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You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2016 / If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Fellate ‘Em

If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Fellate ‘Em

by John Cole|  November 21, 20168:10 pm| 242 Comments

This post is in: Election 2016, Post-racial America, Our Failed Media Experiment

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So here’s an update on how that Trump/media heads meeting went:

President-elect Donald Trump raged at anchors and executives from America’s five largest television networks during an off-the-record meeting Monday, according to a new report.

Two sources described the hour-long meeting at New York City’s Trump Tower in catastrophic terms to The New York Post.

“It was like a f—ing firing squad,” one source said of the meeting. “Trump started with [CNN President] Jeff Zucker and said, ‘I hate your network, everyone at CNN is a liar and you should be ashamed.’”

“The meeting was a total disaster. The TV execs and anchors went in there thinking they would be discussing the access they would get to the Trump administration, but instead they got a Trump-style dressing down.”

The Post’s second source said the meeting included 30 to 40 people, and said Trump also took aim at ABC and NBC.

“Trump kept saying, ‘We’re in a room full of liars, the deceitful dishonest media who got it all wrong,'” the source said. “He addressed everyone in the room calling the media dishonest, deceitful liars. Trump didn’t say [NBC reporter] Katy Tur by name, but talked about a female correspondent who got it wrong.

“Then he referred to a horrible network correspondent who cried when [Democratic presidential nominee] Hillary [Clinton] lost [and] who hosted a debate — which was [ABC’s] Martha Raddatz, who was also in the room.”

While that was going on, it was business as usual for CNN:

cnnfail

Take a second to absorb that. THAT. REALLY. HAPPENED. IN. 2016.

Since Zucker was busy being force fed his balls, I’ve come up with some future topics to help CNN normalize white supramecists:

blkpeople

mexicans

catholics

muslims

slavery

realracists

We are through the fucking looking glass.

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Previous Post: « Monday Evening Open Thread
Next Post: Celebratory Gathering of Happy Trump Supporters »

Reader Interactions

242Comments

  1. 1.

    eldorado

    November 21, 2016 at 8:12 pm

    lie down with dogs…

  2. 2.

    Retr237

    November 21, 2016 at 8:13 pm

    So if I’m following you, one of these screenshots is real . . .

    Just wow.

  3. 3.

    schrodinger's cat

    November 21, 2016 at 8:13 pm

    Putin is laughing over the bloodless coup while eating caviar.

  4. 4.

    Eric U.

    November 21, 2016 at 8:13 pm

    is that first one real?

  5. 5.

    Tom Levenson

    November 21, 2016 at 8:14 pm

    @Eric U.: yes. WASF

  6. 6.

    schrodinger's cat

    November 21, 2016 at 8:14 pm

    @Eric U.: It is in a different font.

  7. 7.

    khead

    November 21, 2016 at 8:15 pm

    I like the idea of Zucker eating $hit. Unfortunately it involves the rest of us chomping too.

  8. 8.

    Quinerly

    November 21, 2016 at 8:16 pm

    CNBC reporting that BET founder attended the meeting and he says essentially that the Black community should give Trump benefit of the doubt. Can’t link to the piece b/c I’m on my phone.

  9. 9.

    Chip Daniels

    November 21, 2016 at 8:16 pm

    I’m done using alt-right, or any euphemism.
    These people are fascists, the same folks my parents fought in WWII.

  10. 10.

    Baud

    November 21, 2016 at 8:18 pm

    @Quinerly: There is no doubt.

  11. 11.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 21, 2016 at 8:18 pm

    This fucking man. Our fucking media. Comforting the narcissistic and powerful

    Trump turned to NBC News President Deborah Turness at one point, the source said, and told her the network won’t run a nice picture of him, instead choosing “this picture of me,” as he made a face with a double chin. Turness replied that they had a “very nice” picture of him on their website at the moment.
    NBC spokespeople did not immediately return a request for comment.

    Found the Politico article via this guy, a TDS writer

    Daniel Radish ‏@ danielradosh 51m51 minutes ago
    I’m sorry, the correct response is, “You’re not my photo editor, dipshit.”

  12. 12.

    Mary G

    November 21, 2016 at 8:18 pm

    I hope Trump voters are paying attention. They built this.

  13. 13.

    The Dangerman

    November 21, 2016 at 8:19 pm

    ….Zucker was busy being force fed his balls….

    “Tastes like chicken”, Zucker managed to mumble.

  14. 14.

    Baud

    November 21, 2016 at 8:20 pm

    @The Dangerman: Thank you, sir, may I have another?

  15. 15.

    Gravenstone

    November 21, 2016 at 8:20 pm

    “Trump started with [CNN President] Jeff Zucker and said, ‘I hate your network, everyone at CNN is a liar and you should be ashamed.’”

    Er, wasn’t Zucker roundly villainzed as a Trump fan during the primary? Going so far as to acquire (and keep) Lewandowski on the payroll? Apparently Hair Furor never got that memo.

  16. 16.

    Mary G

    November 21, 2016 at 8:20 pm

    I’m betting Zucker the kapo fires Van Jones, Angela Rye and Ana Navarro before the inauguration.

  17. 17.

    Botsplainer

    November 21, 2016 at 8:21 pm

    (conversation overheard between Wolf Blitzer, Mika Brzezinski and Chuck Todd as they’re being led to the firing squad)

    “I honestly thought emails and Benghazi were important things to talk about so the American public could make a decision. And the ‘deplorable’ thing was so mean and disrespectful.”

  18. 18.

    cokane

    November 21, 2016 at 8:21 pm

    why is that chyron upsetting you? like i dont get the argument. it’s much more damaging for cnn to use a shocking paraphrase of his own words than to say “alt right founder makes anti semitic comment”

  19. 19.

    schrodinger's cat

    November 21, 2016 at 8:21 pm

    They built this. NYT is still busy normalizing this horror show. Does anyone here see the Newshour? I stopped watching two weeks before the elections

  20. 20.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 21, 2016 at 8:22 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Reminds me of when Bill’O sued Al Franken over the cover of “Lies and the Lying Liers Who Tell Them” because he didn’t like the picture on the cover. Bill’O was literally laughed out of court.

  21. 21.

    Robin G.

    November 21, 2016 at 8:22 pm

    The NY Post is the only one running with this version of the meeting. Everyone else says it was fine. So on one hand, it could be a Trump-spread rumor, since it makes him look like some kind of badass (when, as Marshall points out, he’s more likely to chicken out in person); on the other hand, it could be all true, and the media is going along with it, just like Trump wants.

    The fact thag we have no way of knowing which is true is terrifying.

  22. 22.

    SFBayAreaGal

    November 21, 2016 at 8:23 pm

    I was over on the Lawyers, Guns and Money page and they shared a posting by Marty Kaufman (Scott’s brother) Scott Eric Kaufman passed away this morning. Here’s the posting from Marty’s Facebook page:

    “It is with the deepest regrets that I let you know my brother, Scott Eric Kaufman, passed away this morning. In true Scott fashion, he held out hope and fought until the end. We will be having a private family burial in the next couple of days, but will announce details for a public memorial service once plans are more certain.

    Please feel free to use his Facebook page and email address to share your favorite stories/memories of Scott and ease your grievance. We know you all loved him as much as we did, and would love to share the stories that made him special to so many people.”

  23. 23.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 21, 2016 at 8:24 pm

    and Trump can’t resist humiliating Willard. If I knew a bookie, I’d bet $500 Willard will not be SoS now

    Trump said he believes it is time to have someone from the military as secretary of defense and mentioned that former presidential candidate Mitt Romney “really wants” the secretary of state position.

  24. 24.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    November 21, 2016 at 8:25 pm

    I still say Alex Baldwin has the right idea, dress up like Trump with a bad wig and yell right back at Turmp and dare people to tell the differance.

  25. 25.

    JPL

    November 21, 2016 at 8:26 pm

    The only thing I believe is that he was upset about the double chin. The entire NYPost article was to change the subject from his dealing with business while he was president-elect. It’s the new twitter.

  26. 26.

    burnspbesq

    November 21, 2016 at 8:26 pm

    With that many people in the room, there will be leaks. We are likely to know the full story by this time tomorrow. Maybe multiple versions.

  27. 27.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    November 21, 2016 at 8:27 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I bet Trump is going nuts trying to figure out how his one his kids can be SOS.

  28. 28.

    JPL

    November 21, 2016 at 8:28 pm

    Protecting Trump Towers is costing the taxpayers 1 million a day. Where is the outrage?

  29. 29.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 21, 2016 at 8:28 pm

    If Rupert Murdoch told me the sun was out I’d go outside and check.

  30. 30.

    Applejinx

    November 21, 2016 at 8:29 pm

    @cokane: Good point. It’s signalling. Would be consistent with the Post version of the meeting story, and indicate that CNN was sticking stuff in the chyron that was consistent with what was happening, but calculated to freak out people paying attention.

    These are very weird times we’re in. I think a lot of people who to some extent have power, are trying to play it clever.

  31. 31.

    DCrefugee

    November 21, 2016 at 8:29 pm

    @Mary G: They are. They’re eating it up with a spoon…

  32. 32.

    burnspbesq

    November 21, 2016 at 8:29 pm

    Conway really wants to be head of the Gestapo, doesn’t she?

  33. 33.

    Botsplainer

    November 21, 2016 at 8:29 pm

    @Robin G.:

    I’m hoping that it is true. Far better for this dickless wonders to get their asses pounded now – a few of them might discover a hidden well of courage that has hithertofore gone missing.

    And if they collapse in cringing, trembling heaps as Trump piles on more abuse to show their uselessness, I’m OK with that, too.

    Maybe he can execute a few of them as examples – I won’t shed a tear.

  34. 34.

    GxB

    November 21, 2016 at 8:31 pm

    I was initially skeptical of this story, no matter how plausible, due to the source. Still I want iron clad evidence, tapes, video, the works. I don’t doubt that Chump is a ball of rage, and that will be a huge part of his undoing, I just want incontrovertible proof and I want it ran on every one of these fuckheads’ networks non-stop until we get him as far away from power as possible.

    They built this shit, they better damn well do their best to correct it.

  35. 35.

    toine

    November 21, 2016 at 8:31 pm

    Banana super power… should be interesting…

  36. 36.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 21, 2016 at 8:32 pm

    @JPL: That’s nothing, the Near Sheriff spent a billion going to Kenya. And if you can’t trust CNS News or the Daily Caller, who can ya trust.

  37. 37.

    Roger Moore

    November 21, 2016 at 8:32 pm

    @JPL:

    The entire NYPost article was to change the subject from his dealing with business while he was president-elect.

    This. It’s more misdirection. Don’t take your eyes off the ball, which is the horrible people Trump is putting into positions of power.

  38. 38.

    Mary G

    November 21, 2016 at 8:33 pm

    If any of the attendees at this meeting had any guts, they would’ve snuck in a hidden camera, recorded and played the whole thing.

  39. 39.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 21, 2016 at 8:33 pm

    @burnspbesq: She’d look really nice with the Black uni and black knee boots.

  40. 40.

    celticdragonchick

    November 21, 2016 at 8:33 pm

    Being hostile to the news does not pay off in the long run. When you look like you have something to hide and refuse normal access to reporters…they will assume you have something to hide and start cultivating insiders who leak.

    I heard for years that Hillary’s strained relations with the press became the driving dynamic that they used to define her. She didn’t like them…and they started treating her with suspicion and contempt (and yeah, 90% of it was bullshit).

    Trump was the new shiny thing, but that is nearly over now. All the networks seem to be picking up the “He’s a crook who is already double dealing before he even takes office” story and it is going to define him.

    He learned all the wrong lessons from his campaign. The shit you got away with on the road will not fly when you have the emoluments clause of the Constitution saying “No asshole, you can’t do that” and 3 investigation committees looking for an excuse to put Mike Pence in the Oval Office.

  41. 41.

    Botsplainer

    November 21, 2016 at 8:34 pm

    @GxB:

    I don’t know which is worse – the enraged mediocrity that is Donald Trump, or the pathetic mediocrity that is Mike Pence.

    Wish I knew genuine state secrets so I could defect to China or Cuba or somewhere else good.

  42. 42.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 21, 2016 at 8:35 pm

    @Mary G:

    If any of the attendees at this meeting had any guts,

    Heh!

  43. 43.

    tobie

    November 21, 2016 at 8:35 pm

    Maybe I’m missing something here but it’s hard to see how the Post story can be construed as a positive story for Trump. He’s being called out as a bully which is one way of standing up to a bully. I’m sure more leaks will come in the days ahead…and if they continue in this vein, then the press is at least showing some spine. Too little, too late maybe but it’s something.

  44. 44.

    Central Planning

    November 21, 2016 at 8:36 pm

    @Mary G: They are. They love it. :(

  45. 45.

    bluehill

    November 21, 2016 at 8:36 pm

    We are going to start seeing where everyone’s red lines are. Trump is a bully and it should be no surprise that he is continuing to behave as he always has. Unfortunately, he soon will have the full power of the U.S. behind him. We will have to see what happens when Trump moves from just talking to other forms of coercion. Nothing explicitly illegal, but still punitive. CNN keeps pissing him off? Let’s have the FCC start an investigation. Lindsay Graham is pushing too hard on an investigation into Russia? Remove him from his committees and start talking up someone else for senator.

    Everyone is now like the small contractor who worked on one of Trump’s casinos and got stiffed. Sure you can sue, but most probably don’t have the resources to see it through. Plus Trump can flow a few projects into your district or grant you an inside look into the Trump family during sweeps week or some other kind of reward to ease the sting of deference.

  46. 46.

    celticdragonchick

    November 21, 2016 at 8:36 pm

    @Botsplainer:

    I don’t know which is worse – the enraged mediocrity that is Donald Trump, or the pathetic mediocrity that is Mike Pence

    Pence is far more dangerous than Trump.

    Never fucking doubt it.

  47. 47.

    rikyrah

    November 21, 2016 at 8:37 pm

    FOR KAY:

    Argentine leader: Ivanka joined call with Trump
    11/21/16 08:00 PM EST

    Argentine President Mauricio Macri says he spoke with President-elect Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka during his recent phone call to America’s new leader.

    “In the call, I also talked with his daughter,” Macri told The Asashi Shimbun in an interview published Monday. “I have known her since her infant days.”

    Questions have swirled about how the president-elect will handle his business empire as he takes office. He’s said his children will run things in a “blind trust,” but because they are also serving on his transition team it’s unclear how that separation would work.

  48. 48.

    celticdragonchick

    November 21, 2016 at 8:38 pm

    @Mary G:

    Secret Service may have had something to say about that. You do not want to piss them off.

  49. 49.

    rikyrah

    November 21, 2016 at 8:38 pm

    Taniel ✔ @Taniel
    NC’s GOP Speaker leaves door open to court-packing & affirms the legislature’s “authority” to make McCrory Governor

  50. 50.

    JPL

    November 21, 2016 at 8:38 pm

    @tobie: hmm.. Melania posed for nude pictures, and as soon as the NYPost printed those, the story was gone. Trump gets in front of stories.

  51. 51.

    D58826

    November 21, 2016 at 8:38 pm

    @JPL: Interesting point as a follow up on that. Chris Hayes was discussing the Trump Oink conflicts of interest with Michael Steele and the Ethics officer from the Bush 43 WH, Both agreed that we are in uncharted territory on this. The Bush guy raised an interesting point. There are dozens of properties around the world that will now have the name of the President of the United States plastered in big letters on their side. What they also now have plastered on them is a target. The jihadist groups are probably in a race to see which one can launch the first terrorist strike on a Trump property. Who pays for the added security at these properties? In New York’s Trump Tower it is the tax payer but what about all of the others? And does Trump view an overseas terrorist attack on one of his proprieties like any other president would view an attack on an embassy?

  52. 52.

    Dadadadadadada

    November 21, 2016 at 8:39 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I believed from the very start that there never was anything to the ‘Mitt as Sos’ story. I’d be 100% unsurprised if that meeting goes like this:
    Trump: SoS is yours if you want it, Mitt.
    Mitt: Well, I opposed your election, and I find you personally disgusting. But this is my very last chance at political relevance, so I’ll take it. I might even have enough conscience left to feel bad about it.
    Trump: JK, I’m pardoning Whitey Bulger and making him SoS. But now everyone knows what a wh0re you are.
    Seriously, how can that not be what Trump was playing at?

  53. 53.

    PsiFighter37

    November 21, 2016 at 8:39 pm

    Sigh. That is all…I’m too tired to muster the rage tonight.

  54. 54.

    D58826

    November 21, 2016 at 8:40 pm

    @tobie: For the MSM hating electorate it is Trump standing up to power not bullying.

  55. 55.

    Shana

    November 21, 2016 at 8:41 pm

    @cokane: I think the point is that someone from the “alt-right” is actually saying it. In 2016. CNN definitely shouldn’t have used a euphemism. I got the impression that those were the actual words that person had used and CNN should have quoted them.

  56. 56.

    JPL

    November 21, 2016 at 8:41 pm

    @PsiFighter37: Then get some sleep because we need to fight another day.

  57. 57.

    rikyrah

    November 21, 2016 at 8:41 pm

    Summer Brennan
    ‏@summerbrennan
    Is Bernie Sanders still talking about white people somewhere? Where are the fiery speeches from Democrats denouncing Nazis and fascism?

  58. 58.

    D58826

    November 21, 2016 at 8:42 pm

    @JPL: and the public reaction – crickets. Barak and Michelle fist bump and it’s an impeachable offense.

  59. 59.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 21, 2016 at 8:43 pm

    @rikyrah:

    Where are the fiery speeches from Democrats denouncing Nazis and fascism?

    I’m sorry we’re too busy with the circular firing squad, the survivors(if any) will get back to you.

  60. 60.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 21, 2016 at 8:44 pm

    @JPL: The pictures were “very classy”.

  61. 61.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 21, 2016 at 8:46 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA: as soon as we’re done arguing whether my marriage is too much of a distraction.

  62. 62.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 21, 2016 at 8:47 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Heh, mine too(interracial).

  63. 63.

    Baud

    November 21, 2016 at 8:47 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Stop causing economic anxiety with all your lovin’ and shit.

  64. 64.

    Roger Moore

    November 21, 2016 at 8:47 pm

    @rikyrah:

    Where are the fiery speeches from Democrats denouncing Nazis and fascism?

    The one Hillary gave was derided in the press and then forgotten except her comment about a basket of deplorables. What makes you think any speech by a Democrat denouncing Nazis and fascism would be reported on?

  65. 65.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 21, 2016 at 8:48 pm

    @efgoldman: I’d call em “Talking Heads” but that would an insult to the band.

  66. 66.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 21, 2016 at 8:48 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Assuage Mah Feelings!

  67. 67.

    schrodinger's cat

    November 21, 2016 at 8:48 pm

    @celticdragonchick: You know this, how?

  68. 68.

    Botsplainer

    November 21, 2016 at 8:48 pm

    @D58826:

    There was a reason why ISIS was practically giddy.

  69. 69.

    SenyorDave

    November 21, 2016 at 8:48 pm

    @celticdragonchick: Pence is far more dangerous than Trump.

    Never fucking doubt it.

    Bannon is the brains behind Trump, think Rove with a nazi bent. Trump and his people are malevolent, they are a cancer. I’m hoping for a massive MI, better yet an incapacitating stroke. These people have already fundamentally changed this country, and will continue to do so. If the head of BET really said give him a chance, he’s a weasel.

    Pence is a religious nut like a major portion of the GOP, Trump will give them most of what Pence wants anyway by way of the SCOTUS. We are fucked. At this point I want to hear some Democrats be like Harry Reid. At least be on the right side of history.

  70. 70.

    rikyrah

    November 21, 2016 at 8:50 pm

    @Quinerly:

    Bob Johnson is a longtime slave catcher.

  71. 71.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 21, 2016 at 8:50 pm

    @Roger Moore: the deplorables comment wasn’t even in the alt-right speech, was it?

  72. 72.

    Another Scott

    November 21, 2016 at 8:50 pm

    @JPL: He’s got some 2:37 video on his Twitter thing now. I haven’t listened to it, but his face is all scrunched up with knitted brows and it looks like he’s being forced to eat raw onions and lemon juice. He looks really uncomfortable to me…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  73. 73.

    Ryan

    November 21, 2016 at 8:50 pm

    So, we CAN have taco trucks on every corner? Because last time I asked that was a negative.

  74. 74.

    oklahomo

    November 21, 2016 at 8:50 pm

    @burnspbesq: Ilse, She-Wolf of the SS

  75. 75.

    cokane

    November 21, 2016 at 8:51 pm

    @Shana: I disagree with this framing too. It’s important to be specific, that’s the whole reason it’s news.

    Look, “Racist says racist comment” isn’t news. “Altright leader: Racist remark” is strong news framing. It’s important to brand the movement now and to use and thus sully its own nomenclature.

  76. 76.

    Ryan

    November 21, 2016 at 8:51 pm

    Trump is your abusive daddy/husband. No matter how often you fellate him, he’s going to act this way.

  77. 77.

    rikyrah

    November 21, 2016 at 8:51 pm

    Al Franken ‏@alfranken 6h6 hours ago

    It’s impossible to unify our country if white supremacists have an ally running the White House.

  78. 78.

    Baud

    November 21, 2016 at 8:52 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: No. Different speeches.

  79. 79.

    Ryan

    November 21, 2016 at 8:53 pm

    I don’t personally use the words alt-right. I correct people by saying white nationalists. So far it’s been effective, but I live in a county that is 75% liberal.

  80. 80.

    Botsplainer

    November 21, 2016 at 8:53 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    She was mean and didn’t respect the feelings of authentic real Americans from the heartland by disrespecting their deepest concerns even if mistaken.

  81. 81.

    Ryan

    November 21, 2016 at 8:54 pm

    @SFBayAreaGal: One of my favorites: http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2013/11/fear-of-a-hat-planet

  82. 82.

    Roger Moore

    November 21, 2016 at 8:55 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    the deplorables comment wasn’t even in the alt-right speech, was it?

    I think you’re right; I’ve gotten them confused.

  83. 83.

    JPL

    November 21, 2016 at 8:56 pm

    @Another Scott: I wonder if it shows his double chin…hmmm

  84. 84.

    GxB

    November 21, 2016 at 8:56 pm

    @Botsplainer: I’m not much of a gambler when it comes to this. Chump as a volatile mix of arrogance, bullheaded stupidity, inchoate rage and at least another dozen serious pathologies. Spin the wheel and see what you get – sorry not going to play that game.

    While Dense is a putrid excuse for a human being, and he will no doubt find inventive ways to horrify us, his threat is more towards the social side of conservatism. We have been far more united in social activism and I would like to think he’d be thwarted more easily. Besides, those things we can reverse far more easily than a tactical nuke ‘cuz somebody swarthy looked at the shitgibbon funny once.

    Who’s going to be third in line, I say we run each one out on a rail in succession. IMO.

  85. 85.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 21, 2016 at 8:56 pm

    @Ryan: I’ve been correcting people into “neo-Nazi”, personally, but I’m in San Francisco.

  86. 86.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 21, 2016 at 8:57 pm

    @GxB:

    Who’s going to be third in line, I say we run each one out on a rail in succession. IMO.

    I think we’ve found Paul Ryan’s secret plan to become president.

  87. 87.

    Botsplainer

    November 21, 2016 at 8:57 pm

    @oklahomo:

    That’s actually Mika’s role. I’ve seen her in some severe leather outfits before, and find it disturbingly intriguing.

  88. 88.

    Uncharismatic megafauna

    November 21, 2016 at 8:59 pm

    There are seemingly an endless number of things coming from the orange one and the granny starver that variously enrage, motivate and depress me in any given week. What keeps me awake more than anything else, though, is that elected Democrats so far have largely chosen to stay silent and even when they do speak out it’s a Whack-A-Mole approach to any given outrage as it rears its head in the media, without any consistent message. To my mind this is not so much a problem of poor tactics or absence of coherent strategy. It’s a failure thus far to provide one compelling story that encompasses and explains the great diversity of the coming Republican devastation so that each outrage builds on the ones before to reinforce that story. So that it’s possible to readily understand the intended effect of each statement, nomination and proposed policy because each one fills in the plot of the story. We need that story urgently, and I think the folks here could help build it.

  89. 89.

    tobie

    November 21, 2016 at 9:01 pm

    @efgoldman:

    It’s not like this shit wasn’t reported. Every. Single. Day.

    This one hundred times over. The more horrible this man is, the more his supporters love him. They love that he picks on everyone they hate: liberals, the media, the elite, blacks, Latinos, Muslims, the LGBTQ community, etc. What the Democrats need to be showing everyday is how he’s screwing hard-working Americans. I’ve talked to a lot of Trump voters and the only thing that ever gave them pause was that he stiffed contractors. Nothing else bothered them in the least. The sooner the Dems learn this, the better. Everyday they need to be hammering how he’s screwing the middle class to pad the bank accounts of the rich.

  90. 90.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 21, 2016 at 9:03 pm

    @Uncharismatic megafauna: “I’m not a member of an organized political party, I’m a Democrat.”

  91. 91.

    oklahomo

    November 21, 2016 at 9:03 pm

    True. I can totally see Scarborough as her bondage bottom.

  92. 92.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 21, 2016 at 9:04 pm

    @Uncharismatic megafauna: good point.

    @efgoldman: gross.

  93. 93.

    Baud

    November 21, 2016 at 9:05 pm

    @tobie: That’ll be easier once he starts screwing Americans. He’s not president yet.

  94. 94.

    Jeffro

    November 21, 2016 at 9:05 pm

    @Ryan: that’s good

    I think I’m going with neo-nazis starting tomorrow

    Anyway, I really can’t quite process events the past few days. Muslim registries, “heil trump” salutes, enough conflicts of interest to torpedo a thousand Clintons, Sessions, Kobach, gutting the entire safety net for no reason…

    …hang on folks.

  95. 95.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 21, 2016 at 9:06 pm

    @efgoldman: How would one even do that?

  96. 96.

    schrodinger's cat

    November 21, 2016 at 9:06 pm

    @efgoldman: Pence has a record we have some idea about what he might do. The Electoral College winner is erratic and hence more dangerous. YMMV.

  97. 97.

    notoriousJRT

    November 21, 2016 at 9:07 pm

    We are through the fucking looking glass.

    That we are.

  98. 98.

    GxB

    November 21, 2016 at 9:09 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: I was thinking more, who is going to be this admin’s “Gerald Ford” to Chump’s Nixon.

  99. 99.

    bluehill

    November 21, 2016 at 9:09 pm

    @Uncharismatic megafauna: Agree. I think Bannon and Kushner throw out a lot of stuff just to keep the dems and the media running around in circles while they figure out where the key levers of power are and how to control them. I hope the dems are at least smart enough to give the appearance of disarray while trying to figure out what Bannon and Kushner are after and how they can stop or impede their progress. They now have about two months before the inauguration and when there’s going to be a number of bills, executive actions made. I hope there’s a more sophisticated strategy than just crying foul.

  100. 100.

    notoriousJRT

    November 21, 2016 at 9:09 pm

    @Mary G:
    They wanted to build it. This is music to their ears.

  101. 101.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 21, 2016 at 9:09 pm

    @efgoldman: OTOH, his nickname in Congress was Congressman Dense.

  102. 102.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 21, 2016 at 9:09 pm

    @efgoldman: @schrodinger’s cat: Bubonic plague or Ebola – which is worse?

  103. 103.

    tobie

    November 21, 2016 at 9:11 pm

    @Baud: Well, they could start with his revival of pay-to-play. Lobbyists are lining up to work in his administration.

    Add to that that he’s acting lot a consummate Washington insider, not an outsider at all. That should dent his ‘maverick’ image.

  104. 104.

    schrodinger's cat

    November 21, 2016 at 9:11 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Ebola. We know how to cure plague and how to avoid it.

  105. 105.

    JordanRules

    November 21, 2016 at 9:11 pm

    So much fuckery in so little time. Shock and awe.

    Need some fiery unequivocal condemnation from the sane parts of every institution.

    I’ve been very thankful for this blog obviously and for all the information and ideas flowing. The directive by a couple commenters to take stock internally and document your values and feelings was very valuable. Everything is different, right now.

  106. 106.

    Uncharismatic megafauna

    November 21, 2016 at 9:11 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    “I’m not a member of an organized political party, I’m a Democrat.”

    Without a doubt. That’s why coordinated tactics and strategy don’t work. A story that fits, though, tells and reinforces itself.

  107. 107.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 21, 2016 at 9:12 pm

    @bluehill:

    I hope the dems are at least smart enough to give the appearance of disarray

    Hell, that’s one thing we’re really good at, though not the appearance part.

  108. 108.

    Meg

    November 21, 2016 at 9:12 pm

    @Mary G: I think they will cheer him on since they believe what the Orange Ferret claims, namely, the media are crooked and biased.

  109. 109.

    notoriousJRT

    November 21, 2016 at 9:13 pm

    @cokane:
    Perhaps because we would prefer that CNN did not give a shit what an alt-right (i.e., voice from the racist, anti-semetic lunatic fringe) founder thought or had to say. This sort of hateful scum is elevated in the eyes of followers by publicity in the mainstream.

  110. 110.

    Schlemazel

    November 21, 2016 at 9:13 pm

    This is an article written by some shameless asshole that wrote fake news stories for the 2016 election. There is a lot of very interesting information in here.

    My issues is the glib bastard seems to have no clue the damage he did or to not consider it a problem. Rage does not even begin to cover what I feel at reading this

  111. 111.

    JMG

    November 21, 2016 at 9:13 pm

    Hey, the Medicare vote will be the tell. He’s fucking you morons, get it now? Otherwise, the simplest thing for the media to do, not that they will would be to release a complete transcript of the meeting. We might as well face it. There isn’t a free press. There’s a news division of the communications oligopoly, period. I was a newspaper guy for 30 years, and the only appropriate response was to spit in his face and leave the room.

  112. 112.

    Hungry Joe

    November 21, 2016 at 9:14 pm

    @efgoldman: This, exactly: Get up and walk out, maybe shouting “Do your worst, asshole” over your shoulder as you leave. The job of the press is to cover the President, not “work with” him.

    Donald Trump is going to be Commander in Chief of the military; he can order an ordinary soldier — or for that matter, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff — to drop and give him twenty, but he can’t tell an ordinary citizen to so much as give him his seat on the subway. And he can’t order the press to do shit, much less jack shit. (There’s a difference, you know.) Sure, he can put economic pressure on the company, legally or (more likely) illegally, but what the fuck — why are they journalists in the first place if they’re going to cave on something as fundamental as that? It’s easier just to be a flack.

  113. 113.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 21, 2016 at 9:14 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    We know how to cure plague and how to avoid it.

    Well, if you believe in the science type stuff. “Real ‘Mericans” don’t believe in that stuff.

  114. 114.

    Baud

    November 21, 2016 at 9:15 pm

    @Uncharismatic megafauna: We haven’t been able to tell a good coherent story in a long time. It’s a big part of our problem. We all tell different stories.

    @notoriousJRT: They aren’t a fringe anymore.

  115. 115.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 21, 2016 at 9:16 pm

    Dave Wasserman ‏@ Redistrict 30m30 minutes ago
    Hillary Clinton looks likely to hit 65M votes, roughly on par w/ Obama ’12, and win popular vote by ~2.5M:

  116. 116.

    cokane

    November 21, 2016 at 9:17 pm

    @notoriousJRT: I sort of agree, seems like this was a gathering of only maybe 100 people tops? according to some reports. but, if they didn’t cover it, we’d be hearing all sorts of screams of “WHY IS THA MSM IGNORING THIS!?!?”

  117. 117.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 21, 2016 at 9:18 pm

    @JMG: I know several journalists working in various places in the former Soviet Union. The American “press” is a joke to them.

  118. 118.

    TS

    November 21, 2016 at 9:18 pm

    And then they came for the media – and no-one was left to care. Says it all about the elections, the President Elect and the US political media.

  119. 119.

    GrandJury

    November 21, 2016 at 9:18 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: That kind of blows all the memes out of the water that she couldn’t energize the base if she is getting the same number of votes as Obama. Just didn’t do it in all the right places.

    The sad fact is that the rust belt, which leaned over towards prez elect shithead, is only going to get it that much worse under his rule.

  120. 120.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 21, 2016 at 9:19 pm

    @notoriousJRT: @Baud: yeah, you can’t exactly ignore something that’s going to have the president’s ear like that.

  121. 121.

    Viva BrisVegas

    November 21, 2016 at 9:19 pm

    “The meeting was a total disaster. The TV execs and anchors went in there thinking they would be discussing the access they would get to the Trump administration, but instead they got a Trump-style dressing down.”

    This is a rhetorical question, but by the TV press just siting there and taking this tirade isn’t Trump displaying his complete dominance over them?

    They had the choice to walk out, yet they let what he said about them go unchallenged.

    I’d say that pretty much sets out the relationship between the press and Trump for the next eight years. Complete supine subservience.

    In most places you have to pay for that kind of S&M. Trump is getting it for free.

    What’s a good place for the press to get fitted for their gimp suits?

  122. 122.

    Baud

    November 21, 2016 at 9:19 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
    @GrandJury:

    Dems now get more votes for the President, Senate, and House, but are completely shut out.

  123. 123.

    TS

    November 21, 2016 at 9:20 pm

    @celticdragonchick:

    Being hostile to the news does not pay off in the long run. When you look like you have something to hide and refuse normal access to reporters…they will assume you have something to hide and start cultivating insiders who leak.

    Only if you are a democrat. Never for Republicans. They have the right to rule and the right to deny access to the media. We’ve seen it for the past 18 months – the media accept it – why would it change now?

  124. 124.

    bluehill

    November 21, 2016 at 9:21 pm

    Not sure if these have been posted before. This is depressingly informative.

    The changes Daniel Ortega and his Sandinista party have wrought on Nicaragua’s political system over the past several years nicely illustrate how democracies typically come undone nowadays. Invasions, coups d’etat, and even autogolpes are so last century. Instead of failing with a bang, democracies now usually peter out in a series of whimpers. Elections keep happening, but ruling parties gradually cripple their opposition by harassment and obstruction. News media keep functioning, but they increasingly hew to scripts favoring the party in power, either because that party’s allies own them or because they fear being hobbled or shuttered if they don’t. Election results aren’t entirely fabricated, but they may be tweaked if necessary to ensure the desired result. The gradualism makes it hard to identify a transitional moment, but the end result is the same: democracy gets supplanted by authoritarian rule.

    Worth a read along with this.

    To learn more, see the links here https://twitter.com/BrendanNyhan/status/800494762398744576 … and/or this reading list by @JeffDColgan (via @n_stenhou): https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxqZWZmZGNvbGdhbnxneDozN2RmZGMzMmEyOWRmNjM5 …

  125. 125.

    schrodinger's cat

    November 21, 2016 at 9:22 pm

    @Baud: I don’t know what we should call that system but it is not a democracy.

  126. 126.

    JordanRules

    November 21, 2016 at 9:22 pm

    @Baud: We do tell different stories and that is partly reflective of the makeup of our party. And that is great. Some of our best Ads have been tapestries of all the stories. POTUS is an ‘all the stories’ symbol. They hate that.

    Everything is different right now and thinking about things differently is a huge part of this and a challenge for all of us.

  127. 127.

    Baud

    November 21, 2016 at 9:23 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: Yeah, it’s a real problem.

  128. 128.

    Iowa Old Lady

    November 21, 2016 at 9:24 pm

    An Argentinian reporter says that when Trump talked on the phone to the president of Argentina, Trump asked the guy to facilitate the permitting process for a project Trump has there. The president of Argentina denies it. Even if it isn’t true, the story shows the growing awareness of the possibilities for conflict of interest.

  129. 129.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 21, 2016 at 9:24 pm

    @Baud: @schrodinger’s cat: I thought we lost the House popular vote this time around.

  130. 130.

    Baud

    November 21, 2016 at 9:25 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: I hadn’t heard that. We gained seats, so that seems odd.

  131. 131.

    Shana

    November 21, 2016 at 9:25 pm

    @cokane: I disagree. This blatant statement needs to be diseminated to show how horrible these statements are.

  132. 132.

    raven

    November 21, 2016 at 9:25 pm

    I’m glad ya’ll are on this cuz I’m out of fucking gas on the whole deal.

  133. 133.

    JMG

    November 21, 2016 at 9:26 pm

    This would be a good time to call the offices of the heads of the networks and leave the message, you gutless pukes gonna take that or what? Cause if you are, I’m dropping the cable cord.

  134. 134.

    mike in dc

    November 21, 2016 at 9:26 pm

    @Chip Daniels:
    “Alt Reich” gets straight to the point.

  135. 135.

    Baud

    November 21, 2016 at 9:27 pm

    @raven: No worries. We’ll save the Republic. Take a break for a spell.

  136. 136.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 21, 2016 at 9:29 pm

    @Baud: elections are weird http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2016/11/10/democrats-won-popular-vote-senate-too/93598998/

  137. 137.

    rikyrah

    November 21, 2016 at 9:30 pm

    Blake Hounshell ✔ @blakehounshell
    Trump registered eight companies in Saudi Arabia during the presidential campaign

  138. 138.

    Baud

    November 21, 2016 at 9:31 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Thanks. I guess that’s a little different. A three million vote gap is pretty significant given how the Prez and Senate races went. I wonder if it’s because of high totals in deep red districts.

  139. 139.

    cokane

    November 21, 2016 at 9:31 pm

    @bluehill: I’m not sure Nicaragua is a great example. Hard to say that country ever had democracy and it certainly never had strong institutions outside of the executive.

  140. 140.

    Mary G

    November 21, 2016 at 9:32 pm

    It’s even telling other countries what to do:

    Many people would like to see @Nigel_Farage represent Great Britain as their Ambassador to the United States. He would do a great job!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 22, 2016

  141. 141.

    geg6

    November 21, 2016 at 9:32 pm

    @notoriousJRT:

    This.

  142. 142.

    Chip Daniels

    November 21, 2016 at 9:37 pm

    @rikyrah:

    Trump registered eight companies in Saudi Arabia during the presidential campaign

    I wonder if those Muslims will be on his registry.

  143. 143.

    celticdragonchick

    November 21, 2016 at 9:38 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    Pence is disciplined and he really believes in suppressing and “curing” teh Ghey etc. He has qualities of “leadership” that Trump does not.

  144. 144.

    Iowa Old Lady

    November 21, 2016 at 9:38 pm

    @Mary G: I had to read that tweet twice to take in that Trump was announcing who should be England’s ambassador. And it was Farage.

  145. 145.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 21, 2016 at 9:39 pm

    @raven: Hope the bride came through the surgery with flying colors.

  146. 146.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 21, 2016 at 9:40 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: President Macri also reportedly said Ivanka Trump was on the call as well. I can’t remember, it was so long ago – was Ivanka Trump also elected to something?

  147. 147.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 21, 2016 at 9:40 pm

    @Another Scott:

    Yes, he is a very uncomfy combination of ANGRY and WORRIED SICK. I watched it with the sound off, and his facial expressions are . . . not reassuring.

  148. 148.

    BBA

    November 21, 2016 at 9:42 pm

    Don’t call Trump a fascist. He’s so much worse than that.

  149. 149.

    schrodinger's cat

    November 21, 2016 at 9:43 pm

    @celticdragonchick: The Republican candidate treated the press with utter contempt, put them in a pen and yet all we saw in the press was stories about emails. Non stop.

  150. 150.

    amk

    November 21, 2016 at 9:43 pm

    courtier press. just what the ‘founding fathers’ so badly wanted.

  151. 151.

    sherparick

    November 21, 2016 at 9:43 pm

    @Mary G: Unfortunately the majority of Trump voters love it. By the way,with six media corporations owning 80% media -broadcast TV, Broadcast radio, Satellite radio, Cable TV, Cable TV content providers, Newspapers, Web sites, Social media, Trump just has to bully/suborn these six companies to basically compete for which one will be the Trump network.

    Trump gets around the “emoulments” clause by saying “I am not getting. Trump corporation is getting it. The primary business model of Trump Inc is branding rights. Trump’s brand name is now President of the United States. Trump ethic, if you can call it that is “if you are nice to me, I am nice to you,” if you “attack” me I come back at you ten times as hard. And he now has the full force and power of the United States Government to remind people to be nice to him and 2) attack those who are not nice to him. The FCC and Justice Department can make lives miserable for a corporation that wants do a merger. Who will be nice, who will not be nice? Also, some day next year I predict this blog, and Kos, and Driftglass are going to get nice little “cease and decease” and retraction letters with a warning that if they don’t with the not “nice” comments on the President, his family, and his friends, they will be sued.

  152. 152.

    Kay

    November 21, 2016 at 9:44 pm

    @rikyrah:

    Argentine President Mauricio Macri says he spoke with President-elect Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka during his recent phone call to America’s new leader.

    It’s just flat out weird how much he relies on this daughter. They’re all covering it as part of the huge conflict of interest story but at some point people will wonder why the President can’t seem to function without a babysitter.

    What’s wrong with him?

  153. 153.

    raven

    November 21, 2016 at 9:44 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Yea, it looks good. We got very lucky and she was called in first thing this morning. They wait 2 weeks to put the cast on but encourage finger movement and she thinks she’ll be able to sew.
    thx

  154. 154.

    Baud

    November 21, 2016 at 9:46 pm

    @sherparick: Kos would eat that up.

  155. 155.

    celticdragonchick

    November 21, 2016 at 9:46 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: Sorry, I answered to the wrong question a moment ago. I changed it to address your actual query.

    yeah, he treated them like shit, but they did not take him seriously.

    That dynamic is done.

    Today, by all accounts was a declaration of war by Trump and from what I can see, the leaks were from his camp.

    If he is going to keep refusing normal access while insulting them literally to their faces, they will start looking for stories that he doesn’t want told. They have to sell something….

  156. 156.

    Dadadadadadada

    November 21, 2016 at 9:47 pm

    @Mary G: Hasn’t the UK barred Trump from entry due to his hate speech? I imagine that ban won’t hold up once he’s president, but surely they draw the line at allowing him to name their ambassadors.

  157. 157.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 21, 2016 at 9:48 pm

    @BBA: say what you will about the tenets of national socialism, at least it’s an ethos.

  158. 158.

    Auntie Anne

    November 21, 2016 at 9:48 pm

    @SFBayAreaGal: I saw. This year just SUCKS.

  159. 159.

    Mary G

    November 21, 2016 at 9:48 pm

    @raven: Glad to hear that.

  160. 160.

    gogol's wife

    November 21, 2016 at 9:48 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    No, it was in a private meeting.

  161. 161.

    M. Bouffant

    November 21, 2016 at 9:49 pm

    Whole “firing squad” probably Bee Ess from Trump or a flunky, per Steve M.:

    DON’T BE ONE OF THE RUBES WHO BELIEVE TRUMP DRESSED DOWN THE MEDIA TODAY

  162. 162.

    Mary G

    November 21, 2016 at 9:49 pm

    @Dadadadadadada: I saw somewhere on somebody’s twitter feed that
    the PM, Theresa May, is planning to invite it for a formal state visit.

  163. 163.

    Baud

    November 21, 2016 at 9:50 pm

    @M. Bouffant: Then which one the rubes should I be?

  164. 164.

    gogol's wife

    November 21, 2016 at 9:50 pm

    @GxB:

    That’s where I am too.

  165. 165.

    GxB

    November 21, 2016 at 9:50 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I think we’ve found Paul Ryan’s secret plan to become president.

    @GxB:

    be this admin’s “Gerald Ford” to Chump’s Nixon.

    Goddamn it! This has me all worked up and I’m misremembering again. I had to look up Ford, for some reason I heard he somehow skipped from a backbencher to Pres as Agnew had resigned and Nixon, well, Nixoned.

    Nope, he was Agnew’s replacement and minority speaker prior. TMYK.

    Ryan it’d likely be. In my defense I was only 4 at the time.

  166. 166.

    SFBayAreaGal

    November 21, 2016 at 9:50 pm

    @Ryan: Yup one of my favorites also.

  167. 167.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 21, 2016 at 9:51 pm

    @Dadadadadadada: Trump’s visits abroad are going to be ugly, I think.

  168. 168.

    Mary G

    November 21, 2016 at 9:51 pm

    @sherparick: I know. I am scared to say things, but I say them anyway.
    We need to fight corporations and it feels like we are ants challenging an elephant.

  169. 169.

    Baud

    November 21, 2016 at 9:52 pm

    @Mary G: Ohhhh, I wonder if he’ll meet the Queen. No way he gets that protocol right.

  170. 170.

    celticdragonchick

    November 21, 2016 at 9:52 pm

    @M. Bouffant:
    Even if it didn’t happen, his camp put it out there. That is starting (or continuing) a war with the media and letting them know that he will not work with them or give them the access they have had for decades under both parties.

  171. 171.

    raven

    November 21, 2016 at 9:53 pm

    @Baud: We’re almost done watching “The Crown” and it is really good.

  172. 172.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 21, 2016 at 9:53 pm

    @M. Bouffant:

    (From link) The Trump-brand language (“dishonest, deceitful liars,” “disaster”) is the tell.

    Yeah, I caught that too. They won’t even put their bullshit through an anti-bullshit-detector translator. It would make me feel smug but their brazenness is a feature, not a bug.

  173. 173.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 21, 2016 at 9:53 pm

    @Baud: I imagine Betty will pawn that one off on Chuck

    (Rachel Maddow critics are gonna mock me for pointing this out with a loud “Duh!”, but her run up to the David Remnick interview was about five times the length of the actual interview.)

  174. 174.

    ingrediorum

    November 21, 2016 at 9:54 pm

    Surprise, surprise, surprise. I did not see that coming… yes I did, an orange tongue lashing or tiny-gloved dressing down is precisely the first thought that popped into my head when I saw the “guest list.”

  175. 175.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 21, 2016 at 9:54 pm

    @Mary G: I’m sure Her Majesty will be pleased.

  176. 176.

    Baud

    November 21, 2016 at 9:55 pm

    @raven: I don’t have Netflix.

  177. 177.

    cokane

    November 21, 2016 at 9:55 pm

    @M. Bouffant: yeah, I buy this take. People need to remember that underneath all the bluster is a guy who desperately wants to be adored by the public. This is a guy who watches cable news pretty much in all his free time. He was most likely kissing as much ass as he could

  178. 178.

    bluehill

    November 21, 2016 at 9:55 pm

    @cokane: Good point. Unfortunately, the repubs will have control of the house and senate and likely have ideological control of the supreme court, so they can accelerate the softening of the laws that make it more difficult to consolidate their control. We have already seen that with VRA and Citizens United. I would not be surprised to see stricter voter id laws particularly in swing states put in place by the midterms. So far house repubs have been willing to bend a knee. Let’s see where and if senators like Sasse, Collins, Flake, McCain, Graham chose to make a stand and what happens afterwards. One potential wildcard is that Chief Justice Roberts realizes what’s at stake and starts voting for democracy.

  179. 179.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 21, 2016 at 9:55 pm

    @Mary G:

    I am scared to say things, but I say them anyway.

    Some colleagues of mine are doing a primer on ‘how to really be anonymous’, I should see if one of the FP’ers would post it.

  180. 180.

    celticdragonchick

    November 21, 2016 at 9:56 pm

    @Mary G:

    In most sci fi dystopic stories…the oppressed resort to force of arms or they get smashed…an soometimes they get smashed even if they do fight.

    Don’t know how this ends up for us.

    Probably with a whimper as our militarized police arrest everybody associated with Black Lives Matter and talking heads tell us about the sacrifices made by the brave officers behind the nightmarish facemasks and armor.

  181. 181.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 21, 2016 at 9:56 pm

    @Baud: Well, on a “State Visit” you meet the Head of State. In the United Kingdom, that’s the Queen.

  182. 182.

    raven

    November 21, 2016 at 9:56 pm

    @Baud: rats

  183. 183.

    Aleta

    November 21, 2016 at 9:56 pm

    Though I never saw the show, it sounds like he thinks he’s doing Apprentice. He thinks the “leaked” news of this will delight his viewers? Are there really going to be years of a prez who’s so compulsive about TV ratings he doesn’t care what he does to the country to get them?

    I’m so sick of getting nauseous every time I look at the news for a quick second. At least I’m cutting down though: it’s like aversion therapy for news addiction. The USA has truly fracked itself for believing reality TV is real, and now it is.

  184. 184.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 21, 2016 at 9:56 pm

    @Mary G:

    Surely not.

  185. 185.

    catclub

    November 21, 2016 at 9:57 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    Even if it isn’t true, the story shows the growing awareness of the possibilities for conflict of interest.

    That should have been heavily reported 6 months ago. When it might have made a difference.

  186. 186.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 21, 2016 at 9:58 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Duh!

  187. 187.

    celticdragonchick

    November 21, 2016 at 9:58 pm

    @cokane:

    He found a better drug:

    The adulation of the WWC masses and they hate the news media.

  188. 188.

    raven

    November 21, 2016 at 9:58 pm

    @Aleta: My wife is really sick of me telling her that she is using “nauseous” improperly.

  189. 189.

    celticdragonchick

    November 21, 2016 at 9:59 pm

    @catclub:

    It should have been reported before the first GOP debate.

    Nobody bothered because…hey…Trump, right??!

  190. 190.

    Timurid

    November 21, 2016 at 9:59 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Bazillionaires who had what Senpai Putin wanted tended to end up imprisoned, exiled and broke.

  191. 191.

    gogol's wife

    November 21, 2016 at 10:00 pm

    @Timurid:

    or dead

  192. 192.

    Bobby D

    November 21, 2016 at 10:00 pm

    I would lay good money that somewhere right now is a smoke-filled back room with high-power GOP folks plotting how to impeach this clown within the first 6-12mo of him taking office. Implement their wish-list agenda as soon as he gets in, then send him packing via impeachment for a puppet the powerbrokers can control, like Pence. Then they have a ready-made scapegoat for when their policies start failing. “That wasn’t us, that was Trump, Trump failed our ideals and wasn’t a true conservative, true conservativism can never fail”.

    It’s going to be a gish gallop approach, attempt to destroy everything all at once before we can react or organize to fight, immediately upon taking office…medicare, ss, env regs, tax code, and today I hear they’re coming after our public sector workers pensions. We will be trying to fight on too many fronts. It just gets worse by the day, the country and for me personally. I get multiple lectures/trainings every year about sexual harassment and assault…and now my future boss, my Cmdr in Chief is going to be a serial sexual assaulter and arguably a rapist? It’s almost funny.

    All while his cronies destroy my life’s work (I’m in the env protection field), and targeting my colleagues for the sin of serving our country for way less pay than I got in the private sector. They kick us for years, no raises, furloughs, sequestration, RIFs and insufficient staff to deal with the workload. Any of us could be making a LOT more money in private sector engineering consulting, but I take great pride in keeping a military mission running and happily accept the lower pay for stability and chance to serve. But I’m burned out, exhausted, and I think it’s time to hang it up and leave the feds. Good fkin luck filling professional engineering, legal, jobs in this climate – nation near full employment and an actively hostile employer who underpays people in professional series jobs by abot 35% on avg.

    I am just on a see-saw between a pit of depression and seething rage.

  193. 193.

    raven

    November 21, 2016 at 10:01 pm

    If you’re nauseated you’re about to throw up, if you’re nauseous, you’re a toxic funk and you’re going to make someone else puke. These words are used interchangeably so often that it makes word nerds feel nauseated!

  194. 194.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 21, 2016 at 10:02 pm

    @Bobby D: I’m half wondering if the correct D move in this case is refusal to impeach.

    ETA: @efgoldman: this i could actually *almost* imagine.

  195. 195.

    J R in WV

    November 21, 2016 at 10:02 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    IT would take more than a costume change to make that look good. Really!

    The hate shines out of its eyes!

  196. 196.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 21, 2016 at 10:02 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    I had to read that tweet twice to take in that Trump was announcing who should be England’s ambassador.

    I know I really shouldn’t be shocked at anything that emerges from Trump or Trump Tower. But I am utterly gobsmacked that even Trump would express a view, let alone a tweet, on whom a foreign country should name as its Ambassador. Just amazing.

    And it was Farage.

    That makes it that much worse. But it doesn’t matter if he had supported Disraeli or King Richard the Lionhearted or St. Thomas More, it would still be fathoms beyond what is acceptable for a President-elect of the United States. I am really stunned and horrified at this.

  197. 197.

    danielx

    November 21, 2016 at 10:02 pm

    @Mary G:

    I hope Trump voters are paying attention. They built this.

    If they are paying attention, most of them will eat it up with a spoon.

  198. 198.

    raven

    November 21, 2016 at 10:03 pm

    @efgoldman: Margaret is avaiable!

  199. 199.

    Aleta

    November 21, 2016 at 10:03 pm

    @raven: Did I do it wrong?
    Glad to hear her hand is going to be OK.

  200. 200.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    November 21, 2016 at 10:03 pm

    @Bobby D:

    nation near full employment

    No worries, Trump will take care of that.

  201. 201.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 21, 2016 at 10:04 pm

    @raven: well, I hear she’s just lying around doing nothing

  202. 202.

    raven

    November 21, 2016 at 10:04 pm

    @Aleta: We’re laughing away. It’s become common usage but I give her a hard time.

  203. 203.

    Aleta

    November 21, 2016 at 10:05 pm

    @raven: They could just tell him he’s going to meet the king instead.

  204. 204.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 21, 2016 at 10:05 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: what a lazy bum. Unemployed too.

  205. 205.

    raven

    November 21, 2016 at 10:05 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I knew nothing abut her until I watched this show, what a tart!

  206. 206.

    debbie

    November 21, 2016 at 10:05 pm

    That chyron has made me even angrier at my family.

  207. 207.

    Ruviana

    November 21, 2016 at 10:05 pm

    @Aleta: This was what I thought, though Steve M.’s point is very interesting. When I read about the bullying I thought, “he still thinks he’s on tv!”

  208. 208.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 21, 2016 at 10:07 pm

    @raven: Crown? You make me a bit curious. My only real memory of her is when she called the Irish “pigs”. On the original BBC House of Cards there was a character who I think was a little bit Margaret and a little bit Fergie.

  209. 209.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 21, 2016 at 10:08 pm

    @Mary G:

    The Prime Minister is Head of Government, not Head of State. Thus, she cannot invite anyone for a “State Dinner.” Only The Queen (Head of State) can do that.

    Obviously the PM can advise, and HM usually goes along with Downing Street recommendations. But I have an idea she might be a little reluctant to invite this particular president. . . .

  210. 210.

    raven

    November 21, 2016 at 10:09 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yea, there is tons of palace intrigue. Claire Foy as the Queen and Lithgow as Churchill are really good.

  211. 211.

    J R in WV

    November 21, 2016 at 10:11 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    What about white supremacist, doesn’t that work for anyone? Because that’s pretty accurate, if you realize that Jews and Catholics aren’t white in their world…

    I grew up a UU and haven’t been to a church where I didn’t know the officiant personally in years. So I’m screwed, if they come for all of us.

  212. 212.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 21, 2016 at 10:12 pm

    @Aleta:

    Are there really going to be years of a prez who’s so compulsive about TV ratings he doesn’t care what he does to the country to get them?

    Yes DUH

  213. 213.

    Aleta

    November 21, 2016 at 10:13 pm

    @raven: I do feel like I’m dosing someone with poison whenever I mention the latest news. Have to think twice whether I should stay silent instead of crushing whatever tiny good mood has finally sprouted up.

  214. 214.

    raven

    November 21, 2016 at 10:14 pm

    @efgoldman: Well not exactly.

  215. 215.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 21, 2016 at 10:14 pm

    @efgoldman:

    Neither HRH Princess Margaret nor Margaret, Baroness Thatcher, is alive.

    Pity, that.

  216. 216.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 21, 2016 at 10:14 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    But I have an idea she might be a little reluctant to invite this particular president. . . .

    “So I am talking to this old lady, disgusting, not hot at all. Big house. Old. Old furniture. Worn carpets. Sad.”

  217. 217.

    Major Major Major Major

    November 21, 2016 at 10:14 pm

    @J R in WV: I don’t think it quite captures it, and i don’t find that folks know what a white supremacist is, feels like, looks like whereas as Nazi is much clearer and frankly not wrong.

  218. 218.

    trollhattan

    November 21, 2016 at 10:15 pm

    @danielx:
    “About time! Rawrrrr!”

    Yep, those Tru,p voters are all about the post-purchase cognitive dissonance. Or meth.

  219. 219.

    Jinchi

    November 21, 2016 at 10:17 pm

    @Dadadadadadada: @Dadadadadadada:

    surely they draw the line at allowing him to name their ambassadors.

    They named his twin to be Foreign Secretary after the Brexit vote.
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/who-is-boris-johnson-a-profile-of-britains-new-foreign-secretary/

  220. 220.

    fuckwit

    November 21, 2016 at 10:19 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Maybe you are. But the people who matter– the voters who elected this clown– don’t give a single flying shit.

    I have little patience for pearl-clutching, but there’s a reason for it: peaceful coexistence. Without respect for institutions, laws, sovereignity, precedent, diplomatic conventions, democracy is dead.

    Put a fork in it. Democracy is over. We have autocracy now. This is the law of the jungle, of corporate business. The biggest, loudest, most obnoxious asshole wins. Whomever has the fewest scruples has a huge edge over those that are burdened with more.

    Where does this end? Bloodshed, ultimately: wars, revolutions, repression, starvation.

    History is littered with the stories of arrogance like this. We know what arc it follows.

    I’ll amend my required viewing list: Idiocracy, The Handmaid’s Tale, and Game of Thrones.

  221. 221.

    SiubhanDuinne

    November 21, 2016 at 10:20 pm

    @raven:

    I am really eager to see “Crown,” but I don’t have Netflix. Is it likely to be released on DVD, do you think?

  222. 222.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    November 21, 2016 at 10:20 pm

    Matthew Yglesias ‏@ mattyglesias 5m5 minutes ago
    Trump may be unaware of the extent to which irrational anti-Clinton sentiment at a few key media outlets shielded him during the campaign.

    I think the national outlets where there wasn’t an irrational anti-Clinton sentiment would be the ones that stand out. Like, um… can’t think of one.

  223. 223.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 21, 2016 at 10:21 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: The New Yorker.

  224. 224.

    GxB

    November 21, 2016 at 10:23 pm

    @Bobby D: Yep, Bingo. I can’t see the shitgibbon making it 4 years.

  225. 225.

    Это курам на смех

    November 21, 2016 at 10:24 pm

    @Auntie Anne:

    This year just SUCKS.

    Oh, I’m sure next year will be better.

  226. 226.

    raven

    November 21, 2016 at 10:25 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: Don’t know, there is another season coming. I want to see Foy and Ann Maxwell Martin in The Night Watch. It was made in 2011but is unavaible.

  227. 227.

    celticdragonchick

    November 21, 2016 at 10:29 pm

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    CNN and The NYT were probably among the worst.

    CBS, NBC, ABC and MSNBC were bad too.

    The Washington Post and Newsweek seemed to be the only ones with a fucking clue.

  228. 228.

    Bailey

    November 21, 2016 at 10:32 pm

    @Mary G:

    I hope Trump voters are paying attention. They built this.

    They don’t care. The biggest Trump supporters I see are all about the glorification of Trump. Heil Trump!

  229. 229.

    Aleta

    November 21, 2016 at 10:39 pm

    Two New Yorker cartoons by Paul Noth:
    from May
    from November

  230. 230.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 21, 2016 at 10:49 pm

    @Aleta: The first cartoon is wrong. I have it on good authority that the devil is a man of wealth and taste.

  231. 231.

    Kay

    November 21, 2016 at 10:50 pm

    Director of the Sunlight Foundation:

    John WonderlichVerified account
    ‏@JohnWonderlich
    A few days of Trump ethics revelations are far worse than eight years of Obama stories combined.

    Trump ran his business sleazy. No one should be surprised. He’s 70 years old. This is how he operates.

  232. 232.

    lurker dean

    November 21, 2016 at 10:51 pm

    Interesting summary of nyt coverage screwing Dems over the years.

    http://electionado.com/canvas/1479778397637

  233. 233.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 21, 2016 at 11:02 pm

    @efgoldman:

    I’m over 70. I don’t operate that way. I never operated that way.

    No, but at this point you are who you are and nothing is changing you. Trump is who he is and nothing is changing him

  234. 234.

    Timurid

    November 21, 2016 at 11:07 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    He is who he is and he is who he said he is.

  235. 235.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 21, 2016 at 11:08 pm

    @Timurid: With all the best words.

  236. 236.

    MazeDancer

    November 21, 2016 at 11:09 pm

    @D58826:

    Very smart comment about Trump properties being targets.

    Million a day to guard Trump Tower so he can be happy is so wrong. Guarding all his properties even beyond that.

  237. 237.

    SWMBO

    November 22, 2016 at 12:04 am

    A question about the Queen. Wasn’t there a law that the Queen wasn’t allowed to meet anyone who was in a porn flick? There was a flap years ago (I think. Age doesn’t help the memory.) about the Queen meeting Koo Stark. If it is true that Trump was in a softcore porn, would that preclude the Queen from meeting with him? Also Melania? Are there British legal experts that can verify this?

  238. 238.

    beergoggles

    November 22, 2016 at 1:04 am

    @Mary G:

    I hope Trump voters are paying attention. They built this.

    I’m sure they’re paying attention and celebrating.

  239. 239.

    Ella in New Mexico

    November 22, 2016 at 1:14 am

    This whole topic pales in comparison to listing the ways Bernie Sanders a traitor to the liberal cause.

    Can we please get back on track here, folks?

  240. 240.

    Groucho48

    November 22, 2016 at 1:14 am

    @lurker dean:

    THAT was a depressing read. I knew the NYT had an agenda against the Clintons but didn’t realize just how bad it was nor how it was the Times that spread most of the bad memes about Gore.

  241. 241.

    Keith G

    November 22, 2016 at 4:43 am

    @Ella in New Mexico: I have not been a Bernie supporter, but that made me laugh. Bernie did not cost Hillary the election. The main reason Hillary lost is because the problems that many of us knew she would have before she announced and before Bernie became a phenomenon where never addressed and came home to roost in a most unfortunate way.

    As a PostScript to the entire thread: I can’t speak to broadcast news since I don’t have time for that, but I have noticed this morning that mainstream written accounts of this meeting did not reflect well on Donald Trump. In most of the writings I have encountered it was shown to be a scam arranged under false pretense. Some attendees are speaking about what happened off the record since it appears to them that the Trump’s side is reporting what it wants people to believe happened to it favorite info sites.

  242. 242.

    The Very Reverend Crimson Fire of Compassion

    November 22, 2016 at 11:58 am

    @Major Major Major Major: I would be quite interested in seeing this.

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