The Balls

In 1993, the Clintons attended 14 inaugural balls.

Laura & W went to 8 of 'em in 2001.

And the Obamas had 10 in 2009.

Trump had 2, and they were lightly attended - Trump's 2 itty-bitty sad little balls.

*Is any of this true? Who gives a fuck - this is the Post-Truth World of Alt-Fact.
It's not a question of True vs False. The only thing that matters now is what you choose to believe at any given moment.
And that's how the bad guys get power; and how they stay in power.

Short Toon Dump

The March(es)

In case you were wondering about that accapella thing that happened yesterday in Washington.

Quiet --MILCK

Beating Trump

The guy goes out of his way looking for rakes to step on.

@realDonaldTrump 30m were watching to see if you did a nazi salute or tripped down the stairs

— kristyan benedict (@KreaseChan) January 22, 2017

@realDonaldTrump here are some of my views: pic.twitter.com/tPSEEEQWfc

— #TheResistance (@AynRandPaulRyan) January 22, 2017

@realDonaldTrump who told you to say this? Can they be president?

— Sean Hartofilis (@BeachPillows) January 22, 2017

What A Country

I'm not one for sloppy sentimental patriotism. But I saw this on Facebook today, and something kinda popped in my brain (sometimes I think it may be a stroke when that happens, but anyway...).

The US National Anthem isn't exactly 'the people's song', cuz it can be a real bitch to sing it.  But this is not the joint where we only do the easy shit.  We do the hard things - and we do those hard things by choice.

It's just possible that we're gettin' back to where we're at least willing to do the hard work of democracy again. And if we can do that, the rest will follow.

What You Think Is Real

No, Mr Trump

Climate Change is a real thing

You as POTUS - now there's a hoax

Aziz Ansari

Today's Tweet And GIF

Freedom of expression is an awesome thing.

Internet… thank you pic.twitter.com/EFMys3tQWV

— Layne Theory (@ThisIsLayne) January 21, 2017

At Langley

Now What?

So, Trump's in the Oval Office now, and in that first big official briefing, did everybody roll their eyes when he asked, "So what's the real story on that whole Roswell alien thing, huh?" - like he's the first one who ever came up with that (except he prob'ly wasn't joking).

Second - how disappointed is he that there really is no such thing as The Big Book Of Secrets?

Which brings us to number three - will there be a call to Alex Jones? Like: "Dude, you really are a fuckin' idiot - none of that shit's true."

Yeah - prob'ly not. And the Press Poodles prob'ly won't ask him about any of it either.

Just wonderin'.

Yeehaw And Away We Go

Somebody who's better at this than I am would prob'ly find it fairly easy to run it down and make sure, but I'm thinking this is prob'ly a nice little payoff for somebody in Trump's Krony Klatch.

HuffPo:

With what may have been his first presidential order, Donald Trump made it more expensive for working- and middle-class Americans to buy their first homes. The move will increase costs for 750,000 to 850,000 Americans in the next year alone, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The Obama administration had said last week that the Federal Housing Administration would drop the cost of mortgage insurance it sells by almost a third to 0.60 percent. But after Trump took office, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which oversees the FHA, told lenders the fee cut was off. The reversal of the reduction will mean that homebuyers who borrow $200,000 under the program will see their mortgage insurance fees go up by $500 a year relative to what the Obama administration had ordered, according to figures released by the FHA when the cut was announced.

The reduction was intended to help partially offset the cost of rising mortgage rates and was scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 27. The government sells the insurance in case borrowers default.

- and -

Julian Castro, Obama’s HUD secretary, said when the fee cut was announced that the FHA’s reserve fund had grown by $44 billion in the last four years and that it was time to share these gains with borrowers. Ben Carson, Trump’s nominee to run HUD, said in his confirmation hearing that he supported undoing the fee cut, and lending trade publications reported that a reversal was likely.

Profits for me and costs for thee.

Phony-ass POTUS

I don't know all that much about it, but this body language doesn't exactly scream "Church-Goer" to me.

This is not the posture of somebody who regularly attends church. pic.twitter.com/XSg8PDGprH

— John Aravosis (@aravosis) January 21, 2017

@aravosis

Today's Tweet & GIF

@otepofficial LOL pic.twitter.com/z4YyrUuztV

— Chap (@DeadlyRice8) January 15, 2017

The Haunting

This is the best thing I've seen. #Inauguration pic.twitter.com/91P0OD4SWn

— mariana xx (@trustnorminah) January 20, 2017

Today's Tweet

LMAO! Most empty seats ever‼️

#InauguralBall #Inauguration pic.twitter.com/T3Br6EDWFa

— TheAverageBlackMan™ (@TheAvgBlackMan) January 21, 2017

Not exactly the adoring throngs he was hoping for.

A coupla screen caps from WaPo's live feed:

Where else do we see "presidential parades" where the security forces outnumber the crowd?

This does not bode well.

And y'know, it occurs to me - if almost literally nobody shows up to acknowledge the installation of the POTUS, maybe we only think there's a guy in the office, but we don't really have a president.