501 Matching Annotations
  1. Sep 2017
  2. Aug 2017
    1. Then he whored for his Virginia winery on the way out the door

      This was his response to questions about whether he had talked with Heather Heyer's mom and visiting CVille. Asked if we knew he had a house in CVille. Disgusting!

  3. Jul 2017
    1. President Trump’s lawyers and aides are scouring the professional and political backgrounds of investigators hired by the special counsel Robert S. Mueller III

      This seems to be a pattern for Trump - constantly jumping into battles in which he's overmatched. The battle of wills and trust with the former head of the FBI, Comey always seemed like a losing effort. Similarly, investigating (and thereby irritating) the investigators seems like a good way to motivate people who have made extremely successful careers in this field.

    1. “With every attempt at transparency Donald Trump Jr. digs himself more deeply into the hole of criminality,” he told me via email. “He appears to have gone into that meeting—and likely others—looking for something of value—dirt on Hillary Clinton—from sources he should have stayed away from. His judgment was bad, to say the least.”

      Trump Jr

    1. The president is not only a former reality-show star, but one whose fame is based more on performance than reality

      But is Trump's position the result of an excess of something, as Baudrillard is arguing? Or is this just the facile observation that Trump's accomplishments are not really that real.

    2. Fredric Jameson

      the US gateway drug to pomo

    3. this very moment in America, where media overload is destroying the sense of a shared public reality

      this is a key part of the argument: media overload as a causal factor

  4. May 2017
    1. eighty-five million dollars for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to hire hundreds of new agents; $1.2 billion for ICE to expand its detention facilities; and another hundred and thirty-one million dollars to institute a mandatory program for employers to run immigration background checks on potential hires.

      Like this.

    1. rump's ousted National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, who resigned over his contacts with Russian Ambassador Sergei Kislyak, has yet to honor the Senate Intel Committee's subpoena, per the AP.

      Wow!

    1. Russia could use that detail to help identify the U.S. ally or intelligence capability involved. Officials said the capability could be useful for other purposes, possibly providing intelligence on Russia’s presence in Syria. Moscow would be keenly interested in identifying that source and perhaps disrupting it.

      This shows how dangerous Trump is to our national security.

    2. Trump revealed the city in the Islamic State’s territory where the U.S. intelligence partner detected the threat.

      Seems to be a very serious threat to a source. Does this constitute treason?

    3. Trump seemed to be boasting about his inside knowledge of the looming threat. “I get great intel. I have people brief me on great intel every day,” the president said, according to an official with knowledge of the exchange.

      Consistent with his narcissism and grandiosity but also with his pathological insecurity.

    1. El director en funciones del FBI contradice a la Casa Blanca sobre Comey

      Lo último de trump

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    1. There was "something wrong with" Mr. Comey

      This is a Trump tell. He projects his crazy onto others.

    2. teaching the president* the secret to talking to the portraits in the hall

      This is what Nixon did.

    1. We’re the highest-taxed nation in the world.

      Not true! Well below the average.

    2. I came up with it a couple of days ago and I thought it was good. It’s what you have to do.

      Thinks he invented the term.

    3. Asked to flesh out his vision for a fair NAFTA in more detail, he can only come up with synonyms for “big”

      Can't answer the question. Reverts to general simple words. Reagan would refer to familiar objects as "Things"

    4. tries and fails to think of the word “reciprocity.” (“We need reciprocality

      Inability to recall or correctly pronounce a word is a sign of cognitive decline/dementia.

    1. On March 20, 2017, during public testimony to the House Intelligence Committee, FBI director James Comey confirmed the existence of an FBI investigation into Russian interference and Russian links to the Trump campaign, including the question of whether there had been any coordination between the campaign and the Russians.[24] He said the investigation began in July 2016 and was "still in its early stages".[25] Comey made the unusual decision to reveal the ongoing investigation to Congress, citing benefit to the public good.[93]

      Comey's public confirmation of a FBI investigation.

  5. Apr 2017
    1. Taiwanese identity grew more distinct from Mainland China

      Taiwan and its attempts to legitimise itself as a sovereign state seperate from china -

      "Trump infuriated China’s leadership when he spoke to Tsai on the phone and later made separate comments questioning the longstanding “one China” policy, under which the US notionally accepts Beijing’s view that Taiwan is part of China. The US does not officially host Taiwanese leaders. Taiwan has been self-governing and de facto independent since the end of China’s civil war. Beijing regards it as a renegade province".

    2. female president

      Tsai Ing-wen

  6. Mar 2017
    1. President Trump’s childhood home in Queens has been sold, in a transaction facilitated by a lawyer who specializes in shepherding real estate investments made by overseas Chinese buyers.

      At least it wasn't the Russians!

    1. Border

      fldlkg

    2. Transnational criminal organizations operate sophisticated drug- and human-trafficking networks and smuggling operations on both sides of the southern border

      This relates to this other doc

    3. (a)  secure the southern border of the United States through the immediate construction of a physical wall on the southern border, monitored and supported by adequate personnel so as to prevent illegal immigration, drug and human trafficking, and acts of terrorism;

      This relates to leglislation that recently passed here.

    1. ‘(i) the alien has not been present, at 11any time on or after March 1, 2011—

      This is another note.

    1.  Interior enforcement of our Nation's immigration laws is critically important to the national security and public safety of the United States.  Many aliens who illegally enter the United States and those who overstay or otherwise violate the terms of their visas present a significant threat to national security and public safety.  This is particularly so for aliens who engage in criminal conduct in the United States.

      Like so.

    1. Stephen K. Bannon, Mr. Trump’s senior adviser, is pressing the president to officially pull the United States from the landmark accord, according to energy and government officials with knowledge of the debate. But, they say, he is clashing with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and the president’s daughter Ivanka Trump, who fear the move could have broad and damaging diplomatic ramifications.

      Exxon CEO as the voice of reason on climate in the Trump campaign.

  7. Feb 2017
    1. The net worth of the Cabinet Trump had selected as of Monday was at least $13.1 billion, based on available estimates, or more than the annual gross domestic product of about 70 small countries.

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    1. She points to the popular idea that Mr. Trump’s supporters didn’t take what he said seriously, but took him seriously — while his detractors didn’t take him seriously, but took what he said seriously.

      This is a really interesting thing to think about.

    1. Organizing for Action, a group founded by Obama and featured prominently on his new post-presidency website, is distributing a training manual to anti-Trump activists that advises them to bully GOP lawmakers into backing off support for repealing ObamaCare, curbing immigration from high-risk Islamic nations, and building a border wall.

      So much for Obama not interferring in the Trump Presidency.

    1. Murray and Cantwell are also asking DeVos to give a firm date by which the public can again access information that has been withdrawn.

      I hope that they keep up the pressure!

    2. President Trump has not been an advocate for disability rights.

      This is an understatement, if I ever heard one...

    1. Here is what we are supposed to do: rebut every single lie. Insist moreover that each lie is retracted — and journalists in press conferences should back up their colleagues with repeated follow-ups if Spicer tries to duck the plain truth. Do not allow them to move on to another question.

      This would infuriate them to the point where they would likely end the press conference.

    2. None of this, moreover, is ever corrected. No error is ever admitted. Any lie is usually doubled down by another lie — along with an ad hominem attack.

      This is really scary.

    1. mentally healthy president

      Malignant narcissism, cognitive impairment, no self-observing ego, no conscience, paranoia, hypomania. A mix of character disorder (which is set young and untreatable), organic brain disease, and mix of mental illnesses. Only the latter will lead to a breakdown.

    1. So how many individuals from each nation have been involved in terror attacks in Europe since 9/11? 

      The following text shows that people from the seven countries picked both by the U.S. Congress,Obama, and Trump do pose a significant risk of terrorism, despite the mainstream media's statements to the contrary.

      Trump's temporary immigration ban from these seven countries was far from optimal, and may have actually caused considerably more harm than good, but it was not nearly as absurd at the mainstream media is propagandizing people to believe.

    1. As a result, President Trump almost certainly began violating the Constitution the moment he took the oath of office.

      We've seen how fragile our traditions are. It's up to the polis and the other branches and his own party to uphold them. It seems like now, however, the Republicans are selling out.

  8. Jan 2017
    1. I got a standing ovation.

      Some analysis suggests that CIA staffers attending the event were never invited to sit down and so remained standing throughout—including during any applause—which is customary protocol during presidential speeches. Some analysis also suggests that applause was led by White House team members attending the event rather than CIA staff.

    1. Frankly, he didn’t move a lot from where he was. He did a lot of the things that he did through executive action and not through bipartisan legislation.

      Oh yeah. Right. You know better than this.

    2. But I have frankly looked at it as no different than somebody saying, I am going to repeal the laws of gravity, okay? So it’s a lot of pre-election hype.

      What say you now, sir?

    1. “It was a huge crowd, a magnificent crowd. I haven’t seen such a crowd as big as this,” Mr. Hoyer told CNN, quoting Mr. Trump. He added that Mr. Trump did not “spend a lot of time on that, but it was clear that it was still on his mind.”

      Whoa.

    1. For too long, a small group in our nation's capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost.

      You are exhibit A: See Trump International Hotel:

    2. Today's ceremony, however, has very special meaning because today, we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another or from one party to another, but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the people.

      Empty language. What does this even mean? How is he "transferring power to" us?

    1. Lessons From the Media’s Failures in Its Year With Trump

      This is a very important issue -- the mainstream media bears much of the responsibility of Trumps having been elected, because they gave him so much free publicity.

  9. Dec 2016
    1. Despair and Hope in Trump’s America

      In general I consider James Fallows a valuable public voice, but I find this article disappointing. It fails to talk honestly about the serious reasons for fear or anger than many Americans have toward the mainstream media and the liberal intelligentsia. Let me quickly list some of these reasons.

      America's relative power in the world is rapidly decreasing. For the first time since the late 1800's America is no longer the world's largest economy by certain important measures. China is, and it it still growing much faster than we are. China is rapidly arming, and is already ahead of us in multiple different types of weapon systems. In thirty year it it could have an economy twice the size of America's and much more sophisticated weaponry.

      There are large areas of America in which the real value of average incomes has decreased substantially, such as in the rust belt.

      Political correctness means that many tens of millions of people with traditional values are being constantly told by the mainstream media that their value are all wrong. Any one who publicly dares question or provide counter arguments to this political correctness is subject vicious public attack.

      Race relations are not allowed to be honestly discussed in our media. For month after month in both the Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown cases the mainstream media's propaganda message was that those killings were unjustified murders -- when, in fact, the majority of the evidence in both cases indicated those killings were totally justified as self defense. The politically correct racism of the media hypes the notion of white guilt, but greatly downplays the much larger problem of black guilt, including the fact that blacks have seven times the per capita violent crime and murder rates as whites and that blacks murder twice as many whites as whites murder blacks.

      So why aren't whites allowed to protest that White Lives Matter? Because that would be racist? No! It's because political correctness, itself, is a racist/sexist double standard.

      And no major candidate but Trump has had the balls to attack political correctness as much as he has (although his crude attacks are neither well reasoned or articulate).

    1. Alexander Hamilton’s writing in Federalist Paper No. 68, which states that the meeting of the electoral college “affords a moral certainty, that the office of President will never fall to the lot of any man who is not in an eminent degree endowed with the requisite qualifications.”

      Yes, and Alexander Hamilton was in favor of property requirements for voting, which prevented a large majority of people from voting. Here we have the Democrats saying we should make our selection of the U.S. President less democratic, less responsive to voters -- not more democratic.

      I have fears Trump will be a bad President. But I don't like the incredible hypocrisy of those who slandered Trump for not agreeing to accept the results of the election, not only refusing to accept the result, but try to do so by -- not only overturning a tradition that is over a hundred years old -- but doing so in a manner that would make our selection of a president much less responsive to voters.

    1. But Sean Spicer, the RNC’s chief strategist and communications director, admonished the Times for what he said was simply false reporting and insisted the RNC had not been hacked. “The intelligence is wrong,” he said in a CNN interview Saturday morning. “It didn’t happen. We offered The New York Times conclusive proof that it didn’t happen. They refused to look at that. They ignored it because it didn’t fit the narrative.” He then accused intelligence officials of pushing the story for political purposes. “I believe that there are people within these agencies that are upset with the election and are pushing a personal agenda,” Spicer said.

      3 on the FP Dictator watch list: politicizing the civil service

    1. Western sanctions against Russia prohibiting the nation from certain energy development activities have slowed Exxon Mobil’s investments, particularly a joint venture with Rosneft that was supposed to start drilling for oil in the Kara Sea in 2014. Mr. Tillerson has spoken out against sanctions, in part because Exxon Mobil is unable to collect revenues from an investment in an oil and gas consortium it belongs to that operates off Sakhalin Island.

      And this is why he's getting the job.

    1. A crude, quick and flippant assessment is what he deserves. He is semi-fascist: more fascist than any successful American politician yet, and the most dangerous threat to pluralist democracy in this country in more than a century, but — thank our stars — an amateurish imitation of the real thing.

      Let's hope this holds up.

    1. I’m looking for people who fully understand the meaning of service and who are committed to advancing the common good,

      Because he's been doing that all of his life?

    2. “By the way, are you glad I ran for president?,”

      What a jackass.

    1. 5) Using state power to reward corporate backers and punish opponents. 
    2. 3) Politicizing the civil service, military, National Guard, or the domestic security agencies. 

      Here and here

    1. It seemed reasonable to Posobiec that Podesta might have organized a sex ring in cahoots with Brock.

      And with proper self-assessment, such thoughts should be the first clue to your mental instability.

    1. Citing high cost, Trump says Boeing’s contract to build Air Force One should be canceled

      Trump's tweet came just 22 minutes after the Chicago Tribune published comments by Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg, who said he worried that Trump's promises of a more protectionist trade policy could hurt his company, which does robust business with China. Muilenburg told the Tribune that he would urge the president-elect to take a warmer stance toward the kinds of trade deals he railed against on the campaign trail, warning, "If we do not lead when it comes to writing these rules, our competitors will write them for us.

      From Politico, who themselves buried this way down.

    1. Trump's tweet came just 22 minutes after the Chicago Tribune published comments by Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg, who said he worried that Trump's promises of a more protectionist trade policy could hurt his company, which does robust business with China. Muilenburg told the Tribune that he would urge the president-elect to take a warmer stance toward the kinds of trade deals he railed against on the campaign trail, warning, "If we do not lead when it comes to writing these rules, our competitors will write them for us."

      This is so dangerous, and why isn't this the biggest story of the day?

    1. the president-elect encouraged chants of “Lock her up” by invoking Hillary Clinton’s name

      Foreign Policy's Ten Ways to Tell if Your Country is about to become a dictatorship.

  10. Nov 2016
    1. “Vetting of various structures and immediate transfer of the business remains a top priority for both President-elect Trump, his adult children and his executives,” she said.

      Another note.

    1. “I will get rid of gun-free zones on schools, and — you have to — and on military bases,” Mr. Trump said on the campaign trail in January. “My first day, it gets signed, O.K.? My first day. There’s no more gun-free zones.”

      UNSAFE. THERE IS A REASON WE HAVE DRILLS ABOUT PEOPLE WITH WEAPONS!!!!!!! Trump will allow weapons in school on military bases. WHY WOULD HE ALLOW THEM IN SCHOOLS WHYYYYY?

    2. clash with Mr. Trump on the issue.

      they will be opposing on the idea

    3. And Mr. Trump himself has a permit to carry a concealed handgun, which he is not shy about mentioning. “Somebody attacks me, oh, they’re gonna be shocked,” he warned last year.

      I think this is unsafe for a "important" person like Trump, that the media is all over, to carry a gun.

    1. e

      Trump is the only candidate listed that doesn't support a women's right to an abortion.

    2. .

      Trump is the only candidate listed that doesn't support a women's right to an abortion.

    3. "I am proposing an across-the-board income tax reduction especially for middle-income Americans," Trump said. "This will lead to millions of new and really good-paying jobs. The rich will pay their fair share, but no one will pay so much that it destroys jobs or undermines our ability as a nation to compete."

      Trump: everyone pays fair but less than before so middle class can afford what they needhe says this will provide more good-paying jobs -I think that this lets more wealthy people off the hook because the money affects them differently. Also then the g'vt won't receive as much funds for other things.

  11. Oct 2016
    1. Clinton says Trump has called the election ‘rigged’, while Trump says he won’t necessarily accept the election results All available evidence shows that in-person voter fraud is exceedingly rare: you are more likely to be struck by lightning in the next year (a one in 1,042,000 chance, according to Noaa) than to find a case of voter fraud by impersonation (31 possible cases in more than a billion ballots cast from 2000 to 2014, according to a study by Loyola Law School). The man who cried rigged: the problem with Trump’s election claims Whenever Donald Trump is cornered, he accuses his opponents of fighting dirty. This time, he might be right to say there’s voter fraud – but for the wrong reasons Read more Voter fraud would have to happen on an enormous scale to sway elections, because the electoral college system decentralizes authority: each of the 50 states has its own rules and local officials, not federal ones, run the polls and count the ballots. This complexity makes the notion of a “rigged” national election, at least in the US, logistically daunting to the point of practical impossibility. Thirty-one states have Republican governors, including the swing states of Florida, North Carolina, Iowa, Nevada and Ohio; Pennsylvania only elected a Democratic governor in 2015. Polls show Trump losing even in some states where governors have strongly supported him. In Maine, for instance, the Real Clear Politics average shows him down five points. About 75% of the ballots cast in federal elections have paper backups, and most electronic voting machines are not connected to the internet – though they have other flaws and may be vulnerable to tampering. But voter fraud to swing a major election, whether by tampering, buying votes or official wrongdoing, would quickly attract attention by its necessarily large scale. AdvertisementIf Trump loses the presidential election, it will be because American voters do not want him in the White House, not because of a conspiracy involving Republicans and Democrats alike at state and city levels around the nation – a conspiracy for which Trump has provided no evidence.

      Analysis of Trump's claim that the election is rigged.

    1. Reid, Clinton supporters hit Trump over Nevada pronunciation Published October 06, 2016 FoxNews.com Facebook0 Twitter0 livefyre9791 Email Print Now Playing What's Trump doing to prepare for 2nd presidential debate? Never autoplay videos Supporters for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and Sen. Harry Reid attacked Donald Trump after the Republican presidential nominee told his supporters about the “correct” way to pronounce Nevada. Trump, during a rally Wednesday in Reno, insisted the correct way to pronounce the name of the Silver State was “Neh-VAH-da.” He declared that “nobody says it the other way.” Clinton supporters and Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, both used the moment to assail Trump. American Bridge immediately put up a video declaring that Trump was “looking like an idiot” for getting the name wrong. A statement from Reid declared that Trump’s stop in Reno was “disastrous.” "If Donald Trump wants to come down from the penthouse his daddy bought him to lecture us on how to say Nevada, he could at least pronounce it correctly,” Reid said in a statement. "Instead, Trump told us we pronounce the name of our state wrong minutes before he refused to take a position on Yucca Mountain. Predictions Map See the Fox News 2016 battleground prediction map and make your own election projections. See Predictions Map → “I have news for Donald: it's pronounced Nev-AD-a and Yucca Mountain is dead.” Trump made a stop at the International Church of Las Vegas and the International Christian Academy before his rally in Reno. He said the Pledge of Allegiance with schoolchildren at the school. He also visited with Hispanic business leaders at a Mexican restaurant before departing for northern Nevada. Fox News’ Chad Pergram and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

      This article is actually written about Trump's pronunciation of Nevada as it is short and to the point. It almost seems like Fox had to just throw an article out there to cover the topic. Basically this article talks about Clinton supporter's attacks on Trump for the way he says their State's name. While the CNN article went deep into Trump's political and economic strategies, this one was a quick review of why people were mad at trump for the way he talks.

  12. Sep 2016
    1. Trump was looking to convince voters still on the fence that he has the temperament and knowledge to be President

      "I think his demeanor, his temperament, his behavior on the stage could be seen by everybody," Clinton told reporters who had asked about his frequent interruptions during a gaggle on her plane as she headed to North Carolina.

      [http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/27/politics/hillary-clinton-debate-gender/index.html]

    1. Is this the example we want for them?

      This piece could have been stronger if it didn't end with a question.

      "This is not the example we want for them."

  13. Aug 2016
    1. The problem in American politics is we’ve stopped being honest, and we’ve gotten all caught up and ultra-sensitive about the words people use instead of debating the ideas behind them. Trump is trying to blast through it.”

      Exactly.

  14. Jul 2016
    1. And then there’s Donald Trump.

      It was here that in delivery, after the crowd booed at the first mention of the GOP nominee, that Obama ad-libbed one the best lines of the convention: "Don't boo, vote!"

      Given the jeers from "Bernie or Bust" delegates over the first few days of the convention, it was hard not to read the line as a broader rebuke to those who might sit this one out.

    2. or jihadists or homegrown demagogues

      This is a powerful line (read: burn), basically lumping together Trump--the homegrown demogogue--and terrorists.

  15. May 2016
  16. Apr 2016
    1. It's great to be at Trump Tower.

      Speeches are often made at symbolic spaces--like Obama's "A More Perfect Union" delivered steps from the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia. If this location is symbolic of anything, perhaps it's Trump's egotism.

    1. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump says his trademark hairdo is for real. He told 1,800 people in South Carolina Thursday: “It’s my hair … I swear.”

      Stunning, hair raising bullshit!

    1. I watch as their networks expand, and as followers find one another as they voice ever more extreme opinions.

      This is the first time in a long time (maybe ever) that I've felt sympathy for the downfall of traditional journalism. Social media as a kind of echo chamber is really scary and almost sounds like a science fiction story.

    2. As an academic, I study social media and social movements, from the uprising in Egypt to Black Lives Matter

      Fascinating to think about the simultaneously democratic and demagogic potential of social media from #ArabSpring to #MakeAmericaGreatAgain.

  17. Mar 2016
    1. I stick up for people when they're right.

      This may be Trump's main point. He is sticking up for Lewandowski because 'he's right'. A show of loyalty despite the cost - "It would be easier to fire him than sit talking to you about this all night long". The show is political, and appeals to his base.

  18. Feb 2016
    1. while Trump sidestepped the question of gun control by calling Dear a “mentally disturbed person.”

      Typical disrespect from trump, does any agree?

  19. Jan 2016