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Trump Timeline ... Trumpocalypse
- Thread starter CdnGuy
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From time to time, the Republican Party goes off the rails. It did so back in the McCarthy period when it either failed to stand up to the demagogic Wisconsin senator or cheered him on in the name of anti-communism. It did so just recently when it elevated Hillary Clinton from political opponent to absolute evil, and it is doing so now, attempting to purge the FBI and the Justice Department of officials who, for some reason, are restrained in their enthusiasm for President Trump. These Republicans see plots where others see only common sense and a dedication to duty.
McCarthyism was a cure for which there was no disease. Domestic communism was no threat to America by the time Joseph McCarthy joined the Senate in 1947. To meet the threat, he first had to invent it. He proclaimed the State Department was rife with communists, giving precise numbers — sometimes 205, sometimes 57, sometimes 81. He was promiscuous in his accusations of treason, once blaming the entire Democratic Party. “Twenty years of treason,” he said. Much of the GOP applauded. Much of the Democratic Party cowered.
Things are far different now, of course. Breaking with tradition, Republicans have taken on the FBI, which — especially under longtime director J. Edgar Hoover — gladly served the needs of the GOP. Hoover passed classified information to McCarthy and his counsel, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/06/24/roy-cohn-is-disbarred-by-new-york-court/c5ca9112-3245-48f0-ab01-c2c0f3c3fc2e/ (Roy Cohn), who in later years became Trump’s mentor and lawyer and was eventually disbarred before his death in 1986 . Trump says he misses Cohn to this day.
According to House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, the declassified Devin Nunes memo — alleging FBI misconduct in the Russia investigation — is “not an indictment of the FBI, of the Department of Justice.” According to President Trump, the memo shows how leaders at the FBI “politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats” and “totally vindicates ‘Trump’ in probe.”
Both men are deluded or deceptive.
Releasing the memo — while https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2018/02/05/daily-202-more-memos-are-coming-here-are-six-questions-about-phase-two-of-the-nunes-investigation/5a77cb0930fb041c3c7d762c/?utm_term=.03793232b6ac (suppressing a dissenting assessment) from other members of the House Intelligence Committee — was clearly intended to demonstrate that the FBI is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Democratic Party. The effort ended in a pathetic fizzle. Nunes’s brief, amateurish http://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/national/read-the-gop-memo/2746/ (document) failed to demonstrate that FBI surveillance was triggered solely or mainly by a Democratic-funded dossier. But for cherry-picking above and beyond the call of duty, Nunes (R-Calif.) deserves his own exhibit in the hackery hall of fame. This was a true innovation: an intelligence product created and released for the consumption of Fox News.
Trump’s eager publication of the memo was expected. Yet his action crossed a line: from criticism of the FBI to executive action designed to undermine an ongoing investigation. Trump seems to be testing the waters for direct action against the FBI by testing the limits of what his Republican followers will stomach. So far, there are no limits.
With the blessing of Republican leaders, the lickspittle wing of the GOP is now firmly in charge. The existence of reckless partisans such as Nunes is hardly surprising. The nearly uniform cowardice among elected Republicans is staggering. One is left wishing that Obamacare covered spine transplants. The Republican-led Congress is now an adjunct of the White House. The White House is now an adjunct of Trump’s chaotic will.
A TREASONOUS CARTOON
https://claytoonz.com/2018/02/06/a-treasonous-cartoon/
It’s ironic that the symbol for the Republican Party is an elephant. An elephant is known for having a great memory, as in an elephant never forgets. Republicans, especially Donald Trump, have the worst memories.
They forget that illegal immigration decreased yearly during Obama’s presidency. They forget that unemployment, even black unemployment, was dropping for the past several years. They forget that the economy was increasing long before Trump took office. They forget that the stock market has been doing great for the past several years. Now that the stock market has had a couple of rough days, they’re forgetting there even is a stock market. Republicans denied the economy was doing better and faulted the economic indicators they’re citing today. Finally, they forget how they treated Obama.
Republicans complain that Democrats won’t give Trump a chance and all they do is obstruct his agenda. They forget all the conspiracy theories they created about Obama like he’s Muslim, a communist, or that he was born in Kenya. Who can forget Mitch McConnell’s statement that the Republican agenda was to make Obama a one-term president? They especially forget how they treated him during his State of the Union speeches.
It’s par for the course that the party out of power doesn’t applaud much during the president’s speech. During Obama’s first State of the Union, one Republican shouted: “you lie.” So it’s galling that for the past week they’ve been complaining about the Democrats lack of enthusiasm during Trump’s stupid speech.
Republicans have been going on and on about it. Fox News hasn’t shut up about it. Conservative pundits have been complaining about it. Every conservative political cartoonist has drawn about it. I know these people weren’t in comas during the Obama presidency because I heard them bitching every day. Bad memories.
During a speech Monday in Cincinnati, Trump attacked the Democrats for not applauding. He’s already lied about his SOTU speech, saying it was the most viewed in history. George W. Bush and Obama both had more viewers for their first SOTU speech. His speech in Ohio was remarkable for two reasons.
First, he was boasting about the economy and how he’s revived it while the stock market was plummeting by more than 1,000 points. Second, he accused the Democrats of treason for not applauding during his speech.
Trump argues that they sat on their hands while he was mentioning good news. I guess the Democrats didn’t want to clap when he was taking credit for Obama’s accomplishments.
Trump said, “Even on positive news, really positive news like that, they were like death and un-American. Somebody said treasonous. I mean, yeah, I guess, why not. Can we call that treason? Why not? I mean, they certainly didn’t seem to love our country very much.” People who truly love our country want to protect it from Trump.
Is this North Korea now where it’s treason if you don’t grovel to the Dear Leader? Will we all be forced to hang portraits of Trump in our homes, thus scaring children and small animals? Not only is Trump incapable of displaying how thin-skinned he is, he can’t refrain from expressing his desire to be an autocrat. He’s surrounded himself with too many people like Stephen Miller who said shortly after Trump first took office, “the president’s authority will not be questioned.”
Trump has called the press “enemies of the American people.” He’s attacked our judicial system. He has called for investigations into a political opponent. He’s attacking law enforcement officials for investigating him and trying to manipulate those agencies and eliminate their independence from the president. Trump is acting like an autocrat. Next in line for that is treason for those who don’t grovel before him.
I didn’t think the Democrats failing to clap for Trump was the most impressionable image from the SOTU speech. The most memorable for me was Trump clapping for himself. I’m sure it’s not the first time he got the clap.
For failing to clap for the president to be treason, Trump will have to become a dictator and change some laws. Right now, it’s impossible to commit treason in the United States.
Technically, the nation has to be at war for someone to commit treason. That’s the way the law is written. I’m not talking about combat situations we’re in. The United States has to be officially at war, which we haven’t been since World War II.
While nobody can be charged with treason, you can say someone acted out treasonous behavior. I don’t think failing to clap for Trump fits that description.
I think better definitions for treasonous behavior would be asking Russia to hack your political opponent, inviting Russians to Trump Tower to provide dirt on your political opponent, failing to enact sanctions on Russia passed by Congress and that you actually signed, or failing to protect the United States from Russia’s continuing attempts to disrupt our elections.
I could probably think of a few more, and if I can’t, I’m sure Trump will.
https://claytoonz.com/2018/02/06/a-treasonous-cartoon/
It’s ironic that the symbol for the Republican Party is an elephant. An elephant is known for having a great memory, as in an elephant never forgets. Republicans, especially Donald Trump, have the worst memories.
They forget that illegal immigration decreased yearly during Obama’s presidency. They forget that unemployment, even black unemployment, was dropping for the past several years. They forget that the economy was increasing long before Trump took office. They forget that the stock market has been doing great for the past several years. Now that the stock market has had a couple of rough days, they’re forgetting there even is a stock market. Republicans denied the economy was doing better and faulted the economic indicators they’re citing today. Finally, they forget how they treated Obama.
Republicans complain that Democrats won’t give Trump a chance and all they do is obstruct his agenda. They forget all the conspiracy theories they created about Obama like he’s Muslim, a communist, or that he was born in Kenya. Who can forget Mitch McConnell’s statement that the Republican agenda was to make Obama a one-term president? They especially forget how they treated him during his State of the Union speeches.
It’s par for the course that the party out of power doesn’t applaud much during the president’s speech. During Obama’s first State of the Union, one Republican shouted: “you lie.” So it’s galling that for the past week they’ve been complaining about the Democrats lack of enthusiasm during Trump’s stupid speech.
Republicans have been going on and on about it. Fox News hasn’t shut up about it. Conservative pundits have been complaining about it. Every conservative political cartoonist has drawn about it. I know these people weren’t in comas during the Obama presidency because I heard them bitching every day. Bad memories.
During a speech Monday in Cincinnati, Trump attacked the Democrats for not applauding. He’s already lied about his SOTU speech, saying it was the most viewed in history. George W. Bush and Obama both had more viewers for their first SOTU speech. His speech in Ohio was remarkable for two reasons.
First, he was boasting about the economy and how he’s revived it while the stock market was plummeting by more than 1,000 points. Second, he accused the Democrats of treason for not applauding during his speech.
Trump argues that they sat on their hands while he was mentioning good news. I guess the Democrats didn’t want to clap when he was taking credit for Obama’s accomplishments.
Trump said, “Even on positive news, really positive news like that, they were like death and un-American. Somebody said treasonous. I mean, yeah, I guess, why not. Can we call that treason? Why not? I mean, they certainly didn’t seem to love our country very much.” People who truly love our country want to protect it from Trump.
Is this North Korea now where it’s treason if you don’t grovel to the Dear Leader? Will we all be forced to hang portraits of Trump in our homes, thus scaring children and small animals? Not only is Trump incapable of displaying how thin-skinned he is, he can’t refrain from expressing his desire to be an autocrat. He’s surrounded himself with too many people like Stephen Miller who said shortly after Trump first took office, “the president’s authority will not be questioned.”
Trump has called the press “enemies of the American people.” He’s attacked our judicial system. He has called for investigations into a political opponent. He’s attacking law enforcement officials for investigating him and trying to manipulate those agencies and eliminate their independence from the president. Trump is acting like an autocrat. Next in line for that is treason for those who don’t grovel before him.
I didn’t think the Democrats failing to clap for Trump was the most impressionable image from the SOTU speech. The most memorable for me was Trump clapping for himself. I’m sure it’s not the first time he got the clap.
For failing to clap for the president to be treason, Trump will have to become a dictator and change some laws. Right now, it’s impossible to commit treason in the United States.
Technically, the nation has to be at war for someone to commit treason. That’s the way the law is written. I’m not talking about combat situations we’re in. The United States has to be officially at war, which we haven’t been since World War II.
While nobody can be charged with treason, you can say someone acted out treasonous behavior. I don’t think failing to clap for Trump fits that description.
I think better definitions for treasonous behavior would be asking Russia to hack your political opponent, inviting Russians to Trump Tower to provide dirt on your political opponent, failing to enact sanctions on Russia passed by Congress and that you actually signed, or failing to protect the United States from Russia’s continuing attempts to disrupt our elections.
I could probably think of a few more, and if I can’t, I’m sure Trump will.
President Donald Trump’s war on opioids is beginning to look more like a war on his drug policy office.
White House counselor Kellyanne Conway has taken control of the opioids agenda, quietly freezing out drug policy professionals and relying instead on political staff to address a lethal crisis claiming about 175 lives a day. The main response so far has been to call for a border wall and to promise a "just say no” campaign.
Trump is expected to propose massive cuts this month to the “drug czar” office, just as he attempted in last year’s budget before backing off. He hasn’t named a permanent director for the office, and the chief of staff was sacked in December. For months, the office’s top political appointee was a https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/meet-the-24-year-old-trump-campaign-worker-appointed-to-help-lead-the-governments-drug-policy-office/2018/01/13/abdada34-f64e-11e7-91af-31ac729add94_story.html?utm_term=.a8f769de2e5b (24-year-old Trump campaign staffer) with no relevant qualifications. Its senior leadership consists of a skeleton crew of three political appointees, down from nine a year ago.
...
The upheaval in the drug policy office illustrates the Trump administration’s inconsistency in creating a real vision on the opioids crisis. Trump declared a public health emergency at a televised White House event and talked frequently about the devastating human toll of overdoses and addiction. But critics say he hasn’t followed through with a consistent, comprehensive response.
He has endorsed anti-drug messaging and tougher law enforcement. But he ignored many of the recommendations from former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s presidential commission about public health approaches to addiction, access to treatment, and education for doctors who prescribe opioids. And he hasn’t maintained a public focus. In Ohio just this week, it was first lady Melania Trump who attended an opioid event at a children’s hospital. The president toured a manufacturing plant and gave a speech on tax cuts.
WASHINGTON - Backers of President Donald Trump are sharing more “junk” political news – ideologically extreme, conspiratorial, sensationalist and phony information – over Twitter and Facebook than all other groups combined, significantly magnifying the polarization in the American electorate, according to an analysis by British researchers.
Rather than obtaining news over social media from mainstream outlets, these Americans shared posts from 92 Twitter accounts of fringe groups such as "100PercentFEDUp," "Beforeitsnews," "TheAngryAmericans" and "WeArethenewmedia" during the three months before Trump’s first State of the Union address, the Oxford University researchers reported.
The study, which culled data from hundreds of thousands of social media accounts, found similar patterns among Facebook users.
Although the “junk” news sites considered in the analysis included those on both the left and right, lead researcher Philip Howard said the findings suggest "that most of the junk news that people share over social media ends up with Trump’s fans, the far right. They’re playing with different facts, and they think they have the inside scoop on conspiracies."
As a result, he said in a phone interview, it appears that "a small chunk of the population isn’t able to talk politics or share ideas in a sensible way with the rest of the population."
“That’s a problem for democracy," Howard said. "In an ideal world, everybody would get at least a few of the same news stories, There’d be some shared facts and some shared understanding of the problems” facing the country.
It was Christmastime in Washington, and Ben Carson couldn’t stop talking about the apocalypse.
“Did you know,” the secretary of Housing and Urban Development asked his acting chief of staff Deana Bass at a Capitol Hill holiday party, “that if North Korea detonated a nuclear weapon into our exosphere, it could take out our entire electrical grid?”
Bass shook her head.
“What’s that movie where there’s complete lawlessness and anarchy for one night a year?” Carson said, calmly resting his right hand over his left. “‘The Purge’! It will be like ‘The Purge’ all the time.”
Carson is an acclaimed neurosurgeon who oversees a large government agency for which he has no particular qualifications and in this way represents the grand theme of the Trump administration. He, like the president, came to power by promising that an outsider would have the “common sense” it takes to cure what ails us.
...
“Dr. Carson feels he has no government experience,” Williams, his informal spokesman, told the Hill newspaper after the 2016 election. “The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency.”
The president-elect felt otherwise. Trump met with Carson multiple times and even called his wife, Candy, so insistent on bringing him on board that Carson’s friends joked he should ask for the secretary of state position.
The initial reports stated that Carson picked HUD because he had grown up in public housing. In fact, he had grown up only “near” public housing. It’s a significant distinction. When Carson thinks back to the families he knew who relied on government assistance, he doesn’t think of them as saved by a social safety net, but as captives.
“The people who put all these programs in place meant well,” he said. “They had no intention of entrapping people and making them dependent.”
By accepting the nomination, Carson — who by his telling grew up poor but became a world-famous surgeon and best-selling author through sheer determination (and, yes, the help of food stamps) — set out to run an agency designed specifically to help bootstrap-yanking.
TrumPOS, TrumPyschopath, TrumpFuck ...
In the last 30 years religion has radicalized American politics and seriously harmed the perception of science, says journalist and author Kurt Andersen. This can be directly tied to the rise of the Christian Right in the 20th century.
To see this, you only have to look at the response to the same question posed to Republican presidential candidates over three election cycles, from 2008 to 2016:
"Do you believe in Darwinian biological evolution?" In 2008, the majority answered yes. In 2012, there were notably less. In 2016? There was only one of 17 candidates who said he did—Jeb Bush, and even he began to backpedal as he answered. "I don’t believe all those people believed what they said," says Andersen, "I don’t think all of them disbelieve in evolution, just some of them—but they were all obliged to say 'yes' to falsehood and magical thinking of this religious kind, and that’s where it becomes problematic."
From climate change to Creationism and outright conspiracy theories, Andersen points to how the Republican party has come to increasingly incorporate fantasy and wishful untruths into its approach to social, economic, and foreign policy—and it's turning America into an anti-science spectacle. Kurt Andersen is the author of Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire.
