Trump's America, February 2017: Autocratic for the People

countdown to Kanye declaring that Trump doesn't care about black people oh wai

Press conference already somewhat contentious. Brought up Fredrick Douglass, even.

i didn't realize he had andrew jackson's portrait hanging right by his desk in the oval office

https://cdn.theatlantic.com/assets/media/img/mt/2017/01/AP_17028587220740/lead_960.jpg?1485797819

if you watch the Black History Month speech, he actually is reading prepared remarks though...

i've only seen the transcript, so uh wtf that's even more appalling

I bet his fave AJ quote is "I have the guns."

The gist of the lead piece in the NYT Business section (Eduardo Porter) today is "Trump is doing the 'crazy-person strategy' badly."

xpost That's not a portrait of Andrew Jackson.
http://1428elm.com/files/2015/11/abgtlee2.jpg.png

Man, these Skype questions ...

http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/01/politics/petraeus-congress-testimony-putin/index.html

how long before Trump contradicts himself and says he committed a crime "far worse than Hillary" (which IS true, but obv the opposite of what he said)

xxxp this was the exchange from the current press briefing that referenced Douglass. They haven't even reached Peak Idiot yet.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C3mgCI1XAAE7iqK.jpg

I would not have guessed that this administration would be big Captain Hollywood Project boosters.

Murkowski and Collins now saying they'll vote "no" on Devos.

aaaaaaaaaaaaahaahaha what to that spicer transcript

The press is actually getting some good ones in here. This reporter just accused them of violated al 5 federal judges orders by deporting legal immigrants.

"In moments of agony, I envied my fellow-slaves for their stupidity. I have often wished myself a beast. I preferred the condition of the meanest reptile to my own. Any thing, no matter what, to get rid of thinking! It was this everlasting thinking of my condition that tormented me."

http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/31/politics/hobby-lobby-executive-power-gorsuch-key-rulings/index.html

hurry and rule on these Muslim Ban cases!

someone who speaks more incoherently than dubya. did you ever think you'd see it in your lifetime? what were the odds that there even WAS such a person?

i always knew there were people dumber and less coherent than dubya, i just never imagined i'd see them elected leader of the free world

Murkowski and Collins now saying they'll vote "no" on Devos.

nice but we're not gonna get to 60

or do we just need to get to a majority I forget

having a hard time keeping all this shit straight

we need a majority

just a majority for cabinet appointments iirc, otherwise dems could block them still

ah right duh - so Murkowski + Collins + 46 Dems + 2 Ind = 50. One more needed to sink her...? Who can we pick off?

aaaaaaaaaaaaahaahaha what to that spicer transcript

― stein beck ii: the wrath of grapes (Doctor Casino), Wednesday, February 1, 2017 2:11 PM (eleven minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

It's even funnier on video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iwdv54w7Ag

this entire administration reminds me more and more of the time in 6th grade when I was supposed to read a book and participate in a discussion about it but I forgot to read it and had to pretend like I did

you'd think press sec would be one spot where they wd've held auditions

Friend of mine is executive editor at DefenseOne and is appalled at all this. Yesterday they were dragging Trump on taking credit for decreased costs in the F-35 program. His last two tweets today:

Kevin Baron ‏@DefenseBaron 6m6 minutes ago

Recap of Trump WH today:
Iran, tests a missile -- put on notice
Russia, attacking Ukraine, US elections -- *crickets*

Kevin Baron ‏@DefenseBaron 14m14 minutes ago

Flynn walks in, threatens Iran "we're putting you on notice," walks out. Every US troop in @CENTCOM right made a target, going "Wait, what?"

What the fuck is with this obsession with coal?

needs W Va and KY votes

whoa: http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/01/politics/collins-murkowski-to-vote-no-on-education-secretary-nominee/index.html?adkey=bn

Without Murkowski or Collins, DeVos would need the vote of Vice President Mike Pence to win approval if all Democrats voted against her.

I can only assume the phone calls they've been getting.

man, I wonder which way Pence is going to go

Kevin Baron ‏@DefenseBaron 1m1 minute ago

Spicer just named the Navy SEALs wife on national TV. You might want to send some force protection over there, @DeptofDefense. @CENTCOM

They both signposted this in their votes to move DeVos to the full Senate, especially Murkowski; her entire speech was a compelling, convincing argument about how DeVos was unqualified followed by a story about how she moved one of Obama's nominees out of committee and voted against him.

wait, all of the Navy SEALs have the same wife?

shh

seal team sex

Read that Navy SEALs train as a team by collectively carrying around a big log. Can only assume they share a wife, too.

http://wp.crschools.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/navytraining06.jpg

"Ugh, so what are you going to get Martha for mother's day"
"Urggh, maybe flowers, what about you?"

What the fuck is with this obsession with coal?

For decades the coal companies have been waging war against government regulation of any sort for the simple reason that compliance costs them money and they like money. This war required them to hire expert liars to create masses of propaganda and release it into the media stream, similarly to how the coal companies polluted all the watersheds in coal country.

The right wing media has, of course, been the major conduit for this propaganda. The audience for right wing media has been saturated with this shit for a long time ("America is the Saudi Arabia of coal. Energy independence is as simple as using more coal.") This shit has been folded into the Republican pro-business, anti-regulation dogmas that define True Republicans, as opposed to RINOs. Love for coal is just as much of a Republican virtue as love for fetuses and racial profiling.

also it's hard to get the blackface for your costume parties right without coal

i recommend a thin cut above the brow and then allowing your black soulless blood to seep over your face

Goddamn, this news about DeVos has ignited the smallest little flicker of hope in me. Still like 95% convinced she'll be appointed but that 5% will carry me for a little while.

doesn't the whole 'coal miner' narrative also serve as like a dog whistle to lure white working class voters not unlike 'closed factories'

america is the saudi arabia of natural gas which is both cleaner and doesnt kill the people in charge of extracting it. the massive boom in the dakotas has been a massive driver of growth but don't let anyone know actual facts.

It used to be that coal miners were known for being crushed by the coal companies, given dangerous and often fatal working conditions, meager pay, being forced into debt by being paid scrip redeemable only at the company store, their angry militancy against their soulless bosses, and dying of black lung. Now the industry is dying due to market forces and the miners are known for demanding that the government subsidize coal companies so they can get their shitty jobs back.

I say Democrats make a deal: We transition to an all-coal energy company, but every household has to has its own coal furnace and turbine located no less than 100ft from the house. And it has to vent into their childrens' bedrooms.

*all coal energy economy