Monday, January 02, 2017

I think this next issue of Harper's Magazine is going to sell like hotcakes.

Courtesy of Harper's Magazine:  

Like many Americans, I arrived at the office on November 9 with what felt like a terminal hangover. This wasn’t the result of too much liquor—a definite temptation the night before, as Hillary Clinton’s supposedly impregnable margin melted away and the anchors on MSNBC and CNN developed a fresh set of worry lines. No, this was another sort of hangover: a stunned attempt to absorb a political toxin, compared to which absinthe (or, hell, gasoline) was mere mother’s milk. Trump had won. This childish monster of self-regard would be moving into the White House, possibly with the bronze bust of his own head that decorated his Atlanta campaign office. The weeks since his victory have offered little in the way of reassurance. His farcical Cabinet appointments, his flagrant cronyism, his refusal to divest himself of his business empire—which, as the constitutional scholar Lawrence Tribe has pointed out, makes him a virtual “emoluments magnet”—are all deeply discouraging. 

Hence our January cover, a likeness of the pouting president behind bars. Trump has surely bent or broken the law with sufficient frequency to merit some quality time in stir: the Trump University litigation alone would probably have earned him a fraud conviction if he hadn’t settled. But the cover can be taken figuratively, too, as an image of containment. Whatever the Russians or the rebellious electors do, Trump is likely to occupy the Oval Office. Damage control will be a necessity for the next four years. So will resistance, in all its many-splendored forms.

I am watching the media's response to Trump's "victory" with much interest.

There are those journalists who want to treat him like every other president before him, those who want to curry favor with him and perhaps increase their own ratings/circulation, and those who have decided that this is not an ordinary transfer or power and that their job is to be part of the resistance and fight Trump every step of the way.

I am just a blogger, but I am firmly in that last category.

Simply put Trump did NOT legitimately win this election, Trump is NOT equipped to do this job, and Trump must NOT be allowed to function without intense media scrutiny. 

We know that news outlets which attempt to hold Trump accountable are going to be severely punished by his administration and supporters, so WE need to support them through subscriptions and with our patronage.

Donald Trump wants to kill journalism in this country.

It is up to us to see that he fails.

41 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:04 AM

    Joe And Mika At Mar-A-Lago Party; Joe Gets Defensive On Twitter

    Why is @JoeNBC having a Twitter meltdown and attacking reporters while insisting, "I'm good"?

    ...Morning Joe IS Trump TV.

    And then Mika and Joe show up at Mar-a-Lago on New Year's Eve for a ...business meeting?

    Who is playing whom, Joe Scarborough?

    http://crooksandliars.com/2017/01/joe-and-mika-mar-lago-party-joe-gets

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9:22 AM

      I cannot STAND those two. If it's true that they're an item, they deserve each other.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous10:05 AM

      Political Wire‘s Taegan Goddard observed that “Very interesting: @JoeNBC is challenging the report from @maggieNYT that he was at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago party last night.”

      However, Joe Scarborough wasn’t willing to admit even that much. At this point, Scarborough completely lost it and launched into a tirade, an attempt to rationalize his “attendance” at what he refused to admit was a “party.” It is not often you see someone with the ability to so rattle Joe Scarborough and it is much to be savored:

      ...What is illuminating about this is less the actual facts of who did what with whom on New Year’s Eve and more about how defensive Scarborough became at the suggestion that he partied with his close friend Donald Trump, or indeed, even attended a party. And this wasn’t his only attempt to explain the night away.

      The fact is, Joe Scarborough and Mike Brzezinski attended a New Years party thrown by Donald Trump and when caught out, fell back on trying to argue it away by splitting hairs over definitions, or “getting Talmudic” as Daniel Rubin said, and to which Maggie Haberman answered, “actually no, we are being precise.”

      http://www.politicususa.com/2017/01/02/msnbcs-joe-scarborough-run-in-facts-courtesy-sopan-deb.html

      https://twitter.com/politicalwire/status/815691101986287617

      Delete
  2. Anonymous9:09 AM

    For me, November 9th felt like the death of a close family member. It was - it was our country.
    Beaglemom

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:50 AM

      I feel exactly as you do.

      Delete
    2. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C0DmT1fVEAManAY.jpg:large

      In lieu of a thousand words.

      Delete
  3. I am not backing off from any Mango Mussolini. Ever.

    And I am going to keep introducing IM to people. Even those who don't normally pay attention to bloggers are upset enough to rally and freakin' READ.

    I am only 5'2", but I can shoot a 4/10 so get the hell outta my way tRump.

    So. There.
    That puts me way ahead of Sarah.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:30 AM

      To be fair, Sarah is a good shot and the same height.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11:02 AM

      I don't think, Anon at 10:30 am, that Sarah Palin is such a "good shot." As I recall from her immortal reality television series about Alaska, she had a lot of trouble shooting an animal and needed lots of help from her father. No one is sure that she actually killed the poor beast. It seems to have remained standing there in front of her while she shot all around it.
      Beaglemom

      Delete
    3. Anonymous11:15 AM

      For being such a good shot, she was a benchwarmer. Cut the crap, 10:30 AM, we believe it as much as her "rock running" injury.

      Delete
    4. 10:30. Nice try, Comrade Heath. Sarah has always maintained that she is 5'4". And she can't shoot for shit. THAT is on video for the world to see, dumplin'.

      Bless your little heart for playing.

      I never had to ask my father, "Does it kick Daddy?" on national teevee.

      Delete
    5. Anonymous11:55 AM

      >>To be fair, Sarah is a good shot and the same height.

      To be fair, you're a lying asshole trying to spread bullshit on a respectable site.

      Field and Stream once eviscerated any notion that Palin has any hunting ability whatsoever?

      http://www.fieldandstream.com/blogs/gun-nuts/2013/02/sarahs-shooting

      Ms. Palin is an extremely inexperienced shooter.

      First, she allows her dad and the guide, who are both apparently nitwits, to jabber at her continually throughout the performance, make suggestions, swap rifles when it turns out that the first one has a bum scope (!), and allow her to blaze away at a moving animal.

      An experienced shooter knows that when he (she) picks up a gun, he (she) is responsible for it, and the way it works. If you have doubts about its safety, you don't use it. Before you shoot at something living, you check to see if it's sighted in. Period. No excuses.

      If nitwits are yammering at you, you tell them to shut the f**ck up because you can't concentrate. No experienced shooter would put up with their nonsense.

      An experienced shooter would not ask if a rifle kicks before using it in the heat of battle. That would not be uppermost in their mind; getting the animal down would be.

      Why, before the fatal shot was fired, did the editor of the film superimpose a bogus crosshair on the poor dopey caribou? Why do we not see Ms. Palin firing the rifle? Is it because she did not do the shooting?

      Finally, look at the way she carries the rifle as the party walks up to the late lamented ungulate. No experienced shooter carries a rifle like this.

      http://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/2013/12/a-hunting-we-will-pretend-to-go-hunting.html

      http://theimmoralminority.blogspot.com/2013/02/oh-horror-field-and-stream-has-audacity.html

      Delete
  4. Anonymous9:21 AM

    I love the tiny hands

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous9:39 AM

    I would think that every human has some form of a moral compass, and so-called journalists who choose to ignore this monster for personal gain are no different than he is. How they sleep at night is beyond me.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous9:59 AM

    A new Gallup poll has some bad news for the incoming administration: less than half of Americans think he can handle his presidential duties. According to the poll, while there is a general lack of faith in Trump’s competence, “Solid majorities were confident in Obama, Bush and Clinton.”

    Trump repeatedly states that he is a “smart guy” and knows things the rest of us don’t (even the experts) but Americans aren’t buying it, as we have already seen from the fact that Trump has the lowest approval rating of any president-elect.

    http://www.politicususa.com/2017/01/02/americans-trump-handle-presidential-duties.html

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous10:07 AM


    Leading GOP Strategist Labels Trump and His Supporters Traitors
    "What’s closer to treason? Political opposition to a candidate, or siding with a hostile foreign power in the Intel war?”

    ...The idea that a Republican operative and strategist of Mr. Wilson’s stature openly, and loudly, eviscerating Trump and his supporters at all levels as traitors is surprising. Even Senator John McCain has stopped short of making that kind of serious accusation against Trump, and it is safe to say there is no love lost between Putin and McCain, or Trump for his adoration of the Russian tyrant. However, at some juncture all Republicans are going to have to publicly declare if their allegiance is to the United States or Russia. Because if they continue embracing and defending Trump, then they are not loyal to America and no matter how one parses it, disloyalty to one’s home country is being a traitor; and everyone and their pet hamster comprehends that traitors are guilty of treason.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:13 AM

      http://www.politicususa.com/2017/01/02/leading-gop-strategist-labels-trump-supporters-traitors.html

      Delete
  8. Anonymous10:13 AM


    Donald Trump’s Incoming Press Secretary Suggests Russia’s Role In Hacking Is Irrelevant

    Sean Spicer is more concerned with the DNC’s IT security than the Kremlin’s attempt to swing the U.S. election.

    President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming press secretary, Sean Spicer, wants Americans to focus more on the DNC’s cybersecurity efforts than Russia’s role in a recent cyberattack against U.S. government servers.

    Spicer chose to dance around questions regarding Kremlin involvement in the attack on a Monday “Fox & Friends” appearance. When asked point-blank if Russia was behind the hacking, he failed to formulate a coherent response.

    He stumbled on his words:

    ...After several seconds of unintelligible mumbling, Spicer decided to side step the question altogether and suggested Russian involvement is irrelevant if it didn’t effectively influence the election.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trumps-press-secretary-sean-spicer-russian-hacking_us_586a48eae4b0eb58648a063b

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous10:59 AM

      But Russian involvement DID "effectively influence the election" last November. One would have to be incredibly naive not to think so.
      Beaglemom

      Delete
    2. Beaglemom... you just gave me a civilized reply to dplorables who try to rub the Mango Man in our faces. Thank you!
      "One would have to be incredibly naive...."

      Delete
  9. Anonymous10:15 AM

    Less than half of Americans are confident that President-elect Donald Trump can handle several presidential duties, a new Gallup poll finds.

    With less than three weeks before Trump takes the oath of office, only 46 percent of Americans are optimistic in his ability to handle an international crisis. Forty-seven percent say they are confident he can use military force wisely and just 44 percent believe Trump can prevent major scandals in his administration.

    http://www.gallup.com/poll/201158/skeptical-trump-handle-presidential-duties.aspx

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anonymous10:19 AM

    “Members of the Congressional Black Caucus say they’re bracing for the worst in Donald Trump, fearing a presidency that could set minorities back decades. Leaders of the group told POLITICO they have already begun discussing strategies to deal with Trump and any policies they believe would disenfranchise African-Americans — from public school funding to low-income housing to voting restrictions. Though the president-elect’s supporters call the alarm unwarranted, black lawmakers say Trump’s campaign and his Cabinet picks more than justify their concern.”

    http://www.politicususa.com/2017/01/02/black-members-congress-plot-resistance-trump-disenfranchisement-african-americans.html

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous10:22 AM

    Given his adversarial comments towards the press, many people have wondered what changes are in store for those who will cover the Trump White House. Well, incoming Press Secretary Sean Spicer gave us a preview of what White House media relations might look like under Trump.

    http://www.bipartisanreport.com/2017/01/01/incoming-press-secretary-finally-admits-why-donald-prefers-twitter-the-reason-is-so-trump/

    ReplyDelete
  12. Anonymous10:26 AM

    In an MSNBC interview from Thursday, Vice President Biden’s former economic adviser Jared Bernstein paints a frightening picture.

    ‘Donald Trump is talking about cutting taxes significantly on high-income people. He’s talking about deregulating financial markets. Now, if that sounds to you a lot like the George W. Bush 2000’s agenda that got us into this mess in the first place, I agree with you it sounds that way to me too. And there’s a very conspicuous absence between the kinds of policies he’s espousing and the kinds of things that would actually help a lot of his constituents.’

    MSNBC host Ari Melber makes the point that gains in the stock market (the so-called “Trump Bump”) are likely due to Wall Street forecasting policy changes that will help them, not the American people.

    Watch the video below, courtesy of MSNBC.

    http://www.bipartisanreport.com/2017/01/01/joe-bidens-former-adviser-goes-on-msnbc-and-scares-the-hell-out-of-america-video/

    http://www.bipartisanreport.com/2017/01/01/david-axelrod-goes-on-hilariously-accurate-twitter-rant-against-president-elect-trump/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:53 AM

      Some of the Deplorables have already figured out that he just used them for their votes and he's doing NOTHING to enrich their lives, as a matter of fact he's raising their taxes, and taking their healthcare, their medicare and their social security and will also fight raising wages in their economic bracket. Not much of a "thanks" is it?

      Delete
  13. Anonymous10:27 AM

    He finished by movingly stating that “it’s been the privilege of my life to serve as your President” and that he “looks forward to standing with you as a citizen.”

    https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous10:31 AM

    Give me strength. I babysit my grandkids and 2 of them are 3-4 range and boy did I forget how bipolar kids are.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:55 AM

      You just have to tell you children "no" get a nanny or a babysitter, I have my own life to lead. I find it so pushy when kids expect the grands to babysit.

      Delete
    2. No, kids are not bi-polar. That is an actual diagnosable medical condition, not a normal aspect of childhood.

      Now you are pretending that you are a grandparent, not just a parent?

      Delete
  15. Anonymous10:43 AM

    President Traitor Bloated Douchebag Drumpf has a nice ring to it.

    https://www.facebook.com/gbpotus/posts/1426801637353215

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:56 AM

      OMG, she said it all TO HIS FACE with Melanoma sitting right there!

      Delete
    2. Anonymous2:00 PM

      And, perhaps prophetic of the election season talk (and we won't know what the truth is until we ever see Barron talk in front of a camera at length) she mentioned a kid with autism playing Monopoly.

      Delete
  16. Anonymous11:06 AM

    If Donald Trump seriously believes he beat HRC in an Electoral College landslide, then we can honestly say he has a micro penis.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Gryphen,
    You are in a position to organize and lead the resistance. PLEASE start a movement. Let's quit the bellyaching and sparking and get our selves together.
    Margot

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We know Gryphen can do it. He managed to keep Palin out of our lives even if we had/have to endure her pathetic attempts to remain/become relevant

      Delete
  18. Anonymous1:41 PM

    Putin's people starving (first hand info from some of his citizens) and their jobs are disappearing then what can we expect from Drumpf who is praising this level of governing by his KGB friend?

    Fools all who supported him, including the Rethugs who backed him.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Time to stop mourning and put away the magical thinking.

    18 days to go.

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/impeaching-trump_us_5869b806e4b0eb586489f3a4?section=us_politics

    "There is only one constitutional way to remove a president, and that is via impeachment.

    What’s needed is a citizens’ impeachment inquiry, to begin on Trump’s first day in office.

    The inquiry should keep a running dossier, and forward updates at least weekly to the House Judiciary Committee. There will be no lack of evidence.

    The materials should be made public via a website. The inquiry should be conducted by a distinguished panel whose high-mindedness and credentials are, well, unimpeachable.

    There needs to be a parallel public campaign, pressing for an official investigation. For those appalled by Trump, who wonder where to focus their efforts, here is something concrete―and more realistic than it may seem."

    "In October 1973, when removing Nixon from office still seemed a fantasy, the ACLU’s Chuck Morgan published a book-length bill of particulars urging Nixon’s impeachment. It bore a remarkable resemblance to the eventual Articles of Impeachment nearly a year later.

    Nixon was a vile president with a creepy personality, but he was also a student of history and a serious person. In the end, even Nixon acceded to court orders to turn over evidence.

    Trump is far more of a menace than Nixon. Trump will commit impeachable offenses. There is no way to contain him other than removing him from office, before the damage to our democracy is irrevocable. The process of building the impeachment case needs to begin now."

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous4:11 PM

    Trump's presidency has to be stopped. He's mentally off and ego driven as no other man I've ever seen in my life and I'm a senior citizen!

    We ALL need to watch his every step IF he is given the oath of office. When he does commit illegal acts we need to publicize it to the maximum because Trump will try to quiet the press (he's on record saying it!!).

    Donald Trump will never be my potus!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous4:26 PM

    It has been awhile since I have been here. Truman's win devastated me.

    Free speech... meet sedition laws.

    Those dumbshits that thought Hillary was going to take their guns.

    If trump is afraid of words, why would he let you keep your guns?

    Btw, this fear of losing your guns has really helped the gun industry. Like prohibition for the bootleggers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous2:09 AM

      You meant trump not Truman.

      We can take down trump like we did Nixon, through attacking his vulnerabilities.

      Like things that differentiate trump from other presidents:
      Smallest hands, etc.

      Isn't he a never nude?
      There is no level to low to go after this man.

      Delete
  22. Anonymous3:58 AM

    I still think that Eichenwald, of "Newsweek," should have been "Time's Man of the Year." He certainly deserves a Pulitzer for having been about the only reporter to show us the real face of Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign and beyond. Most recently he has challenged others in the media to scrutinize and report honestly about the incoming administration.
    Beaglemom

    ReplyDelete

Don't feed the trolls!
It just goes directly to their thighs.