What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[grumbler]

The difference is that I don't claim that atheism impacts my vote, and they very much claim that their beliefs are driven by their faith.

Your atheism drives your votes just as much as your aSantaism, aBoogeymanism, aUnicornism, and a bunch of other a-isms.  Theists aren't hobbled by the hobgoblin of consistency - they can pick and choose which superstitions drive their votes.

[jimmy olsen]

Strong words, but he still has voted for Trump's agenda most of the time.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/flake-denounce-trump-media-attacks-stalinist-senate-speech-n837556

Flake to denounce Trump media attacks as Stalinist in Senate speech

by Kasie Hunt and Kendall Breitman

WASHINGTON — Sen. Jeff Flake is planning to slam President Donald Trump's attacks on the press on the Senate floor this week in a speech that will compare the president's use of the term "enemy of the people" to describe the media to Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

"When a figure in power reflexively calls any press that doesn't suit him 'fake news,' it is that person who should be the figure of suspicion, not the press," Flake, R-Ariz., will say, according to excerpts of the speech provided to NBC News.

Trump called the media the "enemy of the people" in a February tweet. "The FAKE NEWS media (failing @nytimes, @NBCNews, @ABC, @CBS, @CNN) is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American People!" the president wrote on Twitter.


"Mr. President, it is a testament to the condition of our democracy that our own president uses words infamously spoken by Josef Stalin to describe his enemies," Flake plans to say in the Senate remarks.

"It bears noting that so fraught with malice was the phrase 'enemy of the people,' that even (later Soviet leader) Nikita Khrushchev forbad its use, telling the Soviet Communist Party that the phrase had been introduced by Stalin to for the purpose of 'annihilating such individuals' who disagreed with the supreme leader," Flake will say.

"This alone should be a source of great shame for us in this body, especially those of us in the president's party. For they are shameful and repulsive statements."

The speech from one of Trump's fiercest Republican critics comes as the president has promoted his "Fake News Awards" on Twitter, saying that the awards, expected to be on Wednesday, will go to "the most corrupt & biased of the Mainstream Media."

Since the 2016 election, Flake has emerged as a sharp critic of Trump, writing a book challenging the president earlier this year.

Flake, who is not running for re-election, explained his rationale for the upcoming Senate speech in an interview with NBC News' Kasie Hunt for Sunday night's "Kasie DC" on MSNBC, urging fellow GOP lawmakers to resist the temptation to "retreat into camps" when dealing with Trump.

"What I'm trying to do with this speech is basically trying to nudge the president back where I think that we, as elected officials, ought to be. And I think that that's a role that I should have as a member of the Senate," Flake told Hunt in the interview.

"We have a balance of power, separated powers here. We shouldn't all be afraid to criticize the president when we think he's wrong," he added.

In the Senate speech, Flake plans to label Trump's attacks on the press as "unprecedented" and "unwarranted."

"2017 was a year which saw the truth — objective, empirical, evidence-based truth — more battered and abused than any other time in the history of our country, at the hands of the most powerful figure in our government," Flake will say, according to the excerpts.

In an interview with Hunt, Flake reiterated his opposition to labeling the media the "enemy of the people."

"I don't think that we should be using the phrase that's been rejected as too loaded by a Soviet dictator," Flake said.

[FunkMonk]

Donald barely has an agenda besides Rs passing things for which he can take the credit. This is the whole reason why congressional Rs are still putting up with him. Paul Ryan and Mitch McTurtle get their agenda passed, Donald takes the credit. Everyone wins. Simple deal.

About the only thing I see that he actually has a real interest in happening is his stupid wall, and we'll see how far that gets with a 51-49 Senate.

[Valmy]

You may never have said that Atheism impacts your vote, but you it certainly colors the opinions here.

I mean yeah, he says obnoxious things to me but I don't think it really colors our politics much. We are pretty aligned there.

[Berkut]

The difference is that I don't claim that atheism impacts my vote, and they very much claim that their beliefs are driven by their faith.

Your atheism drives your votes just as much as your aSantaism, aBoogeymanism, aUnicornism, and a bunch of other a-isms.  Theists aren't hobbled by the hobgoblin of consistency - they can pick and choose which superstitions drive their votes.

But what is interesting about the evangelical right is that they claim that religion is important, but the reality is that it clearly is not important to them at all. it is a lie.

[jimmy olsen]

Donald barely has an agenda besides Rs passing things for which he can take the credit. This is the whole reason why congressional Rs are still putting up with him. Paul Ryan and Mitch McTurtle get their agenda passed, Donald takes the credit. Everyone wins. Simple deal.

They passed one major bill all year.

[The Larch]

I don't know if this Trump anecdote was discussed recently or not. Just in case, here it goes:

Trump asked why 'pretty Korean lady' analyst wasn't in North Korea negotiations

    Trump reportedly asked intelligence analyst where 'your people' were from


Amid a global furore over his reported remarks about "shithole countries" and immigration, Donald Trump faced further controversy on Friday when it was reported that he referred to an intelligence analyst presenting information to him in the Oval Office as a "pretty Korean lady" and suggested she should be part of negotiations with North Korea.

NBC News reported the exchange between the president and a "career intelligence analyst who is an expert in hostage policy". The analyst, the report said, was briefing Trump last fall on "the impending release of a family long held in Pakistan".

Citing two officials with direct knowledge of the exchange, NBC said the president asked the analyst where she was from, to which she said New York City. Trump reportedly pressed, asking where "your people" were from.

The NBC report said the analyst said her parents were Korean, leading Trump to ask an adviser why the "pretty Korean lady" was not involved in negotiations with nuclear-armed North Korea.
(...)
According to NBC, the officials who discussed the "pretty Korean lady" remark "said the president likely meant no harm with his inquiry, but it raised concern of a lack of cultural sensitivity and decorum".

[Razgovory]

The difference is that I don't claim that atheism impacts my vote, and they very much claim that their beliefs are driven by their faith.

Your atheism drives your votes just as much as your aSantaism, aBoogeymanism, aUnicornism, and a bunch of other a-isms.  Theists aren't hobbled by the hobgoblin of consistency - they can pick and choose which superstitions drive their votes.

But what is interesting about the evangelical right is that they claim that religion is important, but the reality is that it clearly is not important to them at all. it is a lie.

I think that may be a very recent development.  Church attendance is down among evangelicals along with everyone else.  They are shifting to new set of ideas, or perhaps more accurately shifting back to an old one.  The Religious Right replaced the the previous right-wing cultural ideology: Segregationism.  You see the rise of the Religious Right rise in the 1970's as segregation becomes completely discredited and defeated.  This is a positive development, they no longer hate all Blacks, just some of them.  But as the segregationists lost their culture war in 1950's and 1960's, the Religious Right has lost the culture war over sexual politics.  "Evangelical" is becoming an ethnic indicator rather than a religious one.

[jimmy olsen]

Lol. Haiti strikes back

https://twitter.com/BanditRandom/status/952743255871053824?ref_src=twcamp%5Eshare%7Ctwsrc%5Em5%7Ctwgr%5Eemail%7Ctwcon%5E7046%7Ctwterm%5E3

BREAKING: #Haiti held emergency high court session that resulted in an agreement to unseal and release information within ex-dictator Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier's indictments relating to #MoneyLaundering via Trump Tower condo.

[Valmy]

You just don't insult other country's nationalism.

[jimmy olsen]

You just don't insult other country's nationalism.

Actually, that seems like just a twitter rumor.

[Valmy]

Goddammit Tim

[jimmy olsen]

Lol

https://twitter.com/tschultzcom/status/953374880333885440

According to the White House, Trump (6'3", 239 lbs) is almost exactly the same height and weight as this Olympic athlete (Cyrille Maret - 6'3", 238 lbs)
6:14 AM - Jan 17, 2018

[jimmy olsen]

Dems just won a state senate seat in Wisconsin in a district that Trump won 55-38

[jimmy olsen]

Looking Good

https://twitter.com/ActorAaronBooth/status/953468401619521536

Here is a breakdown of Democrats' over performance tonight in all 4 contested special elections:

SC #HD99: D+13.08%
WI #AD58: D+24.90%
WI #SD10: D+27.52%
IA #HD06: D+20.44%

That is an average Dem over performance tonight of D+21.49%

That's... significant.