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

i don't want to imagine the shit that would be found in that comment section .

It's not very imaginative

glad to see Colbert getting more righteous tbh

Imagine running a wildly profitable fast food chain. Every morning your dozens of franchises open up run smoothly; workers come in, keep things neat, provide quality customer service, keep the profits rolling in. Imagine this system allows you to become a multi millionaire.

Now imagine lobbying in order to repeal overtime pay provisions for these same employees, so that they can work 50, 60 hours a week without getting time and a half. Imagine penning an op ed for the walll street journal against any minimum wage increase, even though most of your franchises are in california, which has a high cost of living.

Imagine championing automation as a way to save money by putting your workers out of a job -- the same workers whose labor allows you to be a millionaire. Imagine making smug jokes on camera about how they machines are never rude and don't talk back and things to that effect.

Now imagine being named secretary of labor by a president elect who ran on a "populist" message.

This is too grotesque to even comprehend. Feels like Trump is going out of his way to spit in the faces of the working class people who voted for him. His appointees have long track records of trying to destroy these voters' livelihoods.

duh

time honored tradition going back to Reagan or maybe Nixon

now imagine none of trumps supporters actually giving a fuck about how this guy is terrible for them or why. they have no interest in lifting their heads out of their echo chambers, and no interest in ever considering that they might be wrong.

Also remember that a lot of Trump's voters -- most -- aren't working class. A lot of them live in the suburbs and when they go to fast-food restaurants it's to eat, not to clock in. They're people like the guy I heard today -- a guy who works in a profession that prides itself on being blue-collar, but still has health benefits and a pension -- talking dismissively about people who "think you should get paid 15 bucks an hour to flip burgers."

Now imagine that everything you imagined is real! Especially the flying piranha demons

That's true tipsy, but a good amount of trump's supporters still seemed to be under the impression that he's stick up for ordinary people against entrenched interests. The head of carl's jr is an enemy of ordinary people.

*he'd

Republican voters do not recognize fast food workers, or minimum-wage employees in general, as ''ordinary people'' though.

LOL what First Amendment?

The Lincoln Memorial has been the site for many of the United States’ most historic rallies, from the civil rights and anti-Vietnam protests of the 1960s to the Million Man March in 1995. However, for the thousands of women planning to march on Washington following Donald Trump’s inauguration, the D.C, landmark won’t be available for rallying.

According to The Guardian, the National Park Service, on behalf of the Presidential Inauguration Committee, has blocked access to the landmark by filing a “massive omnibus blocking permit.” This will bar protesters from most of the National Mall, Pennsylvania Avenue, the Washington Monument, and of course, the Lincoln Memorial for days and weeks before, during, and after the inauguration, which will take place on Jan. 20, 2017.

The Women’s March on Washington was organized for January 21, the day following the inauguration and was set to be held at the Lincoln Memorial. According to a Facebook event, over 136,000 people are due to attend. Now, with the blocking of access to many of the spaces commonly used to protest, participants will have to find space elsewhere—no easy feat considering how few public spaces to gather will be free during the time period surrounding the inauguration.

Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, executive director of the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund, said in a press conference for the Answer (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition, said that she’s worked on court battles for protest access on inauguration before, but this instance is “extremely unique” in that it banned access to public land (which Answer Coalition’s press release notes, are “historic spaces for dissent”) for protesters days after the inauguration.

“It hasn’t come up in any way previously, where you’ve had a groundswell of people trying to have access on the Saturday, January 21, and thousands of people want to come, and the government is saying we won’t give you a permit,” she said. “What they’ve done is take all of these spaces out of action.”

Mark Litters, a Park Service spokesman, told The Guardian that the blocked-off spaces are “construction zones, effectively.”

mark litters of the park service? c'mon that can't be a real person, it's too perfect

That's fucking disgusting. But, well, if y'all are looking to quell lawful demonstration, I suppose there are other kinds of demonstration we could start engaging in.

trump needs a safe space

Literally true.

People (Treeship, lots of people IRL, etc) should stop painting this straw man Trump supporter who believes in this fanciful intersection on the political Venn diagram that we can all agree upon.

Like this morning my friend was thinking out loud how surely Trump's base would be at least a little bit underwhelmed by his decision to stay on as an executive producer for a reality television show, and then realized no, of course not, they don't fucking care. Save yourself the round trip! The answer is always no, they don't care.

I've been watching the Leah Remini Scientology show, and the parallels between that shit and this Trumpist/alt-right shit underscores my long-held and increasingly-strong belief that we're basically handing the reins over to a cult leader.

(I'm sure you history and political theory buffs will be able to frame that in a broader context of fascism and demagoguery throughout history, but I'm less smart than you.)

exec producer is often a no-showup job i think

....

Yeah it's congruent with his fundamental beliefs about getting paid.

I don't think this is a huge deal but of course he's on the record saying that he would absolutely give it up because he lies about literally everything

The backhandedness of that Putin quote posted here some days ago was kinda delicious. Boldface mine:

“Trump was a businessman and an entrepreneur,” Putin said in the interview, which also touched on international affairs, including the war in Syria. “Now he’s a government official, now he’s the head of the United States of America, one of the leading countries of the world, one of the world’s leading economies, one of the world’s leading military states. To the extent that he was able to achieve success in business, this shows that he’s a smart person. And if he’s a smart person, that means that he will totally and quite quickly understand the different level of his responsibility. We presume that he will act based on this position.”

http://www.politicsnc.com/an-open-letter-to-america-from-north-carolina/

An open letter to America from North Carolina
December 7, 2016 | by Thomas Mills | Editor's Blog | 103 Comments

Dear America,

North Carolina here. You’re in for a rough ride for the next few years. We should know.

Just a few years ago, we were the moderately progressive state known for great beaches, mountain vistas, a world-class university system, and a welcoming environment. Then, in 2012, Republicans took control of both houses of the legislature, the Governor’s Mansion and the Supreme Court. (Sound familiar?) Now, we’re known for HB2, voter suppression laws, and extreme gerrymandering.

The Republicans in Congress are about to get brutal. Everything you think they wouldn’t dare do, they will do. They will strike quickly and broadly. By the time you understand the breadth of their destruction, they’ll be rolling and you’ll be trying to figure out how to respond.

Nothing is sacred. Expect attacks on the social safety net, including Social Security and Medicare. The third rail of American politics now has a short in it. The social contract that we built in the New Deal and Great Society is in tatters.

These aren’t Ronald Reagan Republicans. They’re Cal Coolidge folks. We’re going back to the Roaring Twenties, complete with Robber Barons and massive income inequality.

They’ll flatten the tax rate and shift the burden from the wealthy to the middle class. They’ll cut corporate taxes to almost nothing and eliminate protections that keep workers out of poverty in tough economic times.

Deregulation will be the cry of the day. Forget climate change. They’ll trade hurricanes and droughts for gas and oil profits in a New York minute. Unregulated financial industries will make bankers even richer while costing you more in fees, penalties, and interest.

Proposed social legislation will send tremors through organizations that defend women’s health, equality, and social justice. Various religious freedom bills will defend the rights of socially conservative Christians to discriminate against LGBT people. The rights of fetuses will supersede those of the adults who created them.

Expect an all-out assault on public education. They’ll force some sort of voucher program on public schools across the nation. Religious schools will get a bunch of tax dollars while poor schools will get the shaft. Privatization of our public education system is the end game here.

They’ll try to protect their gains by disenfranchising voters who disagree with them. Look for federal legislation to make voting more difficult, especially for people of color and young folks. They’ll force states to bend to their will on voting restrictions.

Oh, you thought they believe in limited government? How quaint.

No, they want power. And they’ll do what it takes to keep it. The only Amendment that counts for much anymore is the second one.

If you want a hint of what they’ll do, look at the various components of their base. Everybody will get something.

The free-marketeers will get their supply-side tax cuts and deregulation that increases environmental destruction while stripping away workers’ rights. The social conservatives will get restrictions on abortions and anti-LGBT legislation. The populists will get a crackdown on undocumented immigrants that pushes the Fourth Amendment to the breaking point.

Sure, some of their overreach will fail. In North Carolina, two guys tried to institute a state religion. Another one submitted a bill to mint our own currency. They just made us a laughingstock. They won’t be able to kill the Federal Reserve System, though somebody like Louie Gohmert will certainly suggest it.

So, what can you do? Well, you can organize. Look at the Moral Monday protests that energized the base in North Carolina. Build a campaign infrastructure that recruits candidates and supports them. And sue. Much of their legislation will be unconstitutional. Even if the GOP controls the Supreme Court, judicial consciences will come into play. A few judges will surprise you.

Be loud. They’ve empowered racists and they’ll look the other way at religious intolerance. Call them out and shame them. Our Muslim brothers and sisters will likely have an especially difficult time. Stand with them. The world needs to know that there are still people in America who won’t abide bigotry.

And, hey, if all that fails, we’re probably only six or eight years away from another economic collapse. That’s what’s happened the last two times the GOP controlled all three branches of government. Their policies caused the Great Depression in 1929 and the Great Recession in 2008. Lack of oversight and regulation encourages unsustainable corruption and greed.

After that, if you’ve held off authoritarianism, you can elect a responsible government that believes in mitigating the impact of economic hardship on the most vulnerable people in a capitalist society, protects the environment from the most egregious polluters, and stands up for the rights of minorities.

But for now, buckle up. It’s gonna be a rough ride. Welcome to the fray.

Sincerely,

North Carolina

That's pretty much what I've been thinking all written out in one place. Except I think the economic collapse will come sooner.

It's true, Tom! Showbiz is a big scam mostly. xxxxp

puzder sounds like an awful pos but this mark krikorian post from NR indicates that immigration hardliners might not be happy with him? http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/442884/trump-labor-secretary-immigration

Trump’s pick for Labor secretary is perhaps the worst person imaginable for that role: Andrew Puzder, CEO of CKE Restaurants, the parent company of fast-food chains Carl’s Jr., Hardee’s, and others. He is one of the nation’s most outspoken business voices for Gang of Eight-style immigration policies. He didn’t just sign an open letter once as a favor to a friend; he’s been a high-profile champion of amnesty and huge increases in immigration and guestworkers. This op-ed in Politico, timed to coincide with the launch of the Gang of Eight effort in 2013, could have been written by Jeb Bush. Here he is at AEI in 2013 making the case for importing more low-skilled workers. Here he joins with the Bloomberg-Murdoch Billionaires for Open Borders outfit and Grover Norquist in an effort to “push 2016 presidential candidates and congressional Republican leaders to support immigration reform this year.” There’s plenty more.

I had a feeling the admin wouldn't really go as hard as they said on immigration -- it's shaping up to be more of a hard right pro-business admin with some gifts here and there for the social conservative base. Business loves immigrants.

business loves cheap non-union labor that they can demonize and demoralize when opportune

looks like they're going to purge the EPA https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-12-09/trump-team-s-memo-hints-at-broad-shake-up-of-u-s-energy-policy

Dear deity or deities, is there something I'm doing wrong when I implore you daily to allow Donald Trump to peacefully pass away in his sleep? Please let me know because we really need to rush this thing along. Thanks!

specifically targeting everyone who worked on Obama's climate "agenda" is a special kind of evil, I hope there is a hell and all these dumb fuckers have to live there, since they'll all be dead when Earth becomes Hell incarnate

(seriously though fuck any news org or politician who calls "trying in vain to save this dumb planet" an "agenda")

It's like how fighting for clean air and water is just part of libtards' stupid "trying not to die" agenda.

They'll suddenly remember who was involved in the manufacture of their air filtration systems and gas masks when that shit starts to fail.

was just hoping there's a hell this morning after reading about some of these picks xxp

('They' being GOP fucks who think they can comfortably ride out mass extinction in the safety of their fortified McMansions.)

https://thinkprogress.org/trump-spokeswoman-says-he-will-produce-the-apprentice-in-his-spare-time-c810df41dff4#.9j3ffpitn

trump has time to produce the apprentice but not to take daily intelligence briefings

priorities

I didn't even know North Carolina could read. Good job, North Carolina!

(I kid, I was born there, and I'm up to chapter books.)

We'll be in DC for the march in January. In fact, I know several people from my corner of the city alone who are going. I wonder if estimates of 130,000 or whatever are actually low? Anyway, how the fuck can they close public spaces from protesting? If Fugazi can play a free show at the base of the monument, surely my family and I can march to the Lincoln Memorial.

They played a show at the base of the Washington Monument because they got a permit

Dear deity or deities, is there something I'm doing wrong when I implore you daily to allow Donald Trump to peacefully pass away in his sleep? Please let me know because we really need to rush this thing along. Thanks!

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

i suggest praying for an apology. we all deserve one.

Fine. If Fugazi can get a permit to play a free show at the base of the Washington Monument, surely my family and I can march to the Lincoln Memorial, per historical march precedent.

They played a show at the base of the Washington Monument because they got a permit

― a (waterface)

ok, there's our answer. fugazi needs to ask for another permit and then when they get one, bam! hundreds of thousands of women at the free show.

@CNBCnow
BREAKING: President-elect Trump picks Goldman Sachs president & COO Gary Cohn to be National Economic Council Director

that swamp is really drainin'

there is so much winning i can't even take it