Trump Is Not Well

It's difficult to accept the validity of a Long-Distance Diagnosis. So even though it seems ridiculously obvious, we've seen this before when (eg) Robert Bork was saying much the same about Bill Clinton in the 90s.

So grains of salt are in order here.  

That said, it's not just a few people running around like their hair's on fire. This is becoming a very strongly-held conviction among observers who're otherwise calm and clear-eyed about such things.

Raw Story (a year ago):

But a lack of empathy is just one part of narcissistic personality disorder. Just beneath the surface layer of overwhelming arrogance lies a delicate self-esteem that is easily injured by any form of criticism. We have all seen Trump unjustifiably lash out at a number of people with harsh and often extremely odd personal attacks. When he thought he had been treated unfairly by Fox News host and Republican debate moderator Megyn Kelly, he responded by calling her a “bimbo” and later saying that she had “blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.” In response to the strange, misogynistic comments Kelly said that she “may have overestimated his anger management skills.” If the news host would have pegged him as a bona fide narcissist from the beginning she might have expected such shamelessly flagrant behavior.

To be fair, it is certainly true that not all narcissists are terrible people. Some of our most beloved celebrities and musicians have been suspected narcissists, including Elvis Presley, Marlon Brando, Kanye West, and even Alec Baldwin. Not only are these decent people, some have also done a lot of good through philanthropic work. Surely Donald Trump has more in common with these individuals than he does with a psychopath like Saddam Hussein.

There is no doubt that this has been true of the past, yet there is one critical difference between those people and Trump or Saddam. Only the latter two were in or are pursuing positions as heads of state—a role that grants enormous power over world affairs and people’s lives. While a narcissistic personality might be one of the traits that allowed Trump to be such a successful businessman and reality TV star, it is also the trait that makes him potentially dangerous as a political leader.

We were warned. People saw it coming a year ago. And since then, Trump's behavior has done nothing but reinforce the view that the guy is fucking dangerous.

And still, it seems like Congress just sits and dithers away.  I imagine they're all scrambling mightily to wrangle a deal for themselves as they work out the plan to sink Trump, but we need to get to the nut-cuttin' here, guys.

Call 'em and tell 'em. 

The Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121

Today's Tweet

This photo of an Eagle taking a hard look at itself is not a metaphor for anything that's been in the news recently pic.twitter.com/FLyANNUg44

— Sam Morris (@SamMorrisDesign) January 26, 2017

Careerism On Steroids and Triple Shot Espresso

We're not talking about if there will be an implosion, but when.

New York Magazine:

The president is a 70-year-old child whose TV time must be closely monitored — because any news story that upsets his ego will trigger a temper tantrum followed by irrational demands that his indulgent, overwhelmed guardians will be helpless to refuse.

Or so Donald Trump’s aides keep confiding to the nearest available reporter.

On Sunday, one of the president’s confidantes told Politico that his staffers have to “control information that may infuriate him,” a task made difficult by the fact that the leader of the free world “gets bored and likes to watch TV.”

-and-

Nearly a dozen of Trump’s closest confidantes helped plant an embarrassing news story about how their boss can’t handle embarrassing news stories. Which is to say: A president who prizes loyalty in his subordinates has already been betrayed by a huge swath of his inner circle.

 

hat tip = Bob and Chez Podcast

If Wal-Mart Could Vomit

Podcast From Yesterday

Bob and Chez - 24Jan2017:

Gaslighting Refresher

The whole banana from Psychology Today:

Gaslighting is a tactic of behavior in which a person or entity, in order to gain more power, makes a victim question their reality. It works a lot better than you may think. Anyone is susceptible to gaslighting. It is a common technique of abusers, dictators, narcissists, and cult leaders. It is done slowly, so the victim doesn't realize how much they've been brainwashed. In the movie Gaslight (1944), a man manipulates his wife to the point where she thinks she is losing her mind.

People that gaslight use the following techniques:

1. They tell you blatant lies.

You know it's an outright lie. Yet they are telling you this lie with a straight face. Why are they so blatant? Because they're setting up a precedent. Once they tell you a huge lie, you're not sure if anything they say is true. Keeping you unsteady and off-kilter is the goal.

2. They deny they ever said something, even though you have proof.

You know they said they would do something...you know you heard it. But they out and out deny it. It makes you start questioning your reality - maybe they never said that thing. And the more they do this, the more you question your reality and start accepting theirs.

3. They use what is near and dear to you as ammunition.

They know how important your kids are to you, they know how important your identity is to you. So that is one of the first things they attack. If you have kids, they tell you that you did a disservice by having those children. They will tell you that if only you weren't _____________, you'd be a worthy person. They attack the foundation of your being.

4. They wear you down over time.

This is one of the insidious things about gaslighting - it is done gradually, over time. A lie here, a lie there, a snide comment every so often...and then it starts ramping up. Even the brightest, most self-aware people can be sucked into gaslighting - it is that effective. It's the "frog in the frying pan" analogy - the heat is turned up slowly, so the frog never realizes what hit it.

5. Their actions do not match their words.

When dealing with a person or entity that gaslights, look at what they are doing rather than what they are saying. What they are saying means nothing. It is just talk. What they are doing is the issue.

6. They throw in positive reinforcement to confuse you.

This person or entity that is cutting you down, telling you that you don't have value - is now praising you for something you did. This adds an additional sense of uneasiness. You think, "Well maybe they aren't so bad." Yes, they are. This is a calculated attempt to keep you off-kilter - and again, question your reality. Also look at what you were praised for - it is probably something that served the gaslighter.

7. They know confusion weakens people.

Gaslighters know that all people like having a sense of stability and normalcy. Their goal is to uproot this and make you constantly question everything. And humans' natural tendency is to look to the person or entity that will help you feel more stable - and that happens to be the gaslighter.

8. They project.

They are a drug user or a cheater - yet they are constantly accusing you of that. This is done so repetitively that you start trying to defend yourself - and are distracted from the gaslighter's own behavior.

9. They try to align people against you.

Gaslighters are masters at manipulating and finding the people they know will stand by them no matter what - and they use these people against you. They will make comments such as "____________ knows that you're not right", or "___________ knows you're useless too". Keep in mind it does not mean that these people actually said these things. The gaslighter is a constant liar. When the gaslighter uses this tactic it makes you feel like you don't know who to trust or turn to - and that leads you right back to the gaslighter. And that's exactly what the want. Isolation gives them more control.

10. They tell you or others that you are crazy.

This is one of the most effective tools of the gaslighter - because it's dismissive. The gaslighter knows if they question your sanity, people will not believe you when you tell them the gaslighter is abusive or out-of-control. It's a master technique.

11. They tell you everyone else is a liar.

By telling you that everyone else (your family, the media) is a liar, it again makes you question your reality. You've never known someone with the audacity to do this, so they must be right, right? No. It's a manipulation technique. It makes people turn more to the gaslighter for the "correct" information - which isn't correct information at all.

The more you are aware of these techniques, the quicker you can identify them before you fall into the gaslighter's trap.

Copyright 2017 Sarkis Media

www.stephaniesarkis.com

 

Today's Tweet

Poor people voting is a huge problem. For instance, recently it led to 20 million Americans getting insurance & the rich paying more taxes.

— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) January 25, 2017

Today's New Normal

"...and the place was packed."
--Sean Spicer

"PRESIDENT MOBBED BY ADORING CROWD"
--Conservative Media

"We're seeing quite a surge in the president's Alternative Popularity."
--Kellyanne Conway

Today's Pix

The Coming War(s)

Trade Wars that is. 

I've spent a lot of time and effort playing Snarky McFreak-Out since 11-8-16, and I'll continue in that vein for as long as I can (because it's pretty fun), but I have to get back to my semi-wonk self and start looking at the specifics behind what I think is obviously gonna be a whole series of clusterfucks as Trump Drains The Swamp Into His Cabinet So They Can Funnel Tax Dollars Into Their Pockets.

And we might as well start with trade.

Brookings Institution:

The aim of these policies, as stated by Trump, are to address harms to U.S. workers from trade and to improve trade deals he sees as not being in the U.S. interests. These are certainly worthwhile goals. The problem is that Trump’s current trade proposals will work against each other, threatening to cancel out any gains, and likely inflicting additional costs on the very people he has pledged to help. And, as the U.S. is approaching full employment, the key challenge is less about more jobs but rather about getting at the concentrated losses in particular communities.

And holy fuck, right outa the chute, there's something I missed because I wasn't really paying attention the way I shoulda done.

For instance, Trump has stated that he plans to renegotiate NAFTA —the trade agreement with Mexico and Canada. Mexico and Canada are the U.S.’s largest export markets, together buying more U.S. goods and services than any other country. President Obama also proposed renegotiating NAFTA in 2008 and the TPP was his response. So from one perspective the TPP already achieves this goal.

But should Trump withdraw from the TPP and then seek to renegotiate NAFTA, any concessions on the part of Canada and Mexico will also require concessions by the U.S., i.e., lower tariffs and other trade barriers.

So I still (obviously) don't know all I need to know, but I gotta say Brookings is a decent thing to follow. They tackle some of the big stuff and explain it in a bite-sized-chunks kinda way. I think I'm learning.

Today's Tweet

"We can disagree & still love each other, unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression & denial of my humanity and right to exist."

— Linda Sarsour (@lsarsour) November 11, 2016

Keith

NEW VIDEO: A calm explanation to his supporters: Why @realDonaldTrump Needs To Resign Now. pic.twitter.com/PHCe0u83wO

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) January 23, 2017

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:

“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.

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.

My Guy Is Smokin' Hot

...your guy ain't doodly squat

On Hoping It's Not The End

I make a conscious effort not to get too starry-eyed about anybody, but I'm afraid I'll be missing that Obama guy somethin' awful.

Inauguration Day

We always have great hope for a new president.  This is the first time I can remember including the hope that this ass-wipe schmuck doesn't just rob us blind and then set it up to get us all killed to cover his get-away.

не мой президент

Fuck you, Trump

and the horse's ass you rode in on

Boycott

NEW VIDEO: #TheResistanceGQ is officially underway as of noon: BOYCOTT THE INAUGURATION. pic.twitter.com/wbBpMGzNLD

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) January 19, 2017

Fake Lord Have Mercy

Again, Governor - those glasses ain't foolin' nobody.

PERRY: I hope you're as much fun on that dais as you were on your couch.
FRANKEN: Well.
PERRY: May I rephrase that please?
FRANKEN: Please. pic.twitter.com/fiLWD6qTOK

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) January 19, 2017

hat tip = @kylegriffin1

And how long before we're treated to a headline along the lines of:

Energy Sec'y Perry Announces 

Nuclear Arsenal Maintenance Contract

Awarded To JiffyLube

More Than One Way

At last count, the number of Congress Critters who've said they won't attend the inauguration is pushin' towards 60.

Cummings nails the point when he says it's about the need to defend our institutions, and he's doing it his way while everybody else does it their way.

It sucks that this is where are are now.

It sucks that we're just kinda stuck with this particular battle.

It sucks that, by default, we have to own this bit of history.

It just sucks.

All we can be expected to do is to what we're able to do,

Hoping to be surprised at how able we are.

Embrace the suck

Do what you can do

Stay in the fight

resist

...but take a break once in a while too

Inside Out

I can't keep up. The twists and turns just in this one angle of this one story is enough to overload my circuits - which I think is mostly the point.  And unfortunately, it seems to be working pretty well.

HuffPo:

Two brief quotes from Breitbart’s interview with Prince should suffice:

Prince claimed he had insider knowledge of the investigation that could help explain why FBI Director James Comey had to announce he was reopening the investigation into Clinton’s email server last week....”[NYPD] found a lot of other really damning criminal information [on Weiner’s computer], including money laundering, including the fact that Hillary went to this sex island with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Bill Clinton went there more than twenty times. Hillary Clinton went there at least six times,” he said. “The amount of garbage that they found in these emails, of criminal activity by Hillary, by her immediate circle, and even by other Democratic members of Congress, was so disgusting they gave it to the FBI, and they said, ‘We’re going to go public with this if you don’t reopen the investigation and you don’t do the right thing with timely indictments,’” Prince explained. “I believe—I know, and this is from a very well-placed source of mine at One Police Plaza in New York—the NYPD wanted to do a press conference announcing the warrants and the additional arrests they were making in this investigation, and they’ve gotten huge pushback, to the point of coercion, from the Justice Department.”

Virtually all of this is untrue. Prince continued:

“So NYPD first gets that computer. They see how disgusting it is. They keep a copy of everything, and they pass a copy on to the FBI, which finally pushes the FBI off their chairs, making Comey reopen that investigation, which was indicated in the letter last week. The point being, NYPD has all the information, and they will pursue justice within their rights if the FBI doesn’t. There is all kinds of criminal culpability through all the emails they’ve seen of that 650,000, including money laundering, underage sex, pay-for-play, and, of course, plenty of proof of inappropriate handling, sending/receiving of classified information, up to Special Access Programs....The point being, fortunately, it’s not just the FBI; five different offices are in the hunt for justice, but the NYPD has it as well....From what I understand, up to the commissioner or at least the chief level in NYPD, they wanted to have a press conference, and DOJ, Washington people, political appointees have been exerting all kinds of undue pressure on them to back down....This kind of evil, this kind of true dirt on Hillary Clinton—look, you don’t have to make any judgments. Just release the emails. Just dump them. Let them out there. Let people see the light of truth.”

Prince’s statements of November 4th—whether given with the knowledge that they were untrue or without any knowledge of their accuracy whatsoever—underscore the sort of disinformation Comey feared would be given to voters, and, more importantly, believed by voters, if he did not complete his investigation into the duplicate emails and announce his findings before Election Day. This alone explains his deviation from FBI protocol prohibiting discussion of open cases (and announcements regarding major investigations within two months of a general election).

While I guess you could make the point that this has happened more than once before, if you're making that argument as a way to shrug it off and rationalize your indifference to it - well, to be as polite and as diplomatic and as non-threatening as I think the situation requires - go fuck yourself with a dry pinecone.

Today's GIF

There's at least some minimal probability that Trump isn't the first president to harbor such proclivities, but I think it's a safe bet that this is the first time it's been so widely known.

And yeah OK, there's also a fair probability that he isn't really into that, but c'mon - it's Donald-fucking-Trump. What thoroughly horrible thing is there about the guy that we're supposed to think just couldn't possibly be true at this point?  He invites that impression as a means of attracting our attention - we wouldn't wanna be rude by denying him, would we?

Today's Tweet

Why are millions of PEOPLE UNFOLLOWING TRUMP?
BOYCOTTING THE INAUGURATION#RESISTANCE pic.twitter.com/IeD2lMiMWG

— stan maloney (@YerOpinion) January 19, 2017

Thank Goodness It Wasn't Me

On Trump's plan for the White House press corps:

Watch this video on The Scene.

So Here We All Are

Right along with lots of others, I've been pissin' and moanin' about the Culture of Corruption and the fact that we've evolved a system of Legalized Bribery for quite a while.

Wilbur Ross will oversee #Trump's business patents. He'll help Trump profit from the presidency. #RiggedCabinet pic.twitter.com/uaRNzemZff

— American Bridge (@American_Bridge) January 18, 2017

They don't even bother to pretend they're trying to hide it from us anymore.

As If It Matters Now

CNN:

Last year was officially the Earth's warmest since record-keeping began in the 1880s, the World Meteorological Organization announced Wednesday morning.

That means 2016 set a global heat record for the third year in a row according to NOAA and NASA, who held a joint press conference on Wednesday to discuss the record.

 

Kaboom

Bernie's right where we need him to be, doing exactly what we need him to do. 

And sometimes, I'd just like to be there to hold the guy's coat while he fucks 'em up.

It's a simple question, @RepTomPrice. Do you believe that health care is a right of all Americans, whether rich or poor? #PriceIsWrong pic.twitter.com/7IkfgWfauF

— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) January 18, 2017

That's A Bit Much

I'm trying hard not to think of this as a harbinger, but I'm plenty old enough to remember when a Buddhist monk in Saigon did this very thing in protest of an oppressive Daddy State  (I think it may have been in my Weekly Reader in about 5th or 6th grade); and there was a regular guy named Norman Morrison who did it just outside the Pentagon to protest the war.

They succeeded in killing themselves but we went forward with the Vietnam project anyway and a coupla million people died; at least partly because we chose to ignore the warnings.

Paraphrasing MLK, violent protest is the language of people whose voices are unheard. Maybe we could listen to what's being said this time?

#BREAKING: Man lights fire near #TrumpInternationalHotel. Employees call police. Man told me he's from CA & protesting #TrumpInauguration pic.twitter.com/noUwttKRL5

— Shomari Stone (@shomaristone) January 18, 2017

via Raw Story

A man who attempted to set himself on fire Tuesday night in front Trump International as part of a protest against the incoming president was rushed to a hospital with burns, reports NBC4.

According to DC police, they were called to the newly opened hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue hotel after receiving a report of a person “in distress.”

Speaking with reporters, the unidentified man claimed he was attempting to set himself on fire to protest the election of businessman Donald Trump, whose inauguration is set for this Friday.

“I was trying to light myself on fire as an act of protest,” the man explained before he was taken to a nearby hospital. “To protest the fact that we’ve elected someone who is completely incapable of respecting the Constitution of the United States.”

There was no report on the extent of his injuries.

Today's Podcast

Bob and Chez:



On Press Poodles and Trump's "plan" to do what Trump always does - make nice with Daddy or Daddy will fuck you up.

Starting at about 25:00, we get to the meat of the matter as the guys illustrate what looks a lot like Trump's attempt to dismantle the tattered remains of the 4th Estate - ie: consider your exile a gift, because then you'll have practically nothing more to lose and that gives you the freedom to do your job the way it's meant to be done.  You're the receiver going over the middle - there's a safety or a linebacker looking to hammer somebody.  And make no mistake, he's gonna pound your ass whether you catch the ball or not - so catch the fuckin' football.

Telling

GOP voters are begging the people they voted into office not to fuck 'em over by repealing ACA, and those representatives are high-fiving each other for moving to repeal it anyway.

What does that tell us about the GOP?

What does it tell us about ourselves?

What does it say about how fucked up it has to get before we figure out that it's fucked up?

Trump's The Chump

Donald Trump projects his own shit onto everyone else.  I realize that's not exactly news, but that is actually the point - that he just keeps hammering on it until you throw up your hands and give in.

Blue Gal and driftglass call it a Denial Of Service Attack. 
Bob and Chez call it the Tennis Ball Machine. 
Olbermann calls it Chaff.

And I can tell you, I'm struggling not to blow it all off and walk away.  For the 69 days since the election, this whole thing has felt the way I image it feels to be stuck in a war zone.

Unfortunately, I think it might just get worse after Friday.

There's no indication this guy will feel constrained in any way on anything at any time.

Here's a quick scorecard from Dana Milbank at WaPo - talking about why The Peddler-in-Chief don't get no respect:

To Trump’s many self-assigned superlatives, he can now add another: the sorest winner. With charity for none and with malice toward all but his supporters, he has in the past two months set a new standard for gracelessness in victory.

When a well-heeled practitioner of Both-Siderism like Dana Milbank puts up a column that never once says, "...but the Democrats...", maybe there's been a bit of a shift.  I won't hold my breath, but wouldn't that be nice?

Anyway, Trump likes to throw shit, and the method to this madness is to keep us from seeing the shenanigans he's really up to because we're trying to deal with all the flying shit.

Apply that to Washington, and you've got a US Congress using Trump's shit-flinging as cover for their skullduggery too.

And of course, when they think he's no longer useful, they can impeach Trump, selling that little project to us like they're a bunch of fucking heroes righting a terrible wrong and bringing the country together and blah blah blah.

With a few minor tweaks, it fits too perfectly with the usual GOP formula:

1) Fuck it up.

2) Point at it and say, "Oh look - it's fucked up".

3) Propose your "solution".

And won't that be a kick in the head? We'll be rid of Trump, and it'll only cost us our Healthcare Coverage, Social Security, Medicare and a whole package of rollbacks of basic protections on Civil Rights, Environment, Consumer Finance, etc -  plus we get President Mike Pence in the bargain. Lucky us.

Grease up and bend over, America - nobody goes unfucked.

Today's Tweet

PEOTUS is a seriously-deranged bag of poorly-executed low-end dildos.

Another horrible night porch drinking & grilling in #fifthdistrict Thanks @repjohnlewis @ajc #defendthe5th #Riseup #swatl #atl #atlanta pic.twitter.com/GE0kGRwJMt

— Dantes Rameau (@DantesRameau) January 15, 2017

Jay Smooth