Of course, we've been saying how Trump is a deeply, deeply insecure individual, fighting for legitimacy and validation, both in his career, and in his personal life.  But it is nice to hear "Rev. Al" voice those opinions as well.

 

11 hours ago, DramatistDreamer said:

If you mean that he's running it down into financial ruin the way he did with his six bankruptcies, then yeah, he's pretty much running the country like he ran his businesses. The difference is there is no Fred Trump to bail him or the U.S. out.

 

9 hours ago, Juliajms said:

Exactly! He doesn't think he can do it, he is doing it. God help us all and especially federal employees.

 

That's all true.  However, what I was trying to say before was that he views the shutdown the same way he would view a labor dispute at one of his family's properties -- the fact that he called it a "strike" and not a shutdown (which are two completely different things) says as much -- and that, if he blusters and bullies and arm-twists enough, he'll get the other side to cave into his demands.  (I'm honestly shocked he hasn't suggested sending "scabs" and armed strike-breakers into the most affected federal agencies.)

 

Somehow, someone has to penetrate the layers of hair, bronzer, dementia, disorder and sheer lunkheadedness and get it through to him that 1) this is NOT one of his properties, 2) this is NOT a strike and 3) sending federal employees home and/or asking them to continue working without pay will have enormous consequences on our nation's economy and (in the long run) leave us vulnerable to enemies both foreign and domestic.

Edited January 5, 20196 yr by Khan

35 minutes ago, Khan said:

Somehow, someone has to penetrate the layers of hair, bronzer, dementia, disorder and sheer lunkheadedness and get it through to him that 1) this is NOT one of his properties, 2) this is NOT a strike and 3) sending federal employees home and/or asking them to continue working without pay will have enormous consequences on our nation's economy and (in the long run) leave us vulnerable to enemies both foreign and domestic.

 

I doubt that anyone will ever have that ability to get through to Trump, it's coming on two years and he still fails to grasp even the basic concepts associated with his office.  He will NEVER get it.

9 hours ago, Juliajms said:

Exactly! He doesn't think he can do it, he is doing it. God help us all and especially federal employees.

 

Anyone who relies on the services of federal employees. (*Gotta fly? Want a measure of air safety while you're doing it?  Need social services?  What about tax refunds/IRS?*).  Pretty much, God save us all from this terrorist in the White House.

I notice that when Obama was in office and there were shutdowns, the media tut-tutted to no end about broken Washington, and why wasn't the President leading. Now that a Republican is in the White House, there is much less appetite for this ending - instead it's just treated as some kind of bruising match over who will blink first, and how resolute Trump is.

 

Most of the press hates America and struggles to hide it. They only want to suck on the far right teat and to lord over everyone in perpetual moral superiority.

Edited January 5, 20196 yr by DRW50

1 hour ago, DRW50 said:

I notice that when Obama was in office and there were shutdowns, the media tut-tutted to no end about broken Washington, and why wasn't the President leading. Now that a Republican is in the White House, there is much less appetite for this ending - instead it's just treated as some kind of bruising match over who will blink first, and how resolute Trump is.

 

Most of the press hates America and struggles to hide it. They only want to suck on the far right teat and to lord over everyone in perpetual moral superiority.

 

This is one of the reasons, I roll my eyes when people excoriate liberal Hollywood and media.  The people who are truly in the upper echelons of these industries are rarely liberal, they are usually conservative, at best and right-wingers, at worst.  

Norman Lear may be an unabashed liberal but Lear is certainly not in charge of the television industry. 

Whereas Rupert Murdoch has enormous clout in the media industry, both TV and print.  We don't have to guess which political persuasion he belongs to.

Thread.

https://twitter.com/sarahkendzior/status/1081609639307943936

I read the newspaper(s) so much faster because I avoid the types of articles that he speaks of.

 

As a non-Democrat, I'm struck by how much the media seem obsessed by possible rifts among Democrats, narrow lines they'll have to walk, stray utterances of their backbenchers, etc, than by the rather more massive fact that we have a president and administration in total meltdown.

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) January 5, 2019

Seeking to force Senate R defections, Pelosi says: “Next week, House Democrats will begin passing individual appropriations bills to re-open all government agencies, starting with the appropriations bill that covers the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service”

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) January 5, 2019

"The impasse is particularly remarkable given that even some immigration hard-liners do not regard the wall as their highest priority and fear [Trump] will] cut a deal that trades a relatively ineffectual measure for major concessions on immigration." https://t.co/3Fqz7H7CJi

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 5, 2019

Earlier this evening, while dining at a local Chinese buffet, I saw on CNN an ad that was designed to get people to jump aboard the #BuildTheWall bandwagon.  As if building the wall was up for referendum or something.

Updated:

 

 

Our updated Saturday shutdown ledeall - with deets from inside the Pence meeting, Trump’s day calling up allies and what comes next, w/ @costareports @agearan https://t.co/yCBN7tUvUf

— Seung Min Kim (@seungminkim) January 6, 2019

And from the wurlitzer:

 

 

More on what @costareports is hearing - Trump has been talking about it for several days, and White House counsel's office has taken a look at what is possible since the shutdown began and Trump revived talk of this inside White House. https://t.co/3KiZdOnOrY

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 5, 2019

I assume this is just talk. If it’s not, Trump would be provoking a constitutional crisis that would lead to resignations of senior officials, not just civilian but also military if he sought to use the military illegally, and the start of impeachment proceedings. https://t.co/oSJSMzaZJC

— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) January 5, 2019

Kristol's naivete may be uncharacteristic and earnest, but it is misplaced. I suspect they will do nothing, but I hope to be surprised.

Part of me wishes this turns out the way rebuilding Stonehenge turned out on "This is Spinal Tap."

JUST IN: Pentagon Chief of Staff has resigned. "After two years in the Pentagon, I've decided the time is right to return to the private sector. It has been an honor to serve again alongside the men and women of the Department of Defense," said Rear Adm Kevin Sweeney, USN (Ret.)

— HansNichols (@HansNichols) January 5, 2019

2 hours ago, Khan said:

must be Pence. 

First Season 5, now this!

 

 

pic.twitter.com/iSFAokoIP7

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 6, 2019

He truly missed his calling as a SON troll.