The Commentariat -- April 29, 2018
Afternoon Update:
Michael Hayden, in a New York Times op-ed, on how Trump's apparent inability to distinguish between truth & fiction stresses intelligence agencies. "To adopt post-truth thinking is to depart from Enlightenment ideas, dominant in the West since the 17th century, that value experience and expertise, the centrality of fact, humility in the face of complexity, the need for study and a respect for ideas." Mrs. McC: Interesting, because Hayden suggests, without directly saying so, that Trump is a medieval man, unfettered by external realities & dependent instead upon some sort of metaphysical momentary, mutable "knowledge."
Sari Horwitz of the Washington Post: "Former FBI director James B. Comey on Sunday called the House Intelligence Committee's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election 'a wreck' and deemed its report a 'political document.' In a conversation about his book, 'A Higher Loyalty,' on NBC News's 'Meet the Press,' Comey said the report, released by House Republicans on Friday, did not represent his 'understanding of what the facts were' before he left the FBI."
Ryan Goodman of Just Security: "The dueling House Intelligence Committee reports on Russian election interference, released on Friday, provide new information that adds significantly to a picture of obstruction of justice and abuse of power on the part of ... Donald Trump in the Russia investigation.... The information is provided only in the Minority report, and the bulk of these revelations depend on testimony by former FBI Acting Director Andrew McCabe, whose credibility as a witness in some respects may be under a cloud.... The FBI General Counsel and FBI Director's chief of staff listened in on James Comey's side of at least some phone conversations with the president, in which Mr. Trump reportedly engaged in efforts to alter the course of the Russia investigation.... Both the FBI Director and Deputy Director interpreted one of the president's phone calls as threatening Comey if he did not lift the cloud of the Russia investigation.... The FBI Director and Deputy Director were also concerned that the president was threatening to take action against McCabe if the FBI Director did not lift the cloud of the Russia investigation.... The Minority report ... ties the specific timing of McCabe's testimony to Mr. Trump's going after not only McCabe but also the FBI's General Counsel [James Baker]. (Emphasis removed.)
Jacqueline Thomsen of the Hill: "The sapling gifted to President Trump by French President Emmanuel Macron has disappeared from the White House lawn less than a week after the two men planted it there, according to multiple media reports.... HuffPost, quoting an unnamed source, reported that the tree is intact and was under quarantine rules imposed by U.S. Customs. The policy requires that plants imported into the U.S. be quarantined for a period of time to avoid spreading diseases or importing species of invasive insects." Mrs. McC: My first guess would have been Trump did it with his widdle hatchet but is claiming Obama did it.
Michael de la Merced & Cecilia Kang of the New York Times: "Sprint and T-Mobile announced on Sunday that they had reached a deal to merge, moving to create a new telecommunications giant -- and betting that regulators would finally allow the American wireless service market to shrink to just three national players."
*****
Blah Blah Blah. Me Me Me. Rachel Chason & David Lynch of the Washington Post: "President Trump bragged about his economic and diplomatic accomplishments and savaged the media during a raucous rally Saturday before thousands of supporters in a state that is critical to his reelection hopes. The campaign-style event held at the Total Sports Park was billed as counter-programming to the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner in the nation's capital, which the president skipped for the second consecutive year. The president treated the crowd, dotted with the familiar 'Make America Great Again' hats, to his customary litany of immigration complaints, gibes at prominent Democrats including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and boasts about purchases of 'brand-new' military equipment. The president also complained that the media had not given him sufficient credit for making possible Friday's meeting between leaders of the two Koreas, saying he had 'everything' to do with it. He also predicted that he would achieve the 'all-time record' for appointing conservative judges and boasted that his tax and economic policies were working." ...
... Eli Watkins of CNN: "Trump also tossed out an unspecified allegation about Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, whom Trump blamed for the recent sinking of his nominee to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs. 'I know things about Tester that I could say, too,' Trump said. 'And if I said them, he'd never be elected again.'" ...
... Max Greenwood of the Hill: "President Trump threatened on Saturday to 'shut down the country' – an apparent reference to a government shutdown -- unless Congress approves funding for his long-promised wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. In a fiery campaign-style speech, Trump lashed out at Democratic lawmakers for opposing his pledge to build the border wall, and said that once government funding runs out at the end of September he would call for a so-called shutdown." ...
... AND Trump Voiced a New Conspiracy Theory about This Russia Thing. Judd Legum of ThinkProgress: "At a campaign rally in Michigan, a red-faced Trump offered a convoluted explanation for [Natalia] Veselniskaya's admission [this week that she is a Russian 'informant'/agent with close ties to Russia's prosecutor general]. According to Trump, Veselniskaya does not have any relationship with the Russian government. But she recently was convinced by Putin to pretend she was an agent of the Russian government. Why? According to Trump, Putin realized that 'Trump is killing us.' Therefore, Putin convinced Veselniskaya to lie about her role to make life in America 'even more chaotic[.]" ...
... I Might Have a Trumpertantrum. Benjamin Haas of the Guardian: "... Donald Trump said on Saturday a meeting with North Korea could happen over the next three to four weeks. 'I think we will have a meeting over the next three or four weeks,' Trump said at a campaign rally in Washington, Michigan. 'It's going be a very important meeting, the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.' 'But we'll see how it goes,' he added. 'I may go in, it may not work out, I leave.'" ...
... Mark Landler of the New York Times: "The talk of peace [between North & South Korea] is likely to weaken the two levers that Mr. Trump used to pressure [Kim Jong un] to come to the bargaining table. A resumption of regular diplomatic exchanges between the two Koreas, analysts said, will inevitably erode the crippling economic sanctions against the North, while Mr. Trump will find it hard to threaten military action against a country that is extending an olive branch.... The price of failure would be high for Mr. Trump. The United States could face a split with its ally South Korea, which is deeply invested in ending its estrangement from the North. Tensions could flare with China.... Mr. Trump is also moving on other fronts that could undercut his negotiations with Mr. Kim. He appears more likely than ever to rip up the Iran nuclear deal as he faces his next deadline of May 12 to decide whether to reimpose sanctions on Tehran. Walking away from one nuclear disarmament deal while trying to strike another would be a trick, even for a self-proclaimed dealmaker like Mr. Trump. On Saturday, Mr. Trump said he had a 'very good talk' with [Moon Jai-in]. 'Things are going well,' he tweeted. 'Time and location of meeting with North Korea is being set.' He also said he had briefed Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, who has watched the rush of diplomacy with some concern." ...
... Choe Sang-Hun of the New York Times: "North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, told President Moon Jae-in of South Korea when they met that he would abandon his nuclear weapons if the United States would agree to formally end the Korean War and promise that it would not invade his country, a South Korean government spokesman said Sunday. In a faith-building gesture ahead of a summit meeting with President Trump, Mr. Kim also said he would invite experts and journalists from South Korea and the United States to watch the shutdown next month of his country's only known underground nuclear test site. The comments by Mr. Kim were made on Friday when the leaders of the two Koreas met at Panmunjom, a village on their shared border, the spokesman, Yoon Young-chan, said on Sunday...."
Trump Finds Something Stupid and/or Insenstive to Say for Every Occasion. Daniel Politi of Slate: "... Donald Trump has been roundly criticized after he turned what should have been a simple photo-op into a cringe-worthy speech. In a White House event to congratulate the U.S. athletes who competed in the Winter Olympic and Paralympic games, Trump seems to have gone a bit off script. 'What happened with the Paralympics was so incredible and so inspiring to me,' Trump said. 'And I watched -- it's a little tough to watch too much, but I watched as much as I could. Many on Twitter were quick to criticize the president for his words, even as some tried to defend him by saying he was simply suggesting he was too busy to watch too much television.... Many of the biggest Winter Olympic names had decided to boycott the White House event anyway due to political differences with the president.... The Paralympic Games ... [responded,] 'Record numbers around the world are not finding @Paralympics tough to watch.... Billions of viewers now take in the Paralympics in hundreds of countries around the world. We hope the US President continues to watch and be inspired by the Paralympics.'"
Gardiner Harris of the New York Times: "As Saudi Arabia considers digging a moat along its border with Qatar and dumping nuclear waste nearby, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Riyadh on his first overseas trip as the nation's top diplomat with a simple message: Enough is enough. Patience with what is viewed in Washington as a petulant spat within the Gulf Cooperation Council has worn thin, and Mr. Pompeo told the Saudi Foreign Minister, Adel al-Jubeir, that the dispute needs to end, according to a senior State Department official...." Mrs. McC: As described by his unnamed spokesperson, Pompeo sounds quite statesman-y.
Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post (April 26): "The Senate voted Thursday to confirm Richard Grenell -- a Republican commentator, operative and former aide to new national security adviser John Bolton -- as the next ambassador to Germany, despite objections from Democrats that his past epithets about prominent female politicians made him unfit for the job.... Democrats have focused on the undiplomatic tone Grenell has struck in several comments on his Twitter profile and as a frequent commentator on Fox News, where he has jeered about the appearance of several high-profile political women, including Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Madeleine Albright and Callista Gingrich, Trump's ambassador to the Vatican.... 'I hope he doesn't start tweeting about Chancellor Merkel if he gets the position,' [Sen. Bob] Menendez 0[D-N.J.] [said]."
Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "... President Trump promised that he would change Washington.... Three moments in a week otherwise dominated by foreign policy focused fresh attention on those shortcomings -- a comment by Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget; the congressional testimony of Scott Pruitt, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; and the controversy over the nomination of White House physician Ronny L. Jackson to head the Department of Veterans Affairs. Each in its own way feeds the public's cynicism." ...
... Let's Add This One. Spencer McBride in the Washington Post: "In an unprecedented move, the Rev. Patrick J. Conroy resigned as chaplain of the House of Representatives amid his two-year term. The resignation came at the behest of House Speaker Paul D. Ryan.... Though Ryan (R-Wis.) denied it, the possibility that partisan motives drove his action has prompted a predictably partisan response. Some members of Congress have called for an investigation, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called the move 'impossible to support.'... Every week..., clergymen offer sermons and prayers that urge men and women to pay special attention to the needs of the poor and those whom society has marginalized. Conroy did not pray for anything radical, offensive or even particularly political; this principle is at the heart of all religions. Yet when the same, seemingly noncontroversial sentiment is uttered in a polarized chamber of Congress, sensitive political agendas will too often serve as the lens through which lawmakers view such remarks. At stake in the firing and replacing of Conroy as chaplain is the transformation of a congressional position designed to promote civil discourse into nothing more than another tool of partisanship."
Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has admitted to lawmakers that he discussed the 'Steele dossier' about President Trump and Russia with a CNN journalist in early 2017, according to a report from Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee. The journalist Clapper spoke with was CNN host Jake Tapper, whose name appeared on a bombshell report in January 2017 that first revealed that former FBI Director James Comey had briefed Trump on the dossier's salacious allegations.... House Republicans interviewed Clapper for the report. They say that Clapper at first 'flatly denied' leaking the contents of the dossier, but later admitted to discussing the dossier with Tapper and other journalists in early January of 2017, shortly before Trump's inauguration." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Tapper & Co. got a White House Correspondents' award Saturday for the "bombshell report." ...
Oren Kerr in Lawfare: According to an e-mail published in the GOP No Collusion narrative, Don Junior committed a misdemeanor under the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act by unlawfully accessing an anti-Trump Website via a guessed password. Kerr notes that this is a type of crime that is not likely to be prosecuted. Mrs. McC: However, if the Mueller team decides to bring other charges against Junior, it seems likely to me that they would throw in this activity -- which Junior admitted in the e-mail -- to bolster the overall case against him. It does seem to me to show that this is another instance in which he shows he has no compunction about using illegal means to further the aims of the campaign, & that questions like, "Wait, isn't that illegal?" did not cross his mind. In fairness to Junior, many of us might do the same thing if someone sent us a password to a Website that we thought was intent upon harming us. We might not be dumb enough, though, to memorialize our illegal snooping.
Arelis Hernández of the Washington Post: "The humanitarian crisis created by Hurricane Maria has added fuel to an ongoing power struggle for the island's future: Gov. Ricardo Rosselló and his New Progressive Party advocate statehood as the solution to Puerto Rico's second-class status. His opponents call for greater autonomy from the United States and, for some, eventual independence. The U.S. government has shown no interest in affecting the status quo, and many Puerto Ricans still view the current relationship as a relatively stable option that provides an adequate balance of sovereignty and support. But the sluggish disaster response and dissatisfaction with the coordinated recovery efforts have aggravated the sense of abandonment and the sting of Puerto Rico's subordinate standing with the United States, according to residents, experts and island leaders."
Congressional Races
Jonathan Martin, et al., of the New York Times: "President Trump is privately rejecting the growing consensus among Republican leaders that they may lose the House and possibly the Senate in November, leaving party officials and the president's advisers nervous that he does not grasp the gravity of the threat they face in the midterm elections.... Mr. Trump is as impulsive as ever, fixated on personal loyalty cultivating a winner's image and privately prodding Republican candidates to demonstrate their affection for him -- while complaining bitterly when he campaigns for those who lose.... Congressional leaders have left little doubt in private that they see Mr. Trump as a political millstone for many of the party's candidates." ...
... Benjamin Hart of New York: "The problem is not only that Trump refuses to believe that Republicans will lose, but that, even if he were sufficiently worried, he doesn't care enough about his own party to bother helping.... However Trump performs on the campaign trail, and however Republicans fare this fall, the president will continue living in a bubble of his own making. Because Trump was right to dismiss the concerns of the many, many people who insisted he couldn't win in 2016, he can now perennially point to that shocking election result as proof that his instincts, not some politico egghead's, are always correct. And if Republicans lose big this year, he'll just say they didn't stick by him closely enough. It's a dishonest, solipsitic approach to life. But it's one that has worked shockingly well for Donald Trump."
Aleksandra Appleton of the Sacramento Bee: "The race for congressional District 22, held by longtime GOP incumbent Devin Nunes, has been downgraded from 'safely Republican' to 'likely Republican' by a closely watched political forecasting website run by the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. Sabato's Crystal Ball, run by University of Virginia's Center for Politics, cited the enormous amount of money raised by Democratic challenger Andrew Janz as one factor making the race more competitive." ...
... Caroline Orr of Shareblue: "Instead of considering that his own failures may explain his sinking campaign, Nunes is pointing the finger at the right-wing's go-to boogeyman: 'radical leftists.' In a fundraising email sent on Saturday, Nunes whined that 'radical leftists' and the mainstream media are saying 'nasty things' about him, though he failed to provide examples of these 'nasty things' -- likely because most of them are true statements about his own actions.&"
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. NBC Edition
Tom Never Abused Us. Jackie Wattles & Brian Stelter of CNN: "More than 100 women have signed a letter defending former 'NBC Nightly News' anchor Tom Brokaw following a sexual harassment allegation by a former colleague.... But there is considerable tension behind the scenes at NBC about the letter and the broader effort to defend Brokaw. Sources described debates between friends and within peer groups about whether to sign on and what message the letter was intended to send. As one of the sources put it: 'What does it mean if your name is not on the letter?'" ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie BTW: You really should read Brokaw's "defense." After he gets thru whining about being taken to the guillotine & stripped of his honor & achievement, he boasts how he helped Linda Vester out by fixing her up with Roger Ailes. Roger Fucking Ailes, one of the worst sexual abusers in television history. It's 2018, & that jerk Brokaw thinks sending a young woman to Roger Ailes redounds to his credit.
Christina Caron of the New York Times: "Joy Reid, the MSNBC host who accused hackers of inserting homophobic posts into her now-defunct blog, said on Saturday that while she continued to deny having written the offensive language, security experts could not conclusively say her blog was breached. 'I genuinely do not believe I wrote those hateful things, because they are completely alien to me,' she said on her morning show, 'AM Joy.' 'But I can definitely understand, based on things I have tweeted and have written in the past, why some people don't believe me.' She hired a cybersecurity expert to see if her former blog had been manipulated, she said, but 'the reality is, they have not been able to prove it.'... On Saturday morning, Ms. Reid devoted about 30 minutes of her show to the controversy, speaking with a supportive panel of experts who fight for L.G.B.T. rights."
Laura Bradley of Vanity Fair reprises Michelle Wolf's performance at the White House Correspondents' Dinner last night. Mrs. McC: Except for the jokes she told about Trump & kin, of course, her jokes were pretty Trumpian -- offensive to everyone. If you want to watch -- CSPAN video is here. Her performance begins about 51 minutes in.
Way Beyond the Beltway
Weird News. Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: "A fire broke out on Saturday in a high-rise that until recently had been called Trump Tower in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, engulfing much of the building in flames by early evening. Footage on social media showed flames shooting out of the windows and smoke billowing from the 33-floor building, which is still under construction and had been labeled 'Donald Trump's Worst Deal' by The New Yorker magazine. The blaze, which broke out on the top floor of the building, burned down through about 20 stories before firefighters extinguished the flames by midafternoon, the news agency Interfax reported.... The Trump Organization withdrew its licensing agreement for the Baku skyscraper shortly after the 2016 election.... Mr. Trump had partnered in the development with the son of a former minister of transportation in the oil-rich former Soviet state. The Trump-branded hotel never opened.... Mr. Trump cut the deal despite allegations by United States diplomats that the minister had dealings with front companies for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and was corrupt."
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Reader Comments (19)
Good lord Michel Wolf! What a steaming load of wasted words someone thought was roast comedy...or was the point? Deliver crass, poorly crafted, sophomoric taunts because you think no one in the press or the administration deserves better? Oh well, one more DC event to limbo under the low bar.
Sunday (EDT) Sermon, to be shared with the local paper.
"Since 1956 our currency and coinage has assured us our nation trusts in God.
Maybe so. But last week's abrupt dismissal of Father Conroy, who had served as the House Chaplain since 2011, suggests that there’s something about Father Conroy’s God that House Speaker Paul Ryan doesn’t trust.
Mr. Ryan has said little about the priest’s dismissal, but Father Conroy reported the Speaker told him: "Padre, you just got to stay out of politics" (cnn.com).
This followed the Chaplain’s prayer before the House during the 2018 tax bill debate, "...may all Members be mindful that the institutions and structures of our great Nation guarantee the opportunities that have allowed some to achieve great success, while others continue to struggle….May their efforts these days guarantee that there are not winners and losers under new tax laws, but benefits balanced and shared by all Americans.”
House Republicans didn’t heed Father Conroy’s God. They gleefully passed the 2018 tax bill, which granted eighty percent of its benefits to the already wealthy, adding ten trillion dollars to the national debt in the next ten years (nationalreview.com).
Now Republicans won’t have to listen to Father Conroy with his talk of balance and sharing when they take up their proposed solutions to the huge budget deficits their tax bill created.
Last week, the Republican Study Committee, a group that includes over half of House Republicans, released a budget blueprint that calls for massive cuts to Social Security and Medicare(socialsecurityworks.org), including:
Raising the Social Security retirement and Medicare eligibility ages to 70.
Moving Medicare toward privatization and increasing its premium costs.
Using a new consumer-price index to keep social security increases below the rate of inflation.
Republicans don’t believe Father Conroy’s God belongs in politics. No way, no how.
But their God still belongs on money."
@Periscope: Yeah, I shut her down after about 6 minutes. Boring speeches are tolerable. "Comedy" routines that are not funny are embarrassing & unbearable. I heard people walked out. Seems appropriate.
I thought leftie libtards were loser weaklings who wouldn't know which way 'round to hold a weapon. Now, inexplicably, we are all highly trained, highly skilled assassins lockin' an' loadin' our 50 cal sniper rifles itching to pick off
RWCNJinnocent republicans at 3000m. Even my sons' violin practice wasn't that dissonant. Everything they say is projection. EverythingThe little dictator to Jon Tester: I was an idiot and fucked up the Ronny Jackson thing, but because you noticed, and said so, you have to go. The king is never wrong.
Also, Trump insults the paralympic athletes, people with guts, skill, stamina, and honor, qualities as far removed from his loutish ass as decency, empathy, and humanity, by whining that he got so queasy seeing them compete he couldn’t watch for very long. His obsequious toadies try to save him from one more boorish, disgraceful episode by claiming that all he meant was he’s too busy to watch much TV. Too busy to watch TV? Are they kidding? This jackass has to be pried away with a crow bar to get him to do anything besides watch TV.
If they’re gonna try to excuse more swinish behavior, please make it more believable than President* Nielsen doesn’t have time for TV.
@Akhilleus: When I read Trump's comment about the Paralympics, I really thought the next sentence was going to be that he took a couple of steps with an exaggerated limp or something. The fact that Trump insulted these athletes only verbally & not with a horrifying, offensive pantomime shows that he has grown to be more "presidential," after all.
But it continues to amaze me, though it shouldn't, that one of the most famous (or infamous) people in the world has absolutely no idea how to interact with any of those people who recognize him. If you have only one degree of difference from Trump, that is all he can see: so Jewish, Muslim, black, physically-challenged, Democrat, short, female -- whatever -- all he can see is the difference. And intentionally or not, he cannot help but make offensive remarks on that difference.
As I go through each days news and comments, I see a shortfall of understanding of the Trumpbrain. For example, the Paralympics are performed by members of the species Homo sapiens, not Homo trump.
Likewise, fake media and such are only H. sapiens. H. trumps are identified by the species god. The trumpgod is, of course, perfect.
Do you think this behavior is a little 'crazy'? Sorry, no. It is serious, dangerous mental illness. And we were catching on, but now we are back to ignoring reality.
Bea,
Don't know if the observation that the Pretender views all others only in terms of the degrees of difference from himself is original with you, but I thought it impressively insightful. Reading it, a raft of otherwise unaccountable (why? oh why?) Pretender behaviors fell neatly into place for me. They all fit into an embarrassing pattern, don't they?
Back to Marvin. Maybe it's just another way of saying the point (the Pretender is the measure of all things. Period. ) you make repeatedly.
In any case, I liked it. Thanks.
Re: Michelle Wolf's roasting: It's not an easy job doing stand up comedy at a Correspondence Dinner––very few have excelled but those that have succeeded have done so with a wit that Wolf was lacking. To make fun of those in attendance without nasty, crude ad hominem attacks takes skill, cleverness and an ability to deliver one liners that evoke loud guffaws from almost everyone present. It's interesting that women aren't usually the ones who perform these gigs–-can't recall any in the past–-so it's too bad this woman didn't cut it.
@Ken: I have said how I hoped the "In God We Trust" would someday be changed to "In Truth We Trust." If Ryan removed Conroy because of his stance on the infamous tax for the rich bill then "Oh Lordy," I do hope there will be dire ramifications. The whole prayer procedure itself before congressional business I find uncomfortable, but then "god bless America" has been stuck in our craw like a imbedded deer tick.
Marie,
Reading the lede about Trump's ugly comments regarding the paralympic athletes, I did think for a second about him making sport of NY Times reporter, Serge Kovaleski, so not the slightest eyebrow elevation would have ensued had he been at it again.
And just as Trump's little doobies race to the rescue, it's worth noting that when little king sociopath made fun of Kovaleski, an outraged Ann Coulter (yeah, I know, the descriptive is superfluous) leaped to his defense.
"Oh no", whined Coulter, Trump wasn't making fun of Kovaleski, because that man has arthrogryposis. Trump, according to Coulter "was doing a standard retard, waving his arms and sounding stupid."
Oh the STANDARD retard move.
Well shit, that makes all the difference in the world.
Later, realizing this probably didn't sound too good, she backtracked a bit and said that Trump had made the exact same series of gestures when describing Ted Cruz. He didn't, as proven with side by side video comparisons. When asked what the Cruz mockery meant (since she was claiming that this same pantomime was used to describe both men), Coulter came back with "This is how Donald Trump does an imitation of a flustered, cowardly person or a frightened person."
So Kovaleski isn't a standard retard, but he IS a cowardly, frightened person.
The only cowardly, frightened person in the house that day was Donald Trump.
Marvin is right. This guy is mentally ill. I don't know if that makes him a "standard retard" though. Guess we'll have to ask Ann Coulter.
Marvin,
Be careful, man. If Trump finds out you've been calling him "homo" anything, there'll be hell to pay. But you're right. "sapiens" he ain't. I don't even know if he's in the "erectus" family. We'd have to ask Stormy Daniels and the dozens of other women he's cheated on his wives with. Those he's just groped or pussy-grabbed probably couldn't say one way or the other. I'm sure just the thought would require years of counseling.
Father Ken,
Nice sermon. A little exegesis is good now and then.
As for Ryan, when Jesus went into the temple and booted the money changers, the Lyin' One would have shown up with a contingent of Roman guards and Sanhedrins and had him arrested. How dare he. I mean, Jesus! This is money we're talkin' about.
Which brings us to the Republican view of god.
For most or them, god is the Old Testament fire and brimstone dude with the Michelangelo beard raining down destruction and forcing the Israelites to wander for decades in the desert because things got a little crazy after they'd been freed from years of slavery. Hell, if I had just been released from the chains I'd been born into, I'd be doing a little hippity hop at the barber shop too. But no, you people screwed up. Back out in the desert and wander until you're dead.
Nice guy.
He's also the one to whom they pray to smite their enemies (all of us) but conveniently ignore when the bag men come calling, or there are brown people to bomb somewhere, or poor people to blame for their failings, or people of a different religion to deport. I notice their chosen "padres", the ones who back up a lying adulterer and give their holy imprimatur to racism, misogyny, and gun violence, are never warned off politics. They are given the green light to politick the shit out of each and every hot button issue. As long as they preach "right".
Throughout history, many powerful and prideful kings and queens have put up with religious types talking about how it's necessary to take care of the poor and live as decent human beings. Most just let it ride and get on with business. But once the prayer comes too close to home, the real cowards act to take it out on the messenger. Ask Thomas à Becket. Or Joan of Arc.
Trump's not the only coward. Look to the right. There are hundreds of them.
Playing him like a fiddle.
Kim Jong Un is continuing his masterpiece, the "Trump Juke for the violin", in C sharp, or B flat.
Kim realizes that as long as he can flatter the narcissistic weenie in the White House, he's likely to get most of what he wants without giving up anything. Let Trump pound his chest and brag and barf up all manner of self-glorification, and it'll all be good.
So Kim sez "Okay, American schmoes, I will give up my nuclear testing site and you can even come see it."
First, most experts believe the site is dead anyway. There's nothing else that can be done there. As for ending his nukes program, that's a golden oldie. But Kim needs a few things. He needs sanctions lifted, or reduced (this need comes from years of pressure from US foreign policy and the west, not from Trump), he needs a face to face with Trump, a photo op that will be worth billions to him, and he needs--because he's no slouch in the narcissist game either--to look and feel like a big time player, something his daddy and granddaddy never did. Trump, hypnotized by flattery and flummery, will likely give him most of what he wants.
And for that, what do we get in return?
A 1956 Ford Edsel. Without the engine block. Or tires. Or wheels. And most of the body is rusted out.
But hey! A Ford! Such a deal.
The music plays on, and the Don dances to Kim's tune.
And if it doesn't work out? Well, Trump will go back to blaming Obama.
Too much winning.
Well, according to Wapo the Correspondents DInner was a snore until Michelle showed up. (We'll get to her later). It certainly was. It was embarrassing to watch when the young, future journalists were announced. This segment appeared so disorganized and done so hurriedly that only family and friends would have recognized their own who quickly walked and shook hands with dais members. It looked like an afterthought and was hurried to get on to the next part. It was a token salute to young talent at best.
Yeah, and now Michelle. Aside from a few spot-on japes, she wasn't ready for prime time.
Wapo had various followup articles, one which was headlined "Trump Eviscerates Correspondence Dinner}...Nah! Lame article not worth the read. James Comey may be on to something when he mentions that Trump doesn't laugh, Trump has no comedic sense...it is possibly the only shortcoming he sees in himself and that is why he has avoided appearing for a second year. Fake funnyman.
"Kim realizes that as long as he can flatter the narcissistic weenie in the White House, he's likely to get most of what he wants without giving up anything." Ak:
One of the best sentences ever! the weenie in the White House––My pal God, the one that wrote you that little letter, says "that Akhilleus lad has a way with words, doncha think"–-Yup, I said, it's all because he once donned the robes of Greek notables and was schooled in poetics–-or so the rumor goes. God agreed.
PD,
Kind words, but I must confess, I get it from hangin’ with my homie, Homer.
@Akhilleus: So, I forget, was it in the Iliad or the Odyssey where Homer mentions the weenie in the White House?
I think it was in the Iliad where he gives it to Agamemnon for being a backstabbing, glory-hogging, slave-stealing weenie-ass mo-fo.
He may have put it a tad more eloquently...he calls him a cur and shameless schemer among other things, as I recall, but weenie-ass mo-fo works fine.
Weenie-ass mo-fo suits me entirely. Was there EVER a nastier, stupider, more ignorant, crasser piece of humanity than the chief executive of what used to be a respected nation? As for Michelle, I have not thought she was funny on the Daily Show, and she was barely amusing last night, although I have not viewed all of it. I don't really care if she roasted Sarah on a spit, literally-- I detest the Huck almost as much as von Clownstick. I just don't care for Michelle's style, I guess, or her lopsided hairdo. I don't care what she says about Clownstick. I'm waiting for him to "get his," and so far, it ain't happened. As for those who left, they included the Schlaps, and I'm sure the air was clearer right away. I imagine the dinner has jumped the shark. Just think, Clownstick has killed that, too-- it has not been the same since Barack roasted him...