“Donald J. Trump today is sworn in as president of these United States. Break out the adult coloring books.
Funny word, “adult.” We use the word communicating “maturity” to describe the most immature forms of expression. “Adult entertainment” should mean Moby-Dick. But this is a time of childishness, which, in some ways, should give us hope: If the Democrats really thought President Trump were going to be some sort of Hitler figure, they’d be acting differently. They’d be stockpiling firearms and that freeze-dried apocalypse lasagna they’re always peddling on talk radio, or looking very closely at the real-estate listings in Zurich or Montreal. They would be acting like adults.
In reality, they are doing the opposite.
Gender-studies departments across the fruited plain are reminding Americans of how silly and meretricious gender-studies departments are, organizing anti-Trump rallies along notably juvenile lines, heavy on the stuffed animals, puppies to snuggle, Wubbies, and that hideously dispiriting sign of our times, the adult coloring book. Some of these events are being put on by publicly funded institutions, which is improper and undemocratic and in bad taste. The stewards of our institutions, including those such as cultural organizations that are formally private but sustained by public grants, ought to hold themselves to a higher standard than they do. They abuse the support that is given them and then wonder why it is that so many Americans seem to resent funding for arts and education.
The fact that the election of Donald Trump has sent a generation of Americans seeking their security blankets tells us a number of things. One, that these people are intellectually defective, but set that aside for now. It also tells us that progressives do not understand they are the Doctor Frankensteins in this monster story, demanding endless expansions of the state, pressing for the concentration of power in the executive agencies and nondemocratic institutions, and inventing new pretexts for political intrusions into private life — only to be horrified that the instrument they have created has been entrusted to the leadership of a man they despise.
If the outcome of an election sends you into a condition necessitating the use of diapers, then your government is too big and your president too powerful. It is pleasant to imagine a galaxy of little lightbulbs going off over millions of heads in Berkeley and on the Upper West Side as the basic good sense of the libertarian disposition becomes clear to progressives so expensively educated that they’ve never had to think very much about it. Congratulations, comrades! Your Koch Brothers secret-agent decoder ring is in the mail, along with your complimentary Bastiat books. No, they aren’t for coloring in.
While the knuckleheads on campus are acting more sophomorically than usual, Democratic officeholders are outdoing themselves, “boycotting” various inauguration events. As a wise man once put it, you either die a hero or live long enough to become John Lewis. Representative Lewis, who came to public life as an important civil-rights leader, is one of the most embarrassing men in American public life, a publicity-hungry partisan hack stuck in the 1960s who has declared Trump to be illegitimate. Other Democrats have joined in this characterization. Remember the day before yesterday, when Democrats insisted that questioning the outcome of an election was treason, or something like it?”
“Gambia’s Yahya Jammeh agreed “in principle” to hand over power to President Adama Barrow on Friday, Mauritanian and Guinean sources said, but differences remained before a full deal could be reached.
Mauritania’s President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz and Guinea’s Alpha Conde held several hours of talks with Jammeh in which they agreed he should step aside but not how and where he would live out his exile.
Troops from five African nations were stationed on the tiny nation’s borders in the event the last-ditch talks fell through, as it was confirmed Conde would stay into Saturday to iron out remaining disagreements.
Jammeh has refused to recognise his defeat in presidential elections last month, and would be offered asylum in the country of his choice, Conde advisor Kiridi Bangoura said earlier in the day.
“Jammeh has accepted he will leave power. The discussions revolve around where he will live in exile and the conditions around that,” a Mauritanian source close to the delegation in Banjul told AFP.
A highly-placed Guinean source said the country of exile had to be far enough away to stop Jammeh interfering in his country’s affairs.”
When they go low, there is no end to the depth of scum.
Didn’t someone once have to quit his job when he criticized what the Obama girls wore to some event? Attacking 10-year-old Baron Trump will probably get this person a raise. Aren’t children supposed to be off limits?
Both sides have a very low element that oozes to the surface of the sludge pool when the ‘other’ party is in power. It’s invariably disgusting, and they seem to discover ever-new, lower lows. Welcome to the next 4-16 yrs. [I’m an optimist. 😉 ]
That is somewhat good news regarding The Gambia. Until Jammeh is actually out of the country and Barrow established, it is not over (and even then Jammeh might try to stage a comeback). It is interesting to see how many of the West African countries are acting in this matter. The Gambia, for all it is so tiny and impoverished, gives one the impression of being a key to West Africa. People from every West African country are constantly passing through it. Besides the ubiquitous Senegalese, who can simply walk across the borders in the rural areas, one can encounter Guineans, Ghanaians, Nigerians, Mauritanians, Malians, and many others just walking down the street in a suburb or while waiting at the ferry crossing. The Mauritanians carry out trade in the rural areas, while the Lebanese, continuing the tradition of their Phoenician ancestors, own many businesses in the city. By rights, it should be a thriving trading country, since the great container ships can go far up the Gambia river, which is the most navigable in Africa, but money there has a way of disappearing into the upper echelons of power. There is a strong motivation to retain power.
I spoke with one of my relatives last night who is a high school civics teacher in the Watts area of LA. He turned on the inaguration coverage during home room yesterday and the kids got so interesting in it, that he left the TV on all day and used it as a teaching moment.
He was so impressed with the questions the kids asked and how they paid attention when he lectured on the reasons for the electoral college and their need to be fully informed of facts before they vote in the next two and four years.
“It was one of my best teaching days in a really long time,” he said. He talked about the meaning of the 21-gun salute, why former presidents attended the ceremony (“Secretary Clinton came because former President Clinton came, not the other way around.”), explained who Jimmy Carter is (!) and discussed the oath of office.
I was so proud of what he did for those kids; there are some good teachers in LA, Donna!
In the fall, he took groups of students to the Ronald Reagan Library to spend the day in the mock Oval Office and the safe room (mind can’t remember the title). They “played” living history and went through the events on the day President Reagan was shot. One student was assigned the role of press secretary, one Secretary of State and so forth. The kids loved it–and so did the Reagan Library Staff.
He did it two days in a row with different students–who were very excited to go, particularly on the second day.
Both days, even though some of his students were already 18 (all seniors), he needed an extra chaperone, so he asked one of his retired professors at California Lutheran College to join them.
The professor was enthusiastic as well, “one of the best days since my retirement!”
There are a lot of good, well-meaning people out there and many kids are anxious to learn.
He also led days of discussions of Trump’s cabinet picks. He had the kids read the Constitution, discuss the job requirements, read about the individuals through posts from CNN, Fox and Britain’s The Guardian–to give them a broader point of view.
The kids all thought Mathis a perfect pick and no one approved of Betsy deVos–but that is pretty much true of every educator I know.
Good to hear, Michelle. 🙂 I felt buoyed when watching the inauguration yesterday, especially seeing both sides, for a little while at least, join hands in a unified effort on behalf of the republic at large.
I remember watching the ’08 inaugural balls when I got home from work that day as well — and, yes, I teared up watching the Obamas dancing and thinking “Wow. We elected a black person as president. Good for us.” I wish he’d turned out better (and that race relations had improved even more under his time in office). But still, it was a big step for us, considering the not-too-distant history of segregation in our nation. And that was worth celebrating.
I have extremely mixed feelings about Trump, as you all know, and didn’t vote for him. But here we are and I feel more hopeful than I would have, certainly, under a Hillary Clinton presidency.
But Trump is a wild card and will be a very different kind of president in many ways. I think we’re all having trouble getting our minds around it right now. After a few months we’ll have a better idea of what’s in store.
But the #notmypresident movement is deeply troublesome and probably won’t go away.
(Big march in LA today, one of my colleagues is helping to cover it for some OT — she’ll be doing a FB Live report from the scene.)
I liked the Williamson article except the shot at John Lewis. He’s earned a right to be an outspoken elder. Sometimes you need to allow elders who accomplished things in their youth a little latitude and respect in their old age.
The idea we need to validate concerns and emotions no matter how invalid are prevalent on both sides and is beginning to infest my school board. Apparently all middle schoolers want to succeed and we must remove barriers and modify our programs so they do succeed. Even at the expense of students who don’t need a modification to succeed.
Thus, misbehaviour is allow to fester since the student has a “lagging skill” and shouldn’t be penalized for this. I have a lagging skill — an inability to tolerant disrespect and nonsensical accusations and thus I have modified my program to eliminate these instances. My admin may not be impressed but as Williamson would point out they have built a “room for success” with comfort lighting, stationary bikes, bouncing seats, etc and they can deal with the results of my intolerance (i.e. I remove them from my room)
Of interest, the working class socialism of my city does not favour such an approach to behaviour and education. The above attitude and the one Williamson lampoons emerges from middle class paternalism and liberalism. And the working class dismissal of “latte liberalism” and patronizing attitudes of the upper middle class would be a large reason that the blue collar vote will swing dramatically from socialism to right wing populism. They are searching for a leader, an ideology and a movement which will make the upper middle class responsible for the mess they create whether it be Sanders or Trump it doesn’t matter.
The one positive thing Donald Trump has done is create a new interest in politics. In the 20 years I’ve taught middle school I’ve never seen such an interest in US presidential elections. Obama certainly created a lot of interest especially in my school but Trump has a certain rubber necking at a highway accident quality about him which created a more lasting interest. Mind you, I’m not sure if I’m happy about the lessons they’ve absorbed in following the elections. Its been an extremely tiring year dealing with obnoxious behaviour and sexual harassment.
Your relative did really well — Some rhetorical excess aside, Mathis is probably a good pick. The rest read like a Goldman Sachs reunion, a oil executive as Secy of State will be Cheney redux i.e. wars for oil, and deVos has no clue. As an educator and someone from a Dutch Reformed background I watched some of her hearings — she was a deer stuck in headlights. And although she may be a good person, I don’t think she quite understands the value of public education.
President Trump on Friday was forced to hand over his beloved Android cellphone in favor of a new encrypted phone he will use during his term in office, The New York Times reported.
The Times called Trump’s Android his “Linus blanket” that held hundreds of contacts. The report said that security officials have also asked Trump to stop using the Twitter handle @RealDonaldTrump and to use @POTUS.
Trump recently told a friend that he had given up his phone, as security agencies had urged him to do. It was unclear whether he was following the lead of President Obama, the nation’s first cellphone-toting president, who exchanged his personal device for a Blackberry heavily modified for security purposes.
The presidency has long been a lonely, isolating office, with security concerns keeping the commander in chief at a distance from the public. …
_______________________
I came to check on the new house after golf. The Mexicans are hard at work painting today, and I think the house should be finished in early March.
I tried to listen to the news, but all that was on was coverage of some gigantic Nag-a-thon that the Democrats are conducting in response to Trump. I will stick with basketball for the rest of today.
Bob, That’s not me. That guy does bankruptcy. There is another lawyer in D/FW who is named Richard Weaver. He does criminal law. I am Ricky Bob Weaver. There is only one of those.
… The inaugural address was utterly and uncompromisingly Trumpian. The man who ran is the man who’ll reign. It was plain, unfancy and blunt to the point of blistering. A little humility would have gone a long way, but that’s not the path he took. Nor did he attempt to reassure. It was pow, right in the face. Most important, he did not in any way align himself with the proud Democrats and Republicans arrayed around him. He looked out at the crowd and said he was allied with them.
He presented himself not as a Republican or a conservative but as a populist independent. The essential message: Remember those things I said in the campaign? I meant them. I meant it all. …
… it was a remarkable speech, like none before it, and it marked, I think, yet another break point in the two-party reality that has dominated our politics for many decades.
And so, now, it begins. And it simply has to be repeated: We have never had a political moment like this in our lives. We have never had a president like this, such a norm-breaker, in all the ways we know. We are in uncharted seas. …
… The mood among Republicans in Washington is hopeful apprehension. Even Trump supporters, even his staff and advisers, feel it. No one knows what he’ll be like as president, how this will go. Including, probably, him. A GOP senator characterized his mood as “tentatively positive.” Another said, with a big grin: “I feel somewhat optimistic!”
We’ll find out a lot the next few months. How will Mr. Trump work with Congress, and what are his specific legislative priorities? How important will the cabinet be? Will the Trumps really live in the White House or just stay and do events a few days a week? Will they come to own the physical space, the psychic space, of the executive mansion and the presidency? Will they give Camp David—those rustic cabins that are a glass, brass and marble-free zone—a chance? …
… The Trump Wars of the past 18 months do not now go away. Now it becomes the Trump Civil War, every day, with Democrats trying to get rid of him and half the country pushing back. To reduce it to the essentials: As long as Mr. Trump’s party holds the House, it will be a standoff. If the Democrats take the House, they will move to oust him.
Because we are divided. We are two nations, maybe more. …
… The mainstream legacy media oppose him, even hate him, and will not let up. The columnists, thinkers and magazines of the right were mostly NeverTrump; some came reluctantly to support him. His party is split or splitting. The new president has gradations of sympathy, respect or support from exactly one cable news channel, and some websites.
He really has no one but those who voted for him.
Do they understand what a lift daily governance is going to be, and how long the odds are, with so much arrayed against him, and them?
_______________________
“He really has no one but those who voted for him.” And a huge percentage of those weren’t voting “for” him but against Hillary.
But many more of us sat it out and now are taking a “wait and see” attitude. It sounds like he has a fair amount of business sense, but it’s virtually unconnected to wisdom. So really anything is possible. I hope he gains wisdom, and I hope he doesn’t make foolish errors. But if somehow he leads wisely, the election four years from now (whether he or Pence is the one running) could look very different.
They’re taking them head on.
I predict four years of confrontation.
I understand Trump’s motives. Obama got a pass on everything. He knows they will be looking down his throat in every statement and event.
He’s definitely proceeding with the assumption that the best defense is a good offense. But the networks have gotten a free pass for far too long. I had really hoped they would open up the press room to include some bloggers as well as the usual networks. The more perspectives the better. It helps keep the press honest.
For example, there is a feeling among some Bernie Sanders supporters that Chuck Todd was a tool of the DNC and Clinton campaign against Sanders. And he’s still reporting as boldly as you please on network news. I would be glad to get a better variety of coverage.
Yes the media is swooning endlessly over the womens’ march today. But rest assured, the coverage of huge crowds of pro-life women in the same area next week, will be mostly ignored.
Matt Walsh gets it.
“Matt Walsh
8 hrs ·
Remember this, everyone. Soak this in. Today the media has discovered an intense interest in political demonstrations. As thousands of women descend upon DC to whine about the legitimate results of a legal election, incoherently demand “rights” they already possess and have possessed for almost a century, insist on more free birth control, and call for the continued mass slaughter of infants, the media is in a state of utter elation.
I turned on CNN for a few minutes and they had dozens of reporters staged all throughout the march, as well as a team of reporters stationed at the “sister marches” across the globe. I’ve heard over and over again that this march is “historic” and among the biggest ever. They’ve never seen anything like this. What a beautiful spectacle. What an inspiration. Blah blah etc and so forth.
But, as I peer into the future, I can see a really bizarre phenomenon. Mysteriously, out of nowhere, the media’s obsession with covering political marches will completely dissipate. This will happen in precisely 6 days. Strangely, it will coincide with the exact moment when hundreds of thousands of pro-life women and men come to DC to protest abortion. The March For Life will be significantly larger than the “Women’s March.” I know this for a fact because the March For Life is always the largest political demonstration in America. No left wing protest has ever come close or will ever come close. Yet the media will ignore it. I know this because the media always ignores it.
Looked at objectively, the March For Life is quite a bit more newsworthy than the temper tantrum happening today. For one thing, there are more people. For another, the people are actually protesting something real. For still another, the March For Life represents 40 years of sustained pro-life activism, as opposed to this momentary blip on the radar screen.
If you want to understand why people utterly detest the media and everything it represents, just turn on the TV today. And then turn it on next Friday. That will tell you everything you need to know. Truly despicable.”
Kizzie,
I have a co-worker who was in the march today, and my impression is that she wanted to show solidarity with all the people who feel less safe because of Trump’s election. I told her my impression is that most people who voted for Trump did so in spite of his disparaging remarks about women, Mexicans, etc., not because of them,
She did assure me that she is not marching to support abortion and that she is not pro-abortion.
I was not a Trump supporter myself, but I have gotten into trouble with a couple liberal friends for defending Trump supporters. Not Trump himself, but his supporters.
Spicer’s press conference speech/rant reinforces the notion the Trump administration will be extremely thin skinned. To spend that much time and anger on attendance numbers is ridiculous — let conservative pundits counter argue liberal pundits on the numbers. The administration should be above such petty number counting (reminds me of middle schoolers bragging about who has the most likes on Instagram). A thin skinned American president will not help the US in foreign policy and trade negotiations — other countries will take notice and use of Trump’s insecurities and thin skin.
Of course, I saw the comparison tweets between 2009 and 2017. And like any thinking person I looked for a time stamp to see if it was an accurate comparison at similar times in the day. I also wondered why they didn’t tweet the 2013 picture. However, the parade did look sparsely attended and some of the stands were empty. Maybe the weather had something to do with it and lets face it, how many Republicans can you find in Washington? For Trump and his press secretary to be this concerned is beneath the dignity of the office.
I’ve read a lot of the right wing criticism of today’s women’s march. Most are under the assumption that its about women’s rights and thus they wonder why the protest since legal protection for men and women are more or less the same. However, my leftist news and friends confirm the same rationale Michelle’s friend stated — its about solidarity with those who feel less safe, its a reaction to an election of a man who admits to sexual assault and voyeurism and dismisses it as locker room talk, its a reaction to a cabinet with few exceptions full old white men, etc. For me, the fact that Trump managed to get elected despite the sexual assault bragging should be enough to upset women and sow fear since it demonstrates that many people may consider political expediency more important than women’s safety.
Just as Trump supporters don’t like being called racist or whatnot, the term “snowflake” isn’t always appropriate, either. I can understand using it for some of the more ridiculous behaviors of some college students (& even then, I still wouldn’t use the term myself), but many liberals really do feel they & their friends have something to fear from Trump.
And while many conservatives may think that’s silly, just remember the rush on gun stores after Obama’s election due to the fear that he was going to outlaw guns.
“DisruptJ20 protesters dismissed as a joke an undercover Project Veritas video showing activists supposedly planning to shut down Thursday night’s DeploraBall by setting off smoke bombs or the sprinkler system — but D.C. police weren’t buying it.
The 34-year-old man arrested Thursday night for conspiracy to commit assault at the event was among the activists featured in the undercover video released this week, according to court documents made public on Friday.
Scott Ryan Charney was one of the three men caught on camera discussing plans to set off fire alarms and spray Butyric acid — an ingredient commonly used in stink bombs — at the National Press Club, where the party for Donald Trump supporters was held Thursday night. In the Project Veritas video, Mr. Charney is identified as Scott Green, the documents state.”
DisruptJ20 protesters dismissed as a joke an undercover Project Veritas video showing activists supposedly planning to shut down Thursday night’s DeploraBall by setting off smoke bombs or the sprinkler system — but D.C. police weren’t buying it.
The 34-year-old man arrested Thursday night for conspiracy to commit assault at the event was among the activists featured in the undercover video released this week, according to court documents made public on Friday.
Scott Ryan Charney was one of the three men caught on camera discussing plans to set off fire alarms and spray Butyric acid — an ingredient commonly used in stink bombs — at the National Press Club, where the party for Donald Trump supporters was held Thursday night. In the Project Veritas video, Mr. Charney is identified as Scott Green, the documents state.
———————–
The video pretty much proves there was a conspiracy, the emails as well.
HRW, In addition to his thin skin, Trump clearly thinks the American people are idiots. Otherwise, he would not have sent Spicer out to tell falsehoods such as those involving the prior use of the white ground cover and the Metro ridership statistics. Of course his big lie of the day was the one detailed @ 5:13. He bad-mouthed the intelligence agencies for days, said they were incompetent, cited Putin and Asange over them and compared their behavior to that of Nazis. Now he says the fuss was all the fault of the media.
The saddest thing is that many Republicans seem content to praise the Emperor’s New Clothes for four years. It is going to be a long, embarassing four years.
I’m withdrawing more and more from the horrific vitriol I’m seeing on social media.
This is simply not healthy — I see some people posting over and over and over and over again about the horrors of Trump, aka Hitler. Please. People. Get a grip.
AJ — Project Veritas’ edited video would lead police to make that conclusion. The other video and audio would make the opposite conclusion. In either case, both sides should be charged with mischief or neither since they both seem to think it funny to attempt to entrap the other side by discussing possible illegal activities. The police are probably annoyed with both groups who are wasting their time while they have real security issues.
It, of course, rejects the idea that Trump is a fascist. However, it deals honestly with his real character flaws which were so in evidence yesterday (and for his entire adult life) while also blasting the Democrats for their hysteria which has been in evidence since the election.
Finally and bizarrely, it ends on an optimistic note.
I would like to see conservatives and other Republicans back Trump when he is right, oppose him when he is wrong, but NOT support or excuse him when he tells outrageous lies or otherwise behaves in a grossly inappropriate manner. This will show our Democrat friends that we have not all lost our minds. Yes! They believe we have all lost our minds just as we believe they have all lost theirs.
This article contains a number of facts which relate to our recent discussion on immigration. It indicates that while earlier immigrants tended to be lower skilled people from Latin America, more recent immigrants tend to be highly educated (and skilled) people from Asia. It also discusses the metropolitan areas to which the immigrants are moving.
This confirms what my friends who are employers are now telling me: We have a Mexican shortage in Texas. It is currently very hard to find good help if you are trying to hire someone for a low skilled job.
The real question for the Trump admin is why stretch your credibility on issues that don’t matter? Or is this a way of distracting the media from covering his executive orders and legislative agenda?
And the numbers are in. Hopefully this puts the matter to rest for the White House, though I’m sure the msm have nothing better to do than carry on as long as anyone will listen. I’m not. :–)
Nearly 31 million viewers watched live U.S. television coverage of Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration, far fewer than tuned in to Barack Obama’s first swearing-in, but otherwise the biggest such audience since Ronald Reagan entered office, ratings firm Nielsen reported on Saturday.
“An activist coalition has dramatically scaled back plans to block the flow of traffic into the nation’s capital on Friday, a key organizer says following the release of undercover videos produced by a conservative group.
Legba Carrefour, an organizer of the activist network DisruptJ20 shown discussing bridge and train blockades in footage released by Project Veritas on Tuesday, says “the amount of chaos is being intentionally overstated” by his group.
“By virtue of us making those claims, it whips people up into the kind of panic that accidentally ends up causing the chaos we want. You can say ‘all of Metro is being blockaded’ and people will stay home,” the local anarchist says.
Carrefour, who has for weeks shared with reporters grandiose visions of a traffic-blocking “@##$%$#,” tells U.S. News the current plan is to block just one bridge on Friday morning.”
———–
“After the release of the second video, Carrefour said the blockade planning it featured has been scaled back in response to recently identified official road closings.”
———–
Road closings recently made in response to the info officials received from the videos.
I’d just like to point out that THIS is what investigative journalism looks like. 🙂
The White House said on Sunday that it is only in the early stages of talks to fulfill President Donald Trump’s pledge to move the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, an action that would likely spark anger in the Arab world.
“We are at the very beginning stages of even discussing this subject,” White House spokesman Sean Spicer said in a statement. Aides said no announcement of an embassy move was imminent.
And this is a particularly good piece of news. Hopefully the individual mandate will be gone before tax time. :–)
The Trump administration may no longer enforce a rule requiring individual Americans to carry health insurance or pay a penalty if they do not, a senior White House official said on Sunday
Speaking on ABC’s “This Week” program, Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, said President Donald Trump “may stop enforcing the individual mandate.”
Separately, on CBS’ “Face the Nation” show, she reiterated Republican promises that no one would lose their health insurance under Obamacare while a replacement is being developed.
“For the 20 million who rely upon the Affordable Care Act in some form, they will not be without coverage during this transition time,” she said.
On Friday Trump signed an executive order concerning the 2010 healthcare law, urging U.S. agencies to “waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation” of provisions deemed to impose fiscal burdens on states, companies or individuals.
Healthcare experts had speculated that Trump could expand exemptions from the individual mandate.
Remember that the individual mandate is part of the funding mechanism for Obamacare. It forces young healthy people to buy health insurance to subsidize older, less healthy people. Simply repealing the individual mandate without making other changes makes the law even more of a fiscal disaster.
Reforming healthcare is at least a 10 year project. Almost all of us are going to have to sacrifice if the system is going to be modified into something that doesn’t single-handedly bankrupt the nation. That would have been a difficult assignment for a nation with an intelligent population, a wise and articulate leader and legislators who are used to working together on a bipartisan basis.
Without the insurance mandate, it will be difficult to pay for the subsidies that allow other people to buy insurance. Essentially they will provide health insurance but won’t pay for it — pushing the bill to a future administration. As much as the mandate is unpopular, it is the means to pay for the ACA. And Republicans claim to be fiscal conservatives …. they like to spend but they don’t like to finance the programs.
Moving the embassy is a symbolic move which will has more negatives than positives. There’s nothing to be gained by moving the embassy.
AJ — if this goes to trial and I doubt they have any intention of it, the questions which will be raises is who is advocating the most violence and who is entrapping who. The arrest was just a way of putting a damper on any plans. He will be quietly released and told to leave town so to speak. Entrapment by law enforcement and private citizens should be actively discouraged. Just recently in Canada, the RCMP had their knuckles rapped by a judge who dismissed a case of terrorism as it was obvious the RCMP was actively encouraging a couple, ex drug addicts and mentally ill, to commit violent acts. One of these days law enforcement or a private group like Project Veritas will push an individual so far that violent acts will occur.
HRW, I really blame Priebus, Bannon and Conway for what happened to Spicer yesterday. It was obvious Trump was demanding the statement. The senior staff should have united and stood up to Trump so that poor Spicer didn’t just have to go out and lie and completely humiliate himself the first day on the job. They could have come up with alternate facts that were actually true (like the global TV audience Trump tweeted about this morning).
Debra is doing a good job of focusing on substantive issues, but poor Spicer was ordered to talk about crowd size. If Spicer quits, I think all of us should back Debra as the logical replacement.
Roscuro, I had forgotten that Robert Donat won the Best Actor award for Goodbye, Mr. Chips even though that year was a Gone With the Wind landslide. I have always believed that 1939 and 1940 were the two best years for movies.
That’s a poor example, HRW. I watched all of the coverage yesterday, and I was particularly impressed that Trump was quite gentlemanly with his wife numerous times.
If you really want to see something repulsive, take a look at most of the coverage yesterday on the Mall. Or rather, spare yourself and don’t. It’s a sorry excuse for womanhood on display. On the upside, it pales the locker-room talk, so we need not pretend that we fear for the delicate ears of the young….if that’s any consolation.
And Ricky, I would take the Press Secretary job only if you promise to win when you represent me in the inevitable lawsuit I’ll be hit with when I put my own agenda on Trump’s front page.
hwesseli, Did Lewis show latitude and respect to another elder who had accomplished things in his youth when he compared John McCain to George Wallace? You get what you give.
Wandering Views 
Ricky,
I’m starting to like this Kevin Williamson fellow. 🙂
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/444049/donald-trump-inauguration-democratic-tantrums
“Donald J. Trump today is sworn in as president of these United States. Break out the adult coloring books.
Funny word, “adult.” We use the word communicating “maturity” to describe the most immature forms of expression. “Adult entertainment” should mean Moby-Dick. But this is a time of childishness, which, in some ways, should give us hope: If the Democrats really thought President Trump were going to be some sort of Hitler figure, they’d be acting differently. They’d be stockpiling firearms and that freeze-dried apocalypse lasagna they’re always peddling on talk radio, or looking very closely at the real-estate listings in Zurich or Montreal. They would be acting like adults.
In reality, they are doing the opposite.
Gender-studies departments across the fruited plain are reminding Americans of how silly and meretricious gender-studies departments are, organizing anti-Trump rallies along notably juvenile lines, heavy on the stuffed animals, puppies to snuggle, Wubbies, and that hideously dispiriting sign of our times, the adult coloring book. Some of these events are being put on by publicly funded institutions, which is improper and undemocratic and in bad taste. The stewards of our institutions, including those such as cultural organizations that are formally private but sustained by public grants, ought to hold themselves to a higher standard than they do. They abuse the support that is given them and then wonder why it is that so many Americans seem to resent funding for arts and education.
The fact that the election of Donald Trump has sent a generation of Americans seeking their security blankets tells us a number of things. One, that these people are intellectually defective, but set that aside for now. It also tells us that progressives do not understand they are the Doctor Frankensteins in this monster story, demanding endless expansions of the state, pressing for the concentration of power in the executive agencies and nondemocratic institutions, and inventing new pretexts for political intrusions into private life — only to be horrified that the instrument they have created has been entrusted to the leadership of a man they despise.
If the outcome of an election sends you into a condition necessitating the use of diapers, then your government is too big and your president too powerful. It is pleasant to imagine a galaxy of little lightbulbs going off over millions of heads in Berkeley and on the Upper West Side as the basic good sense of the libertarian disposition becomes clear to progressives so expensively educated that they’ve never had to think very much about it. Congratulations, comrades! Your Koch Brothers secret-agent decoder ring is in the mail, along with your complimentary Bastiat books. No, they aren’t for coloring in.
While the knuckleheads on campus are acting more sophomorically than usual, Democratic officeholders are outdoing themselves, “boycotting” various inauguration events. As a wise man once put it, you either die a hero or live long enough to become John Lewis. Representative Lewis, who came to public life as an important civil-rights leader, is one of the most embarrassing men in American public life, a publicity-hungry partisan hack stuck in the 1960s who has declared Trump to be illegitimate. Other Democrats have joined in this characterization. Remember the day before yesterday, when Democrats insisted that questioning the outcome of an election was treason, or something like it?”
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This should be good news.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/african-forces-suspend-operations-gambia-talks-014716707.html
“Gambia’s Yahya Jammeh agreed “in principle” to hand over power to President Adama Barrow on Friday, Mauritanian and Guinean sources said, but differences remained before a full deal could be reached.
Mauritania’s President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz and Guinea’s Alpha Conde held several hours of talks with Jammeh in which they agreed he should step aside but not how and where he would live out his exile.
Troops from five African nations were stationed on the tiny nation’s borders in the event the last-ditch talks fell through, as it was confirmed Conde would stay into Saturday to iron out remaining disagreements.
Jammeh has refused to recognise his defeat in presidential elections last month, and would be offered asylum in the country of his choice, Conde advisor Kiridi Bangoura said earlier in the day.
“Jammeh has accepted he will leave power. The discussions revolve around where he will live in exile and the conditions around that,” a Mauritanian source close to the delegation in Banjul told AFP.
A highly-placed Guinean source said the country of exile had to be far enough away to stop Jammeh interfering in his country’s affairs.”
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AJ, People from Lubbock are smart. The last line of the article is the best part.
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When they go low, there is no end to the depth of scum.
Didn’t someone once have to quit his job when he criticized what the Obama girls wore to some event? Attacking 10-year-old Baron Trump will probably get this person a raise. Aren’t children supposed to be off limits?
http://www.mediaite.com/online/snl-writer-deletes-tweet-saying-barron-trump-will-be-americas-first-homeschool-shooter/
http://ijr.com/2017/01/782739-snl-writers-tweet-about-barron-trump-is-beyond-unfunny-its-being-called-vile-and-disgusting/
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Both sides have a very low element that oozes to the surface of the sludge pool when the ‘other’ party is in power. It’s invariably disgusting, and they seem to discover ever-new, lower lows. Welcome to the next 4-16 yrs. [I’m an optimist. 😉 ]
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That is somewhat good news regarding The Gambia. Until Jammeh is actually out of the country and Barrow established, it is not over (and even then Jammeh might try to stage a comeback). It is interesting to see how many of the West African countries are acting in this matter. The Gambia, for all it is so tiny and impoverished, gives one the impression of being a key to West Africa. People from every West African country are constantly passing through it. Besides the ubiquitous Senegalese, who can simply walk across the borders in the rural areas, one can encounter Guineans, Ghanaians, Nigerians, Mauritanians, Malians, and many others just walking down the street in a suburb or while waiting at the ferry crossing. The Mauritanians carry out trade in the rural areas, while the Lebanese, continuing the tradition of their Phoenician ancestors, own many businesses in the city. By rights, it should be a thriving trading country, since the great container ships can go far up the Gambia river, which is the most navigable in Africa, but money there has a way of disappearing into the upper echelons of power. There is a strong motivation to retain power.
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I spoke with one of my relatives last night who is a high school civics teacher in the Watts area of LA. He turned on the inaguration coverage during home room yesterday and the kids got so interesting in it, that he left the TV on all day and used it as a teaching moment.
He was so impressed with the questions the kids asked and how they paid attention when he lectured on the reasons for the electoral college and their need to be fully informed of facts before they vote in the next two and four years.
“It was one of my best teaching days in a really long time,” he said. He talked about the meaning of the 21-gun salute, why former presidents attended the ceremony (“Secretary Clinton came because former President Clinton came, not the other way around.”), explained who Jimmy Carter is (!) and discussed the oath of office.
I was so proud of what he did for those kids; there are some good teachers in LA, Donna!
In the fall, he took groups of students to the Ronald Reagan Library to spend the day in the mock Oval Office and the safe room (mind can’t remember the title). They “played” living history and went through the events on the day President Reagan was shot. One student was assigned the role of press secretary, one Secretary of State and so forth. The kids loved it–and so did the Reagan Library Staff.
He did it two days in a row with different students–who were very excited to go, particularly on the second day.
Both days, even though some of his students were already 18 (all seniors), he needed an extra chaperone, so he asked one of his retired professors at California Lutheran College to join them.
The professor was enthusiastic as well, “one of the best days since my retirement!”
There are a lot of good, well-meaning people out there and many kids are anxious to learn.
They just need a chance.
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He also led days of discussions of Trump’s cabinet picks. He had the kids read the Constitution, discuss the job requirements, read about the individuals through posts from CNN, Fox and Britain’s The Guardian–to give them a broader point of view.
The kids all thought Mathis a perfect pick and no one approved of Betsy deVos–but that is pretty much true of every educator I know.
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Good to hear, Michelle. 🙂 I felt buoyed when watching the inauguration yesterday, especially seeing both sides, for a little while at least, join hands in a unified effort on behalf of the republic at large.
I remember watching the ’08 inaugural balls when I got home from work that day as well — and, yes, I teared up watching the Obamas dancing and thinking “Wow. We elected a black person as president. Good for us.” I wish he’d turned out better (and that race relations had improved even more under his time in office). But still, it was a big step for us, considering the not-too-distant history of segregation in our nation. And that was worth celebrating.
I have extremely mixed feelings about Trump, as you all know, and didn’t vote for him. But here we are and I feel more hopeful than I would have, certainly, under a Hillary Clinton presidency.
But Trump is a wild card and will be a very different kind of president in many ways. I think we’re all having trouble getting our minds around it right now. After a few months we’ll have a better idea of what’s in store.
But the #notmypresident movement is deeply troublesome and probably won’t go away.
(Big march in LA today, one of my colleagues is helping to cover it for some OT — she’ll be doing a FB Live report from the scene.)
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I liked the Williamson article except the shot at John Lewis. He’s earned a right to be an outspoken elder. Sometimes you need to allow elders who accomplished things in their youth a little latitude and respect in their old age.
The idea we need to validate concerns and emotions no matter how invalid are prevalent on both sides and is beginning to infest my school board. Apparently all middle schoolers want to succeed and we must remove barriers and modify our programs so they do succeed. Even at the expense of students who don’t need a modification to succeed.
Thus, misbehaviour is allow to fester since the student has a “lagging skill” and shouldn’t be penalized for this. I have a lagging skill — an inability to tolerant disrespect and nonsensical accusations and thus I have modified my program to eliminate these instances. My admin may not be impressed but as Williamson would point out they have built a “room for success” with comfort lighting, stationary bikes, bouncing seats, etc and they can deal with the results of my intolerance (i.e. I remove them from my room)
Of interest, the working class socialism of my city does not favour such an approach to behaviour and education. The above attitude and the one Williamson lampoons emerges from middle class paternalism and liberalism. And the working class dismissal of “latte liberalism” and patronizing attitudes of the upper middle class would be a large reason that the blue collar vote will swing dramatically from socialism to right wing populism. They are searching for a leader, an ideology and a movement which will make the upper middle class responsible for the mess they create whether it be Sanders or Trump it doesn’t matter.
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Michelle,
The one positive thing Donald Trump has done is create a new interest in politics. In the 20 years I’ve taught middle school I’ve never seen such an interest in US presidential elections. Obama certainly created a lot of interest especially in my school but Trump has a certain rubber necking at a highway accident quality about him which created a more lasting interest. Mind you, I’m not sure if I’m happy about the lessons they’ve absorbed in following the elections. Its been an extremely tiring year dealing with obnoxious behaviour and sexual harassment.
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Your relative did really well — Some rhetorical excess aside, Mathis is probably a good pick. The rest read like a Goldman Sachs reunion, a oil executive as Secy of State will be Cheney redux i.e. wars for oil, and deVos has no clue. As an educator and someone from a Dutch Reformed background I watched some of her hearings — she was a deer stuck in headlights. And although she may be a good person, I don’t think she quite understands the value of public education.
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“Trump has a certain rubber necking at a highway accident quality about him which created a more lasting interest.”
Haha — there is that. 🙂
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And it appears the birthers were over a century late. A Canadian snuck in and became president and it wasn’t Cruz.
http://canadashistory.ca/Magazine/Online-Extension/Articles/Arthur’s-Secret
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I wonder if being forced to use his new, formal Twitter handle, @POTUS, will cause him to modify some of his remarks?
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/01/21/trump-reportedly-forced-to-part-with-beloved-cellphone.html
_________________________
President Trump on Friday was forced to hand over his beloved Android cellphone in favor of a new encrypted phone he will use during his term in office, The New York Times reported.
The Times called Trump’s Android his “Linus blanket” that held hundreds of contacts. The report said that security officials have also asked Trump to stop using the Twitter handle @RealDonaldTrump and to use @POTUS.
Trump recently told a friend that he had given up his phone, as security agencies had urged him to do. It was unclear whether he was following the lead of President Obama, the nation’s first cellphone-toting president, who exchanged his personal device for a Blackberry heavily modified for security purposes.
The presidency has long been a lonely, isolating office, with security concerns keeping the commander in chief at a distance from the public. …
_______________________
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Irony — Trump pledges to buy America yet his inauguration hats were made in China.
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I came to check on the new house after golf. The Mexicans are hard at work painting today, and I think the house should be finished in early March.
I tried to listen to the news, but all that was on was coverage of some gigantic Nag-a-thon that the Democrats are conducting in response to Trump. I will stick with basketball for the rest of today.
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Let’s hope Trump deports none of my bathroom workers.
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Looks like nearly everyone I know on FB is marching today in downtown LA
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Ricky,
Sometimes I wonder how you can talk with your tongue stuck so firmly in your cheek.
Are you home, Ricky?
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Bob, That’s not me. That guy does bankruptcy. There is another lawyer in D/FW who is named Richard Weaver. He does criminal law. I am Ricky Bob Weaver. There is only one of those.
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Tweet from my co-worker covering the downtown LA rally:
Sorta bizarre mix of love/diversity/peace messages and anger at Trump messages w/swastika & words I can’t tweet #WomensMarch
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Ricky Bob 🙂 That adds a new dimension to your personality, I think
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Ricky Bobby! 🙂
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The street banner for the stock yards is a lovely touch 🙂
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DJ @3:04 Love, peace and untweetable sentiments. Modern hair-brained feminism in a nutshell.
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It’s good that you clarified that Ricky.
Stock yards didn’t look like that when I lived in Ft. Worth. They probably smell better now too.
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I can’t open 3:04.
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Is that Ricky’s new house? That must have a gazillion bathrooms.
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Some pretty nasty back-and-forth nastiness going on today on some FB threads.
I hope we’ve hit bottom with all of this and can find a way to move forward.
Simply put, Trump IS your president, like it or not. Just as Obama was your president, like it or not.
We have one president. All of us. It’s the same guy for all of us. Like it or not.
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DJ @ 4:37 Everything on my Facebook page is 100% accurate and truthful.
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Kevin Williamson retweeted this:
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However, he is fair and balanced. He also retweeted this:
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Uh-oh, DJ. It turns out the whole Trump – intelligence agency dispute was your fault.
http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/intelligence/315483-trump-blames-intel-community-feud-on-dishonest-media
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Peggy Noonan:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/president-trump-declares-independence-1484956174?mg=id-wsj
_______________________
… The inaugural address was utterly and uncompromisingly Trumpian. The man who ran is the man who’ll reign. It was plain, unfancy and blunt to the point of blistering. A little humility would have gone a long way, but that’s not the path he took. Nor did he attempt to reassure. It was pow, right in the face. Most important, he did not in any way align himself with the proud Democrats and Republicans arrayed around him. He looked out at the crowd and said he was allied with them.
He presented himself not as a Republican or a conservative but as a populist independent. The essential message: Remember those things I said in the campaign? I meant them. I meant it all. …
… it was a remarkable speech, like none before it, and it marked, I think, yet another break point in the two-party reality that has dominated our politics for many decades.
And so, now, it begins. And it simply has to be repeated: We have never had a political moment like this in our lives. We have never had a president like this, such a norm-breaker, in all the ways we know. We are in uncharted seas. …
… The mood among Republicans in Washington is hopeful apprehension. Even Trump supporters, even his staff and advisers, feel it. No one knows what he’ll be like as president, how this will go. Including, probably, him. A GOP senator characterized his mood as “tentatively positive.” Another said, with a big grin: “I feel somewhat optimistic!”
We’ll find out a lot the next few months. How will Mr. Trump work with Congress, and what are his specific legislative priorities? How important will the cabinet be? Will the Trumps really live in the White House or just stay and do events a few days a week? Will they come to own the physical space, the psychic space, of the executive mansion and the presidency? Will they give Camp David—those rustic cabins that are a glass, brass and marble-free zone—a chance? …
… The Trump Wars of the past 18 months do not now go away. Now it becomes the Trump Civil War, every day, with Democrats trying to get rid of him and half the country pushing back. To reduce it to the essentials: As long as Mr. Trump’s party holds the House, it will be a standoff. If the Democrats take the House, they will move to oust him.
Because we are divided. We are two nations, maybe more. …
… The mainstream legacy media oppose him, even hate him, and will not let up. The columnists, thinkers and magazines of the right were mostly NeverTrump; some came reluctantly to support him. His party is split or splitting. The new president has gradations of sympathy, respect or support from exactly one cable news channel, and some websites.
He really has no one but those who voted for him.
Do they understand what a lift daily governance is going to be, and how long the odds are, with so much arrayed against him, and them?
_______________________
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Just what are those women marching for? Is it just an anti-Trump thing?
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“He really has no one but those who voted for him.” And a huge percentage of those weren’t voting “for” him but against Hillary.
But many more of us sat it out and now are taking a “wait and see” attitude. It sounds like he has a fair amount of business sense, but it’s virtually unconnected to wisdom. So really anything is possible. I hope he gains wisdom, and I hope he doesn’t make foolish errors. But if somehow he leads wisely, the election four years from now (whether he or Pence is the one running) could look very different.
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Here is Sean Spicer’s statement to the press today.
Thoughts?
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They’re taking them head on.
I predict four years of confrontation.
I understand Trump’s motives. Obama got a pass on everything. He knows they will be looking down his throat in every statement and event.
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He’s definitely proceeding with the assumption that the best defense is a good offense. But the networks have gotten a free pass for far too long. I had really hoped they would open up the press room to include some bloggers as well as the usual networks. The more perspectives the better. It helps keep the press honest.
For example, there is a feeling among some Bernie Sanders supporters that Chuck Todd was a tool of the DNC and Clinton campaign against Sanders. And he’s still reporting as boldly as you please on network news. I would be glad to get a better variety of coverage.
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Yes the media is swooning endlessly over the womens’ march today. But rest assured, the coverage of huge crowds of pro-life women in the same area next week, will be mostly ignored.
Matt Walsh gets it.
“Matt Walsh
8 hrs ·
Remember this, everyone. Soak this in. Today the media has discovered an intense interest in political demonstrations. As thousands of women descend upon DC to whine about the legitimate results of a legal election, incoherently demand “rights” they already possess and have possessed for almost a century, insist on more free birth control, and call for the continued mass slaughter of infants, the media is in a state of utter elation.
I turned on CNN for a few minutes and they had dozens of reporters staged all throughout the march, as well as a team of reporters stationed at the “sister marches” across the globe. I’ve heard over and over again that this march is “historic” and among the biggest ever. They’ve never seen anything like this. What a beautiful spectacle. What an inspiration. Blah blah etc and so forth.
But, as I peer into the future, I can see a really bizarre phenomenon. Mysteriously, out of nowhere, the media’s obsession with covering political marches will completely dissipate. This will happen in precisely 6 days. Strangely, it will coincide with the exact moment when hundreds of thousands of pro-life women and men come to DC to protest abortion. The March For Life will be significantly larger than the “Women’s March.” I know this for a fact because the March For Life is always the largest political demonstration in America. No left wing protest has ever come close or will ever come close. Yet the media will ignore it. I know this because the media always ignores it.
Looked at objectively, the March For Life is quite a bit more newsworthy than the temper tantrum happening today. For one thing, there are more people. For another, the people are actually protesting something real. For still another, the March For Life represents 40 years of sustained pro-life activism, as opposed to this momentary blip on the radar screen.
If you want to understand why people utterly detest the media and everything it represents, just turn on the TV today. And then turn it on next Friday. That will tell you everything you need to know. Truly despicable.”
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The caption under the picture says “Women marching in Washington and around the world.”
I’ll bet they aren’t marching in the Muslim world.
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Aj, like the racial situation. They don’t want it to be fixed. There’s too much at stake in the process.
Keep those marches going.
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Kizzie,
I have a co-worker who was in the march today, and my impression is that she wanted to show solidarity with all the people who feel less safe because of Trump’s election. I told her my impression is that most people who voted for Trump did so in spite of his disparaging remarks about women, Mexicans, etc., not because of them,
She did assure me that she is not marching to support abortion and that she is not pro-abortion.
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Hi Pauline. Nice to see you here again. 🙂
I was not a Trump supporter myself, but I have gotten into trouble with a couple liberal friends for defending Trump supporters. Not Trump himself, but his supporters.
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I was going to tell you who I am, but then remembered we went through that on your blog. 🙂
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Spicer’s press conference speech/rant reinforces the notion the Trump administration will be extremely thin skinned. To spend that much time and anger on attendance numbers is ridiculous — let conservative pundits counter argue liberal pundits on the numbers. The administration should be above such petty number counting (reminds me of middle schoolers bragging about who has the most likes on Instagram). A thin skinned American president will not help the US in foreign policy and trade negotiations — other countries will take notice and use of Trump’s insecurities and thin skin.
Of course, I saw the comparison tweets between 2009 and 2017. And like any thinking person I looked for a time stamp to see if it was an accurate comparison at similar times in the day. I also wondered why they didn’t tweet the 2013 picture. However, the parade did look sparsely attended and some of the stands were empty. Maybe the weather had something to do with it and lets face it, how many Republicans can you find in Washington? For Trump and his press secretary to be this concerned is beneath the dignity of the office.
I’ve read a lot of the right wing criticism of today’s women’s march. Most are under the assumption that its about women’s rights and thus they wonder why the protest since legal protection for men and women are more or less the same. However, my leftist news and friends confirm the same rationale Michelle’s friend stated — its about solidarity with those who feel less safe, its a reaction to an election of a man who admits to sexual assault and voyeurism and dismisses it as locker room talk, its a reaction to a cabinet with few exceptions full old white men, etc. For me, the fact that Trump managed to get elected despite the sexual assault bragging should be enough to upset women and sow fear since it demonstrates that many people may consider political expediency more important than women’s safety.
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Just as Trump supporters don’t like being called racist or whatnot, the term “snowflake” isn’t always appropriate, either. I can understand using it for some of the more ridiculous behaviors of some college students (& even then, I still wouldn’t use the term myself), but many liberals really do feel they & their friends have something to fear from Trump.
And while many conservatives may think that’s silly, just remember the rush on gun stores after Obama’s election due to the fear that he was going to outlaw guns.
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HRW,
Looks like your supposed debunking of the latest Project Veritas video has been debunked. They’ve been charged by police.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jan/20/police-arrested-activist-scott-ryan-charney-featur/
“DisruptJ20 protesters dismissed as a joke an undercover Project Veritas video showing activists supposedly planning to shut down Thursday night’s DeploraBall by setting off smoke bombs or the sprinkler system — but D.C. police weren’t buying it.
The 34-year-old man arrested Thursday night for conspiracy to commit assault at the event was among the activists featured in the undercover video released this week, according to court documents made public on Friday.
Scott Ryan Charney was one of the three men caught on camera discussing plans to set off fire alarms and spray Butyric acid — an ingredient commonly used in stink bombs — at the National Press Club, where the party for Donald Trump supporters was held Thursday night. In the Project Veritas video, Mr. Charney is identified as Scott Green, the documents state.”
DisruptJ20 protesters dismissed as a joke an undercover Project Veritas video showing activists supposedly planning to shut down Thursday night’s DeploraBall by setting off smoke bombs or the sprinkler system — but D.C. police weren’t buying it.
The 34-year-old man arrested Thursday night for conspiracy to commit assault at the event was among the activists featured in the undercover video released this week, according to court documents made public on Friday.
Scott Ryan Charney was one of the three men caught on camera discussing plans to set off fire alarms and spray Butyric acid — an ingredient commonly used in stink bombs — at the National Press Club, where the party for Donald Trump supporters was held Thursday night. In the Project Veritas video, Mr. Charney is identified as Scott Green, the documents state.
———————–
The video pretty much proves there was a conspiracy, the emails as well.
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Quite frankly, I am disheartened by the dismissiveness both sides show to the other.
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HRW, In addition to his thin skin, Trump clearly thinks the American people are idiots. Otherwise, he would not have sent Spicer out to tell falsehoods such as those involving the prior use of the white ground cover and the Metro ridership statistics. Of course his big lie of the day was the one detailed @ 5:13. He bad-mouthed the intelligence agencies for days, said they were incompetent, cited Putin and Asange over them and compared their behavior to that of Nazis. Now he says the fuss was all the fault of the media.
The saddest thing is that many Republicans seem content to praise the Emperor’s New Clothes for four years. It is going to be a long, embarassing four years.
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I’m withdrawing more and more from the horrific vitriol I’m seeing on social media.
This is simply not healthy — I see some people posting over and over and over and over again about the horrors of Trump, aka Hitler. Please. People. Get a grip.
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AJ — Project Veritas’ edited video would lead police to make that conclusion. The other video and audio would make the opposite conclusion. In either case, both sides should be charged with mischief or neither since they both seem to think it funny to attempt to entrap the other side by discussing possible illegal activities. The police are probably annoyed with both groups who are wasting their time while they have real security issues.
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This is an interesting article by David Brooks.
It, of course, rejects the idea that Trump is a fascist. However, it deals honestly with his real character flaws which were so in evidence yesterday (and for his entire adult life) while also blasting the Democrats for their hysteria which has been in evidence since the election.
Finally and bizarrely, it ends on an optimistic note.
I would like to see conservatives and other Republicans back Trump when he is right, oppose him when he is wrong, but NOT support or excuse him when he tells outrageous lies or otherwise behaves in a grossly inappropriate manner. This will show our Democrat friends that we have not all lost our minds. Yes! They believe we have all lost our minds just as we believe they have all lost theirs.
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This article contains a number of facts which relate to our recent discussion on immigration. It indicates that while earlier immigrants tended to be lower skilled people from Latin America, more recent immigrants tend to be highly educated (and skilled) people from Asia. It also discusses the metropolitan areas to which the immigrants are moving.
This confirms what my friends who are employers are now telling me: We have a Mexican shortage in Texas. It is currently very hard to find good help if you are trying to hire someone for a low skilled job.
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Spicer wasn’t lying in his press conference; he was presenting “alternative facts”.
http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/wh-spokesman-gave-alternative-facts-inauguration-crowd-n710466
As you can imagine, twitter is having a field day with #alternativefacts.
“Now I’m waiting for students to start arguing that their exam answers aren’t wrong, but rather just #alternativefacts.”
Even Fox isn’t buying it;
http://www.rawstory.com/2017/01/this-is-a-ridiculous-conversation-chris-wallace-pounds-priebus-for-arguing-over-inaugural-crowd-counts/
The real question for the Trump admin is why stretch your credibility on issues that don’t matter? Or is this a way of distracting the media from covering his executive orders and legislative agenda?
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And the numbers are in. Hopefully this puts the matter to rest for the White House, though I’m sure the msm have nothing better to do than carry on as long as anyone will listen. I’m not. :–)
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-inauguration-ratings-idUSKBN15600S
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HRW,
“AJ — Project Veritas’ edited video would lead police to make that conclusion.”
They brought what they had to federal officials including the FBI. I think it’s safe to say the have seen all the footage.
And like it or not, it affected their plans, and federal officials changed some of theirs in response. .
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2017-01-17/anti-trump-disruptj20-activists-scale-back-inauguration-blockade-plans
“An activist coalition has dramatically scaled back plans to block the flow of traffic into the nation’s capital on Friday, a key organizer says following the release of undercover videos produced by a conservative group.
Legba Carrefour, an organizer of the activist network DisruptJ20 shown discussing bridge and train blockades in footage released by Project Veritas on Tuesday, says “the amount of chaos is being intentionally overstated” by his group.
“By virtue of us making those claims, it whips people up into the kind of panic that accidentally ends up causing the chaos we want. You can say ‘all of Metro is being blockaded’ and people will stay home,” the local anarchist says.
Carrefour, who has for weeks shared with reporters grandiose visions of a traffic-blocking “@##$%$#,” tells U.S. News the current plan is to block just one bridge on Friday morning.”
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“After the release of the second video, Carrefour said the blockade planning it featured has been scaled back in response to recently identified official road closings.”
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Road closings recently made in response to the info officials received from the videos.
I’d just like to point out that THIS is what investigative journalism looks like. 🙂
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And now for real news of consequence….
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-israel-jerusalem-idUSKBN1560ZT?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=Social
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Ricky, I like Robert Donat’s acting. He hated smoking scenes in films, because he was an asthmatic. As another asthmatic, I sympathize.
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And this is a particularly good piece of news. Hopefully the individual mandate will be gone before tax time. :–)
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Forgot the link:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-obamacare-idUSKBN1560SX
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Remember that the individual mandate is part of the funding mechanism for Obamacare. It forces young healthy people to buy health insurance to subsidize older, less healthy people. Simply repealing the individual mandate without making other changes makes the law even more of a fiscal disaster.
Reforming healthcare is at least a 10 year project. Almost all of us are going to have to sacrifice if the system is going to be modified into something that doesn’t single-handedly bankrupt the nation. That would have been a difficult assignment for a nation with an intelligent population, a wise and articulate leader and legislators who are used to working together on a bipartisan basis.
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Without the insurance mandate, it will be difficult to pay for the subsidies that allow other people to buy insurance. Essentially they will provide health insurance but won’t pay for it — pushing the bill to a future administration. As much as the mandate is unpopular, it is the means to pay for the ACA. And Republicans claim to be fiscal conservatives …. they like to spend but they don’t like to finance the programs.
Moving the embassy is a symbolic move which will has more negatives than positives. There’s nothing to be gained by moving the embassy.
AJ — if this goes to trial and I doubt they have any intention of it, the questions which will be raises is who is advocating the most violence and who is entrapping who. The arrest was just a way of putting a damper on any plans. He will be quietly released and told to leave town so to speak. Entrapment by law enforcement and private citizens should be actively discouraged. Just recently in Canada, the RCMP had their knuckles rapped by a judge who dismissed a case of terrorism as it was obvious the RCMP was actively encouraging a couple, ex drug addicts and mentally ill, to commit violent acts. One of these days law enforcement or a private group like Project Veritas will push an individual so far that violent acts will occur.
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I see Ricky beat me to it
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HRW, I really blame Priebus, Bannon and Conway for what happened to Spicer yesterday. It was obvious Trump was demanding the statement. The senior staff should have united and stood up to Trump so that poor Spicer didn’t just have to go out and lie and completely humiliate himself the first day on the job. They could have come up with alternate facts that were actually true (like the global TV audience Trump tweeted about this morning).
Debra is doing a good job of focusing on substantive issues, but poor Spicer was ordered to talk about crowd size. If Spicer quits, I think all of us should back Debra as the logical replacement.
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Don’t know how to embed a gif so here’ s link to a gif. Note the difference between Obama and Trump in terms of manners and respect to their wives. https://static.independent.co.uk/s3fs-public/thumbnails/image/2017/01/21/11/two-types-of-men-2.gif
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Roscuro, I had forgotten that Robert Donat won the Best Actor award for Goodbye, Mr. Chips even though that year was a Gone With the Wind landslide. I have always believed that 1939 and 1940 were the two best years for movies.
http://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000003/1940
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Ricky, you should watch hockey — the Dallas Stars are having a little fun at Trump’s expense;
?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
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That’s a poor example, HRW. I watched all of the coverage yesterday, and I was particularly impressed that Trump was quite gentlemanly with his wife numerous times.
If you really want to see something repulsive, take a look at most of the coverage yesterday on the Mall. Or rather, spare yourself and don’t. It’s a sorry excuse for womanhood on display. On the upside, it pales the locker-room talk, so we need not pretend that we fear for the delicate ears of the young….if that’s any consolation.
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And Ricky, I would take the Press Secretary job only if you promise to win when you represent me in the inevitable lawsuit I’ll be hit with when I put my own agenda on Trump’s front page.
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HRW, The Stars are owned by one of your people.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Gaglardi
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https://twitter.com/arainert/status/823201601347354626
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hwesseli, Did Lewis show latitude and respect to another elder who had accomplished things in his youth when he compared John McCain to George Wallace? You get what you give.
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