sleekandchic

OMG. MSNBC is making me scream! FOX News had its success because of its crystal-clear, all-encompassing, BURNING hatred for President Obama. I didn't expect MSNBC to fall completely in line with pure hatred of Trump (we liberals are too soft-hearted) but I did count on the network to be capable and pressing in its loyal opposition. Now they've added a Greta van Sustern POV, and she's got McCain and Priebus as her first guests, calling President Obama a "high school"-type adversary? NO! My opinion of Rachel Maddow plummeted last week in a matter of minutes. Greta's attitudes toward our president and people of color were CRYSTAL CLEAR on her Fox show. Disgusting. Was it my imagination, or did Lawrence O'Donnell's "illness" last week come over him VERY suddenly? He was absent from his show three days. I like Ari Melber VERY much, so his guest-hosting was fine with me, but I wondered if Lawrence wasn't protesting the van Sustern/Megyn Kelly/devil's advocate developments? I didn't see the Kornacki performance described here, but if MSNBC is directing its people to start playing devil's advocate for Trump, I will stop watching the network completely. Morning Joe is disgusting, Rachel is a major disappointment. I will watch Chris Hayes tonight, hope Lawrence is back, continue to support Joy, and hope that Ari Melber gets more exposure. Chris Matthews can go to hell with his constant fawning over Conway, but, at least, I don't believe he will begin a love affair with Trump. Let's see. Right now I am deeply disgusted with MSNBC. And their commercials!!! OMG, cut it out!!!

...or sexual assault/rape. He will grab the wrong woman one day, who will not be afraid to press charges. We already know from his own mouth that he feels empowered and entitled to grab women because he's "a star." So imagine his out-of-control ego once he's in the WH. Many beautiful women will pass his way, including women with power in their own right. He's gonna trip up. He's already bored with his new job, that's why he can't stop tweeting. Tweeting is fun! Reading reports and Intel and legislative-bills is BORING! How do we think he's gonna relax and pass his time? Women and more women. He DESERVES that perk! He's entitled to it. That's the real reason that Melania will remain in NYC. I'm waiting for the day his hubris disgraces him. Re tweets: I remember how sad President Obama was to learn that he had to give up his BlackBerry after he assumed office. Secret Service said it was a matter of security...not safe. So I'm curious about DT keeping his phone. Jesus, freaking tweets have international incident written all over them.

This is very sad to learn, but completely understandable. Thank you, Dave, and all the mods who watched over the CE&P forum and its busy threads You guys did a masterful job on our behalf. Dave, when you move the forum to The Vault, please make sure it's climate-controlled and comfy cozy in there. I think many of us will be visiting often for re-reads and courage.

Random thoughts on Trump/Putin/Assange vs Our Intel Agencies: It doesn't bother me at all that we as private citizens do not know the specifics of the reasons our Intel reached their conclusions. I don't want to know about our spy networks or our particular methods of hacking and cyber-sleuthing. The second those details are public they're no longer viable. Real people in the field will be caught, tortured, imprisoned, killed. And any cyber espionage we've perfected will be extinct. Suppose Trump were president during the hunt for bin Laden? President Obama told Intel that finding and capturing or killing bin Laden was his highest priority. I'm sure everybody here has either read the post-mortems or watched the documentaries about what exactly went down in those years and final days. The unbelievable dance our agents did with surveillance and undercover snitches and double agents. The night before Mr Obama had to make his final decision to go, the military told him they could be only 40 percent sure the man in the compound was actually bin Laden. VP Biden advised against the mission; Secy Clinton argued for it. So how would Trump handle such a scenario? Tweet out that our intelligence officers are incompetent because they couldnt give him better odds? Call Putin to ask WWVD? Where does the buck stop, and how can we ever trust Donald Trump to have the country's best interests in the forefront of every decision he makes? The worst realization for me already -- before the man is even sworn in -- is that I don't believe DT is a patriot. I think he would betray his country, his military and Intel operatives, and us, his citizens, very very easily. His first and only focus is himself. If I were part of our Intel community, I'd be tortured, absolutely tortured, wondering if the secrets shared with DT would be passed by him to our enemies. Names, locations, operations. Don't forget that the FBI already found that a private server used by Paul Manafort while he was campaign manager for Trump and working out of Trump Tower offices had heavy traffic to and from Russia. I don't think I will ever understand Comey's actions and inactions during the campaign. Can he sleep at night? We are in trouble folks.

First of all, please forgive me and excuse my lack of acknowledgements and Likes to the very many posts here with which I agree. I am exhausted and forlorn. DT is like the drunk uncle or PITA office bigot you can't escape. Donald Trump is insane. He's not a diplomat or a statesman or a reasonable person. Then, when we have a foreign leader, a Netanyahu, who plays the game of stroking and pandering, to endear himself to an unstable authority figure? Well, to me it gets frightening. President Obama is anti-Semitic and an enemy of the Israeli state? Okay. And I have two heads, three feet, two noses and one eye. Smack in the middle of my forehead. Come on Mr President- Elect Trump! Please grow up, please recognize your place in the world. Please. I honestly think that Mr Trump is a bottomless pit of need and want. He needs love and petting. I hereby am willing to sacrifice my life to stroking and petting him. I'm 5'10" swedish-American, naturally platinum and blue eyes, stereotypical "attractive" woman he seems to like.. Age 33 (3 years older than his "perfect" 30). I'm smart, but can pretend I'm not. I could pull it off, keep him happy. Occupied. "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." Give me a chance, Donald!

Do Joe and Mika and their guests know that many of Tillerson's esteemed boosters have deep, significant financial ties to Russia and to Exxon Mobil? If they don't know, why not? If they do know but deliberately hide it from their audience, why? At the least, they're derelict. For example, the international consulting firm RICE Hadley GATES works for Exxon. And James Baker, a partner in the law firm Baker Botts, represents both Exxon AND Rosneft, the Russian state-owned oil company that partners with Exxon. Baker Botts also represents Gazprom, the Russian state gas company. See link below. Also interesting to learn via that link that Bob Dole is a lobbyist for Taiwan and receives $20K a month for his services. He lobbied Trump and his team for months to set up that phone call with the Taiwanese prez This stuff is so insidious and skullduggery, and all Joe and Mika seem to care about is their Trump insider status; facts and audience be damned. Joe and Mika look like fools when they wink and say things like "...oh keep an eye on Corker for SOS," cause Trump changes his mind in a nanosecond. Their insider chats are nothing but bullshit sessions meant to make Joe and Mika feel "important," and to groom them to become apparatchik/stooges. Foxes in the henhouse, and journalists and politicians giving up their ethical and moral obligations, for VANITY. http://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/rex-tillerson-supporters-russia-exxon-ties-232524

Rachel Maddow now on MSNBC previewing the Eichenwald story. Exclusive.

(Please ignore Spoiler box.) There's no way on earth I could ever believe that Bethenny would enjoy life as a stepmom to several children. One way or the other, through alternating days and years, the kids' welfare would have to be discussed, analyzed and acted on. Bethenny would hate being a supporting player in her own life. She needs the spotlight on her at all times. Her Dennis fling is (or, was) doomed. In my opinion, many of B's character traits remind me of our current president-elect. So...I want them to start having an affair. Think of the crossover programming opportunities! The ratings! I mean, so many conventional rules and expectations have been suddenly and happily cast aside, I don't see a reason that a married prez can't have an open relationship with another woman. DT plans on spending lots of time in NYC anyway; and Melania won't mind B subbing for her during state dinners or Kennedy Center events. I just think a B and D romance would spark excitement and ratings for both parties and their projects. OMG the live tweeting scoops during the broadcasts would be AMAZING! Gonna start lobbying for this idea like immediately! :) ;)

Generals, generals, generals! Donald better be careful. He might have a junta on his hands in a year. Trump did everything in his and daddy's power to make sure he didn't have to serve in the military. And his unbelievably nasty attitude toward POW McCain during the campaign showed that Donald doesn't respect or gives a damn about the military. (I don't count his words to the contrary. He lies so much.) So why this fascination with surrounding himself with old generals. He likes their tough nicknames? Or their shiny medals? Or their uniforms? Maybe he'll commission a design of a uniform for himself! He's Commander in Chief soon. White with lots of gold. Epaulettes. Shiny gold boots. Oh and fancy headgear, maybe with ostrich or flamingo feathers. No wait! Peacock feathers! A day or so ago I saw Marla Maples go through the lobby and upstairs in Trump Tower. Anybody seen or heard from Ivana lately? God, their NDA must be draconian. I mean, she can't be getting alimony anymore right? She's been married a couple of times since her divorce from trump. Will she be invited to the inaugural or galas, etc. I mean, they do share three kids and eight grandkids together. Does Donald have her chained in a basement? What secrets does she keep? Wonder how the three oldest feel about their mother not being included in anything. Then again, I would understand BIGLY if it's Ivana's own choice just to stay away.

Please ignore quote boxes. [EDIT: Thank you for removing those, Mystery Mod!] <3 TIME's decision is not surprising. The editors' rationale makes sense. I wonder though if he's pleased with his cover photo? His beloved hair looks even worse than usual on the side, his scalp is plainly visible, with strands of hair pasted down; and his face looks demonic to me. Then, in its announcement, TIME added the "photographed on the 66th floor" business, and I have to laugh. Is the unnecessary reference to the floor number meant to evoke 666? http://time.com/time-person-of-the-year-2016-donald-trump-choice/

I think it was Monday's show when I caught a few minutes of Peter Alexander reporting (from another studio) on the twitter storm Trump went on against China. At the end of his report, Peter declared that twitter continues to be a powerful tool for Trump, with his 25 million followers. But, then, Peter said he was interested enough to check who Trump himself follows on twitter. He said he was surprised to see that Trump's followed-list contained only 40 people, mostly family members and employees of the Trump organization. Then Peter kind of slyly added, "as well as you and Mika, of course, Joe." Joe got shifty-eyed and I don't believe he commented, but Mika lowered her eyes to her papers, and quietly muttered, "very elite company."

That Mnuchin person is some piece of work. No empathy, no decency, no soul. Donald's eharmony match, perhaps? I read somebody who said the Trump administration will be Bonfire of the Vanities redux. Masters of the effing Universe. Or, to put it another way -- to my way of thinking -- the reemergence of the Rule of jerks and creeps and mega-selfish cretins. Donald's entire campaign -- as well as the spewings of his compatriots Giuliani and Christie and Flynn, et al -- was all about projection. Railing against Secy Clinton's speeches to Wall Street, predicting that she'd rig the election, accusing her of illegally deleting subpoenaed email, for example -- while he and his cronies have done all of the above. He's despicable. And, obviously, he misspoke when he promised to drain the swamp. Obviously he meant he would fertilize the swamp, then open the dam to make sure the swamp overflows and suffocates and drowns all of us standing on the shore. @Lunata, I know how you feel. But I also know you're an intelligent, thoughtful person. You'll never stop voting. Your sense of fair play won't allow you to shut yourself down. But, my husband and I have definitely decided not to start our family in 2017, as we planned. I feel mournful. He's a few years younger than I, but I'm 33, and ready for a child. Won't do it now, can't do it. Too much uncertainty. Trump is a powder keg. For now, I'll devote myself to my clients, niece and nephews. My elderly great-grans and grans. What hath Trump wrought? For me, fear and trepidation. But I'll never stop voting, and @Lunata, neither will you. :)

The popular vote is extremely meaningFUL to Donald, however. That's why he started the lie that 2 or 3 million voters were frauds and ineligible to vote. He says that deducting those bogus votes shows that HE WON the popular vote. Secy Clinton's 2.5 million lead in the popular vote is driving Donald cray cray. I personally think he would have rather won the pop vote and lost the election in the electoral college. Bragging rights for the rest of his life, plus a return to the life he really loves. Right now he's living his nightmare of "careful what you wish for." Man. Such a spoiled, narcissistic, pigheaded, whiny crybaby of a "man." Makes me sick. And he is SO SELFISHLY WILLFUL that he will purposely open us to War just to prove that he's THE MAN, and that his penis is at least average size, although it's actually a teeny weenie. Teeny-weenie Trump. My latest nick for this monster.

Ted Cruz is actually all right with the Taiwan call? Moron: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ted-cruz-applauds-trump-s-precedent-defying-call-with-taiwan Meanwhile, China has issued a warning to Trump. Lovely: https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/china-directs-warning-to-trump-after-his-controversial-call-with-taiwan Things I've learned from this thread and online news: Trump spoke to the Taiwanese prez about his desire to see Trump hotels go up there. Trump owns a $250K investment in United Technologies, Carrier's parent. Trump has hosted meetings with Japanese and Pakistani govt officials, when he also spoke about his properties in those two countries. So hasn't Trump already crossed lines? Isn't his impeachment inevitable? Or have the Republicans on Capitol Hill decided to excuse and to lie for Trump, no matter what his transgression? And Pence as prez scares me just as much. Maybe Trump WANTS to be impeached? WANTS the trial as a glittery, daily Reality Show with himself as STAR! I mean, he really isn't interested in the Presidency. Too boring for him I guess. Asshole. P.S. I despise kellyanne conway. My hatred is palpable.

I think Trump is already showing us that he plans to be a figurehead president only, while leaving the 24/7 policy details, negotiations, appointments and minutaie to Pence. I haven't forgotten the John Kasich-camp revelation that Trump Jr had offered the VP slot to Kasich, with the promise that K would be the most powerful VP in U.S. history since Trump would allow him to run both foreign and domestic policies. (Later, DT Jr issued a nebulous denial; but Gov K confirmed the account given by his aide to the press.) Contrary to the LOOK AT ME! I'M WORKING SO HARD! MAKING DECISIONS! -show we're being fed daily from Trump's lobby, I think DT is doing bare minimum as far as interviewing candidates and mapping out his policies. Conway is already on public record (WashPo) talking about how easy it is to manipulate Trump's thinking (the "instead of six brownies, maybe eat two"-doctrine). Now, we see many of the appointees so far are Pence/Ryan friends and loyalists, as well as outdated Republican has-beens, billionaires and Goldman Sachs. People who want to abolish the VA and privatize all veterans' programs. People who want to privatize Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. SO many of Trumps appointees hold opinions and mindsets diametrically opposed to Trump's promises during the campaign. He had depicted himself as the anti-Republican Republican...the "compassionate" Uniter. Now his appointments show that he really just doesn't care about the nitty gritty or the philosophy of his campaign. He said what was expedient, but he never cared. He loves the spotlight and adulation, but that's about the extent of his interest. Trump is allowing others to mold and to run his administration. I believe he's already bored with the Office of the Presidency. Hence, the tweeting-crutch and the announcement of a victory/thank you tour are front and center. Trump is like an aging rock star who craves that Farewell Tour just one more time, to see if he's still got "it," and if the groupies will still grovel. Trouble is, he's a bottomless pit of need, and all he will look forward to are more and more farewell tours. Oh, he'll still manipulate the occasional stunt to show he's keeping his promises, for ex, the Carrier deal. But only if the "deals" reflect brightly on his brilliance as the ultimate dealmaker. And the fact that his deals, like Carrier, will be nonpermanent, short-term, bandaid fixes, will not matter. Out of sight, out of mind. I'm genuinely scared of where we're headed. Trump supporters are not getting the Trump they voted for; and the supporters AND we opponents are getting a usurper president in Pence. That's not supposed to be how my country does it. As an aside, I've reached the conclusion that President Obama has been scared shitless by his interactions with the President-elect. I can't think of any other reasons for the frequent 45 min/one hour phone convos between the two men. It's a losing battle, imho, but President Obama is trying to be the Trump-whisperer. Barack Obama will be a patriot until the end. And the gaunt, much-thinner Mitt Romney's newest endorsement of Trump as America's greatest hope ALSO convinces me that MR has also been scared shitless and doing whatever he can to wiggle into the Secy of State spot, to save the planet from Trump. Wouldn't surprise me to read somebody's memoir in 50 years revealing how Obama and Romney teamed to TRY to save our country and the world. And just my opinion of course, but Trump in the WH will be a ticking time bomb. I think the revolving door of willing sex partners will make Bill Clinton's unforgivable sexcapades look like amateursville. Trump will have WAY to much time on his hands.

Forgive me, everybody. I'm not usually a self-indulgent person. I feel like I'm jumping out of my skin. Today was such a bad day. I work (mainly) within two communities that Trump has demonized. It's been scary and hurtful for my clients since November 9, but today was WILDLY off the charts. I'm always professional, but stopped by my parents' before heading home to NJ, and unexpectedly cried and cried. Jeez, I lost control. I think I absorbed all the fear. My husband and I were going to try for a baby in 2017. I can't do it. I feel an obligation to others now that's so strong. It's too scary. I'm so sad, a kind of mourning. You know, my family owns a small company whose name some people might recognize. They trekked over from Europe 19th century, and most continued on to heartland America. But a small core planted themselves in NYC and refused to budge. Now here we are, liberal, activist, humanitarian, philanthropic, social Democrats with a decent reputation. Dad and both granddads not happy I haven't joined up, but they understand my stubborn streak and they're biding their time. So I'm stereotypical Scandinavian in appearance, and wondering if I should go Mata Hari within Trumpland? My husband says NO! I'm not so sure. This is a terrible, terrible time for America and for all of us. And I include Trump supporters, too. They.just.don't.realize...what has been unleashed. Fingers crossed I can sleep three hours tonight. Nighty everyone. God bless us, everyone.

I agree that Barron should be off-limits. He is 10 years old and an innocent. He SEEMS like a self-possessed, obedient little boy. Tall, handsome, white and rich, he has many privileges. I think his mom is loving and protective, which, to me, overrides any other birthright. God bless the child. Be happy, Barron.

Here's a story about the resignation of one Obama official. Read what he says about the state of the world and tell me it doesn't scare you. I cannot imagine that Donald Trump is capable of processing the monumental job of the Presidency. And knowing that he's relying on people like Flynn, Bolton, Guiliani for natl security guidance makes it 1000x worse to me. http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/17/politics/dni-james-clapper-submitted-his-resignation/index.html

Ha! http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=meat puppet

CNN @9AM ET Next hour Trump transition team will give press briefing. Sources say this will be a daily event moving forward. Maybe Joe was there this morning to give guidance? Cause he's so "media savvy"? I'm sure he'd stay behind the scenes because I doubt NBC as his employer would appreciate Joe doing this officially. If he wants to actually join the admin, he needs to resign from NBC. Since the prez himself makes a mere $400K, no way Joe can keep his $8 mill paycheck. So he will probably need to remain behind the curtain.

Omg oakville you are killing me! Here's my theory: Joe is over at The Tower this morning negotiating to be DT's consigliere. Remember in The Godfather? Robert Duvall's character (lawyer Tom Hagen). He did the quiet dirty work. Like the Hollywood producer who refused Don Corleone's request found the decapitated head of his favorite horse under his bedsheets. Remember? That will be Joe. Then the "rehabilitation" of Steve Bannon can begin. Bannon can give a heartfelt speech, apologizing for any misconceptions, explaining the noble purpose and cause of the Boss. Straight out of Hitler's playbook. Meanwhile, Joe will be the undercover strongman. Oh those late night bullshit sessions! Joe, Steve, Jared and Da Boss! Meanwhile, Kellyanne Cryptmistress is diverting Mika's attention. When Conway returns to the Dark Tower this morning, she will entice Joe into the mistress bedroom for sex over, under, and including the chandelier. All will be filmed for blackmail purposes against Joe and to show Mika so she breaks off her relationship. Divide and conquer is Trump's SOP.

CNN @ 5:30amET: Japan's Prime Minister Abe will meet with DT today. Members of Trump's transition team have told Abe's aides that the PM should NOT take all that the President-elect says LITERALLY! http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/16/politics/japan-abe-trump-visit/index.html

No. 3,147 on my list of What I Will Miss About President Obama: Watching him zoom down the steps of Air Force One. He's a combo of dancer and athlete. Happy to arrive, anxious to get on with business.

In the photo above with Floyd Mayweather, Trump looks like he's put on 10 to 15 lbs already. Lots of stress-eating and/or boredom-eating going on. Wow. This business of securing Trump Tower by shutting down Fifth has GOT to stop. I'm willing to give him until January 20 but that's it. Figure out how to make Mar-A-Lago his weekend getaway. Or learn to slum it at Camp David. For gods sake, inconveniencing the City of New York and the U.S. Secret Service and tens of thousands of citizens, tenants, shop owners and tourists might be a fun hobby for a bored guy, but how does it translate to this "populist," "blue-collar billionaire" BS he's pretending? Like many, I'm worried about a Trump admin's plans for human rights and deportations and immigration and entitlements and climate change and tax changes for those not in the top 2%. But I'm more worried about literal survival on planet Earth. I'm serious. According to this July 28 th article, the Trumps' SS code names are Mogul and Muse. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/07/28/here-are-the-2016-candidates-secret-service-code-names-and-your-own/ @gohawks, I feel for you, your son and family. I've been doing a lot of attempted comforting since election day among my colleagues, friends and clients. I'm not being successful because I have no faith in what I'm saying. The fears are palpable. Lots of people can't sleep through the night anymore, including me. PS Just saw a commercial for a new 6-part series on AHC on Hitler's rise to power. The voiceover said "his voice, his poses...they were ALL an act!" Yeah, no kidding.

Just want to say that Sen Kaine seemed like an old-fashioned, decent, semi-goofy, down-to-earth guy to me. I'm not Catholic but attended Catholic school and have tremendous respect for Jesuit education. Mr Pence drives me cray cray. Don't expect anyone to agree with me, but the fact that Mrs Pence has been GLUED to his side since his nomination makes me wonder. My husband and family think maybe SHE is afraid to leave him alone. BUT, I think he himself is afraid to be left on his own. Temptation, but not girly temptation (my opinion).