Good Morning TOD, I love these quiet mornings, the world is anew again and the birds are chirping and President Obama is somewhere in the Whitehouse cooking up something real proper for Putin.
In the coming weeks and months, I’ll use this space to provide simple, practical advice on how Democrats, progressives and conscientious journalists can use the principles of effective framing to expose and undermine Trump’s propaganda. Knowledge is power! We must arm ourselves with the fundamentals of effective political communication. We must know our values and frame the debate – and avoid helping Trump.
Kay says:
December 16, 2016 at 7:09 am
The public needs much more information on the Russian hacking.
The first thing they need is a complete list of which House elections were targeted so we’ll know the names and districts of the House members who were elected with Russian government assistance. They really have a right to know if their representative is part of this BEFORE they start voting on Trump’s agenda. They also need to know about Senate races. It seems unlikely that the Russian government was carefully choosing swing House districts and not choosing Senate races.
This is much bigger than Trump. We have a one Party far Right government and we’re talking about two branches that are compromised. The extent of the meddling in Congressional races is arguably more of a threat than Trump.
* I noted earlier that the 17 people Trump has nominated to cabinet-level positions have a combined worth more than that of over one third of the 126 million households total in the US. So this comes as no real surprise:
By selecting ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson to serve as secretary of state, Donald Trump on Tuesday guaranteed that his four most influential departments will, if confirmed, be led entirely by white males for the first time since George H.W. Bush’s first Cabinet was approved in 1989. Bush kept white males in those positions for his entire term…
Of Trump’s 18 choices to date — excluding his vice president and senior White House staff — 14 are white, of which 12 are male. None are Latino.
What’s wrong with the Rust Belt? And while we’re at it, what’s wrong with the Mississippi Delta and all the places in between? Reams of post-election analyses have turned up a range of explanations for the populist furor that has steamed America’s heartland and propelled President-elect Donald Trump’s candidacy: relentless trade pressure, job losses in manufacturing, a cultural gulf between coastal elites and everyone else, and a deep, generalized despondence, to name a few.
There is truth in all of it, no doubt, but it misses a bigger picture: America is undergoing a decades-long transition from the industrial economy of the 20th century to a new economy in the 21st that is shaped more than ever before by technological innovation and globalization. Some regions are rapidly adapting to the new order of things. But in the areas that are falling behind, people are justifiably anxious. It’s time for Washington to help those places claw their way into the winner’s circle by recognizing the forces at work and retooling its approach to economic development.
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation closely monitors key markers of the innovation-driven new economy—indicators such as employment in high-tech and information technology fields, the export focus of manufacturing and services, inventor patent filings, and public and private investment in research and development. Every few years, we publish the data in a report called The State New Economy Index, which benchmarks the 50 states on the degree to which they are succeeding on these measures. The most recent edition came out in 2014, and it is striking to see that the states reaping the fewest rewards so far from the new economy are the same ones that were most likely to swing to Trump in 2016.
I can wrap my brain around every cabinet selection that Trump has made and understand why he made that selection. But I don’t understand the selection of Rick Perry as the Department of Energy Director. Can someone please help me understand that selection?
But the DOE’s primary function is securing our nuclear energy resources, overseeing the National Labs, directing the Human Genome Research Project, among many other things in the realm of science. I can’t think of anyone LESS qualified for the position, previously held by Nobel Prize winners and nuclear physicists. It’s truly an outrage.
I understand the oil component, but my question is more about the nuclear side of this decision. Perry will be in charge of all of America’s nuclear material, and how does Perry plan to manage it. More than any other cabinet selection this is the one that worries me the most. All of his other cabinet picks are millionaires and billionaires that are trying to make even more money. Perry is just some slug that every morning is going to walk into an office that holds all of our nuclear secrets and he’s going to be making decisions.
That’s my point, too. I really hope the Democrats grill him until the cows come home during his confirmation hearing. Because I can guarantee you he has no idea what he’s getting into. And like you, this is TRULY horrifying and speaks to the frightening depth of Trump’s ignorance.
I assume that Perry, along with other Trump selections, will destroy the federal government which is exactly what Trump and Republicans want in the first place. They only like the federal government inasmuch as it furthers their aims of ending reproductive rights, voting rights, gay rights, workers/union rights, environmental advances, etc. They want a federal government which promotes Christianism and degrades the rights of members of minority religions such as Islam. And most importantly, a government which promotes the interests of the 1%, i.e., cutting taxes on the wealthiest Americans.
Perry is just another tool in Republican hands to destroy federalism and replace it with Conservatism.
It stands to reason that retired Gen. Michael Flynn, Donald Trump’s choice to be the White House National Security Adviser, would feel some embarrassment about his recent record, but if he thinks he can simply erase it, Flynn is going to be disappointed. CNN reported the other day:
Incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has quietly deleted a tweet with a link to a fake news story about Hillary Clinton’s involvement in sex crimes with minors.
In the since-deleted tweet from Nov. 2, Flynn linked to a story on TruePundit.com that falsely claimed the FBI investigation into Anthony Weiner had turned up evidence “to put Hillary (Clinton) and her crew away for life.”
Yes, we apparently live in a time in which a major national news organization can publish the sentence, ” Incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has quietly deleted a tweet with a link to a fake news story about Hillary Clinton’s involvement in sex crimes with minors,” and no one seems all that surprised by the report.
Flynn’s deletion will not, however, have the intended effect – because we’ve all already seen it, and it’s still readily available through various archives. In fact, efforts like these tend to be counter-productive since they draw additional attention the fact that Flynn has embraced crackpot nonsense in the very recent past.
GM everyone.
I just want to say that while the media is now going full blast on Russian interference and hacking and pretending that it was not raised before the election by PBO’s administration and by statements by the Director of National Intelligence , Homeland Security Secretary and Hillary herself in a debate, what is being ignored is the severe voter suppression by GOP state election officials in many states in the South but especially in Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina ,Ohio etc ( reducing polling places
From Think Progress
“Republicans closed down 868 polling places before 2016 election & MSM profiting from Trump ratings won’t tell you about it .
Looking back, GOP massive resistance to Obama’s presidency was one of the most strategically successful moves in US political history.”
These voter suppression efforts were probably the definitive blow struck by the GOP yet very few are talking about this and the Media. Maybe it’s because most of the disenfranchised were POC but one can only hope the Democratic Party is on it.
With regard to the hacking, that seems to be more insidious than previously thought.
All of TP’s points are extremely important going forward with how this country addresses Republican suppression of minority voters. This country has become too complacent with Republicans stomping all over Black voters. If Democrats are serious about winning elections, they need to be more proactive in fighting Republican voter suppression tactics. Otherwise, we’re going to have more Trumps in the White House.
And yes, Democrats need to collectively resist Trump — don’t vote in favor of any of his policies, no matter how benign.
Once Republicans took over North Carolina’s state government, they not only pursued a relentlessly far-right agenda; they also abandoned all subtlety. Gov. Pat McCrory (R) ran as a pragmatic former mayor and business leader, but governed as a conservative crusader, imposing outlandish voting restrictions, creating new limits on civil and reproductive rights, and cutting tax and unemployment benefits on struggling families.
And so, this year, McCrory became the only incumbent governor in either party to lose re-election – which apparently drove North Carolina’s GOP-led state legislature to become even more reckless.
North Carolina’s Republican-dominated legislature is moving to strip powers from the state’s governor three weeks before Democrat Roy Cooper is set to succeed a member of their party in the executive mansion.
Lawmakers on Thursday began debating a bill to require Senate confirmation for cabinet appointments, reduce by 1,200 the number of state employees the governor could hire and fire at will and eliminate the governor’s power to pick certain university trustees.
……………………
But hurricane victims are not foremost on GOP lawmakers’ minds. Rather, they’re focused almost entirely on curtailing the governing abilities of Gov.-elect Roy Cooper before he takes office on Jan. 7. Republicans disagree with the voters’ choice, so they’re taking steps to prevent him from governing before he can even begin.
Cooper explained yesterday, “Most people might think that this is a partisan power grab, but it is really more ominous.” Larry Hall, the Democratic Minority Leader in the state House, added that the purpose of the special session is “to nullify the vote of the people for governor.”
As Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern explained, this is, in effect, a “legislative coup.”
What’s happening in North Carolina is not politics as usual. It is an extraordinarily disturbing legislative coup, a flagrant effort to maintain one-party rule by rejecting democratic norms and revoking the will of the voters. It is the kind of thing we might expect to see in Venezuela, not a U.S. state. It should terrify every American citizen who believes in the rule of law. This is so much more than a partisan power grab. This is an attack on democracy itself.
Putin turns political power into extreme wealth
Rachel Maddow explains how Russia, under Boris Yeltsin, privatized its national assets to a few powerful bank oligarchs, and how Vladimir Putin learned to take advantage of that system to make himself, according to US intelligence, the richest man in the world.
Good morning all TODders. From very cold, windy and snowy Montana. Tonight they are saying it will get to -17. At least is isn’t to last too many days. I am going to snuggle up to my fireplace with a good book.
I am absorbing all the video’s and live streaming of our great President and First Lady. They are such an inspiration and all class.
The Senate convened for 27 seconds this morning in pro-forma session. @BillCassidy was presiding officer. Blocks pres. recess appointments. pic.twitter.com/CGCPq6KiKO
Good morning. bella mentioned on last thread about how embarrassed she would be if this were a Dem. Every single thing that has happened and continues–the people he is choosing for cabinet……the entire thing. I must think that numerous times a day, including during the campaign, and I SO want to ask my husband if he can truly say he is proud of all of this? I don’t but I so want to!! 😦 😦
I heard this morning that PO has now said this is more important than a peaceful transition. I just heard that in a report. Did not hear HIM say it. That gives me a TINY bit of hope, but not much. We are too close to the EC voting and I know they are not going to do the patriotic thing and follow the Constitution. They are going to do the political thing and move right along. PO has 36 days left and much of that time, everyone is on vacation. Bottom line it that time is running out. I do not think the Dems have fought, at all. Have done or said very little. There’s no fight, no outrage like we all KNOW here would be if this were reversed. Trump would NEVER have conceded in the first place and there would be a fight 24/7. Guessing most of you will not agree, but I also believe PO has been way to focused on peaceful transition instead of fighting for our democracy. Now time is running out, quickly!! 😦 😦 😦 😦
It’s been about six weeks since Election Day, and Donald Trump’s cabinet selections are still coming together, slowly but surely. The president-elect seems to enjoy making a spectacle of the process, but looking past the drama in the Trump Tower lobby, the truth is choosing the right nominees takes time – and the vetting process alone can be quite slow.
But that assumes Trump and his team are scrutinizing his choices closely, which may not be entirely true. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that some of the president-elect’s picks “have been named without extensive reviews of their background and financial records.”
In many cases, Mr. Trump has announced his prospective nominees without requiring a review of extensive paperwork about their background and financial records, including tax returns, people familiar with the process said.
That leaves open the possibility that the first officials to study such material will be the Senate committees that next year will conduct the confirmation hearings, a process that can be grueling and disqualifying.
The article added that Trump, in some cases, is making decisions “based on gut instinct and his chemistry with people.” At times, he’s even “revealed the name of a nominee before his transition team was ready for the announcement.”
There are a variety of ways Donald Trump and his team can respond to allegations that Vladimir Putin’s Russian government attacked the American political system in order to help Trump win. Making it a test of patriotism, however, is a very bad idea.
This morning on Fox News, Kellyanne Conway, a senior adviser to the president-elect, complained bitterly that President Obama and Hillary Clinton haven’t sided with Trump and shut down all conversation about Russia’s alleged crimes. “If you want to shut this down and you actually love the country enough to have this peaceful transition in our great democracy between the Obama administration and the Trump administration,” Conway said, “there are a couple people in pretty prominent positions, one’s named Obama, one’s named Hillary Clinton, since it’s people want to fight for her election, they can shut this down.”
I’m hard pressed to imagine how anyone could take such an argument seriously. To hear Conway tell it, Team Trump thinks it has the patriotic high-ground in this scandal. Donald Trump appears to have benefited from illegal Russian intervention into our political system – intervention that the Republican publicly encouraged during the campaign – but if Democrats “actually love the country,” they’re supposed to look the other way.
For the good of the country, Conway seems to believe, it’s best to ignore and stop all conversation about an attack on the country.
This is the longest episode of the Twilight Zone ever, I’m just waiting for the credits to roll to signal that we didn’t just elect Trump to be our next President.
I don’t know why but Trump reminds me of this guy who did none magic tricks, magic and the audience just loved it. I think we are in for fours years of a lot of hand trickery and no substance. https://youtu.be/_-SNrvHdZJE
Not a surprising response from Putin — DJT takes this page from Putin’s playbook.
Here’s a 5-minute video of @jaketapper interviewing a profile in courage, Wisconsin’s Ron Johnson.
Tapper pressed him 3 times to give an answer, and Johnson refused to do so (the last decline is at the end of the video, which was indecipherable to my ears):
Now I’m pretty sure it wasn’t my tweet that made the difference- I’m sure lots of other people had the same idea….but still, it’s a HAPPY WONDERFUL ending for the deer, which is what matters!!! 🙂 🙂
What kills me is that the run-up to the 2008 election everyone on the Republican side of the race talked about then Senator Obama not having any sort of experience that would serve him as President. Never mind the fact that he was a state Senator for over a decade or that he was a U.S. Senator for two years. But somehow these same Republicans are willing to hand over this nation to a man that has basically disqualified himself from being elected a fucking dog catcher. If you are a Republican and you stand for this you can’t convince me that you love America, you just can’t. And if you do say that you love America and you still back Trump then you are pathological to the point of being insane. Because sane people won’t allow themselves to believe that Trump has any sort of redeeming value.
The redeeming quality that trump gives to the GOP is that he enables them to implement their regressive policies…from repealing obamacare to SS to putting a regressive on the Supreme Court…they could even repeal the VRA and the CRA…the sky’s the limit
Experience Obama also had was his major in college was foreign relations and he wrote a paper in that field. He got his law degree and taught Constitutional Law too. Those experiences directly relate to the job of POTUS.
The Obama Diary 
{{{{Nerdy Wonka}}}}
Congratulations, DF! Have a marvelous holiday season!
Morning Everyone 🙂
Good Morning TOD, I love these quiet mornings, the world is anew again and the birds are chirping and President Obama is somewhere in the Whitehouse cooking up something real proper for Putin.
Here, here:) I know that’s true! Can hardly wait:)
Don, I so hope this is true. Morning to all. Keep PBO In your prayers today.
Really should listen to the evening reception.. there are reminders in there
We are all guilty.
https://georgelakoff.com/2016/12/15/how-to-help-trump/
When you repeat Trump, you help Trump.
In the coming weeks and months, I’ll use this space to provide simple, practical advice on how Democrats, progressives and conscientious journalists can use the principles of effective framing to expose and undermine Trump’s propaganda. Knowledge is power! We must arm ourselves with the fundamentals of effective political communication. We must know our values and frame the debate – and avoid helping Trump.
When you repeat Trump, you help Trump.
Watch this space
Never truer words. PBO is all but diminished in today’s discourse.
I’ve been screaming for years that Lakoff should be on the DNC payroll. Sigh.
Kay from BJ made this excellent point:
Yep, assume that every race had the potential of being interfered with.
Quick Takes: A Cabinet of Rich White Men
by Nancy LeTourneau
December 15, 2016 6:30 PM
POLITICAL ANIMAL BLOG
* I noted earlier that the 17 people Trump has nominated to cabinet-level positions have a combined worth more than that of over one third of the 126 million households total in the US. So this comes as no real surprise:
Neither does this:
Unless Trump picks a diverse Secretary of Agriculture, the line of succession to the presidency would be 12 white guys — via @maddow
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) December 14, 2016
Makes sense with the slogan being Make America Great Again. That is going back to all White men in power.
Trumpism and the New Economy
by Randolph Court and Robert D. Atkinson
December 16, 2016 7:45 AM
What’s wrong with the Rust Belt? And while we’re at it, what’s wrong with the Mississippi Delta and all the places in between? Reams of post-election analyses have turned up a range of explanations for the populist furor that has steamed America’s heartland and propelled President-elect Donald Trump’s candidacy: relentless trade pressure, job losses in manufacturing, a cultural gulf between coastal elites and everyone else, and a deep, generalized despondence, to name a few.
There is truth in all of it, no doubt, but it misses a bigger picture: America is undergoing a decades-long transition from the industrial economy of the 20th century to a new economy in the 21st that is shaped more than ever before by technological innovation and globalization. Some regions are rapidly adapting to the new order of things. But in the areas that are falling behind, people are justifiably anxious. It’s time for Washington to help those places claw their way into the winner’s circle by recognizing the forces at work and retooling its approach to economic development.
The Information Technology and Innovation Foundation closely monitors key markers of the innovation-driven new economy—indicators such as employment in high-tech and information technology fields, the export focus of manufacturing and services, inventor patent filings, and public and private investment in research and development. Every few years, we publish the data in a report called The State New Economy Index, which benchmarks the 50 states on the degree to which they are succeeding on these measures. The most recent edition came out in 2014, and it is striking to see that the states reaping the fewest rewards so far from the new economy are the same ones that were most likely to swing to Trump in 2016.
I can wrap my brain around every cabinet selection that Trump has made and understand why he made that selection. But I don’t understand the selection of Rick Perry as the Department of Energy Director. Can someone please help me understand that selection?
I forgot:)
In Trump’s simple mind, it’s all about oil.
But the DOE’s primary function is securing our nuclear energy resources, overseeing the National Labs, directing the Human Genome Research Project, among many other things in the realm of science. I can’t think of anyone LESS qualified for the position, previously held by Nobel Prize winners and nuclear physicists. It’s truly an outrage.
I understand the oil component, but my question is more about the nuclear side of this decision. Perry will be in charge of all of America’s nuclear material, and how does Perry plan to manage it. More than any other cabinet selection this is the one that worries me the most. All of his other cabinet picks are millionaires and billionaires that are trying to make even more money. Perry is just some slug that every morning is going to walk into an office that holds all of our nuclear secrets and he’s going to be making decisions.
That’s my point, too. I really hope the Democrats grill him until the cows come home during his confirmation hearing. Because I can guarantee you he has no idea what he’s getting into. And like you, this is TRULY horrifying and speaks to the frightening depth of Trump’s ignorance.
I assume that Perry, along with other Trump selections, will destroy the federal government which is exactly what Trump and Republicans want in the first place. They only like the federal government inasmuch as it furthers their aims of ending reproductive rights, voting rights, gay rights, workers/union rights, environmental advances, etc. They want a federal government which promotes Christianism and degrades the rights of members of minority religions such as Islam. And most importantly, a government which promotes the interests of the 1%, i.e., cutting taxes on the wealthiest Americans.
Perry is just another tool in Republican hands to destroy federalism and replace it with Conservatism.
Exactly!
Listen to our First Lady talk about hope, just listen to the words she says. http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/first-lady-michelle-obama-on-husbands-legacy-of-hope/
About her husband legacy of hope. I hear a swipe at Russia’s new President.
Dem senators question Michael Flynn’s security clearance
12/16/16 10:11 AM
By Steve Benen
It stands to reason that retired Gen. Michael Flynn, Donald Trump’s choice to be the White House National Security Adviser, would feel some embarrassment about his recent record, but if he thinks he can simply erase it, Flynn is going to be disappointed. CNN reported the other day:
Yes, we apparently live in a time in which a major national news organization can publish the sentence, ” Incoming National Security Adviser Michael Flynn has quietly deleted a tweet with a link to a fake news story about Hillary Clinton’s involvement in sex crimes with minors,” and no one seems all that surprised by the report.
Flynn’s deletion will not, however, have the intended effect – because we’ve all already seen it, and it’s still readily available through various archives. In fact, efforts like these tend to be counter-productive since they draw additional attention the fact that Flynn has embraced crackpot nonsense in the very recent past.
And his son who was promoting such tweets was on Trump’s transition team. Flynn is not qualified to hold any office in a federal administration.
Tweet:
Tweet:
Trump isn’t taking Russia’s hack seriously. And THAT’S the biggest story of all.
GM everyone.
I just want to say that while the media is now going full blast on Russian interference and hacking and pretending that it was not raised before the election by PBO’s administration and by statements by the Director of National Intelligence , Homeland Security Secretary and Hillary herself in a debate, what is being ignored is the severe voter suppression by GOP state election officials in many states in the South but especially in Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina ,Ohio etc ( reducing polling places
From Think Progress
“Republicans closed down 868 polling places before 2016 election & MSM profiting from Trump ratings won’t tell you about it .
Looking back, GOP massive resistance to Obama’s presidency was one of the most strategically successful moves in US political history.”
These voter suppression efforts were probably the definitive blow struck by the GOP yet very few are talking about this and the Media. Maybe it’s because most of the disenfranchised were POC but one can only hope the Democratic Party is on it.
With regard to the hacking, that seems to be more insidious than previously thought.
All of TP’s points are extremely important going forward with how this country addresses Republican suppression of minority voters. This country has become too complacent with Republicans stomping all over Black voters. If Democrats are serious about winning elections, they need to be more proactive in fighting Republican voter suppression tactics. Otherwise, we’re going to have more Trumps in the White House.
And yes, Democrats need to collectively resist Trump — don’t vote in favor of any of his policies, no matter how benign.
North Carolina Republicans launch a legislative ‘coup’
12/16/16 08:00 AM—UPDATED 12/16/16 08:07 AM
By Steve Benen
Once Republicans took over North Carolina’s state government, they not only pursued a relentlessly far-right agenda; they also abandoned all subtlety. Gov. Pat McCrory (R) ran as a pragmatic former mayor and business leader, but governed as a conservative crusader, imposing outlandish voting restrictions, creating new limits on civil and reproductive rights, and cutting tax and unemployment benefits on struggling families.
And so, this year, McCrory became the only incumbent governor in either party to lose re-election – which apparently drove North Carolina’s GOP-led state legislature to become even more reckless.
……………………
But hurricane victims are not foremost on GOP lawmakers’ minds. Rather, they’re focused almost entirely on curtailing the governing abilities of Gov.-elect Roy Cooper before he takes office on Jan. 7. Republicans disagree with the voters’ choice, so they’re taking steps to prevent him from governing before he can even begin.
As Slate’s Mark Joseph Stern explained, this is, in effect, a “legislative coup.”
@NYDailyNews 57 minutes ago
Trump suggests Russian election hacking was justified because it targeted Hillary Clinton http://nydn.us/2h8r79B
All I can say is “Lord Help Us”.
So very glad the First Family goes on holiday today. Blessed are we all to have our lives inside them! 🕉❤📿🙏📿❤🕉
Doh – BESIDE them!! Gads, where ARE my glasses…bbl 😂😎
Putin turns political power into extreme wealth
Rachel Maddow explains how Russia, under Boris Yeltsin, privatized its national assets to a few powerful bank oligarchs, and how Vladimir Putin learned to take advantage of that system to make himself, according to US intelligence, the richest man in the world.
Good morning all TODders. From very cold, windy and snowy Montana. Tonight they are saying it will get to -17. At least is isn’t to last too many days. I am going to snuggle up to my fireplace with a good book.
I am absorbing all the video’s and live streaming of our great President and First Lady. They are such an inspiration and all class.
Good morning Marilyn. Stay safe and warm and enjoy your book.
I am finding I am reading much more nowadays. It’s the only way I have been able to stay sane.
Meant to add, that TOD and my books are getting me thru now. How are you doing Jackie? Good to see you here this morning.
What does this mean
Here we go. Trumps mouth is causing a dangerous stir.
yikes
looks like the President’s vacation maybe delayed
Good thing its unmanned.
yup
Good morning. bella mentioned on last thread about how embarrassed she would be if this were a Dem. Every single thing that has happened and continues–the people he is choosing for cabinet……the entire thing. I must think that numerous times a day, including during the campaign, and I SO want to ask my husband if he can truly say he is proud of all of this? I don’t but I so want to!! 😦 😦
I heard this morning that PO has now said this is more important than a peaceful transition. I just heard that in a report. Did not hear HIM say it. That gives me a TINY bit of hope, but not much. We are too close to the EC voting and I know they are not going to do the patriotic thing and follow the Constitution. They are going to do the political thing and move right along. PO has 36 days left and much of that time, everyone is on vacation. Bottom line it that time is running out. I do not think the Dems have fought, at all. Have done or said very little. There’s no fight, no outrage like we all KNOW here would be if this were reversed. Trump would NEVER have conceded in the first place and there would be a fight 24/7. Guessing most of you will not agree, but I also believe PO has been way to focused on peaceful transition instead of fighting for our democracy. Now time is running out, quickly!! 😦 😦 😦 😦
We feel the same way here at TOD! Barack Obama will ALWAYS be our President.
Senate to consider Trump nominees who haven’t been fully vetted
12/16/16 11:21 AM
By Steve Benen
It’s been about six weeks since Election Day, and Donald Trump’s cabinet selections are still coming together, slowly but surely. The president-elect seems to enjoy making a spectacle of the process, but looking past the drama in the Trump Tower lobby, the truth is choosing the right nominees takes time – and the vetting process alone can be quite slow.
But that assumes Trump and his team are scrutinizing his choices closely, which may not be entirely true. The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that some of the president-elect’s picks “have been named without extensive reviews of their background and financial records.”
The article added that Trump, in some cases, is making decisions “based on gut instinct and his chemistry with people.” At times, he’s even “revealed the name of a nominee before his transition team was ready for the announcement.”
The genial transition from Obama to Trump gets a lot less friendly
12/16/16 12:48 PM
By Steve Benen
There are a variety of ways Donald Trump and his team can respond to allegations that Vladimir Putin’s Russian government attacked the American political system in order to help Trump win. Making it a test of patriotism, however, is a very bad idea.
This morning on Fox News, Kellyanne Conway, a senior adviser to the president-elect, complained bitterly that President Obama and Hillary Clinton haven’t sided with Trump and shut down all conversation about Russia’s alleged crimes. “If you want to shut this down and you actually love the country enough to have this peaceful transition in our great democracy between the Obama administration and the Trump administration,” Conway said, “there are a couple people in pretty prominent positions, one’s named Obama, one’s named Hillary Clinton, since it’s people want to fight for her election, they can shut this down.”
I’m hard pressed to imagine how anyone could take such an argument seriously. To hear Conway tell it, Team Trump thinks it has the patriotic high-ground in this scandal. Donald Trump appears to have benefited from illegal Russian intervention into our political system – intervention that the Republican publicly encouraged during the campaign – but if Democrats “actually love the country,” they’re supposed to look the other way.
For the good of the country, Conway seems to believe, it’s best to ignore and stop all conversation about an attack on the country.
This is the longest episode of the Twilight Zone ever, I’m just waiting for the credits to roll to signal that we didn’t just elect Trump to be our next President.
Read this heinousness . Put them UNDER THE JAIL
They tried to harm Eichenwald again
So now China is doing drills with live ammunitions and real troops in the south sea.
I don’t know why but Trump reminds me of this guy who did none magic tricks, magic and the audience just loved it. I think we are in for fours years of a lot of hand trickery and no substance. https://youtu.be/_-SNrvHdZJE
Putin is now saying that he wants proof that he was involved in any sort of hacking.
putin is trying to pull the tail of the tiger….
GA Don.
Not a surprising response from Putin — DJT takes this page from Putin’s playbook.
Here’s a 5-minute video of @jaketapper interviewing a profile in courage, Wisconsin’s Ron Johnson.
Tapper pressed him 3 times to give an answer, and Johnson refused to do so (the last decline is at the end of the video, which was indecipherable to my ears):
Something positive happened and I’m glad for these little things. 🙂 🙂
Earlier today this happened:
And then now I’m seeing this:
Now I’m pretty sure it wasn’t my tweet that made the difference- I’m sure lots of other people had the same idea….but still, it’s a HAPPY WONDERFUL ending for the deer, which is what matters!!! 🙂 🙂
Well, I spoke too fast. The deer apparently died from stress as they were prepping it to be transported update. May he/she RIP.
😦
WATCHING FOR PBO’S NEWS CONFERENCE….PRAYERS UP FOR A WONDERFUL OBAMA VACATION………………….
WATCHING ON CNN……………………
What kills me is that the run-up to the 2008 election everyone on the Republican side of the race talked about then Senator Obama not having any sort of experience that would serve him as President. Never mind the fact that he was a state Senator for over a decade or that he was a U.S. Senator for two years. But somehow these same Republicans are willing to hand over this nation to a man that has basically disqualified himself from being elected a fucking dog catcher. If you are a Republican and you stand for this you can’t convince me that you love America, you just can’t. And if you do say that you love America and you still back Trump then you are pathological to the point of being insane. Because sane people won’t allow themselves to believe that Trump has any sort of redeeming value.
The redeeming quality that trump gives to the GOP is that he enables them to implement their regressive policies…from repealing obamacare to SS to putting a regressive on the Supreme Court…they could even repeal the VRA and the CRA…the sky’s the limit
Experience Obama also had was his major in college was foreign relations and he wrote a paper in that field. He got his law degree and taught Constitutional Law too. Those experiences directly relate to the job of POTUS.
New post.
https://theobamadiary.com/2016/12/16/president-obama-holds-a-press-conference-13/