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You are here: Home / Politics / Trumpery / Dolt 45 / Saturday Morning Open Thread: “I Thought It Would Be Easier”

Saturday Morning Open Thread: “I Thought It Would Be Easier”

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THANKS, REPUBLICANS!

Lazy weekend morning, time for the BJ hive mind to ‘enjoy’ the full panoply of this week’s Worst Interview(s) Ever…

… More than five months after his victory and two days shy of the 100-day mark of his presidency, the election is still on Trump’s mind. Midway through a discussion about Chinese President Xi Jinping, the president paused to hand out copies of what he said were the latest figures from the 2016 electoral map.

“Here, you can take that, that’s the final map of the numbers,” the Republican president said from his desk in the Oval Office, handing out maps of the United States with areas he won marked in red. “It’s pretty good, right? The red is obviously us.”

He had copies for each of the three Reuters reporters in the room…

He frequently turns to outside friends and former business colleagues for advice and positive reinforcement. Senior aides say they are resigned to it.

The president has been at loggerheads with many news organizations since his election campaign and decided not to attend the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington on Saturday because he felt he had been treated unfairly by the media.

“I would come next year, absolutely,” Trump said when asked whether he would attend in the future…

And it gets… “better”!…

Reader Interactions

173Comments

  2. 2.

    Gvg

    Can you imagine what the Israelis and Palestinians are saying when they read that? This is so embarrassing. So scared too. What if we have a hurricane?

  3. 3.

    Elizabelle

    Dammit. Cole’s gone regional.

    Rash of shaved cats found in Waynesboro (Virginia)

    WAYNESBORO — In a bizarre case that so far has police and residents stumped, at least seven cats in Waynesboro’s Tree Streets neighborhood have been shaved since December without their owners’ permission, according to Waynesboro police.

    None of the pet owners have seen the person or people shaving the cats, and no witnesses have come forward yet.

    Neighborhood filled with signs warning of SHAVING CATS!!??

  4. 4.

    PsiFighter37

    I’ve been in London for work the past few days so have been blissfully unplugged from U.S. news a bit more than usual. It was nice while it lasted. That said, the British are dealing with something (Brexit) that they will never be able to fix. So goddamn stupid, and Labour here is led by a man as incompetent and foolish as Bernie (Corbyn). The Tories are going to rule the U.K. for a very long time.

  5. 5.

    OzarkHillbilly

    How high’s the water, mama?
    Three feet high and risin’
    How high’s the water, papa?
    She said it’s three feet high and risin’

    Well, the hives are gone,
    I lost my bees
    The chickens are sleepin’
    In the willow trees
    Cow’s in water up past her knees,
    Three feet high and risin’

    Rain, rain and more rain. Now I know how Noah felt.

  6. 6.

    Sab

    @Elizabelle: Don’t want to start a flame war, but cats shouldn’t be running around loose. You wouldn’t leave your toddler outside unsupervised. Why would you leave your cat?

  7. 7.

    Elizabelle

    re the McKay Coppins quote:

    “I thought it would be easier” is really not what you’re hoping to hear from the guy you just hired for the most important job in the world.

    We didn’t hire him. He lost the popular vote by 3million votes plus, and over 10 million Americans voted for someone else.

    It’s the fuckers in four retrograde rust belt states, and I have my doubts about that as well. Could have been tampered with.

    I feel no fucking responsibility whatsoever for Donald J. Trump. None.

    And I want to see the Electoral College gone, gone, gone.

  9. 9.

    patrick II

    “I thought it would be easier”

    The “it” that he finds so not easy is performing presidential duties at his current incompetent level. He still has no idea of how not easy it would be to become an actually competent president. He would have to read stuff for one. And stop showing his damn electoral map like it is the high point of his presidency for another. It is the high point of his presidency, but he should pretend otherwise.

  11. 11.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    For anybody who hasn’t been following, the Fyre Fest fiasco is literally the funniest thing on the Internet right now. If you hate the Rich Kids of Instagram, their parents and the people who cater to their whims, this is the story for you.

  12. 12.

    Betty Cracker

    After being manipulated by aides, Trump brags about flip-flopping on policy to specifically benefit voting blocs that supported him:

    Newly sworn-in Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue brought to the Oval Office an illustration of the areas that would be hardest hit if the United States pulled out of the compact [NAFTA], particularly in agriculture and manufacturing. It highlighted that many of those who would suffer from a trade war — especially exporters — live in “Trump country,” the counties that voted most overwhelmingly for him last November.

    “It shows that I do have a very big farmer base, which is good,” Trump recalled in an interview with The Washington Post last night. “They like Trump, but I like them, and I’m going to help them.”

    “I was all set to terminate,” Trump explained in the Oval Office. “I looked forward to terminating. I was going to do it.” He turned to Jared Kushner, who was standing near his desk, and asked, “Was I ready to terminate NAFTA?” “Yeah,” his son-in-law replied.

    Maybe Fox & Friends will broadcast a Rust Belt focus group Monday complaining about the continued loss of manufacturing jobs, and Trump will forget the farmers and start bellowing about withdrawing from NAFTA again. That’s entirely plausible if you consider that his actions are dictated by the need to impress the last person who stuck a color-coded map under his nose and that his policy instincts are wholly uninformed by reference to history, economics or the collective interests of the US.

  13. 13.

    Chet

    I’m sure this interview was arranged by the WH so that they could get ahead of the 100 days narrative. And this ends up being the most memorable quote.

    He is so incompetent, he even botched the effort to whitewash how incompetent he has been so far.

    And if you listen carefully, when they crow about the size of his victory, they say “biggest win for a Republican in 25 years”. Well, Poppy Bush lost in 1992, and W lost the popular vote in 2000 too. So even on this, his proudest achievement so far, Trump wants to be graded on a curve.

  15. 15.

    PsiFighter37

    @Betty Cracker: What a moron. “I was ready to terminate”. Dipshit can’t speak English at all. When people go back in the future and read all of the archived presidential communication, it’s going to be clear which fool was the one munching on lead pencils during classtime.

  16. 16.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    Donald Trump and Billy McFarland are the age bookends of everything that is financially wrong with America for the last 50 years…

  17. 17.

    Baud

    “I would come next year, absolutely,” Trump said when asked whether he would attend in the future…

    Note to media:. This means he definitely won’t be there.

  18. 18.

    nominus

    Some mental health pros on Twitter noted that 45 said he missed his old life, including driving: he hasn’t driven himself in years. They say it could be another indication of his deteriorating mental state.

  20. 20.

    Elizabelle

    @patrick II: We are lucky Trump is not more competent.

    Sadly, on environment policy, he’s been deadly effective. The fossil fuels industry (Koch Bros, etc.) had orders lined up and ready to be signed. Los Angeles Times. Worth a read, but it’s depressing and maddening, so maybe not first thing in the morning.

    Trump stumbled on healthcare and immigration, but on the environment he’s been ‘a wrecking ball’
    Los Angeles Times, reporter is Evan Halper

    In a Trump administration beset by lost opportunities, muddled strategies and frequent missteps in its first 100 days, one area stands out for its disciplined approach and early successes: the multi-front assault on environmental regulations.

    Unlike the Obamacare repeal debacle or immigration actions now tangled in the federal courts, the administration has managed in just a few short months to upend numerous hard-fought environmental protections and climate actions that the fossil fuel industries have been targeting for years.

    Planned action on climate change has been shelved, national monuments are imperiled, clean air and water rules have been eroded. Doubt has even been cast on the ability of states like California to protect their own robust environmental regulations.

    … The fast clip at which the administration has eased environmental rules reflects how vulnerable many of them are after having been put into place administratively by an Obama White House that could not get consent from a hostile Congress.

    But it is also a sign of the unprecedented sophistication and political organization of fossil fuel and related industries, which have nurtured for years a network of think tanks and politicians in preparation for this moment. That team of industry-supported activists now dominates the leadership of Trump’s environmental agencies, which have set about killing those rules in the hopes of boosting some U.S. industries.

    Boosting those US industries at cost to us all. Bring back the guillotines.

    Cautionary:

    “I am very skeptical that public concern about overreach will be the thing that stops Trump from destroying these institutions,” said Jared Blumenfeld, who headed EPA operations in California, Nevada and Arizona under Obama. “People don’t trust government, they don’t trust scientists, they don’t trust environmentalists in the same way they did 10 or 20 years ago.… The question is, how is the environmental movement retooling its message to deal with this threat?”

    They don’t trust government, scientists or environmentalists because of poison injected by Big Fossil and Big Rightwinger. All those think tanks, all that hot poisonous air.

  22. 22.

    Joey Maloney

    Trump tells Reuters: I want to see peace with Israel & Palestinians. There is no reason there’s not peace between them – none whatsoever

    I’m sure John McCain is eager to come over on Trump’s behalf to sit down and tell us all to “cut the bullshit”. That’ll fix everything right up.

  23. 23.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Chet: It’s actually worse, he originally said he had the greatest victory since Reagan. It was pointed out to him that both Bill Clinton and Obama had larger victories, then it changed to Republican. That’s not true since HW got a bigger victory in ’88.

  25. 25.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @nominus:

    They say it could be another indication of his deteriorating mental state.

    You mean it can get worse???? Oh Lordy….. We are soooooooo fucked.

  26. 26.

    Elizabelle

    Trump’s been deadly effective on gutting environmental regulations. Big Fossil was ready and waiting with orders, and has poisoned the public perception of government, science, and environmentalism. Bring back the guillotines!

    Excellent, but depressing, reporting by Evan Halper in the Los Angeles Times

    Trump stumbled on healthcare and immigration, but on the environment he’s been ‘a wrecking ball’

    Worth the click and a full read. Lots of excellent excerpts, but they are maddening.

  28. 28.

    nominus

    @OzarkHillbilly: several MH professionals think he has early onset dementia. His father had Alzheimer’s. Ivanka is always around him to try and maintain a bit of control. Look at interviews he did as late as the early 2000’s: he’s an asshole, he’s arrogant and oblivious, but he was sharp enough to keep up a conversation. It’s noticeably different now. The pros all use the standard disclaimer that they can’t diagnose without a full in-person evaluation and a battery of tests, but come on it’s not like you need any more warning signs.

    We are super-fucked right through the pants, because there are obviously a ton of people in DC who can see it for what it is and they’re not doing anything. They’ll keep him propped up as a figurehead and pray he doesn’t bumble into a nuclear war so they can keep up the looting.

  29. 29.

    Joyce H

    @nominus:

    ome mental health pros on Twitter noted that 45 said he missed his old life, including driving: he hasn’t driven himself in years. They say it could be another indication of his deteriorating mental state.

    On Hardball, they showed a clip of Trump in – I think it was 2001, answering a question about whether or not he’d ever consider running for president. He said no, because it was a hard job, etc. But what struck me was how he presented himself. I think he’s always been a supreme narcissist with the attention span of a gnat, all his biographers say so, anyway. But in this clip, he was coherent, he didn’t ramble, and he sounded like he knew at least as much as the average person. I found it shocking, compared to his current presentation.

  30. 30.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Trump should have talked to ol’ W since he didn’t believe the blah guy, “Presidenting is hard”.

    That was one of ol’ W’s moments of truth. Another was this past January 20 as he was leaving the inauguration: “That was some weird shit.” A line which, to one degree or another, can be applied to every single day of the Trump Maladministration.

  35. 35.

    liberal

    @Joyce H: yeah, a few people have contrasted video clips and not unreasonably claimed he’s showing initial signs of dementia.

  38. 38.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Joyce H:

    But in this clip, he was coherent, he didn’t ramble, and he sounded like he knew at least as much as the average person. I found it shocking, compared to his current presentation.

    Now consider the people who voted for this incoherence because…. Emails or something.

  39. 39.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Betty Cracker:

    They’re getting even funnier. What could go wrong with a 25 year old college dropout son of douchebag NYC developers planning a festival on an island with sparse infrastructure? Especially given his history of starting, then abandoning projects targeted at his demographic after churning the VC money?

    I’m curious about the connections that lead to his continued ability to tap VC money, given his track history of failure. Wouldn’t surprise me to see him try for the presidency in about 40 years….

  41. 41.

    Sab

    @Betty Cracker: You do have a way with words. Everyday you say something where I think: Why didn’t I say that? That is exactly what I was thinking. Why didn’t I SAY that?

  42. 42.

    MomSense

    @Elizabelle:
    I am with you in this.

    And I don’t trust the election results. Given that we were being attacked by a hostile foreign power at the time, I’d say that not trusting the results is appropriate.

    The quote highlighted in this post is so insulting and infuriating.

  43. 43.

    Betty Cracker

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Did you see the account in NY Mag from an insider who quit when it became obvious the festival was going down in flames? Here’s the last paragraph:

    I cannot explain how or why the bros running this festival ignored every warning sign they were given along the way. The writing was on the wall. I saw it firsthand six weeks ago. They overlooked so many very basic things. And baby, they forgot to make me sign an NDA.

    Hahaha!

  46. 46.

    Baud

    Aside from dementia, don’t underestimate the corrosive power of hate as a cause for Trump’s current condition. He’s been wallowing in it for a long time now.

  49. 49.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Natasha Bertrand‏Verified account @ NatashaBertrand 11h11 hours ago
    PhilipRucker tells @ chrislhayes that Trump asked him during their 100-day interview to run the election map on the front page of WashPo.

    @Baud: I imagine the strain of seeing how much he’s despised and mocked and keeps falling short, from failing bills to blocked EO’s, is taking a toll too.

  51. 51.

    Baud

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: I said I want him to be the most reviled American since Benedict Arnold. I may get that wish. The only thing really propping him up into 40% approval is the economy, but that won’t last.

  52. 52.

    Sab

    @OzarkHillbilly: So sorry. Just starting this journey and I am not looking forward to the rest of it. Guy used to be a genius, now he doesn’t recognize his children or grandchildren.

  53. 53.

    MomSense

    @Baud:

    I don’t know if I can get through another crashed economy. I had to claw my way out of the last one.

  54. 54.

    Baud

    @MomSense: Hopefully it’ll be a mild recession and not a complete collapse like under Bush. I can’t see it staying good for four years.

  56. 56.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Betty Cracker:

    That was awesome – amid all the fumbling and McFarland and Ja Rule spin, it is obvious that they didn’t have the money to pull it off from the very beginning.

    Planners also warned that it would be not be up to the standard they had advertised. The best idea, they said, would be to roll everyone’s tickets over to 2018 and start planning for the next year immediately. They had a meeting with the Fyre execs to deliver the news. A guy from the marketing team said, “Let’s just do it and be legends, man.”

    In today’s world of “social media influencers” the least competent believe they can pull off Woodstock with a show of bravado.

    Meanwhile, they needed 50 million.

    I’ve been to Exuma. Lovely place. COMPLETELY inadequate for a large scale event.

  59. 59.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Baud: I keep seeing stats I barely understand– highest housing whatever since 2007, record home prices, sellers’ market, stock market high in the DJIA and NASDAQ– and thinking “Am I the only one getting a little nervous?”
    ETA: and the Fed– I’ll never understand their goat entrails and bird droppings– hinting at raising interest rates, I believe?

  61. 61.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Baud:

    It is already collapsing. My revenue is down relative to the last 3 years, as my client base includes a ledge cohort of working class people. They don’t have money for things, and other lawyers are starting to drop fee requirements (which affects us all).

  63. 63.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Sab: Again, sarcasm, this time directed at Betty. Most people stop and think before they speak, often they decide it’s not worth saying or they might piss somebody off or a thousand and one other reasons. Here’s the sarcastic part: Betty doesn’t, she just “blurts it out.” Not really, she’s just free with her thoughts and that’s what makes her funny.

  64. 64.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    “Our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity is over”.

    I was getting some tires changed at my Ford dealer yesterday, and overheard someone – don’t know if it was one of the owners or a customer – talking about how great his portfolio is doing, etc.

    The word that instantly formed in my head was “bubble”.

  65. 65.

    Elizabelle

    Yeah. I think we are on the cusp of a bubble too.

    Fossil fuels may be happy, happy, happy with Trump, but business relies on some measure of certainty and customers/passengers/clients with money to spend.

  67. 67.

    Sab

    @Sab: Didn’the intend to respond to Sab, who is me. Meant to respond to OzarkHillbilly, whom I totally admire.

  68. 68.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Elizabelle:

    Most of us only dream of putting the wealthy in a gulag, Comrade Ja has actually gone and done it #fyrefestival

  69. 69.

    ThresherK

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: “Bought my tickets for the upper-crust Woodstock, got the upper-crust Altamont Speedway”?

    PS I’m just not-awake enough to have read your “What could go wrong with a…son of douchebag NYC developer” without context and thought you meant Trump, and only then saw your earlier tidbit comparing him with this MacFarland. Good job.

  70. 70.

    RealityBites

    As I said earlier about the cats, I think someone is trapping “strays” to have them spay/neutered. When the females are shaved for surgery, their scars or tattoos are proof they are already done. Of course, if males are also shaved, the theory is wrong.

  71. 71.

    nominus

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: I’ve had similar. At this point the best we can hope for is for the bubble to pop sooner. The last two times this happened there were plenty of people who saw it coming and knew that this couldn’t last, but then things kept going well and higher to the point where they figured they must have been wrong. Our trajectory right now looks pretty bad, coupled with the fact that they’re trying to dismantle all the regulations we put in place after the last debacle.

  72. 72.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Sab: Enjoy the little moments, try not to think too big. I remember when my mother was in the hospital and I (and my siblings) was taking care of him, One morning he was doing the dishes and started to sing:

    “Old MacDonald had a farm
    E I E I OH
    and on this farm he had a….”

    “Oh Hell, just a whole lot of crap.”

    It’s not easy to deal with. I hope you have family around you, they make it better.

  74. 74.

    satby

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    @Baud: I imagine the strain of seeing how much he’s despised and mocked and keeps falling short, from failing bills to blocked EO’s, is taking a toll too.

    Good.
    Yep, still bitter. Now with added bitter.

  77. 77.

    Sab

    @OzarkHillbilly: Mostly don’t have family around me. I am in Ohio and my siblings all evacuated to New England or California. I do have an amazing supportive spouse and step kids, and some pretty great siblings in law.

  78. 78.

    Elizabelle

    @Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes: Laughing.

    This sentence, from the FTFucking Fascist Enabling NY Times was pretty good too:

    Taxis were hard to come by, in part because the festival had promoted itself as a cashless event, asking attendees to upload funds to digital wristbands instead. So people were stranded without money.

    More helpfulness from the TechBros.

    I can see someone making a movie out of this experience, but from the view of organizers doing it on purpose. To a particularly revolting and entitled group of maroons with cash to burn.

  80. 80.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Sab:

    Meant to respond to OzarkHillbilly, whom I totally admire.

    Say WHAT?????????? Where oh where did I go so WRONG?!?!?!?!?!????

  82. 82.

    satby

    @Sab: it’s tough. If you can work with any senior services orgs in your area to arrange some elder day care or respite care for your dad, it can help. My mom wasn’t particularly cooperative, she got ornery as her mind failed, but it was vital for my sister, who did the brunt of the caregiving.

  83. 83.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    He’s thinking about the big stuff and being very lucid and honest about it

    President Trump on Friday defended his frequent weekend trips to his luxury properties, saying he does not care about golfing as much as people might think he does.
    “I have a lot of property. So if I go to my clubs like in New Jersey, they’ll say, ‘Oh he is going to play golf.’ I am not going to play golf. I couldn’t care less about golf,” Trump said in an interview on Fox News.
    “But I have a place there that costs almost nothing because its hundreds of acres and security and they don’t have to close up streets,” he added.
    Trump said he feels “a little guilty” going back to his Trump Tower residence in New York because of all the expenses that are associated with each trip.
    “I love New York, but going back is very expensive for the country because they close up Fifth Avenue and they close up 56th Street … and I always feel a little but guilty when I go there,” he said.
    Trump noted that he prefers to visit his other properties because they are not as expensive to secure but added that he does not want to be perceived as “lazy.”
    “It would be much better if people would understand that I could go other places that I have. But then they hit me for relaxing. And I don’t want to be known as a person that relaxes because I am working hard and I am working hard for the people.”

  88. 88.

    satby

    Well, everyone have a good Saturday! I’m off to work. Flash flood warnings around my area; I’m about a block away from the St.Joe river, but in the high bank side so things should be ok. Rain for the next three days, must be heading over from Ozark’s neck of the woods.

  90. 90.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    “I love New York, but going back is very expensive for the country because they close up Fifth Avenue and they close up 56th Street … and I always feel a little but guilty when I go there,” he said.

    B.u.l.l.s.h.i.t.

  91. 91.

    Kay

    “Here, you can take that, that’s the final map of the numbers,” the Republican president said from his desk in the Oval Office, handing out maps of the United States with areas he won marked in red. “It’s pretty good, right? The red is obviously us.”

    He’s perfect for the GOP base though because winning IS the only that matters. I was with Republicans yesterday at the courthouse and they started out talking about how Kasich would have been better- they really don’t like Trump, fancier Republicans, they’re embarrassed by him- but they ended up jeering at Kasich for losing to Trump. Trump is better because Trump won. Trump is a winner and Kasich is a loser. After Kasich won governor the first time these same people were telling me Kasich would be President- now he’s literally “a loser”.

    Trump can run on that next time- “I beat Hillary Clinton”. He won’t need anything else for them.

    If you look at what Trump does thru the eyes of the GOP base it makes perfect sense.

  92. 92.

    Just One More Canuck

    “Life moves pretty fast – if you don’t stop and look around and play golf every weekend, tweet incoherent rants at 3AM, have your children on the government payroll, hire Russian agents into your cabinet and other top level positions, moan about how bigly you won the election and bilk the taxpayers out of millions of dollars to line your own pockets, you could miss it”

  93. 93.

    Elizabelle

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    The prisoner of Camp David.

    Trump has no guilt, or shame. Keeping Barron and Melania in NYC, to millions upon millions of taxpayer dollars, some of them streaming into his own pockets?

    Of course, it may be Melania refusing to move, but that should not be allowed when that amount of public money on Secret Service is involved. Fuck them. One of the most expensive cities in the US too. Not Independence, MO, or Tulsa, or some gated community in Republican acres. Prime, central NYC real estate.

  94. 94.

    ArchTeryx

    @MomSense: I never did, as my fourth year of unemployment can attest. Next time the economy crashes, does Medicaid follow even in blue states? I’m never safe so long as I’m here.

  95. 95.

    Kay

    If I were an editor I would replace most of the references to Kushner and Ivanaka with “son in law” or “daughter”

    The 36-year-old, whose previous main work experience was running his father’s real-estate firm, is a senior adviser to the commander-in-chief.
    Despite having no diplomatic credentials, he has been tasked with no less a challenge than resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
    Mr Kushner, who is married to Mr Trump’s daughter Ivanka, also serves as the president’s lead adviser on relations with China, Mexico and Canada.

    “The President’s 36 year son in law…Mr. Trump’s son in law…

    Any possible combination of identifiers like this: ” who is married to Mr Trump’s daughter Ivanka”

    There aren’t enough ways to say daughter – “The President’s (grown) female child… :)

  96. 96.

    Kay

    “Daughter of my Mr. Trump and his former wife..”

    “Ivanka, one of the Trump siblings”

    “Ivanka, sister of Tiffany”

  97. 97.

    Quinerly

    Storms here in Charleston, West Virginia. A stirred up Poco in the Motel 6. Back on the road shortly. 500 miles ahead of us. 490 miles behind us. Have a great day, Balloon Juicers. I still can’t believe Trump is president….then it hits me. A part of me will always be in denial, though. A coping mechanism? Never knew I was wired this way. Anyone else?

  99. 99.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Elizabelle:

    So I wonder how many dollars are impounded in the brilliance of techbro conceited wristbands?

  100. 100.

    Booger

    “Fyre” sounds as promising as “Gryzzle” or “WUPHF.” Is it an acronym for “F.U., rich entitleds” ?

  101. 101.

    Le Comte de Monte Cristo, fka Edmund Dantes

    @Quinerly:

    I’m in Cincinnati for my youngest daughter’s graduation from UC. Thunderstorms all day expected, the ceremony is planned…

    Outdoors.

  102. 102.

    ProudGradofCatLadyAcademy

    @liberal:

    You know, like the other 99 days since Jan 20th?

    I can’t. I can’t even look at these people without being nauseous. I know, I shouldn’t “other” people, but knowing what the should should be and what the reality actually is are two different things.

  103. 103.

    Elizabelle

    Kevin Drum: It’s Not a Big Mystery Why Jason Chaffetz Is Quitting Congress

    tl;dr version: Trump’s election transformed the Oversight Committee from a platform for fame and fortune into a backwater at best and an endless tightrope with career-ending risk at worst. So Chaffetz decided to quit. In the meantime, though, he might as well get his foot fixed on the taxpayer’s dime, amirite? Plus it gets him out of the line of fire even quicker. What’s not to like?

    first commenter:

    I wanted to spend more time with my feet.

  105. 105.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Elizabelle: I have read that Barron may be autistic. May be. If he is, I am sympathetic to Melania’s desire to keep him in NYC, living in a familiar environment, going to a familiar school with familiar teachers. Yes, it is costing us taxpayers quite a bit, but I do not put the onus for that on either him or his mother for doing what she thinks is in her child’s best interests. That rests entirely on his “father’s” shoulders.

    And again, this is IF Barron is autistic.

    My pov is colored by my severely disabled nephew.

  106. 106.

    Kay

    I had a hard week and I had to prepare for last Monday last Sunday and now I have to go back to work on Saturday so I’m feeling over-worked. Too many days in a row.

    LUCKILY- it’s raining :)

  108. 108.

    Betty Cracker

    @Kay: I think you’re right about the “just win, baby” mindset, which is why I always bring up Trump’s embarrassing face-plants with my Trump-voting relatives — his many stupid mistakes, plus the way he played them for suckers. There’s no getting through to these idiots, so my goal is to demoralize them so thoroughly that they never go near a voting booth again. ;)

  109. 109.

    kd bart

    Trump truly is the Sally Fields’ character in Soapdish. He keeps returning to his version of the NJ mall to bask in adulation for past deeds.

  110. 110.

    debbie

    David Frum had his own Twitterstorm in reaction to Trump’s whine. My favorite:

    Also , nobody could have known that 2 year old tweets are retrievable

  113. 113.

    Betty Cracker

    I envy y’all who have stormy weather. It’s been awfully dry here, and since I have to work on a Saturday, it pisses me off to see an inviting sunny day out the window.

  115. 115.

    gene108

    @PsiFighter37:

    Dipshit can’t speak English at all

    That is part of his appeal.

    I remeber hearing Bush, Jt talk, back in 2000, and was gobsmacked that anyone would vote for a guy, who could barely construct sentences.

    But the more I have met people, the more I realize there is a large section of the population that do not speak well, are not great at comprehending complex topics and the subtlety of the books their English teacher forced them to read in high school, and who do not read for fun as an adult, who are resentful of people, who do talk well, who are well read, and understand the subtleties of topics.

    Trump really, really, really appeals to this crowd. They love him for his poor sentence construction and ignorance, because he hates the same people they do.

  117. 117.

    Elizabelle

    @OzarkHillbilly: Hmmm. And I think even Trump would understand Barron needs familiar surroundings.

    So, he makes his run for the presidency, expecting to raise his profile, gets lots of airtime for whatever spouts out of his mouth, and grift, grift, grift. All that nice travel and attention, at taxpayer expense.

    And then the fucker wins. The Electoral College. If the votes in rust belt states were not hacked. And that is a big “if.”

    Suh-prize, suh-prize, suh-prize.

  118. 118.

    debbie

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Not to sound Trumpean, but the storms here have really been huge. It’s supposed to be stormy here until tomorrow afternoon. Sadly, I’ll have to spring clean.

  119. 119.

    Elizabelle

    @gene108: Good. Maybe someone can do a graphic novel for them, with lots of pictures, on how bad their lives will continue to be — if not worse — and how they took down America with them.

    We employ gallows humor because we are living through a tragedy that was of human making.

  120. 120.

    ProudGradofCatLadyAcademy

    On a serious note:

    Hello! I am lurking again because that is all I have time for these last few months. Moving this weekend to BFE N. MN the heart of MN Trump country(see above it will be interesting). One, because rents in this mid-range city are impossibly high, like 1k for a studio and on my working class salary, not swingable. It is so rural that Centurylink customer service people couldn’t find in their system, even though their website and new neighbors inform me they are our are DSL providers. I am being a new urban to rural pioneer, instead of gentrifying a dicey neighborhood in some marginal area in a big city, I am starting to de-trumpify the mining towns here. On the plus side, they do have a natural foods co-op, and commie coffee shop so the hippies have a toehold at least.

    So 550.00 a month for a one bedroom everything included. Like every decreasing rural/heavy industrial area with it’s decreased population, creativity is required to deal with abandoned properties, including shuttered schools. In this case, I am living in a renovated elementary school building. The principal’s office to be exact. I have my own cubby hole, and in the bedroom closet stuck in the ceiling, there are faded construction circles with names on them.I wonder what they were for? why the ceiling? in the principal’s office? I don’t know, and I like the mystery so I am keeping them, it adds character and truly the yellow drop ceilings could use all the help they can get, even in the closet.

    I ordered the stupidest thing, and it makes me so happy. We took out the tub so the sick elderly people here would be safe. I missed the tub, and that is what I wanted in an apartment. I have not a tub in this new apartment, so I ordered a color changing shower head for my place. It works! It changes from red, to green, blue and yellow, it’s dumb but it makes me happy and happiness is in short commodity around here these days.

    Anyone have tips on how to move a cat from a larger two bedroom house to my 500 sq foot new apartment? I am so worried about Princess Buttercup(PBC). acclimating to such a small place. Right now her favorite hobby is sitting on her chair and staring at the birds etc. We are going to be on the 2nd floor, and there is a squirrel, but the birds seem in shorter supply.

    Also, I have the mother of all garden spaces if I have time this year, I have to ready this house for the market, and find a new telecommute job so I don’t know if my plans to finally channel my P. Allen instincts will happen. But the landlord has given me permission to work on the old playground in any fashion I would like. No seriously, a huge empty playground with just a field of green grass. I am thinking maybe a garden labyrinth? a firepit and community garden? It would be cool to build one for my neighbors. Any thoughts?

  121. 121.

    kd bart

    @gene108: They love him because he pisses off people like you and me. As long as keeps doing that, they’ll approve of him.

  122. 122.

    debbie

    @Elizabelle:

    Of course, it may be Melania refusing to move

    This is what I’m thinking. Why else have Ivanka be First Daughter (gag) unless she’s not planning on relocating to DC ever? I wouldn’t be surprised if there isn’t a separation or divorce shortly after he’s removed from office?

  123. 123.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @gene108:

    But the more I have met people, the more I realize there is a large section of the population that do not speak well, are not great at comprehending complex topics and the subtlety of the books their English teacher forced them to read in high school, and who do not read for fun as an adult, who are resentful of people, who do talk well, who are well read, and understand the subtleties of topics.

    Shorter gene108: “There are a lot of stupid people out there.”

  124. 124.

    debbie

    @kd bart:

    The local Fox affiliate likes to do FB polls during their evening newscast. Last night the question was whether Trump had accomplished what he had promised in his first 100 days . More than 56% said he had. Either these clowns can’t define “accomplished” or they really only wanted him to piss off people.

  126. 126.

    Weaselone

    @Baud:

    Do you honestly see it being a mild recession? It’s likely to get kicked off due to a combo of Trump’s immigration policy, trade policy, tax policy and government cuts. In response, we’ll probably get tax cuts for the wealthy, austerity for everyone else, further government spending cuts and maybe a trade war. Republicans are fully capable of turning a minor adjustment into a second great recession.

  129. 129.

    debbie

    @AxelFoley:

    I woke up more optimistic than usual. If nothing else, Trump will cure this country of the notion that a CEO as President is a good idea.

  131. 131.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Elizabelle:

    All that nice travel and attention, at taxpayer expense.

    Well, avoiding the constant reminder of defective genes is expensive, doncha know.

    No, I don’t think much of Trump’s beggared efforts as a father. Why do you ask?

  135. 135.

    Betty Cracker

    @ProudGradofCatLadyAcademy: Can you place a bird feeder on the window? I was thinking either the kind that attaches via suction cups or a platform attached to the windowsill. That might give your cat something to look at. I had one of the former on the window by my desk, and my dogs loved to watch (and bark at) the squirrels who visited.

    Ultimately I had to take that feeder down because the squirrels took to fighting inside the feeder, causing it to bump violently against the windowpane, and I was worried they’d bust the window and I’d end up with a pair of fighting squirrels in my lap! But my feeder was on the ground floor and easily accessible; you probably wouldn’t have that issue.

    Best of luck with the new space!

  136. 136.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @ProudGradofCatLadyAcademy:

    Right now her favorite hobby is sitting on her chair and staring at the birds etc. We are going to be on the 2nd floor, and there is a squirrel, but the birds seem in shorter supply.

    Get a bird feeder, there are many kinds including some that afix directly to the glass via suction cups.

    No seriously, a huge empty playground with just a field of green grass. I am thinking maybe a garden labyrinth? a firepit and community garden? It would be cool to build one for my neighbors.

    The firepit and community garden could be fun but get ready to be the sole person responsible for cleaning up the messes.

  137. 137.

    Elizabelle

    @Betty Cracker: Speaking of boxers:

    Last night, deep dusk, on a street in the hills of Barcelona, down a steep hill from Tibidabo mountain: streetlights are on, out of the corner of my eye …

    a wild pig, the size of a large boxer or a Labrador Retriever, gliding past almost soundlessly. On the sidewalk. Crosses one busy street, heads for another (traffic stopped by lights, thank dog), disappears into shadow. So comfortable with life in the burbs. So quiet the guy I was standing with barely noticed him.

    The pigs are big, but make very little traveling noise. Last year, also in the hills, heard some rustling in the leaves, looked over expecting a squirrel. The pig was also an easy 70 pounds, maybe more.

    All happened so fast I didn’t grab my iPhone. Wish I had a pic for you all.

  138. 138.

    LurkerNoLonger

    On the bright side, I’m young enough that I’ll get to see everyone one of these motherfuckers in their grave. Unfortunately Jared and Ivanka are my age, but I’m hopeful there will be an accident with the strap-on that takes them both out.

  140. 140.

    Elizabelle

    @ProudGradofCatLadyAcademy: Good luck with your new digs.

    Could you include a catio in the greenspace you develop? Do your cats take to leashes?

    At least you could find a bathtub and use it as a planter. Or set up one of those ridiculous c ial is type landscapes. I never understand those two, in separate tubs…

  141. 141.

    Soprano2

    @OzarkHillbilly: It’s bad in Springfield, too. We had over 4″ this past week, with 4-8 total forecast for this weekend. On the bright side, it’ll fill up the lakes after the dry winter we had.

  142. 142.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Soprano2: We’re already flooding on the creeks and the Meramec won’t crest until Monday. They aren’t predicting it to break the record but it will be close.

  143. 143.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @amk: It’s Frightline:

    Day 100 of America Held Hostage!

    This time without hyperbole. The en-fuckin’-tire country blindfolded with an AK-47 to its head.

  146. 146.

    Tenar Arha

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: See, I don’t believe that he said this with transitions between thoughts or in connected sentences. He may have said those words, but the reporter or an aide helped put them together. Because every raw transcript of his interviews when he’s not being interpreted are almost impossible to follow. I find myself stitching together meaning from trailing sentences. (And it also reminds me of talking to my father these last six months as he got more confused, and then freaks me out so I don’t last long).

  147. 147.

    scuffletuffle

    @Sab: cats are designed by nature to run around loose. It is literally “what they do.” Toddlers, not so much.

  149. 149.

    Kay

    @ProudGradofCatLadyAcademy:

    In this case, I am living in a renovated elementary school building. The principal’s office to be exact.

    I don’t know anything about cats- we have one but she and I are polite but distant but I do have advice on political minority status. Embrace it. Act as if your liberalism is not a deficit where you are a “not” a Republican but is instead an affirmative good thing. Considering it “a fight” is a recipe for misery and you seem too nice to be miserable.

    It works better anyway. “Confidently liberal” wears much better than “angrily anti-conservative”. Sometimes it’s funny. I got a letter from a local Republican who wants help with his volunteer project and he started with “In an effort to be ‘progressive’ I would like..” I guffawed. He’s actually funny in person and this was intended to be funny. Good job on a letter to me! It doesn’t have to be grim all the time. They are what they are and you are what you are.

  150. 150.

    Jinchi

    Trump says he thought being president would be easier than his old life

    The man is the perfect example of the Dunning-Kruger effect.

    The sad thing is that he considers this “more work than he has ever done in his life”, and he still hasn’t actually done any work.

  151. 151.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kay:

    I do have advice on political minority status. Embrace it.

    I have found it is a great way to get the neighbors to leave me alone.

  152. 152.

    Kay

    @ProudGradofCatLadyAcademy:

    My son has a friend who is some kind of budding internet Right winger. I can tell that’s what he’s reading. He’s smart so he I feel he has potential to not be so horrible. So he asks me fake questions that are stereotypes of liberals- statements posed as a question, but polite. I answer them seriously and it’s like you can see it knock him off-balance. Shooting fish in a barrel with a 14 year old, so use the Geneva Conventions and don’t like DESTROY them – just because you can doesn’t mean you should :)

  153. 153.

    Betty Cracker

    @Elizabelle: Cool pig sighting! We’ve got tons of feral hogs around here. Big ones! I can’t recall if I’ve seen one alone; usually they travel in small herds. :)

  154. 154.

    Hellbastard

    Of course, our enemies and competitors around the globe are salivating over the chance to take advantage of this nitwit. God help us…

  156. 156.

    laura

    @Another Scott: Oh how beautiful. This really is an age of miracles and wonder that a phone camera could capture the nighttime sky, the lights of the City, and our lovely Bay Area coastal regions.
    Back when he had working knees, the Mr. dreamed of photographing the Dipsea Trail from the steps through the hill and dales, the rain forest and the emergence and dropen to the shore.
    I’m going to show him your pics and risk ruining his day.

  157. 157.

    WaterGirl

    @patrick II: Slightly longer, but perhaps more accurate version:

    “I thought it would be easier, because, come on, even the black guy could do it.”

  160. 160.

    Central Planning

    FYWP on my iPhone

    At the climate march in Ithaca NY. Thought there would be more people. Cursed at by old timer still pissed off about Viet Nam. I’ll post pictures later/tomorrow!

  162. 162.

    Another Scott

    @Elizabelle: The FTFNYTimes said the bathtubs were meant to inspire thoughts of both relaxing and taking their time and being more feminine than the competition.

    FWIW.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  163. 163.

    artem1s

    It’s actually worse, he originally said he had the greatest victory since Reagan. It was pointed out to him that both Bill Clinton and Obama had larger victories, then it changed to Republican. That’s not true since HW got a bigger victory in ’88.

    and it’s only true if you are looking at the EC. Mitt and McCain both got more votes and they lost. Asshole won on Putin leaning in over the outfield fence and interfering with the game winning home run in the 10th inning. Then the umpire missed the call. Thanks Comey.

  165. 165.

    J R in WV

    Pretty sweet night photos for any camera, let alone a hand-held camera phone. Helps to have pro-level background and tools, obviously tinkered with the camera’s as-released standard photo-shooting methods, but still…. amazeballs!!!

    I once found accidently that “use multiple exposures in the dark” mode on my pretty good Panasonic Lumix, and it really was like taking great pictures in the dark. I got into using tripods and souping film to raise the ISO level back a long time ago, and it was fun to see what you could get in a nighttime snowstorm, for example.

    But so much nicer to be able to just pick “outdoor night” or “indoor night” as scene modes and have the camera go “clickityclicyclickyclick” for 10 or 12 exposures, while the screen says “Hold the camera as still as possible for this photo” – and then you have a dimly lit bar scene, or a street scene, or a cave scene, like it was well lit.

    Instead of what we used to call ‘available dark’…

  166. 166.

    bago

    @Kay:
    Pfft. Go with full on Royalty. That’s what it is. The king has his queen in another castle, and has his princess by his side while the princelings go on business ventures for the family. All anyone talks about is the palace intrigue, between Iago Bannon and the WormTongue Miller.

    We have social constructs to view these people with. Our american vanity precludes us from properly recognizing the story.

  169. 169.

    Ruckus

    @nominus:
    There are lots of non professionals who have lived with family members with dementia who can spot it from a mile away as well. People can be in denial only so long, then they have to hide the overwhelming evidence. I think we are at that stage and hiding the president is not really possible. Nancy got away with it but there is a lot more exposure these days. The real fly though is like you said, how to loot the government, the treasury and us before the shit hits the blades. That and who is going to step in?

  170. 170.

    Ruckus

    @Sab:
    He’s still your dad in there.
    I worked every day with my dad for 3 decades and he couldn’t recognize me. You understand how you needed him when you were an infant? He needs you like that now. Only issue is that he’s not a 20 lb infant. He knows that he doesn’t understand what the world has turned into for him, he’s powerless to find out why. Love him, help him with what and while you can and don’t beat yourself up over this. It isn’t your fault, it isn’t his fault, it isn’t his doctors fault. But remember to give yourself a break now and then, otherwise you will drive yourself crazy. My sister tried to care for our dad in her home for 6 weeks. Live in nurse and she worked from home. It almost broke her emotionally. You have to step away from the illness a few feet or it will swallow you whole, as it has him.

  171. 171.

    Elizabelle

    @Another Scott: That’s hilarious. NYTimes re the Ci ali s commercial.

    Starts out with the questioner asking about what’s with the bathtubs the bl ue pill. WTG, Eli Lilly.

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