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You are here: Home / Deep Thoughts

Deep Thoughts

by John Cole|  November 19, 201611:31 am| 105 Comments

This post is in: Our Failed Media Experiment

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It’s almost like sending Pence to Hamilton would distract our media into an easy to cover a clickbaity culture wars topic instead of discussing at length the fact that Trump admitted he screwed all his Trump U students.

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Reader Interactions

105Comments

  1. 1.

    RobertDSC-iPad Mini

    November 19, 2016 at 11:34 am

    If Kos is the Great Orange Satan, John Boehner was the Actual Orange Satan, does that make the President-elect the Definitive Orange Satan?

  2. 2.

    chromeagnomen

    November 19, 2016 at 11:35 am

    which trump charity will pay off the settlement?

  3. 3.

    Lit3Bolt

    November 19, 2016 at 11:36 am

    Hey, it worked on you!

  4. 4.

    Baud

    November 19, 2016 at 11:41 am

    Emails.

  5. 5.

    Iowa Old Lady

    November 19, 2016 at 11:41 am

    @RobertDSC-iPad Mini: Speaking of Kos, I haven’t been able to get it to play for me for several days now. It freezes.

  6. 6.

    Brachiator

    November 19, 2016 at 11:42 am

    @chromeagnomen:

    which trump charity will pay off the settlement?

    All of them.

    And they will each take a deduction for the expense.

  7. 7.

    Corner Stone

    November 19, 2016 at 11:44 am

    It’s what they did all campaign, why stop now?
    Create a mini-outrage out of nothing, sneak in some truly vile act under cover, keep moving hate and division forward. Repeat.

  8. 8.

    Judge Crater

    November 19, 2016 at 11:45 am

    The other brewing Trump “scandal” is the WAPO reporting on how Trump is pimping for his DC hotel as the must stay spot for foreign dignitaries coming to meet with Trump and his administration. It reminds me of how incensed the GOP became when Bill Clinton “rented out” the Lincoln Bedroom.

    Trump has now got a veritable barracks of Lincoln Bedrooms to rent out to the global elites that he finds so nefarious. Gosh, maybe he’ll offer an “angry white person” discounted rate so that his supporters won’t feel offended. This post is filed under tragedy and farce.

  9. 9.

    Corner Stone

    November 19, 2016 at 11:45 am

    The WaPo article about Trump’s DC hotel is so fucking gross.

    Some attendees won raffle prizes — among them overnight stays at other Trump properties around the world — allowing them to become better acquainted with the business holdings of the new commander in chief.

    “The place was packed,” said Lynn Van Fleit, founder of the nonprofit Diplomacy Matters Institute, which organizes programs for foreign diplomats and government officials. She said much of the discussion among Washington-based diplomats is over “how are we going to build ties with the new administration.

  10. 10.

    WereBear

    November 19, 2016 at 11:46 am

    The press are mostly Quislings now. To grab a phrase I saw somewhere: we have a Vichy Press.

  11. 11.

    Brachiator

    November 19, 2016 at 11:46 am

    It’s almost like sending Pence to Hamilton would distract our media into an easy to cover a clickbaity culture wars topic instead of discussing at length the fact that Trump admitted he screwed all his Trump U students.

    What’s to discuss?

    We have a bully and a cheat as president-elect, and a good chunk of the country is happy with that.

    That’s a very short op-ed piece.

  12. 12.

    Corner Stone

    November 19, 2016 at 11:47 am

    I am counting the days until Congress launches an investigation into foreign diplomats/interests spending 5 times the top dollar rates to stay at a Trump hotel.

  13. 13.

    Corner Stone

    November 19, 2016 at 11:49 am

    Trump is going to become a true billionaire by licensing the presidency to private companies and foreign interests. His kids are going to be like the guys in the counting rooms the mob had under their c@s!nos.

  14. 14.

    Corner Stone

    November 19, 2016 at 11:50 am

    Can’t wait to see his taxes. I’ll be over here…waiting.

  15. 15.

    Persia

    November 19, 2016 at 11:51 am

    That would require a level of planning I’m not sure he’s capable of, though. Also, that’s assuming there won’t be a low-level bullshit stunt every single day.

  16. 16.

    Corner Stone

    November 19, 2016 at 11:52 am

    @Baud: Clinton Foundation Scandals!

  17. 17.

    ThresherK (GPad)

    November 19, 2016 at 11:53 am

    @Corner Stone: First prize is a two-night stay at a Trump hotel. Second prize is a five-night stay…

  18. 18.

    Timurid

    November 19, 2016 at 11:57 am

    @Brachiator:

    A ‘good chunk’ of ordinary people but damn near all of the elites.
    Most of the ‘principled opposition’ to Trump in the election was really driven by fear that the whole enterprise was doomed to fail with unpleasant consequences for the people who matter. Now that he’s actually pulled it off, they’re embracing him. They want this, and now that they realize it’s possible, they’re all in. Trump is going straight for the jugular because he knows there’s no need to be conciliatory. It’s wasted effort, trying to fool the people who don’t matter.

  19. 19.

    Brachiator

    November 19, 2016 at 11:57 am

    @Corner Stone:

    Can’t wait to see his taxes. I’ll be over here…waiting.

    With the Trump precedent, we may never see a presidential candidate release his or her tax records again.

    And it is just sad to hear how many ordinary people cheer this as getting rid of an unnecessary scrutiny into a candidate’s privacy.

  20. 20.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 19, 2016 at 11:57 am

    @Persia: it’s a bit conspiracy-ish for me, but I have seen people say this is just the kind of trolling Bannon specializes in, so who knows.

    I’m pessimistic that the lumpen-electorate will ever get outraged about stuff like Trump U, or the tax returns, or the self-dealing. Nooses in high school bathrooms, 16 reports of swastikas spray painted in New York. Nothing seems to sink in.

  21. 21.

    Redshift

    November 19, 2016 at 11:58 am

    I believe in eleven-dimensional chess from the Trump camp far less than from Obama. These guys have trouble with two-dimensional checkers.

    They’re not ginning up appalling situations to to distract from anything, it’s just what they do.

  22. 22.

    JPL

    November 19, 2016 at 12:08 pm

    @Corner Stone: Waiting for godot, are you?

  23. 23.

    Chris

    November 19, 2016 at 12:09 pm

    @Timurid:

    Yes. Exactly.

    I always knew the NeverTrumpists were full of shit, but even I’m shocked by how quickly and thoroughly they reverted to type. Shouldn’t be, of course.

  24. 24.

    Betty Cracker

    November 19, 2016 at 12:09 pm

    Trump has time to go on Twitter and lie about the Ford plant, dissemble about the fraud settlement, and whine about people booing his beady-eyed, bible-humping VP but ZERO time to ask the psychopaths terrorizing people in his name nationwide to knock it off.

  25. 25.

    Mnemosyne

    November 19, 2016 at 12:10 pm

    Serious question: has Mike Pence ever been booed before? In other words, has he ever stepped out of his bubble long enough to realize how repugnant most people find his policies? Not just nasty letters and emails that he can tell himself were generated by a bunch of malcontents, but an actual face-to-face crowd of people who were solidly against him?

  26. 26.

    Ohio Mom

    November 19, 2016 at 12:10 pm

    IANAL but isn’t the idea behind out of court settlements that guilt is left unestablished?

    I mean, clearly Trump is guilty, but legally he’s not. He hasn’t “admitted” anything except that he has access to enough money to shut people up. That is allowed by the court.

    I get the frustration that he’s getting away with it. I was also appalled that the child rape case was dropped and immediately went down the memory hole.

  27. 27.

    Seth Owen

    November 19, 2016 at 12:11 pm

    The train wreck will be inevitable. Reality is a rock and a hard place. Smoke and mirrors won’t cut it. And if the coddled elites think they will be spared they have not read enough History

  28. 28.

    Corner Stone

    November 19, 2016 at 12:12 pm

    And what happens when at the first international soiree someone comes up to talk to Ivanka and the foreign person is wearing $25K or $40K worth of Ivanka branded jewelry or fashion?
    So fucking gross.

  29. 29.

    Pogonip

    November 19, 2016 at 12:13 pm

    @RobertDSC-iPad Mini: It should. We’d have a well-informed population because the news would be so entertaining. “Today, the Definitive Orange Satan signed the Federal budget for FY 2001, which Congress had rushed to his restaurant table after working two consecutive hours to get it done. The Great Orange Satan issued a blistering statement to the effect of…”

  30. 30.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 19, 2016 at 12:13 pm

    @Chris: They, like us, never thought he would actually win. Never Trump was a pious and cost free pose of moral centrism between two big bads, Clinton and Trump. Though based on what I’ve seen of his twitter (so, take this with a big slice of FWIW), Evan Mcmullen is still Never Trump, as are a whole bunch of GOP operatives who appear genuinely disgusted with Trump– Ana Navarro, Rick Wilson, Mark Salter– if not with SoS Giuliani or AG Jeff Sessions.

  31. 31.

    Keith G

    November 19, 2016 at 12:16 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I have been wondering what the inaugural will be like. Is there wisdom in bussing in a booing section or better to just boycott and leave in a bit under attended? Maybe Trump will bus in his own paid cheering squads.

  32. 32.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 19, 2016 at 12:16 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I may have judged Ana Navarro a bit too harshly

    Ana Navarro ‏@ ananavarro Nov 18
    Meet our new Attorney General. Then grab a brown paper bag to breath into. Actually white paper bag might be better.

    Jeff Sessions, considered too racist to be a judge in 80’s, is Trump’s AG. Best to go back to sleep, America. I’ll wake u up when it’s over.

  33. 33.

    Corner Stone

    November 19, 2016 at 12:17 pm

    @Brachiator:

    With the Trump precedent, we may never see a presidential candidate release his or her tax records again.

    I have long given up on candidate Trump’s taxes. I am waiting for POTUS POS to refuse to release his taxes for one excuse or another.

  34. 34.

    BBA

    November 19, 2016 at 12:17 pm

    @Ohio Mom: Varies on the case. In securities law (which I’m most familiar with) there’s usually no admission of guilt but there is usually an agreement to cease and desist the activities that led to the charges. Depends on how it’s worded. Trump U is probably dead for good, at least in NY State.

    Yes, he’s going to claim it was 100% legal and the state AGs only went after him because they’re sad losers, but he would have done that regardless. Maybe the judge and jury would be sad losers too.

  35. 35.

    WereBear

    November 19, 2016 at 12:23 pm

    @Mnemosyne: He’s from Indiana. So I doubt it.

  36. 36.

    CarolDuhart2

    November 19, 2016 at 12:25 pm

    Probably better to leave the streets empty as possible. Looks bad on tv. Let him walk through empty, silent streets with no applause or anything.

  37. 37.

    WereBear

    November 19, 2016 at 12:26 pm

    @BBA: Speaking of which, I am 2/3rd of the way through a book on the Bernie Madoff case, and I think this is one of those hidden pebbles that may have helped start the avalanche.

    Lots of rich people lost a lot of money. I’m sure they are open to looting whatever pools of cash are made available to them.

    It took ten years to bring Madoff to light, because the SEC, under W, didn’t care about investor fraud.

  38. 38.

    Larkspur

    November 19, 2016 at 12:26 pm

    I’m not Godwinning here, I swear, but to take my mind off the election, I’m reading Volker Ullrich’s new book Hitler: Ascent 1889 – 1939 (Knopf 2016). I’m just at the beer hall putsch and I’m impressed at how quickly a buffoon and a gang of dilettantes and hooligans could get things done, despite ill-conceived tactics that resulted in setbacks. I think I shoulda picked a different genre if I was aiming for distraction.

  39. 39.

    James Powell

    November 19, 2016 at 12:27 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I’m pessimistic that the lumpen-electorate will ever get outraged about stuff like Trump U, or the tax returns, or the self-dealing. Nooses in high school bathrooms, 16 reports of swastikas spray painted in New York. Nothing seems to sink in.

    But having a server in the house for emails. That was just. too. much.

  40. 40.

    sukabi

    November 19, 2016 at 12:28 pm

    @chromeagnomen: easy, he’ll recoup his “losses” by declaring drumpf tower Trump White House North and charging Secret Service 100x the current lease amount for the next 20 years.

  41. 41.

    Larkspur

    November 19, 2016 at 12:30 pm

    @Keith G: I wondered about that too, a half-dozen posts ago, and someone (sorry, I forget who) suggested that instead of staying away, an Obama-sized contingent should show up and then turn their backs as Trump is sworn in and starts speaking.

  42. 42.

    hovercraft

    November 19, 2016 at 12:31 pm

    @RobertDSC-iPad Mini:

    If Kos is the Great Orange Satan, John Boehner was the Actual Orange Satan, does that make the President-elect the Definitive Orange Satan?

    Bill Maher demanded proof that it was not the by product of his mother having spent some time with an orange orangutan. It produced a birth certificate, and sued to get the $5 million that Maher had offered. But I don’t believe the birth certificate is real, I think it’s fake, so it would seem appropriate to continue to believe it is an orange orangutan. I will continue to refer it to it as the Shitgibbon. Since this is not a real species, we are not maligning any real creatures.

  43. 43.

    Persia

    November 19, 2016 at 12:31 pm

    Pence got booed in his own state.

    It’s my understanding that most of his state hates him at this point.

  44. 44.

    Larkspur

    November 19, 2016 at 12:33 pm

    @hovercraft: I’ve been thinking about just using his initials, DJT, but pronouncing it “Digit” because then I’m thinking “short”. But that’s just me.

  45. 45.

    WereBear

    November 19, 2016 at 12:37 pm

    @Larkspur: Yes, I was reading it too, and had to put it aside. Wonderfully written and as bonechilling a warning as can be imagined.

  46. 46.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    November 19, 2016 at 12:37 pm

    @Pogonip:

    It should. We’d have a well-informed population because the news would be so entertaining. “Today, the Definitive Orange Satan signed the Federal budget for FY 2001, which Congress had rushed to his restaurant table after working two consecutive hours to get it done. The Great Orange Satan issued a blistering statement to the effect of…”

    “While the Actual Orange Satan chuckled over hors d’oeuvres and a cocktail after a relaxing round of golf.”

  47. 47.

    WereBear

    November 19, 2016 at 12:38 pm

    @Persia: That’s actually heartening.

  48. 48.

    Persia

    November 19, 2016 at 12:38 pm

    @WereBear: I had It Can’t Happen Here on interlibrary loan and I couldn’t bear reading any more. Someday I’ll get it again and finish it. Maybe not in the next four years.

  49. 49.

    Pogonip

    November 19, 2016 at 12:39 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I think he was a protest, or publicity, or both, candidate who never intended or wanted to win. As the campaign went on he said and did things calculated to arouse more and more outrage among the upper and upper-middle classes. What he, upper-class himself, didn’t understand is that the peasantry has been waiting decades for someone to tell the upper and UMC classes to perform anatomically impossible acts. So the more unacceptable, in the eyes of his own class, he made himself, the more votes he picked up. Now he’s stuck.

  50. 50.

    Another Scott

    November 19, 2016 at 12:42 pm

    @Judge Crater: GovExec:

    When the General Services Administration made good on its plan to find a new use for the largely empty but historic Old Post Office Pavilion in Washington, it made clear that the deal it announced in June 2013 was a 60-year lease, not a change in ownership.

    When the agency unveiled the winning bidder, the Trump Organization, few could have imagined that chief owner Donald Trump would go on to be elected president.

    Now that the Trump International Hotel, unveiled this September, is up and running just blocks from Trump’s presidential transition team, a pair of former White House procurement office contracting specialists is crying foul. And they have GSA’s attention, Government Executive has learned.

    “The 60-year deal presents unprecedented and intolerable conflicts of interest,” wrote Steven Schooner, the former associate administrator for procurement law and legislation at the Office of Federal Procurement Policy in the Office of Management and Budget during the Clinton administration. Schooner, now professor of government procurement law at The George Washington University, and academic colleague Dan Gordon, President Obama’s first federal procurement policy administrator, argued in a Washington Post op-ed this week that “swift action by GSA is necessary to protect the integrity of the federal government contracting process.”

    By keeping the lease, now that Trump is to be leader of the free world, he “puts his own employees in an untenable situation guaranteed to undermine the integrity—and the perception—of the procurement process,” they write.

    The regulations, note Schooner and Gordon, include a prohibition on an agency entering into contracts with federal employees, and will require detailed disclosure of financial information on the running of the luxury hotel along with renegotiations of rent.

    He’ll be forced to give up his role in the hotel. How soon? Dunno.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  51. 51.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 19, 2016 at 12:46 pm

    @Pogonip: @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I think he was a protest, or publicity, or both, candidate who never intended or wanted to win.

    Yup

    Almost a year ago, recruited for my public relations and public policy expertise, I sat in Trump Tower being told that the goal was to get The Donald to poll in double digits and come in second in delegate count. That was it.
    The Trump camp would have been satisfied to see him polling at 12% and taking second place to a candidate who might hold 50%. His candidacy was a protest candidacy.

    McKay Coppins’ theory in his book on the primary was that Trump resented the fact that he’s never consulted as an Oracle the way Warren Buffet and others are, and second place candidacy would give him that legitimacy with CNBC and CNN, seems credible to me, it was all about public flattery.

  52. 52.

    Felonius Monk

    November 19, 2016 at 12:47 pm

    @Betty Cracker:
    @Mnemosyne:
    Regarding Pence getting booed, etc. last night. This was a planned test. I really doubt if Pence had any real interest in seeing that play. However, Bannon is trying to orchestrate incidents like this. I believe their strategy is the one taken right out of the fascist playbook: Incite violent protest so that you can put in place draconian measures to preclude any protest in the future. This was just a toe in the water. Watch for more to come and an escalation in the level of provocation Once they have a percentage of the citizenry outraged by the protests then the harsh measures will start.
    With people like Sessions as AG (assuming he’s confirmed) the days of protest, peaceful or not, are over. This will probably be deemed terrorist activity and dealt with accordingly. I would not be surprised to see the leaders of Black Lives Matter sent to Guantanamo under this regime of evil fascists.

    Bannon is the one who is really orchestrating this stuff and this is the reason he has to be denied a position in Trump’s administration.

  53. 53.

    Botsplainer

    November 19, 2016 at 12:49 pm

    As I just opined on the Book of Faces:

    Here’s a hint to our friends on the right – those weren’t boos. They were verbal affirmations of agreement with the abandonment of safe space rhetoric as being overblown, together with a rejection of the elitism and political correctness of “respecting the office” regardless of occupant. Feels a lot more free to express ourselves as you have been expressing yourselves the past 8 years, especially since we make up the 52% of the voting public that isn’t all that fond of your guys.

    Enjoy the whirlwind you’ve reaped for the next 4, boys and girls – it has been earned.

  54. 54.

    Baud

    November 19, 2016 at 12:53 pm

    @Persia: Good. No quarter.

  55. 55.

    the wesson

    November 19, 2016 at 12:55 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Hate to say it, but the only thing that will penetrate their media bubble (which the mainstream media enable all too often) is a real-world disaster. E.g. Katrina for Bush, maybe. Or economic crash. Or something else worse and more bizarre (now that we’ve slumped over into an alt-reality timeline.)

  56. 56.

    Keith G

    November 19, 2016 at 12:56 pm

    @Felonius Monk:

    With people like Sessions as AG (assuming he’s confirmed) the days of protest, peaceful or not, are over

    You actually believe this?

  57. 57.

    Shell

    November 19, 2016 at 12:57 pm

    So, is Trump gonna shut down Broadway for the effrontery of criticizing our new Overlords?

  58. 58.

    WereBear

    November 19, 2016 at 12:59 pm

    @Another Scott: He’ll be forced to give up his role in the hotel. How soon? Dunno.

    Oh boy. At least we won’t be suffering alone.

  59. 59.

    Another Scott

    November 19, 2016 at 1:00 pm

    Self-awareness? Awarness of anyone outside himself? Donnie doesn’t seem to have it.

    Twitter:

    Donald J. Trump Verified account
    ‏@realDonaldTrump
    The ONLY bad thing about winning the Presidency is that I did not have the time to go through a long but winning trial on Trump U. Too bad!

    ONLY.

    He’s brain damaged. I’ve been saying it for months… :-(

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  60. 60.

    gogol's wife

    November 19, 2016 at 1:01 pm

    @Felonius Monk:

    @Keith G:

    I thought mass protests would be a good thing at this point, no?

  61. 61.

    JPL

    November 19, 2016 at 1:02 pm

    @Keith G: Nothing would surprise me. Not one republican was called out on MSM when they called the protests, riots. As far as I know there was only one protest where rioting occurred and that was in Portland.

  62. 62.

    Corner Stone

    November 19, 2016 at 1:02 pm

    @Another Scott:

    He’ll be forced to give up his role in the hotel. How soon? Dunno.

    You can wait over here with me while I am waiting to see his taxes. I’ll bring a pack of c@rds and some soda pop.

  63. 63.

    gogol's wife

    November 19, 2016 at 1:02 pm

    The comments at the Chicago Tribune were heartening. Someone quoted the actor’s measured, polite speech, and then said, “Oh, what horrible harassment!”

  64. 64.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 19, 2016 at 1:02 pm

    I keep thinking “well, best case scenario, he’s not/not going to govern as an authoritarian kleptocrat and it’ll just be like W. Bush but even more incompetent” and then I remember that W. Bush almost half-destroyed the country.

    And then I waterproof my shoes, because I have things to do. At least I’m not dwelling too much!

  65. 65.

    Baud

    November 19, 2016 at 1:02 pm

    @gogol’s wife: If you’re a true liberal, every move is the wrong one.

  66. 66.

    gogol's wife

    November 19, 2016 at 1:02 pm

    And I CAN’T BELIEVE TRUMP HAS THE NERVE TO ASK FOR A SAFE SPACE!!!!!!!!!!!

  67. 67.

    Shell

    November 19, 2016 at 1:06 pm

    long but winning trial

    WINNING! The man is turning into Charlie Sheen.

  68. 68.

    gogol's wife

    November 19, 2016 at 1:07 pm

    @Shell:

    If only Charlie Sheen were President-Elect.

  69. 69.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 19, 2016 at 1:08 pm

    @gogol’s wife: I can.

  70. 70.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 19, 2016 at 1:09 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: and then I remember that W. Bush almost half-destroyed the country.

    and actually destroyed a couple of others

    MSNBC: “Mike Pence thought he was going out of a great night of theater… Mike Pence was very gracious….”

    Actor who read message tweeted “‘everyone has a right to free speech’ and that sort of thing”> “that sort of thing”, I’m pretty sure that’s an exact quote. ETA: It was the reporter who dismissively referred to “that sort of thing” wrt free speech

  71. 71.

    Corner Stone

    November 19, 2016 at 1:11 pm

    Don’t fucking try and sell me that Michelle Rhee is a Democrat.

  72. 72.

    SenyorDave

    November 19, 2016 at 1:11 pm

    I’d like to see a response from the cast like:
    When Donald Trump apologizes for years of birtherism, which showed his explicit racism, we will apologize for offending his delicate sensibilities by encouraging inclusiveness. Until that happens, Trump can go fuck himself.

  73. 73.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 19, 2016 at 1:12 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    It was the reporter who dismissively referred to “that sort of thing” wrt free speech

    Of course it was. These people really don’t understand how this country works, do they?

  74. 74.

    Ridnik Chrome

    November 19, 2016 at 1:12 pm

    @WereBear: “Vichy Press”. Perfect. Should be a rotating tag.

  75. 75.

    Baud

    November 19, 2016 at 1:13 pm

    Why are people still paying attention to cable news?

  76. 76.

    Corner Stone

    November 19, 2016 at 1:13 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’m cutting cable after Thanksgiving. I have to stop watching MSNBC as it is driving me insane.

  77. 77.

    CaseyL

    November 19, 2016 at 1:13 pm

    I wonder if our Media Overlords ever hear themselves – but no, they don’t. Anyone here remember the movie “Bob Roberts”?

    It was spot on in a number of ways, but one of the themes that has stuck with me is the utter uselessness of the news media as portrayed. Roberts’ opponent (played by Gore Vidal) was photographed letting an attractive young woman out of his car one evening, and Roberts’ campaign ginned up this huge scandal from it. Which the media dutifully ran with.

    The young woman was the Vidal character’s niece, he was dropping her off somewhere like a good uncle would, and there was nothing scandalous about it. But the news media prefaced every single story about Vidal’s character with a mention that he had been accused of a sex scandal. Even though there wasn’t one, and hadn’t ever been one. They were just mindlessly repeating themselves.

    And so here we are today. The chattering class chatters, and the chatter has about as much content value as sparrows in a tree noting that a crow has flown by.

  78. 78.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 19, 2016 at 1:15 pm

    @Corner Stone: this blonde from The Hill is doing quite an impression of Jane Curtain’s old Audrey Pierce Dickman character “It’s a liberal production… Mike Pence was very gracious”. We have defined graciousness down.

  79. 79.

    Chris

    November 19, 2016 at 1:16 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I expected them to rally by Trump come November, and I was richly rewarded.

    What I hadn’t braced for was the speed with which they’d walk back their primary comments and revert to IOKIYAR normalization AFTER the election (since I didn’t expect a win). Especially among acquaintances whose comments before the election indicated that they at least understood that there was SOMETHING unusual and bad about Drumpf.

    As I said, I really shouldn’t be shocked, since their entire lifetime demonstrated to me that they were spineless ethical cowards whose only morality was tribalism and self-absorption.

  80. 80.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 19, 2016 at 1:17 pm

    @WereBear: @Ridnik Chrome: I like it, but–they’ve been that for years, no?

  81. 81.

    Felonius Monk

    November 19, 2016 at 1:17 pm

    @Keith G:

    You actually believe this?

    Not sure what your question refers to. Do I think Sessions will be confirmed? I hope not and I believe there is a pretty good chance that he won’t, but I’ve been wrong before.

    Do I think the scenario I laid out is going to happen? Don’t know, but I do think it is quite plausable.

  82. 82.

    WereBear

    November 19, 2016 at 1:17 pm

    @CaseyL: What we have is people who were trained watching Cronkite and now are watching Hannity with no idea these two things are not the same.

  83. 83.

    Another Scott

    November 19, 2016 at 1:18 pm

    @Corner Stone: Heh. :-)

    We know that “blind trust” rules aren’t enforceable on the President and Vice-President (for reasons that make sense in a normally functioning government), but rules against doing business with the government while you oversee an agency are much more clear-cut.

    Of course, if they’re willing to ignore the rules and the laws, then they can break those rules. But there will be consequences even if they don’t appear immediately.

    Who knows what conditions Deutsche Bank put on the $170M loan for the DC hotel. The GSA probably has ways of putting pressure on them, too, if necessary.

    But we’ll see.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  84. 84.

    Corner Stone

    November 19, 2016 at 1:18 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yeah, he was very gracious. He diverted funding for HIV programs, pushed conversion therapy, signed a hate bill against LGBT, and jailed a woman for a miscarriage.
    But as you can see, the fact that Pence did not send out any tweet after the event shows how gracious he is being about all this.

  85. 85.

    WereBear

    November 19, 2016 at 1:19 pm

    @Felonius Monk: Let’s put it this way: who is going to stop them?

  86. 86.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 19, 2016 at 1:20 pm

    @Another Scott: Who knows what conditions Deutsche Bank put on the $170M loan for the DC hotel.

    at a guess, Assange and Putin.

    You think Obama asked Merkel to make some backdoor inquiries?/snark. Mostly.

  87. 87.

    Botsplainer

    November 19, 2016 at 1:20 pm

    I’m liking the idea of a lot of public spitting on the symbols of conservatism.

    I’m also liking the idea of flipping off presidential motorcades and the images of Trump and Pence. When walking through the terminal at ATL last Sunday, I made a point to flip off any TV monitor I saw anytime Trump’s face came on. Nobody said a word.

  88. 88.

    Ridnik Chrome

    November 19, 2016 at 1:23 pm

    @Keith G: I could easily see some red state governor issuing a shoot-to-kill order next time there’s a protest that gets out of hand, knowing Sessions will back him all the way.

  89. 89.

    Elmo

    November 19, 2016 at 1:28 pm

    @Another Scott: Why would GSA put pressure on anybody? It’s an executive agency, isn’t it? Who appoints the head of the GSA?

  90. 90.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 19, 2016 at 1:30 pm

    Paging Adam Silverman, Adam Silverman, please come to a blue blog thread..

    Pentagon and intelligence community chiefs have urged Obama to remove the head of the NSA
    By Ellen Nakashima November 19 at 12:46 PM
    The heads of the Pentagon and the nation’s intelligence community have recommended to President Obama that the director of the National Security Agency, Adm. Michael S. Rogers, be removed.
    The recommendation, delivered to the White House last month, was made by Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter and Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr., according to several U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
    Action has been delayed, some administration officials said, because relieving Rogers of his duties is tied to another controversial recommendation: to create separate chains of command at the NSA and the military’s cyberwarfare unit, a recommendation by Clapper and Carter that has been stalled because of other issues.
    The news comes as Rogers is being considered by President-Elect Donald Trump to be his nominee for DNI, replacing Clapper as the official who oversees all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies. In a move apparently unprecedented for a military officer, Rogers, without notifying superiors, traveled to New York to meet with Trump on Thursday at Trump Tower. That caused consternation at senior levels of the administration, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal personnel matters.

  91. 91.

    Corner Stone

    November 19, 2016 at 1:31 pm

    @WereBear: During the W admin, didn’t a guy get harassed or almost arrested for saying something to Cheney? And we expect this round to be any better?

    Yeah, here it is:
    Man Sues Secret Service Agent Over Arrest After Approaching Cheney and Denouncing War
    “Mr. Howards, 54, said at a news conference here that he was taking his 8-year-old son to a piano lesson on June 16 at the Beaver Creek Resort about two hours west of Denver when he saw Mr. Cheney at an outdoor mall. Mr. Howards said he approached within two feet of Mr. Cheney and said in a calm voice, “I think your policies in Iraq are reprehensible,” or as the lawsuit itself describes the encounter, “words to that effect.”

  92. 92.

    Felonius Monk

    November 19, 2016 at 1:35 pm

    @WereBear: Bingo! That’s the $64,000 question.

  93. 93.

    Another Scott

    November 19, 2016 at 1:37 pm

    @Elmo: The GSA is an independent agency. There isn’t a direct line of control from the White House to the GSA.

    Sure, Trump could appoint a head that would try to do his bidding, but there are still rules and laws that have to be followed. Until Congress changes those rules and laws, he’s stuck with them.

    I’m not arguing that he might not try to do what he wants, and try to appoint minions to do what he wants, but the US government is bigger than one guy and he won’t have an easy time of it.

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  94. 94.

    mai naem mobile

    November 19, 2016 at 1:40 pm

    @Judge Crater: I mentioned this hotel thing a few months ago. It’s going to go way deeper than a stupid stay at the D.C.hotel. He’s got a bunch of golf resorts and they’re not just here. To bribe this guy and “launder” the bribe would be a piece of cake. I know a little about the hospitality biz because I have extended family members who own/run hotel/motels(nothing like Shitgibbons luxury stuff) but you could totally pay for rooms and not show up. You could totally pay a grossly hugh rate and explain it away. You could hold a hokey event and vastly overpay. Jeezus. Remember when the GOP made a big deal about fed employees spending millions on junkets in Vegas in 09. You think that’s going to happen when it’s done now at a Trump Inc. facility. And all his crap is privately owned so you don’t even get to see anything even from year to year. This guy just bought himself the biggest con evah.

  95. 95.

    NotMax

    November 19, 2016 at 1:50 pm

    @Judge Crater

    Mentioned it previously, but hoping someone or some group (can’t afford it myself) hires an expert or two to go undercover and book some of the luxury suites there and subsequently sweep them for electronic bugs.

  96. 96.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 19, 2016 at 1:51 pm

    @mai naem mobile: I know a little about the hospitality biz because I have extended family members who own/run hotel/motels(nothing like Shitgibbons luxury stuff) but you could totally pay for rooms and not show up

    Or buy c*sin0 chips and not cash them in? There is I believe a precedent.

  97. 97.

    Emerald

    November 19, 2016 at 1:53 pm

    @Brachiator:

    With the Trump precedent, we may never see a presidential candidate release his or her tax records again.

    Not just trump. Bernie never released his either, and never will.

    And was never and will never be held accountable for it.

  98. 98.

    WereBear

    November 19, 2016 at 1:58 pm

    @Corner Stone: It will be worse. This bunch is even more devolved.

  99. 99.

    Denise

    November 19, 2016 at 2:11 pm

    Sarah Kendzior agrees with you John.

  100. 100.

    Chris

    November 19, 2016 at 2:23 pm

    @NotMax:

    Any intelligence service worth its salt will probably bug the shit out of the entire hotel, and get oodles of information about every person in Trump’s entourage.

  101. 101.

    bemused senior

    November 19, 2016 at 2:25 pm

    @Persia: Available various places as a free eBook.

  102. 102.

    NotMax

    November 19, 2016 at 2:37 pm

    @Chris

    Different situation than if the bugging was built-in during construction.

  103. 103.

    D58826

    November 19, 2016 at 4:16 pm

    Das Fuhrer consolidates his power. From WAPO. The military want NSA head Adm. M rodgers remoived from command imediately. The reason

    he heads of the Pentagon and the nation’s intelligence community have recommended to President Obama that the director of the National Security Agency, Adm. Michael S. Rogers, be removed.

    The recommendation, delivered to the White House last month, was made by Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter and Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr., according to several U.S. officials familiar with the matter.

    ADVERTISING

    Action has been delayed, some administration officials said, because relieving Rogers of his duties is tied to another controversial recommendation: to create separate chains of command at the NSA and the military’s cyberwarfare unit, a recommendation by Clapper and Carter that has been stalled because of other issues.

    The news comes as Rogers is being considered by President-Elect Donald Trump to be his nominee for DNI, replacing Clapper as the official who oversees all 17 U.S. intelligence agencies. In a move apparently unprecedented for a military officer, Rogers, without notifying superiors, traveled to New York to meet with Trump on Thursday at Trump Tower. That caused consternation at senior levels of the administration, according to the officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal personnel matters.

    In the meantime the Kochopus has made its biggest acquisition – with the selection of their sock puppet Pompano they now own the CIA
    The Constitution no longer exists.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/pentagon-and-intelligence-community-chiefs-have-urged-obama-to-remove-the-head-of-the-nsa/2016/11/19/44de6ea6-adff-11e6-977a-1030f822fc35_story.html?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_rogers-1249pm%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

  104. 104.

    D58826

    November 19, 2016 at 4:20 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Beat me to it and even bolded the same sentence I did.

  105. 105.

    D58826

    November 19, 2016 at 4:31 pm

    @Another Scott: With all due respect I think you are being way too optimistic. With all of the power centers inside and outside of Washington falling all over themselves to suck up to Trump who will stop him?

    Much of our system of government has been governed by informal/unwritten norms of behavior. Trump has blasted thru every last one of them. The normal rules no longer apply. The only rule that applies now is the law of the jungle – every man for himself and may Trumps vengeance fall on someone else.

    Even Mittens is sucking up. Wasn’t he supposed to be one of the honorable republicans? Now maybe he will be Sec of State and maybe he won’t. This all could be just more Trump kabuki but the fact that Romney would even validate Trump with a meeting burns his reputation. But I guess he is more concerned with what Trump could do to his business interests than with his reputation. And just as an aside I remember before the election how everyone said Trump would never carry Utah because the Mormons hated everything that Trump stood for. One more prediction that went up in smoke.

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