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Trump Timeline ... Trumpocalypse
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Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon broke some bad news to House investigators Tuesday, announcing that the White House had invoked executive privilege to keep him from answering many of their questions.
But executive privilege—the president’s right to keep certain information from the public so he can have frank conversations with aides—will not keep Steve Bannon from sharing information with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team, according to a person familiar with the situation.
“Mueller will hear everything Bannon has to say,” said the source, who is familiar with Bannon’s thinking.
During a closed-door hearing before the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, Bannon reportedly told lawmakers that https://www.thedailybeast.com/keyword/donald-trumphas invoked broad executive privilege for the purposes of congressional inquiries. Because of that, Bannon refused to answer committee members’ questions about what happened during the presidential transition and in the White House.
This sweeping understanding of privilege will not effect what Bannon tells Mueller’s team, according to our source. (To be sure, Bannon isn’t known for being predictable, and it’s possible his team may still look for ways to dodge Mueller’s queries.)
TrumpFuckingFatFuckPOS ...
In a public address, the presidential physician Dr. Ronny Jackson announced that Trump was in good physical and mental health, but some have their doubts about president's basic body stats. In a nod to Trump's "birther" push for Obama's birth certificate, a new "girther" movement of weight truthers was born.
In a public address, the presidential physician Dr. Ronny Jackson announced that Trump was in good physical and mental health, but some have their doubts about president's basic body stats. In a nod to Trump's "birther" push for Obama's birth certificate, a new "girther" movement of weight truthers was born.
The Trump administration is planning new protections for health workers who don't want to perform abortions, refuse to treat transgender patients based on their gender identity or provide other services for which they have moral objections.
Under a proposed rule — which has been closely guarded at HHS and is now under review by the White House — the HHS office in charge of civil rights would be empowered to further shield these workers and punish organizations that don’t allow them to express their moral objections, according to sources on and off the Hill.
Adding to some online observers’ skepticism that Trump’s measurements were accurate was the fact that 239 pounds, at 6-3, conveniently put his body mass index at 29.9 — just below the 30.0 threshold for him to be officially described as obese, rather than merely overweight. In any event, plenty of Internet users were happy to juxtapose photos of the president with those of athletes with similar listed heights and weights.
WASHINGTON — Even as he is embroiled in an immigration policy debate that has focused on whether he used vulgar language to describe Haiti and African countries, President Trump is claiming that he is delivering for black Americans — and that they are repaying him with their support.
In a Twitter post on Tuesday morning, Mr. Trump said that “unemployment for Black Americans is the lowest ever recorded” and “Trump approval ratings with black Americans has doubled.” He appeared to credit the comments to a segment on “Fox & Friends,” the morning program on Fox News.
The tweet — half misleading and half downright false — demonstrates how inaccurate information can trickle to the president’s social media, which is then is viewed by millions of people on Twitter and Facebook.
“Believe it or not, through all this negative coverage, they did a survey of 600,000 people about how black America views this president. His numbers have actually doubled,” Brian Kilmeade, a “Fox & Friends” host, said during the segment that was broadcast Tuesday morning.
Mr. Kilmeade was almost certainly referring to a distorted finding from Survey Monkey, an online polling company. Since Mr. Trump’s inauguration, the company has conducted 602,134 interviews with adults of every race group — not just “black America,” as Mr. Kilmeade said.
Survey Monkey’s results, provided to The New York Times, show that Mr. Trump’s approval ratings among black Americans actually declined from 20 percent in February 2017, his first full month in office, to 15 percent in December. (This is consistent with polling from the Pew Research Centerand Reuters.)
How did Mr. Kilmeade and, by extension, Mr. Trump arrive at his approval doubling among black Americans?
Survey Monkey broke out some of the results for The Atlantic, telling the magazine in a report that was published last week that 23 percent of black men and 11 percent of black women approved of Mr. Trump’s performance.
Breitbart News followed with its own report on Sunday, comparing the Survey Monkey results with exit polls from the 2016 presidential campaign.
“That score averages out to 17 percent, or twice the 8 percent score he was given in the 2016 exit polls,” Breitbart reasoned in an article headlined, “Donald Trump’s Support Among Blacks Has Doubled Since 2016, Amid Racism Claims.”
It is inaccurate to simply take the average of two genders without taking into account the number of people who were actually interviewed for the poll. Survey Monkey interviewed roughly 19,000 black men and 31,000 black women.
A recent Washington Post story chronicled the rise of Kevin McCarthy, the House majority leader, who has gained special influence with President Trump. McCarthy’s methods include obsequiousness, attention to detail, and an ability to bring the discussion down to a sub-literate level so Trump can follow it. At Camp David, McCarthy gave a presentation on the midterm elections. “According to two people familiar with the presentation, Trump appreciated McCarthy’s use of pictures and charts rather than a memo. It was a basic and ‘foundational’ presentation that explained midterm politics to Trump, in the words of one senior White House official.”
Note that McCarthy was not walking the president through a complex technical policy requiring expertise in a field like science or economics. He was trying to explain the elections. He had to use pictures. It has been publicly known since last year that Trump cannot read a memo longer than a page, and any written material must be in bullet-point form. Trump himself https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/donald-trump-doesnt-read-much-being-president-probably-wouldnt-change-that/2016/07/17/d2ddf2bc-4932-11e6-90a8-fb84201e0645_story.html?utm_term=.f755aff021d3 (admitted) (or bragged) a year and a half ago that he does not read. “I never have. I’m always busy doing a lot. Now I’m more busy, I guess, than ever before.” By this point it is simply taken as a matter of course that people wishing to communicate with the president must treat him as though he is suffering a severe mental impairment.
Trump is not actually suffering a severe mental impairment. White House doctor Ronny Jackson, who has served in the post since 2013, informed reporters on Wednesday that the president is in fine physical and mental health. The report comes as the national media has discussed whether Trump’s functional near-illiteracy, minuscule attention span, and narcissistic pathos are the symptoms of dementia or some other kind of cognitive incapacitation. We should take Jackson’s diagnosis at face value. Trump is just an [FUCKING] idiot.
The Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed a rule that would make it legal for employers to pocket their workers’ tips, as long as they pay those workers at least the minimum wage. The proposed rule rescinds portions of longstanding DOL regulations that prohibit employers from taking tips.1 We estimate that if the rule is finalized, every year workers will lose $5.8 billion in tips, as tips are shifted from workers to employers.2 Of the $5.8 billion, nearly 80 percent—$4.6 billion—would be taken from women who are working in tipped jobs.3
DOL has masked the fact that this rule would be a windfall to restaurant owners and other employers—out of the pockets of tipped workers—by making it sound as if this rule is about tip pooling. Of course, once employers have full control of tips, one of the things they could do with those tips is distribute them to “back of the house” workers like dishwashers and cooks. But the proposed rule does not require employers to distribute the tips, so employers would be no more likely to share tips with back-of-the-house workers than they would be to make any other choice about what to do with a business windfall, including using the money to make capital improvements to their establishments, to increase executive pay, or to line their own pockets.
Another “bad hombre” being deported
From the Detroit Free Press: https://www.freep.com/story/news/lo...-daca-deported-mexico-immigration/1033296001/
Remember when Trump said he was going to focus on the “bad hombres”?
A question for restrictionists. How about a person who came to America illegally at age 2, and was 93 years old. Assume no criminal record. Should she be deported? If so, why? If not, why should this guy be deported?
But at least Trump is reducing regulations on coal companies that want to poison our air and water, so everything’s fine.
PS. I’m guessing that the truly bad hombres don’t dutifully report to the immigration authorities like this guy did:
PPS. Over at Econlog I have a new post on the war on drugs: Affirmative action for drug pushers? (I say yes) | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
PPPS. And speaking of Trump, I don’t agree with every single charge on this NYT list, but the cumulative impact is pretty convincing. Opinion | Donald Trump’s Racism: The Definitive List
From the Detroit Free Press: https://www.freep.com/story/news/lo...-daca-deported-mexico-immigration/1033296001/
His wife, Cindy Garcia, cried out while his daughter, Soleil, 15, sobbed into Garcia’s shoulder as they hugged. Two U.S. immigration agents kept a close watch nearby.
After 30 years of living in the U.S, Garcia, a 39-year-old Lincoln Park landscaper, was deported on the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday from metro Detroit to Mexico, a move supporters say was another example of immigrants being unfairly targeted under the Trump administration.
Jorge Garcia was brought to the U.S. by an undocumented family member when he was 10 years old. Today he has a wife and two children, all of whom are U.S. citizens.
After 30 years of living in the U.S, Garcia, a 39-year-old Lincoln Park landscaper, was deported on the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday from metro Detroit to Mexico, a move supporters say was another example of immigrants being unfairly targeted under the Trump administration.
Jorge Garcia was brought to the U.S. by an undocumented family member when he was 10 years old. Today he has a wife and two children, all of whom are U.S. citizens.
Remember when Trump said he was going to focus on the “bad hombres”?
His supporters say he has no criminal record — not even a traffic ticket — and pays taxes every year. . . .
Garcia is too old to qualify for DACA, which allows the children of undocumented immigrants to legally work and study in the U.S.
Garcia is too old to qualify for DACA, which allows the children of undocumented immigrants to legally work and study in the U.S.
A question for restrictionists. How about a person who came to America illegally at age 2, and was 93 years old. Assume no criminal record. Should she be deported? If so, why? If not, why should this guy be deported?
“It’s heartbreaking,” Bonesatti said. “If you’re going to pick someone who’s ideal,” he would be it. . . .
Moreover, Mexico is a foreign place to Garcia.
Moreover, Mexico is a foreign place to Garcia.
But at least Trump is reducing regulations on coal companies that want to poison our air and water, so everything’s fine.
PS. I’m guessing that the truly bad hombres don’t dutifully report to the immigration authorities like this guy did:
She said that when her husband reported to ICE in November as part of a regular check-in, he was informed that he had to leave the U.S. and would be detained immediately.
PPS. Over at Econlog I have a new post on the war on drugs: Affirmative action for drug pushers? (I say yes) | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
As a candidate, Trump promised to leave the marijuana question up to the states. In his confirmation hearings, Jeff Sessions promised not to make marijuana a priority for federal law enforcement. It turns out that all of those promises were meaningless. Cory Gardner blasts Jeff Sessions' decision on Cole Memo
PPPS. And speaking of Trump, I don’t agree with every single charge on this NYT list, but the cumulative impact is pretty convincing. Opinion | Donald Trump’s Racism: The Definitive List
America’s health test: Are we suffering from dementia?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2018/01/17/americas-health-test-are-we-suffering-from-dementia/ (Opinion | America’s health test: Are we suffering from dementia?)
President Trump aced the test that included such challenging questions as drawing a clock with its hands at a certain time. In crayon, one presumes. I wish they had asked him to draw a calendar with the current year, because he is living frozen somewhere in the early 20th century.
Since he asked the doctor to give him the test, we can assume Trump had already examined the questions ahead of time. Why can we assume this? Um, duh! If you have to ask that, you’ve been dozing on your couch for more than a year with your head slumped forward on your chest and your navel filled with drool. Of course we need to presume that Trump didn’t take the test honestly. Does honesty mean anything to him? That is the question that has been on OUR test, and we’ve been failing miserably.
Here’s another question for us: How many people does it take to destroy truth as an operative social norm? Answer: one. If he is abetted. And Trump has been abetted, and aided, and coddled, and encouraged, and covered for, and winked at, and repeatedly forgiven by his political party. How do we know? Let us count a few of the ways.
Today David Ignatius gives an account of how Trump and his allies have hurled misleading charges against American law enforcement. He mentions in passing, “In a rational world, Trump would apologize for smearing America’s top investigative agency, but that’s not where we live right now.” No, that’s not where we live right now. Let’s repeat that. We do not live in a rational world right now.
Is this condition catching? You bet (or abet) it is! Now we have a situation where people are more than happy to believe up is down as long as the president says it is.
There was a lot of brave talk early on in the Trump administration how we were not going to allow Trump’s dysfunction, his lying, his business affairs, his bullying and his undermining of norms, and professionalism, and staffing, and policy to become normalized. And yet. And yet we do not live in a rational world right now. Our test.
So far we are behaving as we do in the school nightmare everyone has where it’s test day, and we didn’t prepare for the test, can’t remember which room the test is in, can’t even remember how the corridors are arranged. Only this time Trump sits in the principal’s office.
I can tell you part of the test: Draw a calendar. Write November 2018 on it. Put it on your refrigerator.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2018/01/17/americas-health-test-are-we-suffering-from-dementia/ (Opinion | America’s health test: Are we suffering from dementia?)
President Trump aced the test that included such challenging questions as drawing a clock with its hands at a certain time. In crayon, one presumes. I wish they had asked him to draw a calendar with the current year, because he is living frozen somewhere in the early 20th century.
Since he asked the doctor to give him the test, we can assume Trump had already examined the questions ahead of time. Why can we assume this? Um, duh! If you have to ask that, you’ve been dozing on your couch for more than a year with your head slumped forward on your chest and your navel filled with drool. Of course we need to presume that Trump didn’t take the test honestly. Does honesty mean anything to him? That is the question that has been on OUR test, and we’ve been failing miserably.
Here’s another question for us: How many people does it take to destroy truth as an operative social norm? Answer: one. If he is abetted. And Trump has been abetted, and aided, and coddled, and encouraged, and covered for, and winked at, and repeatedly forgiven by his political party. How do we know? Let us count a few of the ways.
Today David Ignatius gives an account of how Trump and his allies have hurled misleading charges against American law enforcement. He mentions in passing, “In a rational world, Trump would apologize for smearing America’s top investigative agency, but that’s not where we live right now.” No, that’s not where we live right now. Let’s repeat that. We do not live in a rational world right now.
Is this condition catching? You bet (or abet) it is! Now we have a situation where people are more than happy to believe up is down as long as the president says it is.
There was a lot of brave talk early on in the Trump administration how we were not going to allow Trump’s dysfunction, his lying, his business affairs, his bullying and his undermining of norms, and professionalism, and staffing, and policy to become normalized. And yet. And yet we do not live in a rational world right now. Our test.
So far we are behaving as we do in the school nightmare everyone has where it’s test day, and we didn’t prepare for the test, can’t remember which room the test is in, can’t even remember how the corridors are arranged. Only this time Trump sits in the principal’s office.
I can tell you part of the test: Draw a calendar. Write November 2018 on it. Put it on your refrigerator.
