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

these idiots are already attacking each other through leaks

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/morning-joe-kellyanne-conway-sexist-reporting

really cannot stand to see this woman on TV anymore

so, david clarke for department of homeland security??

you should probably be carrying an i.d. if you plan to use a credit card. or drive a car. if you die on the street it's a good idea to have i.d. with you.

these idiots are already attacking each other through leaks

I think circular-firing-squad stuff is going to be a constant feature -- within Trump's circle (which will probably keep changing, who's in and who's out), between them and Congress and the GOP leadership, it's going to be endless drama and namecalling and Tweeting and leaking and god knows what.

man the early Reagan years were exactly like this: one senior administration aide after another whispering to the WaPo about who was in and out.

One of the biggest and most important question marks for me right now is the extent to which Trump will display any conviction about any of his policy "ideas" in the face of opposition of the GOP -- is he content to be the figurehead for the GOP agenda, to wear the crown? Or will his need to make them all kiss the ring play out in the policy realm?

Don't know what to make of this, but just learned/heard that that crazy tax dodge Trump enlisted only works if you spend at least 50% of your time running your business. So either Trump will continue to run his company, leaving the other gov't stuff to his staff and appointees and VP, or he won't, and therefore make himself liable to big taxes in the near future.

I'm assuming there is a good chance that a low income Trump supporter might be compelled to passionately rebut how Trump would use his "genius" to figure out a way around paying taxes anyway.

Wouldn't that be interesting to witness?

One of the biggest and most important question marks for me right now is the extent to which Trump will display any conviction about any of his policy "ideas" in the face of opposition of the GOP -- is he content to be the figurehead for the GOP agenda, to wear the crown? Or will his need to make them all kiss the ring play out in the policy realm?

― the last famous person you were surprised to discover was actually (man alive), Monday, November 28, 2016 3:38 PM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

my guess is the former. he seems genuinely bored by politics, has a total lack of conviction in his beliefs, which are themselves inconsistent. I suspect he'll wear the crown but cough up enough 'wins' like those plants that didn't move to Mexico because of his phone calls, to continue to play the same role

obvs not a KO argument or anything but still worth noting

Interestingly enough, in two of those crucial Midwestern states that flipped to Trump, Democratic Senate candidates campaigned on economically populist platforms — but they did notably worse than Hillary Clinton. Russ Feingold underperformed Clinton by 2.4 points in Wisconsin, and Ted Strickland underperformed her by 12.8 points in Ohio. Feingold amassed a populist record of challenging big money and special interests when he was in the Senate, and Strickland harshly condemned trade deals during his campaign against Rob Portman (who served as George W. Bush’s US trade representative).

Meanwhile, the two Democratic Senate candidates in competitive races who outperformed Clinton the most both self-consciously presented a moderate image rather than running as liberal firebrands. In Missouri, Jason Kander overperformed Clinton by 15.9 points, and in Indiana, Evan Bayh did 9.6 points better than her (though they both lost).

http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/27/13716060/senate-democrats-economic-populism

worth noting, but you'd need a lot more information about those particular races to draw any conclusions from it

If Trump has a tax debt of $50K or more, his passport could be revoked under the FAST Act:
http://www.cnbc.com/2016/03/19/irs-back-taxes-may-mean-really-getting-grounded.html

So I guess it's a thing for defensive Trump supporters to have public freak outs? Who knows what the holidays were like for all these people.

xpost That would be hilarious, but I have a hunch the president can go wherever he wants.

yeah who's in charge of the state dept

I bet the president does not even travel with a passport.

I take it back, he does! Standard issue diplomatic passport. But someone handles that stuff for him.

Re strickland, for example, nothing mentioned here about him being perceived as to the left of Clinton:

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2016/09/heres_why_ted_strickland_is_lo.html

yeah that article even says the AFL-CIO prez wanted him to be more 'agressive'

Strickland and Feingold also presumably represent 'the establishment' or 'the old ways of doing things aren't working' or whatever. I don't think either had anything like the fire and 'movement' feeling that bolstered Sanders's message.

not sure where to put this but what the fuck

http://deadspin.com/liberty-hires-ex-baylor-athletic-director-ian-mccaw-1789441102

liberty university is the worst

I don't think either had anything like the fire and 'movement' feeling that bolstered Sanders's message.

People here in Wisconsin who loved Bernie were definitely way more excited about Russ than about HRC.

So are we gonna have 4 years of tweets like this from Monday:

"@sdcritic: @HighonHillcrest @jeffzeleny @CNN There is NO QUESTION THAT #voterfraud did take place, and in favor of #CorruptHillary !"

Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 4h4 hours ago

"@FiIibuster: @jeffzeleny Pathetic - you have no sufficient evidence that Donald Trump did not suffer from voter fraud, shame! Bad reporter.

Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 4h4 hours ago
"@JoeBowman12: @jeffzeleny just another generic CNN part time wannabe journalist !" @CNN still doesn't get it. They will never learn!

Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 4h4 hours ago
"@HighonHillcrest: @jeffzeleny what PROOF do u have DonaldTrump did not suffer from millions of FRAUD votes? Journalist? Do your job! @CNN"

is perhaps the worst meme of all time that "do not share this photo of trump. he does NOT like it" current thing or no?

yes. and i've seen like a dozen photos that are supposedly THE ONE PHOTO he hates!!

We never the to directly president guy with fuck guy @donaldsucks #screwthisguy , this new paradigm.

yay amer. I to twitter account flame president. nobody cares I type on internet, but wait i type at fat asshole.

We never the!

no sufficient evidence that Donald Trump did not

this is so agonizing to read

i don't usually give a fuck about this sort of thing but having such an obviously batshit president weakens america's hand in all sorts of foreign policy areas doesn't it?

^most half-full aspect of it

(xp) You mean the fact that the entire rest of the world is pointing and laughing?

Feeling all Morbs about this, because this seems like the way to get the Big Brother machine going. Trump tweets something stupid/insane every early morning, everyone reports on it, gets us into the habit of tuning in to Radio Trump first thing every morning for our daily missive.

I guess, rather than engage with the insane things he's saying, I can start every morning by reiterating my sincere wish that tonight is the night that Trump passes away in his sleep.

Maybe he'll pull a Python and pass away in his tweet.

Donald J. Trump ‏@realDonaldTrump 4h4 hours ago
"@JoeBowman12: @jeffzeleny I am so mad, I could just blow something up! I just can't ... agh, my heart! My heart! It's the big one! Oh ...."

Jesus Christ, flag burning? Are we doomed to relive all of the '90s culture wars?

Flag burning's been a fairly constant hum of outrage.

Not that it changes the results of Ohio, but after final counting, Lorain County (just to the west of Cuyahoga County, which contains Cleveland) went for Clinton by a mere 131 votes. It had originally been counted for Trump, but the final vote count after provisionals and absentees were accounted for flipped it.

http://www.chroniclet.com/Local-News/2016/11/29/Official-results-switch-county-to-Clinton.html

xpost It's not like we have anything more important to focus on.

In a sane and rational world, anyone who voted for Trump would be asking WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU TWEETING ABOUT THE FLAG INSTEAD OF PREPARING TO BE OUR FUCKING PRESIDENT? I wonder sometimes how things are going in that world.

Remember, the bit of the job that he didn't want to hive off to the Vice President was "Making America Great Again" - I suspect whatever pointless culture war bullshit lets him punch hippies will be a fairly important part of his presidency, he's preparing as well as he can for that.

meanwhile this Obamacare hating guy could be at HHS:

http://www.vox.com/2016/11/28/13772342/trump-tom-price-obamacare

It would replace the law with a plan that does more to benefit the young, healthy, and rich — and disadvantages the sick, old, and poor. Price’s plan provides significantly less help to those with preexisting conditions than other Republican proposals, particularly the replacement plan offered by House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI).

The biggest cut to the poor in Price’s plan is the full repeal of the Medicaid expansion, a program that currently covers millions of low-income Americans, which Price replaces with, well, nothing.

Not that it changes the results of Ohio, but after final counting, Lorain County (just to the west of Cuyahoga County, which contains Cleveland) went for Clinton by a mere 131 votes. It had originally been counted for Trump, but the final vote count after provisionals and absentees were accounted for flipped it.

http://www.chroniclet.com/Local-News/2016/11/29/Official-results-switch-county-to-Clinton.html🔗

131 Oberlin professors.

dancing on the end of a tenure committee

Does flipping a county really matter other than making a new tiny blue spot on the map? I mean Ohio doesn't award electors by county right?

Not that it changes the results of Ohio,

coming out of self-imposed ilxretirement to post something insightful i read on another message board. bye again!

Nothing like whiny winners...or folks absolutely terrified that they may actually have to deliver on the sh*t that they've been promising that they KNOW in their heart of hearts isn't just bad for the country, but bad for their posterity. It's a yawning chasm that WE the voters were supposed to snatch them away from.

The GOP just did a huge trust fall, and America didn't catch them. This was supposed to be ginned up drama, it was supposed to be Hillary's election, they had their scripts ready, they had their talking points queued up, they had the ads ready to roll out, and then...Trump won. They lost some seats in Congress, but overall, thing are technically looking rosy. And they weren't ready for that. The public was supposed to stop this, because intrinsically, the GOP fears the Presidency. They fear the results of having to actually make the hard decisions. They fear the responsibility that can't be diluted amongst Senators and Representatives. They absolutely fear the consequences of the trainwreck that they've been promoting, because they've seen first hand the damage that Reagan's economic plan ACTUALLY created. And it cost George Bush a second term when someone had to mitigate that mess, and then it cost them the White House for two terms with Bubba, and it was THERE that the modern GOP found its groove. As the opposition party. As the party that says "NO!" to the President. And these are NOT young men in office, and these are NOT mentally flexible humans, so trying to switch gears is not pretty. GW was supposed to be a triumph, and the intransigence to listen to the previous President, and ignoring the Clarke report was very much partly responsible for 9/11. And THAT level of fumbling...terrifies the GOP. They managed to get into crisis mode, and turn and blunt things, but in the end, every member of Congress and every member of the leadership that was attached to GW's team KNOWS that they screwed up, not just a little, and the lashing out and the less than focused approach AFTER 9/11 was nothing but trying to compensate for that.

But for all that, they were happy as heck to hand the whole mess to a Democrat. Because it let them off the hook. And the Congresscritters who are deep in halls today? They loved having a President to blame for their mistakes. They loved having an axiomatic bad guy to pin all their own mistakes on, every policy kerfuffle, every misstep, everything that ever went wrong, Obama was the man to blame it on. And that was supposed to continue.

And now, the ball's firmly on their side of the court, and for all their trash talk, now they have to actually put the damn ball in the bucket, and even Paulie Ryan isn't exactly up to the task. Not for a three pointer, not even from the foul line. They've got Donnie to "lead" them, and YEAH they're going to whine, because now they have a job to do, and NONE of them was expecting to actually be required to deliver on ANYTHING that they've been talking about for the last 8 years. Hells, they're terrified of where that might lead, and they have only themselves to blame for it, because when you base your policy platform AGAINST whatever the OTHER side is doing, and the OTHER side is making policy decisions based on actual issues, and you are just shouting NUH-UNH! it makes it somewhat difficult to actually deliver on that. Because you KNOW that there is a nuanced and balanced position to lay out, that might achieve similar goals, but you've bet the farm on STIGGINIT!

So, yeah. It's gonna be a whiny f*cking Christmas and miserable New Year, because these jackanapes got what they wanted, good and hard. And now it's time for them to figure out how to ride this damn tiger...

I don't buy this. I think it's much easier to see this as both political parties being more interested in consolidating their own power than in governing the country, with the side-effects being that the Democrats' power grabs tend toward the direction of helping more people and the Republicans' power grabs tend toward the direction of hurting more people, with neither being 100% good or bad. (Current Republican policy is probably 90% bad, however.)

I was thinking a lot during the election about whether the Democrats have a clear idea of what they'd do if they ever actually took the presidency and both houses again, not sure they do.

If people actually pay attention, the spectacle of the GOP completely fucking up their opportunity at total control will effectively sink the party. It's a big if that will never transpire, but it's lovely to dream.

That's a weird equivalency. I'm not sure that a broad enough Democratic coalition to win both houses could pass the basic agenda (bc it would likely be composed of blue dog types) but I think it's pretty clear what the party would like to accomplish. Raising the minimum wage? Expanding social programming? Increasing funding to alternative energy? Law enforcement and prison reform? I'm sure there are like 2 dozen issues that have broad consensus in the party. xp