Friday, March 31, 2017

Good-Bye, March!


27 comments:

  1. Well, I *was* going to go to bed, but then I found this:

    http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/taibbi-on-trump-the-destroyer-w473144

    It's quite long, but well worth the time to read. Here's an excerpt:

    "Was he an aspiring dictator and revolutionary, or merely a pragmatic charlatan whose run for president was just a publicity stunt that got way out of hand?

    The mystery seemed to end once Trump started choosing his team.

    Some appointees were less terrifying than others. Former ExxonMobil chief Rex Tillerson at least pays lip service to climate change and probably has enough smarts to complete one side of a Rubik's Cube. Treasury pick Steven Mnuchin would struggle to make a list of the 30 most loathsome Goldman Sachs veterans. These and a few others were merely worst-case-scenario corporate-influence types, industry foxes sent to man regulatory henhouses.

    But the rest were the most fantastic collection of creeps since the "Thriller" video. Many were blunderers and conspiracists whose sole qualification for office appeared to be their open hostility to the missions of the agencies they were tapped to run."

    I have to admit the line that made me laugh earlier in the piece was this: "his trademark red tie hanging like the tongue of a sled dog".

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    1. So creative...and SPOT ON! Ha! Thanks for posting this, Susan.

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  2. I didn't post anything about it, but have been thinking about the Mike Flynn news. He wants immunity from "unfair prosecution?" What does that mean? Does he fear malicious prosecution by theTrump DOJ? That would seem quite a reasonable fear should he blab. Does he have something big he can spill about Trump, and have to hurry before Sally Yates spills it for him, to his detriment? This doesn't sound like more cover-up; it sounds like circumstances have conspired to trap him, and he is desperately seeking a way to save his hide. It's awfully early days for such a thing to be happening.

    listener--interesting read about WH spying on FBI; thanks.

    Susan--Taibbi's stories are generally insightful; I'll have to check it out. But need to get to bed now.

    --Alan

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    1. I hope to hell Flynn is losing as much sleep as I am!

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    2. LOL Wouldn't be surprised. Immunity! Who does he think he is, Oliver North?

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  3. Good Heavens—too many stories at Political Wire[Click] to link to, so here are some headlines of the morning:

    Democrats In Trump Districts Keep Their Distance
    GOP Will Continue Health Subsidies for Low Earners
    An Invisible Secretary of State
    Trump Discovers ‘Chaos and Loyalty’ Doesn’t Work
    A Weak President Is Dangerous
    James Comey’s Secret Twitter Account Found
    Quote of the Day—Nancy Pelosi on Devin Nunes
    Trump Teeters on the Brink
    The GOP Is In Free Fall
    ==================
    The Gravity is Strong #3[Click] Josh Marshall’s continuing speculation about the Trump/Russia goings-on. He notes the Gellman article you linked to, listener.

    —Alan

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    1. A few more headlines from Political Wire:

      Obama Officials Made List of Russia Documents (and hand-delivered it to senior members of the Senate Intelligence Committee)
      Flynn’s Immunity Request Denied by Senate Committee
      The House Is In Crisis Too
      McCain Trying to Save the Filibuster
      The Beclowning of the Executive Branch (follow link to original)

      And this from Talking Points Memo:

      WaPo IDs Third WH Staffer Who Helped Intel Reports Get To Nunes[Click]

      And also this, which I have been thinking as well:

      Just a thought. But as I survey the whole horizon, it has occurred to me more than once that the geopolitical dimension of the Trump/Russia scandal, questions of collusion, coordination, potential blackmail ... these may end up being dwarfed by the related story of President Trump's vast and overlapping ties to the post-Soviet criminal underworld.

      Obviously, these two stories are far from distinct.
      - Josh Marshall

      —Alan

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  4. Got my MRI results this morning and everything is normal. "Nothing concerning". Okay, so it really IS Cheetolini's fault that I have migraines!

    I go read gossip sites to retreat from the constant political horror show. My favorite one is now equally as political as gossipy. I'm afraid I deposited rather a long rant there this morning - three paragraphs long - because they're still trying to claim that "Bernie Bros" caused Hillary's loss. That is so far from the truth I just had to "educate" them. How can they be so blind to what people did not like about her? There were real issues and she did some serious harm around the world while Secretary of State. But because the Republicans trashed her with bogus stories 24/7 her supporters seem to think Bernie supporters had no other reason but GOP lies - and that is SO far from the truth! Her supporters used those GOP lies as a first line of defense and absolutely refused to look at the Real Hillary and her Real Actions.

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    1. Yes, good news! Having determined the cause, you should now file a claim against him in Small Claims Court. As long as the nuisance continues, you can keep renewing the claim, and the money keeps piling up. In time you can find something in Ohio that he owns and auction it to satisfy your award. Just sayin'.

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    2. Ooooohhhhhh good. =Whew!!=
      And WELL SAID about HRC, Susan! You go, girl! YEAH!
      Also, be aware that Bernie Bros were some trolls (hey...Russians?) who weren't even close to the average Bernie supporter. So for HRC fans to be blaming all their troubles on Bernie supporters because of what some trolls wrote is more than desperate.

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    3. When reflecting on the folks who just can’t see that HRC was not a dandy candidate, I am reminded of arguments against de-extinction of the mammoth. It is plausible that someone will be able to make some semi-synthetic mammoth nuclear DNA, swap it for the elephant DNA in an elephant ovum, and have an elephant give birth to the “mammoth.” It wouldn’t truly be a mammoth because it would have the extra-nuclear DNA etc of an elephant, but let’s overlook that for now. The ecosystem of the mammoths is gone—the vegetables they ate were destroyed by the great glaciers of the most recent Ice Age, and replaced by grasses, which are less nutritious, and there are other differences too—but let’s overlook that as well. The big thing is that elephants are very social creatures, and mammoths surely were too. Baby elephants spend a long time learning how to be elephants from their mothers and herd, and a mother elephant couldn’t teach her little mammophant how to be a mammoth because the only thing she knows how to be is an elephant. It’s similar with Democrats who became politically conscious in the 1970’s or later—the only kind of Democrat they have known is the “New Democrat” (which always seemed to me pretty close to the Old Republicans). They don’t know how to be anything other than a New Democrat, and they probably do not realize the New Democrats have run their course. HRC is (in my opinion) the apotheosis of the New Democrat, so they can’t see why she should not have won. They need to blame someone else because the world they find themselves in is simply inexplicable by their “truths.” Something else is evolving, and many of them will get on board, but there will be holdouts, just like those of us who remain basically New Dealers even after all these years. God, it’s wonderful seeing the kids wise up!

      —Alan

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    4. Here you go, Susan!

      Joe Biden: Here's why Clinton lost: Former Vice President Joe Biden criticizes the Clinton campaign's messaging during the 2016 election.
      http://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2017/03/31/biden-criticizes-clinton-campaign-nr.cnn

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    5. Well said, Alan. Very well said. I have much hope in the young people in this nation.

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    6. Susan, good news about the MRI♥

      LOL Alan, that's great advice you gave Susan. I must pick a nit though. Yours truly came to political awareness in the mid '70s, and I've always thought "New Democrats," aka Clinton Democrats, weren't Democrats at all. By contrast my mother, born in 1939, grew up in a union household and apparently idolizes Bobby Kennedy, fell hook, line and sinker for BC and came to practically worship HRC. Talk about Hillary-bot! It was scary!!! But then I've always been way to the left of her.

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  5. Have to run off to the library to return a book. When I see a book on Amazon that I think I might want I get it out of the library first for confirmation. The one I got has patterns that have to be enlarged, so I crossed it off my "want" list and I'll be returning that book today. Saved some money anyway.

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    1. I still think, as I thought at the time, that if he had any sense (big IF), what he should have done was throw a tantrum after he had won the primaries and just before the convention, refusing the nomination because he wasn't being treated with enough respect by that bunch of LOSERS!

      --Alan

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    2. Ohhh, my dreams are made of this concept.

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    3. Oh, golden dream! Would that it could be so!

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    4. Alan, right up to the eve of the inauguration, Mum fully expected him to have a minor heart attack or other nonfatal yet incapacitating episode to give him a graceful way out. If only!

      You know what though? He could always pull a Sarah Palin and resign partway through his term because he's not having fun anymore. We can but hope!

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  7. Replies
    1. That is cute! Thanks for sharing, listener!

      Alan

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    2. The title alone gave me a smile.

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    3. Listener, that's a riot! Thanks.

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