Month: January 2017

 
From Green Eagle:

I now must try to deal with something which will seem innocuous to many, but is by far the worst abomination yet perpetrated by Trump. I have been thinking about this for several hours, since I first heard about it, and for once in my life I find myself unable to muster words that describe the true evil and danger of this course of action, but it must be addressed, so here I go.

It was revealed today that, immediately after the inauguration, Trump issued a proclamation declaring his own inauguration day to be a “National Day of Patriotic Devotion.”

“Now, therefore, I, Donald J. Trump, president of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Jan. 20, 2017, as National Day of Patriotic Devotion, in order to strengthen our bonds to each other and to our country…

There is no freedom where the people do not believe in it; no law where the people do not follow it; and no peace where the people do not pray for it.”

The declaration does not apply to inaugurations in general, only to his. This is not about the country, it is about Donald Trump himself. It is Trump who is to be the target of patriotic devotion.

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From Jon Perr at PERRspectives:

The truth, it is said, will set you free. Unless, that is, you are a Republican and the issue is the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

Republicans are foaming at the mouth at the nonpartisan agency’s conclusion that the repeal of Obamacare will no replacement in place for the Affordable Care Act will lead to 32 million more uninsured Americans and a doubling of premiums. Speaker Ryan Paul Ryan (R-WI) called the analysis “meaningless,” while Rep. Steve “David Duke Without the Baggage” Scalise (R-LA) fumed “The CBO report assumes no Obamacare replacement.” Today’s conservative apoplexy came less than a week after House Republicans instructed CBO Director Keith Hall–a man they themselves put in the job–not to “score” the budget-busting impact of their Obamacare repeal proposals. And on Friday, former House Speaker and current Trump bath-water drinker Newt Gingrich called for the dismantling of the nonpartisan scorekeeper, because “the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) is simply incompatible with the Trump era.”

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From PZ Myers:

Whoa, that’s right. In this incredibly advanced science fiction civilization, they have “bacta tanks” that can heal massive damage, they have amazing knowledge of the nervous system to the point that they can build neurally controlled prosthetics that are indistinguishable from the biological version, but somehow a Space Princess with access to the resources of an entire planet doesn’t even get an ultrasound to determine that she’s carrying twins. This makes no sense. They clearly must have the technology; they have life form scanners and the ability to clone people, which implies a deep knowledge about reproductive biology.

Which means they must choose to reject the use of common, trivial technology to benefit women’s reproductive health.

What could cause people to reject the use of simple medical procedures to save lives? One thing that I can think of: religion.

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From Jonathan Bernstein:

one might argue that the new president’s reported obsession with the numbers and White House Press Secretary Scott Spicer’s false statements about them are, mendacity aside, just a bunch of silliness.

But that’s not quite all there is to the story.

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From John Pavlovitz:

I also know how you spent your first day in office. You spent it angrily Tweeting and hastily arranging press conferences. You spent it shutting down websites and pasting up photo boards. You spent it dispatching your apologists and cronies to try and discredit us. You spent it verbally assaulting the very people you are charged with caring for. You spent it spitting venom at millions of Americans who were being America, and by doing so— you proved us right.

You did this because you’re simply not a true leader, Mr. President.

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From The Big Empty:

That’s a toxic brew that even a sociopath like Richard Nixon seldom dared to drink. There is also zero consistency in how Trumpy interacts with his syncophants. He will change his stance without warning and publically announce that change literally without telling even his closest confidants.

This kind of management by chaos will (and probably already is) quickly get old with “subordinates” like Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell.

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From John Scalzi at Whatever:

Trump won the presidency. He’s an incompetent. There’s nothing to be done about that now, so we have to get on with keeping the damage to a bare minimum. I don’t feel good about that, but I don’t feel bad about making the decision that for the next few years, some portion of my life will be spent loudly opposing bad governance and pissant authoritarianism. In fact, I feel just fine about that. I would be ashamed to do otherwise.

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From Tommy Christopher:

Buried beneath Conway’s audacious lies, though, was a truly frightening moment from earlier in the interview that has gone largely unnoticed. In a continuation of the Trump administration’s campaign to intimidate and control the press, Conway actually threatened Todd’s access, live and in front of millions:

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From Dorian de Wind, Military Affairs Columnist at The Moderate Voice:

Of course, this president would never apologize, but he did travel to CIA headquarters in Langley Virginia to talk to the members of the CIA.

He did stand in front of the hallowed “CIA Memorial Wall,” a white Vermont marble Wall carved with 117 stars, each one representing a member who made the ultimate sacrifice in the service of his or her country.

Speaking in front of that Wall, he did commend the officers for their dedicated and dangerous work and he did promise to give the intelligence community his full support — “one thousand percent.”

But the president, standing in front of that Hallowed Wall honoring intelligence officers killed while serving the US, also:

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From Joe Hagstrom at MadMikesAmerica:

The only thing I think I’ve ever disagreed with my good friend, Vice President Pence on was his statement that he’s a Christian first. Then an American, Then a republican, The fact is, and all we good republicans know this, is that the three are one in the same. Equally important. Akin to the Holy Trinity. And this is why we republicans love President Trump. He lives by Biblical principles of faith, family and militaristic patriotism.

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