The important message from Trump this morning is he's aware of the tax rallies and it gnaws at him.
— Schooley (@Rschooley) April 16, 2017
Trump takes detour on way back to Mar-a-Lago to avoid Tax March protest https://t.co/Rd7bVH8TDQ pic.twitter.com/XAMZGuFaIu
— The Hill (@thehill) April 15, 2017
I did what was an almost an impossible thing to do for a Republican-easily won the Electoral College! Now Tax Returns are brought up again?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 16, 2017
Over 120K in 200 cities showed up for #TaxMarch and we're not going away.
You can divert your motorcade, but not the public's attention. https://t.co/XpFNbZszoO
— Trump Tax March (@taxmarch) April 16, 2017
Notice too that he has been forced to disgorge the popular vote lie. Your protests worked. https://t.co/DhBqzjkK1Z
— David Frum (@davidfrum) April 16, 2017
Someone should look into who paid for the small organized rallies yesterday. The election is over!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 16, 2017
A reminder that Trump has held three campaign rallies since being sworn-in https://t.co/yH2ylS9vje
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) April 16, 2017
Those rallies around the country were bigger than your Inauguration. Happy Easter! https://t.co/16H4ODACNE
— Neera Tanden (@neeratanden) April 16, 2017
The Washington Post reports:
… In all, dozens of protests occurred throughout the country. The main march unfolded in the nation’s capital, where protesters gathered for a rally in front of the Capitol and then marched west along Pennsylvania Avenue. In South Florida, activists marched to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, where the president is staying this weekend. Thousands more gathered at a large march in New York City, where activists, comedians and a state senator spoke. Many of the protests featured an inflatable chicken, a mascot of sorts for the march…
C.J. Ingram, a D.C. resident in her 50s who works in a funeral home, attended the march, her first protest during Trump’s presidency.
“I’m really mad because he made Barack Obama produce his birth certificate, and he’s not even producing his tax returns,” Ingram said. “Come on, really? What are you hiding?”…
The non-profit, Electronic Privacy Information Center filed suit in D.C. federal court Saturday over Trump’s tax returns, arguing there is a provision in IRS regulations that allows their release.
During the march in the District, the lineup of speakers included Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and Rep. Jamie B. Raskin (D-Md.) and others. The speakers derided the president, and called on him to act ethically and read the Constitution.
“Releasing your tax returns is lowest ethical bar for a president,” Wyden said. “And we’re going to make sure he clears that hurdle.”…
How many people turned out for the #TaxMarch in DC today? A LOT. pic.twitter.com/NJ8BxPeg8h
— Ben Wikler (@benwikler) April 15, 2017
President @realDonaldTrump plays down nationwide protests demanding release of his tax returns https://t.co/Ktr4baAn98 pic.twitter.com/X5vAueflvk
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) April 16, 2017
#TaxMarch crowd in NYC stretches for blocks as protesters make their way to Trump Tower pic.twitter.com/nAPFAWxgYb
— Stephanie Scrafano (@stephscrafano) April 15, 2017
h/t Buzzfeed therealdiggysmalls / Via instagram.com
rikyrah
Trump keeps appointing officials to lead agencies they oppose
04/17/17 09:20 AM
By Steve Benen
As a candidate for the presidency, Donald Trump assured voters he was a staunch opponent of the U.S. Export-Import Bank. Then he had a conversation about it, after the election, with a CEO whose company benefits from the office.
Trump told the Wall Street Journal last week that he “was very much opposed” to the Ex-Im Bank, but “it turns out [that] lots of small companies will really be helped.”
“It turns out” is a polite way of saying, “When I said all that stuff on the campaign trail last year, I didn’t really know what I was talking about.”
All of this became more confusing on Friday afternoon, however, when the president announced his nominee to lead the Bank.
Baud
Good doggie!
rikyrah
Giving lobbyists expansive power, Trump tries filling the swamp
04/17/17 08:00 AM
By Steve Benen
As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump spoke frequently and with great pride about his plans to “drain the swamp,” reducing the influence of special interests in Washington, D.C. The Republican told NBC’s “Meet the Press” during the campaign that he’s tired of everybody in the nation’s capital “being controlled by the special interests and the lobbyists.” Trump went so far as to say he’d have “no problem” banning lobbyists from his administration altogether.
For those who believed this rhetoric was sincere, Trump seemed like an unconventional, populist candidate. For those who saw Trump as a shameless con man, it was only a matter of time before he ignored his “drain the swamp” posturing and started empowering those same special interests and lobbyists.
Take now, for example.
We learned last month that the Trump White House was establishing “beachhead teams” in agencies throughout the executive branch, which included dozens of industry lobbyists. ProPublica found, “Many of them lobbied in the same areas that are regulated by the agencies they have now joined.”
The New York Times moved the ball forward with a related report over the weekend:
Mike J
http://www.politico.eu/article/jean-luc-melenchon-president-france-election-army-of-abstainers-macron-le-pen/
rikyrah
A Taoist (me) gives up his seat to a Hasidic couple, who scoot over so a Muslim woman can nurse her baby on Easter Sunday. #America pic.twitter.com/1HbzE8sVgi
— Jackie Summers (@jackfrombkln) April 16, 2017
rikyrah
Great Read: Palate cleanser from Terrorism & politics. https://t.co/vtDwWQNp3Q
— Malcolm Nance (@MalcolmNance) April 17, 2017
rikyrah
Pence: ‘All Options Are On The Table’ With North Korea
By CAITLIN MACNEAL
Published APRIL 17, 2017, 7:00 AM EDT
During a visit to South Korea and the Demilitarized Zone, Vice President Mike Pence said that “all options are on the table” when it comes to preventing North Korea from using a nuclear weapon.
“The United States and our allies have stood together for a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. We hope to achieve this objective through peaceable means. But all options are on the table,” he said in Seoul after a visit to the demilitarized zone between North Korea and South Korea.
The Vice President said that “the era of strategic patience is over.”
During his visit to the Demilitarized Zone, Pence told CNN that the U.S. hopes to stop North Korea’s nuclear program peacefully.
“We’re going to abandon the failed policy of strategic patience. But we’re going to redouble our efforts to bring diplomatic and economic pressure to bear on North Korea. Our hope is that we can resolve this issue peaceably,” he said.
Pence called on China to do more to pressure North Korea.
rikyrah
Trump Blasts ‘Fake Media,’ Praises Fox News In Early Morning Tweetstorm
By CAITLIN MACNEAL
Published APRIL 17, 2017, 8:49 AM EDT
Nearly three months into his presidency, and President Donald Trump appears to still sit alone in the morning with Twitter while watching the news.
He published a series of tweets Monday morning while watching cable news, praising “Fox and Friends” and criticizing other members of the media.
“The first 90 days of my presidency has exposed the total failure of the last eight years of foreign policy!” So true. @foxandfriends
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 17, 2017
The Fake Media (not Real Media) has gotten even worse since the election. Every story is badly slanted. We have to hold them to the truth!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 17, 2017
amk
Were any of the scores of the teanutz ‘rallies’ against the kenyan muslin usurper of a dictaytor ever this big?
I just hope these folks show their anger at the voting booth.
rikyrah
How a Little-Known Standardized Test Harms Community College Students
The Accuplacer test funnels students into costly remedial classes that many probably don’t need.
by Emily Hanford April 17, 2017
The nation’s colleges have made their admission decisions, and now, as college signing day draws near, high school seniors around the country are making their own decisions on where to attend.
But most students will not be heading to an ivy-covered campus in the fall; in fact, today’s undergraduate is more likely to be a working adult at a community college. And for that student, the future does not depend so much on an admissions committee poring over grades, teacher recommendations, and extracurricular activities. Instead, it may very well depend on a single standardized test score—and not the one you’re thinking of.
The test that matters for community college students isn’t the SAT. It’s one they’ve probably never heard of—let alone prepared for—until they’re told to walk down the hall and take it. The test most of these students take is called the Accuplacer. It’s a multiple-choice math and English test that schools use to decide who’s actually ready for college classes. Get into an elite school like Harvard and no one’s going to question your ability to do college-level work. But community colleges need some way to assess the academic skills of incoming students because pretty much anyone can walk into a community college and sign up to start a degree.
That doesn’t mean you’ll be allowed into college-level classes, though. If you don’t do well on the Accuplacer, you’re probably going to be put in what are known as developmental, or remedial, classes. More than two-thirds of community college students end up in remediation.
Some need to be there. But many probably don’t.
rikyrah
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 4/14/17
Trump skimps on Syria, Afghanistan policy while blowing stuff up
Rachel Maddow reports on the continued confused messages from the Donald Trump administration about U.S. military policy in Syria and Afghanistan even as Trump enjoys positive media feedback for missiles and bombs directed at those countries.
rikyrah
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 4/14/17
Trump North Korea brinkmanship puts millions of lives at risk
Sue Mi Terry, former CIA senior analyst on Korean issues, talks with Rachel Maddow about North Korea’s military capacity, the options and potential consequences for Donald Trump, and how Trump’s brinkmanship policy puts millions of lives at risk
rikyrah
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 4/14/17
Judge holds up Arkansas execution spree after drug company sues
Scott Braden, chief of Arkansas Capital Habeas Unit, talks with Rachel Maddow about getting an emergency stay of execution for Bruce Ward, and the drug company lawsuit that had put on hold the eight executions Arkansas had planned this month.
rikyrah
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 4/14/17
Some misreading Trump confusion as evolution: Dan Rather
Dan Rather, host of The Big Interview on AXS Tv, talks with Rachel Maddow about how Donald Trump’s actions are being perceived by Americans and around the world, and what is motivating those actions.
ruemara
I love the energy but, energy for the carnival atmosphere of protest marches is easy. Getting them to volunteer for gotv, phonebanking and plain old voting is harder. I really hope this leads to voting booth action. We can’t afford to just have moral victories now. Trump will cost people their lives and damage the planet for centuries the longer he’s in office and republicans at all levels are fine with it. We don’t have 2 years.
laura
Crikey, can someone give Rikyrah front page status? Woman has got her game ON today!
Hungry Joe
Point of personal privilege (the way to get personal privilege is to assert that you have some):
An outstanding new book details — thoroughly, painfully, furiously, at times even personally — the ravaging of both the country’s industrial base and its social backbone by private equity companies. “Glass House: The 1% Economy and the Shattering of the All-American Town” (St. Martin’s Press, Feb. 2017), by Brian Alexander, covers the long, slow dismantling of Lancaster, Ohio, a place Forbes magazine dubbed “The All-American Town” in the late 1940s. But the Anchor Hocking glass company was too good, too solid: Beginning in the 1980s, wave after wave of private equity companies swooped in, stripped away value for a quick profit, and left the thriving blue-collar town reeling, staggering, collapsing. Today the place is a cracked, opioid-laced shell of its formerly gleaming, blue-collar self. Alexander, who grew up there, writes with beautifully controlled fury. If you want to understand what’s going on around here, and how we got to this sorry place, “Glass House” is your Fodor’s.
Full disclosure: The author used to review for me back when I was the Book Review editor of the San Diego Union-Tribune. He’s an old friend as well. But never mind that. This is a great book. I got to where I couldn’t read it right before going to bed because it got me too riled up. But at the same time, It’s one of those books that, ultimately, makes you feel better — if, that is, you enjoy the sensation of “Oh, NOW I get it.”
Chris
@Mike J:
Christ.
Yeah, I’m not sanguine about that election at all. Between the empty-headed leftists twits who won’t vote for a centrist at all and all the empty-headed centrist twits who won’t vote for a leftist at all, the fascists have as good a shot at the top seat as they’re ever likely to have.
schrodingers_cat
@Hungry Joe: T is doing to the United States what rapacious capitalism has done to successful American companies from Anchor Hocking to Sears. How many hedgefunders are in T’s cabinet?
But it is easier to blame immigrants and treat them like criminals and blame them for all your woes.
Woodrowfan
@rikyrah: maybe. But I am shocked how many of my supposedly college ready students can’t write a basic paragraph or compute their grade.
Tokyokie
@Hungry Joe: Basically, the same thing happened to my hometown (which was named an All-America City in 1962!) after successive runs by Carl Icahn and T. Boone Pickens. And the place still votes overwhelmingly GOP.
schrodingers_cat
@rikyrah: NYT enabled T. He is what they wanted. Their anti Hillary jihad of 25 years or more was successful. Nothing they do now is going to absolve them.
bemused
I loved the tax day rally t-shirt Whoopi was wearing:
Twisted
Racist
Unqualified
Malicious
Prick
Jeffro
@schrodingers_cat:
Agreed. Even Elizabeth Williamson, a person whose work I usually like and agree with, was tweeting nonsense about Hillz “having a death grip on the machinery of the Democratic Party” this past weekend. Just because Hillary gave a speech and spoke her mind about some things. It’s crazy.
Baud
@Chris: I thought you were talking about 2020 at first.
WereBear
@rikyrah: Thanks for this: it is just another facet of what I am thinking of as the Republican Pirate Doctrine.
It’s all about lying in wait and ripping people off. That’s their whole purpose, now.
Chris
@Woodrowfan:
I noticed that in Miami once, when my friend the TA who was grading freshmen papers handed me a couple of them for me to read in a moment of extreme frustration. I skim them and go, okay, this needs a lot of work, but based on the grammar you can clearly tell it’s not written by a native speaker (which isn’t surprising, this being Miami, right…?)
… then I turn back to the front page at glance at the students’ names, and, nope! Was expecting Hispanic or Haitian or Slavic names, but they’re all WASP or Celtic. Wasn’t “this isn’t my native language” writing, it was just plain old really bad writing.
Citizen_X
Love the chicken hats those two ladies are wearing.
Belafon
@ruemara: Democratic voting has been quite a bit higher in the special elections that have occurred. And, participating in marches, I am discovering, is not as easy as it sounds. I’m trying to participate in the science march this coming weekend, and my kids keep having school stuff suddenly appear on my calendar during the march.
Lizzy L
@Hungry Joe: Thanks for this recommendation. Sounds very solid, and it’s just the sort of analysis we need. My local library has an e-version and 8 people waiting to read it — 9 now.
Baud
@Jeffro: The NYT turns everyone into garbage.
Jeffro
.
germy
What’s the matter with you people? Don’t you understand he CAN’T release his taxes because he’s being audited?
rikyrah
@Hungry Joe:
thanks for the recommendation. going to put it on the wish list.
I bet it’s as depressing as Mayer’s Dark Money book :(
Yarrow
@Hungry Joe: Thanks for the recommendation. Sounds like an interesting read.
@Tokyokie: People who were abused often end up either being abusers or marrying them. It takes a lot of work to break the cycle.
rikyrah
@Chris:
If they can’t look at America and get the phucking message…then, oh well.
rikyrah
@Jeffro:
Chris Rock told you years ago…
not afraid of Al Qaeda…
More scared of Al Cracka…
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Chanelling my inner nine year this strikes me; what Trump is really upset about is he being accused of hidding, because that makes him look weak to the other school yard bullies.
Chris
@rikyrah:
Haven’t seen it yet but according to FB, that’s what John Oliver said to the French. “You love to feel superior to the British and Americans, now prove it!”
WereBear
@Hungry Joe: Thank you. Got it. Used John’s Amazon link for BJ!
Mike J
@Baud: C’est la même chose.
randy khan
@ruemara:
I think of marches as part of a broader effort. People who march are more likely to vote, etc., and many of them are looking for things to do besides march.
And I have to say that my sense is that the protests so far have been more focused on “this is the start, not the finish” than usual, which is a good thing.
germy
Anyone here know anything about the Palmer Report? I keep seeing it being quoted by some folks on twitter and elsewhere, but I’m not sure if it’s a legit site or just clickbait bullshit. Anyone familiar with it?
Baud
@Mike J: C’est vrai.
Chris
@rikyrah:
I mean, they have their own political party. That’s why they’ll always scare me more than any of the enemies they’re complaining about. I may be just as likely to die in a jihadist attack as I am a militia nutjob one, but only one of these groups ever has opportunities to pass their autocratic looniness into law and making the rest of us obey it at gunpoint.
Lizzy L
@germy: I have always treated it as left-leaning clickbait.
satby
OT but props to commenter Suzanne, who by sharing her friend’s GoFundMe page, raised the most donations and helped get him out of the financial hole. His update/thank you was wonderful to read, and it sounds like he and his son are going to be ok. Happy news.
Someday though, someone should write a book about how the richest nation on earth turned into the GoFundMe nation.
MomSense
@rikyrah:
I completely agree. Mos Def said it well too when he talked about how as a black man he lives with state sponsored terror that is much more of a threat.
hovercraft
@rikyrah:
When people say that Twitler has no ideology, they are wrong, his ideology is spite and petulance, screwing people who have or had the audacity to oppose him is all he cares about. I mean other than grifting.
Scott Garrett is scum, so he’ll fit in very nicely with the rest of this cabinet.
Via the Garbage Vichy Times
Once again, where are “liberal” Jared and Lucretia, with their “moderating” influence on Twitler? They know exactly who this asshole is.
schrodingers_cat
@satby: By turning over the keys to the Rich People’s Party that wants to bleed all of us dry.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@satby:
This. A thousand times this. Every time I see one, it saddens me deeply. Of course this is the result of 30+ years of GOP/glibertarian economics reaching its logical conclusion.
It’s been sad watching my country die.
MomSense
@Chris:
I’m surrounded by militia nutjobs and good luck if they ever threaten you or try and intimidate you. The local police do not take them seriously and I strongly suspect that many of them agree with the militia nutjobs.
It’s very effective because it silences many of us. We don’t write letters to the editor or speak out in our own communities. It’s not safe.
Elmo
@satby: Ha! I came into this thread to post that exact update. I know she felt awkward posting it, and I wanted her to know that I – and I’m sure many others – appreciated the opportunity to do some hands-on help for somebody in a tough situation.
The amount of money it took to get him out of his hole really wasn’t much, and what it does to his quality of life is so incredible. Speaking from experience. Well done Suzanne!
Quinerly
I’m on my phone so can’t link. Scoot over to Little Green Footballs and check out what the supposedly sane spawn of Trump posted on her Book of Faces page over the weekend. The comments on her FB page are pretty brutal…with some good for some Monday laughs.
Lizzy L
Really good interview with the Kansas Democrat who almost beat Ron Estes. Makes a number of good points but the takeaway for me was, we need to fight for seats in all 50 states, because we can win — not all of them, not everywhere, but even in deep red states there’s a good chance that we can flip Republican seats. The more we take, the better our chances of flipping Congress.
https://thinkprogress.org/thompson-kansas-election-b57a97493db6
Quinerly
@germy:
I look it at from time to time. It can be hit or miss with a lot of misses. Googled it awhile ago re Bill Palmer’s background and what has been reported about the site. Take a few minutes and look it over from that angle.
Mike J
Pics comparing Obama Easter Egg Roll with Trump’s
https://twitter.com/HilareeBanks/status/853957329615634432
Yarrow
@Quinerly:
LOL. You made me go look. I thought you might be talking about Ivanka, but NO! It’s Tiffany! She’s been really quiet and now this? Okay, she’s back on the list of all the Trumps who must be destroyed. Only Barron is excepted because he’s a minor. Here’s the link to the LGF post.
SRW1
Says the dude who still whips up crowds at campaign rallies.
NorthLeft12
@rikyrah: I think it is quite clear which lobbyists that Trump and the Republicans were talking about as having too much influence and access.
The business and right winger nut job lobbyists were never included in that complaint, as they deserve a seat at the table according to the Repubs.
Brachiator
I love it. Hope it keeps him up at night. Hope it drives him to wail on his Twitter Machine.
Trump really gets off on the idea that being president makes him untouchable, that it gives him blanket immunity and makes his word law. So he can keep barking about how he doesn’t have to release his tax returns, but as long as there are rallies and publicity over this issue, he has to keep eating his own lie that nobody cares about his taxes.
Kropadope
@GrandJury:
If we’re all gonna die, I’d rather go out laughing.
Quinerly
@Yarrow:
Thanks for putting up the link. My first thought was “Why is Trump making out with a 7’6” tall Kenny Loggins in the Oval Office, and is tiny Jefferson Beauregard Sessions smoking dope under the desk and watching?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Yarrow: Oh. My.
I still feel sorry for Tiffany. There was a blurb a couple of weeks ago about her first visit to the White House since inauguration. I think it was two months between paternal photo ops
Jojo
@Belafon: Getting people to actions, whether they’re marches, or office visits, or townhalls, is VERY difficult, even for motivated and angry people. Jobs, kids, school, life, all get in the way. People who show up to these things are likely to be engaged and to vote (I think and hope). And if all works out well, some of those same people will help GOTV in the future.
Baud
@Lizzy L: Yes. Good. Much more productive than some of the other rhetoric we’re hearing.
Quinerly
@Yarrow:
The comments to the original Tiffany posting on her page are hilarious…my favorite was “Is this photoshopped or the real deal?” I’m still laughing. So needed these laughs this AM.
Mike J
Video at link
https://twitter.com/BraddJaffy/status/853985642728083457
Also, Melania has to nudge Donny to get him to put his hand on his heart for anthem.
Quinerly
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Take a spin around her FB page. You won’t feel sorry for her.
SatanicPanic
@Lizzy L: He seems like a good guy. He said something the other day that I found annoying- about how everyone wants the same thing. I wish that were true. I want to get on board with some of these red state candidates, but part of me thinks that if we have to have guys whitesplaining to everyone it’s not worth it. Do we need to have the “I shoot guns but I want everyone to have healthcare!” guys? Maybe so.
Barbara
@rikyrah: I do not understand the sudden prominence of North Korea. Strategically, North Korea is a threat to our good allies Japan and South Korea, but I don’t get the sense that they are being engaged at all as to what to do about it or whether, in fact, these recent tantrums represent something more deeply concerning than prior tantrums. “I like to wave my dick around and NK is challenging me” seems to be the substance of the matter. Am I wrong about this?
Yarrow
@Quinerly: The picture (painting?) makes Trump look like the adult toddler that he is. It’s hilariously accurate.
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I don’t feel that sorry for Tiffany. She’s got loads of money and can do what she wants. I bet they paid her to post that on her Facebook page.
amk
@Mike J: The bunny looks shocked. I want the twitler’s fucking right arm to be chopped off. You are just talking to kids, you pos.
hovercraft
@schrodingers_cat:
@Jeffro:
Just because they succeeded in their mission to teach Hillary her place, doesn’t mean that they are satisfied. She hasn’t been repentant enough about her unseemly quest for power. She is not wearing hair shirts and begging for their forgiveness, for not behaving how they wanted her to behave while being a democratic woman. No matter what she did, her biggest failing was not doing what the media said she should do when they said she should do it, even if different members of the media were telling her to do contradictory things, all while still managing to be successful. Obama was guilty of the same crime, but he had the benefit of not having been under attack for twenty-five years.
It’s funny how Shrub and Cheney are never seen as needing to be humble, but she is supposed to take an apology tour for “allowing” Twitler to win. Fuckers.
rikyrah
The power of GOP partisanship captured in new polling
04/17/17 10:40 AM
By Steve Benen
Republican voters opposed bombing the Assad regime in Syria, until Donald Trump took office, at which point they changed their mind. GOP voters thought the American economy was awful, until a Republican became president, at which point they suddenly reversed course.
And Gallup reported late last week that Republican voters had deeply negative attitudes about the current U.S. tax system, right before they changed their minds in early 2017.
According to Gallup’s data, 39% of GOP voters said last year that the amount of money they paid in income taxes was fair. This year, that number among Republicans jumped to 56%.
Barbara
@Jeffro: It is crazy. It is also misogyny in action. Even the female reporters at NYT bear the marks of self-loathing misogyny. Clearly, they are rewarded for it.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Mike J: I bet the people who designed that rabbit mask (is it Spicy under there?) never thought the expression of slack-jawed, wide-eyed terror would be the face of a nation
H.E.Wolf
@ruemara:
ruemara, I agree… so I’m making it my mission to bring as many people as I can into phone-calling, GOTV, and other non-carnival activities.
And to everyone I’m recruiting, I say, “A sleeping giant has woken”. The reminder that we’re part of a huge movement of Regular Folks seems to encourage hesitant individuals to put a toe into the water.
Quinerly
Came to it a few minutes late but GREAT “1 A” show on NPR (yes, I know but I listened to Diane Rehm for years, this is the show that took her place). Constitutional scholar discussing the impeachment of Donald Trump. Haven’t caught the guest’s name yet. Anybody else listening?
rikyrah
Tough Talk and Indiscriminate Bombing Are Not a Successful Foreign Policy
by Nancy LeTourneau April 17, 2017 10:20 AM
David Ignatius echoes a lot of what we’re hearing these days when he writes that Donald Trump has tasted some foreign policy successes lately. But he’s really saying that the president is embracing what Obama called the Washington playbook.
When a president begins to use that playbook, apparently the word “success” takes on a whole different meaning. Merely the use of military force gets defined as success, whether or not any tangible progress has been made.
For example, the case most often cited as a success for Trump is his bombing of an airfield in Syria after Assad used chemical weapons against his own people. To judge whether or not that was a success, we need to know what the goals were. At this point Assad still has his chemical weapons (or the ability to manufacture them) and the airfield that was targeted was used the next day to continue bombing civilians.
Perhaps the goal was to send a message to Assad. If so, those who are calling it a success have completely ignored the fact that up until a couple of days prior to the Syrian president’s use of chemical weapons, the Trump administration had been sending the message that he was free to do whatever he wanted. Calling that a success stretches the meaning of the word beyond recognition.
Ignatius credits Trump’s successes to the fact that he has developed a competent national security team and is listening to their advice. While it might be true that they have convinced him of the importance of NATO and of the need to work with China to deal with North Korea, let’s take a look at what else they’ve been up to in just three months:
Barbara
@germy: I am familiar with it. The guy seems to be legit, but even people with bona fide qualifications can be wrong.
rikyrah
Both sides blame Trump in case about campaign-season violence
04/17/17 10:00 AM
By Steve Benen
One of the more alarming aspects of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign was his tacit embrace of violence as a legitimate tool at his rallies. In ways without precedent in modern American politics, the Republican candidate often seemed a little too eager to encourage vicious behavior.
After one protester at a Trump rally was punched by one of the candidate’s supporters, for example, Trump declared, “Maybe he deserved to get roughed up.” On other occasions, Trump promised to “pay for the legal fees” for supporters who “knock the hell” out of protesters.
And as we recently discussed, three protesters were physically assaulted at a Trump event in Kentucky in 2016, and they later filed suit, alleging the president bears some responsibility for encouraging the confrontation and insisting that inciting violence is not protected speech under the First Amendment.
A federal judge recently agreed to allow the case to proceed, and late Friday, the president’s attorneys argued that by virtue of winning the election, Trump was given immunity from lawsuits like these. The Washington Post reported:
rikyrah
@GrandJury:
I know…I know…
Chris
@Barbara:
I wonder if all the dick-waving at North Korea is because they know it’s a nuclear power and therefore they can’t actually do anything about it. Unlike Syria or even Iran, it’s a power that you can do a lot of saber-rattling about and still have a credible excuse for never actually doing anything. Thus, picking a fight with them relieves you of any actual responsibility, as long as you don’t do anything really stupid.
(The only problem is the above credits Trump and, frankly, most of his party with more foresight and understanding than I think they have).
Yarrow
@Barbara: North Korea has been a good distraction from Trump’s Russian connections. Coverage of the Russian ties has diminished as the NK coverage increased.
North Korea’s failed bomb was shown to have significant Chinese components–more than previous bombs, apparently. So the Chinese have a hand in what NK is doing.
Also saw some commentary about Russia prodding North Korea into doing more provocative things, in part to provoke a response from the US. The goal there was to sow chaos and possibly lead to a division between South Korea and the US. That may be working as what SK wants (moving away from increased conflict) and what Pence is indicating the US wants (possible use of US military that’s there and has been moved into position) are not the same thing.
Quinerly
@Yarrow:
Well, Kenny Loggins’? hands are obviously bigger. Actually, he needs to keep an eye on Trump’s right hand. I’ve heard about his propensity for grabbing.?
Lizzy L
@Quinerly: Sounds interesting, but I need more info so that I can locate it on the KQED schedule. Name of program?
rikyrah
@Barbara:
That about sums it up.
He looked around the world, and they tried to find someone that they think that they can bully.
Barbara
@hovercraft: Her biggest failing was being a woman. There is no other way to interpret the NYT’s obsession with Clinton.
Kay
After the Trumps there will be no standards on ethics/conflicts at all. This is generational damage. It will ripple for decades.
rikyrah
@hovercraft:
That’s why every Hillary appearance from now on should have the undertone of
KISS MY PHUCKING A$$!!!
They have also gone crazy with the Obama’s Post Presidency vacation. It boils them…. that 44 seems to be de-aging, going to match Michelle, who definitely de-aged over the 8 years. Tickles me..how much they are seething about it.
Lizzy L
@Chris:
The thing is, they can do something, and all of the somethings they can do are horrible and stupid. I have no confidence that they will not do one or more of them.
Certified Mutant Enemy
@Yarrow:
North Korea’s failed bomb was shown to have significant Chinese components–more than previous bombs, apparently.
Missile, actually.
Lurking Canadian
@Mike J: I got a little choked up, honestly. Remember when the president was a decent man who had a natural rapport with the people, and especially with kids? Those were good times.
rikyrah
@Kay:
Keep on reminding folks, Kay. Keep on collecting those receipts.
Humboldtblue
The wife of an Oregon state senator walked into the traffic lanes on I-5 just over the border on Saturday night and she was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer. This highlights yet again the woeful state of mental health care in this country and for those of who suffer here in rural areas it can be quite desperate.
54-year old Leta Baertschiger — a woman who it would seem had access to the best care — was killed and it was in a manner that is sadly somewhat common in these parts. We have a lot of dark, lonely roadways (even the freeways) and if I had to guess there were five vehicle versus pedestrian collisions that happened in the traffic lanes last year. My coworker was in his way to work at 4 a.m. four years ago when a young troubled man sprinted from the bushes along the freeway and into the path of his car and died as a result of that collision.
Humboldt County and its neighbors don’t fare well when the health care studies are performed — too much drink (it’s always, always at the top of the list when it comes to sadness), drugs and poverty and we’re not at all similar in population cohort to say, Appalchia.
Humboldt is overwhelmingly liberal (surrounded by the Klan as the joke goes), diverse in population at least to historical standards (it’s still nearly all white) because we have the university (a 20-year old student was stabbed to death at a house party on Saturday, a 19-year old is now in jail facing murder charges) and local and county governments are actually effective and engaged save one area — mental health.
The front page health care guy can explain far better than I, but mental health services in California have been dumped on the counties and that means for poor counties like Humboldt mental health care is badly underserved. I have no answers, it’s just tragic that a woman with access to all we can offer can still walk into a traffic lane and get run down and it becomes a 24-hour or so news story until the script is flipped again.
Certified Mutant Enemy
@Kay:
After the Trumps there will be no standards on ethics/conflicts at all.
Until the next Democratic President…
gene108
@Hungry Joe:
Den of Thieves touches on some of the major changes to M&A activity, in the 1980’s, which led to several Wall Street scandals.
It doesn’t zero in on any specific case of small towns being hurt, but it is pretty clear that the regulatory change approved by the Reagan Administration, with regards to M&A activity is really what has led to the destruction of a lot of middle class jobs.
Yarrow
@Quinerly: Not listening, but from the 1a website about today’s show:
Quinerly
@Lizzy L:
It’s Joshua Johnson’s show called “1 A.” He replaced Diane Rehm when she retired. I had high hopes for him..young West Coast Black guy but I struggle with it most mornings 9-11 Central Time. Guest host today…both shows quite good. This one is the second hour. First hour was on dictators. It’s not up on the NPR website. They’ll put a link up later this morning. Should be easy to find. Hope this helps. Guest is saying Russia connections will be what brings Trump down…that and emoluments.
The Moar You Know
@SatanicPanic: Depends on your goals. I’m one of those “I shoot guns but I want everyone to have healthcare!” guys, although not a 2nd Amendment nutcake by any means; we need far stronger gun laws than we currently have. Even in our state of California. But a for real “ban ’em all” platform might get me to sit out an election. I do know that’s a choice I’ll never, realistically, have to make (Dems will never go there) so it’s pretty academic. But yeah, if we want real majority status we’re going to have to make some decisions about…not necessarily what we want to endorse, but what we as a party are willing to tolerate.
Gun owners? Let’s talk about it.
Hardcore racists? Doubt we got anything to talk about.
Barbara
@Yarrow: Well, ultimately, what will happen — and how long it would take is anybody’s guess — is that SK and maybe even Japan would tell the US to piss off and focus on developing their own military sufficiency. Trump seems not to understand that one of the reasons other countries allow the United States to have a military presence on their own territory is that the United States will, by and large, act in a manner that they consider to be reasonable and calculated to protect them. If that ceases to be the case and the US approaches countries like NK in a manner that Japan and SK consider to be inimical to their own security, all bets are off. Sure, we have aircraft carriers so we can bomb NK, we have that capacity, but our ability to monitor and deploy aircraft is infinitely helped by the fact that we have thousands of troops in SK and Japan.
schrodingers_cat
@Barbara: NYT never liked Gore or Kerry or President O for that matter.
Quinerly
@Yarrow:
That was the first hour. They’ll have a link up for second hour (on impeachment)once the live show is done if it’s still like the links were when Diane Rehm had her two hour live show.
JWR
@Barbara:
Well, at least we’re not talking about Russia today.
Brachiator
@hovercraft:
Ain’t that the truth!
He clearly got bored with the details of supposedly repealing and replacing Obamacare, and went into full revenge mode when the Tea Party extremists dared oppose him. He also blamed Paul Ryan for making him look bad.
Ohio Mom
@rikyrah: My kid’s community college has a tutoring center just for Accuplacer tutoring and test prep. You meet with the same tutor every week and my sense is that they wouldn’t let you take the test until they think you are ready.
My kid’s ACT reading and writing scores were high enough to escape the remedial classes but not his math. He started to go to the tutoring center last semester, then decided to drop getting ready for the math test for now, until his shedule opens up and he has more time to devote to math test prep.
I’m pretty sure he’ll end up in a remedial class, the question is, will it be the lower or upper level one?
Yarrow
@Certified Mutant Enemy: Yes. Sorry I used the incorrect word. The substance of the comment is still correct as to what I read in an article about it earlier today.
clay
@amk: They clearly only let his supporters participate in the egg roll, because there were cheers after he babbled his babbling.
Like, how insecure do you have to be to have to be protected at an Easter event for kids?
Lurking Canadian
@Kay: I was thinking the other day about how people are going to teach classes in professional ethics from now on. We used to have detailed debates about “When is it graft?” “What if that really is the best supplier, is it still a kick-back?” “What if the only engineer in town is also on the city council? Can he hire himself to fix the culvert?” etc.
How the hell can anybody teach that class, when the answer to every ethical dilemma is, “But Trump…”
Barbara
@GrandJury: Of course it is a gross miscalculation. It is also a big distraction, and until proven otherwise, you are part of the distraction brigade.
SatanicPanic
@The Moar You Know: yeah, honestly I don’t give a crap about guns and think we should probably just declare defeat and move on. I’m not the target audience, so who knows if this is an effective pitch. I’m OK with that part of it, assuming it works, but “black and white and brown people all want the same thing” is a pitch I’d rather not support. Probably why I never got behind Bernie- economics is not the only issue.
Barbara
@Chris: Your comment seems counterintuitive. If they can’t do anything that makes them look weak. In fact, I would say that NK is two-thirds of the way to completely calling their bluff.
Yarrow
@Barbara:
You could have stopped right there. Pretty good bet any comment about Trump can stop at that point.
To your point, I don’t think Trump cares about historical ties. We’ve had civilian control of the military so they don’t get to do whatever they want. Now we’re glad we’ve got military control of Trump (Mattis, etc. are supposedly the most trustworthy guys in his cabinet). But even so, they are military and will bring that bias to their worldview and decision making. We need proper diplomats to counter balance that and Jared Kushner isn’t one of those. Tillerson is a non-factor, except when it comes to advancing Trump’s and Exxon’s financial goals.
Baud
@SatanicPanic:
We did that, then Newtown happened, then everyone called the Dems cowards for giving up.
Lizzy L
@Quinerly: Yeah — AFAICT KQED isn’t carrying it. Sounds good.
JWR
@Yarrow:
Yup. I don’t buy this talking bobbleheads stuff about how our strategic impatience, or whatever they’re calling it, has run its course.
SatanicPanic
@Baud: Well after that failed to move any legislation what do you want? I know a lost cause when I see one.
Quinerly
@Lizzy L:
A lot of stations that carried Diane Rehm didn’t pick this new show up when she retired. You can listen to it on line from the main NPR website or WAMU out of American University. It was worth the time.
Gelfling 545
@Lizzy L: I believe that this will be a rare point in time at which, due to the Trump effect, some seats that were previously safe GOP will become toss ups. We need to make the most of it. Still though, locally there is no one stepping up to oppose the abominable Chris Collins. We do have a promising candidate to oppose our toxic and pro Trump County Sheriff , though so, progress.
Ohio Mom
@Chris: An old friend who taught the remedial classes at the University of Cincinnati while she worked on her doctorate back in the Eighties, had a very similar experience when she walked into her first class on the first day. A lot of blond fraternity and sorority kids is how she put it.
Baud
@SatanicPanic: I’m just saying what happened last time.
Yarrow
@The Moar You Know: I’ll be interested to see what links between the NRA and Russia come out once the Russian investigations move into the indictments phase. They’re clearly there–the NRA is involved in pushing for more lax gun laws in Russia and there seem to be some financial dealings.
Sheriff Clarke was in Moscow to meet with someone high in the Russian government and go to some gun related meeting. Why the hell would a local Sheriff go to Moscow to meet with Russian government officials? Doesn’t pass the smell test.
Perhaps if it becomes clear that Russia wants to promote gun ownership in the US and is behind pushing for open carry laws and so forth, then more people might decide we need a few gun law changes.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Quinerly: I know his record, that he was one of the few who called ’16 from the beginning (though IIRC and IMHO Comey was not a factor in his calculations so he should get an asterisk), but Lichtman comes off as a bit of a crank
Another Scott
@Quinerly: The1A.org.
It’s a pretty good show, and well worth a listen most mornings.
Cheers,
Scott.
Thru the Looking Glass...
Right right right, Donnie… and you know what’s turning out to be even more impossible to do?
Getting you to RELEASE YOUR FUCKING TAXES…
Shalimar
Once again since Trump will never stop bragging: lowest winning vote margin by any candidate for any office in the history of the world, more than negative three million.
Lizzy L
@Quinerly: Thanks!
SatanicPanic
@Baud: I know, I’m agreeing with you, I think
Barbara
Posting this link to TPM about how our allies in the region view Trump’s recent efforts to stir the North Korea pot: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/preemptive-strike
The truth is, our “concern” with NK is primarily a vicarious concern for the interests of our allies. Even if it seems like a truism, I think it’s important to say it so that people understand that what we do should really be a reflection of what they want.
Quinerly
@Another Scott:
I think it’s hit or miss. Maybe I struggle with it because I thought Diane Rehm’s show was so good and miss her. One of my beefs with the new show is that he doesn’t take live callers. He takes tweets, emails; but it’s like he’s scared of a live question or comment and/or won’t hire a call screener. I enjoy the show that’s on after…”The Take Away.” Yes, NPR haters…I know. I pick and choose and old habits die hard. Had NPR on as background at work for 20 plus years.
ThresherK
@Quinerly: I, too, will seek it out.
Dead air, by definition, would be better jounalism than 95% of whatever On Point does for any given hour.
Barbara
@GrandJury: Yes, I am sure you are right that Trump is reacting to good coverage, because yes, he is reactive. He can have more than one motive at a time and he is easily led around by the smell of good news coverage.
hovercraft
@Yarrow:
The taint of his blood cannot be avoided, they are all disgusting, despicable people, as you say Barron is still a kid so we should spare him our venom, but the chances of him not turning out the same as the rest of them is virtually non existent. Evil fucking people, what about praying for all the people whose lives he’s destroying out of ignorance and spite.
hugely
@Hungry Joe: lol U-T has book reviews? or is that “had”
Kropadope
@GrandJury: I think you missed the point that we don’t need to be all doom and gloom because a problem is serious.
Yarrow
@GrandJury: Trump is fixated on his media coverage. It’s all he really cares about. Remember how he kept talking about how “his debates had the highest ratings”? Media coverage, good ratings in the media–that’s what he wants.
He drops bombs, the media loves it, that’s a win in his book. He was getting bad media coverage with their focus on his ties to Russia. He drops bombs, they stop covering his Russian ties–that’s a win for him.
So, yes, it’s a distraction. The goal is to distract the media and change their coverage of him from bad (Russian ties) to good (Showing strength! Presidential!). It’s working.
Quinerly
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I realized it was Lichtman (The Prediction Professor) hawking his new book as I was posting my first comment. The other guest was Jeffrey Rosen. Pretty good show, all in all.
Yarrow
@hovercraft: Exactly. I have little sympathy for the Trump family. I feel for the people whose lives are being destroyed by the Trumps. That’s who deserves our sympathy, prayers and help.
Villago Delenda Est
@rikyrah: The Village is desperate to “normalize” the 70 year old crybaby so they can still engage in false equivalency of the “both sides do it” narrative.
Wipe them out. All of them.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Quinerly: it was interesting to hear Nixon’s “I am not a crook” comment in context, repeating over and over again that he had never personally profited from public office. Nixon makes the case for impeaching trump from beyond the grave
Villago Delenda Est
@GrandJury: It’s called “black humor”, buttercup. It’s how some people deal with such horrendous things.
Villago Delenda Est
@Yarrow: That approach only works with dumbasses like Donald and the Villagers. The rest of us know precisely what is going on, and we’re not drinking the kool-aid.
Mike J
@Quinerly:
That sounds great. I would much, much, much rather listen to a show with no callers. On the rare occasion they have the germ of a good question, they’re usually unable to get it out of their mouths in any reasonable amount of time.
I wish twitter had been around when I was doing radio. Call in shows are the worst.
Yarrow
@GrandJury: Have you never heard of the term “gallows humor”?
Mike J
@Yarrow: Fuck the tone police and don’t waste your time explaining what they already know.
Yarrow
@Villago Delenda Est: Yep. It’s so easy to see. Our media betters are bought and paid for in their coverage of him.
Quinerly
@ThresherK:
Not trying to turn this into a NPR commercial but Fresh Air should be good today. The author of a book about the Osage Indians in Oklahoma is on. There was a bit of a teaser on Morning Edition. Basically, he chronicles how there was a planned murder of 20 plus Indians who were wealthy from their oil holdings. One man orchestrated the marrying of the women by his relations, then killed off the women one by one so a nephew would inherit the oil. One of the first major investigations by Hoover’s young FBI. David Grann’s Killer of the Flower Moon.
Kropadope
@GrandJury:
Better than shaming people for the complexities of their emotional expressions.
Mike J
Barbara
@Kropadope:
What a great response!
Quinerly
@Mike J:
Not swaying me from my love of Diane Rehm’s old show?.She kept it at a nice clip and had an excellent screener. Her show was the exception.❤
hovercraft
@Yarrow:
Why bother?
ThresherK
So, was anyone at The Hill getting yelled at for asking the wrong (powerful right-wing) people about Trump’s tax returns between midsummer and Election Day?
My memory’s hazy.
Certified Mutant Enemy
@Quinerly:
Back in 90’s Rehm had a regular caller (once every couple of weeks or so) who said all our problems would be solved if we followed the teachings of the great philosopher, L. Ron Hubbard…
Jim, Foolish Literalist
John Fuglesang (who can be a bit precious but in general I like, and his co-host Frank Coniff is great) does a pretty good job handling callers, and doesn’t get many yahoos, but yeah.
hovercraft
@Villago Delenda Est:
Absolutely. One problem Twitler is going to increasingly have is that his schtick is already running stale. The media is becoming a lot more skeptical of his stunts and the media is increasingly moving back to TRussiagate faster and faster. @Mike J: When you have the likes of villagers like Phillip Bump pointing out that you’re trying to distract them, you’re in trouble.
NorthLeft12
That’s right Deadbeat Donald, nobody was talking about your tax returns before you were elected. A complete non-issue according to him and his acolytes.
I guess DD figures that when you win, it means all the unethical and illegal stuff you did during the election is supposed to disappear. I guess he is not familiar with US history, re-Watergate.
Sab
@Brachiator: Yeah. By the way, I Googled your nym to see if it means anything. Very cool. Expanding my vocabulary every day here.
Another Scott
@Quinerly: She had some bad tics as well. For instance, she’d introduce all of her guests one by one then have them say “hi” all at once at the end, so it was sometimes difficult to put a name with a voice for the first few minutes. Joshua is much better about that, pausing to let them say “hi” immediately after his introduction. Joshua’s substitutes as host seem to be better than Diane’s as well – but that’s just a quick impression (though DR’s had more name recognition, they often seemed very Village-ery).
DR has a podcast, also too.
I’ve been very impressed with the Indivisible program from WNYC in the few minutes I’ve caught of a couple of episodes. It’s a national call-in program and the host seems to do a good job of asking reasonably probing questions of callers.
But, yeah, some of Joshua’s topics have been stinkers – but that goes with any daily show.
FWIW.
Cheers,
Scott.
(Josha hasn’t been hawking Italian cruises yet, either, so that’s a plus too in my book. ;-)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Cracks me up that the Chinese are covering this story, especially after the Rough Beast bragged about his chemistry with Xi.
I’m less amused by this being a small sign of how the fool is gonna get played by non-friendly governments, but for the moment, I’ll take a few chuckles where I can get them
NorthLeft12
@Quinerly: I have not listened to anything on NPR since they stopped calling torture by US officials, torture, and from what I have read they have gone a lot farther down the right wing rabbit hole since then.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
Seems to me that much of the previously described “developed world” is being pushed away from collaborative, deliberative, consensus-based public policy and leadership toward a “great man autocracy” model.
It is disturbing enough to think about without the added factor that this all seems to be the handiwork of Vladimir Putin, who stands to benefit from the mediocrity of each “great man” (or in the case of France, “great woman”) who emerges.
Think about the weird stuff that we’re hearing from voters from Istanbul to Calais, talking about “shaking things up” (just because, I guess). Some of them are real people, because I heard those sentiments from materially comfortable colleagues here who were Trump supporters. People have been forcefed gallons of community- destabilizing propaganda, enough to bring things close enough to a cheating win (which appears to be the case of what happened in Turkey).
Chris
@Villago Delenda Est:
The amazing thing was the sheer speed with which they all rushed to proclaim “he became the President!” and other such nonsense for an action that was the equivalent of Clinton’s Tomahawks-into-Khartoum moment in the nineties.
“Desperate to normalize” is indeed the right word. They’ve got their Strong Republican Daddy script ready to go and they’re just waiting for any shadow of an opportunity to break it out, no matter how pathetic.
I can’t believe “the media is liberally biased” is still the most commonly accepted view of them in this country. Like, it’s so. Fucking. Blatant. It was bad enough before, but after 2016?
Ruckus
@SatanicPanic:
Just for the record, I’m not a “gun guy” in any way. But. They are a part of our culture. We can ween people off them over time but it will take time. Look at MADD. It took years to establish the concept that drunk driving had to be taken seriously, it wasn’t just boys out having a good time in the country side. So. We will and do have “gun guys and gals” on our side. If they are on our side for most everything else we shouldn’t turn them away for the guns. That’s what the abortion folks do. They turn against everyone and everything that’s not anti abortion. They turn against anything that might have a wiff of abortion. They are willing to hurt everyone in every way for something they perceive to be the worst problem facing the human race.
We need to be careful not to become them. We also need to understand core Democratic values so that we don’t throw those away for a bouquet of pansies and a small box of chocolates.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
The next 150 years are going to be driven by the fulfillment of Chinese policy preferences. Assuming that there isn’t large-scale warring and just a series of brushfire conflicts instead, we’ll have to rely on Chinese common sense and slightly unequal but sane trade policy coming from Beijing (they do tend to let everyone “wet their beak”, so as to make deals palatable).
amk
twitler’s maladministration, in a nutshell, as it were.
James E Powell
@schrodingers_cat:
Could not agree more. And they enabled so much more evil than just Trump. The War on Gore gave us the Bush/Cheney Junta, which gave us the Iraq invasion/occupation that will take 50 years to resolve, the Roberts court and its racist, corporatist agenda that will last for another 30 years or so.
hovercraft
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
He’s claimed to have had wonderful, the greatest interactions with everyone he’s met so far. I guess until someone spits in his face or throws their shoe at him, he’ll continue to convince himself that they all like and admire him, and are just in awe go him and his accomplishments. What I wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall at the next G7 summit when he walks out of the room and the other leaders are left on their own to discuss whatever stupid display of ignorance they all just witnessed.
SatanicPanic
@Ruckus: yeah, I’m kind of indifferent either way. I guess what I’m getting at is that we have all these people from the Bernie wing going – we need more guys like this, they shoot guns, they’ll appeal to the white working class. And I’m like, OK, maybe? I don’t know. I’m skeptical that guys like Bernie know either. According to him he can appeal to the WWC, but is there evidence of this? Again, don’t know. But if people are going to get angry that the DNC is not supporting these guys, I’d like to see some evidence that their model works. If they want to depart from the norm, they ought to show everyone else why what they’re doing is going to work.
Another Scott
@NorthLeft12: NPR is mainly a distribution network. There’s a whole bunch of lefty-McLeftish leaning programming on public radio if one takes the time to look for it. “On the Media” is probably the best example (of the one’s I’ve heard). But there’s a lot of good stuff, still, on NPR. And there’s PRI, APM, and other public radio distributors as well.
Leftys shunning public radio is not a good thing. Like any public organization, they listen to the people who donate and who take the time to let their feelings be known to them. Letting them be cowed by the RWNJs in Congress and elsewhere isn’t going to help.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.
Quinerly
@Another Scott:
All great points at #166. And, yes…I will continue to listen to NPR. We have a great local show in the middle of the day that is wonderful for local politics, music, events…a lot of coverage on Ferguson (I’m in St. Louis). I wake up to Morning Edition and listen to BBC through the night. The Indivisible show is great, Science Friday, and Fresh Air. All in all, NPR has gotten a little more conservative but I have to have some balance. To each his/her own.
James E Powell
@Another Scott:
Lefties and Lefty-Lites have been supporting NPR for its entire history. They don’t listen to the totebaggers, they listen to their corporate sponsors like David Koch.
Taylor
@Another Scott: The problem with NPR is the death grip that Mara Liasson and her ilk in DC have on the political reporting. On The Media comes out of WNYC. I listened to WETA while in DC, but when I came to the NYC area, I discovered that there was very good content here that you never heard nationally. Brian Lehrer and Leonard Lopate, for example.
My suggestion is that if people do feel a need to contribute to Mara Liasson’s propaganda efforts, at least don’t do it during the news shows (Morning Edition, All Things Considered) where they blatantly slant the news and most of their listeners nod dumbly and go, Yes, both sides. I stopped listening years ago when Renee Montaigne had a panel of swing voters rate a Presidential debate. All of them older white males from Ohio (all of them!), and somehow they rated the Republican candidate as the “winner.”
Quinerly
@Another Scott:
Well said at #178. Love On the Media. I was composing a response but you said it better than what I was pecking out on my smarty pants phone. Thanks.
glory b
@Another Scott: I listen to npr podcasts while I walk my dog. I like On Point, the host can be annoying but the guests are great, How I built This has some really interesting conversations with entrepeneurs, the founders of Patagonia, Kate Spade, Warby Parker, Zappos, etc.
I also listen to Latino USA 1A, and Code Switch. Some of them overlap, they will interview a person on another podcast and direct listeners to them. Walking, running, biking, on public transit, they’re the way to go.
Quinerly
@Certified Mutant Enemy:
I remember that. Caller was telling the screener something else and changing it up when on the air. Don’t remember that it went on that long. I got a few chuckles out of it.
Another Scott
@Taylor: I think Mara and Cokie are usually lazy cranks. But I think if you listen carefully that the other people on the show, e.g. the hosts that introduce them, don’t usually share their views at all. At least that’s the impression I get.
Scott Simon (on Saturdays) strikes me as someone who is very good and has a history of being very good (e.g. his years ago coverage of the Contras and the atrocities in Central America).
OTOH, I’m not at all impressed with Ari Shapiro – the Village seems have take up residence in his head. :-/
I doubt very much that the hosts decide who will get interviewed, who the panelists are, etc. The producers do that.
Nobody wishes more than me that NPR wasn’t as timid at calling out the RWNJs now, but don’t let your (justified) annoyance (and more) at Mara and the other political spin-meisters blind you to the good that NPR does. We would be much, much worse off without it.
My $0.02.
Cheers,
Scott.
Brachiator
@amk:
Are these the same Obama admin holdovers that are part of the “deep state” that seeks to topple Trump?
This stuff is pathetic. Fox News will not cover this. The Trump Administration will never give Obama people any credit for this. Ivanka can’t touch it (or will choose not to). Trump himself probably had not given any thought to this tradition, and ignored any hints that the First Lady or someone should take care of this.
But here’s the bright side. When Thanksgiving rolls around, The Donald will dump the turkeys and push some of those lame Trump steaks as the official meat for the holiday.
What a bunch of sad sacks.
Brachiator
@Another Scott:
@James E Powell:
@NorthLeft12:
Does public radio need to exist in the same way as it does now in the age of the Internet?
In the Los Angeles area, I highly recommend the local source programming on 89.3 KPCC, especially Air Talk for news and analysis and Film Week for movie culture. This can be streamed on the Internet. I use an app to listen to BBC news and commentary, and do not depend on the NPR’s scheduling of BBC. Every now and then I have gone to the Internet to stream the programming of another city’s public radio programming.
And, because I sometimes have a long commute, I sample various political podcasts. I rarely listen to the radio for any “radio” programming anymore, and so omit The Morning Edition and similar programs.
Ruckus
@SatanicPanic:
We’ve had one commenter on this thread who is a lefty gun guy. There are many more. Guns have been a part of our culture since day one and we deny that at our own peril. I don’t like it but guns have an attraction far wider than just the US. It is a symbol of power that most people will never achieve any other way. It is also a false symbol of power but it is one none the less. Real power of course is not having to feel the need to own one and have that be the reality. But that is pie in the sky at this point in our evolution. Even in places where guns are few they can and frequently are given elevated status as objects of power. That is what the NRA does, besides fetishize them, it gives those with no power the concept that they can control their lives. It of course does this for money rather than any other reason.
To change or lessen the need for people to feel the need for deadly self protection we need to fix things, like healthcare, jobs, the economy…. so that people don’t feel the need for deadly protection, a last line in the sand to stand behind. Bullshit and bluster, our current maladministration, is exactly the wrong answer.
Another Scott
@Brachiator: I still listen to live radio every morning and evening. Live traffic reports, weather, etc., are important, and cellular data service still can’t replace radio in much of the country. Maybe in 20 years we can do away with actual radio, but we’re not there yet.
Free radio is a tremendous boon for keeping the public informed and building community – especially on a national scale. We need to improve it, not let it die because a few political commentators drive us nuts…
Cheers,
Scott.
Villago Delenda Est
@James E Powell: They’re all Villager scum. They give a platform to Cokie Roberts and David Brooks.
Wipe them out. All of them.
TenguPhule
@Yarrow:
Owning a gun while Republican is treason and a death sentence to be carried out immediately by the nearest cop. Basically, GOP will be the new black man, only actually guilty of the crime.
Hungry Joe
@hugely: The U-T killed its book review section in 2006. I quit the next year.
Brachiator
@Another Scott:
I suggested that the existence of public radio, which is mainly FM radio, may need to be evaluated.
I listen to the local AM all-news CBS station in the morning. And here in Southern California, AM drive time radio in the morning and the afternoon/early evening is still huge. And to be fair, this also includes FM public radio stations to a lesser degree.
But increasingly, just as I know more and more younger people who never buy newspapers, I know more and more people who do not listen to the radio. They have their streaming music and the Internet on their laptops and smartphones.
I don’t recommend “punishing” public radio because people don’t like the political commentators. In fact, I think that some of the complaints about NPR becoming too “right wing” are overblown.
But I think that public radio, NPR and PRI may need to rethink what they do and how they do it in order to remain relevant.
Of course, when you consider the future of radio in general, we see that broadcast tv ultimately disappeared and was replaced by digital tv broadcasting. And perhaps digital tv as it currently exists will go away entirely. The same thing could happen with radio. Aren’t there countries that have switched to digital radio?
Brachiator
@Hungry Joe: Very belatedly, just saw your note about the book recommendation. Thanks.
J R in WV
@The Moar You Know:
I too am a target shooter… I’m not a rabid 2nd amendment rat, but I like to shoot, and I spend time practicing and money on well made machinery.
On the other hand, I think capitalism only works with really strict regulation of every aspect, which we lack, and which is why much of the current national angst exists. Properly regulated, business wouldn’t be able to hire and fire willy-nilly, and unions would have seats on corporate boards. I really lean towards socialism, but it too needs strict regulation to work well.
Guess what – we don’t play well with others unless there are strict rules about how the game is played!! Should not be a surprise – all the important games have rule books and referees or umpires. So we shouldn’t be surprised that when finance and mergers and acquisitions are allowed to play without rules, it goes badly wrong!
Same for shooting, needs strict rules. There are already some strict rules, but there are also loopholes that need covered. And what about that co-pilot showing up to fly with a loaded handgun??? WTF? At least he got arrested. Jeez.