What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[The Minsky Moment]

It's pretty simple - the Iranians are not going to whisper sweet nothings in Trump's ear.  Al-Sisi and Salman and Son, OTOH have the full measure of this man and have him wrapped around their fingers.  The Iranian election confirms that there is a real pro-reform majority on the ground and there is a real opportunity to move things with a constructive approach.  At the very least, US policy should be triangulating or hedging bets.  But it won't happen because the Majlis is never going to hang pieces of gold-plated rapper bling on Donald and tell him what a great, great snowflake he is.

[CountDeMoney]

Shame.  Iranian chicks are so fucking hawt.

Oh well, this is a lot easier than international non-proliferation diplomacy anyway.

[11B4V]

Shame.  Iranian chicks are so fucking hawt.

Oh well, this is a lot easier than international non-proliferation diplomacy anyway.

[Savonarola]

From CNN:

The real story behind Trump's glowing orb

The real story behind Trump's glowing orb
By David Wheeler
Updated 1:16 PM ET, Mon May 22, 2017

David Wheeler is a freelance writer, a journalism professor at the University of Tampa and the editor of the online magazine AliveTampaBay.com. Follow him on Twitter: @David_R_Wheeler. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN)Everyone's freaking out about Donald Trump's involvement with the glowing orb, on which he placed his hands during his visit to Saudi Arabia Sunday -- along with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud,and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi -- to officially open, we're told, the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology.

But I'm here to put everything into context. I know the glowing orb. The glowing orb is a friend of mine. The orb -- whose name is Orville, by the way -- appeared to me in a beautiful hallucination at Burning Man back in '95. We've been in touch ever since -- sometimes in dreams, sometimes over email. It turns out that, as long as we all behave according to Orville's strict instructions, and follow his orders blindly and unquestioningly, we'll be fine.

You might be interested in three predictions Orville made that have already come true.

Prediction No. 1:

America will empower an orange being in November of 2016.

"Ha," I scoffed when the orb told me this in the Nevada desert on the first night of Burning Man in 1995 (back when Burning Man was still cool). "We would never do that, Orville." But, sure enough, America put a tangerine-tinted man in the Oval Office, despite his description of Mexican immigrants as criminals and "rapists." And despite his boasts of groping women without their permission. And despite his hints that Second-Amendment-loving gun owners could "do something" if his opponent were elected.

You guys, Orville was right.

Prediction No. 2:

The orange being will put three fingers in the Pacific Ocean in May of 2017.

This prediction came to me via my Outlook email inbox during his inauguration. It had been three or four years since I'd heard from Orville -- he sent me some photos of his backpacking excursion through Europe -- and I was glad to hear from my old friend.

Initially, of course, I thought Orville was talking about the literal ocean, and I expected a photo op sometime this month, perhaps involving Trump shaking hands with blue-collar workers at the Port of Los Angeles. But then, bam, there was Orville, all over TV and the Internet. And guys, did you see where Trump's fingers were? IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN section of Orville's surface.
I emailed Orville the now-famous image, complimented his photogenic appearance, and asked if this was his prediction coming true.

He wrote back, "Yes, and don't fall for the storyline that the Saudis were trying to kiss up to him by shrinking the Earth just to make his hands look bigger."

"Orville," I said, "Two of your predictions have come true. Is there a third?

"Yes," he wrote back. "Can we switch to Facebook direct messaging?"

"Sure," I wrote back.

Then, in a Facebook direct message, Orville gave me the third prediction.

Prediction No. 3:

Those who disobey Orville the Orb will be destroyed.

"Wait, this doesn't sound like you," I typed back. "You're usually so fun-loving and easy-going. You're not the type to threaten people."

"Well, I appreciate you saying that," he wrote. "But it's time to take extreme measures. After watching a lot of Fox News, I've decided that the best way forward is to promote chaos, drive wedges between people, and thereby empower the orange being. As you can see, the orange being has pledged allegiance to me."

"Orville," I wrote back, "that's ridiculous. You, the orb, are supposed to be against extremism. That's what the whole Riyadh photo op was about."

"Silence, mortal," he wrote back, using a tone I'd never heard from him before. "I'm becoming impatient with the gridlock in Washington. Therefore, I believe we should undermine faith in our institutions, such as a free press and an independent judiciary, and let the orange being reign. This is my declaration."

"What happens if we refuse?" I asked timidly.

"You don't want to find out, buddy boy."

Then he used an obscene emoji.

But guys, I think everything is fine. Really. Like I said, I've known Orville for years. Plus, maybe he was just joking. That Orville can be a real kidder sometimes.

Well, I can't say that I'm surprised this columnist is from Florida; or that he's a professor of journalism.

[CountDeMoney]

Slow weekend rush.  Needed copy.

[11B4V]

No way, not possible

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-top-court-tosses-republican-drawn-north-carolina-voting-districts/ar-BBBoo3E?OCID=ansmsnnews11

WASHINGTON, May 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled that Republicans in North Carolina unlawfully took race into consideration when drawing congressional district boundaries, concentrating black voters in an improper bid to diminish their overall political clout.

[CountDeMoney]

Lawdy lawdy lawdy

[11B4V]

And


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/05/22/lawmaker-says-louisiana-leaders-should-be-lynched-for-taking-down-confederate-statues/?utm_term=.25d84f1f00a2

Lawmaker apologizes after saying leaders 'should be LYNCHED' for removing Confederate statues

[11B4V]

And


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/05/22/lawmaker-says-louisiana-leaders-should-be-lynched-for-taking-down-confederate-statues/?utm_term=.25d84f1f00a2

Lawmaker apologizes after saying leaders 'should be LYNCHED' for removing Confederate statues

The actual FB post

The post said: "The destruction of these monuments, erected in the loving memory of our family and fellow Southern Americans, is both heinous and horrific. If the, and I use this term extremely loosely, "leadership" of Louisiana wishes to, in a Nazi-ish fashion, burn books or destroy historical monuments of OUR HISTORY, they should be LYNCHED! Let it be known, I will do all in my power to prevent this from happening in our State."

[Oexmelin]

How dare they employ Nazi methods like cranes and trucks to remove statues glorifying white men who enforced a racist regime with extreme violence?

[jimmy olsen]

A high of 55% disapproval reached

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/trump-approval-ratings/

Also
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/democrats-dont-need-trumps-voters-to-retake-the-house/

Even if Trump's Republican Party wins the recent high water mark of 87 percent of those who approve of the job the president is doing and loses only 83 percent of those who disapprove, Republicans would still lose the House popular vote by 7 percentage points.3 That could be enough for them to lose the House.

[Valmy]

They are not even destroying the statues, just removing them. Putting them in our museum of degenerate art. Nothing Nazi-esque about that.

[Grey Fox]

Republican fortunes in the midterms will depend on how credibly they can run away from Trump.

No, they won't run away.

[grumbler]

Republican fortunes in the midterms will depend on how credibly they can run away from Trump.

No, they won't run away.

Better tell them that.  They clearly don't know it.

[Grey Fox]

Any other running away other than McCain?