f NCE had stuck to simply claiming that some - not the - people in the room had said that I wouldn’t be complaining.
What NCE said is worth complaining about either way. There is sufficient evidence to conclude that Trump made the statements, and there is even more now than then. Labelling all of the evidence hearsay and then bolting was complete BS. It seems to me that NCE was engaging in the Bolderdash-like tactic of showing up to decry that a discussion was taking place without having the least inclination to contribute. My guess is that he is still irked about the discussion that prompted him to take his short vacation from EvC.
Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also in prison. Thoreau: Civil Disobedience (1846)
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
We got a thousand points of light for the homeless man. We've got a kinder, gentler, machine gun hand. Neil Young, Rockin' in the Free World.
Worrying about the "browning of America" is not racism. -- Faith
saying (in effect), "America is a country of ideals, not people."
Uh, I hope he did not say that.
Yeah, misstated it. Looking it up this time, what Graham is reported to have actually said was, "America is an idea, not a race." In a statement released later he said, "I've always believed that America is an idea, not defined by its people but by its ideals."
The congressmen in both houses are behaving like they don't realize that Congress is a co-equal branch of government, not President Trump's lapdog. Their reaction today to Republican Jeff Flake's (R-AZ) speech that was deeply critical of Trump (see my Message 1740) was either silence or criticism. The only Republican to express support was Senator John McCain, whose op-ed appeared in today's Washington Post (Mr. President, stop attacking the press).
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MI): I don’t think that sort of speech is helpful. I disagree with those quotes and I don’t know why it’s helpful. I don’t see any need to further stir that pot.
Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL): He’s certainly crossed the rubicon with Trump. Strife is not productive.
Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK): He hates him. He doesn’t like the president. I can’t imagine anyone questioning that. As it gets closer to the end of his time here, I think he’s going to accelerate his wrath against the president.
Asked whether he would ever rebut Flake on the Senate floor, Inhofe scoffed: That would probably have the reverse effect and embolden him.
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC): That’s a little bit of hyperbole. Look, we should always be mindful, because we don’t want to have a chilling effect on what remains of the legitimate press corps. A senator’s words matter. So people, maybe, are going to have a more heightened concern than they should.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT): [Trump had not been too aggressive] up until now, that I know of. I don’t believe in attacking the media. Unless they’re wrong on something. I just don’t think that’s our job.
Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT): I agree with Sen. Flake on the importance of protecting the importance of the First Amendment. Sen. Flake talks about the importance of trust. That cuts two ways. When we had President Obama, he said people who watch Fox News are on another planet.
To correct Senator Daines, Obama didn't exactly say that, and it wasn't when he was president. He said that listeners to Fox News and NPR are on different planets, and he said it only a few days ago, not while he was president. But thanks for playing.
Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN): I don’t know what else I could possibly say that could be edifying to anyone.
Pretty disappointing from the guy who called the White House adult day care just a few months ago.
Republican party, you're a disgrace.
You Republicans out there, write your congressmen (you do it through websites these days, not through actual letters) and tell them that Trump is not their boss. They do not have to kowtow to him. This is not the imperial presidency. Work for the conservative causes they believe in by all means, but stop acting as enablers for this insane president.
quote:To be fair, Nielsen's response is not as ridiculous as you make it sound. Bear in mind that speaking to the leader of the free world is not, for her, a unique and special experience that would stick in her memory. She's a Cabinet Secretary - she speaks to him on a regular basis.
So what she actually said was 'I cannot remember what my boss said at a meeting at which I was present." I am often present at meetings at which I pay little attention to what my boss is saying.
Strange how she seemed to remember Graham's quoting of Trump but not Trump's original statement that Graham was quoting.
To me, it seems that she is so inured to Trump's statements (both the vulgarity and the blatant racism) that she no longer notices it. It's how you can not be phased by hearing your racist relative talk about the and yet be flabbergasted when you see a clip of Florence Henderson swearing when she messes up a line for a commercial ("Mrs. Brady swea-ears!"...and I can't find a clip of it, alas.)
Either that, or she's just flat-out lying.
Then, of course, there's the doctor who just came out and said that Trump is in "excellent health" despite being (at best) borderline obese and with LDL and calcium numbers that clearly indicate heart disease. Now, I'm not going to say that he's deathly ill...after all, the risk of a major coronary event for someone with calcium levels of his (which indicate plaques have already formed) is for within the next 3-5 years. But why not just say that? Why the hyperbole and evasion? Would it really have been problematic to say, "Mr. Trump is showing some signs of heart disease which are common for people of his sex, age, and race, but they can be easily managed through diet, exercise, and certain medications. His tests show that he is in good general health at the present moment and we hope to continue that trend through some changes in his lifestyle"?
And worse, the doc admitted that Trump pushed him on what to say. I would hope that a doctor (and a Rear Admiral in the Navy at that) would have more integrity.
Rrhain Thank you for your submission to Science. Your paper was reviewed by a jury of seventh graders so that they could look for balance and to allow them to make up their own minds. We are sorry to say that they found your paper "bogus," specifically describing the section on the laboratory work "boring." We regret that we will be unable to publish your work at this time. Minds are like parachutes. Just because you've lost yours doesn't mean you can use mine.
A few of those guys have responses that don't look completely partisan
[Trump had not been too aggressive] up until now, that I know of. I don’t believe in attacking the media. Unless they’re wrong on something. I just don’t think that’s our job.
I am having a hard time sorting out what Tillis is saying...
Daines did seem to acknowledge a problem before slamming Obama for something that even if true, really isn't on par with the issues regarding Trump anyway.
I don't know how much access you have to Republic leaning folks, but I saw folks expressing their opinions today on Quora. What I see quite often is supporters who are happy that their president is not PC and speaks his mind. And that is their reaction even to the Trump's "shithouse/hole" stuff.
Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also in prison. Thoreau: Civil Disobedience (1846)
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
We got a thousand points of light for the homeless man. We've got a kinder, gentler, machine gun hand. Neil Young, Rockin' in the Free World.
Worrying about the "browning of America" is not racism. -- Faith
Worldwide Approval of American Leadership Reaches New Low
Gallop releases an annual poll of worldwide approval of the leadership of four nations: The United States, China, Russia and Germany. 2017 saw a steep decline in the approval rating of the United States from 48% to 30%, an historic low. A graph of the ratings since 2007, when the poll began, can be found on page 2 of Rating World Leaders: 2018 The U.S. vs. Germany, China and Russia.
Here's the data for the last two years
2016:
United States: 48%
Germany: 41%
Chine: 31%
Russia: 26%
2017:
Germany: 41%
Chine: 31%
United States: 30%
Russia: 27%
How about that, our leadership is viewed as just a few percentage points above Russia. Last year when Obama was president we were 22 percentage points above Russia. Amazing what Trump has accomplished in just a single year.
Re: Worldwide Approval of American Leadership Reaches New Low
I don't kow much about politics; but I do know that The US lost a lot of credibility since Trump became President. The Chinese are really starting to look like the dominant Superpower; both economically and diplomatically.
Their military might can't easily be discarded either.
A few of those guys have responses that don't look completely partisan
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT): [Trump had not been too aggressive] up until now, that I know of. I don’t believe in attacking the media. Unless they’re wrong on something. I just don’t think that’s our job.
Hatch is saying that Trump's criticism of the press has not been inappropriate, because attacking the media is okay when they're wrong. Short of when they're wrong, criticizing the media is not the job of politicians. The article from which this was taken (Flake rankles fellow Republicans with Trump takedowns) might make it more clear, so I'll just quote the portion from it that's about Hatch:
quote:What Flake said, they will not: that Trump has taken media criticisms too far. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) said that Trump had not been too aggressive up until now, that I know of.
I don’t believe in attacking the media unless they’re wrong on something, Hatch said. I just don’t think that’s our job.
I am having a hard time sorting out what Tillis is saying...
Here's what Tillis said:
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC): That’s a little bit of hyperbole. Look, we should always be mindful, because we don’t want to have a chilling effect on what remains of the legitimate press corps. A senator’s words matter. So people, maybe, are going to have a more heightened concern than they should.
Translating, he's saying that Flake is exaggerating the problem, and he's making people more concerned about presidential press criticism than they ought to be.
I don't know how much access you have to Republic leaning folks, but I saw folks expressing their opinions today on Quora. What I see quite often is supporters who are happy that their president is not PC and speaks his mind. And that is their reaction even to the Trump's "shithouse/hole" stuff.
The New York Times ran a collection of letters from Trump supporters about how they felt about Trump one year after he took office: ‘Vision, Chutzpah and Some Testosterone’. The first one was typical:
quote:To the Editor:
Donald Trump has succeeded where Barack Obama failed. The economy is up, foreign tyrants are afraid, ISIS has lost most of its territory, our embassy will be moved to Jerusalem and tax reform is accomplished. More than that, Mr. Trump is learning, adapting and getting savvier every day. Entitlement reform is next! Lastly, the entrenched interests in Washington, which have done nothing but glad-hand one another, and both political parties are angry and afraid.
Who knew that all it would take to make progress was vision, chutzpah and some testosterone?
quote:White House Chief of Staff John Kelly told a caucus of Hispanic lawmakers on Wednesday that he has persuaded President Trump that building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border is unnecessary, signaling a possible reversal on the key campaign promise.
quote:President Trump directly contradicted his own chief of staff on Thursday and said his position on building a wall between the United States and Mexico had not evolved.
They'll be a hot time in the Oval Office today, you betcha!
Hatch is saying that Trump's criticism of the press has not been inappropriate
What did Hatch mean by "up until now"? Was that a statement that Trump had finally crossed a line?
Translating, he's saying that Flake is exaggerating the problem
Yes, but that is an acknowledgment of a problem. That's what I mean by not completely partisan.
Edited by NoNukes, : No reason given.
Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also in prison. Thoreau: Civil Disobedience (1846)
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
We got a thousand points of light for the homeless man. We've got a kinder, gentler, machine gun hand. Neil Young, Rockin' in the Free World.
Worrying about the "browning of America" is not racism. -- Faith
Apparently the delay in their publication was because Trump hadn't got round to it, since it doesn't look like much work was put into it. There's no categories for the awards or anything, it's just a list of his (or the aide who wrote its) top ten Fake News from 2017; plus:
quote:11. And last, but not least: "RUSSIA COLLUSION!" Russian collusion is perhaps the greatest hoax perpetrated on the American people. THERE IS NO COLLUSION!
Absent are dates, urls, or the sort of details that would make it easier to check the actual content of the original reports. I'm not sure if this is an intentional attempt to conceal exagerrations or just a result of the fact that this blog post was banged together in 5 minutes without much effort.
One looks like Trump doesn't distinguish between 'Washington Post reported' and 'Washington Post journalist tweeted', but that's not surprising,
ABE: A quick bit of looking around reveals that two of the ten were tweets by journalists rather than news stories; and further that in almost all the chosen cases the news organisation admitted a mistake and issued corrections.
So if 'fake news' actually means cases where a news organisation made a mistake and apologised, I assume we can treat all the stories that have not been retracted as reliable?
There's no categories for the awards or anything, it's just a list of his (or the aide who wrote its) top ten Fake News from 2017; plus:
It is a half-hearted attempt but probably sufficient for its purpose.
Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also in prison. Thoreau: Civil Disobedience (1846)
"Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
We got a thousand points of light for the homeless man. We've got a kinder, gentler, machine gun hand. Neil Young, Rockin' in the Free World.
Worrying about the "browning of America" is not racism. -- Faith
Hatch is saying that Trump's criticism of the press has not been inappropriate
What did Hatch mean by "up until now"? Was that a statement that Trump had finally crossed a line?
My interpretation was that he made a poor choice and words and meant "right up through the present moment".
Translating, he's saying that Flake is exaggerating the problem
Yes, but that is an acknowledgment of a problem. That's what I mean by not completely partisan.
You might be right, but I wasn't expecting what I said to be interpreted that way. Rephrasing what I said more precisely, he's saying that Flake is exaggerating the issue to make it seem more of a problem than it actually is, and is thereby causing a more heightened level of concern than is appropriate. So you're right that he's saying some level of concern is called for, but to me he's saying it in a way that indicates it isn't really anything to worry much about.
As I've said a couple times in this thread, there is nothing more risky than being a Trump friend, and today an editorial in the Washington Post endorses the same view: The man-child in the White House reels wildly out of control. Here are a few excerpts:
quote:How do you like him now, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell? President Trump convened a made-for-television summit at the White House and said he’d sign any immigration bill Congress passed. I’ll take the heat, he boasted. So a bipartisan group of senators came up with a deal and he rejected it out of hand, launching into an unhinged rant about shithole countries.
What about you, House Speaker Paul D. Ryan? You came up with a clever way to get Democrats to agree to a stopgap funding bill, dangling the possibility of a long-term renewal of the vital Children’s Health Insurance Program. But the president tweeted that CHIP should be part of a long term solution and not a short-term measure to keep the government from shutting down.
Is this what you signed up for, Chief of Staff John F. Kelly? In a meeting with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, you said that some of Trump’s campaign positions on immigration were uninformed and that there will never be a wall along the entire U.S.-Mexico border. You reportedly added that whatever partial barrier gets built, Mexico won’t pay for it. But the president slapped you down with another series of tweets, claiming that his promised wall has never changed or evolved from the first day I conceived of it and that Mexico will, too, pay for the wall, directly or indirectly.
How was your week, White House physician Ronny Jackson? You did what is expected of everyone who stands at the lectern in the briefing room: lavish the president with flowery, over-the-top, Dear Leader praise. He is in excellent health, you announced. But the test results you released, according to many other doctors, indicate that Trump suffers from moderate heart disease and is on the borderline between overweight and obese.
Having fun, Stephen K. Bannon and Corey Lewandowski? As bigwigs in the Trump campaign, you helped a manifestly unfit blowhard get elected president. This week, you did the White House a favor by stonewalling the House Intelligence Committee in a way that angered even the Republicans on the panel, which is hard to do. But you remain in the crosshairs of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation, and the best-case scenario is that you emerge unindicted but saddled with mountainous legal bills.
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