There’s a swell documentary currently showing on HBO, Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists. It’s about the great New York newspaper columnists, Jimmy Breslin and Pete Hamill. Not only were they fine journalists, they were great writers. I give the documentary 3 1/2 stars and an Adrastos Grade of B+.
“Snarling and heartless and fraudulently tough, insisting on the virtue of stupidity, it was the epitome of blind negation.
Hate was just another luxury. And Trump stood naked revealed as the spokesman for that tiny minority of Americans who live well-defended lives. Forget poverty and its causes. Forget the degradation and squalor of millions. Fry them into passivity.”
Pete Hamill wasn’t always right but he never minced words. That’s pretty good writing for a high school dropout. I like his first name too.
President* Trump will be polluting the air in El Paso, Texas this evening. Beto O’Rourke, who is presumably done with his Dean Moriarty shtick, is off the road and will hold his own rally in rebuttal of the Insult Comedian.
That picture looks seriously photoshopped. Trump isn’t orange enough. Perhaps he missed a day on the White House tanning bed.
I’ve been hoping to use Asshole In El Paso as a post title forever. Thanks, Trumpy.
President Donald Trump suggested that he is ready to ditch his Inauguration Day promise of a “Hire American” economic policy — even though thousands of auto workers are being laid off, millions of Americans do not have jobs, and many millions of Americans cannot get better-paying jobs.
The huge policy shift in favor of employers and investors is emerging after Congress blocked his border wall and his border security reforms, and after the GOP-led Congress passed Trump’s tax cut.
“It is fair to say that the President is abandoning his Hire American policy,” said Mark Krikorian, director of the Center for Immigration Studies.
One of the draft visa-worker expansions is dubbed “country caps.” It would remove diversity provisions in immigration law to allow employers to offer citizenship to roughly 100,000 Indian outsourcing workers each year if they agree to cheaply replace the American graduates who are now working in well-paid software, accounting, design, engineering, medicine, and education careers. The panel is expected to draft their plan by February 15.
On Wednesday, Trump reaffirmed the pro-migration statement when he was asked by a reporter “So, you’re changing your policy officially, then? You want more legal immigration?”
Trump answered “I need people coming in because we need people to run the factories and plants and companies that are moving back in. We need people.”
“Our unemployment numbers are so low,” Trump said.
On February 1, the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the unemployment rate was at 4 percent. But it also showed that 12.5 million Americans are either unemployed or want to get jobs. In the 1960s, roughly 97 percent of men aged 25 to 54 worked — but that percentage dropped to 80 percent in 2009 and was still only at 86.2 percent in December 2018.
I tell my son and his friends that if they plan on going into tech to expect to have a shorter career than other options. It pisses me off but I accept that it’s part of the industry. The youth bias is very difficult to overcome. The H1-B program and available staff offshore definitely makes it easier for employers to dump older tech workers.
I heard a very plausible explanation from Sebastian Gorka on his radio show. He said it’s like the land for peace deal. He will see, after the 3 weeks, that the dummocraps have supplied nothing workable as their solution, and will then have great evidence for why he is declaring a national emergency and building the wall anyway.
This thread has been pulled.
Pulled on 01/25/2019 3:43:26 PM PST by Jim Robinson, reason: garbage
Tetchy son of a bitch, ain’t he? But you can’t unring this ugly bell.
vanity Trump caves we have NO ONE now
Posted on 1/25/2019, 1:33:40 PM by Cubs Fan
The democrats have a plan to dilute down conservative voters with floods of 3rd world immigrants and its working working. And now even Trump has stopped fighting it.
Democrats getting their way on Immigration is the end of America. They will have full soviet union style monopoly on all government power in ten years or less.
***************
He caved. America lost.the democrats plan to use immigration to dilute out conservative voters is still right on track. And now no one is standing in their way.
HOORAY now F off and make sure you properly register your Dem card
man, these Never Trump drama queens are like neighborhood whores on FR
16 posted on 1/25/2019, 1:37:16 PM by max americana (Happily Fired every stupid liberal at every election since 08′ at work. I hope all liberals die.)
You mean whoring for $80,000 every three months? Or would that be Jim Rob?
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(Oh – and we’ll be hearing from a shitfaced “max americana” later in today’s Obsession)
To: Cubs Fan
We will back to square one in three weeks nothing is going to change. Look, its not these workers fault the Govt is a bunch of corrupt bastards. If I were screwed out of two checks that I needed I would be pissed too..so what is going to change three weeks from now..NOTHING, Dems will NEVER approve of wall funding its never going to happen so what, he’s going to shut down the Govt again? So why bother with this
29 posted on 1/25/2019, 1:38:07 PM by CodeToad ( Hating on Trump is hating on me and America!.)
To: Cubs Fan
Sad. The house has him on the ropes. pelosy’s goal is the election. If Trump doesn’t build, he will lose the election. Also Criminal Hillary is walking around.
He keeps telling us how nice walls are. This speech is repetitious of past speeches. If he doesn’t declare the emergency, he won’t get funding from the house. If he declares, the dems will tie him up in court and in two years the wall will not be built.
I don’t see a path to the wall before the election. Dem mission accomplished. UNLESS he declares and tells the judiciary to stand down as emergencies are not in their purview. But he has acquiesced to the courts for two years.
He has played the national emergency card for 5 weeks. It’s just like his threat to declassify all those documents that are still secret. All talk. Nancy and Chuck won folks, deal with it. If you think Nan and Chuck are going to negotiate on the wall keep drinking the Kool-Aid. They won this time and they will win in 3 weeks, and 6 month and 2 years. It was a nice run, but no republic last forever. In 5 years you won’t even recognize this once great country. There is already a judge ready with a restraining order in hand against using a national emergency declaration to build the wall.
I’m not going to say Trump lied about the wall. I just don’t think, as an outsider he understood how unlikely it was he could deliver. The power in this country belong to the Left and their supporters in both parties, the media and schools. That is a hard coalition to defeat.
I believe that judicial overreach has come to the point where the President should pull an Andy Jackson. Tell the court they have no jurisdiction, if they want to stop it, they can send their army to do so.
At which point Pelosi will gleefully impeach and when it goes to the Senate you get to see how many Republicans give sanctimonious speeches about the ‘Rule of Law’ and vote to convict.
America is no longer held hostage; at least until February 15th. The Trump regime is still making bellicose noises but, until proven otherwise, I’m inclined to view it as meaningless dick waving. They’re showing off for their base but it’s doubtful that Senate Republicans will support another shutdown. I suspect there are more than six GOPers who will vote to keep the government open without explicit funding for Trumpy’s wall folly. Why? The Trump “brand” is becoming increasingly toxic.
I posted William Copley’s think flag instead of a Jasper Johns flag to strike a cautionary note if they think another Trump shutdown is a good idea. The White House is still muttering about declaring a national emergency over Trumpy’s wall folly, but that’s a path that should not be taken. Lindsey Graham and the Freedom Caucus fucks may think it’s a good idea but not many others do. Trump’s scare stories aren’t working: I wish someone would use duct tape on *his* big fat bazoo.
There has been a silly debate in the stupider corners of the tweeter tube over who won the shutdown battle. They want a simple, nay simplistic answer, that points in one direction. One such argument is that workers won the battle, not Speaker Pelosi. I think (there’s that word again) that it’s both. Congressional Democrats held firm and air traffic controllers delivered the final blow with their slow motion sick out. Additionally, the president* wanted to distract attention from the Stone arrest and indictment.
While there were political winners of the shutdown, it came at a substantial economic cost. Federal employees will eventually get back pay, but contract workers will not and I’m talking about people like cafeteria workers and janitors. That’s another reason everyone should think twice before plunging into another hostage situation such as the one that lasted 35 days. Unfortunately, the Trump regime is not known for thinking first. Stay tuned.
The last word goes to (who else) Aretha:
If you were expecting Roy Orbison, I’d hate to disappoint you:
Good morning, gentle people – it’s not been a Very Good Week for The Darnold, but nothing (including the now never-ending Freepathon) is gonna get the Freeperati down!
Last week it was :
Trump tells Pelosi he plans to proceed with State of the Union next week fox news ^ | 1/23/2019 | ALex pappas
President Trump told House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a new letter Wednesday that he still plans to deliver next week’s scheduled State of the Union address from the House floor even though Pelosi urged him to delay the speech because of the government shutdown.
The president, in his letter, said there are “no security concerns” surrounding the event, in response to Pelosi raising that as a potential issue because of the partial shutdown.
“I look forward to seeing you on the evening on January 29th in the Chamber of the House of Representatives,” Trump wrote. “It would be so very sad for our country if the State of the Union were not delivered on time, on schedule, and very importantly, on location!”
President Trump said late Wednesday that he would deliver his State of the Union address after the ongoing partial government shutdown is over.
“As the Shutdown was going on, Nancy Pelosi asked me to give the State of the Union Address,” Trump wrote in a tweet. “I agreed. She then changed her mind because of the Shutdown, suggesting a later date. This is her prerogative – I will do the Address when the Shutdown is over.”
Trump clarified earlier statements suggesting he may do an “alternative” State of the Union, writing that he was not seeking an alternative venue because “there is no venue that can compete with the history, tradition and importance of the House Chamber.”
“I look forward to giving a “great” State of the Union Address in the near future!” he added.
Why did he cave?Does he REALLY expect that crazy Nancy is going to give in on ANYTHING re the wall? If he does, then he’s just NUTS and hasn’t managed to learn anything in these past 2 years!
And IF he give up/caves on the wall, he’s in real trouble with the base.
Donald Trump isn’t used to anyone saying no to him. He doesn’t handle it well. That’s what happened yesterday when he tried to force his way into the House chamber for the SOTU, which should be rechristened SOTC. C is for chaos or clusterfuck.
Nancy Smash has no problem with saying no to a petulant president* even after a day in which the high priests of the cult of savvy decided he might have a plan. As usual, they were wrong: the Insult Comedian folded after the Speaker called his bluff. No surprise. Trump always folds but it usually doesn’t take this long.
“We just found out that she’s cancelled it. I think that’s a great blotch on the incredible country that we all love. It’s a great, great horrible mark. I don’t believe it’s ever happened before and it’s always good to be part of history but this is a very negative part of history.”
Blotch? Really, Donald? Is that the best you can do? I thought you had “all the best words” stored in your “very good brain.”
Trumpberius looked deflated as he made those incoherent comments. Once again, he’s been outmaneuvered by the wily speaker. His fragile ego has a hard time dealing with so much losing, especially at the hands of a skirt. The *real* author of The Art of the Deal nailed it on the tweeter tube:
I have never seen Trump so utterly flummoxed and outgunned as he is by Nancy Pelosi. He seems both awed and cowed by her and it is turning her into a bigger powerhouse than she already was. Fun to watch.
Remember when people on the hard left and squishy right of the Democratic party wanted Nancy Smash to step aside? We’re not hearing much from them right now.
A day after his SOTU cave, the Insult Comedian floated a new slogan:
Without a Wall there cannot be safety and security at the Border or for the U.S.A. BUILD THE WALL AND CRIME WILL FALL!
This is so stupid and simplistic that I’ll let his co-author dispatch him again:
One key to Trump is that he has no core beliefs or deeply held values. His wall was just a way to get elected. He holds on tenaciously to avoid feeling humiliated by Dems & criticized by his base. He is a prisoner to his neediness, with no true north to guide him.
One of the worst things about the current hostage crisis is that stories of human suffering do not move Trump. He long ago wrote off federal employees as Democrats. He cannot even muster a scintilla of fake empathy for the havoc his wall fetish has wrought. Disorder and disruption are his specialities. That’s why I call him the Kaiser of Chaos.
There are finally signs that the Trump shutdown may be winding down. While Trump pretends not to believe the “fake polls,” they’re dire for him. It’s past time for him to fold and declare victory. There is no plan, there is no end game. It’s time for the Insult Comedian to lie his way out of this mess. It’s what he does best.
Finally, I’m fascinated by Trump’s inability to coin a nickname for Speaker Pelosi when there’s an obvious one out there. It’s inspired by the venerable hit musical No No Nanette. He could call her No No Nancy. It’s alliterative as all get-out. Of course, the president* hates being told no, so it’s a non-starter for him but I may add it to my nickname arsenal. It’s not as smashing as Nancy Smash but it fits the times we live in, no?
The Trump shutdown goes on and on and on. As does the president* himself: he tweeted 40 times yesterday according to Politico.
The Insult Comedian’s attempt to impose a “compromise” flopped. Bigly. It’s what happens when the “negotiations” involve only Republicans. It pissed off anti-immigration hardliners and was rejected out of hand by Nancy Smash *before* Trump spoke. She continues to play contract bridge while the president* plays go-fish.
The Turtle finally poked his head out of his shell but the proposal went nowhere Saturday and will not get 60 votes in the Senate. Democrats remain united even though reports of suffering federal employees are painful. We can’t negotiate with a gun pointed at our heads. If we give in, Trump will pull this stunt over and over again.
It’s Martin Luther King Day everywhere in the country except in Mississippi and Alabama where it’s MLK/Robert E. Lee Day. The Lost Cause dream dies hard in the cradle of the confederacy. I wonder if Jeff Beau Sessions is wearing gray today?
It’s “we wuz robbed” day in New Orleans after that egregious blown call in the NFC Championship game. There are even calls for a Saints parade on Super Bowl Sunday. I’m not crazy about the idea. I’d prefer placing the refs in the stocks and pelting them with stale King Cake, but that’s just me. Vengeance is sticky…
That concludes this edition of America Held Hostage. The last word goes to U2:
WASHINGTON — The White House is describing comments by Republican Rep. Steve King about white supremacy as “abhorrent.”
Presidential press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is praising the move by House Republicans to strip the nine-term Iowa lawmaker of his committee assignments.
So – not only did The Darnold call King’s blather “abhorrent”, he sent Baghdad Boob out to the assembled press corps to say so.
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I’m sure this dolchstosslegende is going to bring down the wrath of Freeperville on ole Tweety Amin.
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No?
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To: Blue House Sue
Horse crap.
That’s no way to talk about your Fuhrer.
His comments were no such thing. Vilification of someone asking a question regarding today’s political discourse, or the lack thereof, is eroding our representative foundation.
2 posted on 1/16/2019, 11:01:18 AM by rjsimmon (The Tree of Liberty Thirsts)
To: Blue House Sue
Jeez…yet another successful political assassination by the New York Times Trump.
4 posted on 1/16/2019, 11:02:21 AM by House Atreides (Boycott the NFL 100% — PERMANENT)
FIFY.
To: House Atreides
Jeez…yet another successful political assassination by the New York Times.
The New York Times didn’t spy on the guy and illegally record his conversations.
He sat down and gave them an ‘effing interview.
I have no sympathy — and no patience — for a moron like this. I hope he resigns soon, so he can be replaced by someone who has an IQ above 80.
6 posted on 1/16/2019, 11:05:29 AM by Alberta’s Child (“In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey.”)
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Well, that rules out The Darnold. I hear that Randy Quaid is available…
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So – there’s two schools of so-called thought here – King was an idiot for saying this shit on the record, and King is an upstanding true American for saying this shit on the record.
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And not one person from either of these two special needs schools is blaming The Darnold for his stabbity-stab in the back of the once and future King.
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Not one.
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To: Blue House Sue
Just what in the hell did Steve King say that was so abhorrent?That he was a white nationalist.
Well so am I. I’m a white male
What a shocker!
and I love my country and I hate seeing where the commiecrats are taking us.
10 posted on 1/16/2019, 11:13:17 AM by puppypusher ( The world is going to the dogs.)
One Freeper ALMOST goes there :
To: Blue House Sue
Why is the White House falling for this NYT smear?
White House can not afford to throw conservative leaning legislators under the bus every time someone on the left attacks them.
Foolish.
11 posted on 1/16/2019, 11:16:39 AM by unlearner (War is coming.)
.
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Fortunately for “unlearner”, nobody responds to his little tiptoe through the minefield.
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Join me below the fold for Ann Coulter’s wall squall.
I keep dating myself (I kiss and tell too) on this blog but I do it for a good cause. I remember when ABC News launched a late night newscast after bored students stormed the US Embassy in Tehran and took a bunch of hostages to avoid studying for finals. The show was originally called America Held Hostage before morphing into Nightline, which is apparently still airing but I haven’t seen it in eons. A late night network news show is now kinda quaint but it was cutting edge in 1979.
The Trump shutdown is in its 26th day, which is the longest in American history. That makes it the latest in a series of dubious firsts for the Trump regime.
The modern era of extortion by government shutdown started in 1995 when Newt Gingrich was Speaker of the House and Bill Clinton president. The Gingrich shutdown was the previous record holder at 21 days. Clinton stood frim and the GOP took the blame for that shutdown.
I feel the pain of federal workers who have missed a paycheck but it’s important for Democrats to hold firm on the Trump shutdown. If they cave, he will keep doing this every time his will is thwarted. It’s extortion pure and simple.
Speaker Pelosi’s SOTU gambit was smashing. She *is* the host of the event and is hoping that Trump will be unable to resist the clarion call of a speech in the most dramatic setting imaginable. The Insult Comedian loves the sound of sycophantic GOPers cheering his every lie, after all. He’s unlikely to revert to the pre-1913 custom of a written SOTU. Woodrow Wilson initiated the modern in-person SOTU but he was a noted orator, not a ranter like Trump.
It’s time to thank the president* for taking responsibility for the shutdown. I’ll never forget the smirk on Chuck Schumer’s face when Trump fell into that trap. It’s what happens when you have no impulse control and cannot STFU. That’s why Rex Tillerson called him a fucking moron. Thanks, Trumpy.
At day 26, it’s no longer just the Trump shutdown, it’s the Trump-McConnell shutdown. There are the votes in the Senate to override a presidential veto but Chinless Mitch won’t schedule a vote despite how badly Republicans are tanking in the polls. The Turtle has crawled back into his shell. I didn’t know they hibernated.
Republicans are desperate – and not even doing much or well to hide it – to have Democrats start negotiating with them about a wall. We’ve moved on from demanding the chunk of money. Now it’s wanting to negotiate, begging frankly. For all the atmospherics and strategies, the only important point to make is that the President is holding the government hostage to force his way. That has to stop. The shutdown bacillus that Newt Gingrich injected into our political system in 1995 must be eradicated. It was dormant for almost two decades until Republicans (neo-Gingrichites) returned to power in the House in 2011. It’s wrong. It’s destructive. And it’s the same principle we apply to all terrorists. You can’t negotiate with terrorists or hostage takers, because it encourages the behavior.
It’s been a bad week for the president* thus far. His wildly unpopular shutdown enters its 27th day, he’s been mocked for serving cold hamberders to jocks from Clemson, and his administration* has been leaking like a sieve. The stories about his NATO-phobia and Interpretergate have been particularly damaging as well as damning. It’s been an excellent week, however, for Putin’s plan to foment chaos in what used to be called the free world. We’ll just have to keep on rockin’…
Enough of the Insult Comedian, let’s talk about *other* Republicans in disarray. Two past malakas of the week have been in the news: Steve King and Chris Christie.
The Same Old Racist Iowa Cornholer: Emulating Captain Louis Renault in Casablanca, House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy is shocked, shocked to learn that Steve King is a bigot. Based on his legendary “untrustable in hungria” comment, McCarthy is not the brightest bulb in the lamp. He’s also not very observant: Steve King was a racist long before he was stripped of his committee assignments. I wrote about it in a 2017 post called King Of The Bigots and Trip Gabriel of the Failing New York Times has compiled Steve King’s Greatest Hits. What a long, strange Trip it’s been.
Perhaps Kevin hadn’t noticed before because his head is so far up Trump’s ample rump that he’s been blind to King’s racism. It’s a lame excuse: King has been saying this shit since he was a member of the Iowa lege. This quote comes from 2002, when the Trump presidency* was just a bad dream:
Mr. King, in the Iowa State Senate, files a bill requiring schools teach that the United States “is the unchallenged greatest nation in the world and that it has derived its strength from … Christianity, free enterprise capitalism and Western civilization.”
The Congressman from next door Metry and past malaka of the week, Steve Scalise, has been too busy selling books and pretending NOT to be a more politically viable David Duke to notice King’s bigotry either. Scalise prefers code words to raw naked hatred but he’s guilty of Renault-ism as well:
The King of Bigots took to the House floor yesterday to defend himself:
.@SteveKingIA: "It's 13 words, ironically, that's caused this firestorm."
King on the Civil War: "I come from a family of abolitionists. Maybe I would have some artifacts from…my five-time great-grandfather if he hadn’t been killed in that conflict. This means something to me." pic.twitter.com/VSvT9Szymp
Dolts like King always twist history to justify their words and actions. Many abolitionists were racists and preferred emigration and separation to integration and equality. I wonder if King has ever heard of Liberia.
The only reason Republicans stripped the bark off King’s committee assignments is that House Democrats voted to rebuke the Iowa Cornholer’s latest statements. The vote was 424-1. And the no vote came from Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush who thought the House should censure the King of Bigots.
Let’s move on to our next example of Republicans in disarray. The post title feels slightly illicit since it mocks a million such stories about Democrats in Tiger Beat on the Potomac aka Politico. Perhaps I’ll win the morning.
Governor Asshole’s Revenge: There’s a consensus out there that the Trump regime operates like a mob family. I’ve even given him a wise guy name: Don Donaldo Il Comico Insulto.
The man who wanted to be Clemenza to Trump’s Godfather has written a book that verifies the old Sicilian adage “revenge is a dish best served cold.” I wonder if the dish is pizza? I happen to like cold, leftover pizza for breakfast. I’ve also been known to hold a grudge.
Back to Christie’s upcoming tome, Let Me Finish. Yesterday, the Guardian published an exclusive article about the most explosive parts of the book, which involve the Governor Asshole/Slumlord Jared blood feud:
Christie blames this key player[Kushner] in the president’s inner circle for his ignominious dismissal shortly after Trump’s election victory in November 2016. Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, writes that Kushner’s role in his sacking was confirmed to him by Steve Bannon, Trump’s campaign chief, in real time.
As Bannon was carrying out the firing, at Trump Tower in New York, Christie forced him to tell him who was really behind the dismissal by threatening to go to the media and point the finger at Bannon instead.
“Steve Bannon … made clear to me that one person and one person only was responsible for the faceless execution that Steve was now attempting to carry out. Jared Kushner, still apparently seething over events that had occurred a decade ago.”
The political assassination was carried out by Kushner as a personal vendetta, Christie writes, that had its roots in his prosecution, as a then federal attorney, of Charles Kushner in 2005. The real estate tycoon was charged with witness tampering and tax evasion and served more than a year in federal prison.
Apologies for the long quote but I couldn’t quite channel my inner Mario Puzo or David Chase this morning, so I let the Guardian guys do it for me.
I’ve missed having Governor Asshole to kick around. I’m glad he’s publishing an *almost* tell-all book about the Trump regime. I say almost because he’s softer on Trumpberius than on anyone else:
At his first meeting with Trump in 2002, at a dinner in the Trump International Hotel and Tower, in New York, Trump ordered his food for him. He chose scallops, to which Christie is allergic, and lamb which he has always detested. Christie recalls wondering whether Trump took him to be “one of his chicks”.
At another dinner three years later Trump told the obese Christie he had to lose weight. Addressing him like one of the contestants in Miss Universe, the beauty contest organisation that he owned, Trump said “you gotta look better to be able to win” in politics.
Trump returned to the theme of girth during the 2016 presidential campaign, exhorting Christie to wear a longer tie as it would make him look thinner.
Christie hates lamb? Fuck him and the long red tie he rode in on. Was that a bridge too far? Nah, in the immortal words of Bobby Bacala:
No, Bobby, I don’t. It’s what I do.
There’s one more example of Republicans in disarray. Chinless Mitch may be preventing a vote on re-opening the government but he lost a vote yesterday, which had to be one of the most newsworthy Tuesdays in history. One could even call it Christie Gras.
The Oleg Deripaska Sanctions Blues: Team Trump wants to lift sanctions on the Russian oligarch to whom Paul Manafort owes millions of dollars, Oleg Deripaska. 11 Republican Senators joined Democrats to stop this move in its tracks; one of whom, to my great surprise, was Gret Stet Senator John Neely Kennedy of Neelyisms fame. As Neely himself might put it, even a blind pig finds an acorn sometime. Boy howdy.
This was a preliminary vote: they need 2 more GOP votes to stop Mnuchin’s folly but any sign of Republican disarray is inordinately pleasing. Props to Chuck Schumer for organizing this mini uprising. He’s showing more backbone since Nancy Smash became Speaker. Keep it up, Chuck.
That concludes this episode of Republicans In Disarray Theatre. The last word goes to the Gin Blossoms who have anthropomorphized disarray.
I’ve saved the best for last: a Krewe du Vieux worthy mini-float that the unknown (to me) artist calls Fat Man and Little Boy after the first two nukes, They’re definitely da bomb.
Statue of Trump dressed as Napoleon riding a nuclear bomb at the New Orleans protest ahead of his speech to the Farm Bureau pic.twitter.com/AMLNtMEESc
Finally, after a shaky start the Saints beat the Eagles 20-14. Next up are the Rams in the NFC Championship Game. We’ll see if Jared Goff handles the crowd noise better than Nick Foles. We witnessed a Foles fail yesterday and it wasn’t even the fall.
I still refuse to say Who Dat but I will say GEAUX SAINTS.
It seems like Kanye’s deranged behavior is here to stay in 2019.
Through 2018, Kanye had a lot of ups and downs in his personal life. The rapper has seemed to have fallen from stardom due to his outspoken personality and random outburst. Because of his actions he has lost the respect of the peers in the world of music. It seems as though his arrogance continues to grow and rubbed people throughout the year. It even went as for to typical Kanye finding ways to piss people off at Cher opening. Most of the animosity has come by way of him being an advocate for Donald Trump within the urban community.
Many people were appalled when news broke that Kanye West arrives at Whitehouse for lunch with Trump. Fellow artist that have accepted Kanye West stunts in the past would not be silent on this particular shenanigan. Artist such as Snoop Dogg, T.I., and former label mate Camron took to social media to air out the Chicago native. Everyone is highly offended by Mr. West rocking the highly controversial “Make America Great Again” hat. Shortly after his wife Kim Kardashian says she educated Kanye after the Trump visit.
Longtime colleague Charlemagne Da God canceled his interview his discussion with Kanye West because of his public outcry for attention. After all of the drama, Yeezy eventually apologized publicly on Twitter for making the wrong stance regarding the world of politics. Even his label Pusha T claimed that Kanye doesn’t wear the MAGNA hat anymore. At the moment it seems as though Kanye is back to supporting Trump again. During his cabinet meeting to kick off the year, the President shouted out Mr. West.
It’s obvious that Ye loves to be the center of attention, as he even called out larger than life rapper Drake on Twitter. He claims that Drizzy took shots at him several times, and he was steamin after Drake followed his wife on Instagram.
Is Kanye really deranged? Or is he trying to stay relevant?
I never pay any attention to the worthless, lowlife filth. Anyone who did an idiot. He’s a con-artist, subhuman garbage and a racist POS. He richly deserves the “Tupac Treatment”, bigtime, for his trash rags and noise.
10 posted on 1/2/2019, 11:30:21 PM by carriage_hill (A society grows great when old men plant trees, in whose shade they know they will never sit.)
The Insult Comedian is coming to the Gret Stet of Louisiana next week. He’ll be speaking at the Farm Bureau convention at the Morial Convention Center. Since New Orleans is one of the bluest cities in the country, there will be protesters. I may be among them.
That brings me to the tweet of the day. Thanks to my blogger buddy and Spank krewe mate, Noladishu, for sending this my way:
Since President Trump will be in Louisiana Monday, we dug into the archive and found this picture of a 1993 press conference he had with then-Gov. Edwin Edwards. The two had just concluded a meeting about Trump’s attempt to build a casino in the Bayou State. #LaLege#LaGovpic.twitter.com/JpFSoP6DBc
I didn’t get all the agita yesterday about Trump’s Oval Office speech. It lived up (down?) to my low expectations. He’s a terrible, and worse, boring speaker without an audience. To quote the man himself, it was low energy. Additionally, nobody except his hardcore 25-30% believes anything he says. The only people capable of being hoodwinked already wear pointy hoods in private.
Nothing Trump said last night matters. It was his greatest hits with a dull delivery. It’s hard to cry wolf when you look ready to nod off at a moment’s notice. He made absolutely no news, which made the speech an exercise in futility. It was also an exercise in distraction. The Trump regime is slowly but surely circling the bowl and they know it:
Trump’s aides fear he has given himself no way out. “The president put himself in a box,” the former official in touch with the White House told me. “The problem is there’s no endgame. Right now the White House is at a seven on the panic scale. If this thing goes on past the State of the Union they’re going to be at an 11.” Another prominent Republican close to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell described Trump’s handling of the shutdown as “total fucking chaos.”
That’s why I call him the Kaiser of Chaos.
The box in question is his political coffin. In the article quoted above, Vanity Fair’s Gabriel Sherman called the Mexican stand-off that is the shutdown, “Trump’s Alamo.” The president* is likely to identify with Davy Crockett, after all. Crockett was a peckerwood with a coon skin cap atop his head and Trump is an Insult Comedian with a dead nutria pelt atop his head.
I’m convinced that the main reason Trump gave that lame racist speech last night is jealousy. The Democratic House is the bright shiny object in town and they’ve gotten tons of favorable media coverage. Trump not only thrives on the spotlight, he needs it. He’s afraid he’ll disappear if he’s not the center of attention 24/7/365.
Chuck and Nancy have become a formidable duo but the staging of their response last night was downright weird. It was summed up neatly by Herriman biographer and parade route book signer Michael Tisserand:
Others have compared them to the immortal hicks in Grant Wood’s American Gothic. They *were* stiff, but Nancy from Balmer and Chuck from Brooklyn are way too urban to be immortal Iowa hayseeds.
It’s time for people to stop thinking Donald Trump has supernatural political powers. He’s an unpopular president* whose party lost the midterm popular vote in a landslide. Last night’s speech was a dulled down distillation of his 2018 stump rants. It didn’t work then. Why would it work now?
The Trump shutdown shows the perils of winging it. House Republican leaders are worried that dozens of their members will rebel and support Speaker Pelosi’s efforts to reopen the government. At least four GOP Senators are making noises about reopening the government; one of whom is Colorado’s Corey Gardner who is already atop the Senate Dems 2020 hit list.
Trump lies about everything. He should take Chuck and Nancy up on their offer to reopen the government and debate the stupid wall later. Then, he could lie about it and declare victory. It would be a small lie by his standards. I bet them dead presidents would approve.
Is this Trump’s Waterloo? I’m not sure about that but he’s certainly circling the loo.
This is what happens when you cry wolf without a plan or an endgame.
As the Trump government shutdown tantrum slogs along for a sixteenth day, it’s time to take a fond look back at a leader who said what he meant and meant what he said, Harry Reid. And Harry knows what he’s talking about unlike a certain Insult Comedian about whom Reid had this to say:
“Trump is an interesting person. He is not immoral but is amoral. Amoral is when you shoot someone in the head, it doesn’t make a difference. No conscience.” There was a hint of grudging respect in Reid’s tone, which he seemed to catch and correct. “I think he is without question the worst president we’ve ever had,” he said. “We’ve had some bad ones, and there’s not even a close second to him.” He added: “He’ll lie. He’ll cheat. You can’t reason with him.” Once more, a hint of wonder crept into his voice, as if he was describing a rogue beast on the loose in a jungle that Reid knows well.
That’s one of many money quotes from Mark Leibovich’s marvelous profile in the Failing NYT Magazine. It gives me nothing to Leibobitch about. I should apologize for that tortured pun but that part of the governments is shut, unlike the president’s* stupid gob.
Back when many Democrats were too polite to play political hardball, Harry Reid was slugging it out on our behalf. He was one of the few public officials to sound the alarm on Kremlingate when it *could* have made a difference. Chinless Mitch and his ilk were too busy dreaming about huge tax cuts and wingnut judges to do their patriotic duty and call out Russian interference with the 2016 election. I refuse to call it meddling: that sounds like something a Sixties sitcom mother-in-law would do. Inflicting Trump on the nation is a bit worse than Bewitched’s Endora calling her hapless son-in-law Derwood or Dolphin. Now that’s meddling.
Harry Reid’s main political legacy is his leadership of the Nevada Democratic party. Nevada was once a deeply red state but under Harry’s guidance Nevada Democrats have gone from strength to strength. Nevada’s slow and steady transformation from red to purple to blue was completed in November. It’s a road map that other state parties should emulate but it requires patience in an impatient world.
There’s some sad news in the Leibovich profile:
Reid, who is 79, does not have long to live. I hate to be so abrupt about this, but Reid probably would not mind. In May, he went in for a colonoscopy, the results of which caused concern among his doctors. This led to an M.R.I. that turned up a lesion on Reid’s pancreas: cancer. Reid’s subdued and slightly cold manner, and aggressive anticharisma, have always made him an admirably blunt assessor of situations, including, now, his own: “As soon as you discover you have something on your pancreas, you’re dead.”
Bluntness thy name is Harry Reid. It’s a pity that his health obliged him to retire right before his perfect foe/foil was elected to the White House. While Chuck Schumer is inclined to treat his opponents with kid gloves, Harry always strapped on his boxing gloves as you can see in this blast from the recent past:
In 2016, he dismissed Trump as “a big fat guy” who “didn’t win many fights.”
That’s why I’m still wild about Harry. The last word goes to Eubie Blake and Peggy Lee:
OK – I promised myself a mental health week, so I stayed away from Freeperville – but I did go over to my old haunt Glock Talk to see what’s been going on since I left them 10 years ago.
I’m a handgun owner, and a Glock 21 owner, and I used to hang out there for amusement. They have many forums, and one is a political forum. Now there’s some liberal Glock owners, but they’re far outnumbered by the right-wing nutcases. I always had a bit of fun letting the air of reality into their lead zeppelins of bubble-think.
“General Jim Mattis will be retiring, with distinction, at the end of February, after having served my Administration as Secretary of Defense for the past two years. During Jim’s tenure, tremendous progress has been made, especially with respect to the purchase of new fighting… …equipment. General Mattis was a great help to me in getting allies and other countries to pay their share of military obligations. A new Secretary of Defense will be named shortly. I greatly thank Jim for his service!”
Discussion?
Personally I’m sad to see him go he was one of Trumps best cabinet member
After having his carefully considered advice ignored several times, he got fed up. Funny how no quality people will stick with Trump. Trumptards will continue to rationalize, but “the truth is out there.”
Sad to see Mad Dog go so soon but on the other hand, I like how Trump switching out his Cabinet members and other staff positions. Making sure that nobody thinks that they’re indispensable and can afford to rest on their laurels.
We’re having typical early January weather thus far in 2019: gray, gloomy, foggy, damp, and chilly. Some days I’m not sure if we should run the AC or heater. The cats prefer heat but they don’t have a vote.
I’m still warding off the lingering effects of the Broccolini cold. It was a whopper and I’m not referring to the candy. I wonder if that qualifies as a Malteser, which is the brand name for malted milk balls in the U.K. I should probably do some form of penance for that joke but I’ll get on with the post instead.
I realize that it was a bit creepy that I included a Captain & Tennile album cover in my Gone To The Dogs post earlier the same day that Daryl Dragon died. If you think I have premonitive powers, you’re barking up the wrong tree. I barely have first sight, let alone second sight.
I’ve been listening to a lot of Boz Scaggs lately. Boz deserves the sort of revival that his fellow “blue-eyed soul” singer Daryl Hall has gotten. Hall & Oates never recorded an album as good as 1976’s Silk Degrees, after all.
This week’s theme song, What Can I Say, is the opening track of the aforementioned album. What can I say? I like it.
Now that I given you silk degrees in lieu of the second degree, let’s jump to the break.
I’ve missed having Willard Mittbot Romney to kick around. I silently cheered as he ran for the Senate in one of his many home states. Utah was the land of political opportunity, so that’s where the consummate opportunist landed. So much for Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and California. I hope his car elevator doesn’t get rusty.
Willard made a big splash the other day with an op-ed in the Bezos Post. He reminded us that he doesn’t like Donald Trump’s table manners but that he’ll vote for anything that doesn’t deviate from conservative orthodoxy. Sound familiar? He’s following in the footsteps of his fellow Mormon, Jeff Flake. All profile, no courage.
I still think the op-ed is a big deal. As you can see from this 2011 cartoon, I’m not the only one who thinks that Willard is a political weathervane:
The Brits call them weathercocks but that’s too racy for Willard.
The mere fact that Romney felt emboldened to attack Trump in print means that the president* is in deep trouble. The Mittbot is big on positioning and he’s positioning himself to pick up the pieces if Trump’s support continues to wash away like the Louisiana coastline. There’s more scandal to come and Willard sees himself as a Republican Brigham Young only without the plural wives. Of course, Young believed in something so the analogy is imperfect but it’s mine, all mine.
Do I think Romney will challenge Trump for the Republican nomination in 2020? Absolutely not. Running against a sitting president* of one’s own party requires convictions and passion. In contrast, the Mittbot ran against his own health care plan in 2012. He’s the quintessential buttoned down establishmentarian, not a maverick. To say that he’s no TR, Henry Wallace, Gene McCarthy, or Pat Buchanan is a grotesque understatement.
The flying monkeys of Trumpistan have been all over Willard since the op-ed landed. Lou Dobbs is apoplectic, and Senator Aqua Buddha wedged his head farther up the Trump rump than previously thought anatomically possible. Rand Paul is gifted that way. Remember when he was the brogressive darling of the MSM? Those days are, I daresay, gone with the wind.
The best response came from the RNC chair who just happens to be Romney’s niece. So much for Romney family values. Political hackery and cowardice are in the blood, apparently.
In another sign of Trumper panic, the RNC is considering changing its rules to make it harder to challenge the Kaiser of Chaos. While this is bad news for John Kasich, it’s good news for the country. The flop sweat is flowing profusely in Republican circles.
The most muted response thus far is from the Insult Comedian himself. In an indication that he fears his party’s 2012 nominee, he suggested that Willard should be a team player. It’s unlikely that mild rebuke will be Trump’s last word on the subject. Hell, he may have even gone off on Willard as I write this. It’s good to have something to look forward to.
I have friends who are convinced the GOP has become a Trump death cult and will stick with him to the bitter end. I disagree. The first rule of political hackery is self-preservation. Trump is looking more and more like a loser every day. Rats abandon a sinking ship, they don’t board as it’s going down. Willard Mittbot Romney is the ultimate political survivor. He’s sent a signal to his fellow Republican rats that they should abandon the USS Trump when it’s politically expedient.
I’d like to close with some inside baseball. It has nothing to do with America’s former pastime, and everything to do with blogging. I have a couple of journalist friends whose advice I seek on punctuation and post titles; the former is not one of my strengths. One might even call them my Deep Blog panel. I was torn title-wise this time around. There were several contenders including “They Call Willard The Breeze” and “Blowing With The Wind: Senator Romney Speaks.” One member of the Deep Blog panel had their own suggestion: “The wind breaks, and Romney sniffs at Trump.” A good one, but there’s no musical cue.
In the end, I went with the funniest title, “The Wind Cries Willard.” It also allows me to give Jimi Hendrix the last word:
Is there anyone in history less like Willard than Jimi Hendrix?
That concludes this edition of the Willard Mittbot Romney Experience.
The title is a teaser without the firecat. I’m less interested in the 2020 presidential election than in the return of Speaker Pelosi, the Mueller investigation, and the slow, steady erosion of the Insult Comedian’s popularity and sanity. Change is already in the air.
At this point, 2020 talk is speculative gasbaggery. Until more candidates declare, extensive commentary is the equivalent of the blind leading the blind or is that the bland leading the bland? In either event, strike up the band.
End of epic and overly punny disclaimer. I have some pithy observations to make about 2020 talk before I return to more important subjects like congressional oversight of the Trump regime.
I hate the whole “how dare so and so run” thing that’s commonplace on the dimmer corners of the internet such as the tweeter tube. The more the merrier as far as I’m concerned. If Michael Bloomberg wants to throw away $100 million of his own money, that’s fine with me. He can afford it.
Let nice Uncle Joe and cranky Uncle Bernie run as well. The voters will decide. I prefer not to have a nominee who would the oldest president ever elected but anyone is better than the Current Occupant. I like the idea of a Warren-Booker ticket but wish she were a decade younger. On the subject of Senator Professor Warren: Adrastos to Politico, drop dead.
We’ve all spent a lot time discussing Watergate. The 2020 Democratic field may end up resembling that of the post Watergate election of 1976. The prize was won that time by the ultimate “why not me?” candidate, Jimmy Carter. Be on the lookout for dark horses, it could be their year. Amy Klobuchar is my favorite among the sleepers. Minnesota nice could be the best antidote to Manhattan mean.
Another thing that drives me nuts is the endless re-litigating of the 2016 Democratic primaries on social media. Twitter isn’t the real world but the stakes are too high in 2020 to have to listen to the endless whining about the last presidential election. It may be hypocritical for me to quote a tweet from the sage of East Jesus Tennessee but I’m gonna do it anyway:
It is either far too late, or far too soon to be re-litigating the 2016 election. Support your fav in the 2020 Primary, and then put your butthurt feefees aside, and vote for the final Nomination. SIMPLE.
The man is a Deadhead, so he knows his shit, y’all. I hope that tweet has a ripple effect.
One more thought about 2020 talk. I have a hunch that Trump will not be on the ballot. I’m not sure of the how or when but Democrats need to prepare to run against another Republican be it Pence or their own dark horse. Trump’s refusal to attempt to expand his base in the wake of the GOP’s midterm loss makes him look like a loser. Eventually, the Republicans will get tired of so much losing. Believe me.
