Tuesday
May312016
The Commentariat -- June 1, 2016
Sabrina Tavernise of the New York Times: "The death rate in the United States rose last year for the first time in a decade, preliminary federal data show, a rare increase that was driven in part by more people dying from drug overdoses, suicide and Alzheimer's disease. The death rate from heart disease, long in decline, edged up slightly."
Nick Gass of Politico: "Contrary to the opinion of his former Attorney General Eric Holder, President Barack Obama does not think that ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden rendered a 'public service' by leaking thousands of classified national security documents in 2013. 'The president has had the opportunity to speak on this a number of times, and I think a careful review of his public comments would indicate that he does not,' White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Tuesday, a day after Holder appeared on a podcast and acknowledged the role that Snowden's disclosures played in fostering a public debate about the role of government in surveillance." -- CW
Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Tuesday made it easier for landowners to challenge the decision of federal regulators that the use of property is restricted by the Clean Water Act. The justices ruled unanimously that property owners could file suit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over the agency's determination that their land contains 'waters of the United States' covered by the Clean Water Act...." -- CW
Lawrence Hurley of Reuters: "The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to hear an appeal asserting that the death penalty violates the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment filed by a Louisiana man convicted of fatally shooting his pregnant former girlfriend. Two of the eight justices, liberals Stephen Breyer and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, said they would have accepted the case, repeating concerns about the death penalty's constitutionality they raised in a different case last year." -- CW
Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The Supreme Court said Tuesday that it will not wade into a dispute over employee benefits in the bankruptcy reorganization of the Trump Taj Mahal Hotel in Atlantic City. The justices offered no comment as they turned down a petition from a union local representing workers at the casino, who said federal law called for a bankruptcy judges to preserve union contracts guaranteeing pension and health benefits." Thus, the lower court's ruling in favor of the (former) Trump entity stands. -- CW
Jamelle Bouie of Slate: "More than 78 percent of Americans disapprove of Congress; nearly 65 percent say the country is on the wrong track; and upward of 47 percent of registered voters say they would consider a 'generic third-party nominee.' Together, that is a clear vote of no confidence in our political system...[Yet], the same people who disapprove of Congress will readily re-elect most members to the House and Senate, as they have in almost every election year in modern memory. The same Americans who say the country is on the wrong track also approve of President Obama's performance 50 percent to 45 percent...If anything, at least, we should avoid attributing this unusual election to a general anger." --safari
Presidential Race
Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Hillary Clinton on Tuesday rejected the idea that she instructed anyone at the State Department to keep quiet about her private email server, after an inspector general report released last week found that some staff were told to stay hush about the unusual set-up.... 'I certainly never instructed anyone to hide the fact I was using a personal email,' Clinton said, laughing toward the end of her sentence. 'It was obvious to hundreds of people, visible to the many people that I was emailing throughout the State Department and the rest of the federal government.' Clinton, whose campaign didn't cooperate with the inspector general investigation, also said no interview with the FBI for its investigation into her private email server has been scheduled yet." -- CW
Nolan McCaskill: "Bernie Sanders wrapped up a news conference Tuesday but didn't take a single question from the press. The Vermont senator spoke for roughly 10 minutes during what was billed by the campaign a health care press conference and featured remarks from industry professionals...." -- CW
Evan Halper & John Myers of the Los Angeles Times: "After carefully avoiding any involvement in the Democratic presidential primary, Gov. Jerry Brown dropped his neutrality -- and looked past his bitter history with the Clintons -- to endorse Hillary Clinton on Tuesday. In an open letter to Democrats and independents, Brown urged voters who do not want to see a Donald Trump presidency to stop the infighting and rally behind Clinton, the Democratic front-runner.... It may have been Bill Clinton who helped seal the deal. The former president spent an hour and a half with the governor in Sacramento last week...." -- CW
Well, I think the problem here is the difference between what Donald Trump says and what Donald Trump does. He's bragged for months about raising $6 million for veterans and donating a million dollars himself. But it took a reporter to shame him into actually making his contribution and getting the money to veterans. Look, I'm glad he finally did, but I don't know that he should get much credit for that. -- Hillary Clinton, to CNN's Jake Tapper, Tuesday ...
... Maggie Haberman & Ashley Parker of the New York Times: "A defensive Donald J. Trump angrily listed more than two dozen veterans' groups that he said had received $5.6 million thanks to his fund-raising and personal largess during a contentious news conference Tuesday in which he repeatedly railed against reporters who questioned him. Criticizing the news media at length, Mr. Trump demanded that journalists credit him for his act of charity and took umbrage at their scrutiny of his boasts and promises. In a heated, 40-minute appearance in the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan, Mr. Trump dismissed a CNN reporter as 'a real beauty' and an ABC reporter as 'a sleaze,' and said that if he was elected president, the American public could expect a similar dynamic in the White House briefing room." -- CW ...
... David Fahrenthold & Jose DelReal of the Washington Post: "Trump blasted the news media -- in terms that were bitter, even for him -- for asking about how, and when, he was going to give this money away.... The donations Trump announced on Tuesday were related to a Jan. 28 fundraiser for veterans that he held in Des Moines, on a night when Trump skipped a GOP debate due to a feud with its host, Fox News. That night, Trump said he'd raised $6 million.... Trump said he would give $1 million of his own. After that, however, Trump became reluctant to release details about what had become of the money. At times, too, his staff gave out false information.... By law, nonprofit charities like Trump's foundation are not supposed to participate in political campaigns. At this event, however, Trump described the nonprofit's gifts at what was clearly a campaign event...." -- CW ...
... Eric Levitz of New York: Trump called "ABC News journalist Tom Llamas a 'sleaze.' When Llamas asked what made him a sleaze, Trump replied, 'You're a sleaze because you know the facts and you know the facts well.' In a sense, this was the Donald's most honest answer of the afternoon: Any journalist who 'knows the facts well' is 'a sleaze' in Trump's eyes." -- CW ...
... safari note: And don't forget just the other day Rick Perry called out the media "snakes" for uncovering lies about GOP hero and American sniper Chris Kyle. The GOP can't handle the truth...
... Lisa de Moreas of Deadline: "Donald Trump singled out ABC News' Tom Llamas and, to a lesser degree, CNN's Jim Acosta during today's news conference about money the candidate had raised for veterans groups back in January. Trump called Llamas 'sleaze' and Acosta 'a real beauty,' respectively." -- CW ...
... CW: It should not be lost on Reality Chex readers that the two reporters Trump directly attacked Tuesday "happened to be" Hispanics. ...
... The Turtle is Right! Leah Barkoukis, at the Confederate toilet paper site, Town Hall: "Speaking with radio host Hugh Hewitt Tuesday morning, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reassured listeners that Donald Trump will not change the nature of the Republican Party...." ...
... Akhilleus: Quite right. Trump won't change the party. McConnell and the rest of the cynical, anti-American, anti-democratic calculators have already done that. Trump has merely watered the seeds they have sown. But it's a hoot to watch the Turtle Man pretend that he's still in charge. He's the Maginot Line of the Republican Party, and here come the Trump Panzers. Buh-bye, Mitchy ...
... Washington Post Editors: Donald Trump "suggested that recent political reporting is 'libelous' and therefore not protected by the First Amendment, and he continued his assault on the federal judge overseeing one of the lawsuits against Trump University. The threats and personal insults show little regard for democratic accountability, the legitimate role of a free press in a free society and the importance of an independent judiciary.... You can believe [Mitch] McConnell, who posits that Mr. Trump will allow himself to be reined in by his White House counsel. Or you can believe Mr. Trump, who is telling us frankly: Yes, it is going to be like this." -- CW ...
... Whiner-in-Chief, Ctd. Kevin Drum: "Trump pretty plainly tried to avoid making the personal $1 million contribution he promised at the time, and now he's outraged about being held accountable for this." -- CW ...
... Laura Clawson of Daily Kos: "How dare you look into my public promises and report on what you find! The job of the press is to make Donald Trump look good, and when the press fails at that, they should be ashamed of themselves!" -- CW ...
... Jose DelReal & David Fahrenthold: "One of the charities that Donald Trump selected to receive a donation from his veterans' fundraiser is a group with a rating of 'F' from CharityWatch, and has been criticized in the past for spending less than half of its incoming donations on programs that help veterans.... During his combative press conference, Trump said that all of the groups had been scrutinized.... The Better Business Bureau issued an 'alert' about the group in January, citing 'a pattern and high volume of complaints and customer reviews' that alleged customers received 'a high volume of what they consider to be harassing phone calls' from the group's solicitors.... An examination of the group's tax filings shows that the foundation spent just $2.4 million of its total $8 million budget on helping veterans directly in 2014." Earlier tax filings showed a similar pattern. -- CW ...
... Nora Kelly, in the Atlantic, wonders where Donald Trump sent all the money, including his own, he claims to have raised for veterans, a couple of days after he hijacked an event for veterans for his own self-aggrandizement. Very strange..."Donald Trump has a problem following through. He advocated for banning Muslims from U.S. soil, before qualifying all his policy proposals as 'a suggestion.' He campaigned on the premise he would self-fund his race, before deciding to raise money after all. So when news reports suggested Trump hadn't donated all $6 million he said he raised for veterans' groups at an event this past winter, the revelation seemed to follow his pattern...Trump repeatedly blamed the 'dishonest' and 'unfair' political press on Tuesday for misconstruing the donation process." ...
... Akhilleus: Drumpf knows all about dishonesty and unfairness. They constitute the core of his being. ...
... Reuters: "New York City is investigating Donald Trump's practice of closing down the public atrium in Trump Tower for presidential campaign events that are off limits to the public. In order to add more floors than zoning rules would otherwise allow, Trump ... agreed to create a two-story public atrium ... [in] the building. But security staff wearing Trump badges spent several hours shooing away a growing crowd of New Yorkers and tourists from the doors on Tuesday morning after Trump decided to hold a news conference in the atrium.... 'Department of Building inspectors will be investigating the allegations that the (public atrium) was closed contrary to the building owner's agreement with the city,' Joe Soldevere, a department spokesman, told Reuters on Tuesday." -- CW
Michael Barbaro & Steve Eder of the New York Times: "In blunt testimony revealed on Tuesday, former managers of Trump University, the for-profit school started by Donald J. Trump, portray it as an unscrupulous business that relied on high-pressure sales tactics, employed unqualified instructors, made deceptive claims and exploited vulnerable students willing to pay tens of thousands for Mr. Trump's insights." -- CW ...
... Elliot Spagat of the AP: "Trump University gave employees detailed instructions on how to entice people to enroll in its real estate seminars, from targeting people making at least $90,000 a year and choosing words of flattery that are most persuasive to picking music for the gatherings -- The O'Jays' 'For the Love of Money.' The 'playbooks' for the now-defunct business owned by Donald Trump ... were unsealed Tuesday in a class-action lawsuit by customers who say they were defrauded." -- CW ...
... Tom Hamburger & Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump was personally involved in devising the marketing strategy for Trump University, even vetting potential ads, according to newly disclosed sworn testimony from the company's top executive...." -- CW
Josh Marshall of TPM: "The press routinely goes into paroxysms - often rightly so - about innuendos or phrasings that might in some way be racist or suggest racial animus. [In Donald Trump's attack on Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who is presiding over the Trump 'University" case] we have it in the open, repeated and showing itself as basically Trump's first line of attack when he is in anyway threatened. That's infinitely more dangerous than most things that routinely focus all the media's attention.... Few cases show more vividly how dangerous a person Trump is." -- CW ...
... CW: I can easily imagine President Trump's repeatedly insisting that Justice Sonia Sotomayor recuse herself from hearing any cases in which the administration is a litigant because she's "hostile," "a hater" and "a total disgrace," who "happens to be Puerto Rican." And I wouldn't put it past him to do the same to the justices who "happen to be Jewish."
... New York Times Editors: "When Mr. Trump complains that he is 'getting railroaded' by a 'rigged' legal system, he is saying in effect that an entire branch of government is corrupt. The special danger of comments like these -- however off the cuff they may sound -- is that they embolden Mr. Trump's many followers to feel, and act, the same way.... Mr. Trump's statements go beyond the merely provocative or absurd and instead represent a threat to America's carefully balanced political system." -- CW
Is It #RealDonaldDrumpf or Is It Real Dementia? Sophia McClennen in Salon (April 25): "We have become so accustomed to [Donald Trump's] ramblings that we don't really register them as anything more than standard nonsensical Trump-speak -- a pattern of speech we have seen crop up across the GOP in recent years, most notably in [Sarah] Palin's gibberish .... the odd syntax, the abrupt shift in topic, the disconnect from reality, the paranoia, and the seeming inability to even grasp the question.... What if it's an example of someone who doesn't have full command of his faculties?... At times it can be very hard to distinguish between extreme right-wing politics and symptoms of dementia." Read on. Thanks to Patrick for the link. -- CW
Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: "It's easy to mock Trump for denying reality. But in truth, he is hardly a pioneer in the postmodernist political effort to create parallel universes of facts. For years the right-wing commentariat has deliberately dismantled public trust in major U.S. institutions, including government and the 'mainstream media.'... In discrediting any rival and possibly neutral arbiter of truth and accountability -- that is, entitling himself to his own facts as well as his own opinions -- Trump ... frees himself up to invent colorful problems, conspiracies and villains that only a President Trump can defeat. And second, he robs the public of any independent means of assessing whether he's ever actually succeeded." -- CW
All Aboard the Drumpf Train. Glenn Thrush of Politico: "Sen. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III, Donald Trump's friendly but fierce Alabama ally, has a message for Republicans still queasy about their party's nominee: Tide's about to roll over you. Sessions... thinks Trump is more a movement than a man." --safari ...
...**David Alpher of the blog The Conversation: "In the late stages of the GOP primary as the rhetoric became increasingly xenophobic, they were applied to increasingly broad swaths of the American population as well. Years of constant repetition by members of the GOP have given them an appearance of legitimacy.... Right-wing extremist groups use them as well, and to very specific ends: to define the conditions under which antigovernment violence becomes legitimate in their worldview. I have seen rhetoric like this used to mobilize violence in countries like Iraq and Kenya. This same dynamic, I argue, is taking shape within American society now. If it continues, it represents a greater threat than anything we face from terrorist groups outside our own borders." --safari
David Ignatius of the Washington Post: Donald Trump's "policies would play into China's narrative about the world -- and undermine the foundations of U.S. power in Asia, even as they are bolstering a rising China." -- CW
JH Ahn in the Guardian: "North Korean state media has praised ... Donald Trump, describing him as a 'wise politician' and 'far-sighted candidate' who could help unify the Korean peninsula...'This is very striking,' said Aidan Foster-Carter of the University of Leeds.' Admittedly it is not exactly Pyongyang speaking, or at least not the DPRK government in an official capacity. But it is certainly Pyongyang flying a kite, or testing the waters. For the rest of us, this is a timely reminder -- if it were needed -- of just how completely Trump plans to tear up established US policy in the region.'" --safari
Annals of “Journalism,” Ctd. Hadas Gold of Politico: "Satellite radio company SiriusXM has suspended Glenn Beck's syndicated show this week and is 'evaluating' the program's place over comments made last week by one of Beck's guests. Last week, fiction writer Brad Thor appeared on Beck's program and suggested GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump was a danger to America and that citizens would have to take means that may not be legal in order to get Trump out of office. Beck did not immediately admonish or distance himself from the comments, leading to the suspension by SiriusXM." -- CW
Congressional Race/Weird News
Marc Caputo of Politico: "One of Dena Minning's biggest assets in her congressional bid was her boyfriend: incumbent Alan Grayson, who's leaving the U.S. House to run for U.S. Senate. Now, after Grayson has helped raise her profile and run for his U.S. House seat, he married her over the Memorial Day Weekend and gave her his last name, according to her Monday social-media posts and The Orlando Political Observer." -- CW
Brad Reed of RawStory: "In case you haven't noticed, some conservative Christians are really determined to keep their rights to discriminate against gay people. During his acceptance speech [for a Religious Freedom Award], [Miss. Gov. Phil] Bryant talked about how far Christians would go to defend their religious liberty and deny service to gay people. 'They don't know that Christians have been persecuted throughout the ages,' he said of critics of his state's anti-LGBT law. 'They don't know that if it takes crucifixion, we will stand in linebefore abandoning our faith and our belief in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.'" --safari
News Ledes
Los Angeles Times: A murder-suicide at UCLA disrupted the campus today.
New York Times: "A baby girl delivered on Tuesday at a New Jersey hospital was born with the Zika virus, the mosquito-borne disease that can cause unusually small heads and brain damage in newborns, a doctor said." -- CW
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Reader Comments (23)
...'What if it’s an example of someone who doesn’t have full command of his faculties?... At times it can be very hard to distinguish between extreme right-wing politics and symptoms of dementia."
I can assure you Drumpf's mental health "issue" is not that he has dementia. He shows no signs of this disease except paranoia, and that is part of his narcissism, psychopathy, compulsive lying personality disorders. He may be the most mentally ill candidate for the presidency in our lifetimes--with the caveat that all presidential candidates are highly narcissistic. I think Bill Clinton comes closest, since he was such a sexual predator--which is another of Drumpf's issues. Are there any personality disorders he does NOT possess. Oh, I don't think the man suffers from depression. He would be much healthier if he did!
Knowing all that we do from Drumpf's skirmishes with the media, I will be beyond freaked out if he comes anywhere close to Hillary in the election this fall. And.....I will have to conclude sadly that America is hopelessly fucked up! I am very close to that now. Weep!
I used to support the "Nordic model" approach to the sex trade in society, as Pres. Carter discusses in this thoughtful article in the WaPo. My inclination is to agree with Pres. Carter, describing it as the "oldest oppression" and "an expression of domination". However, after watching an episode of the brilliant Danish political drama "Borgen", which I highly recommend to liberals in need of an alternative reality, my mind is more open. This is where real TV is so much more informative, thought provoking and relevant than reality TV. The Danish PM was committed to introducing Swedish style sex trade legislation. But she was persuaded to conduct an enquiry with sex workers and other experts. I know it is a TV show, but the arguments put forward on the many issues were very enlightening. It told me there are no "right" answers, and we can only try to enact better not worse policies.
I am pleased to hear trump being referred to as "glass-jawed" over his tantrum after being required to make it like he told it for the Vets. Reporters are such meanies! Get out of the kitchen dopey donny.
The witless wonder buffing up his foreign policy creds. NK News "suggested Mr Trump's statement that he not to get [sic] involved in any conflict between North and South Korea was "fortunate from North Koreans' perspective"."
Here's a fun non-Trump story from today's WaPo:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2016/05/31/arabic-weather-term-haboob-is-apparently-troubling-for-some-texans/?tid=hybrid_experimentrandom_1_na
Read the comments, too. A rare example where most of them are not idiots.
@Patrick: So boobs v. haboobs. Not surprisingly, part of the terms that the boobs both prefer -- storm -- comes from Dutch & German. We definitely need an "American" word for storm!
Oh, wait. "American" comes from an Italian name (which in turn comes from a German name) & "Texas" derives from the name of an Amerindian tribe, via Spanish.
Marie
Love the story about North Korean totalitarians digging Trump. I can see a new ad coming: Three out of four dictators say "Trump is our man !"
Marie: we gots lots of American names for specific types of storms. Compared to Old Europe, the New World has much more violent weather, and like the Eskimos' many names for snow our regions have Blue Northers, Chinooks, Noreasters, dust devils, and on and on.
But for the generic concept of "storm", I think we are stuck with words with non-American etymology.
Do I detect the beginning of serious scrutiny regarding our Man of the Hour? Looks to me as though the Emperor is being probed and prodded and is reacting very badly. Whether all this will have an effect on his slobbering crowd is questionable––how long will it take for them to realize he's butt naked and dangerous? Of course there will always be those like the seducer Kathleen Turner played in "Body Heat"––
"You're not too smart, are you? I like that in a man."
On CNN Anderson Cooper has that little forum where pundits quibble endlessly about this political poppycock and on this panel there is a cute blond female who is a Trump lover and advocate who no matter any negative said about her man, she counter punches with gusto ignoring the open mouths of disbelief from the other guests. I do not know her name, but she has been absent from said forum for about a week now. Should I look at that as a positive or could she just be home nursing a bad case of sore throat.
"The personality susceptible to the dream of limitless freedom is a personality also prone, should the dream sour, to misanthropy and rage." (from Franzen's "Freedom")
When it comes to the impact of global trade, the dismal science has done a dismal job of explaining how to help workers hurt by globalization says my friend, Daniel Altman whose piece below is worth reading.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2016/05/19/economics-has-failed-america-globalization-trade/
@PDPepe: "Serious scrutiny" appears to be having its residual effects on the presumptive GOP one who doesn't indulge in drink or smoking. An interesting comparative would be a line up of his more recent photographs with earlier ones in the campaign. There is definitely something going on with Drumpf. His face appears puffier, tired, eyes squint-ier (is that a word?), the formerly contrived hair comb less controlled, the hair color ranging from meringue to deep lemon (do you suppose he does his own? Bet Clairol wants no credits!), the reverse raccoon eye feature is more obvious... I think these recent images are quite telling of how he is beginning to feel the pressure.
In an editorial on the NYTimes, one commentator defended Trump's charges against the judge in San Diego—in essence saying, a judge is not above criticism. As the writer put it: "Trump’s attack on Judge Curiél may be regarded as self-interested and crude, but judges are not off-limits." True, in the broader sense...but...when one is in the midst of a case that is definitely not looking good for the defendant, this reeks of the billionaire's usual gamesmanship tactics to sway opinion—perhaps causing a further delay.
The presumption of the presumptive one " judge baaaad " —who apparently believes a bad offense is better than keeping his mouth shut.
@Gloria: Have heard from others about "Borgen"...it does not stream on Netflix, but is available on DVD.
@MAG: While it's true that judges should be subject to criticism when criticism is due, I can't recall any time a public or quasi-public figure derided Justice Scalia or Alito because he's "Italian."
It's true that Justice Thomas's race comes up, but in a different way: some commentators are amazed that Justice Thomas could not recognize racist bias against a black plaintiff when seven white justices -- and any sensible person -- could.
Marie
New York magazine has an excellent and very long article comparing " Ronald Duck & The Donald Duck " —forty years apart, and it is ronald redux.
"Much of the press was slow to catch up, too. A typical liberal-Establishment take on Reagan could be found in Harper’s, which called him Ronald Duck, “the Candidate from Disneyland.” That he had come to be deemed “a serious candidate for president,” the magazine intoned, was “a shame and embarrassment for the country.” But some reporters who tracked Reagan on the campaign trail sensed that many voters didn’t care if he came from Hollywood, if his policies didn’t add up, if his facts were bogus, or if he was condescended to by Republican leaders or pundits."
@Marie, totally agree with your point.
NOT A TRUMP POST
I had to do that for my own sanity. Don't worry, there will be more Trump posts. Why? Because, until he is retired from the political stage and sent back to more Chapter 11 filings, more The Misogynist at Home adventures, and writing his memoir ("Millions Wanted Me to be President, but the Election was Rigged"), we all need to keep this asshole and his misdeeds and insane ideas front and center.
So there, I said it wasn't a Trump post and it became one. (*sigh*)
Now......who else is completely fucking fed up with these whiny Christianists going on and on about their rights being taken away and how they'll line up to be crucified like you know who, before baking a cupcake for a gay birthday party?
First, kids, a show of hands. Who can tell me how many votes have been taken, laws passed, or rules and regs instituted that deprive Christians of their civil rights? Anyone? You in the back, what's your name? Marie? Okay, Marie. How many? None? Give that lady a cee-gar. Kee-rect.
None.
Not a fucking one.
But every day another group of Confederate Christian douchebags lines up to say "We need MORE laws to stick it to the LGBT community, because there just aren't enough already. We need special elections to allow "the people" to vote against these degenerates and take their rights away before they kill us all!!! Aieeeee!"
This whole bathroom thing is like a rejected SNL sketch. As big a farce as the idea that The Decider was a War President. Trans people just waiting for a chance to go into a bathroom and pounce on pure, unsuspecting Christian kids, turning them into little sex monsters? Who even thinks of shit like this? I'm going to guess that they go into the bathroom for the same reason the rest of us do. But admitting that would deprive these assholes of a GREAT reason to do the Bigot-y Boogaloo.
Plus all this screaming makes it sound as if there's an army of transgendered people all on the ready to deploy their weaponized naughty bits to despoil the pure of heart. Estimates of the number of trans people in the US (less than three tenths of one percent) mean you're about as likely to run into a transgendered citizen in a public restroom as you are a one armed Bedouin. But to be sure they're trans, you might have to climb over the stall and check. I wouldn't put it past them.
I am so sick and tired of hearing these people scream "Hear me lord Jesus, they're trying to force us to reject you and turn into gay loving sex fiends! We're being tortured and our rights are being stolen by atheist perverts. But we're ready to die alongside you, lord!"
Puh-leeese.
All anyone wants you to do is shut up about something that hasn't happened and will never happen. No one is taking your rights away. There are no Roman centurions waiting at the door with a cross for you to carry up to Golgotha. All we ask is that you respect the rights of others. Is that so fucking hard? Sheesh!
If they put half as much energy into simply being decent people than whining about how everyone's out to get them and trying to pass laws to fuck over people they don't like, the world would be a far better place.
Oh...but could they still vote Republican then?
Shoot....didn't think of that.
@Akhilleus: I always wonder what percentage of confederate legislators vote for or promote these "bathroom bills" because they're really skeert a transgender person will molest their daughters & what percentage promote this crap because they figure, "Wow, I'll bet if I scare the dimwits into believing their daughters are at risk & the only one out to save the little tykes is me, they'll come out & vote for me."
For instance, I don't believe Ted Cruz is as stupid or as afraid of someone with a penis who identifies as female as he pretends to be. He's just making up shit to energize the hoi polloi, IMO.
Marie
MAG,
Interesting article comparing Reagan and Trump. I didn't have to time to read it all (quick scan for now) but from what I can see there is one point of comparison that just doesn't seem to wash. Reagan had had some previous experience in government. Not only does Trump have none, he doesn't think government is a big deal and believes his experience as a real estate guy will more than suffice.
At least one guy, Nobel economist Joe Stiglitz, identifies what could be a very big problem for the Orange Headed Clown (and all of us as well) should he become President Orange Headed Clown:
"When a new president is elected, more than 3,000 officials are appointed to replace those who are departing...New presidents [use] their own personal networks [to fill these positions]...Trump will have to find thousands of experienced people to fill appointed positions in the federal government. Unlike a Hillary Clinton or a Jeb Bush, with their carousel-size Rolodexes linked to hundreds of other Rolodexes, he has few or no existing networks to draw on outside his very narrow world of real estate and entertainment."
Oops. Another problem. But hey, I'm sure President OHC will hire "the best people". Do I see important jobs for Louie Gohmert and Sarah Palin in the Trump cabinet?
Marie,
You could be right about Ted Cruz. Besides, what's creepier? A trans person who goes into a ladies room and enters a stall or Ted Cruz lurking about outside the door in just a bathrobe looking like this?
More in Not Just Donald J. Drumpf news: World's longest and deepest rail tunnel opens in Switzerland " Gotthard Tunnel " Apparently, other countries wisely put money on infrastructure— try getting potholes filled here!
Jeez Ak, I wish I hadn't clicked on that picture of Cruz during my
lunch hour. Can't take another bite after that screen filler.
And I think we shouldn't be suggesting that trump has any level of
dementia or Alzheimers. That's belittling real Alzheimers patients.
We should stick with things like whiny, narcissistic, egomaniacal,
misogynistic, unprincipled, crude, rude, unprofessional, intolerant,
xenophobic and with a derisory IQ.
Re-posting from Naked Capitalism this AM:
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2016/06/gaius-publius-bernstein-the-white-house-is-terrified-the-clinton-campaign-is-in-freefall.html
The NC Gaius Publius posting inspired a notable discussion in Comments. There may be some here at RealityChex who will be interested.
@MAG: many thinks for the Rich piece––took my ham and cheese mit cut-up melon at lunch time up to my computer to finish it as it was that interesting. I am surprised that Rich, when giving us the listing of Reagan's blunders didn't mention the AIDS crisis that he ignored for years costing hundreds of lives. The other issue that unfortunately has been reported incorrectly is this: Bush, not Reagan took the call from Gorbachev on Christmas Day, 1991, declaring the Communist State––and with it, the Cold War––to be over. Reagan had been out of office for three years at that point.
The similarities between Reagan and Trump that Rich presents connect, I think, accurately, and maybe because we are in a different kind of cultural place, but Reagan seems to me to be such a very different person ( would never have talked smack the way Trump is doing) in the realm of needing to be in charge. Granted both men are performers rather than policy makers, but Trump appears to be someone who will forge forward on what HE thinks should be accomplished while Reagan was content to let others handle the logistics. Humor was his ultimate self defense and his ultimate weapon. Something though that I recall from one of the books I read about Reagan was his inability to admit to himself or to the country for his mistakes. In crisis this adult found it as difficult as his father to accept responsibility for his own actions (father was an alcoholic). Others were always to blame when something went wrong. Now that seems to me a characteristic that our present front runner can certainly identify with.
It's interesting, isn't it, that Trump has been compared to so many because so many are trying so hard to figure out how this could have happened. Who was it that said a long time ago––
"Someday a man on horseback is going to appear big and bold and ride roughshod all over this country and the crowds will follow wherever he takes them."
@Akhilleus: I'll go you one better. What's creepier than a transperson using a stall in the women's washroom? One post op using the urinal in the mens.
Cowichan,
I wasn't suggesting that a trans person using a stall was creepy, but nonetheless, I don't think there are many things creepier than Lyin' Ted. Doing anything. Anywhere. At any time.
MAG, I have only seen "Borgen" available on DVD and not iTunes, Netflix or other streaming site. I do recommend this political drama for this audience here, for its combination of idealism, pragmatism, humour, pathos and humanism. It looks thoughtfully at many issues that we face in real life - if what we are living at the moment can be called real life. We see conflicting pressures on politicians, we are uplifted and disappointed, but offered greater insight. It has given me much food for thought.
Ak, being a politician from a well-connected family with Rolodexes galore didn't stop shrub from appointing multitudes of incompetent religious nincompoops to positions where they could do serious damage to the US (Justice Dept) and to the world (Iraq). No guarantees with the con-men, despite their "guarantees".