A clever tweet inspired me to put this cartoon together:
Wouldn’t that be nice? Le sigh.
Open thread!
Archives for 2017
Cheap Snark Open Thread: Another Call on the World’s Tiniest Violin Market
Really hard to overstate level of misery radiating from several members of White House staff over last few days.
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) February 10, 2017
From Politico, of course — “Trump vexed by challenges, scale of government“:
Being president is harder than Donald Trump thought, according to aides and allies who say that he’s growing increasingly frustrated with the challenges of running the massive federal bureaucracy.
In interviews, nearly two dozen people who’ve spent time with Trump in the three weeks since his inauguration said that his mood has careened between surprise and anger as he’s faced the predictable realities of governing, from congressional delays over his cabinet nominations and legal fights holding up his aggressive initiatives to staff in-fighting and leaks…
Trump often asks simple questions about policies, proposals and personnel. And, when discussions get bogged down in details, the president has been known to quickly change the subject — to “seem in control at all times,” one senior government official said — or direct questions about details to his chief strategist Steve Bannon, his son-in-law Jared Kushner or House Speaker Paul Ryan. Trump has privately expressed disbelief over the ability of judges, bureaucrats or lawmakers to delay — or even stop — him from filling positions and implementing policies.
After Trump grew infuriated by disclosures of his confrontational phone calls with foreign leaders, an investigation was launched into the source of the leaks, according to one White House aide. National Security Council staffers have been instructed to cooperate with inquiries, including requests to inspect their electronic communications, said two sources familiar with the situation. It’s not clear whether the investigation is a formal proceeding, how far along it is or who is conducting it.
The administration is considering limiting the universe of aides with access to the calls or their transcripts, said one administration official, adding that the leaks — and Trump’s anger over them — had created a climate where people are “very careful who they talk to.”…
Apart from, y’know, the ‘nearly two dozen people’ who chose to share these secrets with Politico. Oopsie!
… The interviews paint a picture of a powder-keg of a workplace where job duties are unclear, morale among some is low, factionalism is rampant and exhaustion is running high. Two visitors to the White House last week said they were struck by how tired the staff looks…
Cheap Snark Open Thread: Another Call on the World’s Tiniest Violin MarketPost + Comments (132)
Prove It Or Shut Up
https://twitter.com/EllenLWeintraub/status/830184891887259649
This needs to happen every time twitler makes a false statement. That these Senators sat in silence while he said it is outrageous. Good for Weintraub for calling his bullshit.
Everyone in a position of power or the media needs to demand evidence for everyone of his claims. In public and don’t stop. Murder rate highest it’s ever been? Show us your documented facts to prove this. Mexico is going to pay for the wall? Show us the signed agreement.
And so on and so forth….
And it needs to be tied to the Republicans every time. Do they agree with his statements? Do they have the facts to back it up? What are they going to do to stop his incessant lying. Ask publicly and redirect them every time they try to slither around it.
Shitgibbon, indeed.
Open Thread: Local Hero
Pennsylvania lawmaker to President Trump: "Why don't you come after me you fascist, loofa-faced s***-gibbon" https://t.co/jwvZLwUZby pic.twitter.com/ofD4MUR9wi
— CNN (@CNN) February 9, 2017
A man for our season, per CNN:
… [State Sen. Daylin] Leach’s outburst was inspired by a Politico article about a meeting Trump recently had with sheriffs from around the nation and a conversation during that meeting about asset forfeiture. That’s a legal practice in which a law enforcement agency seizes money and property that may have been obtained through criminal activities.
According to the article, Rockwall County, Texas, Sheriff Harold Eavenson mentioned that a state senator in Texas wanted to change the asset forfeiture law. The change would require that a person be convicted of a crime before his or her assets could be seized.
“Who is the state senator? Do you want to give his name? We’ll destroy his career,” Trump replied, according to Politico.
Leach is a Democrat whose Facebook feed is full of anti-Trump postings, though none were addressed directly to the President.
He has previously co-sponsored bills that attempted to reform asset forfeiture laws in Pennsylvania, his spokesman, Steve Hoenstine, said Thursday in an email.
After the Politico article ran, Leach posted on Facebook: “Hey! I oppose civil asset forfeiture too. Why don’t you come after me you fascist, loofa-faced s***-gibbon!!”…
Still later, Leach wrote on Facebook: “S***-Gibbon” goes viral! Maybe someday it will be written on my tombstone….or his.”…
Local outlet Philly.com seems to admire Sen. Leach’s stance:
He championed legalization of medical marijuana in Pennsylvania.
He spoke in defense of abortion rights during an emotional debate in Harrisburg.
But it wasn’t until State Sen. Daylin Leach posted the Tweet Heard Round the World that the Montgomery County Democrat went viral…
Pictures from today’s march in Raleigh
I’m not normally a marching purpose. I’ll cut turf, I’ll optimize a data set, I’ll make phone calls but I don’t march. Well today, I marched. And I had a blast. I ended up walking with the ACLU contingent as they seemed to be a great group and met up with some people I’ve recent met in the Triangle for a burger and a beer afterwards as well as a plan to help build infrastructure so I can get back to cutting turf and optimizing data sets. One of the things I liked is that there were organizers and voter registration folks going throughout the crowd getting information. I switched my registration from Pennsylvania to North Carolina this morning and got hit for contact information at least five times.
Here are some pictures from me and other Balloon Juicers.
If you have any more, please send them to me at via the Contact an Author widget in the top right hand corner.
#MoralMarch who’s a good dog? pic.twitter.com/4nDhvGN1KS
— David Anderson (@bjdickmayhew) February 11, 2017
#MoralMarch #northcarolina half an hour before we actually start walking pic.twitter.com/u7vtgk4pZf
— David Anderson (@bjdickmayhew) February 11, 2017
And here are a few from AMinNC:
More below the fold
Saturday Afternoon Open Thread
Keeping things calm today:
It doesn’t matter how big the bed is, I still get the same amount of space.
America’s Food Sourcers: The Common Clay of the New West
Though, the idea that fruits and vegetables would rot without immigrant labor is wrong. They would just get a lot more expensive.
— Josh Barro (@jbarro) February 9, 2017
Actually, I don’t think the farmers in the following articles are idiots — they’re just ideologues. To the point of religious obsession. Sure, superior people like us are motivated by monetary rewards, but you can’t expect dumb minimum-wage workers to respond to such refined incentives!…
From the NYTimes, another sad story of Trump supporters who took him seriously-not-literally — “California Farmers Backed Trump, but Now Fear Losing Field Workers“:
MERCED, Calif. — Jeff Marchini and others in the Central Valley here bet their farms on the election of Donald J. Trump. His message of reducing regulations and taxes appealed to this Republican stronghold, one of Mr. Trump’s strongest bases of support in the state.
As for his promises about cracking down on illegal immigrants, many assumed Mr. Trump’s pledges were mostly just talk. But two weeks into his administration, Mr. Trump has signed executive orders that have upended the country’s immigration laws. Now farmers here are deeply alarmed about what the new policies could mean for their workers, most of whom are unauthorized, and the businesses that depend on them.
“Everything’s coming so quickly,” Mr. Marchini said. “We’re not loading people into buses or deporting them, that’s not happening yet.” As he looked out over a crew of workers bent over as they rifled through muddy leaves to find purple heads of radicchio, he said that as a businessman, Mr. Trump would know that farmers had invested millions of dollars into produce that is growing right now, and that not being able to pick and sell those crops would represent huge losses for the state economy. “I’m confident that he can grasp the magnitude and the anxiety of what’s happening now.”…
Dude, the old man can barely grasp how to work a light switch. You think he cares about your troubles, now that he’s sitting in the Oval Office (possibly in the dark)?
America’s Food Sourcers: The Common Clay of the New WestPost + Comments (140)