Build A Longer Table

Trump's 3 AM Phone Call

During the 2008 Democratic presidential primary the Clinton campaign ran an ad that asked who you wanted answering the phone at 3 AM, implying that Obama was inexperienced, unfamiliar with the military and unprepared for the rigors of international diplomacy.

Now Donald Trump has had his own 3 AM phone call. But it wasn't his phone ringing: it was the phone of Michael Flynn, Trump's national security advisor:

President Donald Trump was confused about the dollar: Was it a strong one that’s good for the economy? Or a weak one?

So he made a call ― except not to any of the business leaders Trump brought into his administration or even to an old friend from his days in real estate. Instead, he called his national security adviser, retired Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, according to two sources familiar with Flynn’s accounts of the incident.

Flynn has a long record in counterintelligence but not in macroeconomics. And he told Trump he didn’t know, that it wasn’t his area of expertise, that, perhaps, Trump should ask an economist instead.

How can Trump not know what kind of dollar he wants? And, as Flynn wondered, why the hell was Trump bugging a general at three in the morning about it?

This is not the only time something like this has happened. When Trump was on the phone recently with Putin discussing nuclear arms, Putin mentioned extending a treaty that had been signed with the Obama administration. Trump didn't know what Putin was talking about, so he put the president of Russia on hold to ask his aides about it. Then:

Trump then told Putin the treaty was one of several bad deals negotiated by the Obama administration, saying that New START favored Russia. Trump also talked about his own popularity, the sources said.

First, it's patently ridiculous that Trump didn't know about the treaty to begin with. Didn't his aides briefed him before the phone call started? Or maybe they had, but Trump had already forgotten about it.

Second, Trump is making snap judgments about national security based on a two-minute conversation with "an aide" while Putin was on hold. Might the secretary of defense or the secretary of state want to weigh in on this?

What's really disturbing about Trump is that he doesn't know anything, and he makes important decisions based on what the person who happens to be in the room with at the time. What if the only other person in the room is the janitor when Trump's phone rings with news of an impending nuclear strike?

Republicans have got to be worried sick about this: not just because Trump is so stupid, but because his administration leaks like a sieve. In the last few weeks there have stories daily about Trump not knowing something basic; he doesn't even read the executive orders he signs; he doesn't think he needs a security briefing; he planned an attack on a terrorist base over dinner, and then didn't bother to monitor it in the situation room (getting one American killed on several civilians, including children).

There have already been a dozen idiotic scandals like this since Trump took office, things that would have had Republicans screaming for Obama's head if his administration had been so incompetent and amateurish.

Trump is not prepared to be president and has no interest in the job. His staff does not respect him (why else all the leaks?). The intelligence agencies all think he's an idiot. They think that Trump supporters will have their heads if they move against Trump, but he will bring the entire Republican Party and the conservative establishment down when he really screws the pooch. And he will.

Republicans need to remove Trump soonest. They can start by amping up the investigation of Russian interference with the election, and Michael Flynn's contacts with the Russians before the election, and then again after the election but before the inauguration. And then Trump's conflicts of interest, like making the Pentagon rent space in Trump Tower...

And releasing Trump's tax returns -- which Congress and Congress alone can do -- should be high on the priority list as well.

You'll Be Covered In Something

Besieged by Crime?

Yesterday, President Trump said our nation has been besieged by crime. Meeting with a group of our nation's sheriffs,Trump told them, “the murder rate in our country is the highest it’s been in 47 years.” He blamed the news media for not publicizing this development, then added, “But the murder rate is the highest it’s been in, I guess, 45 to 47 years.”

This is, of course, not true. How do I know this? Well, gun rights activists on the inter webs remind me of this fact all the time. Here are the facts.

The murder rate is defined as the number of murders and non-negligent homicides per 100,000 residents. Beginning in 1957, when the rate was 4.0 murders per 100,000 residents, the rate rose steadily to a high of 10.2 in 1980. It then steadily dropped, to 7.4 in 1996, to 6.1 in 2006, to 4.4 in 2014. It went up in 2015 to 4.9. But that is less than half the murder rate of 1980. The raw number of homicides in America has actually declined from 19,645 in 1996 to 15,696 in 2015, even while the population has risen from 265 million in 1996 to 321 million in 2015.

The violent crime rate in America also has plummeted over the years. Defined as murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault, violent crimes peaked at a rate of 758 per 100,000 residents in 1991, and the rate was about 373 violent crimes per 100,000 in 2015, again a decline of more than half. The statistics for 2016 are not yet available. Here is the FBI’s violent crime table for the years 1996 to 2015.

Today, Trump doubled down on these claims in what has become yet another example of this administration's cognitive dissonance. Like the right wing bloggers and commenters that religiously follow him, they create their own reality in which their anger, hate and fear are more justified.

Alternative facts indeed.

In World Where....

Puzder: Automatic Disqualification

Say it ain't so! Another Trump cabinet nominee is a raging hypocrite!

Andrew F. Puzder, who as President Trump’s pick to head the Labor Department has come under fire for criticizing worker protections, acknowledged on Monday that he had employed an undocumented immigrant to clean his house.

Trump ran on a platform of kicking illegal immigrants out of the country, and with his Muslim ban has tried to kick out legal ones as well.

Puzder's crime is completely inexcusable: everyone knows when they hire illegals. And it's not the lack of English language skills, or the failure to adopt American customs: it's because they work for so little. Real Americans won't accept the slave wages that rich folks like Puzder want to pay their household employees.

It's preposterous to think that Puzder, the multi-million dollar CEO of a giant corporation, was fooled by an undocumented worker's fake Social Security card. A little research and a query against the Social Security Administration's database will quickly tell you whether they're legit.

And it's even crazier than that: to save a few bucks, Puzder gave an undocumented foreigner free run of his house. They could have ripped off his TV and his wife's jewelry, planted surveillance devices for corporate espionage, accessed his computer and got passwords for all his accounts, or used the access to kidnap family for ransom -- that's a thing in Mexico, Republicans keeps telling us, be afraid!

Am I to believe that, given all the dangers wealthy Americans face from undocumented workers, he didn't vet this person at all? Is Puzder really that naive and trusting? It's far more likely that he did vet this person, knew they were undocumented, and got references from a former employer who also knew the worker was undocumented.

The only reason that there is an illegal immigration problem is that people like Puzder hire undocumented workers because they'll work for less. Without people like Puzder who flagrantly violate employment laws by hiring undocumented workers, the influx of undocumented workers would be tiny.

Several other Trump nominees have hired illegals or haven't paid taxes on household employees:

Mr. Trump’s choice to lead the Commerce Department, Wilbur Ross, said last month that he had employed an undocumented household worker for several years. And Representative Mick Mulvaney, Republican of South Carolina and the nominee for White House budget director, said that he failed to pay taxes on a nanny that he and his wife employed after their children were born. They had to pay more than $15,000 in taxes and penalties to the I.R.S.

Bill Clinton had similar troubles: two of his attorney general nominees were forced to step aside for the nanny problems. The senate should give Puzder the same treatment: his appointment should be automatically denied.

Of course, Puzder should be rejected for paying employees who work at fast food joints like his Carl Jrs. and Hardee's restaurants so little that they qualify for $7 billion in public assistance.

Republicans constantly bitch about welfare, but when a company pays their workers so little that they can get public assistance, it's really the company that's on the dole.

Not So Innocent

Well, President Trump finally said something that was dead on right. In his interview with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly that aired before the Super Bowl, Trump responded to Mr. O'Reilly's comment that Putin was "a killer."

"There are a lot of killers. You think our country's so innocent?" Trump replied.

He's right. We aren't innocent. About 30 thousand people die every year due to gun violence. We bomb the crap out of people all over the world although I think most of this is largely justified.

Yet imagine if Barack Obama had said this. What would the reaction be from the alt right? How many right wing blog commenters would spew venom on the forums over how much he hated America? Fox would run a breaking news segment with the headline "Obama Hate America-Thinks We are Killers!" There's barely been a peep from any conservative over these comments.

This latest interview also underscores just how much Trump is owned by Vladimir Putin. He refuses to accept the type of person Putin is and what he has done. Worse, all of those mouth foamers who warned of the boiling pit of sewage that is the totalitarian state of Russia are now suddenly rolling their eyes and shaking their heads at the silly liberals.

Can't they see that Russia is completely innocent?

The Unchained Goddess

I love old science films. It's probably because when I was a kid in the 1970s they still showed these films in class. They actually showed them on 16mm projectors and it wasn't until the 1980s when they started showing stuff on 3/4 inch videotape.

This film, from Bell Labs, is stunning considering that it shows how long we have known about the devastating effects of climate change.

What A Difference A Year Makes

Whither The Shy Trump Voter...

The president's recent poll numbers show him underwater in terms of approval. Yet this recent piece from Politico reminds us of the "shy" Trump voter. These are the folks who are embarrassed to admit that they support President Trump and do so quietly. I have a few problems with this theory.

First, has anyone out there ever known a Trump voter to be shy? They seem all id to me and right in your fucking face. And if they are so shy, why are the being shy? Why don't they want to admit that they support the guy? I'm nearly certain that Trump's merry band of right wing bloggers and commenters would foam at the mouth about persecution and play the reverse racism card. Of course, if they did that. they'd essentially become the very thing they claim to be against: victims.

I submit that the real reason why they are so shy is they (once again) refuse to want to admit they are wrong. Worse, they are probably having trouble dealing with being in charge. Clearly, their guy can't handle it and neither can they. It must be incredibly foreign to them to not be in attack/block mode all the time and actually having to govern...if you can call it that. So, they hide their support because they don't really have any sort of foundation on which to stand.

Btw, holding up a decree after decree (in what looks like a Steak and Chop House menu) sure does make it look like he's "getting it done." PT Barnum and the all powerful Oz would be most proud...

Great Words

A friend of mine just wrote this on Facebook in his status update...

Our president says that freedom of religion is under threat all around us as he bans people from one religion from entering the country. The jibberish has escalated to new heights from this snake oil salesman. Buy my snakeoil, and the people bought it. It's bloody embarassing to have him represent a country with a rich history of smart and interesting people and thinkers from all political parties. We are better than this sad display of self serving garbage.

Amen.

Where Can Alternative Facts Be Found?

The Bowling Green Massacre

To give you an idea on just what kind of fantasy world Trump supporters and the alt right live in, look no further than the Bowling Green "Massacre."  Senior Adviser to the president, Kellyanne Conway, was on Chris Matthews' show and regaled him the story of two Iraqi men.

“I bet it’s brand new information to people that President Obama had a six-month ban on the Iraqi refugee program after two Iraqis came here to this country, were radicalized, and they were the masterminds behind the Bowling Green massacre,” Conway said. “Most people don’t know that because it didn’t get covered.”

First of all, no such ban ever took place. So, straight out of the gate, she's lying. But then to completely make up a massacre when NO SUCH EVENT EVERY FUCKING TOOK PLACE is mind boggling. Is this what we have to put up with for the next four years? The paranoid, fever dreams of short wave radio turned email forwarder turned blogger turned social media troll dimwits?

The good news is that the interwebs don't leave stuff like this alone:)

Anil DashVerified account‏@anildash

Unlike Bowling Green, the Oak Creek massacre did take place & the Trump Republicans have never decried the white supremacist terror attack.

I think the last one is my favorite.

Why Grandpa Lives in Argentina Now

The Circular Logic of The Trump Supporter

How This Autocracy Will Play Out

David Frum has an interesting piece up about how President Trump's first term might play out. Actually, it's more frightening than interesting. Frum details how everyone could easily fall in line, largely due to apathy. After all, this is how Trump got elected.

Here's my favorite part.

Nobody’s repealed the First Amendment, of course, and Americans remain as free to speak their minds as ever—provided they can stomach seeing their timelines fill up with obscene abuse and angry threats from the pro-Trump troll armies that police Facebook and Twitter. Rather than deal with digital thugs, young people increasingly drift to less political media like Snapchat and Instagram.

In many ways, this has already happened. The Pro-Trump troll armies were already formed out of right wing bloggers and commenters that had been honing their hate, anger and fear for years.

So, will Frum's prediction end up coming true?

Russia Arrests Hacking Experts for Treason

With four arrests Russia has essentially confirmed that the CIA and FBI reports that concluded Russia interfered with the American election to get Donald Trump elected are true: 

Russian news agencies are reporting that former members of the domestic security agency and a cybersecurity expert have been formally charged with treason.

Reports emerged last week that three officials of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and an executive for cybersecurity company Kaspersky Labs had been arrested for treason. Government officials haven’t commented on the case.

Russia denies they were involved with the hacking of the DNC, but these arrests started coming in December, right after US intelligence agencies issued reports on Russian hacking and Trump being compromised by the FSB while in Russia for the Miss Universe contest.

This shows why the CIA is so leery of releasing any information at all to the general public: when the Russians find out we know something, there are only so many ways we could have found out.

The people privy to the information that was leaked are the first suspects, and once you're suspected, it doesn't take long for the FSB to bust into your office, put a bag over your head and haul you off to Lubyanka.

Now, I wish someone would put a bag over Donald Trump's head so we don't have to see his stupid hair or hear the nastiness that constantly spews from his snarling lips...

Coup?

Interesting piece up at the now black listed CNN regarding President Trump and Steve Bannon. Are we witnessing typical actions which usually follow a coup?

Besieging your targets until nothing makes any sense -- giving them no time to absorb or recover from attacks -- is a time-tested strategy in the history of war and authoritarian takeovers. One might cite what's gone on in Turkey under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. It's now being employed at the pinnacle of American democracy. It's particularly useful in situations where the leader is vulnerable due to possible investigations, blackmails or other circumstances that close off gradualist approaches to implementing an agenda. With all the emergencies going on, who is bothered at the moment about those Trump tax returns, or even his ties to Russia?

Exactly. I have to admit I've been pretty disheartened by many of Trump's actions. His supporters, who supposedly are against this sort of authoritarian action, are all in. As longs as it's one of their own, it's all good.

Yet, as I was reading the back pages of the New York Times the other day, I saw this headline on the other page....

New Italian Trial Set for Berlusconi in a Corruption Case

...and it made me smile.

Trump Inspires Terrorist Attack

Just two days after Donald Trump issued his Muslim travel ban the first terrorist attack of the Trump presidency occurred in the Americas. It happened in Quebec City, where six people were murdered. And despite Trump and his cronies telling us that Muslim immigrants are unspeakably dangerous, a Muslim didn't do it.

No, it was a white, Trump-loving , racist, sexist Internet troll who hates immigrants murdered six people in a mosque:

The suspect in the deadly attack on a Quebec City mosque was known in the city's activist circles as an online troll who was inspired by extreme right-wing French nationalists, stood up for U.S. President Donald Trump and was against immigration to Quebec – especially by Muslims.

Alexandre Bissonnette, 27, a student at Laval University, grew up on a quiet crescent in the Cap-Rouge suburb of Quebec City and lived in an apartment a few kilometres away.

It doesn't matter that it happened in Canada -- Trump used the attack on a Christmas celebration in Germany as part of his rationale for the Muslim ban.

Donald Trump is now in the same league as ISIS. He is spreading chaos and fear around the world, inspiring a terrorist attack in idyllic Quebec City, which hadn't had a murder in almost two years.

Yeah, Bissonnette is probably unhinged. As is Dylann Roof. And the guy who shot up the pizza joint in Washington looking for nonexistent pedophiles. And every whack-job Muslim who shoots up a mall or drives a truck through a crowd.

Trump apologists will blame Marine Le Pen, citing reports that Bissonnette was inspired after her visit. But Trump and Le Pen are two sides of the same coin. They, ISIS and Al Qaeda are all using the same playbook of fear, hatred and division.

The problem isn't Muslims. The problem isn't conservatives. The problem is demagogues of all stripes who seek to gain power by hyperventilating over the dangers of the other and inspiring hatred in marginal personalities who want to carry out the heinous acts those demagogues are implicitly or explicitly calling on them to perform.

Maybe Canada should institute a ban on Americans coming to Canada. Or build a wall along the 5,500-mile-long US-Canadian border. And make Donald Trump pay for it.

Trump's Symbiotic Relationship with Terrorists

From most reports Donald Trump's Muslim travel ban was crafted in the White House without any input from the Pentagon or the Justice and State departments. Republican senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham blasted Trump and his ban with both barrels in a joint statement issued two days ago.

The ban was the baby of Steve Bannon, Trump's propaganda minister and political strategist. And there's been wide speculation about why Bannon made such a mess of it. 

There are two schools of thought: incompetence and malfeasance.

My first inclination was to blame the incompetence of the Trump administration. My second inclination was that the chaos was intentional and malicious, as elucidated by Kevin Drum:

In cases like this, the smart money is usually on incompetence, not malice. But this looks more like deliberate malice to me. Bannon wanted turmoil and condemnation. He wanted this executive order to get as much publicity as possible. He wanted the ACLU involved. He thinks this will be a PR win.

My third inclination is that the intent is far more sinister. Trump loves saying "I told you so." Every time there's an attack by a Muslim terrorist anywhere in the world he says he predicted it and that it proved him right about banning Muslims.

But terrorist attacks by Muslims have been going on for decades, pretty much non-stop since the state of Israel was created and Arab states have been exporting oil. Their grievances with the West started long before ISIS and Al Qaeda existed, since before Osama bin Laden was even born.

Perhaps Trump and Bannon intentionally crafted a faulty travel ban with the ulterior motive of having it be struck down. Then, when the inevitable terrorist attack happens, they can claim credit for "predicting" it, and whine that all those lives would have been saved if only the travel ban had been in place.

What makes this so sinister is that the Trump administration has absolutely no motivation to stop terrorist attacks. Every attack that occurs will actually strengthen his case for a ban and even more stringent restrictions on Muslims.

This is why Trump is creating so much chaos. The more chaotic the country is, the greater the demand for order. Trump is intentionally making a mess to provide the pretext for giving himself broad authoritarian powers to destroy the media, silence his opposition and crush dissent.

It's a classic fascist tactic.

Now, what happens if no Muslim refugee steps up and attacks Americans for Trump? Will one of those ratfucking New York FBI Trump supporters who torpedoed Hillary Clinton's candidacy entrap some refugee Muslim schlub with a phony sting operation?

Or does Trump actually need American blood to get what he wants? Will Trump's FBI mooks let an attack they know about go forward in order to sow fear and give Trump his pretext?

Or will they actively recruit and supply an attacker with weapons, with the justification that by killing a few innocent Americans today they will save thousands tomorrow?

As conspiracy theories go, it's a lot more compelling than John Podesta being involved with a pedophile ring that kept kids in the nonexistent basement of a pizza restaurant.

Or maybe the Russians will do it for Trump: Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov provides this sort of service to Vladimir Putin whenever he needs a fall guy. For example, a Chechen comes to the United States seeking asylum and blows up a public place.

Oh, wait: that already happened with the Boston Marathon bombing. (Lest you blame Obama for the bomber coming to the US, the Tsarnaevs first gained entry to the US in 2002 and obtained green cards in 2007, during the Bush administration.)

So here's my prediction: Trump's Muslim ban will falter because it was designed to. Trump supporters will be outraged. While it's in judicial limbo, some Muslim somewhere will hurt someone. Trump will crow that he predicted it and issue angry tweets demanding Congress pass a Muslim ban and give him special powers to fight terrorism.

Trump is intentionally inciting Muslims to hate the United States. He's giving them the pretext to commit terrorist acts, so that they will give him the pretext to turn the United States into a fascist dictatorship.

Trump, like so many other tyrants, has a symbiotic relationship with the terrorists: if they succeed, he succeeds. That is, unless congressional Republicans and the American people see through the lies, and hold Trump accountable for creating an atmosphere of chaos and hatred that spawns violence.

If any Americans are killed by terrorists on Trump's watch, their blood is on Trump's hands.