• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Before Header

  • About Us
  • Lexicon
  • Contact Us
  • Our Store
  • ↑
  • ↓
  • ←
  • →

Balloon Juice

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Teach a man to fish, and he’ll sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Bark louder, little dog.

Give the craziest people you know everything they want and hope they don’t ask for more? Great plan.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

It’s time for the GOP to dust off that post-2012 autopsy, completely ignore it, and light the party on fire again.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

I was promised a recession.

There are consequences to being an arrogant, sullen prick.

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

Wow, I can’t imagine what it was like to comment in morse code.

We’ll be taking my thoughts and prayers to the ballot box.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Mobile Menu

  • Winnable House Races
  • Donate with Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
  • Site Feedback
  • War in Ukraine
  • Submit Photos to On the Road
  • Politics
  • On The Road
  • Open Threads
  • Topics
  • Balloon Juice 2023 Pet Calendar (coming soon)
  • COVID-19 Coronavirus
  • Authors
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Lexicon
  • Our Store
  • Politics
  • Open Threads
  • War in Ukraine
  • Garden Chats
  • On The Road
  • 2021-22 Fundraising!
You are here: Home / Politics / Is it just me?

Is it just me?

by Betty Cracker|  February 17, 20175:03 pm| 142 Comments

This post is in: Politics, Sociopaths, Sweet Fancy Moses!

FacebookTweetEmail

Or does this seem like something a paranoid, unhinged demagogue who doesn’t understand the role of the press in a free society would say?

The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 17, 2017

Sweet fancy Moses!

I showed it to my husband (who doesn’t do the Twitter), and he thought it was a parody account. If only!

ETA: I mean what the actual FUCK? Enemy of the American people? Don’t we go to war with enemies? This is General Franco-level shit.

FacebookTweetEmail
Previous Post: « “Come live with me and be my love”
Next Post: John McCain is Upset! »

Reader Interactions

142Comments

  1. 1.

    RepubAnon

    February 17, 2017 at 5:05 pm

    I’d say it’s more like what a dictator wanna-be intent on destroying a free society would say – after all, a free press is dangerous to a dictator…

  2. 2.

    Timurid

    February 17, 2017 at 5:05 pm

    NAZI-LIKE TYPING DETECTED.

  3. 3.

    Renie

    February 17, 2017 at 5:05 pm

    and this is the 2nd version. he deleted the first to add in more media and deleted the word SICK at the end

    he is unhinged

  4. 4.

    Peale

    February 17, 2017 at 5:06 pm

    I don’t see why he shouldn’t. The MSM usually responds to these types of attacks by moving further to the right in order to hold onto the white male viewers who have most of the money in this country. So he might as well attack them until they go the Bush II route of cheering on everything he does.

  5. 5.

    Ian G.

    February 17, 2017 at 5:07 pm

    Frum thinks they’re about to drop some bombshell on him. Let’s hope.

  6. 6.

    ? Martin

    February 17, 2017 at 5:07 pm

    @Peale: That doesn’t describe the response from the media so far.

  7. 7.

    No One of Consequence

    February 17, 2017 at 5:08 pm

    I think the Resident is jockeying to get paid off. I think Buffet and Gates should pony up a bill or three and buy him out.

    Surely that would be construed as a sound investment by Warren, right? Hell, i an good for 20 or 25 bucks towards that…

    – NOoC

  8. 8.

    Betty Cracker

    February 17, 2017 at 5:08 pm

    @Ian G.: God, I hope so.

  9. 9.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    February 17, 2017 at 5:08 pm

    Absolutely…

    In my opinion, he definitely sees himself to be a dictator…

    As Bill Maher, whom I don’t always like but do agree w/ on this one, said right before the election…

    Wake up, people! There’s a slow motion right wing coup going on here!

    It looks to me, from what Republicans are doing and saying right now, that they think they’ve either succeeded, or are about to succeed, in installing permanent Republican control of the country.

  10. 10.

    jl

    February 17, 2017 at 5:09 pm

    For me, it does seem like something a total incompetent at everything except PR hype would say. For stuff like this, Frump does know what he is doing. That doesn’t mean it will work, though. The product is just too lousy, and Trump can’t pick his market niche, it is the US voting public in general whether he likes it or not.

    Frump is losing his low info knucklehead vote, the part that thought he was putting on a act to get elected. And he is stuck with the fascist bigot nut rump, which won’t help him with anything.

    This flyer will be harder to close out than Frump steaks for Frump U. It will be an epic mess.

  11. 11.

    gene108

    February 17, 2017 at 5:09 pm

    Had surgery this morning*. Spent the day getting over the anesthesia fog and reading BJ is like having a room full of friends in the palm of my hand

    * Not major surgery. Went well.

  12. 12.

    Mike in Pasadena

    February 17, 2017 at 5:09 pm

    @Ian G.: Who will drop a bombshell on whom?

  13. 13.

    quakerinabasement

    February 17, 2017 at 5:09 pm

    Winning friends, isn’t he?

    “….and to close out this year’s Correspondents’ Dinner, give a big round of applause for our special surprise guest, Alec! Baldwin!“

  14. 14.

    Peale

    February 17, 2017 at 5:10 pm

    @? Martin: Nope. Nor the people. But it is what he’s trying to do. Their spine will last until Trump finds a name he can put on a pike. Like Rove did to Rather. Once they realize that it could cost them their jobs, they’ll probably cave again.

  15. 15.

    dmsilev

    February 17, 2017 at 5:10 pm

    One bit of irony here is that CNN et al. are actually doing better than they were a couple of years ago, thanks in large part to the antics of one Donald J. Trump.

  16. 16.

    JMG

    February 17, 2017 at 5:13 pm

    @Peale: The weird thing is, if they all stopped covering Trump for a week, he’d grovel to them. He has to have the attention. I don’t think they’re going to cave to him. This is paying off for all of them financially and reputation-wise as well. I mean, CNN does suck, but Trump is getting it sympathy from people who ordinarily hate it.

  17. 17.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    February 17, 2017 at 5:13 pm

    @dmsilev: I noticed that… CBS, NY Times, WaPo… I usually don’t trust the MSM all that much but of late, they seem to have actually realized they do have a spine and serve a real purpose…

  18. 18.

    trollhattan

    February 17, 2017 at 5:15 pm

    “Enemy?”

  19. 19.

    dmsilev

    February 17, 2017 at 5:17 pm

    So, when he finally snaps for the last time, will he talk about geometric logic and strawberries, or will it be a discourse on his precious bodily fluids?

  20. 20.

    jl

    February 17, 2017 at 5:17 pm

    @Peale: It’s a delicate balance for the news actors and fake pundits in the media. Curry favor with powerful who can hurt them or their corporate paymasters, or lose credibility with their audience and lose ratings and approval stats (I think there is actually a formalized rating system for that, called the ‘Q’ something or other).

    Lose on the brown-nosing side or lose on the ratings side. So sad for those hacks. McCain’s campaign posed the same problem, and Frump is pushing them an order of magnitude harder. I don’t feel sorry for them.

    As I said earlier in comments, last weekend on the Sunday talkies I heard clips that went like “Well, Democrat X your boys lost and you are losers, so you say Trump was driving drunk at 100 mph and you wanted our of he car. So now he’s going 80, and in the spirit of comity shouldn’t you, just roll over and say it’s all good and shut up?”

    But that wasn’t good enough for a toxic nutcase loon like Trump. He wants it ALL, and puts the peddle to metal to make 120 asap.

  21. 21.

    lollipopguild

    February 17, 2017 at 5:18 pm

    @trollhattan: Anyone who does not worship him is his enemy.

  22. 22.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    February 17, 2017 at 5:18 pm

    @dmsilev: Precious bodily fluids…

    I’ll put money on it…

  23. 23.

    khead

    February 17, 2017 at 5:18 pm

    @Thru the Looking Glass…:

    CBS has been the most surprising to me. I watch NBC @ 6:30 – then CBS @ 7:00. They appear to be talking about different universes.

  24. 24.

    lollipopguild

    February 17, 2017 at 5:19 pm

    @dmsilev: Marbles and strawberries.

  25. 25.

    WereBear

    February 17, 2017 at 5:19 pm

    @gene108: Get better soon!

  26. 26.

    Roger Moore

    February 17, 2017 at 5:19 pm

    @dmsilev:
    The cynic in me thinks this is more or less what they envisioned when they decided to ignore Trump’s glaring problems during the election. They want the can’t-stop-watching train wreck because it drives viewership.

  27. 27.

    scav

    February 17, 2017 at 5:19 pm

    Well, here are some examples of Fake News! that are current, topical, and ripe for correction by the brave brave twit in chief and avid truth-loving minions.

    Europe’s biggest paper ran a bogus refugee ‘sex mob’ story. What now? (via Guard)

    Specifically Bild Apologizes for False Article on Sexual Assaults in Frankfurt by Migrants (NYT)

  28. 28.

    BC in Illinois

    February 17, 2017 at 5:19 pm

    Yeah, so that when he fights them, he’s not just covering his a**, he’s fighting for America. And when we take their side against him, we are joining the nation’s enemies.

    I listen to a lot of voices in the media. Some better than others. Some more reliable than others. ( There are some I don’t listen to, because I have determined that they are a marketing department rather then a News Department. ) None of the entities he listed — as I say, some better than others — are my e enemies.

    He, however, may — for reasons of indebtedness, blackmail, or simple adulation of a strong leader — seems to be caught in the web of our nation’s adversary. An enemy of a free press and of freedom.

  29. 29.

    gene108

    February 17, 2017 at 5:19 pm

    @Peale:

    But the media became more critical of him by 2005, with Katrina leaving no questions in anyone’s mind.

    You can only hide incompetence for so long before reality catches up

  30. 30.

    Roger Moore

    February 17, 2017 at 5:20 pm

    @dmsilev:

    So, when he finally snaps for the last time, will he talk about geometric logic and strawberries, or will it be a discourse on his precious bodily fluids?

    It will be a detailed analysis of pictures from the inauguration proving that he had the bigliest crowd EVAR!

  31. 31.

    WereBear

    February 17, 2017 at 5:21 pm

    @khead: I haven’t watched network news since very early in the W administration. Made me all ragey AND stabby.

  32. 32.

    Peale

    February 17, 2017 at 5:21 pm

    @JMG: Yeah. I guess I should feel a bit emboldened myself. But I’m pretty sure that were to drop bombs on Iran or send our soldiers to Syria, they’d do what they did in 2003 and rally around the horrific decision. They may have spine now, but their pen!ses still point up when big bombs fall.

  33. 33.

    father pussbucket

    February 17, 2017 at 5:21 pm

    @JMG:

    The weird thing is, if they all stopped covering Trump for a week, he’d grovel to them.

    Unworkable, of course, but a really interesting thought experiment. What would he tweet if he couldn’t find any news about himself?

  34. 34.

    trollhattan

    February 17, 2017 at 5:22 pm

    @lollipopguild:
    We’re getting to Kneel before Zod territory, and it’s not a month in.

  35. 35.

    khead

    February 17, 2017 at 5:22 pm

    @dmsilev:

    He will trash the Yellowstain Blues.

  36. 36.

    Chip Daniels

    February 17, 2017 at 5:22 pm

    So Godwin’s Law can finally be retired, since the very first comment about the POTUS must, by logic, embody it.

  37. 37.

    jl

    February 17, 2017 at 5:23 pm

    @gene108: Yeah, that is what I tried to say. You summed it up. The hacks in the media don’t want to be put in the position of saying “Look, stupid viewer, who do you believe? Me or your own lying eyes?’. They know few trust them much to begin with.

    The exception is Fox News, but their main audience is ignorant weak minded old people.

  38. 38.

    Roger Moore

    February 17, 2017 at 5:23 pm

    @JMG:

    The weird thing is, if they all stopped covering Trump for a week, he’d grovel to them.

    It’s a collective action problem. If all of them stopped covering him, he’d grovel. But if one sold the rest out and kept covering him, he’d love them and they’d get a huge spike in viewership.

  39. 39.

    rikyrah

    February 17, 2017 at 5:24 pm

    @gene108:

    Get well :)

  40. 40.

    trollhattan

    February 17, 2017 at 5:24 pm

    @gene108:
    Took quite a body toll, though.

    I do think about lot about the ’06 midterms and ’18 possibilities.

  41. 41.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    February 17, 2017 at 5:24 pm

    @khead: I’ve been impressed w/ CBS of late… I usually catch the evening news (West coast version) and they’ve been going right at Trump night after night… and Colbert’s been ferocious of late in his opening monologue… just eviscerating someone like Miller earlier in the week…

  42. 42.

    jl

    February 17, 2017 at 5:26 pm

    @Peale: Hysteria following 911 eased the way for the horrid dishonesty and incompetence of the Dub/Cheney/Rove excellent adventures of all sorts. Absent a tragedy on that scale, I predict a decision to go to war in any way against Syira or Iran, even a relatively cheap air campaign, will not be popular and the media will have a hard time selling it.

  43. 43.

    TenguPhule

    February 17, 2017 at 5:28 pm

    The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!

    I think we’re going to have to retire Godwin. Its Trump Law now.

    The more Donald communicates, the likelyhood of reaching peak Nazi approaches 1.

  44. 44.

    amygdala

    February 17, 2017 at 5:29 pm

    Well, it is Friday afternoon/evening, so maybe something else is going to drop.

    My feed blew up right after that Tweet. Evidently the original version had “Sick!” at the end. It was deleted, and the one you posted above appeared.

    How many days/weeks/months left of this?

  45. 45.

    jl

    February 17, 2017 at 5:30 pm

    Problem for Frump, is that the media just has to cover him to get ratings, doesn’t have to positive or negative or anything. Just has to be another freak show staring Frump.

    Probably one reason Fruimp would never do a serious media event with some serious policy discussion, even if had the ability to do that. The freak show factor would be gone.

    It was far different for Dub after 911. Remember that he started with relatively low popularity and job approval ratings. And his incompetent crew’s attempts to gin up a new great power rivalries were not a big success.

  46. 46.

    TenguPhule

    February 17, 2017 at 5:30 pm

    @trollhattan: There’s always tomorrow.

  47. 47.

    Darrin Ziliak (formerly glocksman)

    February 17, 2017 at 5:31 pm

    Dick Nixon would be impressed.

  48. 48.

    mai naem mobile

    February 17, 2017 at 5:33 pm

    @Thru the Looking Glass…: maybe because CBS isn’t involved in any mergers or regulatory stuff. NBC has to worry about Comcast and CNN is involved in the ATT/Time Warner merger

  49. 49.

    eclare

    February 17, 2017 at 5:33 pm

    @Thru the Looking Glass…: Colbert and Seth Meyers have been en fuego. I just wonder how long they can keep it up, both shows last night had bits about the press conference. That is some quick turn-around. I guess buy stock in Red Bull?

  50. 50.

    Kryptik

    February 17, 2017 at 5:33 pm

    The problem is that he has a rabid concrete floor of support who will absolutely take this as god’s only truth, shut off their critical thinking circuits even more, and insist that the world is flat because God-Emperor Trump said so. And until a dent is made in there, the GOP leaders in Congress and elsewhere will do jack shit, because this is their chance to totally unmake the US and rebuild it in their own image with nigh permanence.

  51. 51.

    quakerinabasement

    February 17, 2017 at 5:35 pm

    “When you’re a star, you can do anything.”

  52. 52.

    gene108

    February 17, 2017 at 5:36 pm

    @jl:

    The exception is Fox News, but their main audience is ignorant weak minded old people

    Fox News is an alternative reality. Watched a bit yesterday. The major themes were:

    1. The presser allowed Trump to communicate with Real America and crush the lying media before America’s eyes
    2. The leaks are criminal and the people producing them are a threat to freedom, democracy, mom and apple pie and the leakers must be harshly dealt with, and
    3. Government bureaucracies are filled with Obama holdovers, who are actively undermining this President and they must be purged and dealt with harshly.

    I think Fox News is competing now with Breitbart and InfoWars, so they have to keep the crazy up, no matter what.

  53. 53.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    February 17, 2017 at 5:36 pm

    @mai naem mobile: Sounds likely… I was kind of disappointed in Colbert when he first took over that late night slot… the humor struck me as being slightly sophomoric and I thought he was better as a fake conservative on his old show… but Trump’s been his red meat of late… i still don’t watch the whole show but I do tune in for the monologue now…

  54. 54.

    Brachiator

    February 17, 2017 at 5:36 pm

    Or does this seem like something a paranoid, unhinged demagogue who doesn’t understand the role of the press in a free society would say?

    Trump understands the role of the press very well, which is why he is trying to undermine it.

    @jl:

    It was far different for Dub after 911. Remember that he started with relatively low popularity and job approval ratings.

    Dubya’s initial approval rating was 57%. Pretty respectable.

    Obama’s was 68%

  55. 55.

    efgoldman

    February 17, 2017 at 5:36 pm

    @Peale:

    The MSM usually responds to these types of attacks by moving further to the right

    Not so much lately. They’re rising to the challenge.

  56. 56.

    debbie

    February 17, 2017 at 5:38 pm

    @eclare:

    Colbert tapes at about 3pm, so the turnaround was in nanoseconds.

  57. 57.

    jl

    February 17, 2017 at 5:38 pm

    @gene108:

    ” ignorant weak minded old people ”

    And one of them is our current president.

  58. 58.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    February 17, 2017 at 5:38 pm

    @quakerinabasement: Does that include starting WW lll, instigating an ethnic cleansing in the US, or collapsing the world economy?

    It would be irresponsible to not speculate…

  59. 59.

    gene108

    February 17, 2017 at 5:38 pm

    @rikyrah: @WereBear:

    Thanks, will be up and at them tomorrow

  60. 60.

    debbie

    February 17, 2017 at 5:39 pm

    @Kryptik:

    a rabid concrete floor of support who will absolutely take this as god’s only truth

    As soon as they see his tax plan and how it will gut their wallets, they’ll wake up.

  61. 61.

    Mary G

    February 17, 2017 at 5:40 pm

    @Roger Moore: This! He is ratings gold. The media thrives on conflict and now that Hillary’s not around to play the opponent, they are taking the role for themselves. If she had been elected, everything would run smoothly and there would be no drama, and therefore no new subscriptions/viewers.

    I just am afraid one of his true believers will try to apply a Second Amendment solution. It’s dangerous as hell. They are playing with fire.

  62. 62.

    NotMax

    February 17, 2017 at 5:40 pm

    Credit where it’s due.

    Hard to tweet with only one hand when the other is so busy roiling around ball bearings.

    /Queeg

  63. 63.

    efgoldman

    February 17, 2017 at 5:40 pm

    @Thru the Looking Glass…:

    they think they’ve either succeeded, or are about to succeed, in installing permanent Republican control of the country.

    They thought that before. Guy named Rove. Before that, another guy named Atwater.

    As they’re finding out now, actually governing is hard.

  64. 64.

    jl

    February 17, 2017 at 5:42 pm

    @Brachiator:

    ” Dubya’s initial approval rating was 57%. Pretty respectable. ”

    But the trend was not. Down to 50% within 3 Qtrs.

    But you are in your cranky contrarian defeatist mode today, and I am sorry to disturb your dyspeptic phlegmatic gloomy.

  65. 65.

    liberal

    February 17, 2017 at 5:42 pm

    Or does this seem like something a paranoid, unhinged demagogue who doesn’t understand the role of the press in a free society would say?

    Sounds like something a fucking fascist, albeit not a very eloquent one, would say. This “enemy of the people” shit is straight-up fascist talk.

  66. 66.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    February 17, 2017 at 5:42 pm

    @efgoldman: Yeaaaah…

    Interesting situation… possibly because Trump’s decided to go after them so intensely and they feel a need to defend themselves? Now that THEIR ox is being gored?

    I think I read that Colbert’s ratings have spiked since he started going after Trump, et al, so intensely… this would put other late nighters in a tough spot… not follow suit and fall behind or jump in and try to keep up?

  67. 67.

    Kryptik

    February 17, 2017 at 5:42 pm

    @debbie:

    As soon as they see his tax plan and how it will gut their wallets, they’ll wake up.

    This assumes that Trump won’t come out with some weak tea excuse for it that deflects blame to those dangerous scary brown folk over on the other side that won’t be bought wholesale, since…you know, he speaks the truth SO much.

  68. 68.

    TenguPhule

    February 17, 2017 at 5:43 pm

    @debbie: Cites facts not in evidence. They’ll blame the Democrats because that’s who they are.The common clay of the land, Morons.

  69. 69.

    geg6

    February 17, 2017 at 5:43 pm

    @Ian G.:

    Please, please, please.

  70. 70.

    Timurid

    February 17, 2017 at 5:44 pm

    Is this Frum’s bombshell in the making?

  71. 71.

    jl

    February 17, 2017 at 5:44 pm

    @efgoldman:

    ” As they’re finding out now, actually governing is hard. ”

    Reality is very unfair, very political, very political these days, I tell you. I’ll have some of my best, top, people look into reality and figure out what the hell is going on with that. Top people.

  72. 72.

    Baud

    February 17, 2017 at 5:44 pm

    I still detest the media. But the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

  73. 73.

    TenguPhule

    February 17, 2017 at 5:45 pm

    @Mary G:

    It’s dangerous as hell. They are playing with fire.

    Drump: “MORE GASOLINE!! BIGLY!!!“

  74. 74.

    Mike in NC

    February 17, 2017 at 5:46 pm

    After that deranged press conference yesterday, really hoping SNL and John Oliver give it the treatment it deserves this weekend.

  75. 75.

    bystander

    February 17, 2017 at 5:46 pm

    Good news! The unexpected find of a brief glimpse of Marcel Proust on film. What were the chances?

  76. 76.

    Thru the Looking Glass...

    February 17, 2017 at 5:46 pm

    @efgoldman:

    They thought that before. Guy named Rove.

    Right… I was actually thinking of Rove when I said that… I’ve never forgotten his comment about a ‘permanent Republican majority’…

    Seeing how quickly they’ve been trying to move and how they’ve tried to keep certain things secret, it appears to me that they’re not quite sure they’ll get away w/ everything they’re trying to do… kinda like a tell in poker… they’re giving away information they probably don’t want to…

  77. 77.

    efgoldman

    February 17, 2017 at 5:47 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    It will be a detailed analysis of pictures from the inauguration proving that he had the bigliest crowd EVAR!

    And he got 96546735.74 electoral votes and won the popular vote by the largest margin ever ever ever ever ever.

  78. 78.

    TenguPhule

    February 17, 2017 at 5:47 pm

    2. The leaks are criminal and the people producing them are a threat to freedom, democracy, mom and apple pie and the leakers must be harshly dealt with, and
    3. Government bureaucracies are filled with Obama holdovers, who are actively undermining this President and they must be purged and dealt with harshly.

    Cambodia. Pol Pot.

    We’ve seen where this way leads before.

  79. 79.

    Ian G.

    February 17, 2017 at 5:47 pm

    @Mike in Pasadena: Frum said (paraphrasing) that one or more of the media channels cited by Shitgibbon must have a very damaging story on him in the pipeline.

  80. 80.

    liberal

    February 17, 2017 at 5:48 pm

    @jl: IIRC the trend was down, then received an immediate bump up after 9/11, then trended down again, then got bumped up by the invasion of Iraq, then trended down again. If it weren’t for 9/11 and Iraq, his rating would somehow be less than 0%.

  81. 81.

    Major Major Major Major

    February 17, 2017 at 5:48 pm

    @TenguPhule: Why would his tax plan gut their wallets?

  82. 82.

    patroclus

    February 17, 2017 at 5:48 pm

    @TenguPhule: No. Godwin’s Law is still accurate. I’ve been reading Richard Evans’s 3-part series on the Nazis and what they accomplished in 1 month after taking power in 1933 is way beyond what the incompetent sociopath has accomplished. All Trump has done is cancel TPP, end the practice of making abortion information available overseas and terminate some of Obama’s last minute EO’s and a few other little things. The Nazis terminated all political parties, enacted an Enabling Act granting dictatorial powers after the Reichstag fire, murdered political opponents, had para-military wings harass Jews and gays all over the country, abrogated the rule of law, closed down vast amounts of media and that was just for starters. Trump is a loon, an ego-centric idiot and a blowhard but he’s not a Nazi. We should deal with him as he is, not as if he is something he’s not.

  83. 83.

    efgoldman

    February 17, 2017 at 5:50 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    if one sold the rest out and kept covering him, he’d love them

    Depends. If they covered him like CBS is, starting every evening newscast with calling out the bullshit in no uncertain terms, he probably wouldn’t like it so much.

  84. 84.

    liberal

    February 17, 2017 at 5:51 pm

    @Baud: Yep. You fight a fascist with the friends you have, not the ones you wish you had.

  85. 85.

    ? Martin

    February 17, 2017 at 5:51 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Republicans need to square tax cuts with deficit reduction. They do that by shifting the tax burden from the rich to the poor while telling the poor the easy solution to their tax woes is to just get rich.

  86. 86.

    TenguPhule

    February 17, 2017 at 5:53 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: Assuming you meant me and not debbie, I would hazard that Drump’s wrecking of the economy would mean inflation spikes for common goods (not to mention major disruptions to distribution) also, as he drains money from Federal, States will need to step up fees and other taxes to try and cover where the dollars dry up.

    And that’s assuming the GOP new tax plan doesn’t actually raise the lowest bracket tax rates at the same time as they lower the highest rates as has been previously bandied about.

  87. 87.

    liberal

    February 17, 2017 at 5:53 pm

    @patroclus: Is it any good? I read The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich ages ago, and then more recently In the Garden of the Beasts.

  88. 88.

    Baud

    February 17, 2017 at 5:53 pm

    @? Martin:

    Republicans need to square tax cuts with deficit reduction

    WTF? You high, Martin?

  89. 89.

    Major Major Major Major

    February 17, 2017 at 5:53 pm

    @? Martin: Or pull a W. and just cut taxes and put it on the credit card. I assumed that this was a reference just to the tax policy.

  90. 90.

    liberal

    February 17, 2017 at 5:53 pm

    @Baud: LOL.

    They’ll just point to Obama’s initial deficits being really high. Both not understanding the idea of a cyclically-corrected deficit, and the notion of causation (as in, the 2008 crash began before Obama took office, therefore he cannot have caused it).

  91. 91.

    Shell

    February 17, 2017 at 5:55 pm

    Government bureaucracies are filled with Obama holdovers,

    Translation- people who are competent and knew how to do their jobs.
    ***********************

    Thoroughly tired of CNN doing those segments of Trump supporters and how they feel about him since the inauguration. Of course they’re still all in. The general feeling about Thursdays presser was that it was blunt and refreshing. Refreshing? So’s a bucket of ice water in your face but how often do you want that?

  92. 92.

    Davis X. Machina

    February 17, 2017 at 5:55 pm

    @patroclus:

    Trump is a loon, an ego-centric idiot and a blowhard but he’s not a Nazi.

    Virtue isn’t the same thing as lack of opportunity.

  93. 93.

    StringOnAStick

    February 17, 2017 at 5:56 pm

    We’ve only been back in the US for 2 days, after 2 weeks of intermittent ability to access news. I feel like I can’t do anything except stare at my PC, wondering what fresh hell is about to erupt.

    Somehow I suspect the IC is running around with their hair on fire, but not showing it because that is their job and the oath they swore to the Constitution. I also suspect that the deeper they dig, the greater the circle of implicated elected officials and their minions becomes, so while we’d like to see a quicker roll up, it is going to take awhile to pull on all the threads they are untangling. Funny how for years Hollywood worked up lots of “undercover True Believer” story lines for treason, though in this case it will come down to money, pure and simple.

  94. 94.

    efgoldman

    February 17, 2017 at 5:57 pm

    @debbie:

    As soon as they see his tax plan and how it will gut their wallets, they’ll wake up

    They won’t understand it.
    However, it’s starting to get thru to them what gutting the ACA will do to their kids and grandma, and what happens if NOBODY has a coathanger and a pigeon.

  95. 95.

    debbie

    February 17, 2017 at 5:57 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    It will gut their wallets because imports will be taxed (“Border Adjustment Tax”), which will in turn raise the cost to the consumer.

  96. 96.

    lgerard

    February 17, 2017 at 5:58 pm

    I see the wingnuts have brought “Mr Able Danger”, Lt Col Tony Shaffer out of storage to allege a giant conspiracy to undermine Trump, being directed by Obama from his secret location.

    Some people never learn.

  97. 97.

    Major Major Major Major

    February 17, 2017 at 5:58 pm

    @StringOnAStick:

    We’ve only been back in the US for 2 days, after 2 weeks of intermittent ability to access news. I feel like I can’t do anything except stare at my PC, wondering what fresh hell is about to erupt.

    Welcome back. You’ll get used to it.

  98. 98.

    jl

    February 17, 2017 at 5:59 pm

    @TenguPhule: I think most of the knucklehead vote that went for Trump (as opposed to the fascists and bigots and general purpose haters) would be willing to trade an increase in consumer prices if Frump delivered on his promise to bring all the jobs back. But there is nothing in his actual plans (as opposed to his brags and fantasies) that will do that. So, no jobs renaissance, with destruction of the social insurance system by GOP Congress.

    Not a good combo for Frump.

  99. 99.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 17, 2017 at 5:59 pm

    @gene108:

    Glad it went well. And what a nice description of the Balloon Juice community!

  100. 100.

    amygdala

    February 17, 2017 at 6:01 pm

    @SiubhanDuinne: I’m envisioning an anesthesiologist looking around the recovery room in confusion, asking “Where did all these jackals come from?”

  101. 101.

    Mnemosyne

    February 17, 2017 at 6:01 pm

    @JMG:

    He would either grovel, or do something so spectacularly evil that they would be forced to cover it. Never underestimate the sociopathy of a narcissist.

  102. 102.

    TenguPhule

    February 17, 2017 at 6:03 pm

    @patroclus: I disagree. He’s a Nazi, just an incompetent one. He’s trying to emulate them, but ironically his own cartoon villainy is what keeps him from being as successful as they were. That the fate of the Republic hinges on that incompetency is what keeps me up at night.

    The Nazis terminated all political parties, enacted an Enabling Act granting dictatorial powers after the Reichstag fire, murdered political opponents, had para-military wings harass Jews and gays all over the country, abrogated the rule of law, closed down vast amounts of media

    1. The GOP doesn’t need to terminate anyone…yet. They’ve got majority control.

    2. Trump’s been trying to egg on a fire since turnover. He’ll take any excuse that presents itself to declare a state of open rebellion, which would allow martial law and suspension of many legal rights.

    3. There’s been no effective opposition yet that would require Trump to dirty his own hands with ordering a hit…yet. He can simply declare enemies and hope one of his demented followers does the dirty work for him as he’s just done. Granted, its not working because the crazy armed portions of his base are in the wrong areas of the country….for now. But his increasing branding of all checks on power as enemies is a tell.

    4. Work in progress.

    5. Work in progress

    6. As you can see, he’s starting on that now.

  103. 103.

    TenguPhule

    February 17, 2017 at 6:06 pm

    @jl: That knucklehead vote also blames Obama for Katrina, 9/11 and ISIL.

    28 days in and most of them STILL refuse to believe their lying eyes on Dolt 45.

    I’ll believe they’ve come to their senses the day they actually lynch Trump and no sooner,

  104. 104.

    TenguPhule

    February 17, 2017 at 6:08 pm

    @StringOnAStick:

    I feel like I can’t do anything except stare at my PC, wondering what fresh hell is about to erupt.

    One of us. One of us.

  105. 105.

    Brachiator

    February 17, 2017 at 6:11 pm

    @jl:

    But you are in your cranky contrarian defeatist mode today, and I am sorry to disturb your dyspeptic phlegmatic gloomy.

    I just have this little thing for accuracy. You said that Dubya started low. This was not quite the case. Your revised statement, noting that Dubya’s rating declined from a good start, makes a stronger point when we see how 911 boosted him.

  106. 106.

    Hobbes83

    February 17, 2017 at 6:12 pm

    Or does this seem like something a paranoid, unhinged demagogue who doesn’t understand the role of the press in a free society would say?

    I think that this is actually the ravings of a man who does not know the powers, responsibilities, and ethical guidelines of the position that he holds, and who is in over his head. But, her emailz and white people’s hurt fee-fees about decades of piss-poor electoral decision making though…

  107. 107.

    O. Felix Culpa

    February 17, 2017 at 6:12 pm

    SHOCKING NEWS UPDATE: I just arrived in Chicago. There are people who are not dead and not hiding in their closets walking about. Lots and lots of them. Must be an alternate city.

  108. 108.

    TenguPhule

    February 17, 2017 at 6:14 pm

    @O. Felix Culpa: You’re in Chicago Pre-Trump. Check back in six months.

  109. 109.

    efgoldman

    February 17, 2017 at 6:17 pm

    @Major Major Major Major:

    Welcome back. You’ll get used to it.

    Not true. I never left, and I’m not used to it. Hope I never am.

  110. 110.

    BlueDWarrior

    February 17, 2017 at 6:18 pm

    @TenguPhule: with the way he v talks about a lot of typically urban populations, i wonder if there is a bit of Mao in him and he’ll start calling for poeple to be forcibly relocated to the hinterlands to work the fields.

  111. 111.

    SiubhanDuinne

    February 17, 2017 at 6:19 pm

    @Timurid:

    Wow! Most unusual for Senators to be that unforthcoming. Even when they’ve just learned something highly classified, they’ll say something like “That was highly classified and I can’t discuss it,” because they love the sound of their own voices. Whatever went on in that two-hour closed-doors secret meeting with Comey must have been a doozy!

  112. 112.

    Darrin Ziliak (formerly glocksman)

    February 17, 2017 at 6:19 pm

    @Baud:

    I still detest the media. But the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

    No, the enemy of my enemy is my enemy’s enemy, nothing more, nothing less.
    In other words they aren’t friends, only allies of convenience.
    Today’s ally of convenience can become tomorrow’s enemy. Just ask Morning Joke & Mika.

  113. 113.

    scav

    February 17, 2017 at 6:19 pm

    @O. Felix Culpa: Certain neighborhoods earn his especial ire because they are so emphatically out of the closet. Many have extremely good food as well. Not to mention extraordinarily balmy weather today. eerie.

  114. 114.

    hovercraft

    February 17, 2017 at 6:24 pm

    @gene108:
    Glad it went well, and I hope you are back at full strength quickly.

  115. 115.

    Feebog

    February 17, 2017 at 6:30 pm

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    You sure you didn’t take a wrong left turn and end up in Des Moines?

  116. 116.

    ? Martin

    February 17, 2017 at 6:32 pm

    @Baud: I don’t mean really.

  117. 117.

    scav

    February 17, 2017 at 6:34 pm

    @Feebog: Judging from my memories of Cedar Rapids (bit of a leap) the mere fact of there being pedestrians would be a clue of Not Iowa. (IC a little better, but that’s the lure of bars and socialism.)

  118. 118.

    zhena gogolia

    February 17, 2017 at 6:40 pm

    @O. Felix Culpa:

    Maybe they’re zombies? Did you see Simon Pegg among them?

  119. 119.

    Barney

    February 17, 2017 at 6:49 pm

    Importing phrases from the European far right. The Daily Mail labelled judges “enemies of the people” for daring to rule that since an act of Parliament took the UK into the EU, it needed another act to start the process of leaving. And the German far right is fond of calling any opponent a “traitor of the people”: https://www.thelocal.de/20170110/traitor-of-the-people-is-germanys-worst-word-of-2016-heres-why

  120. 120.

    TenguPhule

    February 17, 2017 at 6:49 pm

    @BlueDWarrior: I think he’s more Pol Pot then Mao. He hates the smart and competent people.

  121. 121.

    Citizen_X

    February 17, 2017 at 6:51 pm

    @dmsilev:

    So, when he finally snaps for the last time, will he talk about geometric logic and strawberries, or will it be a discourse on his precious bodily fluids?

    I thought the press conference was his Captain Queeg moment.

    And remember, when General Ripper was babbling about precious bodily fluids, he was in the midst of executing a first nuclear strike. Pray we don’t get to that point.

  122. 122.

    dm

    February 17, 2017 at 6:52 pm

    Could be that tweet is in response to the news that he’s descended to a new low in the Gallup presidential-approval tracking-poll.

    Still has an eleven-point cushion between him and 27%.

  123. 123.

    patroclus

    February 17, 2017 at 6:54 pm

    @liberal: Yes, stunningly so! The first is The Coming of the Third Reich, the second is The Reich in Power and it concludes with The Reich at War. Far more detail and backstory than Shirer’s book. In English, it’s the new definitive series.

  124. 124.

    khead

    February 17, 2017 at 6:55 pm

    Just watched an informative piece about the removal of the thimble from “Monopoly” on the NBC Nightly News.

  125. 125.

    O. Felix Culpa

    February 17, 2017 at 6:56 pm

    @zhena gogolia: Some are of a darker complexion. Does that count?

  126. 126.

    MoxieM

    February 17, 2017 at 7:06 pm

    Is it time to resurrect the Fraktur typeface for these buffoons? (No, surely not–it would only make these fairy-tale wanna-be Nazis think they’re really real.) Ugh they really make me so ill.

  127. 127.

    dm

    February 17, 2017 at 7:08 pm

    @major major major major: were you asking about Cambridge Analytics the other day? WaPo has an article on them expanding their business, seeking US government clients. Of interest there,

    In a 2015 article for a NATO publication, Steve Tatham, a British military psyops expert who leads SCL’s defense business outside of the United States, explained that one of the benefits of using the company’s techniques is that it “can be undertaken covertly.”

    Here’s the 2015 NATO article mentioned.

    Just in case you’re still curious.

    (The Cruz campaign is quoted as saying their data analysis guys were okay, but the psychographic stuff didn’t bear fruit.)

  128. 128.

    Major Major Major Major

    February 17, 2017 at 7:18 pm

    @dm: I’ll give it a look, thanks. As for this,

    (The Cruz campaign is quoted as saying their data analysis guys were okay, but the psychographic stuff didn’t bear fruit.)

    I can’t say I’m the least bit surprised.

  129. 129.

    PaulW

    February 17, 2017 at 7:21 pm

    referring back to you, Betty, on my blog.

  130. 130.

    dm

    February 17, 2017 at 7:21 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: I’m thinking it’s past time to finally read Edward Bernays’ Propaganda.

  131. 131.

    Roger Moore

    February 17, 2017 at 7:22 pm

    @Baud:

    But the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

    No. The enemy of my enemy may be my ally- politics makes strange bedfellows- but it takes more than that to make them my friend.

  132. 132.

    joel hanes

    February 17, 2017 at 7:26 pm

    @liberal:

    IIRC the trend

    Actual data

    https://web.archive.org/web/20070711113550/http://www.pollkatz.homestead.com/files/approval-long_files/zzzBUSHINDEX_21801_image001.gif

  133. 133.

    joel hanes

    February 17, 2017 at 7:28 pm

    @joel hanes:

    Raw W approval data, all pollsters
    https://web.archive.org/web/20091226120911/http://pollkatz.homestead.com/files/approval-data_files/zzzmainGRAPHICS_14808_image001.gif

  134. 134.

    Roger Moore

    February 17, 2017 at 7:36 pm

    @MoxieM:

    Is it time to resurrect the Fraktur typeface for these buffoons?

    Nope. It’s time to break out the Comic Sans.

  135. 135.

    Major Major Major Major

    February 17, 2017 at 7:36 pm

    @joel hanes: I love how our response to the biggest attack on America since World War 2 was rallying around the guy whose incompetence made it possible.

  136. 136.

    Debbie1

    February 17, 2017 at 7:44 pm

    I don’t know when it happened (oh, let’s say during the campaign season) but somehow The Toupeed Cadaver in the White House got the impression that the only role of the media was to flatter him and offer uncritical coverage of all his actions.

  137. 137.

    Darrin Ziliak (formerly glocksman)

    February 17, 2017 at 7:52 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    Nope. It’s time to break out the Comic Sans.

    I don’t believe Comic Sans would do Trump justice.
    It’s legible and easy to understand, even if not very professional looking.
    We used it a lot when making up union handouts at work for that reason.

    The fonts used in TDS’s trump tweet plugin look just about right.

  138. 138.

    liberal

    February 17, 2017 at 9:58 pm

    @joel hanes: Yep!

  139. 139.

    laura

    February 17, 2017 at 10:41 pm

    @gene108: I hope you’re planning on taking it easy, grabbing a nap, and have someone to bring you a cup of tea now and again.

  140. 140.

    J R in WV

    February 17, 2017 at 10:51 pm

    @gene108:

    So glad things seem to be going well!

    I agree that B-J has the best snark, maybe even with LGM next door, where many of the same characters are posting. Like shooting the breeze with cousins with whom you give each other shit all afternoon.

  141. 141.

    J R in WV

    February 17, 2017 at 10:56 pm

    @khead:

    I quit listening to / watching NBC news during the DNC convention last summer. Andrea Mitchell Greenspan and I watched the same speech at the same time, and then she lied to me about the speech we both watched.

    So I went off to the TV (computer actually) that we were watching, Mrs J agreed and we haven’t watched NBC news since then. CBS is better. Not great, but better.

  142. 142.

    The Pale Scot

    February 18, 2017 at 9:27 am

    I’m busy and haven’t been keeping up. But the press conference, with a gold/bright amber tapestry/curtain behind The Cheeto, didn’t that use to be blue? Since at least back to 1963? B&W would be different, but I don’t see Eisenhower stepping in front of a simulacron of a bordello’s privacy screen.

    add: I typed this last night and didn’t push the send button.

Comments are closed.

Primary Sidebar

Recent Comments

  • Andrya on Friday Night Open Thread: Guilty, Guilty, TACKY! (Jun 10, 2023 @ 2:49am)
  • Steeplejack on Friday Night Open Thread: Guilty, Guilty, TACKY! (Jun 10, 2023 @ 2:33am)
  • Sister Golden Bear on Friday Night Open Thread: Guilty, Guilty, TACKY! (Jun 10, 2023 @ 2:16am)
  • Omnes Omnibus on Friday Night Open Thread: Guilty, Guilty, TACKY! (Jun 10, 2023 @ 2:12am)
  • Omnes Omnibus on Friday Night Open Thread: Guilty, Guilty, TACKY! (Jun 10, 2023 @ 2:09am)

Balloon Juice Meetups!

All Meetups
Seattle Meetup on Sat 5/13 at 5pm!

🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free

Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal

Fundraising 2023-24

Wis*Dems Supreme Court + SD-8

Balloon Juice Posts

View by Topic
View by Author
View by Month & Year
View by Past Author

Featuring

Medium Cool
Artists in Our Midst
Authors in Our Midst
We All Need A Little Kindness
Classified Documents: A Primer
State & Local Elections Discussion

Calling All Jackals

Site Feedback
Nominate a Rotating Tag
Submit Photos to On the Road
Balloon Juice Mailing List Signup
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Links)
Balloon Juice Anniversary (All Posts)

Twitter / Spoutible

Balloon Juice (Spoutible)
WaterGirl (Spoutible)
TaMara (Spoutible)
John Cole
DougJ (aka NYT Pitchbot)
Betty Cracker
Tom Levenson
TaMara
David Anderson
Major Major Major Major
ActualCitizensUnited

Join the Fight!

Join the Fight Signup Form
All Join the Fight Posts

Balloon Juice Events

5/14  The Apocalypse
5/20  Home Away from Home
5/29  We’re Back, Baby
7/21  Merging!

Balloon Juice for Ukraine

Donate

Site Footer

Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Comment Policy
  • Our Authors
  • Blogroll
  • Our Artists
  • Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 Dev Balloon Juice · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc

Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!

Email sent!