[hrothgar]

Chas_P, on 2019-July-05, 19:41, said:

Not only that, but The First Lady was dressed inappropriately! I'm infuriated! You people really are laughable.

Any day that the first isn't doing soft core porn probably counts as a victory for the Trump administration....

[Winstonm]

Chas_P, on 2019-July-05, 19:41, said:

Not only that, but The First Lady was dressed inappropriately! I'm infuriated! You people really are laughable.

Who are "you people"?
Why do you relate the opinion expressed by a single writer in the NYT as being the view of multiple persons who you do not know?

[johnu]

Chas_NoSelfAwarenessOfSelfHumiliation, on 2019-July-05, 19:41, said:

No integrity, no dignity, no honor, cannot control himself from continuing to post to this thread and repeatedly demonstrating that he has the same lack of self control of his hero Dennison.

[kenberg]

My first thought when I read about ramming the ramparts and taking over the airports in 1776 were that it was the work of a prankster and I still think that is likely. I have seen Trump reading, as best he can, prepared remarks. He very obviously not only doesn't mean what he says, he doesn't even listen to what he is saying, he doesn't know what he says, he doesn't care what he says. He was told to give this speech and he does it like a thirteen year old required to read aloud some stupid poem that he has no interest in at all. So I can imagine someone on the speech writing staff making a bet with friends on what words he can put into the president's mouth. Ding dong the witch is dead? Why not?

[y66]

Guest post from Jonathan Bernstein at Bloomberg:

Quote

Donald Trump’s planned Fourth of July celebration of himself has so many things wrong with it that it’s actually possible to rank them. So that’s what I’ll do, from least objectionable to most.

Two things I won’t rank, however, because they’re unknown at this point despite some serious hints in the coverage. One is the possibility that Trump is allowing (or even arranging for) a fair amount of graft and corruption in how this event is set up. The other is that there’s a very good chance that the event just isn’t well-planned, leaving a fairly large chance of some serious logistical chaos.

But that leaves plenty that we do know about.

Quote

Jeffrey Lazarus @jlazarus001

To recap Trump is using the military to mark a civilian holiday; threatens to damage priceless historical monuments in the process; is giving VIP access to campaign donors at the publicly-funded event; and is diverting funds from national park maintenance to do it. Right. Gotcha.

I’m not intrinsically upset about the costs of Trump’s extravaganza — which include millions spent out of the federal treasury, plus likely damage to infrastructure in Washington and surrounding areas, plus the very real costs to military personnel and others in having to work on the holiday instead of relaxing and enjoying it. And even the costs to travelers delayed at Washington National.

The costs are upsetting mainly because I think the event is a mistake. I have no problem with the costs of the regular Washington Fourth of July celebration; I generally approve of a fair amount of government spending and nonmonetary costs in the pursuit of celebrating the nation’s holidays, especially this one. Still, it does appear that this is all going to be unusually expensive, and unusually cavalier about inconveniencing both the troops and ordinary citizens.

What’s worse than the costs is turning a nonpartisan celebration of the nation into a partisan event, with the Republican National Committee distributing VIP access to donors. That’s really unfortunate. Washington’s Fourth of July celebration has never been partisan, at least in modern times. And some of Trump’s rhetoric surrounding his event has already included bashing Democrats for supposedly ruining the military before he took office. There’s always a tendency for the incumbent party to hint that it is particularly entitled to the symbols of the nation, but it’s important to keep such tendencies in check. Democracy depends on what’s in many ways a very unnatural willingness to support the government even when it’s filled with one’s political opponents; for that to work at all, the in-party has to at least pretend that it represents everyone. Trump has never accepted that part of his job, and it appears that his Fourth of July will be another example of rejecting it.

What’s worse than the partisanship is the central place of Trump in the celebration. The national holidays of the U.S. simply aren’t about the aggrandizement of the president, and it’s an excellent tradition that presidents typically haven’t taken part at all in the Washington Fourth of July events, much less hijacked them for their own use. It would be bad enough if Trump could be trusted to deliver a bunch of bland patriotic clichés in his planned address to the nation – even if all he did was read the Declaration of Independence – but the record is pretty clear that he isn’t capable of speaking to the nation’s democratic heritage, or in fact giving any kind of speech without his usual bluster and braggadocio. At any rate, the great leader presiding over a militaristic celebration of himself and the nation is what happens in authoritarian regimes, not in democracies.

Which gets to the very worst part of Trump’s Independence Day travesty: putting the military front and center in his vision of the United States. We’ve had altogether too much of this in every context over the last few years, which is pretty much what one would expect from a nation that has been at war for so long. But it’s just wrong for the Fourth of July, which has always been about freedom and democracy and which should be about politics at its best.

Nations that have nothing but military hardware to brag about center their celebrations on tanks and warplanes. The U.S. traditionally celebrates what Jefferson called “the pursuit of happiness” — both the private happiness of personal enjoyment and the public happiness of a shared political culture and a tradition of civic, including political, participation. Trump doesn’t seem to understand any of that as central to the U.S. That he’s inflicting his politics on the military is dangerous; that he’s inflicting his vision of the U.S. as a military nation above all else is dangerous, too.

For those of us who appreciate the real spirit of the Fourth, the whole thing is just indescribably sad.

[Winstonm]

The stable genius at work:

Quote

During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump promised to revitalize coal and save miners' jobs

Quote

Nearly 2,000 miners across four states may lose their jobs after yet another major coal company filed for bankruptcy this week – the third since May and fourth since last October.

The bankruptcy filing from Revelation Energy LLC and its affiliate Blackjewel LLC, the nation's sixth-top coal producing company in 2017, comes amid President Donald Trump's ongoing efforts to boost the flagging industry.

The Trump administration rolled out a rule last month aiming to extend the lives of aging coal-fired power plants across the nation. Environmentalists say the Affordable Clean Energy rule would trigger premature deaths, including from lung disease.

[Chas_P]

Winstonm, on 2019-July-05, 20:40, said:

Who are "you people"?

Those of you who have nothing better to do than spend 24/7 bitching because your girl Hillary lost the last Presidential election. The country is in great shape...unemployment at an all-time low, stock market at an all-time high, people happy.

"Come on people now
Smile on your brother
Everybody get together
Try to love one another
Right now"

[Chas_P]

johnu, on 2019-July-06, 01:02, said:

No integrity, no dignity, no honor, cannot control himself from continuing to post to this thread and repeatedly demonstrating that he has the same lack of self control of his hero Dennison.

Ritalin Johnboy. Ritalin. I'm really trying to come together and love my brother but you're making it somewhat difficult.

[barmar]

Winstonm, on 2019-July-05, 09:23, said:

Personally, I see no fundamental difference. In each case an ego-driven decision is made to appropriate monies earmarked for better uses.

A stupid parade doesn't really hurt anyone, it's just a waste of money. Trump's border protection policies are splitting up families and putting children in conditions worse than jail. It's actively causing physical and mental harm.

[Chas_P]

barmar, on 2019-July-06, 19:23, said:

Trump's border protection policies are splitting up families and putting children in conditions worse than jail. It's actively causing physical and mental harm.

It was Obama.

[barmar]

kenberg, on 2019-July-06, 06:28, said:

My first thought when I read about ramming the ramparts and taking over the airports in 1776 were that it was the work of a prankster and I still think that is likely.

Of all the stupid things Trump has said, I'm willing to overlook this one. It sounds like just a little slip of the tongue, I assume the speech actually said "ports" or "seaports".

Trump says that the rain knocked out the teleprompter so he was going from memory. Considering the wild stuff that comes out of his mouth when he really extermporizes, this is minor.

[johnu]

Chas_NoSelfAwarenessOfSelfHumiliation, on 2019-July-06, 18:30, said:

I repeat, No integrity, no dignity, no honor, cannot control himself from continuing to post to this thread and repeatedly demonstrating that he has the same lack of self control of his hero Dennison.

Apparently he has the same mental condition that infests most of the other Dennison god worshippers

[hrothgar]

Chas_P, on 2019-July-06, 18:32, said:

I'm really trying to come together and love my brother but you're making it somewhat difficult.

Bullshit

You're a lonely old man whose only jollies come from trolling newsgroups

You've openly admitted as much
Why do you bother to pretend otherwise?

[kenberg]

barmar, on 2019-July-06, 19:34, said:

Of all the stupid things Trump has said, I'm willing to overlook this one. It sounds like just a little slip of the tongue, I assume the speech actually said "ports" or "seaports".

Trump says that the rain knocked out the teleprompter so he was going from memory. Considering the wild stuff that comes out of his mouth when he really extermporizes, this is minor.

Sure, I agree, but I found it amusing. In the closing days of the Nixon presidency he was giving a speech (I heard it, not FAKE NEWS) about something, just what I don't recall, and he spoke of "discredited presidents". He immediately corrected this to "discredited precedents". Whatever one thinks of this slip, slip of the tongue or the primitive mind speaking truth, at least Nixon was aware of what he was saying. Trump? We have all known such people, they speak as if some alien invader has taken over their speech, they seem unaware of what they are saying. And it's not just the airports. Does anyone really speak of ramming the ramparts? I am not given to conspiracy theories but the idea of some prankster inserting some of this into his "prepared" remarks appeals to my sense of humor. In the early 50s teens telegrammed requests to the local DJ, Marty O'Neill, and he would read the message then play the song. This created amusing opportunities when, as happened, that message was not read carefully beforehand.

[johnu]

For unknown reasons, this story is causing some controversy.

British Ambassador To U.S. Describes ‘Inept’ Donald Trump In Leaked Memos: Report

Quote

Britain’s ambassador to the U.S., Sir Kim Darroch, reportedly described Donald Trump as “inept” and at risk of ending his presidency in “disgrace.”
...
In one excoriating message, seen by the Mail, Sir Kim is said to have written: “We don’t really believe [Trump’s] Administration is going to become substantially more normal; less dysfunctional; less unpredictable; less faction riven; less diplomatically clumsy and inept.”

I confess that I may be biased about this subject, but it seems that Darroch gave a pretty straightforward fact based appraisal in his reports.

There isn't anything reported (in this story) about Dennison having committed multiple criminal acts, or being a stooge of Russia and Putin for unknown reasons (but may include Kompromat or the promise of a yuuuge hotel deal in Russia). IMHO, that would be controversial (but true) for a foreign dignitary to point out.

[Winstonm]

I'm finding the entire Individual-1 odyssey incredibly tiring, from Nancy Pelosi's misjudged and stubborn refusal to initiate an impeachment inquiry in order to give the House oversight demands some bite to the continued presidential support that can only signal that the country I thought I knew is deeply racist and likely irreparably flawed.

[Chas_P]

hrothgar, on 2019-July-07, 00:58, said:

Bullshit

You're a lonely old man whose only jollies come from trolling newsgroups

LOL! Old? Guilty as charged. Lonely? Hardly. I've been married to the best woman in the world for over 59 years, and I probably have more friends than you've had hot meals. So you can save your snotty little attempts at insults for someone who may actually respect your opinion. I don't.

[Winstonm]

A Trump supporter by default must be at minimum uncaring about racism and at worst actively racist himself. And that makes not 50% but every last one of them deplorable human beings.

[y66]

From Maureen Dowd's July 6 interview with Nancy Pelosi:

Quote

I asked Pelosi whether, after being the subject of so many you-go-girl memes for literally clapping back at Trump, it was jarring to get a bad headline like the one in HuffPost that day — “What The Hell Is Nancy Pelosi Doing?” The article described the outrage of the Squad, as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts are known.

Pelosi feels that the four made themselves irrelevant to the process by voting against “our bill,” as she put it, which she felt was the strongest one she could get. “All these people have their public whatever and their Twitter world,” she said. “But they didn’t have any following. They’re four people and that’s how many votes they got.”

She has withstood attacks from left — and right — before, after all. Some top Democrats who called me before the 2018 midterms, urging me to write a column saying that it was time for Pelosi to go, admit now that they were wrong and that they love the way she put together a winning coalition and has gotten into Trump’s head.

While Democrats have been wringing their hands over whether a woman can beat Trump, or whether they should settle for getting one on the ticket as a helpmeet to a white male, Pelosi has offered a master class, with flair and fire, on how a woman can spar with Trump.

She pinned the blame for the border bill on Mitch McConnell. In an era when millennials prize authenticity, she said, McConnell is “authentically terrible.” She has had a working relationship with him for years but now, she says, the Senate majority leader has “really crossed a threshold with me.” The trim speaker, wearing white pants and a purple cardigan to match her purple Manolo heels, stabbed her fork into one of my home fries.

“With all due respect, the press likes to make a story that is more about Democrats divided than the fact that Mitch McConnell doesn’t care about the children,’’ she said, referring to what she called “trash” stories about a supposed rift between her and Chuck Schumer. She also accused the press of “constantly enabling” Trump by allowing him to suck up all the oxygen and says journalists are “accomplices to their own denigration.”

“You would think that within a couple of days, 48 hours or so, of seeing that little child with her father, there would have been some challenge of conscience,’’ she said of Republicans. “But understand this: They don’t care.”

The fracas over the border bill illustrates the treacherous nature of Pelosi’s job. Even with all her remarkable skill, it is a herculean task to weave together her anarchic progressives and the moderates who helped flip the House by winning in districts where Trump won in 2016.

On top of that, many Democrats see Pelosi as the thin blue line — albeit in fiery orange and hot pink hues — standing between them and a lawless Trump.

While the president was squandering millions to prove his manliness by rolling out tanks and jets on the Fourth, Pelosi was holed up at her vineyard getaway in Napa with her family, eating Mexican food, rereading the Mueller report and preparing to unman the president with a thousand legal and legislative cuts.

While the number of House Democrats who want an impeachment inquiry is growing — it’s up to 80 now — Pelosi knows that giving in to that primal pleasure could backfire.

Is the Fifth Avenue trust fund baby who loves to play victim actually goading the Democrats into impeaching him?

“Oh, he’d rather not be impeached,’’ she said. “But he sees a silver lining. And he wants to then say, ‘The Democrats impeached me but the Senate’ — he won’t say Republicans — ‘exonerated me.’ The thing is that, he every day practically self-impeaches by obstructing justice and ignoring the subpoenas.”

Pelosi announced in a letter to her members on Wednesday that the House will hold the Trump administration in contempt on the census donnybrook.

Trump and Vice President Mike Pence in the Oval Office, at a meeting last December.CreditDoug Mills/The New York Times
I asked about the Politico report that she privately told Jerry Nadler and other Democrats about the president: “I don’t want to see him impeached, I want to see him in prison.”

She said, “I didn’t exactly say that,” and noted: “You can’t impeach everybody. People wanted Reagan impeached but that didn’t happen. O.K., they impeached Clinton for something so ridiculous — getting impeached for doing a dumb thing as a guy. Then they wanted to impeach Obama.” And now comes Trump, who she says, “has given real cause for impeachment.”

I ask her if the president ever pressured her on the issue.

“He may have one time said something like, ‘I’m glad you’re not doing this impeachment because there’s nothing there,’” she said. “But that means nothing to me.”

The speaker, who is trying to keep the party center left, must know that getting Trump out of office is a goal that could be jeopardized by the fact that the Democrats lurched so far left in the first debates, with bilingual pandering and talk about busing and decriminalizing illegal border crossings and abolishing private health insurance.

This is the pol whose name was synonymous for decades with extreme San Francisco liberalism. (A “Saturday Night Live” sketch in 2006 depicted Pelosi, played by Kristen Wiig, talking to a pair of chain-and-leather-clad aides, one with a ball-gag in his mouth.) Now, astonishingly, the woman formerly scorned as a pinko is the voice of moderation, urging the kids to turn down the music and slow their roll or risk having a second unbearable helping of Trump.

“If the left doesn’t think I’m left enough, so be it,” she said, breezily. “As I say to these people, come to my basement. I have these signs about single-payer from 30 years ago. I understand what they’re saying. But we have a responsibility to get something done, which is different from advocacy. We have to have a solution, not just a Twitter fight.”

A master class in House leadership? We'll see. But definitely an impressive work ethic by an old Baltimorean.

[Winstonm]

Looks like the Mueller investigation isn't really over:

Quote

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal grand jury in New York is investigating top Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy, examining whether he used his position as vice chair of President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee to drum up business deals with foreign leaders, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press and people familiar with the matter.