NEW VIDEO: A calm explanation to his supporters: Why @realDonaldTrump Needs To Resign Now. pic.twitter.com/PHCe0u83wO— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) January 23, 2017
Jan 23, 2017
Keith
One From Slate
William Saletan - Slate:
A Morally Empty Man Gave A Morally Empty Speech
Trump’s narcissism and cynicism seemed boundless. He said blacks had stayed home on Election Day “because they liked me.” He implied that the agency in charge of enforcing immigration laws had supported his candidacy: “ICE endorsed Trump.” He suggested that Phyllis Schlafly, the conservative activist who died last year, had endorsed him out of sheer opportunism. Trump, speaking of himself, paraphrased Schlafly this way: “I don’t care what exactly he is. He’s like an unknown quantity. But he is gonna win.” Trump said Priebus had made the same calculation. In Trump’s mind, these people didn’t care what sort of person he was. They just wanted power. And he admires them for it.
On Friday, a morally empty man gave a morally empty speech. There was no talk of humility, no acknowledgment of enduring prejudice, no plea for decency. Instead, Trump railed against foreigners and “a small group in our nation’s capital” that “has reaped the rewards of government.” In place of Bush’s praise for mosques, Trump spoke of Islam only as a source of terrorism. The man who ran on a platform of “take the oil” fumed that American wealth had been “redistributed all across the world.” He accused countries of “stealing our companies and destroying our jobs.”
This is why Trump is unworthy of your respect. It’s not because he didn’t win the popular vote. It’s not because of his party or his policies. It’s not because of Russia. It’s because of who he is. For all his faults, even those that turned out to be disastrous, Bush was a decent man. He believed in something greater than himself. Trump doesn’t.
With Apologies To Mr Truman
Sarah Cooper - on psychological warfare:
I won't be forgiving of willful ignorance. I won't be tolerant of Alternative Facts. I won't be quiet about it.
And while I'll always try not to be deliberately unkind to you, understand that I'll fail in that regard on occasion, because I won't treat you like a child by tiptoeing around your delicate sensibilities.
I'm really not trying to be an asshole about it - it just seems like too many people are trying to make it impossible for me not to be.
So put all of this under "Sorry-Not-Sorry-But".
“But reporters were clapping and laughing, they loved it.” — a commenter defending Trump’s first press conference.
“But members of the CIA were clearly laughing at his jokes and clapping, so what he was saying couldn’t have been inappropriate.” — CNN pundit defending Trump’s CIA speech where he talked about his war with the media, in front of a memorial to men and women who lost their lives in actual wars.
The clapping and laughing you hear in both instances are Trump’s own people. They are sycophants who he brings to cheer him on and make it seem like what he’s saying is being well-received. And it’s working.
The laugh track was invented to cue the audience to the jokes and encourage laughter in response. But it has another effect: if you hear people laughing and you’re not, you start to question if maybe there’s something wrong with you for not getting it. You might even impulsively start laughing just to fit in, not because you think anything is funny. In fact that’s how these fluffers work — one person initiates a clap and suddenly everyone thinks there’s something to clap for. And then everyone is clapping. For no reason.It's business and it's politics. It's the business of politics, and the merging of politics with business, wrapped in the flag and blessed by the church. The result is the institutionalized hyper-corruption-on-steroids called Fascism. In that system especially, if you wanna friend, buy a dog.
I won't be forgiving of willful ignorance. I won't be tolerant of Alternative Facts. I won't be quiet about it.
And while I'll always try not to be deliberately unkind to you, understand that I'll fail in that regard on occasion, because I won't treat you like a child by tiptoeing around your delicate sensibilities.
I'm really not trying to be an asshole about it - it just seems like too many people are trying to make it impossible for me not to be.
So put all of this under "Sorry-Not-Sorry-But".
If you come in here without a helmet,
you might leave with some brain damage.
A Tweet
Don't worry guys, our lawmakers are looking out for us... pic.twitter.com/EefyBOoAuU— Patt Kelley (@pattkelley) June 13, 2016
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.
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.
Jan 22, 2017
The March(es)
In case you were wondering about that accapella thing that happened yesterday in Washington.
Quiet --MILCK
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.
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
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
Jan 21, 2017
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'.
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:
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.
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