Mourning in America - Trump Year One: November '16 to

I thought the plan was reducing credits and subsidies

The plan is whatever somebody last pitched to Trump. Eventually the Congress will come up with something they can pass. Trump's role will be to make contradictory announcements, create a huge hubbub, then take full credit for everything that people like about the new tax plan, plus take extra credit for things that didn't happen, but sound really good.

not only that but Trump always seemed like the type who would gauge his entire self-worth by the number of attractive women he's slept with, and he definitely assumed that others would see him the same way. hence the whole "John Barron" thing.

"jpod blames obama for the failures of the dem party -- lots to take exception with in that article but i do wonder what ppl think - does obama bear responsibility for the epic collapse of democratic political power in the US?

― Mordy"

one last time to say "THANKS OBAMA"

"I had a dream about a news story featuring the pictures of Trump's cabinet appointments, which included both Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope and which seems both horrifically on-the-nose but also way off the mark inasmuch as they, unlike most of Trump's cronies, have in the past demonstrated some intellectual curiosity re: magnets and what have you.

― i need microsoft installed on my desktop, can you help (Old Lunch)"

let's be fair compared to trump violent j and shaggy 2 dope are voices of dignity and reason

facebook friend posted this umberto eco article from '95. good read.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1995/06/22/ur-fascism/

idk I voted for Bernie in the primary, even though I didn't think he could win the general election, but I thought that showing that a lot of people were concerned about the issues he was talking about could influence the party platform in the general election.

― sarahell, Monday, 14 November 2016 19:52 (twenty-eight minutes ago) Permalink

yep

oddly, I was kind of worried about him getting an actual infrastructure plan through, might really boost the economy and gain him support for all kinds of other horrible shit

btw, as trump accomplishes little, but makes a lot of noise doing it, the Plain People of America who voted for him will see all the noise and confusion as evidence that trump is hard at work on their behalf to disrupt Business As Usual and to #MAGA.

Have the odds of Obama pardoning Snowden increased, as a 'signal' to potential whistleblowers in the upcoming era? Seems utterly fantastical given O's historic number of 'blower prosecutions, but I saw someone musing on it...

I was wondering about that too

it would be a good move if he pardoned Snowden and officially went against the DAPL.

hey so somebody in another thread told me to shut the fuck up so i wrote an etiquette guide on the topic. i want to paraphrase part ii, "when to tell somebody to shut the fuck up"

there are two circumstances under which it's advisable to tell somebody to shut the fuck up. they are:

1. you are drunk
2. the person you are talking to has grossly insulted you, your loved ones, or your most precious values, and you really never want to talk to them or have to look at their stupid face again

if someone is being an obnoxious prick and really pissing you off, on the other hand, probably better to ignore them and/or walk away.

i wrote this for my own benefit so if you disagree, feel free to tell me to shut the fuck up, and by the guidelines of part i, i will.

I'd post odds of Snowden pardon at 10 to 1 against. Obama would worry about impairing the effectiveness of the new administration, not seeing trump as irreparably dangerous and illegitimate, and therefore would not see it as his duty to pre-emptively undermine trump's inevitable abuses.

not seeing trump as irreparably dangerous and illegitimate

idk about that tbh

looks like Ed is not counting on Trump giving him clemency

https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/797829492484046852

should pardon manning before she successfully kills herself =|

xps to shakey. trump is a salesman who is unafraid to lie, conceal his true intentions, say whatever he thinks will gain him credit with the person he is speaking to. I don't doubt he used his innate deceptiveness when he and Obama met for 90 minutes a few days ago, to lead Obama to believe he is nowhere near the poisonous snake he truly is. He's pretty good at it when he wants to be, from what I hear.

would you say he's a "master persuader"

how stupid do you think Obama is. accounts of that meeting make it sound that Obama spent more time explaining things like what the President actually does on the daily than anything else

I'm really torn, I think the only way I can survive the next four(ish) years is to laugh and make fun of it all, and yet, I don't find any of this funny.

I read a book once called The Great War and Modern Memory (maybe everyone reads this book?). Anyway, I seem to recall part of its gist is that the chaos and confusion and countless horrors of WWI helped define Britain's default ironic humor. I dunno, maybe WWII destroyed/remade all that a few years later, but anyway, but that's what I'm feeling.

latest Sec of State rumor: John effing Bolton

how stupid do you think Obama is. accounts of that meeting make it sound that Obama spent more time explaining things like what the President actually does on the daily than anything else

I think I'd be marginally cooler with the entire Trump administration if to the person they all grew a mustache like Bolton's.

Well-socialized people give the benefit of the doubt to someone at least long enough for their lies to become apparent. exceptional liars are able to extend this grace period repeatedly through additional lies and deceptions. Obama is well-socialized. It wouldn't take much to get on his good side in an initial meeting.

accounts of that meeting make it sound that Obama spent more time explaining things like what the President actually does on the daily than anything else

That would elicit pity and a desire to help more than a conviction that trump is evil and must be stopped by all mean necessary.

jfc Aimless check your white privilege for once in your life

one small silver lining of this election is that I finally feel freed to completely ignore all Frederik B posts about US Politics

I'm amazed he hasn't gotten to 51 yet

HuffPost ed:

@ryangrim
Source says John Bolton is close to being named Secretary of State, Corker still a remote possibility, Gingrich is out

Hey sane Republicans who don't want to see world war: sources say John Bolton is not a done deal. Corker still possible. A little help here?

FWIW, it's interesting (to me) that both the Times and WaPo, who have been burning through headlines as fast as they're being generated, have kept anti-Bannon stuff prominently at the top of their page all day.

Obama is well-socialized. It wouldn't take much to get on his good side in an initial meeting.

this is the guy who lied for 8 years about Obama being eligible for the presidency

"but sure hey, Trump seems like a nice guy!" is not a thing Obama is going to think

Obama is well-socialized

are you saying he was a Communist?

Watching Obama now, he seems a little exhausted from restraining from shouting "good luck, and fuck all of you idiots."

I'm just saying O won't pardon Snowden and he'll go ahead and help Trump get started as smoothly as he can, as opposed to O covertly or overtly setting obstacles in his way and showing active mistrust. He does this because his respect for the system is greater than his dislike of Trump's policies. So, explain to me why this opinion, which so far has been borne out by Obama's words and actions, rests on my white privilege? kthxbye

He does this because his respect for the system is greater than his dislike of Trump's policies

Obama cares about his legacy. He doesn't want to see everything he worked for undone.

xp (hears faint sounds of furious typing in ilx land)

and, like I said, the personal level of animus between these two is very real

like Trump might write off his antics as "just politics", but Obama took that shit about his legitimacy personally

obama cares about his legacy and also probably cares a tiny bit about the entire world not falling apart.

obv he is trying to plant ideas in trump's head. the idea that he's been charmed over or whatever is pretty lol.

I don't know why it never occurred to me before, but a Trump win completely obviates any illusory need for a Mexican border wall. What non-white person would want to come here now? Maybe...maybe he was the wall the whole time, guys.

I applaud any Dems that want to schmooze Trump and pull some Mother Night shit for the next four years in an attempt to avert the complete disintegration of the country.

maybe he was the wall the whole time

http://www.pantomusicals.co.uk/dracula/digital/0203_talkingwall_small.jpg

I made the mistake of dipping into the Trumpverse fora last night just to see if even one had expressed some horror and disappointment about all the GOP insiders and lobbyists... nope.

he did get some alarmed tweets for describing same-sex marriage as "settled law" on 60M

Trumpverse is a cult. They aren't going to start realizing things. The spin they used to protect him during the campaigns is the same they're going to use to protect themselves from cognitive dissonance.

yeah this is a non-fact-based reality these people operate in

re: the ridiculous Sanders counterfactuals: https://twitter.com/FutureBoy/status/798226845070069762

smfh @ the NY Times: https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/798136951324995584

Bolton's views on how the US should approach Syria seem at odds with the noises Trump has been making about supporting Assad and Putin in fighting ISIS

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/25/opinion/john-bolton-to-defeat-isis-create-a-sunni-state.html?_r=0

on first pass this analysis from derek davidson is good:

https://attwiw.com/2016/11/14/things-i-think-first-in-a-series/

I think that it makes much less sense to talk about the 2016 election in terms of how Donald Trump won than it does to talk about it in terms of how Hillary Clinton lost. The numbers are pretty clear: Trump will finish the election with only slightly more votes nationally that Mitt Romney earned in a losing campaign in 2012, while Clinton will finish with a couple of million less than Obama earned...

I think that we need to stop talking about how Democrats have to appeal to the “white working class.” Democrats need to start appealing to the working class, period. Working class minority communities may predominantly vote Democratic for reasons specific to those communities, but the Democratic Party stopped being the part of the working class, broadly speaking, in the run up to the 1992 election...

and this, big time -- i don't think it's hard to square this circle! i really don't

I think there’s nothing incongruous about supporting pro-worker economic policies, defending the basic rights and dignities of all at-risk minorities, and fighting for a stronger, less violent, more consistent foreign policy. Since the primary, I’ve frequently seen people advance the argument that leftists want to “throw [insert minority group] under the bus” in order to appeal to those “white working class” voters, who are all assumed to be irredeemable bigots. Well I don’t claim to speak for lefties everywhere, but to me that’s bullshit. I don’t want to appeal to bigots. If an agenda of higher wages, stronger social welfare programs, single payer healthcare, fair–not “free”–trade, and economic justice doesn’t appeal to white voters because they’re too racist, xenophobic, homophobic, transphobic, etc., to appreciate it, then screw them. But I’m willing to bet that a political party that makes protection of minority rights paramount but also embraces, wholeheartedly, an economic agenda that benefits the 99% instead of the 1%, can win elections, big league.

Obama presser wrapping up right now underscores quietly that Trump has no fucking idea what he is in for.

re: the ridiculous Sanders counterfactuals: https://twitter.com/FutureBoy/status/798226845070069762

smfh @ the NY Times: https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/798136951324995584

― Listen to my homeboy Fantano (D-40), Monday, 14 November 2016 21:31 (nine minutes ago) Permalink

um, you realize there's opposition research in every election, right?

"Sanders would have face attacks, therefore he could not have won an election."

what is a face attack