Donald John Trump: 2016 President-Elect

[Padma]

On the subject of the DC hotel. I don't see any indication he plans to sell it at all. He's going to keep it and the Republicans are going to let him keep it, conflicts and all.   Unless there's a way to effectively sue him over some of his conflicts of interests, he's going to ignore the critics and do exactly as he wants to.

[Rapunzel]

4 minutes ago, Padma said:

 On the subject of the DC hotel. I don't see any indication he plans to sell it at all. He's going to keep it and the Republicans are going to let him keep it, conflicts and all.   Unless there's a way to effectively sue him over some of his conflicts of interests, he's going to ignore the critics and do exactly as he wants to.

The conflicts are in the lease itself. It states that no elected official can be party to it. That's where Trump may have issues and several experts have already stated that he has to give this up when he is officially President. In addition, turning it over to his kids doesn't necessarily satisfy the terms of lease either. With Tubby though, who knows what will happen.

On another topic, the fact that Tubby's supporters actually booed John Glenn is unfathomable. These people are complete morons and can't recognize a true American hero. He sacrificed for this country and fought in wars before he ever went into space. He gave up large portions of his life to help and serve his country. He was the last of the Mercury 7 to survive. He truly was an American Hero - he went above and beyond what was expected of him, served our country, went into politics, and, whether or not you agree with his politics, he was truly a remarkable human being. He deserves the upmost respect. Those that boo at his name should be ashamed of themselves. Most of them probably have never even come close to sacrificing for their country or serving it in the way that John Glenn did.

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, sistermagpie said:

Why would they boo? Because they think the moon landing's a fake? Because he science friendly? Did they confuse him with someone else? Just assume since Trump mentioned him they were supposed to boo?

Because, as a Senator, he had a "D" after his name.  That's likely all it took, but perhaps it's assuming too much to think they even knew he'd been a Democrat (since he was pretty moderate); the fact he was part of NASA, with its focus on, you know, science and facts (which apparently have a liberal bias, are elitist, and otherwise should be dismissed in this Bizzarro World in which we now live), probably didn't help. 

[Padma]

Speaking of Tubby and the DC hotel....

How much is he going to hate living in the WH? As far as I can tell, he's never even slept one night in DC--where it would be more convenient for the transition.  If he did, you know he's want to stay at his own hotel ("Damn the cost to taxpayers and the inconvenience to SS and annoyance for my patrons!"), probably in the $18,000/night "presidential suite".  (And, yes, he's got that clause in his lease...but ... the GSA doesn't seem to care! Even though they will be the landlords of the President of the United STates, who is also their boss.  Republicans will do nothing about it. Who is going to enforce it? Maybe a law suit, but if it goes to the SC, they'll set a precedent by letting Tubby do whatever he wants. "If I do it, it's not illegal. Or a conflict of interest. Or corrupt. Period. And that goes for my family, too."

I think that will pretty much be the doctrine.

Anyway, I'm not at all convinced that he is CAPABLE of living in the White House away from his gilded triplex in his home of nearly 40 years, 58 story Trump Tower in mid-town Manhattan.  Washington DC?  The White House? Maybe it would be okay for a night.  A week?  A month?  No way!  I'm sure the kids will stay with hi for a while, but  I just don't think the worn down, crowded old place where so many others have lived and worked before him will have ANY comfort level for him at all.  I don't think he's flexible AT ALL--it's "my plane, my penthouse, my estate, my limo and drivers"... But life's not going to be like that any more and I believe he will HATE IT!!!

Hee.                                               

[backformore]

3 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

It's almost as if Trump thinks he has the charisma that B. Clinton has when it comes to the ladies (and speaking/interacting with others) and the charisma that Obama has when it comes to speaking and interacting with others. B. Clinton and Obama two men ooze charisma.

Trump oozes rapey raper who rapes spray with pepper spray first, run away and don't stick around to ask questions later.

Women KNOW this guy.  We've all been there.  Trump is the asshole at the party who tries to impress you by dropping what kind of car he drives, how much money he has. He tells all the guys that he can have any woman he wants, they all want him.    Women go along to humor him, and the smart ones make excuses to get away from him.  If you reject his advances, he'll tell everyone that you're  ugly, or fat, or probably gay. 

[savannah1985]

I don't want to go overboard but it just seems like we're on a really slippery slope kind of like when Hitler won the election for Chancellor in 1933 and started building up the restrictions against Jews so that by 1940 he had everything in place to really start rounding them up.  It took most people a while to figure out just how evil his policies were and it frightens me to think that's where we are headed.

[slf]

Now Trump supporters want to #DumpStarWars because they just realized the Sith are a Nazi allegory. So at this point more and more of them aren't pretending anymore what their motives for electing Trump were.

Let's see: they bought Starbucks coffee, wrote Trump's name on them, and then photographed them as 'protest'. They aren't going to buy tickets to a musical that's sold out for about two years as 'protest'. They bought a lot of cereal and then filmed/photographed themselves dumping it as a 'protest'. Now they are 'protesting' Star Wars. (I feel like they don't always get that buying the product you're boycotting is the opposite of what you're supposed to do. Then again, absolutely no thought goes into planning these 'protests'; they're just tantrums. They're mad so they're flailing their little balled fists, faces red, feet stamping, demanding attention and to be given their way.)

And they call us lefties 'whiny' 'special snowflakes'.

[Jediknight]

2 hours ago, slf said:

Now Trump supporters want to #DumpStarWars because they just realized the Sith are a Nazi allegory. So at this point more and more of them aren't pretending anymore what their motives for electing Trump were.

It's not the Sith, it's the Empire.  I can't believe that in Star Wars that a government that rules with an iron fist, wants to kill anybody that dares oppose them by speaking, and their troops are Storm Troopers, are an allegory for Nazis and fascism.  I can't believe how Disney is destroying Star Wars, it never had any of that in the original movies, if they did have that stuff, it would have been noticed for the last 40 years.  It's funny how many people actually think the original movies didn't have that stuff, and that it's only because of Disney that Star Wars villains are a Nazi allegory.

I wonder if this boycott will involve buying merchandise featuring The Empire and First Order.

Edited December 9, 2016 by Jediknight

[stormy]

Stop having your Hitleresque rallies you flaccid prick.

Salena Zito, a reporter from the Washington Examiner, was on CNN this morning.  The topic was King of Carl's Jr, the Labor Secretary to be.  She explains that the people that voted for trump are small business owners that oppose raising the minimum wage so he's a great pick.

I want a poll.  Small business owners are the people that attend his rallies screaming insults, threats and punching anyone they think is different?

Edited December 9, 2016 by stormy

[Duke Silver]

***Well dammit Kurt***

https://twitter.com/kurteichenwald/status/807077662569144320

[Lunata]

Hillary Clinton spoke on Capitol Hill yesterday for an unveiling of a portrait of Harry Reid. She spoke about fake news and suggested that fake news and James Comey were to blame for her defeat. In her words, fake news is  'an epidemic' with real world consequences." Joe Biden also spoke yesterday at the NYU School of Law, Washington. He repeated what he said at the DNC convention in August, that the Democrats failed miserably by reaching out to the white middle-class voters and not paying attention to those people in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. He placed the blame for her loss squarely on the Hillary campaign and how they ran it, that they were reaching out to middle class white Americans and that was the real problem. If they had listened to Joe Biden back in August and changed strategy, the outcome would have been different. They just didn't have a message for white working class voters in those blue or 'leaning blue' states that she absolutely needed and lost. There it is, finally an honest politician that's going to call out whoever is to blame even when it's his own party. I love that guy.

There are many Congressmen besides Congressman Luis Gutierrez that have said they will not attend the inauguration because of the “prejudice” Trump has displayed after calling for unity in his election night victory speech. Luis Gutierrez added that his wife said 'oh yes, we're going'. “We’re going to march for $15.00 an hour, we’re going to march with women for their rights, we’re going to march with the LGBT community … we’re going to go to the inauguration and we’re going to be out there marching and protesting and lifting our voices for America.” I would be very concerned being there and a little fearful of confrontations or clashes between the two sectors on election day.

[ari333]

regarding the protesters...

I love the flag. Sometimes I cry when I see it raised.... or lowered. However when rump won and people were burning flags, that was the first time I understood the burning. It still hurts to see it burn, but I understand the pain people feel. .... the anger that maybe this election was rigged or influenced and votes are not what they seem. Faked and fabricated.  I feel it. It makes me cry for my country. And the thought of this buffoon as president makes me sick. I've never felt this way about any election before evenwhen my person lost.

[KerleyQ]

10 hours ago, Rapunzel said:

The conflicts are in the lease itself. It states that no elected official can be party to it. That's where Trump may have issues and several experts have already stated that he has to give this up when he is officially President. In addition, turning it over to his kids doesn't necessarily satisfy the terms of lease either. With Tubby though, who knows what will happen.

At this point, I would not be surprised, at all, if he gets away with keeping the lease.  Paul Ryan, that asshat, actually said that he doesn't care about Trump's conflicts of interest and "he can resolve them however he wants."  We're in a whole new reality, one where the Pres-Elect can do whatever the fuck he wants, and nobody in Congress will bother to check him on it.  (OK, some in Congress will, but, since they're in the minority, it won't mean shit.  Paul and Mitch will rule with an iron fist, no dissenting opinions will be indulged.)  Ryan believes he was handed the keys to the kingdom on 11/8, and he is just going to roll with it.  The only time Trump will be checked will be if he steps out of line with what Paul wants done.  

If he is forced to sell the lease, though, my son (whose evil mind I'm proud of) suggested that Stewart, Colbert, and Oliver should team up, solicit some extra financial backing from someone like Mark Cuban, form a corporation with a bland. non-identifying, name (and some figurehead attorney to do the negotiating and closing), and buy it out.  The amount of trolling they could do running that hotel would be fun.  (His first suggestion was "the Presidential Tiny Hands Suite," decorated in various shades of orange.) 

[sistermagpie]

10 hours ago, Rapunzel said:

On another topic, the fact that Tubby's supporters actually booed John Glenn is unfathomable. These people are complete morons and can't recognize a true American hero.

Well, luckily that's been corrected at least. They *did not* boo John Glenn. And since I'm actually in support of facts, I'm glad that was corrected!

But as an aside, in the past I've actually seen lots of people representing the right (including official reps on TV) actually to react to heroes this way if they don't share their views. It's like a vampire exposed to a cross or something. Actual achievement is constantly denigrated. The reactions to Kerry and McCain are obvious examples. They don't aspire to have integrity. That's for people who think they're better than them or something.

But I'm sure a lot of the people defending Trump's slam at McCain believe that the only reason others claimed to not like it was because it was against Trump.

1 hour ago, Lunata said:

They just didn't have a message for white working class voters in those blue or 'leaning blue' states that she absolutely needed and lost. There it is, finally an honest politician that's going to call out whoever is to blame even when it's his own party. I love that guy.

I think they're both right, though. While I totally agree that Hillary needed to get out there and show that she was going to do something for the people who felt abandoned by her, the fake news thing is a much bigger problem in general that goes beyond her campaign. There is something seriously wrong with an electorate that chooses not to accept facts and instead just makes sure that their favorite website says "No, it's them who are lying! 97% percent of scientists don't accept global warming because talking points!"

I guess for me I think that yes, Hillary's campaign was flawed and should be called out for it. The Democrats have tons of flaws that they need to fix. But even all of that is no excuse for believing Trump's obvious lies (while pretending to care about Hillary's lying) about caring about the country at all. The guy is blatantly using the office of the President to enrich himself and a lot of people don't even seem to understand why that's a problem. (Even if they pretended to when they were criticizing the Clinton Foundation.)

Edited December 9, 2016 by sistermagpie

[stillshimpy]

Edited because....pretty much not worth my time to refute such a rag pretending to be a news site. 

Edited December 9, 2016 by stillshimpy

[PatsyandEddie]

Everyone campaign has flaws,IMO. Those foot in mouth moments,hot mic comments, not enough emphasis here or there etc., but THIS election was full of way too many WTF shocks. I'm talking about fake news, outright lies, bullying, foreign and domestic interference ( Comey! ), alt-right muckery and so on. Even as an outsider, it was obvious that the outcome would have been totally different without those WTF moments. 

[stillshimpy]

Quote

Haha just for you @STILLSHIMPY

Haha, not too familiar with what extreme volatility in the stock market means historically, I take it.  Spoiler: Nothing good. 

Edited December 9, 2016 by stillshimpy

[AntiBeeSpray]

4 hours ago, Jediknight said:

It's not the Sith, it's the Empire.  I can't believe that in Star Wars that a government that rules with an iron fist, wants to kill anybody that dares oppose them by speaking, and their troops are Storm Troopers, are an allegory for Nazis and fascism.  I can't believe how Disney is destroying Star Wars, it never had any of that in the original movies, if they did have that stuff, it would have been noticed for the last 40 years.  It's funny how many people actually think the original movies didn't have that stuff, and that it's only because of Disney that Star Wars villains are a Nazi allegory.

I wonder if this boycott will involve buying merchandise featuring The Empire and First Order.

I actually thought that the Nazi allegory came in the later films with George Lucas, before Disney bought it. And it turns out it was even earlier than that.

Source: starwars.com

Quote

The fact that fascism inspired the look and feel of the Empire is no secret. In fact, Star Wars creator George Lucas even refers to the Imperial officers in The Empire Strikes Back as “Nazis” while giving his commentary of the film. He specifically mentions their militaristic dress, noting, “The Nazis are basically the same costume as we used in the first film and they are designed to be very authoritarian, very empire-like."

Either way, it's scary that it seems as if the US is heading down a very dangerous path right now.

[Lunata]

It's soon to be announced that Gary Cohn who is currently COO AND President of Goldman Sachs will be the new Director of the National Economic Council and Assist. to the President on Economic Policy. Trump's team is beginning to look like team Goldman since Steve Bannon came from Goldman, Steve Mnuchin came from Goldman, on the transition team Anthony Scaramucci was also a Goldman guy. All multimillionaires of course and all associated with the same financial institution that caused our banks to fail, but... was one of the ones bailed out of course.

Gary Cohn will have to sell all of his Goldman stock, but there's a perk to that, he gets to sell it completely tax-free. Isn't that one of the 'loopholes' that Trump said he would get rid of?

Wait....what? Where is that swamp now, is this what draining it looks like?

Edited December 9, 2016 by Lunata

[Ocean Chick]

Not only have they drained the swamp, only so that they could hire the lowest forms of life they found there, they are actually digging the swamp deeper in order to find the type of failed protoplasm that shuns the light.  I guess if they dig deep enough, maybe they'll uncover hell just so that the Fanta Menace can hire Satan as his aide-de-camp.  Sad.

[Toomuchsoap]

31 minutes ago, AntiBeeSpray said:

I actually thought that the Nazi allegory came in the later films with George Lucas, before Disney bought it. And it turns out it was even earlier than that.

Source: starwars.com

Either way, it's scary that it seems as if the US is heading down a very dangerous path right now.

What my mind can't quite make sense of is the fact the very people tRump is hand-picking to dismantle this country and every beneficial progressive measure ever undertaken in its history are going to be sharing the very same country with the people they all apparently want to fuck up the ass. How are they going to benefit when the post-apocalyptic tableau they are making for themselves as well as those they want to exploit for profit is unfit to live in even for themselves? Do they not understand that when you pollute every water source, make the air so toxic you need to wear a biohazard suit to survive, kill off every endangered species (which, of course, is anything that has a beating heart), create a world in which the inhabitants can only survive by creating synthetic food sources, do they not realize that they themselves won't be able to live any better than the people they want to render their slaves?

Seriously, what must they be thinking? I am so grief stricken by this utter madness I can't comprehend any of it. My god. Is there no intervention for this sheer, raving depravity and incomprehensible stupidity?

Edited December 9, 2016 by Toomuchsoap

[Jediknight]

1 hour ago, KerleyQ said:

At this point, I would not be surprised, at all, if he gets away with keeping the lease.  Paul Ryan, that asshat, actually said that he doesn't care about Trump's conflicts of interest and "he can resolve them however he wants."  We're in a whole new reality, one where the Pres-Elect can do whatever the fuck he wants, and nobody in Congress will bother to check him on it.  (OK, some in Congress will, but, since they're in the minority, it won't mean shit.  Paul and Mitch will rule with an iron fist, no dissenting opinions will be indulged.)  Ryan believes he was handed the keys to the kingdom on 11/8, and he is just going to roll with it.  The only time Trump will be checked will be if he steps out of line with what Paul wants done. 

I'm hoping right now they're just paying lip service to Trump because they're going to impeach him quickly.  I'm hoping they tell him "Resign, or you're getting booted from office, it will be unanimous."  Pence is Lex Luthor, but I'd rather have Lex Luthor in charge than Joker.

[AntiBeeSpray]

Just now, Toomuchsoap said:

What my mind can't quite make sense of is the fact the very people tRump is hand-picking to dismantle this country and every beneficial progressive measure ever undertaken in its history are going to be sharing the very same country with the people they all apparently want to fuck up the ass. How are they going to benefit when they post-apocalyptic tableau they are making for themselves as well as those they want to exploit for profit is unfit to live in even for themselves? Do they not understand that when you pollute every water source, make the air so toxic you need to wear a biohazard suit to survive, kill off every endangered species (which, of course, is anything that has a beating heart), create a world in which the inhabitants can only survive by creating synthetic food sources, do they not realize that they themselves won't be able to live any better than the people they want to render their slaves?

Seriously, what must they be thinking? I am so grief stricken by this utter madness I can't comprehend any of it. My god. Is there no intervention for this sheer, raving depravity and incomprehensible stupidity?

Oh they don't give a damn. Just like those before them (back before the EPA and regulations, etc.). They just want to make money at all costs, irregardless of how they have to do it. They don't care if people get sick and die. They're sociopaths. 

Word. It's very frightening.

[callmebetty]

19 minutes ago, Lunata said:

It's soon to be announced that Gary Cohn who is currently COO AND President of Goldman Sachs will be the new Director of the National Economic Council and Assist. to the President on Economic Policy. Trump's team is beginning to look like team Goldman since Steve Bannon came from Goldman, Steve Mnuchin came from Goldman, on the transition team Anthony Scaramucci was also a Goldman guy. All multimillionaires of course and all associated with the same financial institution that caused our banks to fail, but... was one of the ones bailed out of course.

Gary Cohn will have to sell all of his Goldman stock, but there's a perk to that, he gets to sell it completely tax-free.

Wait....what? Where is that swamp now, is this what draining it looks like?

But,but but Hillary gave speeches to Goldman Sachs why aren't you taking about that? But Hillary . ..

WON'T SOMEONE THINK OF THE CHILDREN 

[Duke Silver]

6 minutes ago, Jediknight said:

I'm hoping right now they're just paying lip service to Trump because they're going to impeach him quickly.  I'm hoping they tell him "Resign, or you're getting booted from office, it will be unanimous."  Pence is Lex Luthor, but I'd rather have Lex Luthor in charge than Joker.

Far be it for me to crush a dream, but hahahahahahahaha.  There will be no impeachment from this gang of weasels in Congress.  Trump is the perfect kind of strongman figurehead they want.  He is easily distracted, and also easily distracts the electorate.  Why would they want to impeach him?  They ram through as much legislation as they can, and they'll make so much $$$ while doing so.  I have liberal friends who are clinging to this impeachment hope.  I feel badly for them.  It's not gonna happen.

Edited December 9, 2016 by Duke Silver

[Lunata]

3 hours ago, stewedsquash said:

I feel badly for people who pulled their stock out before or after the election:

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/12/official-trumps-stock-market-rally-historic-never-occurred-110-years/

The Gateway Pundit is a hard-right conservative website. It's basically just another blog that keeps in line with a radical right point of view, you probably know the drill by now. Every other hard-right website will basically just echo the same information only changing the words a little to appear original.

Some equity market cheerleaders are going on about how the melt-up in the stock market lifts almost everybody’s fortunes. While I agree that it’s important not just for the top 1 percent because a lot of pension funds and 401(k)’s get a boost from a bull market. But the vast majority of the value of the stock market is held by the wealthiest households. I’m sure that’s a big “duh” for a lot of people but the idea that the market lifts all boats is not really the same as the top 1% getting and the bottom 10% getting a market boost. The top 1 percent holds over a third of equity market wealth and the top 10 percent holds about 80 percent. So a rise in the stock market and all the hoopla is being touted by those whose wealth has increased tremendously by a bull market.

Some factors that affect the market are politics of course, world events, the economy, scandals, company news, hype and natural disasters. 'The rich get richer and the poor get poorer'. Really the stock market rise isn't going to change anyone's lives unless they're in the top 10% then it's going to be a lot richer.

Edited December 9, 2016 by Lunata

[Pixel]

36 minutes ago, stewedsquash said:

I feel badly for people who pulled their stock out before or after the election:

http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2016/12/official-trumps-stock-market-rally-historic-never-occurred-110-years/

I hope that the stock market continues this way, because I've made 10K since the election. I doubt it will, and I still seethe with hate for Cheeto Benito, but I can't deny I'm making money.

[Toomuchsoap]

16 minutes ago, AntiBeeSpray said:

Oh they don't give a damn. Just like those before them (back before the EPA and regulations, etc.). They just want to make money at all costs, irregardless of how they have to do it. They don't care if people get sick and die. They're sociopaths. 

Word. It's very frightening.

But, their lives won't be any better than anyone else's. They are going to be living in the same ruined world. All the gold and riches beyond anyone's most avaricious dreams won't buy you much when there's no paved road to drive your gold-plated Bentley on, no wild animal you can kill on your Hemingway safari, nobody to see that multi-million dollar cosmetic-enhanced body that can only be seen outside of a biosphere in a hazmat suit. This is all just a total abandonment of rational thinking. It's like watching a bunch of five year old children who've never been allowed to eat candy being dumped in the middle of the Mars candy company. But these people are all mature adults and they're all (as far as I can tell) highly educated. How do they think they won't be affected by the same policies that they want to inflict on everyone other than the 1-percenters?

[AntiBeeSpray]

10 minutes ago, Toomuchsoap said:

But, their lives won't be any better than anyone else's. They are going to be living in the same ruined world. All the gold and riches beyond anyone's most avaricious dreams won't buy you much when there's no paved road to drive your gold-plated Bentley on, no wild animal you can kill on your Hemingway safari, nobody to see that multi-million dollar cosmetic-enhanced body that can only be seen outside of a biosphere in a hazmat suit. This is all just a total abandonment of rational thinking. It's like watching a bunch of five year old children who've never been allowed to eat candy being dumped in the middle of the Mars candy company. But these people are all mature adults and they're all (as far as I can tell) highly educated. How do they think they won't be affected by the same policies that they want to inflict on everyone other than the 1-percenters?

They still won't care as long as they get their way. They're narcissists as well. They only see themselves.

[callmebetty]

2 minutes ago, Toomuchsoap said:

But, their lives won't be any better than anyone else's. They are going to be living in the same ruined world. All the gold and riches beyond anyone's most avaricious dreams won't buy you much when there's no paved road to drive your gold-plated Bentley on, no wild animal you can kill on your Hemingway safari, nobody to see that multi-million dollar cosmetic-enhanced body that can only be seen outside of a biosphere in a hazmat suit. This is all just a total abandonment of rational thinking. It's like watching a bunch of five year old children who've never been allowed to eat candy being dumped in the middle of the Mars candy company. But these people are all mature adults and they're all (as far as I can tell) highly educated. How do they think they won't be affected by the same policies that they want to inflict on everyone other than the 1-percenters?

Because they'll all be living in Panem while the rest of us toil in the outskirts of the nuked out rest of the country .  I'm starting to see Panem as a reality that could happen. I'm sure Thing would love to have his own Hunger games the only televised show that would have him at the center that everyone would have to watch? People fighting because of him, subservient to him. And the sycophants will let him because they are fat and rich and safe and we'll clothed.

And the Hunger Games was a book before it was a movie so no I'm not looking for Jennifer Lawrence to save us.

[Duke Silver]

9 minutes ago, Toomuchsoap said:

But, their lives won't be any better than anyone else's. They are going to be living in the same ruined world. All the gold and riches beyond anyone's most avaricious dreams won't buy you much when there's no paved road to drive your gold-plated Bentley on, no wild animal you can kill on your Hemingway safari, nobody to see that multi-million dollar cosmetic-enhanced body that can only be seen outside of a biosphere in a hazmat suit. This is all just a total abandonment of rational thinking. It's like watching a bunch of five year old children who've never been allowed to eat candy being dumped in the middle of the Mars candy company. But these people are all mature adults and they're all (as far as I can tell) highly educated. How do they think they won't be affected by the same policies that they want to inflict on everyone other than the 1-percenters?

The highlighted.....yep.

Take it from someone who is around wealthy people quite frequently:  there is no such thing as "enough." 

[AntiBeeSpray]

1 minute ago, callmebetty said:

Because they'll all be living in Panem while the rest of us toil in the outskirts of the nuked out rest of the country .  I'm starting to see Panem as a reality that could happen. I'm sure Thing would love to have his own Hunger games the only televised show that would have him at the center that everyone would have to watch? People fighting because of him, subservient to him. And the sycophants will let him because they are fat and rich and safe and we'll clothed.

And the Hunger Games was a book before it was a movie so no I'm not looking for Jennifer Lawrence to save us.

Exactly. And it's a very real and scary prospect.

[izabella]

1 hour ago, Toomuchsoap said:

It's like watching a bunch of five year old children who've never been allowed to eat candy being dumped in the middle of the Mars candy company.

Where's Willy Wonka when we need him?

[Rapunzel]

Finally, some action is being taken by the White House around the potential hacking/interference of the election.

From Reuters:

Quote

UPDATE:

The White House said on Friday the intelligence review ordered by President Barack Obama on cyber attacks involving U.S. elections will go beyond the Nov. 8 vote and will include the 2008 election.

"What the president asked for is a review to look at malicious cyber activity tied to our presidential election cycle," White House spokesman Eric Schultz said at a news briefing. "It will be broader than just looking at this past election."

EARLIER:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama ordered intelligence agencies to review cyber attacks and foreign intervention into the 2016 election and deliver a report before he leaves office on Jan. 20, homeland security adviser Lisa Monaco said on Friday.

Monaco told reporters the results of the report would be shared with lawmakers and others.

"The president has directed the intelligence community to conduct a full review of what happened during the 2016 election process ... and to capture lessons learned from that and to report to a range of stakeholders, to include the Congress," Monaco said during an event hosted by the Christian Science Monitor.

Monaco said cyber attacks were not new but might have crossed a "new threshold" this year.

When she was working as a senior FBI official in 2008, she said, the agency alerted the presidential campaigns of then-Senator Obama and Republican Senator John McCain that China had infiltrated their respective systems.

"We've seen in 2008 and in this last election system malicious cyber activity," Monaco said.

In October, the U.S. government formally accused Russia of a campaign of cyber attacks against Democratic Party organizations ahead of the Nov. 8 presidential election.

Obama has said he warned Russian President Vladimir Putin about consequences for the attacks.

Asked if Republican President-elect Donald Trump's transition team was not concerned enough about Russia's influence on the election or about other threats to the United States such as infectious disease outbreaks, Monaco said it was too soon to say.

As a presidential candidate, Trump praised Putin and called on Russia to dig up missing emails from his opponent, Hillary Clinton, from her time as secretary of state under fellow Democrat Obama.

The last sentence is interesting in that it states that Trump specifically asked Putin/Russia to dig through Hillary's e-mails. This is quite a change from Trump's claim that he didn't even know Putin, never spoke with him, never met with him, etc. We all know this is bullshit even if we set the e-mails and election tampering aside. Trump has almost certainly borrowed a ton of money from Putin/Russia and most definitely has some kind of relationship with the man. What's really sad is that he doesn't realize how badly he's being played and that he claims Putin called him a "genius." Putin never used that particular word - this is just Trump's own warped, demented, self aggrandizing interpretation that he needs to feed his own, tiny ego and try to cover what he really knows deep down - he is an incompetent idiot who has no business running a lemonade stand, much less one of the most powerful countries in the world.

Also glad to see that Obama has apparently warned Putin about consequences for the hacking/interference.

Edited December 9, 2016 by Rapunzel

[Lunata]

3 hours ago, Jediknight said:

I'm hoping right now they're just paying lip service to Trump because they're going to impeach him quickly.  I'm hoping they tell him "Resign, or you're getting booted from office, it will be unanimous."  Pence is Lex Luthor, but I'd rather have Lex Luthor in charge than Joker.

I wish they'd speak out sooner rather than later. Once he's inaugurated he'll control all three branches of government and then it will be too late to object or try to change anything. All these appointments he's making are the men that are responsible for tanking the economy. Yes, this most certainly is going to be a brand new swamp in where the only difference is that it got larger than it ever was. I think they're plan is to divide up the country among the top 5 men in Trump's administration. Each will take a piece of it all for himself.

I'm glad to see that there are a few men out there like Senator Chris Murphy speaking out loudly against the appointment of Andrew F. Puzder as Secretary of Labor. Puzder is the chief executive of the company that franchises the fast-food Hardee’s and Carl’s Jr. and who has been an outspoken critic of the worker protections bill which was enacted by the Obama administration. He's the guy that wants to replace all the people working in his franchises with robots, and doesn't believe in raising the minimum wage. Howard Dean is speaking out opposing the filling up of cabinet positions with Goldman Sachs. As Dean stated, 'Hillary Clinton was harassed by Trump to make her speeches with Goldman Sachs public and now he's nominating people directly tied to Goldman Sachs'.

Edited December 9, 2016 by Lunata

[Toomuchsoap]

2 hours ago, Duke Silver said:

The highlighted.....yep.

Take it from someone who is around wealthy people quite frequently:  there is no such thing as "enough." 

Oh, yes. I've been surrounded by them as well. But at some point, when is it going to begin dawning on them that by the time they starve the middle - the little people they want to see enslaved to them to run their factories and fuel their profits or fan their bloated bodies as they loll by the pool, bring them their peeled grapes - that when the slaves are too old, too sick and malnourished to actually man those machines or those cash registers or those palm fronds and sterling silver serving platters (and that assumes there will actually even be any remaining jobs like that for humans and not robots), there won't be anyone left to helm them except their grandchildren or great grandchildren, because the enslaved will no longer be capable of reproducing offspring because the planet will be so toxic that that their systems are too gene damaged and their bodies too weak to support pregnancy or even fertilize an ovum.

And as to the Hunger Games scenarios, when do the hunters turn around and devour those kleptocrat despots who send them out into the hinterlands to "hunt" on their behalf?

[peacheslatour]

3 hours ago, Toomuchsoap said:

But, their lives won't be any better than anyone else's. They are going to be living in the same ruined world. All the gold and riches beyond anyone's most avaricious dreams won't buy you much when there's no paved road to drive your gold-plated Bentley on, no wild animal you can kill on your Hemingway safari, nobody to see that multi-million dollar cosmetic-enhanced body that can only be seen outside of a biosphere in a hazmat suit. This is all just a total abandonment of rational thinking. It's like watching a bunch of five year old children who've never been allowed to eat candy being dumped in the middle of the Mars candy company. But these people are all mature adults and they're all (as far as I can tell) highly educated. How do they think they won't be affected by the same policies that they want to inflict on everyone other than the 1-percenters?

Because STIGGINIT TO THE LIBS is their whole raison d'etre.

[Padma]

7 hours ago, Duke Silver said:

***Well dammit Kurt***

https://twitter.com/kurteichenwald/status/807077662569144320

I don't get it.  Why were people in the Trump rally booing Trump as he mentioned Glenn but it wasn't "booing Glenn"?  Glad their not so brain dead as to boo a genuine American hero (as opposed to Tubby, their new hero) but...Why were they booing?

[callmebetty]

2 minutes ago, Padma said:

I don't get it.  Why were people in the Trump rally booing Trump as he mentioned Glenn but it wasn't "booing Glenn"?  Glad their not so brain dead as to boo a genuine American hero (as opposed to Tubby, their new hero) but...Why were they booing?

I think I read somewhere at the same exact time he mentioned Glenn there were protesters and the crowd was booing the protesters . 

[Chicken Wing]

2 minutes ago, callmebetty said:

I think I read somewhere at the same exact time he mentioned Glenn there were protesters and the crowd was booing the protesters . 

Yeah, it was just awkward timing.

See? We can correct misconceptions and misunderstandings. The "fact" seemed weird on its face (why would the crowd be booing John Glenn???), we discussed it, dug deeper, learned the truth. It's not hard. The problem with those who believe, traffic and revel in fake news is that they have no desire to think beyond the surface. It's not that they can't apply judgment or think critically -- they just have no desire to be informed of anything else when the initial report already told them what they were predisposed to want to hear.

[Padma]

Oh, okay. That would make sense (esp. as I thought at the time he was in Ohio, Glenn's home state.)  Glad there's still a low bar for "deplorable" that the Trumpkins haven't reached below yet.  Booing John Glenn, on the day he died, really didn't make a lot of sense.  Any reporter can make a mistake. Kudos to Eichenwald for correcting it quickly --AND in the same place and way where he made it. (Unlike newspapers "small print" retractions).

[Toomuchsoap]

Eventually, those whose agenda is "stigginit to the libs" are going to be caught up in the consequences of their voracious appetites. It happened to these capitalistic cannibals in 1929. They always go too far and the destruction caused by their bootstrap "trickle down" always rounds on them. When the markets all plummet and the people are actually too fucking poor to pay for the cheap crap they've been flogging to them for decades and their companies start hemorrhaging profitability and those companies collapse, the poor folks won't be the ones flinging themselves out of Trump Tower (though I imagine they'll be required to clean up the gore on the street below). Maybe by the time this happens, all those *good folks* in the Rust Belt tRumpland will all be in mass die-off, because they're the ones that are either using Medicare and Social Security (or they've been planning to anyway), and when that's gutted and they're stuck with how to care for themselves in the twilight of the trumpbillies there won't be anyone to save them and nobody to blame but their own sorry, ignorant, mean spirited selves. So in the aftermath of that eventual outcome (if in the meanwhile the shitgibbon cheeto hasn't gotten the entire country nuked by then) we won't be so eager to hit the "rinse & repeat" cycle again.

1 hour ago, Padma said:

Oh, okay. That would make sense (esp. as I thought at the time he was in Ohio, Glenn's home state.)  Glad there's still a low bar for "deplorable" that the Trumpkins haven't reached below yet.  Booing John Glenn, on the day he died, really didn't make a lot of sense.  Any reporter can make a mistake. Kudos to Eichenwald for correcting it quickly --AND in the same place and way where he made it. (Unlike newspapers "small print" retractions).

Well... I'm not so sure that some of them haven't "reached below" that level yet. John Glen was from Ohio, but he was a DEMOCRAT Senator from Ohio.

Edited December 9, 2016 by Toomuchsoap

[Duke Silver]

[Rae Spellman]

8 hours ago, Lunata said:

Joe Biden also spoke yesterday at the NYU School of Law, Washington. He repeated what he said at the DNC convention in August, that the Democrats failed miserably by reaching out to the white middle-class voters and not paying attention to those people in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. He placed the blame for her loss squarely on the Hillary campaign and how they ran it, that they were reaching out to middle class white Americans and that was the real problem. If they had listened to Joe Biden back in August and changed strategy, the outcome would have been different. They just didn't have a message for white working class voters in those blue or 'leaning blue' states that she absolutely needed and lost. There it is, finally an honest politician that's going to call out whoever is to blame even when it's his own party. I love that guy.

A quick google search of "Trump voters by income" shows that a bunch of middle-income people voted for him. Several sources cite average income at $72K/year.

Also, how would the needs of white working class voters be different than the needs of working-class voters of color? Surely there are white working class voters in every state. Is the percentage of people who are both white and working class significantly higher in the states that Trump won? Or are working class voters in the states that Clinton won somehow different than working class voters in states that Trump won? 

There's an article in the Atlantic titled The Dangerous Myth That Hillary Clinton Ignored the Working Class.

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/12/hillary-clinton-working-class/509477/

Quote

The more frightening possibility for liberals is that Clinton didn’t lose because the white working class failed to hear her message, but precisely because they did hear it.

Trump’s white voters do support the mommy state, but only so long as it’s mothering them. Most of them don’t seem eager to change Medicare or Social Security, but they’re fine with repealing Obamacare and its more diverse pool of 20 million insured people.

Edited December 9, 2016 by RaeSpellman

[stormy]

Thank you all of you people that think the flaccid prick is going to bring back your jobs,  build a Mexican financed wall, wipe-out ISIS with a snap of his tiny fingers, drain the swamp, take back your county, etc, etc, etc.

This is what Stephanie Miller was discussing with Lisa Bloom on her show this morning.  According to The Guardian, The National Park Service has filed a massive omnibus blocking permit on behalf of the trump presidential inauguration committee, to block the Women's March on Washington to be held on January 21, 2017, the day after the inauguration.

It will prevent access to the National Mall, Washington Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial.  136,000 people responded to Facebook that they planned on attending and an additional 226,000 people responded that they're interested in attending.

So for all you fuck-ups, are you scared now?  Your most basic rights as a cititzen of the United States are being stripped away one by one.

And hell, he hasn't even appointed a supreme court justice yet so don't think the Supreme Court's going to be on the side of the little guy.

Edited December 9, 2016 by stormy

[Ohwell]

49 minutes ago, RaeSpellman said:

Also, how would the needs of white working class votes be different than the needs of working-class voters of color?

This.  I'd been saying this all during the campaign.  Drives me crazy to hear all this talk about the "white working-class."

[Lunata]

22 minutes ago, RaeSpellman said:

A quick google search of "Trump voters by income" shows that a bunch of middle-income people voted for him. Several sources cite average income at $72K/year. Also, how would the needs of white working class votes be different than the needs of working-class voters of color?

There's an article in the Atlantic titled The Dangerous Myth That Hillary Clinton Ignored the Working Class.

https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/12/hillary-clinton-working-class/509477/

Did Hillary Clinton's campaigning bring her to Michigan or Wisconsin? She campaigned hard in Philadelphia which is historically Democrat but what about the other 66 counties in Pennsylvania? Those are the people that needed to see her and hear her. She absolutely should have focused more on Wisconsin because it was that State that gave their 8 electoral votes to a Republican for the first time since 1984. Both candidates spent most of their television advertising time attacking the other person’s character. In fact, Hillary Clinton's ads did little else. More than three-quarters of the appeals in Hillary Clinton’s advertisements (and nearly half of Mr. Trump’s) were about traits, characteristics or dispositions. Only 9 percent of Mrs. Clinton’s appeals in her ads were about jobs or the economy. By contrast, 34 percent of Mr. Trump’s appeals focused on the economy, jobs, taxes and trade. If you take all of this into consideration, her campaign was grossly mismanaged. But even more pertinent is the fact that the Democrats failed miserably because they totally and completely misread the mood of the nation. They thought that people were happy with how things were going and they were astoundingly wrong.

Donald Trump took advantage of just about everything he could. Race, religion, abortion, terrorism, same sex marriage, everything. Not only he opposed these things but apparently so did most of the people that voted for him. People that voted for Hillary in opposition to what was even worse, Donald Trump, did so not only out of fear but out of knowledge, understanding and liberal views on race, religion and just about everything. We were millions of people that were polar opposites and that in return served to polarize an entire nation.

[Padma]

Let's not forget that fitting squarely in Tubby's arsenal was a special weapon:  his willingness to lie and lie big and lie often.  The media's poor fact-checking--and embrace of confusing babble of surrogates--let him get away with it again and again.

He also demonized his opponent even beyond the "swiftboating" of war hero John Kerry or the accusation that Kenyan-born Muslim Barack Obama was "paling around with terrorists".

His lies about Clinton and her "use of email to hide her corruption and her pay to play scandals as Secretary of State" were despicable and rarely called out by the press.  Similarly, he said in rally after rally--played over and over for free on television news--that she was a "criminal" and belonged in prison.  He also had the unprecedented help to sabotage her from Putin/Russian intelligence,  Julian Assange and wikileaks AND the FBI Director.

Even so, more than 2.7 million Americans voted for Hillary.  (And, since he worked his ass off to stop recounts of votes in Wisconsin, Penn, and Michigan--which should also have happened in NC and Florida--we'll never know how many votes they each really got.  For example, the 22,000 votes in Penn. that were said to have been included in Trump's total but didn't really exist--this, finally acknowledged on the day the vote count was ready to begin.

He "won", but I'm not wasting my time blaming Hillary for it.

[Lunata]

Here's the BEST news I've heard since November 8th. Rudy Giuliani is removing his name from consideration for a cabinet post. PHEW!! I have been afraid of a Rudy Giuliani Secretary of State since before the election. Now I don't care who it is, as long as it's a sure thing it's not him.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/09/politics/rudy-giuliani-removes-himself-from-consideration-for-trump-cabinet-post/

[Padma]

11 minutes ago, Lunata said:

Here's the BEST news I've heard since November 8th. Rudy Giuliani is removing his name from consideration for a cabinet post. PHEW!! I have been afraid of a Rudy Giuliani Secretary of State since before the election. Now I don't care who it is, as long as it's a sure thing it's not him.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/09/politics/rudy-giuliani-removes-himself-from-consideration-for-trump-cabinet-post/

There's some face-saving for him.  I'm guessing the EXTENSIVE tax returns that Trump requires to vet people (plus intrusive questions into affairs etc. --oh, yes, irony alert!) found something that will make it impossible for Rudy to be confirmed. 

Yay!  (But don't forget that the two Exxon-Mobile CEOS are, in the big picture, even more dangerous).

Edited December 9, 2016 by Padma