April 15, 2017

Liberals have to avoid Trump Derangement Syndrome

Fareed Zakaria defends THAT comment - "From the response on the left, you would have thought I had just endorsed Trump for pope" - and reminds us of 'the bigger picture.'

Source: Washington Post, by Fareed Zakaria

I didn’t really believe that there was such a thing as Trump Derangement Syndrome — hatred of President Trump so intense that it impairs people’s judgment. It’s not that I didn’t notice the harsh, unyielding language against him — I’ve said a few tough things myself — but that throughout the campaign, Trump seemed to do things that justified it. Once elected, instead of calming down and acting presidential, he continued the stream of petty attacks, exaggerations and lies. His administration seemed marked by chaos and incompetence.

*****

The strikes were discreet, measured and intended to convey a signal, and yet at the same time were designed to ensure that the United States did not descend further into the Syrian civil war. In other words, they were very Obama-like. Two senior Obama officials I spoke with told me that, were Obama still president, he would have likely ordered a strike similar if not identical in scope. Presumably, those former speechwriters would then have used different words to describe the same strikes.

*****

Liberals have to avoid Trump Derangement Syndrome. If Trump pursues a policy, it cannot axiomatically be wrong, evil and dangerous. In my case, I have been pretty tough on Trump. I attacked almost every policy he proposed during the campaign. Just before the election, I called him a “cancer on American democracy” and urged voters to reject him. But they didn’t. He is now president. I believe that my job is to evaluate his policies impartially and explain why, in my view, they are wise or not.

Many of Trump’s campaign promises and policies are idiotic and unworkable. It was always likely that he would reverse them, as he has begun to do this week on several fronts. Those of us who opposed him face an important challenge. We have to ask ourselves, which would we rather see: Trump reversing himself or Trump relentlessly pursuing his campaign agenda? The first option would be good for the country and the world, though it might save Trump from an ignominious fall. The second would be a disaster for all. It raises the quandary: Do we want what’s better for America or what’s worse for Donald Trump?

Read it all at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/liberals-have-to-avoid-trump-derangement-syndrome/2017/04/13/81ff4a7a-2083-11e7-a0a7-8b2a45e3dc84_story.html?utm_campaign=063d5c2eb3-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_04_14&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Fareed%27s

April 15, 2017

Bill Maher fix for the night (repeat on HBO)

Intelligence: Raw and Uncut, by Bill Maher

When Devin Nunes rushed off to the White House so the White House could leak him intelligence so that Nunes could then turn around and bring it to the White House, I had this eerie feeling. It reminded me of the Bush years, where raw intelligence, dismissed by the intelligence community as unreliable, would mysteriously re-emerge before being peddled around to friendly news outlets. They even created an office designed to get raw intelligence straight to senior administration officials. It was called “The Office of Special Plans.” And that’s what Nunes’ intel dump felt like: raw intel, mostly useless, but used for political purposes, not intelligence purposes.
 
Well, a couple days later, on April 1st, I saw this AP story, and it wasn’t an April Fools’ joke:
 

“Officials have expressed an interest in having more raw intelligence sent to the president for his daily briefings instead of an analysis of information compiled by the agencies, according to current and former U.S. officials. The change would have given his White House advisers more control about the assessments given to him and sidelined some of the conclusions made by intelligence professionals.”

Yes, here we go again. Using raw intelligence to work backwards to justify the conclusions we want to come to, rather than separating the reliable intel from the unreliable, and using those conclusions to inform policy. This is problematic with any president, but with President “I’m Hearing…” it’s downright frightening.
 
Thankfully, there should be one man in the room with Trump to help him separate the good intel from the bad: Jared Kushner.

http://www.real-time-with-bill-maher-blog.com/index/2017/4/14/intelligence-raw-and-uncut

April 14, 2017

Viral sadness, all around us, all the time.

https://twitter.com/melliinaa_/status/851660203577757696

April 14, 2017

Shut it all down: Trump White House closes Open.gov

In a distressingly unsurprising move, Donald Trump is shutting down Open.gov, as he also cuts off access to White House visitor logs — putting all the pieces in place to enable even more corruption.

Source: Shareblue, by Oliver Willis

The Trump administration’s war on transparency and open government increased again with the announcement that it would be shutting down Open.gov, the portal set up under President Obama to give the public access to the inner workings of their government, and which hosts White House visitor records, along with staff financial disclosures and appointments.

Trump officials stated they would end the contract for Open.gov and save $70,000 through 2020 in the process. For perspective on that figure, Trump costs taxpayers an estimated $3.6 million for each visit to his Mar-a-Lago resort. If he spent a single Saturday in Washington, D.C. instead of Florida, he would easily save Open.gov.

*****

These attacks on transparency have the net effect of enabling and expanding the corrupt practices in which the Trump team and family has been engaged. If the public does not know who is visiting the White House, they cannot know who has the ear of Trump and his team, potentially influencing policy and other major decisions.

*****

More obscurity creates more darkness, which ends up in more corruption. Trump was knee deep in corrupt businesses before he got to the White House, and now he is using the powers of the presidency to further hide his handiwork. But he will not be able to do so without a fight.

Read it all at: http://shareblue.com/shut-it-all-down-trump-white-house-closes-open-gov/

April 14, 2017

"Star Wars: The Last Jedi" trailer:

April 14, 2017

"Is Trump at Mar-a-Lago?" PSA website.

https://istrumpatmaralago.org/

Today, April 14, 2017 (and he is already golfing per press pool!):

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April 10, 2017

Trump headed to Mar-a-Lago for Easter weekend

70-year-old retiree enjoys his weekends!

Source: The Hill, by Mark Hensch

*****

“Yes, I’ll be here for Easter,” he said at Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, Fla., according to The Palm Beach Daily News.

“Is Easter next week?” Trump added when pressed on his schedule. "Well then, I guess I’ll be back next week.”

*****

Trump was spotted twice at his golf course in West Palm Beach over the weekend following a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping at Mar-a-Lago last week.

*****

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/328051-trump-im-at-mar-a-lago-easter-weekend

April 9, 2017

Hillary Clinton says misogyny played a role in her loss. Research suggests she might be right.

Source: Washington Post, by Amber Phillips

In her first interview since November about November, here's how Hillary Clinton diagnosed her loss to Donald Trump: “Certainly, misogyny played a role. I mean, that just has to be admitted. And why and what the underlying reasons were is what I'm trying to parse out myself.”

*****

We'll probably never know whether voters' prejudice against a female potential president contributed to Clinton's loss — or if it did, to what degree. But we do know that research has clearly demonstrated that voters hold female politicians to a different standard (read: double) from their male counterparts.

As I wrote a month before the presidential election, research from the nonpartisan Barbara Lee Family Foundation, which studies women in politics, found that women can't just be themselves when they run for office. They constantly have to contemplate what their looks, clothes and smile (whether they smile) project to voters, in a way men don't.

Take for instance the foundation's research that voters care whether their female politicians are likable, an attribute that is not something they need from their male political leaders. Among the suggestions the foundation put together for aspiring female politicians to navigate voters' sometimes-confusing expectations of public women:

• Don't pose for a head shot. Instead, circulate more-candid, informal photos...

• Do share personal anecdotes when explaining why you're passionate about an issue or how you've helped constituents...

• Don't take credit all the time for your accomplishments...

• Do recognize your hair, makeup and clothes will be scrutinized...

*****

Even before Clinton lost, she was hinting at the outsize role she thought her gender was playing in the election. Two months before the election, she remarked that “it's especially tricky for women” to come across as both serious and likable.

*****

Read it all at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/04/08/hillary-clinton-says-misogyny-played-a-role-in-her-loss-research-suggests-she-might-be-right/?utm_term=.e49e47189d6d&wpisrc=nl_most-draw14&wpmm=1

April 7, 2017

Hillary Clinton Explains Why She Really Lost to Trump

And exactly what Hillary supporters thought!

NBC News, by Kendall Breitman

Almost four months after her stunning defeat, Hillary Clinton on Thursday primarily blamed her loss to President Donald Trump on four factors that were beyond her control.

The former Democratic presidential candidate cited Russian meddling in the election, FBI Director James Comey's involvement toward the end of the race, WikiLeaks theft of emails from her campaign chairman, and misogyny.

*****

She largely cited these factors for her defeat:

- Russia. "A foreign power meddled with our election," she said, labeling it "an act of aggression." She called for an independent, bipartisan investigation into the Kremlin's involvement and said the probe should examine whether there was collusion with the Trump campaign.

- Misogyny. "Certainly, misogyny played a role. That has to be admitted," she said. Clinton added that "some people — women included — had real problems" with the idea of a woman president.

- Comey. Clinton cited as damaging to her campaign his unusual decision to release of a letter on October 28, less than two weeks before Election Day, that said he was looking at additional emails related to the FBI probe of the former secretary of state's use of a private server.

- WikiLeaks. Weeks of disclosures of stolen emails from the personal account of then-Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, were particularly harmful, Clinton said, adding that it "played a much bigger role than I think many people yet understand."

*****
Read it all at: http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/hillary-clinton/hillary-clinton-explains-why-she-really-lost-trump-n743581

April 6, 2017

Hail to the Chief.

Is that the sound of Republican sphincters puckering up?









http://www.palmbeachpost.com/