and President Trump) all cried vindication which I found to be quite at odds with reality. They also accused Comey of lying so I don't understand how Trump was vindicated if Comey was lying. How can it be both? The right wing media also went on about Hillary's emails and leakers which entirely avoids the core issue: Trump and his people colluding with the Russians.
There were no major revelations yesterday. Comey said what everyone thought he would say. The investigation with a special prosecutor (Robert Mueller) will continue and that's a good thing. Trump is not going to be able to avoid what's coming next. Honestly, I'm less worried about him these days because he's so fucking stupid. Clearly, he is his own worst enemy.
What concerns me is his legion of followers who now have all become willing receptacles of Russian propaganda. Here's a clue, assholes. Just because a link on your social media feed looks all hot and stuff with it's political porno words like "mainstream media" and "smug liberal elite" doesn't mean you should pay attention to it. They are trying to fucking brainwash you, morons. Ignore it!
Oh, and if you are offended by me calling you an asshole or a moron, you can take your precious snowflake attitude and juxtapose it with your dear leader. He won an election by doing the exact same thing.
President Trump officially announced today that the United States would be withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accords. This agreement was signed on to by every other country in the world except Syria and Nicaragua. What great company to be in! Actually, considering who we have as president and how he is trying real hard to turn this country into a banana republic, I guess we fit right in.
Trump is a total fucking moron. Whether you "believe" in climate change or not, by pulling out of this agreement, we are essentially handing the keys to the renewable energy market over to the Chinese. We are saying to the world that we don't want to get into the business of renewable energy because our leader and his followers want to win a blog argument about global warming (hint: they already lost.)
We had 8 years of a great president moving us forward in the world. Now, we have a reality show buffoon whose only conviction is vanity moving us backwards. Worse, his followers are likely cheering this right now in one giant mouth foam at how they are sticking it to those smug liberal elites who think they know so much. Again, why is our country having to pay for their personal problems in life?
If we truly want US values in the world, we can't allow countries like China to lead on anything. This withdrawal means they get to run the table on us in countries that will be hit the hardest on climate change. China, not us, will be allowed to instill their values on these countries.
