Apologies to start with. Firstly, some of these tweets are getting a bit dated. I began this post yesterday by finding most of the tweets, then I ran out of time to write the homily. I should always do it the other way around. However, it was a few days since I’d checked my Twitter notifications, and there were a few good ones there, and I just kept going. Also, because I didn’t get this done yesterday, it’s 5th May in New Zealand, so I’m a bit late with the “May the Fourth be With You” stuff. And thirdly, I just can’t help myself – I’m going to go on about Donald Trump again.
As always since Trump became president, there’s just too much to write about. Almost everything he says is newsworthy not because there is anything special about it, but because it’s so often either wrong or an outright lie. During the presidential election campaign, he was able to paint Hillary Clinton as dishonest and make the moniker “Crooked Hillary” stick. However, consulting fact checkers gave a very different result. Clinton was, in fact, the most honest of all the presidential candidates. Her public statements had a greater level of accuracy and truthfulness than all the Republican candidates as well as Bernie Sanders.
Trump, as I’ve pointed out so many times you’re probably bored with the me, was not only the biggest liar in the 2016 campaign, he was the biggest liar the fact checkers had ever tracked in modern politics. It’s no surprise to anyone with any sense that his lying has continued into his presidency.
Last week, the number of “false or misleading claims” made by Trump, as counted by the Washington Post fact checkers, hit the 3,000 mark. It took him just 466 days. That’s more than six per day, including the days spent playing 105 games of golf.
Most of the current lies are around his alleged sexual relationship with adult film actress Stephanie Clifford, aka Stormy Daniels. So far I’ve managed to avoid talking about this. It’s not a very salubrious topic, and besides there’s plenty more to cum come on the subject yet. This could be the one that brings him down, and it would be both ironic and oddly satisfying if it did. He treats women in general badly, but some he looks down on even more than others.
Clifford is one of those he thinks less of, and treats less well, because of his opinion of her life choices. It’s that sort of person I’d like to be the one who’s fight back sees him getting his comeuppance. One of the reasons I feel that way is I’ve no doubt I’d be one of those woman he thought even less of than most. I won’t go into why, but it makes me feel an affinity with women like Clifford/Daniels. (No, I’m not, and never have been, an adult film actress, escort, club hostess, sex worker, or even a barmaid.)
Even Trump’s friends at Fox News are turning against him, like rats deserting a sinking ship. Check out this narrative by Neil Cavuto:
(Tweets via Ann German.)
Jeez, I wonder if Shitty Grandpa watched this. I hope he did.https://t.co/ZptnP6J4WM
— Bob Cesca (@bobcesca_go) May 4, 2018
Neil Cavuto isn’t the first of course, and I doubt he will be the last.
Trump has brought all this upon himself. While he makes complaints like this:
Trump says he would “love” to speak to Mueller, “but I have to find that we are going to be treated fairly. Right now it’s a pure witch hunt. Why aren’t we having Republicans looking also? Why aren’t we having Republican people doing what these Democrats are doing? It’s unfair.” pic.twitter.com/IZfYav2lxI
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 4, 2018
The truth is this:
One more time:
Mueller = Republican
Rosenstein = Republican
Sessions = Republican
Wray = Republican
House = Republican
Senate = Republican
US Attorney SDNY = Republican
Coats, DNI = Republican
Rogers, NSA = Republican
Why are all these Democrats being so unfair to Trump? https://t.co/csaiInLHYU— Bob Cesca (@bobcesca_go) May 4, 2018
The problem is so many are enabling his behaviour. To a certain extent, we can expect it from many of the politicians. On both sides, a lot of them are there not to make their country better, but either for the power or the opportunity to enrich themselves (or both).
The Evangelical Christians on the other hand tell us they’re above such earthly considerations. Their motives are pure. And still they continue to support Trump. Reversing the SCOTUS decisions on abortion and same-sex marriage, and being allowed to own AR-15s, are apparently more important to them than anything else. So important, that they spend a lot of time convincing each other that Trump was put in place by God and those opposing him do so at the behest of Satan.
Three recent examples:
3 May 2018: ‘Jesse Lee Peterson: ‘Satan Is Your Father’ If You Don’t Support Trump‘
4 May 2018: ‘Jim Bakker: ‘I Would Believe A Million’ People Are Trying To Kill Trump‘
3 May 2018: ‘Lance Wallnau Blows Back The ‘Demonic’ Cloud Of ‘Witchcraft And Curses’ That Is Attacking Trump‘
There are more and more conservative Christians starting to speak out against Trump. I don’t know how long it takes for people to get over a delusion. The Trump Train is fairly recent, and they can drop him without losing their primary delusion. All it takes is for a few of their major prophets to have a dream than Trump has gone over to the Dark Side, and the sheep will follow. Let’s hope it happens sooner rather than later.
I decided to re-post this cartoon from last year, just so I could post it here. (I’m in that sort of mood.)
According to the Washington Post, Trump has hit 3,000 lies on the Fact Checker. As he tries to destroy Obama’s legacy, he’s creating a different sort of legacy for himself … #TrumpLies pic.twitter.com/2XmHDNa2r6
— Heather’s Homilies (@HeatherHastie) May 5, 2018
Trigger Warning: The second and third entries in the ‘Healthcare Tweets’ section. The Facebook entry (second entry) is graphic and the third entry (a tweet) is confronting.
Political Tweets
Paul Ryan is an a$$ho£€. He’s got the tax package he’s always wanted that will destroy poor people and massively increase debt, so he’s leaving. Father Pat Conroy, the House Chaplain had the guts (Ryan would say “temerity”) to call him out on it, so Ryan tried to force him to resign. Conroy is standing up to him. As Ann German said when she sent me this tweet, “Good on him.”
Here is the full letter Father Pat Conroy sent to Speaker Ryan today rescinding his resignation as House chaplain pic.twitter.com/UekWoGVykY
— Alex Moe (@AlexNBCNews) May 3, 2018
Ha ha! ????
(Via Ann German.)
Who would have thought in the American divorce of Liberals and Conservatives that the Liberals would get the NFL and the FBI and the Conservatives would get Kanye West and Alan Dershowitz? #2018isCrazy
— John Dalton (@Dalton642) April 26, 2018
It would not surprise me if this were true. I’ve no doubt that Russia was involved in ensuring Brexit – there are few things they’d like better than to see the EU collapse. They’d love to see the British government in as much strife as possible too.
(Via Ann German.)
I realize daily shit show from the White House is hard to look away from, but this is more than a little interesting. At least bookmark it for later reading. https://t.co/wNcJRyxegp
— (((aweisburd))) (@webradius) May 3, 2018
Remember this! (By which I mean don’t forget it. Remember the name Emerdata.)
(Via Ann German.)
Cambridge Analytica is not closing down. It is simply being re-structured as a company called #Emerdata.
They don’t want you to know. It would be terrible if we made it trend.
– #TheResistance https://t.co/RKInl71ptM— Alt. U.S. Press Sec. (@AltUSPressSec) May 2, 2018
White House Correspondents’ Dinner Tweets
A quote from Michelle Wolf’s routine at the Correspondents’ Dinner. I loved this bit too. The truth is, Trump wouldn’t be president without the media and the way they treated him, and mistreated Hillary.
(Via Ann German.)
You know deserves credit for the press stepping up and calling Sarah Sanders on her lies?@michelleisawolf.
Wolf shined a light on access journalism and without that, many would have thrown softballs today.
But not after this:
So Thanks, Michelle.#PressBriefing #msnbc pic.twitter.com/iVjtfSSNGn— Steve Marmel (@Marmel) May 3, 2018
Truth. I’ve been saying for a while that they should be using the word, “Lie,” when referring to comments from Trump and his sheep.
(Via Ann German.)
The press is more chippy today, using the word Lie when referring to Trump’s Lies. We probably have Michelle Wolf to thank, calling them out for trading access for edge. #PressBriefing
— Karen DaltonBeninato (@kbeninato) May 3, 2018
Mueller Time Tweets
No comment necessary.
(Whole thread via Ann German.)
Giuliani says there is no evidence.
Two emails. Just a small sample of what Mueller has. Trump employees Cohen and Sater:
The Trump cult is going to have to wake up at some point on how bad this is for Trump. Email number one. pic.twitter.com/giExt4qAW8
— ☇RiotWomenn☇ (@riotwomennn) May 3, 2018
Email number 2. Add these to meeting at Trump Tower, Trump Jr emails, messages with Stone & Guccifer, Assange messaging with Jr. …
Lord only knows what Mueller has that we haven’t seen.
And all the time Trump has more than 10 people lying about it pic.twitter.com/vin6mUueWn
— ☇RiotWomenn☇ (@riotwomennn) May 3, 2018
Aug 2016 Roger Stone was an operative for Trump. In that capacity Stone asked Guccifer 2.0 to tweet that the election was rigged against Trump. Which was “done.”
We now know that Guccifer 2.0 hacked the DNC email & is an agent of Russian intelligence
— ☇RiotWomenn☇ (@riotwomennn) May 3, 2018
On December 3, 2017, The New York Times reported that a May 2016 email to the Trump campaign adviser, Rick Dearborn, bore the subject line “Kremlin Connection.” In it, Paul Erickson, an N.R.A. member said he wanted the advice of Dearborn and Jeff Sessionshttps://t.co/F9oVcEKYuM
— ☇RiotWomenn☇ (@riotwomennn) May 3, 2018
The public evidence alone showing Trump Russia cooperation is overwhelming.
Jr. had 2 calls w Agalarov to pursue dirt Russians were promising as part of 6/2016 meeting. Between these calls? 3rd call from blocked number. Mueller has the answer … pic.twitter.com/8KtnMgrXDd
— ☇RiotWomenn☇ (@riotwomennn) May 3, 2018
Check out this tweet (we’re still in the thread): Pence is in the list of liars. Maybe he won’t take over as VP after all!
Kislyak, Flynn, Page, Sessions, Conway, Trump, Jr, Manafort, Spicer, Pence all lied about repeat communication w Russia
Coordinated lies. That many people don’t all forget the exact same thing.
Criminal conspiracy to obstruct & consciousness of guilt
— ☇RiotWomenn☇ (@riotwomennn) May 3, 2018
Trump better hope a NY or DC jury isn’t called on to decide his case.
Trump & 15 + people all accidentally lied about the same thing?
Every juror will see a large conspiracy to cover-up. Under the laws of evidence, the jury can consider this as evidence of guilt. pic.twitter.com/ck7vq5udV5
— ☇RiotWomenn☇ (@riotwomennn) May 3, 2018
Pre-Mueller Time Tweets
Just sayin’. ???? ????
(Via Ann German.)
Trump’s deal making is so bad, he gets sued after paying for sex#TrumpWorld pic.twitter.com/tuPZzpG1nG
— Gamora???????? (@exoticgamora) May 2, 2018
Living the Deluded Life Tweets
Trump surrounds himself with people that he’s either completely sucked in, or who are unable or unwilling to be honest with him. It seems he simply doesn’t believe any negative information. This tendency has been clear in the way he loves foreign leaders who flatter him, but dislikes allies who disagree with him.
(Tweets via Ann German.)
Greg Sargent, today, has a sharp view of the current status of the impending Trump constitutional crisis. Must read: https://t.co/n3xzIDXyXf
— Bob Cesca (@bobcesca_go) May 2, 2018
WH aide is bewildered this AM by Giuliani but says many on staff now feels like they’re not in control of the situation. Aide says POTUS and Giuliani are “running” their own strategy and have a generational rapport and shared grievances/perspectives….
— Robert Costa (@costareports) May 3, 2018
Aging can involve unwarranted overconfidence and an increase in concrete thinking. Elderly people are taken advantage of because of this. Cc: @RVAwonk https://t.co/6cfeFO4iRB
— Carolyn McClanahan (@CarolynMcC) May 3, 2018
On the narcissist’s destructive lack of self-awareness:
“Sometimes a man in armour might not even know he was being attacked. He will be slow to see, slow to hear — slower still to feel.” pic.twitter.com/zoVjRLeQmY
— Caroline O. (@RVAwonk) May 3, 2018
And in case you’re in any doubt:
“.@realDonaldTrump was the dumbest goddamn student I ever had.” ~ Professor William T. Kelley, Wharton.
I would expect that Professor Kelley had a lot of students during his career at The Wharton School. He said EVER HAD. https://t.co/RIvnj1NJty
— Alternative NOAA (@altNOAA) May 2, 2018
Human Rights Tweets
I think I’ve posted this or something similar in the past, but 3 May was World Press Freedom day. (That’s when this post was originally going to go up!)
“Or liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited with being lost.” – Thomas Jefferson#TheResistance #MAGA #Trump #FoxNews #Resist #ImpeachTrump pic.twitter.com/zH3REdUzPj
— Fredon Moniteau (@FMoniteau) May 3, 2018
At least with Sean Spicer, you could see he felt guilty about being forced to tell lies from the White House podium. Sarah Huckabee Sanders appears to have no guilt whatsoever about lying on behalf of the president to the people of her country.
#SarahHuckabeeSanders: Butcher of the Truth. Serving up lies in bite size pieces. Now that her credibility is being questioned Trump’s hatchet-maid is crying that she always gave the best info she had. If that’s the case she needs to exit the WH now. #PressBriefing #TrumpLies pic.twitter.com/YQi6PTCmE0
— Nick Walden Poublon (@NWPinPDX) May 3, 2018
Taking the high road. #WhatGoodPeopleDo
(Via Ann German.)
How cool is this..?
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Black men arrested at Starbucks settle with Philadelphia for $1 each and a city pledge of $200K for young entrepreneurs.#WednesdayWisdom
— John Lundin ???? (@johnlundin) May 2, 2018
Gun Safety Tweets
When is the US government going to do something about gun safety?
(Via Ann German.)
This Democrat bought a semi-automatic rifle at a Virginia gun show near a public school in under 10 minutes, no questions asked https://t.co/NI0g3zcrBP
— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) May 2, 2018
Religion Tweets
Afaik, we don’t have a National Day of Prayer in New Zealand. But the USians do, and despite their First Amendment, it appears to be something their government commemorates.
(Via a German.)
#NationalDayOfPrayer pic.twitter.com/aL0WqdknL7
— oufenix (D) (@oufenix) May 3, 2018
How’s this for an outrageous situation …
In Nigeria, it’s still illegal to attempt suicide due to religious influence on the laws (both Christian and Muslim):
Police charge Melaye with attempted suicide – TheNewsGuru – https://t.co/96ol3PiJqQ via @TheNewsGuruNg
— Heather’s Homilies (@HeatherHastie) May 3, 2018
Bryan Fischer is a truly revolting human being.
Bryan Fischer: Jewish People & Other Non-Christians Don’t Have First Amendment Rights | Right Wing Watch https://t.co/Mj5RpfGELw
— Heather’s Homilies (@HeatherHastie) May 5, 2018
Healthcare Tweets
There’s some stuff in this video we need to remember re antibiotics.
Could A Superbug Destroy Us All? https://t.co/KtXevvoKri via @YouTube
— Heather’s Homilies (@HeatherHastie) May 4, 2018
A cousin’s mother-in-law shared this on Facebook:
Very sad.
Brighter than a thousand suns.. Eyes that have seen a nuclear blast. Hiroshima, Japan. August 8, 1945 pic.twitter.com/aIeaodpXWT
— Mood:Vintage (@moodvintage) May 4, 2018
I Know I’m Being a Mean Bit₵h, But Some People Are Just Stupid Tweets
Sometimes, you need to remember that statistically, half the population are of less than average intelligence.
(Via Ann German.)
I told the beauty store clerk I didn’t know how to shop for new eyeliner because I “hadn’t been on this planet in awhile.” I meant, planet makeup. She just excitedly whispered to a colleague, “There’s an astronaut lady who needs help with her Earth look.”
— Monica Hesse (@MonicaHesse) May 3, 2018
May the Fourth be With You Tweets
A selection from those going around the Twitterverse. Except the first one. I just posted that so I could put it here.
My favourite #MayThe4thBeWithYou pic.twitter.com/iRDtTAh1xD
— Heather’s Homilies (@HeatherHastie) May 5, 2018
Rare Chinese Bootleg Star Wars Comic originally published in Guangdong, China, in 1980. The artists who created this book may not have actually seen Star Wars, so they were using limited promotional material and what they knew of western culture to put this comic together pic.twitter.com/zNdsE2IIiJ
— 41 Strange (@41Strange) May 5, 2018
x May the Fourth be with you.
May the Fifth bring impeachment.
— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) May 4, 2018
OMG I just realized that due to the timing of my flight to NZ and the crossing of the Date Line, I entirely skipped Friday! MAY THE FOURTH WAS NOT WITH ME
— Katie Mack (@AstroKatie) May 5, 2018
70sscifiart:
Happy May the Fourth. https://t.co/hAGAb1roR2 pic.twitter.com/WHvaiHCeGd
— 70s Sci-Fi Art (@70sscifiart) May 4, 2018
My obligatory May the Fourth Be With You crossover photos: pic.twitter.com/LUf4ujgkbR
— Brian Jay Jones (@brianjayjones) May 5, 2018
Snoopy Wars ???????????? May the fourth be with you… #StarWarsDay #StarWars #snoopyhttps://t.co/E5J0V24hdw pic.twitter.com/SyEPTWyAvM
— Snoopy Facts (@snoopyfacts) May 5, 2018
Happy #StarWarsDay! Get tickets to Solo: A Star Wars Story in theaters May 25: https://t.co/hNx4uSEDyf #MayThe4thBeWithYou #HanSolo pic.twitter.com/j6hySEbqOU
— Star Wars (@starwars) May 4, 2018
May the fourth be with you!#StarWarsDay pic.twitter.com/TnbqJ6fGKy
— McSpocky™ ???????? (@mcspocky) May 5, 2018
#WhatStarWarsTaughtMe That women can lead rebellions and be just as tough and strong as men.
#MayThe4thBeWithYou #StarWarsDay #WeAreTheSpark pic.twitter.com/UdbkAJd7FJ— Leia (@TheSWPrincess) May 5, 2018
Art Tweets
Very cool.
British Artists Tim Noble and Sue Webster Create Shadow Art Using Discarded Wood and Piles of Trash pic.twitter.com/5gcRp6TjJN
— 41 Strange (@41Strange) May 4, 2018
History Tweets
I wonder why it didn’t catch on?
Smart watch, 1984 style. pic.twitter.com/Ay63OO4d2V
— Mood:Vintage (@moodvintage) May 5, 2018
Cool.
”You’re never alone when you’re reading a book.”― Susan Wiggs. pic.twitter.com/FToDLr9Aoh
— Mood:Vintage (@moodvintage) May 5, 2018
Science Tweets
Another episode from Andy Matter.
Andy’s Week in Science: Lava tubes on Mars, great apes and fat stem cells
with @andyjstapleton #Science #Comedy #A_Week_in_Science@albertisaurus @HeatherHastie @susanewington @1972magpie @StephenParry80 @com_netcarper
–https://t.co/6aMF4TMeMr— Amy Carparelli (@AmyAmylou1993) May 4, 2018
Funny Tweets
Ha ha! ????????????
(Via Ann German.)
This tweet:
Billy Graham bakes gay wedding cakes in hell.
— Marie Connor (@thistallawkgirl) May 3, 2018
Got this response, and counter-response.
— Ro’King M (@Rokingm) May 3, 2018
Marine Tweets
One of my favourites is back! Otters are cool.
— Otters! (@CutestOtters) May 3, 2018
Creepy-Crawlies Tweets
I admit it – if I see a paper wasp nest, I generally kill the inhabitants. However, this is cool.
Paper wasps + clever biologist = rainbow nests https://t.co/OWjXjSAqty via @Evolutionistrue
— Heather’s Homilies (@HeatherHastie) May 4, 2018
Other Animals Tweets
Ratty’s back! So cute!
Little Water Voles:#Nature #RatedAwww
–https://t.co/MwLGWT5EU3— Amy Carparelli (@AmyAmylou1993) May 3, 2018
Cute wee bat.
Bat In The Patio Umbrella: #Nature #Ratedawww@albertisaurus @HeatherHastie @susanewington@StephenParry80 @andrepellerin @HoneytheJR
–https://t.co/LvDkjmm2t5— Amy Carparelli (@AmyAmylou1993) May 1, 2018
Bird Tweets
We love our birds in New Zealand.
What a lucky guy!!!
(Via Ann German.)
Our office building has a Peregrine Falcon who recently took a liking to me and my office window. pic.twitter.com/ESDwfI1b2r
— Back To Nature (@backt0nature) May 1, 2018
Dog Tweets
Dogs just wanna have fun.
— Ryan_Cao (@Ryan_CaoDat) May 3, 2018
What a cutie!!!!!
Me feelings Bored at Board meeting
????????????????????????????????????????????????????
Waiting for lunch time…????????????
Have a wonderful Day friends..???? pic.twitter.com/6i65XIs2LP— abhimanu.⏺ (@abhimanu66) May 3, 2018
This dog is smart and has lots of character.
That smart dog uses waterfall to play fetch with himself…????????
Bravo !! ???????? pic.twitter.com/Z7x9Jd49eW— Stefano S. Magi (@StefanodocSM) May 4, 2018
Cat Tweets
What big eyes you have!
Hi sweet lil thing ????
????: molly_nudee pic.twitter.com/cqTWSXXWw3
— Emergency Kittens (@EmrgencyKittens) May 4, 2018
Cat art!
(Via Ann German.)
— KOSTAS SEREMETIS (@KSeremetis) May 2, 2018
I want it!!! Trés adorable!!!
mini meows
????: machiyominoura pic.twitter.com/wKnDJJU716
— Emergency Kittens (@EmrgencyKittens) May 4, 2018
More adorableness!
????????????https://t.co/iFbAaZm4sq pic.twitter.com/WM2ZxhRMia
— Animal Life (@MeetAnimals) April 16, 2018
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I seriously love the one about him being sued *after* he pays them off! His NRA address yesterday saw him referring to London as a “war zone.” Seriously, since when is this gobsite an expert on London? He probably doesn’t like us because our Mayor is Muslim.
Yeah, I love that meme too! I imagine it’s one that will see a lot of use.
I heard Trump going on about all the knife attacks in London as a reason not to tighten gun laws. He and others make me so angry when they use such stupid reasoning. FFS! When someone goes on a killing frenzy with a knife, there are a lot less victims, and they’re more likely to survive! There’s a reason the British murder rate is only a fraction of that of the US!
I’ve no doubt Trump is suspicious of your Muslim mayor. I vaguely recall him making some ignorant comments about what would happen because of it when he was elected. But this is a man who called Kim Jong-un “honourable” (should I spell it the US way when I’m quoting a USian?). I do not think he knows what that word means. :-/
I have a rather more pessimistic take on the situation in the US. I don’t think anyone at Fox is turning on Trump, nor that that his ship is sinking. I’d love to be proven wrong of course, but even if he can’t stop himself being dragged into the mangle of legal justice, Republicans have clearly decided to back him in using political maneuvering to extricate himself — which will undoubtedly succeed. The absolute worst case scenario for Trump is being impeached. But in the unlikely event of that happening, it will definitely fail, and confirm both his ‘victim-hood’ and his invincibility.
The Wall Street Journal has been coming out with a few hard news investigative stories too. There was another just yesterday – they’d discovered a whole lot of stuff about Cohen’s finances which was quite damning.
And there’s at least a 50-50 chance the Senate will be Democratic after the November elections imo. That makes impeachment a lot more likely if the circumstances arise to make it possible.
Yes, Yakaru, I share your fears. I’m afraid the ‘Blue Tsunami’ in November might just be a ‘Blue Ripple’.
I find it incomprehensible that so many Republicans profoundly detest Mr Trump, but still support him.
The really difficult thing to determine at the moment is just how much stuff does the Mueller team have because we just don’t know. We have to live off the daily news normally coming from reporters at the Times and the Post and that is it. I do not think they have even started going through the stuff captured in the Cohen raids. If they can nail down that Prague trip, that alone would be a killer. How much they got from Manafort and Gates we just don’t know.
I did enjoy that shot Michelle Wolf gave the media. That is what the definition of truth to power is about.
Yeah. There are no leaks coming from Mueller. The only stuff we’re hearing is when people are interviewed by his team, or when charges (or whatever) are brought. e.g. there was no indication there was anything coming before all those Russians were indicted. He’s way ahead of us.
We don’t even know if Mueller has the Cohen stuff. We know it’s with the NYDA (or whatever the official title is), and charges in relation to that will I presume come first from them. As we’ve discussed before, that’s good because if there are charges, which looks likely, they’ll be state ones and Trump can’t pardon himself or anyone else.
Do you know if NY state has to charge him as soon as they have a case? Could they wait until he’s no longer president? Trump’s lawyers would presumably try to drag things out anyway, and assuming he loses in 2020, that’s not too far away in legal time. Trump appears to think he’s going to win again, which is why I put up all those tweets about him thinking he has public opinion on his side. So he thinks he’s safe until 2024, which would be too long to wait.
I’m glad Fox has finally aired something substantive re. Trump’s deceitful and lying nature. That’s the only “news” show my evangelical parents watch, so hopefully they saw it. Will it change anything? I think it could for some. My parents are also in their 70’s…a notorious intractable age…not to say all seniors are intractable, but my folks are, esp. father.
At the same time, I wonder if Fox is reading the writing on the wall and is trying to unhitch from the Trump train before it crashes. I almost see it as a way to let the Trump cultists down easily. He did give Trump a lot of off-ramps (“I’m not saying this lying is a reason not to support him…” not surprising) but the rant truly was surprising to me. There has to be an underlying motive imo.
When Shepherd Smith did his rant about the Uranium One “scandal” pointing out that it was a less-than-nothing burger, there were apparently thousands calling for him to be sacked. People like Hannity are still mentioning Uranium One, and so, of course, is Trump. It’s impossible for them to accept that Hillary Clinton might not be the monster they think she is. But people like Rupert Murdoch aren’t entirely stupid. There’s been some good honest reporting in the Wall St Journal too. Moderate Republicans want the party back, and they see the rise of Trump as a way to jettison the far right, which they never liked much anyway. All they want from them is their votes. The far right are never going to vote for the Democrats, so they don’t have to worry they’re going to jump ship, and most are also likely to keep voting even in the party goes more moderate because that’s what conservatives do – they vote.
My brother did his MBA at Yale and then went to work for Goldman Sachs. He was a Republican through and through, though he retained his socially liberal NZ ways. However, he changed to Democrats when Trump won the nomination and a lot of people he knows did the same. The party would get people like him back of they ditched Trump. And, if the Democrats keep pandering to the far left, there are a lot of people who would vote for a moderate Republican party.
I kind of like the Uranium One ‘scandal’, it provides a good heuristic, rule of the thumb, red flag (call it what you like): as soon as a source connects Uranium One with ‘Hillary’, you know you should not take that source seriously.
I know there are other red flags, but they are more obvious, such as ‘Killary’, “BENGHAZHIII!” (all caps), ‘but Hillary!!!’ and some others, but they are too obvious to really qualify as a heuristic.
It is good you pointed out that Ms Clinton was -by far- the most truthful of all candidates (including the primaries, that is), according to different (?) fact checkers.
Among the worst POTUSes, according to scholars (Dem, Rep and Independent) we find: Mr A Johnson, Mr Buchanan, Mr Pierce, Mr Harding, Mr Tyler, Mr Fillmore, MrTaylor, Mr Grant, and indeed Mr Trump, often at rock bottom. Even Republican scholars rate him in the bottom four.
The top 5 are of course kinda predictable, Mr Lincoln, Mr Washington (what do these fundamentalist Christians make of the fact he was a high ranking Free Mason?), Mr Jefferson (possibly same question), and of course both Mrs Rooseveldt.
Mr Reagan and Mr Truman generally score higher than Mr LB Johnson, which I find weird. If it were not for his horrible policies in Southeast Asia, he should rank in the top 5, methinks.
The fact checker I used for my story showing Clinton’s honesty and Trump’s dishonesty us Politifact, which is generally seen as non-Partisan, though Republicans think it’s liberal because of the results that came out in the latest election i.e. Dems more honest than Republicans.
To those following the Michael Cohen saga:
Ann German alerted me to this piece in the New York Times. It’s very long but worth the effort. It details Cohen’s business history. It looks like he’s been shady for a long time.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/05/business/michael-cohen-lawyer-trump.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes
Imo, if Trump was as clean as he likes to portray, he would not be getting involved with someone like Cohen. The other option is that Trump is completely incompetent and not able to judge who is a good person to get involved with. That is quite possible, but not something Trump is likely to admit to.
Yes, Cohen has all the attributes of a 2nd class Russian mob specialists or is than Ukraine? And then there is Manafort, also very busy in Ukraine until his meal ticket had to escape to Russian around 2015. Manafort was this guy’s PR man. So again the question, what do these guys have to do with Trump – peas in a pod. In the end, they are all in the laundry business. There is probably a school in Brooklyn where they teach this stuff and then send them out into the world to steal and corrupt as many as possible. When U.S. banks will no longer make loans and the papers to get more loans are full of lies they turn to the great banker in the sky, Russia. The money is always dirty but we have laundrymatts for everyone. Doing any of these guys taxes must be lots of fun.
They all seem to have family members to do their taxes for them.
You may think I’m crazy, but I think Manafort is a Russian agent working directly or indirectly for Putin. He will not flip. Just like Trump is sending out pardon hints, Putin is sending out different hints. Don’t flip or there will be a radiation poisoning in the US next.
I used to think Cohen would flip but reading that article tells me he would be getting a whole lot of family members in trouble too. The NYAG would need to offer them immunity to get Cohen to talk, but their secrets will still be known and they can be got later. Perhaps a they’ll return Mueller’s favour and pass the info to the FBI. I’ve no doubt there are plenty of federal crimes – like tax evasion.
And speaking of taxes, does Mueller have Trump’s? We all want to know if they show anything.
Silverspoon, ‘bonespur’, real estate conman, huckster, shyster and fraudster Mr Trump is not unaware that his ‘fixer’ Mr Cohen is not a virgin white page, but an underworld kind of conseiglieri.
Mr Trump maybe (well, is) stupid in a lot of things, but not in con-schemes, money laundering, hoaxes, of a bigger scale recently, and the like. That is his bread and butter, and he’s kind of smart there, maybe it will turn out Alec-smart (I hope so), but still, he’s very cunning in those fields.
Mr Cohen may do well in the New York mob, but Federal level might be a bit above his head.
You look at stuff like Trump University, and the sort of person Trump is leaps out at you.
I also keep going back to the fact that Trump was unable to open a casino is Australia because of his mob connections way back in 1987: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/investigations/trumps-bid-for-sydney-casino-killed-off-by-mob-connections/news-story/65a0e5289cc924722f988bdca4b01e9b
That link only goes to a ‘subscription to The Australian’ site, a paywall in other words.
However, I somehow fail to be surprised by the Ozzies giving him the cold shoulder, any thinking govt would have (of course, now that he’s POTUS -albeit an usurper- things have changed a bit).
Many of those working closely with Mr Trump called him an ‘idiot’ (Mr Kelly, Mr McMaster, Mr Mnunchin, Mr Priebus), a ‘f…ing moron’ (Mr Tillerson), dumb as shit (Mr (Gary) Cohn) and, less directly, a f…ing idiot (Mr Murdoch).
What they fail to see is what a great, accomplished conman he is, upgraded to a great demagogue. His two most simple (there are some others), but effective techniques are: 1 -accuse your opponent of what you are guilty of yourself, and 2 repeat repeat, repeat, create a trope.
Crooked Hillary, Lying Ted, Small Marco, Leaking Comey*, Fake Media, no collusion, no collusion, no collusion, witch-hunt, witch-hunt, witch-hunt, etc, etc. Very effective, especially with the support of an army of Russian trolls on social media.
I hope the Dems and -not happy with Mr Trump- Reps will turn out in numbers. US elections are, corruption enol, a turn-out game, now more than ever. The Dems should say things that mobilises their base, and avoid things that would mobilise Mr Trump’s base (The deplorables? Example of the things not to say).
I mean, Mr Trump gutted the EPA, destroyed the State Dept, filled the Judiciary with partisan incompetents, etc, etc.
It is time for a change, but the Dems should learn not to catch defeat in the jaws of victory.
* forgot: Mr Trump should be grateful to Mr Comey. Mr Comey was one of the reasons he won the election, by stating a few days before the vote that the investigation into Ms Clinton’s emails was reopened, omitting to mention that Mr Trump himself was under investigation for suspect Russian connections. How did Mr Trump rewarded him? Only because he would not lay off Mr Flynn? Which he hardly could?
I rest my case.
Even I began to doubt Hillary when Comey made that final announcement. I think that’s a major reason a lot of Dems didn’t vote.
It worked for me when I did a Google search, but the link is to a sub for me too. You might be able to find it on a Google search.
No comment? I think those mails by Mr Sater are exquisitely worthy of comment: they unequivocally show there was not ‘collusion’, but conspiracy. I even wonder if conspiracy with an ‘unfriendly’ foreign power to rig presidential elections does not amount to treason. Mr Cohen appears toast at any rate.
It was an ironic “no comment”!
Sorry.
You didn’t do anything to apologize for!
I missed the sarcasm. I indeed thought it would be something exquisitely suited to comment upon, but failed to see you thought the same. That is something to apologise for.
Meanwhile on this Sunday morning Giuliani continues to entertain on the news shows. When pushed at all on some of his statements he says – well, I don’t know for sure, right now I am just giving you rumors. He should really take this show on the road and sell tickets. I think this came from ABC news this morning.
He really is loving being back in the spotlight and on TV isn’t he? Once upon a time, Trump would’ve hated Giuliani taking the attention. Now it suits him.
Giuliani better watch out if Trump decides he wants the spotlight back.
I’m just delighted at Giuliani’s idiotic grandstanding. Every time he opens his mouth I cringe as he jams both feet in. I find the things he says in defense of Trump astounding. With friends like that, who needs enemies?
And Giuliani is practically orgasmic at being back in the spotlight, even if he has to play the role of chief ass-kisser and puppet. Trump should have fired him after the first interview G did; but no, he cut Giuliani a lot of slack, because as both of them have reminded us ad nauseam, they go way back and Trump couldn’t use his usual dismissive lines when he washes his hands of someone — I never met him, just saw him in the crowd a couple of times, don’t remember what he looks like, and on and on. After all, who could forget when Trump motorboated Giuliani in drag? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBKu9OJ8Ltk (Though Trump probably has.)
Thinking about that video — perhaps Giuliani knows more about a Trump-Cohen hush-slush fund than he lets on. But my puerile imagination has gotten the better of me and has me fantasizing in horror at Giuliani in drag giving Trump a golden shower in a seedy motel in Little Odessa.
OMG! I’ve never seen that. I had to tweet it! I can’t believe it’s real but it obviously is!.
I know, I know. At first, I couldn’t believe that it was legit and not fake news, ‘dirty tricks’, or whatever the contemporary term is for such things. But it is genuine and I find it genuinely hilarious, even if it’s politically incorrect to laugh at drag queens, even if they* are Rudy Giuliani. Just a couple of dudes having fun. If only I were a playwright, this would be the perfect set-up for a satirical play about the secret life of these two old pals. I wish old Rudy would just go for it and go out every day in drag.
* “they” — employing the new pronoun for the cis-gender challenged.
The latest Trevor Noah has this joke about Trump doing just what he’s doing to Rudy at the end of this video! I felt like sending this one to them!
The video surfaced around 2016, and was widely circulated at the time. I find that Colbert played the video on his show. I’m glad you tweeted it and hope you do send it to Trevor Noah. It needs to be revived and I’d love to hear what he’d have to say about it. Here’s some info about the video https://theslot.jezebel.com/remember-when-rudy-giuliani-dressed-up-in-drag-and-let-1787880034. You’ll find that its not Giuliani’s first time going out in drag. It’s the stuff of nightmares.
Speaking of Trump, Giuliani and the nightmares of 2016, this article from Politico https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2016/09/rudy-giuliani-donald-trump-2016-214207 is quite prescient.
I’d be weary of Mr Giuliani, if I were Mr Trump. Apart from his freakish and disastrous interviews, I think he was buddies with Mr Mueller too?
That’s how it goes in the mob: loyalty above all, but to whom? That’s the question. Never trust.
How did I miss that video?
If it really is Mr Giuliani, he rises a few steps in my esteem, from about -3 to 0.
One has to give it to him, not just the courage to go Drag Queen, but even being quite good at it.
Perhaps it’s his true calling, but in the US it’s impossible to be a trans-anything and a successful politician, so he’s had to largely suppress it.
Another bit of news out this afternoon coming from Stormy attorney, Avenatti. Back in the period Jan. to Aug. 2017, Viktor Yekselberg, Russian oligarch, and chairman of Asset manager Renova Group paid Cohen $500,000. Exactly how Avenatti got this info and why he is releasing now, do not know. It sure is a good thing Trump had nothing to do with Russia, yes?
Wow! I can’t wait to find out more about that one!