August 28, 2017

Could the 25th Amendment be the End Game for Trump Cabinet Detractors?

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Mattis, Cohn, Cho (McConnell's wife), Mnuchin (?) (could be playing possum), Kelly (I know, he doesn't really have a vote), Veteran's Affairs (after all, he's an Obama guy), even Sessions and Pence. Maybe even his family joins in (Ivanka, Jerod and Ivana). Add McConnell and Paul Ryan to the mix and this thing could be "Donald, either resign or we'll through you the fuck out!"

Could the time come that they reach a conclusion that this raving fucking maniac in the White House has to be expelled?

Rather than resign, could these cabinet members be engineering a "silent coup"?

Stranger things have happened.

August 27, 2017

The Floods in Texas are a Test for the Trump Administration

First of all, can we start out by saying that this event certainly is evidence that Climate Change is real.

I just heard that, by comparison, Harvey is far worse than the previous two floods in Houston. The interviewee went on to describe the two flooding events as "100 year events" which occurred over the past four years. If Houston is getting hit with two, one in 100 year events, and one once in 500 year events over a span of a half of a decade, what does that say to you?

The flooding is bad. My wife has relatives and friends in Houston, and we are worried. The real test of the Trump administration is how the aftermath of this disaster is handled. We can assess the immediate response in a couple of weeks, but the real test will be when homeowners who did not have flood insurance try to rebuild their homes and lives.

Trump cut $300 million from FEMA in his most recent budget. Homeowners who suffered in Katrina and Sandy are still fighting for their relief money. Let's see how this divisive, orange turd can navigate that budget item through Congress as a sustainable reinsurance for flood victims.

The Orange Asshole has already been tweeting out congratulations to his administration, while people are on roof tops. He has created distractions and controversies that have taken the focus off the disaster at hand. At a time that this Nation needs a steady, competent, knowledgeable leader, we have the exact opposite in charge of this country.

God Help Us All.

August 24, 2017

Here's What Trump Cannot Survive.

President* Trump has taken credit for the strong economy, which is just a residual effect of the Obama Administration. After all, no change in policy has occurred. But even in the best of circumstances, there is still a cyclical nature to the economy, and the large banks are warning of that downturn, just around the corner. Trump has burned his bridges on trust and will never be able to handle a negative GDP and job growth numbers, or a 20% correction in the Dow.

<snip>“These low macro and micro correlations confirm the idea that we’re in a late-cycle environment, and it’s no accident that the last time we saw readings this low was 2005-07,” Sheets wrote. He recommends boosting allocations to U.S. stocks while reducing holdings of corporate debt, where consumer consumption and energy is more heavily represented.<snip>

Link:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-08-22/wall-street-banks-warn-winter-is-coming-as-business-cycle-peaks

August 22, 2017

Trump the Hypocrite on Teleprompter Use

Trump proved one thing last night in his vague speech about our Afghanistan policy. He can read, barley.

After ridiculing Hillary for reading from a teleprompter, he did exactly what his imitation devolved into.

Link;

August 21, 2017

Question submitted by louis c

August 19, 2017

At the risk of offending my DU friends, there really is such a thing as a "good Nazi"

August 19, 2017

The Key to Me About Confederate Statues is Treason

The key point about removing the Confederate statues, flags and plaques is the fact that everyone who participated and took up arms against this country during the Civil War committed treason. Slavery was the reason for the war, but a vast majority of Confederate soldiers didn't own slaves and would never have had the means to own slaves, even if they wanted to. But to take up arms against our country is the definition of Treason, and no country honors traitors. Whether or not Benedict Arnold owned salves is not as important as the fact that he committed Treason.

Washington owned slaves and Jefferson owned slaves and nearly all of our founding fathers, especially in the South, owned slaves. Slavery was an issue during the Revolution, but practicality, at the time, was an argument avoided for a victory over the British. Any attempt to abolish slavery in 1776, or even 1789 (the Constitution) would have doomed the American revolution or crippled our fledgling nation. Compromises were made (the three fifths compromise comes to mind). These are not proud instances in our heritage, especially as defined by our contemporary standards. Women didn't get to vote until 1919. How the Native Americans were treated throughout our history is a source of shame. We can point to many imperfect men during our long history.

No, the Confederate statues and other icons are more than about slavery, it's about Treason. No country should honor traitors.

So here's my rule of thumb on historical monuments. If an individual needed a pardon in order to avoid being hanged for treason, we shouldn't erect a statue, name a building or honor that individual in any way. Treason is our argument and that defeats "what-aboutism" every time.

August 18, 2017

I'm Rooting for Steve Bannon

I can think of a couple of historical analogies to come into play when thinking of the firing of Steve Bannon by Trump.

The first one is the old adage, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend." Although both Bannon and Trump are despicable characters, certainly Trump is in a stronger position to do us harm. Although I could never consider Bannon my "friend", in this instance he's more like Churchill's Stalin to Trump as Hitler.

the second, and more cogent historical analogy is an old saying attributed to former President Lyndon Johnson. "I'd rather have him inside of the tent, pissing out, than outside of the tent, pissing in."

Donald Trump, get ready for a hell of a long, deep, wet golden shower.

Pass the pop corn.

August 18, 2017

I believe that today's Camp David meeting is a ruse.

Here's my take on the scheduled Camp David meeting about America's Afghanistan policy. I think these guys are getting Trump there to read him the riot act, using Afghanistan as an excuse.

Let's look at some facts and some opinion. Gen. Kelly must be beside himself. He wants discipline and order in the White House. When Charlottesville occurred and Trump made a horrible statement on Saturday, basically defending the Nazis and the Klan, Kelly must have been horrified. Trump then went out on Monday with a carefully worded statement and must have been told "just read this". He still had to ad lib the "all sides, all sides" that ruined the whole reason for the statement. Kelly and company must have figured we can spin this, but we need to change the subject and fast. So, Tuesday was scheduled as a infra-structure plan roll out. It was supposed to be carefully choreographed. Trump comes down the elevator, reads a 5 minute statement, returns to the elevator, and then a Q&A with Mnuchin and Elaine Cho. Kelly must have been furious when that program went off the rails.

Add to this that the Joint Chiefs released a statement condemning racism the next day, Bannon's interview dissing Tillerson and McMasters and I'm guessing all the so called adults in the room have had it.

Today's meeting is with Trump, Defense Secretary Mattis, Sec. of State Tillerson, Chief of Staff Kelly VP and NSA director McMaster.

My theory goes like this. They will tell Trump that they will no longer stand for his bullshit. They will inform him that they will all resign if he doesn't get rid of Bannon, Gorka and Steve Miller.

They will further inform him that he's on a 'last chance agreement". That even after the firing of the aforementioned, if he doesn't fully the script that they will write, they will resign and speak out against him.

I think this meeting was set up so that there would be no interference from anyone else except the "Circle of Generals" plus Tillerson (who's on the same page).

They are not going to continue to participate in this circus, with this clown, but I believe they will give Trump one more chance, as long as he knows who's boss, and it ain't him.

That's my theory and I don't think it will work.

August 17, 2017

Bannon Admits He's White House Leaker

I have long suspected that one of the white House leakers was Steve Bannon.

For a smart guy, he's pretty stupid. He calls a liberal journalist who agrees with Bannon on trade and carries on a conversation. The reporter claims Bannon never said it was off the record, so his opinions on trade, Trump's position on North Korea, Bannon's opinion on the white supremacists and his opinion on other staffers all comes out.

What he said in the article is of little interest to me. What he said after it was published, that's what's interesting.

Bannon claims the conversation was "off the record" and that he never gave the reporter permission to use his name. The reporter disputes that. Does Steve Bannon know what an "off the record" conversation with a reporter in order to shield your identity is called? I know. It's called a fucking leak, you moron.

You just admitted that you're the leaker. See ya'.