…President Trump just arrived. @Davos #WEF2018 #Trump pic.twitter.com/8jCexMxrxz
— Ingrid Römer (@die_Roemerin) January 25, 2018
trailed by Mark Meadows, the North Carolina Republican who chairs the House Freedom Caucus. https://t.co/h0gnrD2O4t
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) January 25, 2018
Politico, “The buffoon presidency”:
However much the typical Davos habitué disagrees with Trump’s rhetoric on free trade and global integration, these are supremely practical types. One year into Trump, they are accommodating themselves to a changed power reality.
Across the spectrum, it seems evident that the pleas of Trump critics in the United States — don’t normalize an abnormal presidency — have been rejected by the government and industry leaders who congregate at the World Economic Forum’s annual gathering in the Alps…
Aside from Trump’s incendiary bluster, many say, the actual consequences of his presidency have been more agreeable (or less disagreeable) than they feared a year ago. This is especially true in business circles, where people note that both the U.S and European economies are purring nicely.
There is a wider group of people, dominated by political types, who say the Trump presidency is just as offensive as they always thought but has come with an alluring benefit: The chance for other nations to fill a power vacuum left by a U.S. retreat from global leadership…
Trump wins over global elites at Davos. All it took was a $1.5 trillion tax cut. https://t.co/Swm1RX2xVM
— Catherine Rampell (@crampell) January 26, 2018
Great news! The one percenters of Davos are humoring our President. Also, the doomsday clock clicked ahead 30 seconds because of him. But the rich love him is the important thing.
— Schooley (@Rschooley) January 25, 2018
Hey, cry the Trumpistas, who let *that* chick in here?!?…
Malala Yousafzai, the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, used the stage at the World Economic Forum on Thursday to send a message to President Trump and other powerful men on the state of gender equality in today’s world.
When asked what her message to “someone like Trump” would be, Yousafzai, the 20-year-old women’s empowerment activist, said she was “so disappointed to see that people in high positions talk about women in unequal terms and do not accept them as equals.”
Responding to another question about Trump’s record on women’s rights and the allegations of harassment and abuse that have been leveled against him, Yousafzai replied that ″it is just shocking for a second to believe that this is actually happening . . . I hope that women stand up and speak out against it.”…
Much more to their taste: Elain Chao, aka Mrs. Mitch McConnell:
Trump official tells Davos attendees they "can leave" if they don't want to listen to Trump: https://t.co/GYYCRGEE4T pic.twitter.com/BihmIPKEBo
— The Hill (@thehill) January 25, 2018
*That’s* the big-gauche-untrainable-man-baby enablers everyone recognizes!
“In the end, Trump’s behavior was reassuringly understandable: like everyone else, he just wanted to attend Davos.” https://t.co/F9OCgZlyZh
— Daniel W. Drezner (@dandrezner) January 25, 2018
… A year ago, this group had been mortified by Trump’s election and the rise of populism around the world. But the destabilizing President who once seemed like an existential threat now seems more like a harmless diversion. A year after Trump’s election raised the prospect of revolution, the elites have regained their confidence. The revolt had been put down, stock markets are up, and globalism is making a comeback.
“The phenomenon of Trump is no longer interesting to people,” said Timothy Snyder, a Yale historian whose book about tyranny Trump helped send shooting up the best-seller list. Over his shoulder, I spotted former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry entering the reception we were attending. “A year ago, everyone thought Trump was just fascinating,” Snyder added. “I spend a lot of my life in Europe, and what I see is that the Europeans have moved on. America no longer matters.”…
To repeat myself: THANKS, REPUBS!
===========
The Wall Street wing of the White House is winning: As Trump heads to Davos, Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders lauds JP Morgan Chase from the podium, Goldman alum Gary Cohn briefs reporters and Senate readies to confirm investment banker Jerome Powell as Fed Chair.
— Jonathan Allen (@jonallendc) January 23, 2018
Can you please describe the wing of the WH that isn’t the Wall Street Wing? https://t.co/2AkcLH73DU
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) January 23, 2018
Mnuchin before: "I can assure you that the members of his Cabinet have no interest in going over there and rubbing elbows with anybody.”
Mnuchin today: the delegation's objective is to "interact with important counterparts”https://t.co/sI9s0QBqv6
— Miriam Elder (@MiriamElder) January 24, 2018
"Obviously a weaker dollar is good for us as it relates to trade and opportunities,” Mnuchin told reporters in Davos. The currency’s short term value is "not a concern of ours at all,” he said. https://t.co/H9g3THWB4B
— Catherine Rampell (@crampell) January 25, 2018
Why do all these people need to be in Davos? https://t.co/jWt0xQlCQl
— Anthony De Rosa ? (@Anthony) January 24, 2018
Human pyramid so Jared can snort coke off the crown of a 25 foot glacial ice sculpture of Caligula. https://t.co/ccar6wWgJX
— Zeddy (@Zeddary) January 24, 2018
rikyrah
Good Morning,Everyone ???
Mary G
@rikyrah: Good morning, rikyrah! Of course they like him, he stole $1.5 trillion from us for them. He looks ever more unhealthy every time. And all the old white guys with the one Asian wife is nauseating.
rikyrah
They are nothing but thieves
Daoud bin Daoud
“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”
raven
GOP Senate Candidate Courtland Sykes Lashes Out At ‘Manophobic Feminist She-Devils’
“Men and women are different and gender-bending word games by a goofy nest of drugstore academics aren’t going to change anything.”
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mary G:
Um, I fail to see a problem with this.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@raven: It took over a 150 years, but the Know Nothings are back.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Oh c’mon. these people were mortified by drumpf because he’s a disgusting low life from the outer borough. they never felt threaten by him economically.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@rikyrah: ¡buongiorno!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch: Yup their only problem with Trump is they see him as crass and in need of a good finishing school.
Mary G
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I wasn’t talking about you and Madame Bill!
Sorry for my bad phrasing, it was more like the token woman is the token minority (human floor wax and dessert topping!) plus married to the turtle to boot gets on my last feminist nerve.
Baud
@rikyrah: Good morning.
Baud
Anyone who ever thought that Trump wasn’t going be a friend to the wealthy is a fool.
satby
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Yeah, that’s exactly what they are, the Know Nothing party. And proud of it.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Thanks Obama.
If it wasn’t for him, we’d be in the 10th year of the The Great Bush Depression
?BillinGlendaleCA
I went to Vista Hermosa Park and took a picture yesterday.
p.a.
“drugstore academics”?
raven
@p.a.: cool huh?
Adria McDowell
@Baud: So, his entire base then.
Chyron HR
@raven:
Yeah, but let’s primary Ben Cardin because “fishhook theory”.
Cermet
@Daoud bin Daoud: Very good point!
raven
@Chyron HR: That’s way over my head.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
I still can’t get over how Drumpf tried to get a museum to lend him a van Gogh so he could tell visitors his owned one.
con-man to the bitter end.
Immanentize
@?BillinGlendaleCA: that one is cool! Your coloring makes it look like a 1960’s illustration in Look Magazine rather than a photo.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@?BillinGlendaleCA: what filter or lighting did you use? I’m looking at this on a 4K HD monitor and it looks like a skilled oil painting.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
@Chyron HR: Oh, that’s a joke. I remember in 2007/2008 when the usual suspects primaried Nancy Smash with Cindy Sheehan and she got 10% of the vote in hippie san francisco.
Immanentize
@?BillinGlendaleCA: @David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch:
Art comes full circle:. First “photo realism” in painting. Now “painting realism” in photography.
p.a.
@p.a.: @raven:
Maybe autocorrect for dimestore? Autocorrect not up on the ‘dollarstore’ phenomenon.
Just one more canuck
@raven: “manophobic feminist she-devils” is a nice touch
Baud
WaPo
NotMax
And now for something completely different.
Run wild, run free, Bessie.
debbie
Any sightings of Mnuchin’s wife yet? She’s sure to pop up somewhere inappropriate.
debbie
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
NPR interviewed the editor of Commentary (some conservative rag) who totally decimated Ron Johnson, basically calling him and his compatriots bug-eyed conspiracy theorists.
Bobby Thomson
@Adria McDowell: “Thank you, but I need a majority to win.”
Baud
@Bobby Thomson: Trump didn’t though.
Bobby Thomson
@Baud: a historic minority, though. Very historic.
gene108
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
The Know Nothing Party was never this popular. And they didn’t have so much institutional support from the media.
The people, who support Trump think he’s done a super job making America respected again, after his predecessor destroyed our world standing.
They are immune to the reality we are no longer a superpower. Bush, Jr and Trump have proven the U.S. to be too unstable a country, with regards to what we will do to be taken seriously again. Always lurking in the back of the rest of the world’s collective mind will be “sure this Democratic President seems nice, but what if he or she is followed by a Republican? I don’t think I can trust this country.”
debbie
@Immanentize:
And, as you may know, some photographic competitions have refused to allow submission of digitally manipulated photographs.
debbie
@p.a.:
There are in fact dollar stores. Places where you buy cheap stuff for a dollar. They’re the updated version of dime stores, what with inflation and all.
FlyingToaster
@debbie: Heaven help her if she gets in Teresa Heinz Kerry’s way.
Immanentize
@debbie: I love this whole world!
PS. I encouraged my son to take a (film) photography class last year. He really lived it, watching the bits of silver swim around on plastic….
NobodySpecial
I’m still rooting for an avalanche.
debbie
@FlyingToaster:
That might be fun to watch!
debbie
@Immanentize:
Yes, it is fun. Back when I took photography classes, the best part was mucking around in the darkroom. What better than to have been a fly on the wall of Ansel Adams’ darkroom!
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
@Baud: That just makes me want to weep. Ivanka. God help us.
ETA: Instead of HRC as a powerful woman in DC, we get Ivanka. That speaks volumes.
oatler.
Best headline since “Bonzo Goes to Bitburg”.
Baud
@Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): Yes, it does.
Jeffro
I still wanna know where the money came from…you know, the $130,000 funneled through a Delaware corporation to pay off the prOn star Trumpov had an affair with a few months after his third wife bore his fifth child??
So does Eugene Robinson:
That part actually made me laugh out loud at the breakfast table. A doo-ovair. LOL
Please, FSM, make it so.
Drunkenhausfrau
Hey, look! Quinnipiac poll has Dumdum at 27%! We have reached crazification prime!
danielx
@rikyrah:
Good morning!
@raven:
Do I take it that some poor woman is actually married to this douche canoe?
ETA: just wondering if there are any domestic violence skeletons lurking in his closet. Also too, he may be shocked to find out that teenage girls often do not fit the parental mold.
NotMax
Somebody’s gonna be mighty jet lagged for the SOTU.
FSM only knows what drugs they’ll pump him full of to seem alert.
Baud
@danielx:
Remember when Hillary called bigots deplorable and that was beyond the pale.
Aleta
rikyrah
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
Beautiful picture ?
Baud
@Drunkenhausfrau: That has to be an outlier. He has been around 39% and nothing has happened that would explain a 12 point drop.
I’ll take it though.
Another Scott
@debbie: Lots of interesting things can be seen when it’s really dark.
Triboluminescence from Scotch Tape
Cheers,
Scott.
rikyrah
@Jeffro:
You don’t think that folks are looking into the money? Come on, now
rikyrah
@Drunkenhausfrau:
No!!!
We finally got there?
danielx
@Baud:
I do. But you know how it is….all together now, and with feeling!
IOKIYAR!
BTW, there is a complementary acronym courtesy of Paul Krugman:
IACIYAD – it’s a crime if you’re a Democrat.
Aleta
@Aleta: The WSJ story above is from Sept.
NotMax
Few bravos in Davos.
low-tech cyclist
Swamp!
danielx
@Drunkenhausfrau:
That number does seem to show up frequently, don’t it now?
Aleta
@low-tech cyclist: Swamp you say? How Lou Dobbs & Donald Trump praise each other (video from media matters)
(May induce fever accompanied by stomach flu.)
danielx
I feel like celebrating…first time I’ve gotten more than two hours of sleep at a stretch in three weeks. Yay!
Enhanced Voting Techniques
@danielx: More like he’s the one who gets the beating. Guys who talk like this are ALWAYS compensating. See Pence and “Mother”.
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Reading this I don’t get were they “won over by Trump” it’s comes across like they think he’s cute and harmless. Like a small dog that barks a lot. He shows up for one day, makes a speech, that doesn’t sound like any deal making is being done.
NotMax
@danielx
Boy oh boy, do I understand that! Revel in it.
danielx
@NotMax:
Got that right…had two things go wrong at once, and oh joy to have at least one of them clearing up on its own. Of course I have a lumbar MRI to look forward to on Monday…
hedgehog mobile
@raven: He ssems nice.
MomSense
@debbie:
When my youngest was very little we passed a store called Dollar Tree and he said something like, wouldn’t it be better if the tree grew hundreds.
So cute. I think of that every time I drive past it.
a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)
@raven: It’s hard to tell whether he’s real or a piece of satirical performance art.
WaterGirl
@MomSense: I will never look at Dollar Trees the same way again.
KickBoxBanana
people note that both the U.S and European economies are purring nicely.
As if Twitler has anything to do with that and/or it somehow justifies him literally getting away with adultery, sexual abuse, using the presidency for personal gain and to settle scores among other things.
Such a sickening quote.
Raoul
I was far from the only one, but I did pretty regularly say things to this effect a year ago. The Trump election signals, among many things, the turning point where the US as the top global hegemon has ended. The global rich Davos set don’t care where their wealth comes from, and can be rich and powerful from any base, jetting about in their private Gulfstreams and BBJs with intercontinental reach.
But for millions of Americans, when the chickens really come home to roost as we lose it as the leading economic superpower, things may not be so easy. Britain’s end-of-empire era was pretty shitty. The 1950s — 70s were grim for our cousins. We can expect similar, I think.
Chris
I think it’s pretty simple: a year ago, world elites might have been a little worried about the populist noises Trump was making, but by now, they’ve seen enough of him to know that he’s a very small, stupid, easily flattered and even more easily bribed popinjay. In other words, a type of national leader that they’re very used to dealing with. He’s not going to be leading any kind of jihad against them. He’s not an American Castro, just an American Batista, and while they might not have expected to see that in their lifetime, they’re perfectly comfortable dealing with it.
Chris
@gene108:
Abigail Nussbaum at LGM has made this point a few times. After Bush, people were relieved and willing to turn the page and write off the previous eight years as temporary insanity prompted by post 9/11 PTSD. The country electing Trump so soon after that disaster proves that it wasn’t a fluke, that there really is something in the water of the American electorate, and that it’s no longer possible to deal with it as before.
Sloane Ranger
@Raoul: Actually the 50’s and 60’s were pretty good with full employment, the end of rationing and the availabilty of luxury goods to a wider section of the populace. The 70’s and 80’s, however, were abysmal. I would not wish those on anyone.
Chris
@Sloane Ranger:
Honestly, the British probably had the best transition out of superpower status you can expect. Sure, they lost almost all their colonies, but standard of living for their citizens improved in every conceivable way, probably up to and including physical security, given NATO and The Bomb. And while they may no longer be the superpower, they’re still among the world’s great powers, both military and economic. They weren’t conquered, broken, and disarmed like the Germans and Japanese. They didn’t devolve into a minor player like the Spanish or Austrians or Turks. If post-superpower status for us is anything like it was for the British, well, we could do far worse.
misterpuff
@Baud: The Rise of The Borg. Now we know the Borg Queen is Ivanka.