When someone bitches about Democrats, point out every vote to pass the ACA was from a Democrat, & not one Democrat committed to repealing it
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) April 28, 2017
There's one sentence every American needs to know:
Trumpcare eliminates pre-existing condition protections.
— Andy Slavitt (@ASlavitt) April 27, 2017
NYMag, at of 3:30am today:
… [F]ollowing a 90-minute meeting in House Speaker Paul Ryan’s office on Thursday night, Republicans announced that they still can’t find a way to pass the health care overhaul they’ve been promising for seven years. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy said there would be no vote on Friday, and denied that GOP leaders had ever wanted to vote this week.
“We’re still educating members,” McCarthy said. “We’ve been making great progress. As soon as we have the votes, we’ll vote on it.”
The speaker can only afford 22 GOP defections, and according to Politico, he still doesn’t have the votes: “At least 15 House Republicans remain solidly opposed to the bill, with another 20 leaning no or still undecided, according to GOP lawmakers and aides.”
The lack of progress on the health care bill does have a silver lining for the GOP. Democrats had threatened to force a shutdown if Republicans tried to hold a health care vote this week, but now it looks like Congress will pass a weeklong spending bill before the midnight Friday deadline, giving themselves time to negotiate a deal to keep the government funded through September.
Though, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi suggested that even if Republicans had voted on the wildly unpopular health care legislation, the outcome wouldn’t have be pretty.
“If they vote on it, the minute they cast that vote, they put doo-doo on their shoe,” she said.
They are good at winning because they are good at cheating but they can't find their ass with a flashlight once they've made it.
— laura olin (@lauraolin) April 28, 2017
Note: Going back to the trough on Trumpcare means Dems can v plausibly argue in 2018 that Trump/GOP won't ever stop coming after yr care.
— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) April 27, 2017
Yesterday Rep Tom MacArthur became TrumpCare 2.0 author. Today I’m exploring run against him Congress NJ03. Join me https://t.co/UO5MBcFa1D pic.twitter.com/xvfJPz1H5b
— Andy Kim (@AndyKimNJ) April 27, 2017
rikyrah
Good Morning,Everyone???
SiubhanDuinne
@rikyrah:
Good morning, rikyrah and everyone ?
I wake up every morning thinking about, and sending loving thoughts, to greennotGreen.
Baud
@rikyrah: Good morning.
Baud
Won’t matter. People hate Democrats because they want to hate, and society tells them it’s ok to hate Democrats.
amk
The thugs will keep on doing this unless and until their house majority is taken away.
OzarkHillbilly
Why don’t they just come out and say they won’t settle for anything less than the Death Panels they’ve been harping about ever since the ACA was first being put together?
weaselone
I’m trying to figure out this “Democrats force a shutdown” thing. Republicans have control of the House. The only way the Democrats force a shutdown is if so many Republicans are unwilling to vote to continue funding the government that Democratic votes are necessary to get it passed. If that’s the case, the proper phrasing would be “Democrats refuse to rescue Republicans from self inflicted government shutdown”
satby
@rikyrah:Good morning ? to you and everyone!
@SiubhanDuinne: so do I, and I’m sure many others. I hope she somehow feels it.
satby
@weaselone:
But that phrasing would be an honest assessment of the facts, and so would be avoided at all cost by the purveyors of “news”.
Baud
@weaselone: If the news blamed Republicans, people might not vote for them.
OzarkHillbilly
@weaselone: But it’s our fault Republicans are such incompetently hateful bottom feeding leaches. We made them do it.
SiubhanDuinne
Andrew Kim sounds like a good candidate. Wonder if Adam Silverman knows (about) him? I’d be inclined to toss a little money his way if he does decide to run.
OzarkHillbilly
@weaselone: And besides, both sides do it.
Marmot
Though-comma? Yuk! I hate that dumb construction. Nearly as bad as “As well-comma…”
clay
@weaselone: Makes as much sense as “Democrats are blocking all of Trump’s nominations; that’s why so many positions are empty.”
ET
Oh FOR F**K Sake! Reuters headline
Exclusive: Trump says he thought being president would be easier than his old life
I just can’t with him.
p.a.
@OzarkHillbilly: If they can come up with a euphemism for Death Panels that tests well with a Luntz focus group they’ll use it.
OzarkHillbilly
@ET: I saw that. Why wouldn’t he think that? He’s never had to work at anything in his life. He’s always had money to do that for him.
Central Planning
Sad day at our house last night – we had to put our cat to sleep. She had an enlarged heart (twice normal size according to the xray), and symptoms indicated she had a blood clot in her lungs. Doctor made her comfortable until all the kids could get there to say goodbye. Heart disease for cats. Who knew?
She was a great cat – she would follow me around outside, tried to teach me how to hunt, and loved to be near all of us. She was a stray that my brother-in-law took in, and we took her after she was too tough on his dog :) She was about 8 years old, we thought for sure we would have her around for many more years. *sigh*
In happier news, we were going to go to DC for the march this weekend, but now we’re going to stay “local” and go to the march in Ithaca. My daughter is painting earth hats, and I think our shirts are going to say “MEGA – Make Earth Great Again”. Should be a great time.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@SiubhanDuinne: Kim? They have Koreans in Jersey? Now I’ve heard everything.
D58826
OT but karma is a b*** and feel the burn:
Seems Jane Sanders has been under investigation for the past year. When asked, DOJ/FBI said they only discuss ongoing cases when the name of the person is Clinton (yes a bit of snark).
https://vtdigger.org/2017/04/27/emails-reveal-fbi-justice-probe-burlington-college/?utm_content=bufferc72ce&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@ET:
You beat me to posting that.
He’s such a fucking entitled lazy idiot tool, has surrounded himself with the worst examples of old white guy privilege AND is governing with the level of competence I’ve come to expect from that ridiculous cohort.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Oh Baud, you’re such a dreamer. But, here’s a reward…a picture of the California State Capitol from 1975(from a Kodachrome slide).
OzarkHillbilly
@p.a.: They have. It’s in this bill. Sooner or later, we all have a pre-existing condition.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@OzarkHillbilly:
Y’know what I really hate? I hate that Trump and crew make me miss the urbane sophistication, quiet deliberation and core competences of the W Bush administration….
Baud
@Central Planning: I’m sorry.
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Neat colors.
OzarkHillbilly
Folks, I give you today’s GOP:
Yep, their compromise is to throw out fewer elderly and disabled into the streets. These people, and I use the term loosely, are morally bankrupt.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Kodachrome
They give us those nice bright colors
They give us the greens of summers
Makes you think all the world’s a sunny day
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly: I blame Democrats.
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: We could use more Kodachrome in our lives.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Sorry, they stopped making it about 10 years ago.
Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes
@OzarkHillbilly:
It’s OK. Jesus will forgive them for their misdeeds in the afterlife while providing eternal comfort and succor to those they consigned to misery and death through their policies. It’s a WIN-WIN!
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: That explains much.
OzarkHillbilly
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I’m getting ready to change the “Got Vaseline? on the back of my truck to, “Even I miss W now”.
gene108
@ET:
If the black guy could do it, how hard can it be?
The thought process of millions of our fellow citizens.
Baud
@gene108: Yep.
Sab
@Central Planning: So sorry for your loss. She sounds like a wonderful cat.
OzarkHillbilly
@Central Planning: It’s tough, sorry to hear that.
gene108
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
A not insubstantial not number in South Jersey, if one goes by the number of Korean restaurants that have opened up lately.
Patricia Kayden
@weaselone: To the best of my knowledge, Democrats aren’t in a position to shut down Congress since Republicans have strong majorities in the Senate and House. Republicans are just playing games and trying to shift the blame for their failures on Democrats because it’s the only thing they do well.
Patricia Kayden
@ET: Trump didn’t really want to be President. He just wanted the prestige that came along with holding that office. Now that he actually is President, he doesn’t know what the hell to do and it shows in the way he has thoroughly embarrassed himself over the last few months. It can only get worse since his learning curve is exponential.
amk
@ET: the lazy pos can always quit and go back to his old con schemes.
Barbara
@D58826: No schadenfreude, but her role in the debacle really should be investigated. A federally insured institution lost a lot of money in reliance on commitments that might have been lies.
Ferlin Husky
@SiubhanDuinne: Rock Me Gently was a big hit, so he’s got that going for him.
Emma
@ET: First thing across my newsfeed this am. Drove me back to bed to rage in peace and not disturb the others.
satby
@Central Planning: So sorry Central Planning! I’m glad you all had the chance to say goodbye. She knew she was loved and safe with you, and that’s all they ask.
Cardiomyopathy is not that uncommon in cats, one of mine has it now. His name is Wookie, and though he’s sort of beaten the odds with medicine, I’m aware that I will have to make the same decision probably sometime this summer when his condition worsens. At least we can spare them suffering.
OzarkHillbilly
New website offers US women help to perform their own abortions
No comment other than to say it will be interesting to watch how this story unfolds. At least half the article was about the many legal pratfalls there are out there for not only the women engaging in self abortions, but also Women for Women, the lawyers advising them, etc etc. Very interesting.
Patricia Kayden
@Central Planning: So sorry to hear about your cat’s passing. She sounded like a wonderful kitty.
@OzarkHillbilly: They’re inching their way to throwing granny off the cliff. Paul “Granny Starver” Ryan should be proud.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly: I expect that to be a growth industry.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@Central Planning:
In all the sadness right now, thanks for sharing the news. Take a New Orleans mindset to her passing and celebrate her life and what she gave to you in good times and bad times despite leaving a cat-shaped hole in your heart.
As fellow animal nuts, we like to share in the joy as well as the sorrow of having these creatures in our lives for an ever so brief period. Losing them is never easy and it never gets easier. I know as humans we’re wired somehow to believe in an afterlife so I always imagine our pets are out there somewhere, either waiting for us or floating along supported by the love we gave them during their lifetime. And the loving memories we carry with us until we’re gone.
There will come a day, I promise you, when the thought of her brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eye.
Kay
Here’s an inadvertently comical piece by Ivanka Trump’s lawyer, Jamie Gorelick.
“We are NOT just like a corrupt foreign country!” I don’t know why we have to keep comparing Trump corruption to other countries. Corruption is endlessly varied. We should proudly take ownership of our own unique national collapse. Made In America.
I became familiar with Gorelick when she was furiously lobbying to gut regulations on for-profit colleges during Obama’s terms but that was much lower profile.
This defense interests me only in that they feel they have to make it. I think the nepotism is unpopular among regular people and embarrassing to a lot of fancier people. I have felt this on a personal level in local government when there’s a shady hire of a relative. One on one it’s awkward even as far as the dealing with the nepotism hire because here’s this person and you both have to pretend they got the job based on merit, which makes the person defensive and leaves you feeling put-upon for being forced to deal with this family dynamic at work. It’s an imposition.
SiubhanDuinne
@Central Planning:
Aw, I’m sorry about your kitty. She sounds like a special one, and I’m glad you were able to let everyone in the family say goodbye.
Love the “MEGA” t-shirts! Do send photos.
Elizabelle
@Central Planning: Sorry about your kitty. They don’t live long enough, and she had a way good life with you. Plus, your sign sounds perfect.
efgoldman
@OzarkHillbilly:
Well, now there’s a self-created meme: “Who knew that [fill in the blank] was so hard?”
Baud
@efgoldman: Hillary voters.
SiubhanDuinne
@Kay:
This sentence is in contention for “most inadvertently comical”:
Hahahahahahaha. That Jamie Gorelick is just so droll.
Baud
@Kay: American exceptionalism.
Johannes
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Or to repurpose a phrase (I think from Joseph Choate), Trump makes us miss not just Obama’s Chesterfieldian urbanity, but Bush’s Westchesterfieldian suburbanity.
efgoldman
@Patricia Kayden:
I’m no mathematician, but I don’t think a flat line is exponential.
debbie
I’m lousy at math, but how can a “weeklong spending bill” get us through September?
efgoldman
@SiubhanDuinne:
She is getting a ton of money; I didn’t know they gave courses in marginally lying for PR purposes in law school, but she has to earn that exorbitant hourly rate.
Kay
@efgoldman:
Among Trumpsters thought this is a perfectly valid thing for Trump to say. They believe his good intentions are proved by two things- he didn’t need the job and he’s rich- rich people don’t steal because they don’t need money.
It’s funny in a way, coming from Republicans because it’s completely devoid of any kind of ethical analysis.
“Why do people steal? Because they need money, therefore….rich people don’t steal!” In a way it lets lower income thieves off the hook, right? They’re not dishonest, they just need some cash. They might want to think about this some more.
I talked to a teenager once who had taken money out of cars at a laundromat. Smart kid. People leave their cars unlocked at a laundromat because they’re hauling shit in and out. He said he took the money because he wanted a go-cart. His thinking was if he had the money for a go cart he wouldn’t be a thief. I’m not convinced.
oldster
Dear Anne,
Can I request a thread on the successes of the First Hundred Days?
I don’t mean *that* asshole’s successes. He has not had any (aside from looting the Treasury).
I mean the successes of the Resistance.
We cannot sit on our laurels, by any means. But we have done a lot better than I thought we would.
We have fought a lot harder, prevented more damage, and gummed up the wheels of the Republican death machine far more successfully than I thought we could. The future still looks far worse than it did on November 7. But not as bad as it looked on November 9.
And that’s something to celebrate!
amk
being leaderful.
efgoldman
@debbie:
Theoretically, it gives an extension while both houses work out a continuing resolution. Again. No actual budget. Again.
Granny Starver and the kkkrazy kkkaukus couldn’t legislate a fifteen minute bathroom break.
debbie
@efgoldman:
Just how long is that road they keep kicking the football down?!
oldster
@Central Planning:
“In happier news, we were going to go to DC for the march this weekend, but now we’re going to stay “local” and go to the march in Ithaca. My daughter is painting earth hats, and I think our shirts are going to say “MEGA – Make Earth Great Again”. Should be a great time.”
Is there a march in DC this weekend? Is there a march in Ithaca this weekend?
I know there was an Earth Day march in DC *last* weekend, April 22, because I went to it. Is there another one this weekend, too?
Patricia Kayden
@OzarkHillbilly: Great idea but just a strong indicator that our side needs to make fighting for reproductive rights an priority. There is no reason why a potentially dangerous procedure like an abortion cannot be performed in regular hospitals just like other medical procedures.
Patricia Kayden
@amk: Thankfully, the polls I have seen show Macron at least 20 points ahead of the Nazi Sympathizer. Plus, Russian attempts to sully Macron haven’t seemed to have much impact on that race.
efgoldman
@Kay:
You probably aren’t old enough to remember the 1960 (JFK / Tricksie Dicksie Nixie) campaign, but that was a common meme about JFK. Nobody thought very much about how his father made all that money.
But the meme has to do more with competence (he has none) and practical knowledge (he has even less). It started a few weeks ago when he said “who knew that health insurance was so hard” and it fits pretty much every situation he’s dealt with.
Also the thing abut Deadbeat Donnie is he works SO hard chiseling such small amounts.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Why are they so sure of that?
efgoldman
@amk:
Why don’t they just call the WH and offer president Bannonazi, Millernazi, or Gorkanazi a fat consulting fee.
SiubhanDuinne
@efgoldman:
With a straight face, yet.
Woodrowfan
@Central Planning: I am so sorry
efgoldman
@debbie:
They’ve been doing that since 2010.
Baud
@oldster: Last week was the Science March, and this week’s is the Climate March.
efgoldman
@Enhanced Voting Techniques:
Basic nose / vote counting. Same reason they won’t be bringing the death of health insurance bill to the floor for a vote – again – because they know they don’t have the votes.
Elizabelle
@oldster: Yes! Seconding this. We need some good news in addition to all the idiocy and ugliness that often inspires blogpost topics.
OzarkHillbilly
@SiubhanDuinne: Lying is a serious business.
laura
@satby: Good morning and Happy Friday.
Joining the chorus of loving thoughts to greennotGreen.
Baud
@Elizabelle: In my experience, liberal blogs just don’t do that. None of them.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
Hey, guys
Just dropping by with a quick note:
Samantha Bee hosts her counter version of Nerd Prom this Saturday at 10PM on TBS
I suspect she will bring da house down.
Baud
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: The diminution of Nerd Prom may be Trump’s greatest accomplishment.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: We far prefer circular firing squads.
amk
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: Would love to see that.
debbie
@Baud:
Maybe not happy news, as in unicorns and rainbows, but there are fun and enjoyable articles nonetheless. Like this.
Even Mara Liasson was making fun of his negotiating skills, saying Trump was even having trouble negotiating with himself.
Edited to add, here’s Mara:
SHAPIRO: What do you make of President Trump’s willingness to back down from both of these issues, the border wall and health care?
LIASSON: I think this tells us a lot about his negotiating skills, which do not seem to be as advertised. He said that he was the master of the art of the deal but he has consistently negotiated with himself, called his own bluff, capitulated, all the while confusing his Republican negotiating partners on Capitol Hill and failing to intimidate his Democratic adversaries.
And just to review, the president of the United States toyed with threatening to shut down the government or force millions of people off health care, both of which he would have been blamed for. And then he said never mind. And even his own cheering section and the person of conservative radio, talk show host Rush Limbaugh, said it looks from here that President Trump caved.
http://www.npr.org/2017/04/26/525764683/shutdown-averted-white-house-backs-down-on-health-care-demands
satby
@Baud: oh, but in the Garbage Times they ran some drivel about how the lack of Hollywood stars and other celebrities will improve the dinner and let the participants remaining concentrate on “journalism”.
The butthurt screamed from every quote.
Chyron HR
@satby:
New York Garbage Times or Washington Garbage Times? I honestly can’t tell anymore.
msdc
@amk: Speaking of leaderfulness in French elections, purity left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon still can’t decide between the banker and the Holocaust denier.
satby
@Chyron HR: NYT I’m pretty sure, but you’re right, they’re interchangeable.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly: Or doom and gloom.
@debbie: Even in the private sector, I think Trump’s negotiating skills are overrated. I’ve seen little evidence to back it up.
@satby: Butthurt is good.
Tarragon
@Baud:
Ouch funny. So why does it make me sad.
Baud
@msdc: I’m not French, but that would be permanently disqualifying to me, even if I agreed with his policies.
Baud
@satby: The Washington Times is garbage, but they don’t try to hide that fact. Too many liberals still don’t realize that the NYT is garbage.
hovercraft
@Central Planning:
Sorry for your loss.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: Trump’s negotiating skills amount to telling contractors and small businesses “Fuck you.” after they fulfill their end of any deal with him.
OzarkHillbilly
Oh boy oh bot oh boy:
Welcome to our new normal. Some day you’ll be able to tell your grandkids what the world was like w/o constant El Ninos.
rikyrah
@weaselone:
There you go….counting the numbers and making sense
NorthLeft12
@OzarkHillbilly: Had to shake my head when I saw the “Death Panel” reference. I have been joking with my family and friends that somehow our Canadian Death Panel slipped up and allowed my stress test to go forward. I am a healthy fifty-nine year old with no history of heart issues, but my family does and I have a new doctor who is keen and I thought, what the hell, doesn’t cost anything but a day off, so I went ahead. As I told my wife and family, no issues at all, although that stress test was a pretty unpleasant experience [exhausted, migraine headache] which I never want to repeat.
But the point is that preventive health care is a good thing and could prevent future health crises and save the system a lot of money. If I was on one of your private insurance plans, it never would have happened due to the Insurance Company Death Panel and my reluctance to pay a large deductible.
Thanks Tommy Douglas! [Father of Canadian healthcare system]
rikyrah
@ET:
Inadequate, unqualified mediocre White man graded on a curve
rikyrah
@Central Planning:
Sorry for your loss??
hovercraft
@gene108: @?BillinGlendaleCA:
They do have Bon Chon Korean Fried Chicken here which is excellent! Scorching hot if that’s your thing.
But on a more serious note: via Wiki
That’s all Northern Jersey, but I’d say generally
NJ’s overall Asian population is booming. We have a lot of Asian supermarkets, and I believe the one of the largest India Towns in the country.
oldster
@Baud:
Ah–a Climate march this weekend. I did not know about that. I’m not going to make it down to DC, alas.
I hope that other BJ’ers will turn out for it, wherever you are!
rikyrah
@Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes:
Shrub and company’s intent was evil, but they understood the mechanics of government. Dolt45 and crew don’t understand that, and they are phucking evil on top of that.
LurkerNoLonger
@Elizabelle: I think I read somewhere that outrage has the same chemical effect on the brain as a drug. Since I have an addictive personality that’s not such a great thing. I wish I could find that article.
ET
@Patricia Kayden: Totally agree but still JEBUS! he thought he was going to burnish his reputation more and is likely going to do just the opposite.
NorthLeft12
@OzarkHillbilly: Yeah, so now apply that same “Fuck You” attitude on a country by country basis. Also, I really, really hate to hear Deadbeat Donald say that he does things because he “likes” particular people. This kind of smarmy, personality driven relations is completely fucked up when you are talking about relations between countries and large groups of people. But the Donald does not see the millions of people that he is impacting in these situations, it is all about the other leader.
Fuck, I hate that guy.
JAFD
Yes, we have Koreans in New Jersey (says a man who was working for the board of elections at Tuesday’s School Board vote, highlighted by a half-hour monolog on the state of the world. In Portuguese. With singing. And cookies. Who once rode up to an Egyptian grocery to get a friend a can of fuul medames for her food blog. Who’s walked down Ferry Avenue – main street of Lusophone North America – and photographed the ‘Learn English Here signs on every block. The melting pot still bubbleth.)
Having lived in NJ 3 CD a couple of years back, would say that it’s a very winnable district – the western end is ‘blue-collar Philly suburbs’ – ‘Levittown NJ’ (now Willingboro), etc – and much of the middle is off-base housing for Dix-McGuire-Lakehurst Joint Base (There are township-level election maps which show the swath of blue from the Delaware into the pine barrens to the base gates.) . One problem is that the CD’s split between NYC and Philadelphia media markets, expensive campaign advertising.
(Tuesday here was 50F, cold rain, mist, drizzle, more rain. Today predicted in 80’s. My old bones….)
(Note that every election, no matter how uncompetitive or insignificant, there are some folks checking the signatures and watching the voting machines. Goldangit, get out and vote and make them feel appreciated.)
(A few decades ago, was courting a Korean-American lady, who was beautiful and smart and charmyng. But she was in medical school, and ‘dates’ consisted of “I’ve got twenty minutes to spare at 3:45, if you can come by for a cuppa and a hug…” and I’d say “3:45 PM or 3:45 AM ?”.
If you read this, I hope you’re happy and successful )
hovercraft
@Barbara:
‘
You’re a better person than me. Jane spent her time on the campaign championing her husband and her as salt of the earth honest people who were above corruption unlike her husbands opponent. Now it turns out that she may not have just been an incompetent administrator, but a corrupt one, and oh by the way they are probably millionaires with multiple homes. The chutzpah, I’m enjoying their discomfort, glass houses and all. Just like Twitler, these people didn’t understand that once you’re in the spotlight you become a target, and every aspect of your life and past will be examined with a microscope. Try maintaining your squeaky clean image with everyone crawling up your ass.
Jeffro
@ET: @rikyrah:
Someone ought to print up t-shirts with PBO on them that say, “Obama made it look easy…it isn’t” or something similar. Possibly with Trump in the background, sitting in the corner wearing a dunce cap.
Jeffro
@Patricia Kayden:
When Don Jr. was asked what his dad would do if/once elected, he said that Sr. was going to delegate all domestic and foreign policy to Pence and just run around “making America great again”. Basking in the glow, as it were.
Kay
Trump lied about “missing driving” in one the 1,000 fawning interviews he gave pretending he accomplished something.
I don’t believe he drives himself. It’s a small lie but why tell it? I was laughing though because I had this conversation during the campaign where I was beating my “we don’t know anything about this person” horse to a sympathetic fellow traveler and he said “does he even have a driver’s license?”
Like, grasping at some photo ID form of documentation of…something tangible and real that ordinary people have to produce all the time- we didn’t even know the questions to ask, let alone the answers :)
License and registration, asshole. Show me.
danielx
Nothing like starting the day with a BP check and getting a reading of 110/68 – twice. Happy happy joy joy….
randy khan
@gene108:
Trump clearly thought it would be easier for him than for the black guy – it’s part of why he brushed aside offers to help get ready and took the transition less than seriously. (Now, I admit to the possibility that he would have thought that with a white President, too, given his level of hubris, but I think the betting has to be that the melanin levels in the previous President’s skin were a factor in Trump’s thinking.)
Kay
@randy khan:
I agree to a certain extent but this has been going on for a long time, this disdain for the work that other people do.
It was a bad idea, promoting the notion that no one has to know anything because they can look at someone else’s job from the outside and crow about how it’s easy and anyone could do it.
We should value work more. Wealth isn’t a good measure of work.
LurkerNoLonger
@hovercraft: And another knock against the “Bernie woulda won!” contingent. No doubt this would have been a months long scandal.
amk
@Kay: He drives only big trucks that go vrroom vrroom. I have the seen the pics. Sad!.
hovercraft
@Kay:
Because he can. I don’t think he can help himself, he wants people to think of him as the blue collar billionaire, so he says something like that, which no one believes, but his fans will see as him trying to be just like them. The one truly elitist who live in la literally glided palace is the one they think is just like them.
amk
winning bigly is so tiring.
hovercraft
@randy khan:
He’s a racist POS, so of course if Obama did it he could do it better. His ravings about Obama’s transcripts were real, he thought that since he, the smartest person in the world struggled his way through school, there’s no way Obama could have made it through at the top of his class, either he cheated or he barely scrapped through.
hovercraft
@danielx:
Yay!
msdc
@Kay: Long form, please.
hovercraft
Poor Twitler, this weekend will be full of articles like this, the “shows” on Sunday will be filled with villager saying he hasn’t done anything. Yesterday I saw a Ari Fleicher on TV trying to downplay the 100 Day mark as arbitrary, saying he’ll get some stuff done “soon”.
All Bark, No Bite: Trump Ain’t The Negotiator He Bragged About
On the campaign trail, Donald Trump marketed himself as an expert negotiator who would draw on his years of cutting deals in the boardroom to deliver the best terms for the American public.
“My Style of deal-making is quite simple and straightforward,” Trump said in his 1987 (ghostwritten) bestseller “The Art of the Deal.” “I aim very high, and then I just keep pushing and pushing and pushing to get what I’m after.”
Almost 100 days into his Oval Office tenure, this high-stakes, take-no-prisoners style has proven to be more of a hindrance than a help for the President—and failed to secure a single legislative victory…………
As he openly admits, Trump is still learning how the U.S. government operates, expressing dismay that a “so-called” judge can block the president’s executive orders, and that the executive branch doesn’t set the legislative agenda or calendar. With defeats piling up, Trump is slowly coming to the realization that he can’t just walk away from negotiations when the health care of millions of Americans or funding of the federal government are on the line.
These last-minute caves are undermining not only his own dealmaker reputation as a dealmaker, but the limited political capital a president has to sway resistant lawmakers or rally the American public behind a piece of legislation. Trump’s all-bark, no-bite presidency is weakening the office itself……………
Jeffro
I love it: Brooksie is already arguing that we don’t need to keep our outrage at Trump at 11…a 3 or a 4 will do.
God help us, Mr. David Brooks, but you’re going to pivot right back to ’11’ with Trump’s first real crisis. Trump most certainly has NOT risen from “catastrophic to merely inadequate”.
mapaghimagsik
@Baud: Can I count the two minute hate as part of my fifteen minutes of fame?
bystander
@Patricia Kayden: The French news has been pulling a Hillary on Macron. They’re criticizing him for taking his campaign team out for a celebratory “bistro dinner”. They then fabricate a “he’s acting as if he already won” lie, and that shows what a lazy, undisciplined person he is. They then cut to LePen complaining that Macron is the candidate of the oligarchs, as proven by treating his staff to dinner. No word whatsoever about the fact that she is the one being financed by the biggest oligarch in the world.
Smear and projection, just like in the states.
Betty Cracker
@oldster: Not AL, but I do have something in the hopper about the resistance at 100 days. It’ll be published shortly, so stay tuned! :)
hovercraft
@Betty Cracker:
The GOS has a nice roundup of the first 100 Days of fail in their Abbreviated Pundit Roundup today. He really is going to have a sad pathetic weekend. I hope they have all the babysitting shifts filled, because twitter really could get ugly.
Betty Cracker
@hovercraft: I’ll admit to taking a perverse pleasure in watching Twitler and his minions scramble to scrape up “accomplishments” to display before tomorrow. What will today bring? Will he name a post office after his own dick? Launch 100 missiles at an empty runway? Sadly, nothing is off the table — except achieving something worthwhile. That takes work.
SiubhanDuinne
@Jeffro:
It was one of Brooks’ more pathetic columns, and yes, I do realise that’s a low bar, but he’s being chewed up and spat out in the reader comments. Truly, if there is any hope at all for FTFNYT, it will be because of their commentariat.
@Betty Cracker:
I, for one, would mail everything from there, for the sheer amusement of the postmark.
hovercraft
@Betty Cracker: @SiubhanDuinne:
Post mark TINY LITTLE DICK
Only if was accompanied by one of Miss Betty’s wonderful graphics. A giant head, with a comb over, an orange face with a large body with tiny hands and an even smaller dick no bigger than an outie bellybutton.
randy khan
@amk:
Well, since Trump is taking credit for all of the jobs created this year, I’m sure he’ll take responsibility for
Oh, never mind. My fingers refuse to type the rest of that sentence.
ArchTeryx
Going to post this anyway despite it being a probably dead thread: They won’t quit until I and everyone like me are dead. This evergreen talk about repealing Medicaid – nevermind just the ACA, Granny Starver wants Medicaid as a trophy on his wall too – has my mate and I in serious talks about marrying early, just so I have her health insurance as a backup to keep myself alive if, one of these times, they actually succeed in getting ACA repeal through Congress.
Because if it passes the House, it’s going to land on Trump’s desk – guaranteed. McConnell is far better then Ryan about shepherding vile stuff through the Senate. He knows all the parliamentary tricks, and so-called “moderate” Republican Senators vote with the party Every. Single. Time.
That’s why I want this stopped in the House so badly. AFAIAC, if it passes the House it’s a done deal.
SoupCatcher
@SiubhanDuinne:
I’ve heard it’s difficult to find…
ArchTeryx
@SoupCatcher: Can’t find it with both hands and a map, just like his ass.
SiubhanDuinne
@hovercraft: Heh.
@SoupCatcher: Heh.
@ArchTeryx: Heh.
Marcopolo
@OzarkHillbilly: Just last week I started calling my state rep & senator to ask them to get behind Medicaid expansion for MO. Asking everyone I know to join in–so if you can spare a few minutes a week. The argument I’m using is MO taxpayers are funding other states’ Medicaid expansions atm. It is time to bring that money back home with the added benefit of making rural hospitals more financially stable & improving health care for a lot of fellow residents. I can’t understand why the MO Dems haven’t pushed this at all over the past couple years.
dogwood
@randy khan:
I think the “main factor in his thinking” is me, me, me. No doubt he’s a racist and a misogynist but the amount of time he spends thinking about that stuff is minimal compared to the the hours he devotes to thinking about himself. I only watch one of his rallies so my perception might not be accurate in toto, but what struck me most wasn’t the racist, misogynist stuff because I’d seen the sound bites of that crap. It was the 90% of the time he spent talking about himself, his greatness, and how much everyone likes him. After the election he was obsessed with telling everyone how much the Obamas like him. Now he’s moved on to world leaders who love him. The guy is a certifiable sicko.
J R in WV
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
There should be a Kodachrome color balance setting on EVERY digital camera, it’s only right! Although when I was shooting slides I shot Ektachrome so I could develop it my own self, cheaply, and then make Cibachrome prints. That was a long time ago.
Kodachrome processing used more poisonous fluids and giant machines. Not that the others were harmless. When you developed that Cibachrome print, yellow-brown fumes came out of the tube you developed it in. Scary!
HeidiMom
@Central Planning: So sorry to hear of your loss, Central Planning. We too have a kitty with heart disease — only five years old — and our vet has told us to enjoy her for the months she has left. As you say, heart disease in cats — who knew?
Uncle Cosmo
@debbie:
FTFY. (You’re very welcome!)
Uncle Cosmo
@Betty Cracker:
FFS, why settle for a post office? May I direct your attention to the town of Truth or Consequences, NM?
Can you just envision Cheetoh Benito announcing, “Whichever municipality is first to rename itself after my trouser
snakeworm I will bestow mucho federale largesse upon!”…& the goldrush will be on! Trumpsdick, FL? Trumpschlong, WY? Other?debbie
@Kay:
Now that should be on a t-shirt.
Bess
@p.a.:
The Jesus Wants You to Come to Him Now feature.
TenguPhule
@amk: That didn’t stop them when they were in the minority. They plugged away at bad bills then too. Only Democrats didn’t have a rule saying only Democrats could propose bills when in the majority back then.
Dalai Rasta
@Central Planning: My sincerest condolences on losing your little one, and I’m so sorry that she couldn’t have stayed with you a bit longer.
Central Planning
@oldster: I know this thread is dead, but the March for Science was last weekend. This weekend is the March for the Environment.
And thanks everyone for the condolences. She will be missed. One of our kids got home today and said “I don’t know what to do” It will pass. Think about happy times with the cat.
Thanks again!
Johannes
@Central Planning: Since the thread is only mostly dead, I meant to offer you my sympathies for your loss. We have an older cat who’s become frail; we love her, and I dread when the day comes (may it be long off!). Bless you.
greennotGreen
This community is so awesome, I’ve decided to continue to be a member. They’re just electrons; how hard can it be to manipulate them from beyond? Chances are I’ll have to change my screen name, though.
Seriously, you guys are great.