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

"increasingly bonkers" to replace "in god we trust" on all US currency

― El Tomboto

or at least to replace "xiphoid beetlebum" in my display name

this is one of those days where everything feels like it's spinning too fast and i'm gonna be sick

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/trump-sold-all-shares-in-companies-in-june-spokesman-says/2016/12/06/55419d44-bbcf-11e6-94ac-3d324840106c_story.html

Norm Eisen, who served as ethics counselor to President Obama and has criticized Trump over his conflicts, said it would be “absolutely a step in the right direction” if Trump had sold his stock holdings in June, divesting himself of ownership in companies whose fates could be tied to his policies. But he added that it is now important to know how Trump spent the money he earned from the sale.

“We need to know, has he put them in conflict free assets ... or has he bought other stocks or assets that would create new conflicts?” he asked. “It’s all the more reason that we need a prompt and full disclosure financial disclosure. If he did liquidate all his stocks, what did he do with the money? What bank is the money in? What did he buy? It’s a lot of money.”

He called this the latest example of the tension between Trump’s promise to drain the swamp and how he has managed his own business conflicts. “The swamp draining should begin with Trump’s own wetlands,” Eisen said.

Trump's own wetlands ...

the wettest lands, really

Very odd. If he really did cash out i imagine he would have disclosed this earlier because it addresses some of these conflict of interest concerns.

trump not a big fan of financial disclosure iirc

Probably how he paid for his campaign contributions and hats.

he also doesn't like disclosing shit

xp

Oh, to put a finer point on what I was trying to say, beyond Trump's general avoidance of financial disclosure, the hypothetical revelation that he cashed in his stocks to pay for his campaign might demonstrate how illiquid (and totally not a billionaire) he is and might explain why he held back this information in particular.

btw Gore did get face time w/ the Yam himself, said it was "an extremely interesting conversation"

Trump appears to be quite canny at saying whatever the person he's talking to wants to hear and making a favorable first impression. But words are just words to him and he only uses them to manipulate others. His actions will speak x1000 louder.

it would be great if someone like gore struck the right ego notes and convinced trump that being the republican who turned the party around on global warming would be a pretty easy way to go down in history as a heroic figure who saved the world etc. etc. but given what his picks so far suggest about the direction of the admin, it seems like that's a pipe dream and he's not going to go against the grain.

Trump understands which horse he's riding. As long as he could ride it into the white house, he doesn't care that the whole world is riding it straight to hell.

Oh, to put a finer point on what I was trying to say, beyond Trump's general avoidance of financial disclosure, the hypothetical revelation that he cashed in his stocks to pay for his campaign might demonstrate how illiquid (and totally not a billionaire) he is and might explain why he held back this information in particular.

that's kinda what I thought too, the most likely "bombshell" in his tax returns is that he's not all that rich

the richest people in the world don't care about global warming or the world tearing itself apart. they know that they can always retreat to their properties with their private security force and be just fine, sort of like an apocalyptic version of atlas shrugged.

i know that sounds bonkers but i think it's true. even on a minor rich person scale, you can see evidence of this line of thinking. my uncle is a $$$$ guy and he takes great pride in showing off his elaborate apocalypse shelter in his basement, decked out in paranoia luxury and security gadgets

it would be great if someone like gore struck the right ego notes and convinced trump that being the republican who turned the party around on global warming would be a pretty easy way to go down in history as a heroic figure who saved the world etc. etc. but given what his picks so far suggest about the direction of the admin, it seems like that's a pipe dream and he's not going to go against the grain.

― iatee, Tuesday, December 6, 2016 1:50 PM (seven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yea it makes some sense when people talk about how unpredictable trump is and how he might buck the GOP in certain ways (i recall my moderate republican friend who tried to reassure me by saying how trump was a "manhattan liberal" until a few years ago) but so far all his appointments/words/actions have indicated this is going to be a hardline right wing administration

it's totally true

xp

no doubt he doesn't care about global warming and the short-term effects will maybe make a few of his golf courses worse or something

but my hope would be that someone could convince him that this would be a great way to go down as one of the most heroic figures of all time, without really doing much work. god knows he cares about his image. maybe a series of targeted SNL sketches could do it.

xp

it actually is a lot of work, and at a bare minimum, he would need to align his thought with literally EVERY OTHER WORLD LEADER that climate change is real, which doesn't seem very heroic.

much more likely is trump finally acknowledging that climate change is real while simultaneously championing geoengineering, conveniently implemented by the corporations of his friends and family, while telling his mouthbreathing horde of racist fucks that spewing up clouds of sulfuric acid into the atmosphere was inevitable

xp Trump still has to work with the Republican Congress, so making great strides forward on climate change would require quite a lot of work on his part. Instead, one would have to appeal to his need to show strength and be the most important, the indispensable person. Plus, you must convince him he couldn't actually lose if he chooses to fight. He'd WIN! BIG TIME!

ps I am not saying he would actually be one of the most heroic figures of all time

xp

and I don't know if we know how much leverage he has on moving the party in any direction - but unlike say, abortion, I don't think this is an issue that most lower education republican voters have particularly strong beliefs on. were he to just say 'we're the trump party, this is the trump party's view on the issue now' he would sway a lot of people. that's the thing that isn't a lot of work. probably could change millions of peoples minds w/ like 4 tweets, because his fans are more attached to him than to the issues.

Gore: Global warming is real. Here's why (gives three-hour presentation).
Trump: Wow, big league presentation. I'm having a yuge rethink about global warming.
(Gore leaves, Bannon enters)
Bannon: Global warming is not real.
Trump: Oh. Okay. Sounds good, Steve-o.

Xpost To be fair to Trump for once, I bet many billionaires don't have billions of dollars liquid in cash or easily made liquid.

This can't be right: at the uni library's CNN feed the crawl said "Ben Carnon the Ghostface Killah of Cabinet picks"

he's clearly the u-god

ok stop it lol

please

he's an ol' dirty bastard

"Ben Carnon the Ghostface Killah of Cabinet picks"

okay fuck this

are you being serious al? i kinda assumed that was a gag. What would that even mean?

http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/06/politics/panel-goes-off-the-rails-a-pundit-compares-carson-to-wu-tang-clans-ghostface-killah-cnntv/

who the hell considers Ghostface the leader of the Wu-Tang Clan?

Times has changed and life is strange

unless you are in an airport bar or on a treadmill, watching CNN is just the worst option

are you being serious al? i kinda assumed that was a gag. What would that even mean?

― A big shout out goes to the lamb chops, thos lamb chops (ulysses)

I had to check my contact lenses after seeing it

i'm not sure what satire would even look like anymore

A thought I've had numerous times in the past month.

We live in a post-satire era. Come January, Trump will officially begin eating children.

‏

@realDonaldTrump
Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!

Donald Trump's Tuesday morning criticism of Boeing closely followed the publishing of a story in which the aerospace giant's CEO expressed concerns about the trade agenda Trump has backed.

The Chicago Tribune published a column Tuesday morning which included Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg's recent comments arguing that free trade is a crucial part of the U.S. economy. Boeing has a lucrative jet business in China.

Boeing Statement on Air Force One

CHICAGO, Dec. 6, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) today issued the following statement regarding the Air Force One program:

"We are currently under contract for $170 million to help determine the capabilities of these complex military aircraft that serve the unique requirements of the President of the United States. We look forward to working with the U.S. Air Force on subsequent phases of the program allowing us to deliver the best planes for the President at the best value for the American taxpayer."

Contact:

Todd Blecher
Communications

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/12/06/did-donald-trump-tank-boeings-stock-because-he-was-mad-about-a-news-article/?utm_term=.7899e551b437

look at the replies to this tweet

https://twitter.com/carparkrecords/status/781559306961293312

look at them

I don't get it

they think all ages shows are pedo rings

that's what I thought after staring at those colors for a few minutes.

look i was gone all last week, did you guys not do pizzagate

@carparkrecords @cometpingpong @MADEIRA_MUSIC I bind you in the name of JESUS

al: http://www.newyorker.com/news/amy-davidson/the-age-of-donald-trump-and-pizzagate

no I know about #pizzagate. I couldn't understand the Tweets at first.

In fairness, that's a good thing visa vis your mental health.

xpost Probably because they're the incomprehensible ravings of people that somehow shit through their fingers onto keyboards.

I had PizzaGate explained to me at a baby shower.

btw Gore did get face time w/ the Yam himself, said it was "an extremely interesting conversation"

Trump appears to be quite canny at saying whatever the person he's talking to wants to hear and making a favorable first impression

I should've been clearer: Gore's words were so deliberately opaque they might just as well be translated as "We're fucked."