The lawyer for Stormy Daniels wants to depose Donald Trump. More popcorn?

Michael Avenatti: “The other side is attempting to force this case into a private arbitration hidden from the public... In order for the judge to determine that, we are arguing that under the law we're entitled to the deposition.” (CBS) pic.twitter.com/qki66cgQE9

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 28, 2018

Courtesy of NBC News: 

The lawyer for adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who says she had sex with Donald Trump in 2006, has filed a motion in federal court asking for permission to depose the president and his lawyer, Michael Cohen. 

The move comes amid a lawsuit against Trump, alleging that he never signed a nondisclosure agreement that his lawyer had arranged with Daniels, and just days after a revealing interview on CBS' "60 Minutes" in which she detailed an alleged affair with the married mogul and claimed she was threatened in 2011 if she went public. 

The request was filed late Tuesday in a Los Angeles court and will be heard on April 30, Daniels' lawyer, Michael Avenatti, tweeted Wednesday morning.

Boy if Trump had any lawyers left they would be freaking out about now.

Especially since Trump, as pointed out over at NPR, is notorious for coming to depositions unprepared, and for not following his lawyer's advice: 

Records of President Trump's past depositions show a familiar pattern of boasting, sometimes battling opponents and giving little deference to factual details — pitfalls that could all come into play in various legal cases before too long.

In deposition transcripts over the years, Trump comes across as uninterested in details, unfamiliar with legal documents and occasionally impatient. One theme that emerges is preparation. Baum, in the 2016 session, asked Trump what he did to prepare. 

Baum: What did you do to prepare for the case today, for the deposition? 

Trump: I would say virtually nothing. I — I spoke with my counsel for a short period of time. I just arrived here, and we proceeded to the deposition. 

Baum: Thank you. So you didn't look at any documents or...

Trump: No, I didn't. 

Baum: ...anything.

I CANNOT even begin to imagine how badly Trump might screw up this deposition.

All I know for certain is that I do not want to miss it when it happens. 

The day after the Stormy Daniels interview Donald Trump kicks 60 Russian officials out of the country. Because you know that's not obvious.

Look I may have to kick out a couple of Russians to save face here. If that's okay with you of course.

Courtesy of NPR: 

President Trump ordered the expulsion of 60 Russian officials from the United States and ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in the Seattle, the White House announced Monday. 

The move follows the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in the English city of Salisbury on March 4.

The officials and their families have been given seven days to leave the U.S. Of the 60 officers being expelled, 48 are members of the Russian embassy and 12 are officers from Russia's mission to the United Nations in New York. 

The consulate in Seattle is being shuttered due to its proximity to a U.S. submarine base and Boeing's operations there, a senior administration official said. Russia has been given the deadline of April 2 for its closure. 

"The United States takes this action in conjunction with our NATO allies, and partners around the world in response with Russia's use of a military grade chemical weapon on the soil of the United Kingdom — the latest in its ongoing pattern of destabilizing activities around the world," the official said. 

Please, is anybody buying this? 

Skripal was poisoned 22 days ago, during which time the White House refused to identify Russia as the culprit behind the attack. 

And now the day after the world learns that being spanked with a magazine makes the president respect you more, we are kicking out Russians willy nilly.

I have seen some clumsy attempts to divert media attention before, but this may be the most pathetic.

Paul Manafort pleads not guilty of conspiracy, tax and bank fraud charges. Stumbles away wearing two ankle monitors.

WATCH: Heckler throws a Russian flag at Paul Manafort as he exits after court appearance. pic.twitter.com/6sdjJNc2lB

— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 8, 2018

Courtesy of NPR:  

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, tax and bank fraud charges in an Alexandria, Va., federal courtroom Thursday afternoon. 

Judge T.S. Ellis set a trial date for July 10. 

Manafort faces a separate federal trial on Sept. 17 on other charges also brought by special counsel Robert Mueller's office in a Washington, D.C., case. 

For the Virginia case, Manafort will be fitted with a second electronic monitoring bracelet (he is already wearing one related to the D.C. case) and will be allowed to meet with lawyers, attend church services and make emergency medical trips as needed.

Two, count them TWO, ankle monitors.

I guess that is in case Manafort goes all feral coyote and chews off one of his legs.  

The prosecution has between 20 to 25 witnesses ready to testify against Manafort, not to mention all of that evidence that the Mueller team was able to dig up.

I think if you look up the word "fucked" right now there is a picture of Paul Manafort right next to it.

Parkland school shooting survivors confront the "What about Chicago" anti-gun control argument directly.

(1/4)Yesterday, the members of @AMarch4OurLives got to meet up with some of the most wonderful and most strong spoken students of Chicago. "Florida's safest city" and one of the cities in America most affected by gun violence came together to share stories, ideologies, and pizza. pic.twitter.com/3SIDgvAnDM

— Emma González (@Emma4Change) March 4, 2018

(2/4) Those who face gun violence on a level that we have only just glimpsed from our gated communities have never had their voices heard in their entire lives the way that we have in these few weeks alone. Since we all share in feeling this pain and know all too well how it

— Emma González (@Emma4Change) March 4, 2018

(3/4) feels to have to grow up at the snap of a finger, we were able to cover a lot of ground in communicating our experiences. People of color in inner-cities and everywhere have been dealing with this for a despicably long time, and the media cycles just don't cover the

— Emma González (@Emma4Change) March 4, 2018

(4/4) violence the way they did here. The platform us Parkland Students have established is to be shared with every person, black or white, gay or straight, religious or not, who has experienced gun violence, and hand in hand, side by side, We Will Make This Change Together.

— Emma González (@Emma4Change) March 4, 2018

This is in an extraordinary move on the part of these young people.

They are not selfishly hogging the attention for themselves, but rather using the attention directed at them to shine a light on those communities that also suffer from gun violence but have been neglected by the media.

They are demonstrating not only incredible compassion but advertising their unwavering commitment to see this movement through until it achieves the change that they are demanding.

If I worked for the NRA this is around the time that I would start breathing into a paper bag to keep from hyperventilating. 

By the way if you want to know why Chicago really has the problems with guns that it has, there is a great NPR article from 2017 that will do much to explain that to you.

It seems Sarah Palin came slithering out of her hidey hole to attend Billy Graham's funeral.

Source

Courtesy of NPR: 

Some 2,300 guests sat under a symbolic large white canvas tent in Charlotte, N.C., for the Rev. Billy Graham's funeral service on Friday. 

The setting evoked the "canvas cathedral" — two circus tents pitched together in Los Angeles in 1949 — to shelter the thousands of people who came to watch Graham preach, according to the Billy Graham Library. "The Los Angeles Crusade," eight weeks of services, would help raise Graham to national prominence.

President Trump and Melania Trump sat in the front row of Graham's funeral service Friday. Vice President Pence and his wife, Karen, and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, were also there.

This just gives more credibility to the idea that Palin wants her next job to be as a fire and brimstone evangelical preacher.

Of course Palin's connection was only tenuous, her real connection is with Franklin Graham, the man now being credited with undermining his father's legacy.

A legacy it should be mentioned that also contained heaping amounts of antisemitism. 

By the way Palin also got an dishonorable mention on Real Time last night.

Courtesy of Raw Story: 

When talking about former communications director Hope Hicks, Maher recalled the way she helped the campaign by steaming Trump’s pants while he was wearing them. She was the keeper of the steamer. 

“Hope Hicks feels like she can be more effective steaming the pants of those in the private sector,” he joked. 

When it came to Jared Kushner, he couldn’t believe someone would be so stupid as to hold a meeting in the White House for his own personal business affairs. 

“I want to see his birth certificate,” Maher said. “I think it’s going to say: Birthplace: Alaska. Birth name: Jared Palin.”

Palin may want to be an evangelical preacher, but her real job will always be to serve as punchline for late night comedians. 

Russian politician claims his close ties to the NRA provided him access to Donald Trump.

Courtesy of NPR: 

A prominent Kremlin-linked Russian politician has methodically cultivated ties with leaders of the National Rifle Association, and documented efforts in real time over six years to leverage those connections and gain access deeper into American politics, NPR has learned. 

Russian politician Alexander Torshin claimed his ties to the National Rifle Association provided him access to Donald Trump — and the opportunity to serve as a foreign election observer in the United States during the 2012 election. 

Torshin is a prolific Twitter user, logging nearly 150,000 tweets, mostly in Russian, since his account was created in 2011. Previously obscured by language and by sheer volume of tweets, Torshin has written numerous times about his connections with the NRA, of which he's a known paid lifetime member. NPR has translated a selection of those posts that document Torshin's relationship to the group.

These revelations come amid news that the FBI is investigating whether Torshin, the deputy governor of the Bank of Russia, illegally funneled money to the National Rifle Association to assist the Trump campaign in 2016, McClatchy reported in January. 

In a letter to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., a member of the Senate intelligence committee, the NRA denied any wrongdoing and suggested the FBI is investigating Torshin, not the NRA. Neither the NRA nor Torshin responded to inquiries from NPR.

Here's a question.

If the NRA helped to facilitate the Russian influence over Donald Trump, does that not make them a terrorist organization, or at the very least guilty of some form of treason?

And by the way despite what Trump said recently the NRA clearly has him in their pocket.

I had a great meeting tonight with @realDonaldTrump & @VP. We all want safe schools, mental health reform and to keep guns away from dangerous people. POTUS & VPOTUS support the Second Amendment, support strong due process and don’t want gun control. #NRA #MAGA

— Chris Cox (@ChrisCoxNRA) March 2, 2018

Chris Cox is a top NRA lobbyist by the way, and this was posted AFTER Trump ridiculed some of his fellow Republicans for being afraid of the NRA.

Trump before NRA meeting: “We should have comprehensive gun control.”

Trump hours after NRA meeting: “Video games. Video games are the problem. And mental health, too.” https://t.co/TqcHBGLIim

— Ned Price (@nedprice) March 2, 2018

Well if the NRA is a terrorist organization, they have managed to place one of their suicide bombers into the White House.

The world's respect for American leadership hits record low.

Courtesy of NPR:

The global approval rating for U.S. leadership now stands at 30 percent — lower in President Trump's first year in office than it was under former President George W. Bush, according to the Gallup World Poll. The image of America's leadership now trails both Germany and China, Gallup says. 

International regard for U.S. leadership fell sharply from the 48 percent approval rating for 2016, former President Barack Obama's last year in office. The previous low of 34 percent was reached at the end of the Bush administration. 

The new survey was conducted between March and November of 2017. Gallup found that approval of U.S. leadership had fallen by double digits in nearly half of the 134 countries and areas it surveyed. 

The Gallup report also cites another record: for disapproval. Worldwide, a median 43 percent disapprove of U.S. leadership — more than the median disapproval for Germany (25 percent), China (30 percent) or Russia (36 percent). According to Gallup, that's a record for any major world power, not just the U.S., in the past decade.

Some of the more dramatic losses came from American allies like Germany and Mexico, while America only gained approval of ten points or more in four countries, Israeli, Liberia, Macedonia, and Belarus.

Yeah they really dig ole Trump in Macedonia.

A loss of respect also means losing the ability to lead, and that leaves a vacuum for other nations to take our place.

I guess I better start preparing my taste-buds for a lot more Chinese food. 

School teachers report from the front lines about what they are seeing in Trump's America.

Courtesy of NPR: 

Previous surveys we've reported on, including one from the Southern Poverty Law Center, also found increases in school bullying related to overheated political rhetoric. 

The UCLA survey, unlike those, relies on a nationally representative sample: 1,535 teachers at schools whose demographics reflect those of U.S. schools as a whole, rather than pulling from self-selecting volunteers. Also, the survey was conducted after President Trump took office. Along with the survey, researchers at the UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education and Access conducted 35 follow-up interviews by phone. 

Here are some of the key findings: 

• 79 percent of teachers reported that students have expressed concerns for their well-being or the well-being of their families because of what is in the news. Most commonly mentioned was immigration, but the list also included the much-publicized travel ban, restrictions on LGBTQ rights, threats to the Affordable Care Act and threats to the environment. 
• 51 percent of teachers reported more students experiencing "high levels of stress and anxiety." 
• 44 percent of teachers reported that students' concerns were affecting learning. In interviews, they spoke about students who seemed stressed, distracted and who were contributing less to class discussion for fear of drawing attention to themselves. 
• 41 percent of teachers reported that students were more likely than in previous years to introduce unfounded claims in class discussions, such as from Facebook or talk radio. 
• 27 percent of teachers reported an increase in students making derogatory remarks about other groups during class discussions. This included sexist as well as racist and anti-Muslim comments. 
• 20 percent of teachers reported heightened polarization on campus and incivility in their classrooms. 

These last two figures were higher for teachers at predominantly white schools, says John Rogers, lead author of the report and a professor at UCLA's graduate school of education. He noted that teachers in eight states used the word "emboldened" to describe some white students' increasingly racist and offensive behavior. 

The report is not comprehensive, and there's no easy way to compare its results with those during any previous administration. But it speaks to an ongoing national discussion about civil discourse and civic engagement inside and outside the classroom.

When I say in the headline that teachers are on the "front line" I mean that literally as they are often the ones who first recognize shifts in how young people respond to the mood of a country, or how attitudes are evolving concerning racism, sexism, or tolerance of "the other."

During the Obama Administration it seemed that the country was moving rapidly toward more progressive attitudes, hope for the future, and acceptance of others.

But now with Trump in the White House it appears that we returned to intolerance and divisiveness almost overnight.

This is what helped get Trump elected.

Courtesy of NPR: 

A majority of whites say discrimination against them exists in America today, according to a poll released Tuesday from NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. 

"If you apply for a job, they seem to give the blacks the first crack at it," said 68-year-old Tim Hershman of Akron, Ohio, "and, basically, you know, if you want any help from the government, if you're white, you don't get it. If you're black, you get it." 

More than half of whites — 55 percent — surveyed say that, generally speaking, they believe there is discrimination against white people in America today. Hershman's view is similar to what was heard on the campaign trail at Trump rally after Trump rally. Donald Trump catered to white grievance during the 2016 presidential campaign and has done so as president as well. 

Notable, however, is that while a majority of whites in the poll say discrimination against them exists, a much smaller percentage say that they have actually experienced it. Also important to note is that 84 percent of whites believe discrimination exists against racial and ethnic minorities in America today.

Yes poor white people.

They have the majority of the money, still firmly hold the reins of power in his country, and are over represented in Washington.

And yet THEY are the ones being discriminated against. 

Talk about snowflakes.

And all Donald Trump had to do was agree with them that THEY are the oppressed people in this country, and promise to ensure that they would never have to surrender control of the country to the other so long as he was in the White House and they voted for him overwhelmingly.

So easily manipulated.

So easily controlled.

Almost enough to make me despise my own race.

So now Trump sets his sights on the 1st Amendment. Knew this was coming.

Why Isn't the Senate Intel Committee looking into the Fake News Networks in OUR country to see why so much of our news is just made up-FAKE!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 5, 2017

Courtesy of The Atlantic:  

Frustrated with a set of damning reports about his relationship with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson—including the nugget that Tillerson called him a “moron” (perhaps with an R-rated modifier)—the president offered a new suggestion on Twitter Thursday morning: Why not explore government censorship of the press?

Trump had been relatively quiet on Twitter for a few days, following the massacre in Las Vegas and his trip to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico, but the Tillerson stories on Wednesday set off a new tirade of tweets against the press. Most of them are the standard “Fake news!” variety—never mind that there have been stories of Trump-Tillerson tension for months, and that multiple outlets have confirmed the “moron” anecdote—but the president is calling for something different here. He is suggesting that the Senate bring its investigative powers to bear on news reports that are, from all indications save Tillerson’s non-denial denial, entirely accurate.

Those of you who have been paying attention, may remember that this is not the first time that Trump has threatened the American press.

Courtesy of an NPR story from back in February 2016: 

Feeling maligned by the media, Donald Trump is threatening to weaken First Amendment protections for reporters if he were president and make it easier for him to sue them. 

“I love free press. I think it’s great,” he said Saturday on Fox News Channel, before quickly adding, “We ought to open up the libel laws, and I’m going to do that.” 

The changes envisioned by the celebrity businessman turned Republican front-runner would mean that “when they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles, we can sue them and win lots of money,” he said at a rally Friday in Fort Worth, Texas. 

Trump added that, should he win the election, news organizations that have criticized him will “have problems.” He specifically cited The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Make no mistake, Trump does not see himself as a president. He sees himself as a dictator.

And just like his idols Adolph Hitler and Vladimir Putin he has no patience with a press that insists on reporting accurately about him and his administration.

Lt. General lowers the boom on Air Force Academy's preparatory school over racist messages.

Courtesy of NPR:

After racial slurs were scrawled outside black students' doors at the U.S. Air Force Academy's preparatory school, Superintendent Lt. Gen. Jay Silveria gathered all 4,000 cadets in a hall Thursday so they could hear one message: Treat people with dignity and respect — or get out. 

"That kind of behavior has no place at the prep school, it has no place at USAFA, and it has no place in the United States Air Force," Silveria said, in a speech that has found an enthusiastic reception after it was recorded and published online. "You should be outraged not only as an airman, but as a human being." 

Speaking to a crowd of some 5,500 people that included faculty, coaches, airstrip personnel, and senior officers and staff of the 10th Air Base Wing that includes the academy, Silveria urged them not to let their institution be taken away from them. 

"The appropriate response for horrible language and horrible ideas — the appropriate response is a better idea," Silveria said. "So that's why I'm here. That's why all these people are here."

Did you notice he vaguely referenced Donald Trump while talking about what's going on in this country?

Because I noticed he vaguely referenced Donald Trump while talking about what's going on in this country?

I really like the fact that they addressed what happened in Charlottesville and Ferguson, that is good leadership.

And I would hate to the be the asshole who scrawled those racist messages on the white board, because clearly this man is looking for an ass to kick. 

(Perhaps that was the guy who opened fire on campus yesterday.)

Hillary Clinton very carefully opens the door for invalidating the 2016 election.

Hillary's interview with NPR was posted today, and in it is this very interesting exchange between Terry Gross, the interviewer and Clinton:

Gross: Democrats have said that they think there was Russian interference in the election, but that they're not challenging the results of the election. As more and more information comes out about the depth of Russia's interference in the election, do you think, at some point, that it would be legitimate to challenge the legitimacy of the election? 

Clinton: I don't know if there's any legal constitutional way to do that. I think you can raise questions. In fact, I think part of the reason Trump behaves the way he behaves is that he is a walking example of projection. Whatever he's doing and whatever he thinks is happening he will accuse somebody else of. And there are examples during the campaign when he did just that, like when he called publicly on Russia to hack my personal emails.

He knew they were trying to do whatever they could to discredit me with emails, so there's obviously a trail there, but I don't know that in our system we have any means of doing that, but I just wanted to add to the point you made. There's no doubt they influenced the election: We now know more about how they did that. 

Let me just put it this way, if I had lost the popular vote but won the electoral college and in my first day as president the intelligence community came to me and said, "The Russians influenced the election," I would've never stood for it. Even though it might've advantaged me, I would've said, "We've got to get to the bottom of this." I would've set up an independent commission with subpoena power and everything else. 

Gross: I want to get back to the question, would you completely rule out questioning the legitimacy of this election if we learn that the Russian interference in the election is even deeper than we know now? 

Clinton: No. I would not. I would say —

Gross: You're not going to rule it out. 

Clinton: No, I wouldn't rule it out.

Donald Trump finally, begrudgingly, signs Russia sanction bill into law.

Fine, I'll sign it. But I am not happy about it.

Courtesy of NPR:  

After being approved by overwhelming majorities in Congress, President Trump begrudgingly signed into law new sanctions against Russia on Wednesday. The move is in contrast with his frequently stated desire to improve relations with the country. The president also issued a signing statement where he declared that the legislation has a number of what he deems to be "unconstitutional provisions." 

The sanctions bill targets Russia's mining and oil industry, and aims to punish the country for interfering in the 2016 presidential election as well for its military aggression in Ukraine. In announcing that he'd signed the bill, Trump made his most definitive statement yet about Russia's interference in last U.S. presidential election. 

"I also support making clear that America will not tolerate interference in our democratic process, and that we will side with our allies and friends against Russian subversion and destabilization," he said. 

He also made clear however, that he has a number of qualms with the "seriously flawed" bill. Most notably, with the fact that it restricts his ability to ease sanctions without Congress' involvement. To waive sanctions, Trump has to send Congress a report explaining and justifying his decision, and lawmakers would then get 30 days to decide whether to allow the waiver. 

"The bill remains seriously flawed — particularly because it encroaches on the executive branch's authority to negotiate," Trump said, adding "The Framers of our Constitution put foreign affairs in the hands of the President. This bill will prove the wisdom of that choice."

Yes, well the framers may not have anticipated that there would someday be a president who was working as a double agent for an American adversary.

Perhaps the most important part of this bill is not the sanctions it places on Russia, but the sanctions that it places on Donald Trump's ability to undermine it.

That's right, the man living in the White House, "a real dump," has to be treated as a potential enemy of the state.

Apparently Trump was so upset about having to sign this bill that he would not even let the media cover it.

.@realDonaldTrump has signed Russia sanctions bill despite reservations given veto-proof majority had no choice no coverage permitted

— Andrea Mitchell (@mitchellreports) August 2, 2017

Probably did not want them to catch him sobbing.

US Admiral says that he would launch a nuclear attack against China if Donald Trump commanded it. WTF?

Courtesy of NPR: 

At a security conference in Australia on Thursday, this scenario was posed to the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet: If ordered to do so by President Trump, would he would launch a nuclear attack on China next week? His response: Yes. 

An academic in the audience posed this question to Adm. Scott Swift: "At risk of being blunt ... If, when you return to your command next week, you were to receive an order from the commander in chief, the president of the United States, to make a nuclear attack on China, would you do it?"

As the audience tittered at the premise, the admiral smiled and said, "So far, these were yes and no answers." 

"The answer would be yes," Swift went on. "Every member of the U.S. military has sworn an oath to defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic and to obey the officers and the president of the United States as the commander in chief appointed over us."

"This is core to American democracy and any time you have a military that is moving away from a focus and an allegiance to civilian control, then we really have significant problems," Swift added.

Okay now I have never been a member of the armed services but isn't it the duty of the United States military to defy and order that they believe is dangerous to the country or that comes from a superior clearly suffering from an mental illness?

Attacking China would be suicide. This guy has to know that.

Right?

Jesus Christ, if anybody needs me I will be curled up in the fetal position under my bed.

Unlike the man he is investigating Special Counsel Robert Mueller lets his actions do the talking.

Courtesy of NPR: 

Robert Mueller has made no public comment since he was named to lead the Department of Justice investigation into Russian interference in last year's election. 

Instead, he has let his actions do the talking. The former FBI director and decorated U.S. Marine has submitted a budget and quietly hired an all-star team that includes 15 Justice Department prosecutors. And, a spokesman for Mueller said, he's not done bringing on new lawyers. 

That has gotten the attention of supporters of President Trump, who recently made an attack ad calling the investigation a "rigged game" and blasting the special counsel for hiring at least four lawyers who have donated to Democrats.

But don't expect Mueller to mount a defense. He does his talking in the courtroom, not on social media. 

Mueller has not described the scope of what his team will examine. 

But members of Congress and other lawyers involved in the probe described the main lines of inquiry as: Russian meddling in the presidential election; whether anyone inside the United States conspired to help; and whether any wrongdoing has been committed in the surprise firing of FBI Director James Comey, who said he believed he was let go to relieve pressure on the Russia probe.

Many of the legal experts that Mueller has hired are the top in their field.

Courtesy of WaPo:  

Mueller has hired 16 lawyers to work with him. Together, the team is a formidable collection of legal talent with experience prosecuting national security, fraud and public corruption cases, arguing matters before the Supreme Court and assessing complicated legal questions.

In other words if Donald Trump has not started sweating bullets yet, he soon will be.

My prediction is that Trump will try to find someway to fire Mueller, but that it will ultimately back fire on him.  

On July 4th NPR tweeted out the entire Declaration of Independence. Trump supporters took it as an attack on their president.

In Congress, July 4, 1776.

— NPR (@NPR) July 4, 2017

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

— NPR (@NPR) July 4, 2017

When in the Course of human events,

— NPR (@NPR) July 4, 2017

it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another,

— NPR (@NPR) July 4, 2017

and to assume among the powers of the earth,

— NPR (@NPR) July 4, 2017

This goes on for tweet after tweet until the entire Declaration of Independence has been shared, which is something that NPR has been doing, in one form or another, for the last 29 years.

But those 29 years were before there was a Donald Trump in the White House.

When his supporters saw what NPR was doing they were outraged. 

When you're triggered by the Declaration of Independence bc you want so badly to submit to King Donald the Doll-Handed.... pic.twitter.com/aEyLEu24Qc

— Alexandra 🦅 (@AlexandraAimee) July 4, 2017

there's nothing more american than getting pissed because you think the declaration of independence is shitting on the president pic.twitter.com/gkWSTR8SIY

— Goth Ms. Frizzle (@spookperson) July 4, 2017

NPR tweeted out the entire Declaration of Independence, and wow... uh... the responses are... something. pic.twitter.com/KurdVurRgW

— Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) July 5, 2017

The responses to @NPR tweeting the Declaration of Independence are sort of hilarious and sad all at once 👀💯💙❤️💙❤️ pic.twitter.com/yCp6PpSuYg

— Savannah Grimm (@savvygrimm) July 5, 2017

In the voice of Jeff Foxworthy:

"If'n you think that the tweeting of the Declaration of Independence is propaganda aimed at removing your president from office, well then you might be a moronic Trump supporter."

 Keep in mind folks these idiots are actually allowed to vote.

White House attempts to block disclosure of Trump Administration ethics waivers, gets rejected.

Uh oh.

Courtesy of NPR: 

The Office of Government Ethics has rejected a White House attempt to block the agency's compilation of federal ethics rules waivers granted to officials hired into the Trump administration from corporations and lobbying firms. 

The White House action, a letter to OGE Director Walter M. Shaub Jr. from Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, was first reported by The New York Times. The newspaper had earlier published a detailed account of lobbyists turned appointees who were granted waivers and now oversee regulations they previously had lobbied against. 

With an ethics waiver, a federal official is free to act on matters that normally would trigger concerns about conflicts of interest or other ethical problems. Federal regulations say the waivers generally should be made public on request. The Obama administration routinely posted waivers online. The Trump administration has issued an unknown number and released none. 

Shaub notified the White House and federal agencies in April that OGE wanted to see all ethics waivers issued by President Trump's administration. He set June 1 as the deadline. The broad request is known as a data call.

Oh I think we see another Trump White House scandal looming over the horizon.

Fighting this only goes to prove that the Trump Administration is terrified of ANY disclosures of  what they have been doing behind the scenes.

I would be willing to bet that there are some very interesting ethics waivers that have to do with, not just with members of the cabinet, but members of the Trump family as well.

Former Fox News host claims that not only was she sexually harassed, but that her phone was hacked and the information used against her online.

Courtesy of NPR: 

The host, Andrea Tantaros, alleged in a previous lawsuit that she had been sexually harassed by former Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes and former top-rated Fox News host Bill O'Reilly. That suit has been stayed while her complaints against the network are being heard in binding private arbitration. All defendants, through their own representatives or through Fox's parent company, 21st Century Fox, vehemently denied Tantaros' initial allegations.

In Monday's federal lawsuit, Tantaros alleges that Fox News executives including co-President Bill Shine orchestrated the use of material gathered by electronic eavesdropping that was fed to Twitter accounts acting on the network's behalf. Ensuing tweets, she says, reflected knowledge of details of intimate conversations and exchanges with family members and friends. Tantaros alleges this was done to try to undermine her resolve in challenging the network on sexual harassment.

As you may know News Corp the parent company of Fox has a long and scandalous history of tapping people's phones.

According to the lawsuit Fox was fairly nasty in how they used the stolen information:

The suit alleges a rise in offensive material on social media accounts directed toward Tantaros in early 2015, when, she says, she first notified Shine and other Fox News executives that Ailes had harassed her. 

Then in May 2016, according to the complaint, several Twitter accounts started to post material suggesting direct knowledge of her conversations.

For example, a picture of a movie about a black scorpion was posted just after she learned that a friend had been bitten by one. Another tweet invoked the idea of a memorial for Tantaros' dead brother, just after she and her mother had spoken of it; the third anniversary of his death was still a few months away. 

And at the same time that Tantaros was talking to the children of her other brother while they were at Disneyland, according to the lawsuit, a tweet on one of the accounts posted a photograph of Mickey Mouse hugging two children. 

"This is not just cyberstalking," Tantaros' lawyer, Judd Burstein, told NPR. "This is cyberstalking on steroids, because, as alleged in the complaint, they harassed her through sock-puppet social media accounts which conveyed the illegal fruits of their electronic surveillance of her. It was in essence two crimes committed at the same time."

Certainly sounds like something Fox News would do, doesn't it. 

(Similar tactics were used against me back when I reported on the Palin marriage troubles. I was not hacked I don't think, but IM was scoured for dirt and then the information was misrepresented on various right wing news outlets in a way to impugn my character. So I have seen these tactics at work.)

If the lawyer for Tantaros can make these allegations stick, I see a big payout in their future.

Donald Trump spokesperson comes right and says that there "is no such thing as facts."

Scottie Nell Hughes

So this is from an appearance on NPR's "Diane Rehm Show."

The guests are Atlantic editor James Fallows, Politico‘s Glenn Thrush and Margaret Sullivan of the Washington Post, along with Trump spokesperson Scottie Nell Hughes.

Here is the exchange:  

REHM Now I know you've been listening since the top of the program, and I'm sure you've heard James Fallows talk about lies that Donald Trump has put out there in tweets, in things he's said. What do you make of that? 

HUGHES Well, I think it's also an idea of an opinion. And that's -- on one hand I hear half the media saying that these are lies, but on the other half there are many people that go, no, it's true. And so one thing that has been interesting this entire campaign season to watch is that people that say facts are facts, they're not really facts. Everybody has a way, it's kind of like looking at ratings or looking at a glass of half-full water. Everybody has a way of interpreting them to be the truth or not true. 

HUGHES There's no such thing, unfortunately, anymore of facts. And so Mr. Trump's tweet amongst a certain crowd, a large -- a large part of the population, are truth. When he says that millions of people illegally voted, he has some -- in his -- amongst him and his supporters, and people believe they have facts to back that up. Those that do not like Mr. Trump, they say that those are lies, and there's no facts to back it up. So...

And there you have it, the very thing that I have been predicting since before Trump won this election.

Now that he is in power facts no longer have any value.

All that matters is what you believe, what you want to believe, and what those in power want you to believe.

By the way if this batshit crazy lunatic seems familiar it may be because she was brilliantly parodied by Saturday Night Live back in April.

And now these are the people who are in charge.

Holy shit!

The dearth of teachers is no longer confined to red states.

Courtesy of NPR:  

There are serious shortages of teachers from California to Oklahoma and Kentucky and places in between. 

A big factor: Far fewer college students are enrolling in teacher training programs, as we reported this spring, exacerbating a long-standing shortage of special education, science and English-language-learner instructors. In California, enrollment in teaching programs is down more than 50 percent over the past five years. Enrollment is down sharply in Texas, North Carolina, New York and elsewhere. 

Add to the mix stagnant pay, attrition, retirements, an improving economy as well as politicized fights over tenure and just about every other education issue and you've got the makings of a genuine problem — in some regions. 

"All of those things together are creating a serious challenge for us," Oakland Unified School District spokesman Troy Flint tells NPR Ed. "The teacher shortage we're facing in Oakland is significantly more dire than in previous years. We just don't have as many teachers in the pipeline." 

Heading into the new school year Aug. 24th, Oakland has some 50 classroom vacancies. "The biggest challenge this year has come from the nationwide teacher shortage impacting all education employers, especially California public schools," Superintendent Antwan Wilson wrote this week in an email to staff and parents. 

California has more than 21 thousand teaching positions to fill. Districts laid off or eliminated some 80,000 teaching jobs between 2008 and 2012 during the Great Recession. And as the economy rebounds more young people have more options. 

The shortage areas tend to be worse in districts with budget woes, a concentration of high-poverty areas and systems that are experiencing strong population growth.

For decades the conservatives have wanted to destroy public education in this country, and now it looks as if they are finally succeeding. 

The problem is that the lack of teachers does not only impact public schools, but also the private schools and charter schools that the conservatives want to replace them with.

And the part that is so upsetting is that this was an easily predictable outcome that in their zeal to vilify educators the conservatives simply did not want to see. 

I weep for our future.