Well it's pretty easy to see why Trump did not join those five former presidents at that hurricane fundraiser last night.

.@realDonaldTrump-This is what a REAL president looks like—listen to the crowd roar for @BarackObama#AMJoy #Resistpic.twitter.com/b2VBRcUNDO

— Scott Dworkin (@funder) October 22, 2017

Listen to that crowd.

That is the sound of overwhelming support.

Here is more courtesy of Politico:  

With the American flag as a backdrop and surrounded by Texas A&M University singing cadets, all five living former presidents stood on stage together in College Station, Texas, on Saturday night to kick off a benefit concert to help raise money for hurricane victims. 

President Donald Trump was not in attendance, but a video of his remarks played.

Former presidents Clinton, Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Barack Obama all attended. 

"All of us on this stage here tonight could not be prouder of the response of Americans," Obama said. "When they see their neighbors, and their friends, when they see strangers in need, Americans step up. And as heartbreaking as the tragedies that took place here in Texas and in Florida, in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands have been, but what we've also seen is the spirit of America at its best." 

In the six weeks since the campaign began, more than $31 million has been raised from some 80,000 contributors, according to David Jones, chief executive of the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation.

Man, this photo. pic.twitter.com/q9TQ6iIA5G

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 22, 2017

There is at least one of these men who I actively despise, and two who are very close to the end of their time on earth. And yet I would gladly chose ANY of them over the traitorous POS currently residing in the people's house.

And did you hear that applause for Barack Obama?

That is the kind of enthusiasm we need to harness for the Democrat's next presidential candidate.

He is SO stupid.

Donald Trump IS the president of the Virgin Islands.

Apparently Trump actually met with Virgin Islands Gov. Kenneth Mapp., and because he knows NOTHING about ANYTHING thought that he was talking to the PRESIDENT of the Virgin Islands, while completely unaware that he in fact had that title.

I don't know who is dumber, Donald Trump, or the people who voted for Donald Trump. 

In defiance of Donald Trump FEMA spokesperson says that they are not abandoning Puerto Rico.

.@FEMA will be w/Puerto Rico, USVI, every state, territory impacted by a disaster every day, supporting throughout their response & recovery

— Eileen Lainez (@FEMAspox) October 12, 2017

Courtesy of Raw Story: 

In a tweet Thursday afternoon, FEMA spokeswoman Eileen Lainez wrote that the agency “will be w/Puerto Rico, USVI, every state, territory impacted by a disaster every day, supporting throughout their response & recovery.”

Her tweet came five hours after Trump took to Twitter to say the island’s financial crisis “looms largely of their own making” and is due to the poor state of its infrastructure and electrical system and its governor’s “total lack of … accountability.”

Shortly after her initial tweet, Lainez sent FEMA’s latest update on support to Puerto Rico through the social media platform, a reminder that it will take time for the U.S. territory of 3.4 million people to recover, but that residents are seeing some services being restored. 

“FEMA, in coordination and partnership with 36 federal departments and agencies, remains focused on helping the people of the U.S. Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico with life-sustaining commodities and other essential services,” the agency stated in its press release from Wednesday. “As more businesses open and public services are restored, quality of life will continue to improve for many residents.”

Well it's good that some people still understand the responsibility of government.

It's like everybody's job these days is explaining what the president meant, or telling people to ignore him altogether.

While the death toll rises in Puerto Rico Donald Trump threatens to pull FEMA out.

"Puerto Rico survived the Hurricanes, now a financial crisis looms largely of their own making." says Sharyl Attkisson. A total lack of.....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2017

...accountability say the Governor. Electric and all infrastructure was disaster before hurricanes. Congress to decide how much to spend....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2017

...We cannot keep FEMA, the Military & the First Responders, who have been amazing (under the most difficult circumstances) in P.R. forever!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 12, 2017

Jesus Christ! What a heartless POS!

The people of Puerto Rico are still in desperate need of help as this report by Vox clearly illustrates:  

Lives surely have been saved in the response. But images and reports from the ground tell a story of people, cut off from basic supplies and health care, dying. They tell of hospitals running out of medication and fuel for their generators and struggling to keep up with the “avalanche of patients that came after the hurricane,” as one journalist put it. 

The death toll from the hurricane is now up to 45, according to Gov. Ricardo Rosselló. But 90 percent of the 3.4 million American citizens on the island still don’t have power, and 35 percent still don’t have water to drink or bathe in. And given how deadly power outages can be, 45 deaths seems low, according to disaster experts. 

Vox found the official death toll to be a little suspicious, so they did a deeper dive:  

We searched Google News for reports of deaths in English and Spanish media from Puerto Rico since Hurricane Maria. We found reports of a total of 81 deaths linked directly or indirectly to the hurricane. Of those, 45 were the deaths certified by the government. The remaining 36 deaths were confirmed by local public officials or funeral directors, according to the reports. We also found another 450 reported deaths, most of causes still unknown, and reports of at least 69 people still missing. 

The broader issue here relates to how storm deaths are counted. There are clear deaths from the storm, clear deaths indirectly from the storm, and then deaths that are harder to determine — for instance, a sick patient who died in a hospital experiencing frequent power outages. And then there’s the issue of how effective authorities are at finding and investigating the deaths to make sure they’re included in the count. The breakdown of these categories suggests that the government is being much more cautious in designating deaths as directly or indirectly hurricane-related, given the public information available.

As Rachel Maddow pointed out on her show last night, a number of these fatalities were NOT the result of the initial hurricane, but the occurred in the aftermath because of a lack of food, water, or medical care.

And the death toll will only climb even higher if Trump pulls the relief effort.

But hey, why would he care?

After all these are only mostly brown people who cannot even vote in a presidential election.

Donald Trump does not want you to forget the hardest hit victim of the hurricane in Puerto Rico. Donald Trump.

Nobody could have done what I’ve done for #PuertoRico with so little appreciation. So much work! pic.twitter.com/k2jAkIpfjI

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 8, 2017

You guys remember all of the actual work that Trump did for the people of Puerto Rico, right?

President Trump throws paper towels into the crowd at a Hurricane Maria relief event in Puerto Rico https://t.co/FLHYyPsaLD

— NBC News (@NBCNews) October 3, 2017

Yeah, that was pretty much it.

Oh but how this poor orange snowflake was suffered.

Can't you just feel his pain.

Sadly there are many in Puerto Rico who simply cannot.

Increasingly painful to undestand the american people want to help and US Gov does not want to help. WE NEED WATER! @UN @washingtonpost

— Carmen Yulín Cruz (@CarmenYulinCruz) October 8, 2017

So ungrateful.

Former presidents band together to participate in concert to raise money for victims of the numerous hurricanes.

Courtesy of CNN:

All five living former US presidents will participate in a benefit concert to raise money for hurricane relief efforts in Texas later this month, the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation announced today. 

Former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush and Jimmy Carter will appear at Reed Arena at Texas A&M University on October 21 for the "Deep From the Heart: The One America Appeal" concert. 

The event will also feature rock and country musicians including ALABAMA, the Gatlin Brothers, Lyle Lovett, Robert Earl Keen, Sam Moore, Yolanda Adams, Cassadee Pope and Stephanie Quayle. Country music artist Lee Greenwood will emcee the event.

"The 43rd President and I, and our distinguished colleagues in this 'One America Appeal,' are very grateful to these wonderful performers -- some of them old friends, some of them new -- for giving their time and talent to help the urgent cause of hurricane recovery in Texas, Florida and the Caribbean," President George H.W. Bush said in a statement. "It's important that those affected by these devastating storms know that, even if the path to recovery feels like a road that goes on forever, we're with them for the long haul."

I have to admit when I first read this I thought they were only raising money for the folks in Texas that were victimized by the hurricanes, but a closer reading revealed that they are raising money for ALL of the hurricane victims, including Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.

Can you even believe that we are living in a time when one concert is being put on to raise money for the victims of back to back hurricanes?

And people say climate change is not real.

All I can say is that it is certainly a good thing that we have all of these ex-presidents around to provide some leadership in this area, because the idiot currently in the White House has no fucking idea what he is doing.

The Mayor of San Juan was quite unimpressed with Trump's photo op in Puerto Rico.

Pres. Trump tosses paper towel rolls, distributes other supplies to hurricane victims during his Puerto Rico visit https://t.co/UAjQrpyToV pic.twitter.com/8IAj5F5OKH

— CBS News (@CBSNews) October 3, 2017

Courtesy of Politico: 

“He was insulting to the people of Puerto Rico,” Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz said Tuesday night on MSNBC hours after meeting Trump face-to-face at a briefing with Puerto Rican leaders and the president. Beyond the briefing, Trump also toured damaged areas and helped distribute supplies, flicking paper towels into a crowd with the motion of a jump shot in basketball. All of it, Cruz said, was disingenuous.

“This was a PR, 17-minute meeting. There was no exchange with anybody, with none of the mayors,” the mayor said. “And in fact, this terrible and abominable view of him throwing paper towels and throwing provisions at people, it really — it does not embody the spirit of the American nation, you know?” 

Particularly egregious, according to the mayor, was Trump’s remark during the briefing with Puerto Rican officials that they should “be very proud” because the death toll on the island has not spiked as it did in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina, which the president said was “a real catastrophe.” 

“He kind of minimized our suffering here by saying that Katrina was a real disaster, sort of implying that this was not a real disaster because not many people have died here,” Cruz said. “Well you know what? They’re dying. They don’t have the medical resources.”

Yeah I knew yesterday when Trump claimed that Mayor Cruz had "come back a long way," that he was full of shit.

I watched footage of Trump's visit yesterday in horror. 

He went out of his way to minimize the devastation and to humiliate the people of Puerto Rico.

And the worst part was the Puerto Rican politicians who sat around trying to give him credibility while sacrificing their own.

This San Juan mayor seems to be the only politician on the island with any balls.

They should make her the freaking governor.

Donald Trump says that San Juan mayor who criticized FEMA response has "come back a long way," though there is no evidence that she has changed her position. Update!

Courtesy of Politico:  

The mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico, has “come back a long way,” President Donald Trump said Tuesday morning of the official he strongly criticized as he departed the White House en route to the hurricane-ravaged island. 

San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz was outspoken last week in her pleas for more support from the federal government, criticizing the rosy recovery picture painted by acting Secretary of Homeland Security Elaine Duke and appealing directly to the president in an interview on CNN. 

While she expressed gratitude for Trump’s help and did not attack him directly, her words were enough to prompt the president into a Twitter spree in which he said the mayor had shown “such poor leadership ability.” At the outset of his Tuesday morning Trip to the island, Trump suggested Cruz had begun to come around. 

“Well, I think she's come back a long way. And you know, I think it's now acknowledged what a great job we've done and people are looking at that,” the president told reporters before boarding Marine One on the White House’s south lawn. “whether it's her or anybody else, they're all starting to say it. I appreciate very much the governor and his comments. He has said we have done an incredible job and that's the truth.” 

Trump did not refer to any specific comments from Cruz that indicated she had “come back” from her criticism of the federal response.

As the article states there is no evidence that Cruz has changed her mind about the US response to the devastation in Puerto Rico.

In fact she tweeted this out just today.

The thruth is there for everyone to see: our elderly are suffering. https://t.co/JP8WUWubsW

— Carmen Yulín Cruz (@CarmenYulinCruz) October 3, 2017

Does not sound as if she came back from anywhere to me.

As for his suggestion that "it's now acknowledged what a great job we've done."

Nope.

Courtesy of CNN:  

Oxfam, a global organization working to end poverty, is criticizing the United States government's response to the crisis in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. 

The group specifically criticized President Donald Trump's administration. 

"Oxfam has monitored the response in Puerto Rico closely, and we are outraged at the slow and inadequate response the US government has mounted in Puerto Rico," Oxfam America President Abby Maxman said in a statement. "Clean water, food, fuel, electricity, and health care are in desperately short supply and quickly dwindling, and we're hearing excuses and criticism from the administration instead of a cohesive and compassionate response." 

The group rarely criticizes government strategies in crises affecting wealthy nations such as the US. 

"The US has more than enough resources to mobilize an emergency response but has failed to do so in a swift and robust manner," Maxman said.

Yeah, that sounds like the opposite of what Trump is saying.

It's almost like he was pushing, what's that called again, oh yeah, fake news.

Update: Trump is currently in Puerto Rico apparently only visiting with the mayors and local politicians who agree to kiss his ring and thank him for deigning to bless them with his presence..

Here's a pic of Trump tossing paper towels into a crowd as he hands out supplies in Puerto Rico. (via AP/Evan Vucci) pic.twitter.com/TgYE9pZ5Kb

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 3, 2017

If this were Obama he would have sought out the people who were critical and heard them out so he could learn how to have his team respond better in the future.

But not Trump, he just wants to talk to people who will blow sunshine up his ass.

Update 2: Here is Trump congratulating Puerto Rico for not having TOO many people die, and bitching about the fact that helping them threw the budget "out of whack."

President Trump says Hurricane Maria was not 'a real catastrophe like Hurricane Katrina' https://t.co/EM2ZHVRqSo pic.twitter.com/wUWYFF187j

— TIME (@TIME) October 3, 2017

Such a humanitarian.

Just a reminder.

Trump called San Juan's mayor a weak leader. Here's what her leadership looks like. https://t.co/vhAwxK80Oc

— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 30, 2017

I don't know much about Mayor Cruz's politics, but I know when I see a leader with compassion, one who cares about her people.

Perhaps THAT is what disgusts Trump so much about her.

That she is so weak that she actually cares about these insignificant brown people, and so strong that she is willing to call him out on their behalf.

But hey, you can't say that Trump did not do his part.

.@realDonaldTrump touches trophy, dedicates President's Cup Trophy to hurricane survivors in TX, Puerto Rico & FL pic.twitter.com/RylFmmJpAD

— Kelly O'Donnell (@KellyO) October 1, 2017

I mean just imagine how much suffering will come to an end now that Trump dedicated a golfing trophy to those hurricane victims. 

General Russell Honore, the man credited with finally rescuing the victims of Katrina, says Donald Trump does not give a damn about poor people and people of color.

Gen. Honoré: "He doesn't give a damn about poor people, doesn't give a damn about people of color." https://t.co/vdHqzkWrEZ

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 30, 2017

Honore also called Trump an "SOB flying around in Air Force One."

You can see the clip here.

General Russell Honore was a conservative star after he swooped in to take command in New Orleans, so Trump might want to give his tweeting finger a rest.

If he starts a war with Honore he might find himself well out of his depth.

Besides the criticisms are coming hard and fast, so Trump can surely find a more vulnerable target to take out his anger on.

After all I'm sure there is another woman somewhere criticizing him.  

You probably saw this coming., Donald Trump attacks mayor of San Juan in early morning tweets.

The Mayor of San Juan, who was very complimentary only a few days ago, has now been told by the Democrats that you must be nasty to Trump.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2017

...Such poor leadership ability by the Mayor of San Juan, and others in Puerto Rico, who are not able to get their workers to help. They....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2017

...want everything to be done for them when it should be a community effort. 10,000 Federal workers now on Island doing a fantastic job.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2017

Of course this was in response to Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz's desperate call for help yesterday. So instead of getting these people the help they so desperately need, Trump decides to become defensive and attack this overwhelmed mayor personally.

That's real leadership. 

By the way Trump sent those disgusting tweets from the comfort of his private golf course in New Jersey. 

POS!

Mayor of San Juan, Puerto Rico slams response by FEMA, and begs for help.

The above comes after Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz responded with this after the acting head of Homeland Security suggested that what was happening in Puerto Rico was a "good news story."

“Dammit, this is not a good news story” It’s “a ‘people are dying’ story”: San Juan mayor slams acting DHS secretary https://t.co/q2mR2utu7k pic.twitter.com/GBx8K1hTW8

— CNN (@CNN) September 29, 2017

This is actually starting to look very muhc like Bush's completely ineffective response to Katrina, and this could be a defining moment in the Trump presidency.

P.S. The Mayor will be on with Rachel Maddow later on tonight. 

Five former presidents band together to help raise money for Puerto Rico. Because somebody has to do something.

Courtesy of WSVN:

All five living former presidents are joining forces on a fundraising campaign to help with hurricane recovery for the U.S., Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands. 

Presidents Jimmy Carter, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama have launched the One America Appeal campaign, allowing donors to help with relief efforts in the wake of Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria. 

Organizers say a special restricted account has been established through the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Foundation to collect and quickly distribute donations. Officials say “100 cents out of every dollar” donated will help hurricane victims.

I can only imagine what the conversations between these former presidents must be like. 

I would think there would be a lot of shaking their heads in disbelief and real concern for the future of the country.

Donald Trump is apparently blaming Puerto Rico for getting all hurricaned and stuff.

Texas & Florida are doing great but Puerto Rico, which was already suffering from broken infrastructure & massive debt, is in deep trouble..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2017

...It's old electrical grid, which was in terrible shape, was devastated. Much of the Island was destroyed, with billions of dollars....

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2017

...owed to Wall Street and the banks which, sadly, must be dealt with. Food, water and medical are top priorities - and doing well. #FEMA

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 26, 2017

Holy shitballs!

Those are American citizens fighting for their very survival and the giant orange taint is literally chewing them out for not being more like Florida and Texas. Which by the way were also badly damaged by a NATURAL DISASTER, not mistakes made by its citizens.

Hillary Clinton described last night why Trump simply does not give a shit.

Courtesy of HuffPo:

During appearances on Sirius XM and MSNBC’s “All In With Chris Hayes,” Clinton described the president’s approach as a political calculus and being disinterest in the fate of the 3.5 million American residents living on the island. 

“He doesn’t think that has any political relevance and it’s certainly not personally important,” Clinton told Chris Hayes on Monday evening. “He clearly doesn’t want to talk about Puerto Rico, more than 3.5 million American citizens, along with the U.S. Virgin Islands. Not interested, doesn’t say a word about it.” 

Hayes, who was hosting his show while the president tweeted, expressed his own disbelief at Trump’s short tweets just moments after Puerto Rico’s governor told him that 60 percent of the island’s population had no access to clean water.

Yeah, Puerto Rico can't vote in a presidential election, and besides its populated with all of those brown people, so how could Donald Trump possibly give a good goddamn? 

Puerto Rico is in near devastation since being hit by Hurricane Maria, but here is the president fighting with the NFL again.

So proud of NASCAR and its supporters and fans. They won't put up with disrespecting our Country or our Flag - they said it loud and clear!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 25, 2017

Many people booed the players who kneeled yesterday (which was a small percentage of total). These are fans who demand respect for our Flag!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 25, 2017

The issue of kneeling has nothing to do with race. It is about respect for our Country, Flag and National Anthem. NFL must respect this!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 25, 2017

This of course is a carry over from yesterday's Twitter rant, which followed comments made on Friday attacking NFL players that #takeaknee.

That means that Trump has spent an entire weekend attacking the most popular sporting event in America (Only interrupted by a brief attack on another of America's favorite sports.) instead of actually doing his fucking job.

Meanwhile, like I said at the top, the US territory of  Puerto Rico has been decimated by Hurricane Maria, and not a peep out of the Orange Fuhrer.

The People's President Hillary Clinton has urged Trump to send in the Navy to help deal with the tragedy: 

"President Trump, (Defense) Sec. (James) Mattis, and DOD (Department of Defense) should send the Navy, including the USNS Comfort, to Puerto Rico now," the former presidential nominee tweeted Sunday morning. "These are American citizens."

But so far America's response has been minimal at best.

Apparently Trump has been too busy attacking Republicans who have not passed a bill to repeal Obamacare, and continuing his feud with the NFL.

That last one resulted in an ethics complaint being filed against Trump for attempting "to influence the employment practices of a private entity “solely on the basis of partisan political affiliation."

By the way Trump also retweeted this a little while ago.

NFLplayer PatTillman joined U.S. Army in 2002. He was killed in action 2004. He fought 4our country/freedom. #StandForOurAnthem #BoycottNFL pic.twitter.com/k1FXHRoozY

— Ⓙay (@jayMAGA45) September 24, 2017

Methinks that Trump does not really know much about Pat Tillman, because from what I learned about the man he would probably have already taken a knee a long time ago.

Once again surrounded by the devastation left by a hurricane Donald Trump attempts to convince people his hands are YUGE!

#Trump today in #Naples ripping through a pair of white gloves says his hands were too big needs bigger gloves pic.twitter.com/RB3twfG7ap

— Strategic Sentinel (@StratSentinel) September 14, 2017

Courtesy of New York Magazine:  

President Trump, who’s been dealing with smart alecks making fun of his gerbil hands since he was a fixture in Spy magazine, made a show of not being able to fit into a pair of rubber gloves on Thursday, the second time he’s done so in as many weeks. 

During his trip to hurricane-ravaged Naples, Florida, Trump, along with the First Lady, vice-president, and others, passed out lunch to people working to clean up the coastal town. According to the White House pool report, Trump positioned himself behind a tray of sandwiches, where he attempted to put on a pair of rubber gloves. He struggled to fit them over his mitts, declaring, “They’re too small.” After the glove on his right hand ripped, Trump decided to recommend hoagies rather than actually pass them out. 

“Here’s a nice one,” he told one diner.

This is the second time while standing amid the destruction left by Mother Nature that Trump attempted to vindicate himself against the now 27 year old charge made by Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter that he is a "short fingered vulgarian."

Apparenlty the "vulgarian" part never bothered him at all.

You may remember the first time this same happened in Texas earlier in the month.

As he puts on plastic gloves to serve food at NRG Stadium...President Trump turns to press and says: "My hands are too big!" pic.twitter.com/WIUTLOS4XD

— Pat Ward (@WardDPatrick) September 2, 2017

Keep in mind that in both of these cases Trump was supposed to be faking compassion and at least pretending to help people whose lives had just been devastated, and yet he cannot help but make everything about him.

A new threat surfaces as hurricane season gets under way. There's nobody in charge.

Courtesy of WTKR: 

Hurricane season began on June 1, and according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the season will be a busy one, with an above-average range of 5-9 hurricanes likely in the Atlantic. 

The United States could be especially vulnerable to hurricane landfalls this year, observers say, but not because of the enhanced activity that is expected. 

The two agencies that protect the country’s coast lines and its residents, NOAA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are still without leaders — positions that must be appointed by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the Senate. 

“That should scare the hell out of everybody,” retired US Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré told CNN. “These positions help save lives.”

For their part FEMA and NOAA say they are ready, however with nobody competent at the helm there is still concern that the lack of leadership will negatively impact reaction time.

Anybody remember Katrina?

Now for his part Trump of course is blaming the Democrats.

.@foxandfriends Dems are taking forever to approve my people, including Ambassadors. They are nothing but OBSTRUCTIONISTS! Want approvals.

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

But in fact Trump has been exceedingly slow in appointing the necessary personnel in the first place.

 As you can see while the confirmation process IS slower than in previous administrations (For good cause if you ask me.) there are still far fewer appointees to even consider.

And why is that? Take a guess:

“In the vetting process there is a lot of scrutiny of social media accounts, Twitter . . . any hint of something negative about Trump as a candidate can be disqualifying, and a lot of people haven’t made it through that filter,” said Christine Wormuth, who served as the Pentagon’s top policy official from 2014 to 2016, under former President Barack Obama’s administration. 

The investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russian officials is also scaring off people who had been on the fence about joining the administration. Even the opportunity to work under Mattis, who many of the potential picks know and respect, may not be enough. 

“With, frankly, the chaos that is happening, people who might have been open to it are asking themselves ‘Do I want to join this administration? How much of an impact will I have? Will I have to get a lawyer?’” Wormuth said.

So what is Trump doing with his time not spent making appointments to his cabinet, besides tweeting of course?

Funny you should ask.

President Trump is now at his Virginia golf club for the 2nd day in a row. It's his 23rd golf course visit since taking office 19 weeks ago.

— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 4, 2017

Yeah, if Trump is looking for somebody to blame for the lack of leadership in key government agencies he need only look in the mirror.

Though I would advise him to only do so while fully dressed.

Because, ick!

Somebody might want to tell Jeb Bush that it is NOT a good idea to nickname someone after the disaster that helped to destroy his brother's reputation as President.

"Did I do it again? I did it again didn't I?"

Courtesy of CNN:

State Sen. Katrina Shealy introduced Bush before his town hall at the iconic Hudson's Smokehouse here, just outside of Columbia. 

When Bush took the stage, he attempted to praise Shealy, the only woman in the state senate for the previous three years. 

"In fact, when I was governor, in 16 months we had eight hurricanes and four tropical storms. One of them was called Katrina," he said as some in the audience laughed.

As I'm sure most of you remember that 2005's Hurricane Katrina killed over 1,000 Americans and did an estimated 108 billion dollars worth of damage.

Not only that but George W's response to the disaster, or better yet lack of response, caused immense damage to his presidency and destroyed whatever confidence the American people had left in his ability to govern the country.

You know you kind of have to admire just how far Jeb! can shove his foot into his own mouth.

You know I don't usually believe in Karma, but.....

The locals are saying that they have never seen anything like this in South Carolina, and many of the residents do not have flood insurance.

Which means they are going to rely almost exclusively on Federal funds to help them recover.

You know, the same Federal funds that their own lawmakers voted against giving to those hit by Hurricane Sandy.

Rand Paul upset that people are prioritizing receiving help after the devastating Hurricane Sandy, over buying bullets to kill more people overseas. Yeah, what's WITH those people?

Courtesy of Slate:  

Over the weekend I tried to ask and answer a few questions about the debate Chris Christie started with libertarians. By attacking that "strain" in the GOP, and by challenging anyone who disagrees with current American foreign policy to come and meet a 9/11 widow. After I wrote it, Sen. Rand Paul punched back with proud disdain for Christie. 

"The people who want to criticize me and call me names, they are precisely the same people who are unwilling to cut the spending. They are "Gimme, gimme, gimme all my Sandy money now." Those are the people who are bankrupting the government and not allowing enough money be left over for national defense."

Seriously this guy, THIS guy is going to "save" the Republican party?

Yeah well he just lost the vote of EVERY citizen who watched Sandy destroy New Jersey and the tornadoes devastate Oklahoma on television.

This is exactly the kind of opponent that the Democrats want the Republicans to send up against Hillary in 2016.

What an asshole!