...the republic is under siege by a moron, basically. The whole thing is tragic. Without overstating it, it's a tragedy for our democracy ~ Bruce Springsteen. From a Rolling Stone interview, 9/23/2017.
An image linked to from the blog Who's Your Daddy. Ted Nugent, Kid Rock and Sarah Palin in the White House makes me want to puke. Not to mention who is sitting in the Oval Office chair! (4/19/2017).
Can you believe that one of these people was almost our vice president? Scary to think that someone that dumb got that close to being president. I mean, if John McCain had died in office. And, if McCain had served 2 terms, she could would have run and be potus 45 right now.
Instead we got the male version of Sarah Palin. Intelligence-wise, I mean. Actually, he might be even dumber. Donald Trump is a moron. Born on 3rd base and he thinks he hit a homer. When you start out with hundreds of millions it makes it that much harder to fail. Although Trump knows how to game the system and make it appear as though he isn't a failed businessman.
I refer to his multiple bankruptcies. Something Trump is proud of; saying "I'm the king of debt". The United States can't file for bankruptcy, so this skill might turn out to be dangerous in a president. Of course many people would point out that the national debt increased under Barack Obama. But he did pull us out of a recession, and that was while being blocked by Republicans at every turn.
They blamed him for the bush recession and then for increasing the national debt to pay for a stimulus to avert a depression. Now that the Orange buffoon is in charge, a massive tax cut that will primarily benefit the wealthy and corporations seems probable. I mean, some kind of tax cut is probably going to happen, it's only a question of how budget-busting it is.
The Urban-Brookings Tax Center says "the cost of the cuts Mr. Trump proposed during the campaign at $6.2 trillion, assuming no additional growth, and just under $6 trillion when growth is factored in" (Economists Fear Trump's Tax Plan Only Heightens a Mountain of Debt).
Of course we know it will hurt the middle and lower classes, as Trump goes after the programs that benefits/helps these people in his ridiculous budget.
Apparently only Sarah Palin was originally invited and it was her idea to bring Ted and Kid. Palin says "Asked why I invited Kid Rock and Ted Nugent, I joked, Because Jesus was booked". Ha ha ha.
"I will never apologize for calling out evil people" Nuget said when asked if he regretted referring to President Obama as a "subhuman mongrel". Me, I don't think a man who threatened to kill President Obama should be allowed in the White House. It is Nugent who is evil.
Sarah Palin points and smirks at former 1st Lady HRC's portrait in the image above. Nugent gives a thumbs up, as if to say "you aren't president and I approve". Despite the fact that Palin was part of the ticket that ran for the White House and LOST. And Nugent saying he would die or go to jail if Barack Obama were elected to a 2nd term (due to him assassinating, or trying to assassinate President Barack Obama, I presume).
Kid Rock (AKA Robert Ritchie) worried (prior to Trump) that "Obummer" would ban guns. Of the 4 I'd say he's the one who offends me the least. Kid and Ted are non-politicians. Sarah is a failed politician. Donald is the one who is now in a position to do great damage to our country. And the most deplorable one (IMO) in the picture at the top of this post.
Yes, I want to see his agenda fail. Because his agenda will do great harm to our country. I'm not saying I want to see him impeached, because then we'd be stuck with either a president Pence (a huge homophobe) or president Ryan (an individual who hates poor people like his idol Ayn Rand).
But if the evidence shows Trump should be impeached or otherwise removed from office? Either because of collusion with Russia, violating the Constitution's emoluments clause, senility (and removal under Section 4 of the 25th Amendment), or for another reason? I say he should be ousted or forced to resign and let the chips fall where they may.
With President Forrest Trump, every day is like a rancid box of chocolates. You never know what kind of shit you're going to get next ~ Stephen King on Twitter, 4/11/2017.
According to Trump, "we had the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake that you've ever seen" (him and Chinese President Xi), but I say he's full of shit. I have not and will never see this cake he says is "beautiful". Although I'd be more concerned about how it tastes than how it looks.
So Trump says to Maria Bartiromo (re what he told Xi) "we've just launched 59 missiles, heading to Iraq". Iraq? I'll assume he misspoke, but who knows? Maybe he thinks the missiles were going to Iraq instead of Syria.
Then Trump told a bigger lie. "Anybody that uses gases to do that to young children and babies, it's OK", the Orange sexual-assaluter-in-chief says was Chinese President Xi's response when he told him about the 59 Tomahawks. But that is how Trump feels! Or how he SAYS he feels. But I say he lied because I think he launched the missiles to sell the narrative that he didn't collude with Russia to steal the election (SWTD #374).
Selling this narrative is why his idiot son Eric said (following the strike) "If there was anything that Syria did, it was to validate the fact that there is no Russia tie". Bullshit. I'm not saying there is a Russia tie (although there surely does appear to be one, given all the advisors who communicated with Russian officials/are retroactively registering as foreign agents), only that this action doesn't "validate" that there isn't one.
Me, I think that Malcolm Nance's theory that the the Syria strike is a setup to justify lifting Russian sanctions is possible. Despite what some say concerning this theory being "dumbfuckery".
Also, "soon after the meeting ended, Chinese state media scolded Trump for his military action in Syria" (Trump-Xi meeting concluded without gaffe, but criticism soon followed). The STATE media! Proof that Xi did not agree with Trump. Perhaps he just said he did. Or Trump lied. I'm going with the later. He lied about Xi agreeing with him, just as he lied about the freaking chocolate cake!
Because he is a pathological liar. He cannot help himself but to lie about everything! BTW, CNN reports that Trump's Mar-a-Lago kitchen slapped with 13 health violations "including three categorized as high priority ... [which is a violation] which could contribute directly to a foodborne illness or injury and include items such as cooking, reheating, cooling and hand-washing".
Eat the cake and you could die. Via "illness causing bacteria on plates served in the dining room" (quote from 4/13/2017 airing of "All in with Chris Hayes" guest hosted by Joy Reid). Although probably not. Trump and Xi are both OK.
Unlike what would happen if TrumpCare is ever passed. Then we know for sure that people will die. Possibly an extra 50,000 people a year!
You know that air freshener that just makes things worse? ~ Trevor Noah describing Sean Spicer's performance as WH Press Secretary on the 1/24/2017 airing of The Daily Show.
According to PS Spicey, "You had someone as despicable as Hitler who didn't even sink to using chemical weapons". This was in regards to a question about the Orange guy's illegal missile strike on Syria (pub 4/11/2017).
Snopes: ...although German troops may not have used chemical weapons on the battlefield, they were wielded with abandon against German citizens (and numerous others) in prison camps. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Hitler's regime started using poisonous gases against Germans in 1939, with mental patients being the first people put to death through the use of carbon monoxide gas under a practice the Nazis referred to as "euthanasia".
Starting in December 1941, this method of killing expanded through the use of "gas vans" employing engine exhaust as well as carbon monoxide and crystalline hydrogen cyanide (aka Zyklon B) in concentration camps such as Auschwitz-Birkenau, Belzec, and Treblinka, among others.
Hitler did indeed use "gas on his own people the same way that Assad is [allegedly] doing" in the sense of employing it to kill innocent civilians; the only difference (to which Spicer was referring) was the delivery method: herding people into prison chambers to be gassed versus dropping gas bombs on them from the air.
PS Spicey later apologized for his forgetfulness, reminding me of the time Spicey said "I'd like to begin today by apologizing on behalf of you, to me. ... And that apology is not accepted".
The Anne Frank Center called (pre-apology) for Spicey to be fired. Their statement refers to Spicey's "evil spreading of the fake news that Hitler never used chemical weapons". Politicus USA notes that "The Trump White House has a history of trafficking in dog whistle Holocaust denial".
The history of the Trump White House dog whistling to the Bannon-types includes the following.
On Holocaust Remembrance Day, for example, the White House issued a statement that did not mention the Jewish people, an erasure that is also a common tactic of Holocaust deniers. The statement was met with celebration on anti-Semitic websites.
"This is the first time in history the President of the United States has made no mention of Jews, anti-Semitism, or the science fiction Zionist folklore about ovens and gas chambers so prominent in (((Hollywood))) narratives", the Daily Stormer... wrote. The three parentheses around "Hollywood" are a white supremacist designation for people or institutions they consider to be Jewish. ...
After Spicer's statement, the Daily Stormer rejoiced even more, and took it as a confirmation that the statement had been an intentional veiled nod. "We previously reported that the White House released a statement on holohoax remembrance day that failed to mention Jews or anti-Semitism. This was in no way accidental, but all in all it was basically a subtle nod to us"... (The Trump team's history of flirting with Holocaust deniers by Laurel Raymond. ThinkProgress, 4/11/2017).
So... were Spicey's statements (which occurred during the Jewish holiday of Passover) "a series of verbal bungles — stupid, maybe, but not intentionally malevolent", or were they intentional? The racists say intentional. Me, I'm not sure. It's a hell of a coincidence if that is what it is. Given the fact that Trump's "chief strategist" Steve Bannon is an actual White Nationalist and the Trump campaign actively courted the White racist vote.
President Trump's been playing a double game with all things Jewish. He professes to be pro-Israel, but gained the alt-right following that helped him to power by repeatedly retweeting anti-Semitic and other racist propaganda. In one week in January 2016, 62% of his tweets had white nationalist origins or connections. (Sean Spicer's Holocaust remark is a symptom of Trump's problem by Ruth Ben-Ghiat. CNN 4/12/2017)
Hmmm... "a symptom of Trump's problem" or a manifestation of his strategy? I say strategy, strategized by Trump's chief strategist, the White Nationalist anti semite Steve Bannon. Which makes sense, given the fact (as I've pointed out on this blog multiple times) Donald Trump is a racist and a bigot (SWTD #347).
I don't know about Sean Spicer. He may just be another who sold out (like Kellyanne Conway) and jumped on the Trump train (after previously criticizing Trump). I do know that he's got no problem representing and speaking on behalf of a bigoted and racist administration.
Image: White Nationalists and Neo-Nazis use Sean Spicer's Hitler comments to validate Holocaust conspiracy theories, attack Jews (Media Matters, 4/12/2017).
If... you believe the missile attack proves there is no connection between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, you could have easily thought, before the missile strike, that the missile strike would prove that. And then decide to do the missile strike, so that you could say exactly that ~ Lawrence O'Donnell, The Last Word 4/11/2017.
"...we can work with allies, including Russia" according to #Spicey. So, Russia is an "ally" (in regards to what should be done concerning the Khan Shaykhun chemical attack in Syria)? This from Spicey when his boss is being investigated by the FBI in regards to possible coordination between Candidate Cheto and Putin regarding his "influence campaign". A Freudian slip or an outright admission that Spicey's boss is buddy-buddy with Pooty Poot due to Pooty helping him "win" the election?
Obviously Spicey's answer (in response to a reporter asking if Trump is concerned with the Syrian people, does that mean his position re accepting refugees has changed) is pure bullshit. Remember that (during the campaign) Candidate Cheeto said, in regards to Syrian childern, "I can look in their faces and aay you can't come".
We're supposed to believe that this airstrike was based on Trump being broken up about dead Syrian kids? When he was concerned about their parents being terrorists? "No child of God should ever suffer such horror" was the bullshit line he used to explain his illegal action [1]. An action (lobing 70 million worth of missiles at the Assad airbase from which the chemical weapon attack was supposedly launched) that he informed Russia about beforehand[2].
Secretary of State getting Russian sanctions so Exxon can make a lot of money drilling Russian oil Rex Tillerson said "Russia had failed to carry out a 2013 agreement to secure Syrian chemical weapons [and] that Moscow was either complicit or incompetent in its ability to uphold that deal"... yet he informs Russia of the upcoming strikes so Pooty can tell Assad to move the chemical weapons?
I'v got to wonder if the military under Trump "taking action and deescalating what's going on in Syria" (according to PS Spicey) an outright lie or just evidence of how incompetent this (illegitimate) president is? I mean, planes were taking off the next day from the targeted Assad airbase. 59 Tomahawks (costing 1-1.4 million each) apparently were ineffective in stopping business as usual (more airstrikes by Syrian planes on Syrian citizens) for even a full day?
Observers had reported the base had been badly destroyed by the 1,000lb warheads and that several planes and a runway had been put out of service. However it is thought that an advance warning given by the US to Russia allowed Syria enough time to remove many of its aircraft before the raid. (The Telegraph, 4/8/2017).
My opinion is that this (Trump's concern over dead babies/Spicey's BS about the attack "deescalating" SQUAT) is nought but an attempt to wag the dog. Except here the Orange Administration is trying to distract from the Trump Russian connections (as opposed to a sex scandal, i.e. Bill Clinton supposedly distracting from his indiscretion with Monica Lewinsky by going after Bin Laden).
"To our very foolish leader, do not attack Syria – if you do many very bad things will happen & from that fight the U.S. gets nothing!" the hypocrite-in-chief tweeted back when a Black guy was president. This time, the US still gets nothing, but Trump gets to "disprove" any connection to Russia. "If there was anything that Syria did, it was to validate the fact that there is no Russia tie" Eric Trump recently asserted. Wag, wag.
So obvious, yet the media fawns, Congressional Republicans approve (despite declining to act when the Black president said Congress should hold a vote, and the public is duped. As per a recent CBS News poll "57 percent of Americans approve of the strike".
Wag success? Apparently when it comes to some of the Trump dupes. "Finally a president with courage and resolve to fight ISIS and the Moslems [sic]. President Trump said we'd start winning and we have! Thank you and God Bless President Trump" one such dupe wrote recently (on the WYD blog, an online forum where #trumpdupes gather).
What an idiot. Wagged and duped. In that he buys the Eric Trump meme that the attack "proves" Trump is no Putin Puppet, but didn't have any clue beforehand that Trump is a pathological liar ("working to undermine US democracy" according to Senator Bernie Sanders. The goal being to move us farther along the road to another form of government. As his cabinet of oligarchs proves, IMO).
Previously (when it was Obama considering what to do re Syria and chemical weapons) I thought that intervening for humanitarian reasons was a reason for US action. Although, when a deal was negotiated for the UN (who "sent in inspectors to carry out the removal and destruction of Syria's arsenal") to oversee the process (Resolution 2118) I thought the issue was (successfully) dealt with. And with no military action (necessary?) by the Obama Administration.
Wikipedia notes that "the actual destruction operations, performed by a team of U.S. Army civilians and contractors, destroyed 600 metric tons of chemical agents in 42 days [and] On 6/23/2014, the last declared chemical weapons were shipped out of Syria for destruction".
So WTF happened? Re Wikipedia, "to avoid a military intervention, the United States, Russia and Syria agreed to the Framework for Elimination of Syrian Chemical Weapons". Obviously Obama was duped by Putin and Assad. And Trump is enforcing the "red line" the pussy Obama backed away from. But that's what happens when you replace a (secret Muslim) president with a decisive White Male Christian. Or so goes the narrative among the brainwashed dupes.
The truth may be that Syria retained some of it's chemical weapons (chlorine and ricin as per Wikipedia) or that this is another frame job and it was really the (not-at-all) Moderate rebels who are responsible. As they were re the Ghouta chemical attack of 8/21/2013. If you think Seymour Hersh, who wrote (in December of 2013) that "al-Nusra Front [AKA the Moderate rebels]... had mastered the mechanics of creating sarin and was capable of manufacturing it in quantity [and that] al-Nusra should have been a suspect, but the [Obama] administration cherry-picked intelligence to justify a strike against Assad".
Me, I don't know. But I do believe that Trump needed to get Congressional approval to conduct military actions against Assad. Which Obama attempted (and was denied) and Trump did not attempt (and therefore his action was illegal). And I am convinced that his action was NOT because he believes that "no child of God should ever suffer such horror". That I do not buy for one second.
BTW, those 59 Tomahawk missiles are manufactured by Raytheon, "the world's largest producer of guided missiles". A company Trump (reportedly) owns stock in! Stock that increased in value following our use of Raytheon product (Marketwatch reports Ratheon "up 0.8%, after jumping more than 3%"). Other defense industry stocks rose as well (along with the per barrel oil price, "up some 2%").
Although Trump may have forgotten that he owns Raytheon, given that he turned his business over to his two sons (a not-at-all blind trust). Ugh. #crookeddonald, #SyrianStrikes, #wagthedog.
Video:Rocky Mountain Mike's "When The Black Guy Did It", a parody of a Don Henly tune that asks why, when Obama was prez and sought to do something about Syria, the Republican Congress voted no. Not that I think they should have said yes. I'm just pointing out that they're cowards who don't want to take a vote they could be held accountable for (therefore if Trump just does it, legality or illegality is not something they give a shit about). Also, this was part of their plan to paint Obama as weak on foreign policy/American military might. See Obama's supposed "apology tour", "leading from behind", him lacking the "courage" to fight ISIS (as per the WYD dupe previously quoted), etc.
Footnotes [1] The missile strike was illegal under the War Powers Resolution. If Trump had struck the rebels, I think the administration could argue that was legal, since they are affiliated with al Qaeda and the AUMF that was passed under bush is technically still in effect (the one that gives the potus the power to go after "the terrorists"). But he struck a base belonging to the Syrian government. Not that I expect that Congress will hold Trump accountable. Presidents, history has shown, usually get away with such things. That does not change the fact that the strike was illegal under United States law. The troll Luke, who wrote on his blog "Trump's missile attack was not illegal, but I wouldn't expect a delusional liar like Dervish Trump to know that", is WRONG. [2] The Tomahawk missiles used cost 1-1.4 million each, while replacing them will cost approximately 70 million. (Source).
