The Trump

[Buddy]

The old song....

You don't tug on superman's cape
You don't spit into the wind
You don't pull the mask off that old lone ranger
And you don't mess around with Jim

A new addition.........

You don't piss off millions of teenagers nationwide just as they come of voting age....

[Rob Dekker]

[Rob Dekker]

[Buddy]

Truth....Ethics....Passion....and Youth.  I wouldn't bet against them on this one, even if it will be a battle that takes some time.

[Susan Anderson]

Thanks for the great visuals, Rob Dekker! John Oliver is back, and presents the US's biggest problem with some acid humor. If you don't have time, skip to minute 15 for a sour laugh or two. Round about minute 6 is a comment that sounds rather sane from "Mad Dog" Mattis, almost the only protection we have from T's worst impulses. Of course, he's being shoved out now, in favor of some trigger-happy idiot, no doubt.

[Buddy]

Russian bobsledder who wore anti-doping shirt just failed a doping test


PYEONGCHANG, South Korea – Leading up to the start of these Games, a Russian bobsledder bravely wore a T-shirt under her training suit that said, “I Don’t Do Doping.”

On Friday, that same bobsledder failed a doping test.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/russian-bobsledder-wore-anti-doping-shirt-just-failed-doping-test-112808964.html

Meanwhile.....in Traitor Don's closet of T Shirts:

1)  "I am one of the smartest people"
2)  "Trust me"
3)  "Russian collusion is a hoax"
4)  "I'm probably the least racist person you will ever meet"
5)  "I know more about the military than the generals do"

Need I go on?   Human psychology is fascinating, yes?

[Martin Gisser]

Nice, thread got pictures

[AbruptSLR]

2018 is a make or break year for the Democrats, w.r.t. fighting the GOP and the Trump Administration:

Title: "Why 2018 Is Do-or-Die for Democrats"

https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/02/23/2018-election-analysis-politics-217073

Extract: "And the question is, is it going to be a good year for Democrats, is it going to be a great year for Democrats, or can this be another tsunami kind of election? And I think the signals right now are mixed."

[zheega]

I think Democrats will easily win "the popular vote", but have the same problems they've been having recently (last ~20 years). They will win with big margins in big cities, but narrowly lose lots of rural districts. They should still win the House IMO. Winning the Senate will be much harder because many more Dem incumbents are up for reelection in 2018. 2016 was supposed to be the year when the Dems take back the Senate.

The problem is that the Democrats are still favoring corporate-friendly primary candidates. And while having lots of money might help you win against a progressive Dem primary opponent, it will depress the turnout in the general elections. It seems like the Democrats are just hoping that the "blue wave" will be big enough that they can nominate a dead cat and still win against the Republicans.

[AbruptSLR]

And I thought that the 'Ice Apocalypse' was chilling.  The linked article discusses many issues about Trump's many past, and possible future, assaults on American democracy, including possibly nullifying the 2018 midterm election results due to any alleged Russian interference:

Title: "Timothy Snyder: Trump may use Russian interference as a pretext for canceling elections"

https://www.salon.com/2018/02/23/timothy-snyder-trump-may-use-russian-interference-as-a-pretext-for-canceling-elections/

Extract: "Yale historian fears Trump could use Mueller investigation to claim the midterm elections “don’t really count
…
In his 2017 New York Times bestselling book "On Tyranny," Yale historian Timothy Snyder warned that the American people only had one year to stop Donald Trump from causing serious and perhaps irreversible harm to our democracy, as well as other social and political institutions."

[zheega]

Crazy idiot alert

https://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/02/trump-i-may-punish-the-entire-world-for-north-koreas-sins.html

“If the sanctions don’t work, we’ll have to go to Phase 2,” Trump replied. “Phase 2 may be a very rough thing. May be very, very unfortunate for the world.”

[TerryM]

And I thought that the 'Ice Apocalypse' was chilling.  The linked article discusses many issues about Trump's many past, and possible future, assaults on American democracy, including possibly nullifying the 2018 midterm election results due to any alleged Russian interference:

Title: "Timothy Snyder: Trump may use Russian interference as a pretext for canceling elections"

https://www.salon.com/2018/02/23/timothy-snyder-trump-may-use-russian-interference-as-a-pretext-for-canceling-elections/

Extract: "Yale historian fears Trump could use Mueller investigation to claim the midterm elections “don’t really count
…
In his 2017 New York Times bestselling book "On Tyranny," Yale historian Timothy Snyder warned that the American people only had one year to stop Donald Trump from causing serious and perhaps irreversible harm to our democracy, as well as other social and political institutions."

That's the strangest accusation yet. After a year or more of trying to prove that the results of the 2016 election were somehow in doubt due to "Russian Interference", we now accuse Trump of preemptively negating the results of the 2018 election on the same grounds.


Prior to the election, one of the few things that both Republicans and Democrats agreed on was that a principal tenet of democracy was that the losers should accept the winner as the legitimate leader until the next election cycle.


No the argument is that if we don't dismiss the winner of the last contest, he may dismiss the winner of the next?
What an odd twist.
Terry

[Rob Dekker]

Crazy idiot alert

https://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/02/trump-i-may-punish-the-entire-world-for-north-koreas-sins.html

“If the sanctions don’t work, we’ll have to go to Phase 2,” Trump replied. “Phase 2 may be a very rough thing. May be very, very unfortunate for the world.”

No kidding. Bat-shit crazy.

[TerryM]

Crazy idiot alert

https://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/02/trump-i-may-punish-the-entire-world-for-north-koreas-sins.html

“If the sanctions don’t work, we’ll have to go to Phase 2,” Trump replied. “Phase 2 may be a very rough thing. May be very, very unfortunate for the world.”

No kidding. Bat-shit crazy.

Ya' Damn shame the Democrats couldn't find anyone to run any better than Hillary. I'm sure they've learned their lesson and will henceforth nominate candidates without such high negatives.


Perhaps someone that their base could get behind, or is that asking too much?
Terry

[Rob Dekker]

Ya' Damn shame the Democrats couldn't find anyone to run any better than Hillary. I'm sure they've learned their lesson and will henceforth nominate candidates without such high negatives.

Bernie lost to Hillary.
And Hillary lost to Trump.
I miss Obama.

[Rob Dekker]

Thanks for the great visuals, Rob Dekker! John Oliver is back, and presents the US's biggest problem with some acid humor. If you don't have time, skip to minute 15 for a sour laugh or two. Round about minute 6 is a comment that sounds rather sane from "Mad Dog" Mattis, almost the only protection we have from T's worst impulses. Of course, he's being shoved out now, in favor of some trigger-happy idiot, no doubt.

I love Oliver. Also note at 7:30 into the segment where Trump's new US ambassador to the Netherlands was caught red-handed in a blatant lie.

And then there is the very serious issue at 10:20 into the segment where Trump forgets to re-affirm NATO Article 5.

This is not funny any more.

[Rob Dekker]

[Rob Dekker]

Enough is Enough !

[Buddy]

Here's a picture of Traitor Don's Approval/Disapproval as of 02-25-2018....

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/?ex_cid=rrpromo

Approval 39.4% vs Disapproval 54.9%

Donnie had a nice "bounce" for a while....I guess "reality" has set in once again over the past week.

As a mentor of mine always says (and I pass it along as well from time-to-time)....the truth, NEVER GOES AWAY.  It just waits for people to discover it.

Sometime it takes much longer than we would like.  Just ask women's rights groups....or blacks.....or gays.....or groups that want reasonable controls on guns.

But eventually.....more and more people see it.  I have confidence in Traitor Don....that he will continue to pile on poor policy after poor policy; that he will continue to speak poorly of others without any proof; that he will continue to divide the country and the world...instead of uniting it; that he will continue to lie on a daily basis and get called out.  THAT...is who Donnie is...

[Buddy]

Speaking of truth and FACTS.....:

Here are some facts via Seth Abramson's Twitter entry on the NRA:

Seth Abramson‏Verified account @SethAbramson · 12h12 hours ago 

1)  Only 6.5% of gun owners belong to the NRA.
2)  Only 1.3% of Americans do.
3)  Well under half of Americans approve of the NRA.
4)   A majority of the NRA's members disagree with its positions.

As well as one pointed "opinion" by Seth....that I wholeheartedly agree with:

The NRA is a radical group run by gun manufacturers—it runs U.S. gun policy via large-scale bribery.

[Susan Anderson]

The Trump/NRA/etc. nexus can be simply described in one word, which explains a lot:

It's a cult.

Nobody is getting anywhere because in a cult the more isolated from facts it becomes, the more it turns inward.

Unfortunately, it is also a well armed cult.

[Buddy]

"Mo" (momentum) is hard to stop when she gets going.  Especially when she is based on FACTS...and is on the correct moral side.

[Rob Dekker]

[Buddy]

USA Toady poll out today RE Trumps approval ratings:  Approve 38%, Disapprove 60%

And what may be worse..... Strongly Approve 16%, Strongly Disapprove 39%.

So....less than half of the approve are STRONGLY approve....but almost 2/3 of DISAPPROVE are strongly so.

And Donnie hasn't turned down Mueller's invitation to have "dinner" with him YET.

[Buddy]

I'm sure glad Traitor Don and the Republicans have gotten rid of a lot of regulations.  That way companies like GE and others won't be weighed down by being HONEST AND TRANSPARENT.
 

GE is adopting the new accounting standards as the Securities and Exchange Commission investigates the company over its accounting for long-term service contracts.

The changes also come as the company struggles to reverse steep declines in some of its businesses and is looking to sell off $20 billion of assets.

It will restate earnings when it reports 2018 results, GE said in the filing. GE reports first-quarter earnings on April 20.

GE is also facing potential legal action by the U.S. Department of Justice over allegations that its GE Capital unit and now-defunct WMC Mortgage Corp unit violated U.S. law in connection with subprime mortgages, according to Friday's filing.

In January, the company reported a $10 billion loss in the quarter, hurt by a $6.2 billion charge to increase insurance reserves, and steep declines in profit in its power and transportation divisions.

Over the last year, GE's stock has fallen more than 51 percent and is trading around $14.49.

Looks like the apple (Jeff Immelt......CEO that recently "retired") didn't fall too far from "the Tree" (Jack Welch....who also under-reported HUGE losses in the insurance business of GE...that was discovered AFTER he had retired).

Yea....what do we need regulations for when we have "honest" companies like GE? 

[Rob Dekker]

In the biggest blow he’s dealt to the renewable energy industry yet, President Donald Trump decided on Monday to slap tariffs on imported solar panels.

The U.S. will impose duties of as much as 30 percent on solar equipment made abroad, a move that threatens to handicap a $28 billion industry that relies on parts made abroad for 80 percent of its supply. Just the mere threat of tariffs has shaken solar developers in recent months, with some hoarding panels and others stalling projects in anticipation of higher costs. The Solar Energy Industries Association has projected tens of thousands of job losses in a sector that employed 260,000.

http://time.com/5113472/donald-trump-solar-panel-tariff/

Way to go Trump !

[Susan Anderson]

There is no escaping it: The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. One-quarter of American workers make less than $10 per hour, a wage well below the current poverty level. The top 1 percent have an average net worth of $26.4 million, and on top of that, they take home $1.5 million annually. The wealthiest 1 percent own 40 percent of the income of our entire country, and that number is growing. Most low-wage workers do not receive any benefits from their employers — no health insurance, no retirement plans, no guaranteed sick days, nothing to protect them from the unforeseen forces of fate, whether it be a bad fall or an unexpected death or illness in the family. Ignoring these facts, the Trump administration’s major legislative accomplishment has been a huge tax cut for the wealthy, widening the wage gap even further.

And that's the first world. Half the world doesn't have clean running water, decent sewage, and regular energy.

Climate change is real and its ramping up. Already millions are on the move, and shortages are exacerbating conflict.

And everybody's looking for somebody to blame, somebody to exclude.

The looting classes in charge in DC aren't helping.  And more and more powerful guns for the cultists.

We live in a democracy. Bernie lost. It really is too bad he didn't defeat Hillary, because then we wouldn't have all these people insisting that he would have beaten Trump. He wouldn't have. Fact. He won a lot of caucuses (small turnout) in Republican states. The trolling continues, and the blame festers. As Monbiot said: "the posturing, the infighting: it can be infuriating. The old adage that the right looks for converts while the left looks for traitors is all too often true."

Luckily there are a ton of people with their heads screwed on doing the hard practical work of defeating Republicans in local and state and national elections.

And the kids are all right! They're more than all right!! They're terrific!!! With them and the women, it looks like we might have enough power to topple these monsters.

They give me hope. [The seniors (age 18) all went and registered to vote. And their hockey team won the state tournament, against all odds.]

[Neven]

We live in a democracy. Bernie lost. It really is too bad he didn't defeat Hillary, because then we wouldn't have all these people insisting that he would have beaten Trump. He wouldn't have. Fact. He won a lot of caucuses (small turnout) in Republican states. The trolling continues, and the blame festers. As Monbiot said: "the posturing, the infighting: it can be infuriating. The old adage that the right looks for converts while the left looks for traitors is all too often true."

Susan, in case you were referring to me: I talk about Corporate Democrats, not because I'm out for revenge (although I am angry), but because they're the biggest hurdle towards taking steps towards meaningful, systemic change. It's not just about beating the Republicans, but about how you beat them. If you bet them with Corporate Democrats who will just continue business-as-usual, the blue wave will be followed by a red wave, and so on, until everyone has drowned. We need a blue beach.

You don't beat Trump with 'Russia collusion', and even if you could, it would be a Pyrrhic victory.

[jbg]

I voted for Clinton. I'd vote for Trump if the election were held today.

[Susan Anderson]

We live in a democracy. Bernie lost. It really is too bad he didn't defeat Hillary, because then we wouldn't have all these people insisting that he would have beaten Trump. He wouldn't have. Fact. He won a lot of caucuses (small turnout) in Republican states. The trolling continues, and the blame festers. As Monbiot said: "the posturing, the infighting: it can be infuriating. The old adage that the right looks for converts while the left looks for traitors is all too often true."

Susan, in case you were referring to me: I talk about Corporate Democrats, not because I'm out for revenge (although I am angry), but because they're the biggest hurdle towards taking steps towards meaningful, systemic change. It's not just about beating the Republicans, but about how you beat them. If you bet them with Corporate Democrats who will just continue business-as-usual, the blue wave will be followed by a red wave, and so on, until everyone has drowned. We need a blue beach.

You don't beat Trump with 'Russia collusion', and even if you could, it would be a Pyrrhic victory.

Neven, your response is not responsive. I don't know where to begin, but please read the part of my post you left out.

And no, it wasn't addressed to you, though it does connect - coincidentally - to your assumption that you have to convince me. Again, please read the rest of my post. If I had a magic wand and could dictate to the world, you'd love the result, because we do not disagree about the ideal, as I've said over and over and over. I'm tired of being faulted for being a realist and trying to accept that others have different points of view and work with the world as I find it.

I have very little interest in continuing a conversation with people who are talking past me and cherrypicking my writings. The bit you selected was some straight facts about the election which conspiracy mongers don't want to know (not for the first time, it's a recurring theme here). Fact is, I don't get to dictate to my compatriots on either the left or the right, and that's what I mean about "democracy".

[zheega]

I voted for Clinton. I'd vote for Trump if the election were held today.

Why?

[Buddy]

In a picture....

[AbruptSLR]

Too bad that Kelly cann't downgrade Trump's security clearance level:

Title: "Jared Kushner's security clearance has been downgraded"

https://www.axios.com/jared-kushner-security-clearance-john-kelly-81ce8cf6-f0b8-47c2-ba73-1a5a375a3edc.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic&utm_content=1100&utm_term=politics

Extract: "Chief of Staff John Kelly downgraded Jared Kushner's security clearance on Feb. 23 from "Interim Top Secret" to "Interim Secret," according to an administrative staffer involved in the HR process for handling clearances. The White House declined to comment on this story.

Why it matters: Kelly's recent overhaul of the security clearance process has officially changed Kushner's role — he was previously able to access sensitive national security information that very few people have access to, despite operating on an interim security clearance for the last year."

[Alexander555]

In a picture....

Maybe you need something like this in the US.

https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/breaking-national-assembly-adopts-motion-on-land-expropriation-without-compensation-20180227

[Martin Gisser]

You don't beat Trump with 'Russia collusion', and even if you could, it would be a Pyrrhic victory.

Finding out the truth a Pyrrhic victory? That's weird.

[Neven]

You don't beat Trump with 'Russia collusion', and even if you could, it would be a Pyrrhic victory.

Finding out the truth a Pyrrhic victory? That's weird.

If you manage to impeach Trump after two years of relentless Russiagate, he will be replaced by Pence or some other GOP sociopath. If you replace Trump with a Democratic friend of Wall Street, Big Pharma and the MIC, you're also not making progress.

So, much more important than focussing on removing Trump no matter what, you need to plan ahead and think about what you want to replace him with. Business as usual is not an option. What Americans need to do, is constantly talk about universal health care, reining in Wall Street, free college, minimum wage, and most of all, ending the wars and bringing down the military budget.

The swamp still needs to be drained.

[Martin Gisser]

You don't beat Trump with 'Russia collusion', and even if you could, it would be a Pyrrhic victory.

Finding out the truth a Pyrrhic victory? That's weird.

If you manage to impeach Trump after two years of relentless Russiagate, he will be replaced by Pence or some other GOP sociopath. If you replace Trump with a Democratic friend of Wall Street, Big Pharma and the MIC, you're also not making progress.

So, much more important than focussing on removing Trump no matter what, you need to plan ahead and think about what you want to replace him with. Business as usual is not an option. What Americans need to do, is constantly talk about universal health care, reining in Wall Street, free college, minimum wage, and most of all, ending the wars and bringing down the military budget.

The swamp still needs to be drained.

I'm not sure Mike Pence or Paul Ryan would replace Trump, as they will likely fall with Trump.
Orrin Hatch is 83y and wants to retire. RExxon Tillerson is also unlikely to survive Russiagate as is Steve Munchkin. That possibly leaves us with James Mattis...

Trump is the very worst of the swamp, and there also seem to be Russian alligators swimming in it. (Russia is a mafia state, an even worse kind of swamp...). If the better is the enemy of good, then getting rid of Trump would indeed be a Pyrrhic victory.

[Neven]

If the system doesn't change, everything is a Pyrrhic victory. Because AGW. Better or less evil just won't cut it, and saying it's the best we can do, is basically admitting everything is hopeless. It needs to be much, much better. Period.

There's a silver lining to Trump, and the only question is whether people will use it to bring about systemic changes. There is nothing systemic about 'less evil'.

[Buddy]

There's a silver lining to Trump, and the only question is whether people will use it to bring about systemic changes. There is nothing systemic about 'less evil'.

We don't live in a perfect world.  Never have....never will.  The choice in politics will ALWAYS be one of "degree."

I will take bad over awful ANY DAY OF THE WEEK.  EVERY TIME.  But I will always continue to push for BETTER.

The silver lining in the Trump victory is that it will end up taking out Trump, Pence, AND Hillary.  The other silver lining, is that it shows just how brazen and rotten many of the Republicans are.  Too many....too rotten.

This will be a very telling year in US politics. 

[Buddy]

This COULD be a very bad summer/fall for the Republicans.  The following AREN'T predictions....but they ARE possibilities....and some of them have a VERY good chance of coming to fruition:

1)  Support for serious change to gun laws continues to spread, not only among students....but among businesses as well.  In addition....there are a growing number of REPUBLICANS that "break rank" with their pals in the NRA and Congress, and want serious gun legislation.

2)  News on RussiaGate CONTINUES to come out against Trump and his cronies....and it continues to be bad news for Donnie and company.  He chooses to NOT talk with Mueller "over dinner".....and he ends up taking the 5th amendment (as well as a 5th of scotch AFTERWARDS...and he doesn't drink:).  By this summer....the number of indictments in RussiaGate exceed the total number of indictments in Watergate.

3)  The stock market....after 12 months of rising during Trump's time in office......hit a "snag" in February....which turns out to be the first down month on the way to a SIGNIFICANT correction (greater than 20%....perhaps as much as 38%) over the 8 month period from this February, through this coming September.  All that talk of "winning" seems to disappear for Traitor Don.

4)  The Arctic ice sheet has a "bad year".....heading towards a new record low this coming September. It gets harder and harder to ignore what is happening....

5)  The electoral map continues to look dismal for the Republicans.  By early summer it looks like they are LIKELY to lose the House....and they may lose some critical members in the Senate (say hi to Ted Cruz) as well.  What started in MARCH as a few Republicans talking about the possibility of impeachment....has grown.  As well...it looks like Republican Rick Scott will likely lose in his race for Governor of Florida....AND....the Florida Attorney General race also was won by a Democrat.  I sure hope Traitor Don doesn't have any property in Florida where he did anything illegal or the STATE charges could put him away for many years.   

6)  Exxon Mobile....what was once the most valuable publicly held company on the planet, has continued to drop in share price.  After hitting over $104 in 2014.....it has continued its "two steps down and one step up" travels....and now is under $60 in September of this year.

THAT....would be a rough year.  And yes....it certainly could get worse....OR...it might not be nearly as bad as the painting above.  Time will tell.... 

[Buddy]

Below....is what leadership looks like.  Three cheers for Dicks Sporting Goods.

[SteveMDFP]

Below....is what leadership looks like.  Three cheers for Dicks Sporting Goods.

Some corporations are way more progressive than our Federal government.
Maybe we need more Corporate Democrats.

[Neven]

Maybe we need more Corporate Democrats.

Hey, if they'd be open about it, there'd be no problem whatsoever. 

[Buddy]

Today has been very "instructive" to me.  I had the whole day off...and watched a lot of television.

Trump is in FULL MELT DOWN MODE.  The writing is now on the wall....and soon the Republicans will have to start dropping away.  I think that will happen in March.

Donnie is "out of it."  He looks like me when I was trying to bullshit my way through a book report in 2nd grade THAT I DIDN'T READ.  Pretty pathetic (Donnie too).

[Buddy]

You see how quickly "the onion" (Trump administration) can be peeled back.....when it is ROTTEN TO THE CORE.

[sidd]

Apparently for Trump, there is no issue too hot to touch, he whacks the NRA

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-43235969

What next ? the other group with that kind of clout is the AARP. From his form, he will go there too.

sidd

[Buddy]

Pretty much looks like a F**K YOU TRUMP dinner by Sessions, Rosenstein, and Solicitor General Noel Francisco.

Who's next to go in DonnieLand?  Sessions, Tillerson, Kelly, Ben Carson, ?

Can anyone imagine working in that pig pen called the White House?

Of course.....I voted for Hillary, but would vote for Trump today. 

[sidd]

This will leave a mark: Trump announce tariffs on steel and aluminium.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-43249614

Guess the poor slobs picking metal outta dumpsters for resale will be slightly better off.

sidd

[TerryM]

This will leave a mark: Trump announce tariffs on steel and aluminium.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-43249614

Guess the poor slobs picking metal outta dumpsters for resale will be slightly better off.

sidd

Seems as though Trump was aiming at China, and shot Canada - - again.


https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-03-01/which-countries-will-be-hardest-hit-trumps-tariffs

With airplanes, solar panels, and steel falling under Trump's tariffs Canada may need new trade partners.
Terry

[sidd]

Breitbart is sad: Facebook algo change detraffics Trump:

"Engagement on Donald Trump’s Facebook posts has dropped by approximately 45 percent since the platform introduced a new algorithm change ..."

http://www.breitbart.com/tech/2018/02/28/exclusive-trumps-facebook-engagement-declined-45-percent-following-algorithm-change/

sidd