18 days since the National Day of Patriotic Devotion
14 days since Trump announced he would ask for “a major investigation into VOTER FRAUD.”
“While President Trump is promising to launch an investigation into his belief that millions of illegal ballots were cast in 2016, the Republican-led House Administration Committee voted Tuesday to shut down the federal agency set up to help states improve their election systems.” USA Today, 7 February 2017
InfoWars has been claiming for months that the mainstream press covers up news of terrorist attacks. Where have I heard that before?
“Under questioning from Democratic Rhode Island Rep. Jim Langevin as to whether any new information prompted the ban, Kelly said the measure was based on concern about countries that couldn’t provide adequate vetting information on potential immigrants and noted that “thousands” of Syrian fighters could possibly make it into the US. He later qualified that they would not be able to “easily” enter the US.” CNN, 7 February 2017
“[N]either Donald Trump nor Steve Bannon personally detained any of the more than 100 people held at airports over the weekend pursuant to the administration’s executive order on immigration, visitation and travel to the United States. They relied on assistance. The men and women who reportedly handcuffed small children and the elderly, separated a child from his mother and held others without food for 20 hours, are undoubtedly “ordinary” people. What I mean by that, is that these are, in normal circumstances, people who likely treat their neighbors and co-workers with kindness and do not intentionally seek to harm others. That is chilling, as it is a reminder that authoritarians have no trouble finding the people they need to carry out their acts of cruelty.” The Baltimore Sun, 6 February 2017
“As the media picks apart the White House’s absurd suggestion that attacks in Paris, San Bernardino, Orlando, and elsewhere were somehow ignored, the bigger story may be this: Trump has been almost entirely silent about terror plotted and carried out by white supremacists and other far-right extremists.” Mother Jones, 7 February 2017
“The U.S. Constitution does not define these presidential instruments and does not explicitly vest the President with the authority to issue them. Nonetheless, such orders are accepted as an inherent aspect of presidential power.” Congressional Research Service
“President Trump met Tuesday morning with a group of sheriffs from the National Sheriffs Association … [a]nd to this sworn group of law enforcement veterans, with reporters taking notes, he again repeated a falsehood about the murder rate in America. According to Carol Lee of the Wall Street Journal who filed a pool report: “At one point POTUS said the country’s murder rate is highest it’s been in 45-47 years. He singled out Chicago. He said Chicago is worse than some places in Middle East where there are wars going on.” The country’s murder rate is not the highest it’s been in 40 years. It is almost at its lowest point, actually, according to the FBI.” The Washington Post, 7 February 2017
“Sheriff Harold Eavenson of Rockwall County was among a group of law enforcement officials from across the country who met with Trump, Vice President Pence and several senior staff members at the White House. During a portion of the meeting that a press pool was permitted to observe, Eavenson complained that a senator from his state was offering asset forfeiture legislation that Eavenson thinks would aid Mexican drug cartels. “Who is the state senator? Want to give his name? We’ll destroy his career,” Trump said, prompting laughs from the room.” The Washington Post, 7 February 2017
“The U.S. Army said it will grant Energy Transfer Partners LP the easement it needs to finish the line that will ship almost half a million barrels of crude a day from North Dakota’s shale fields to refineries across the Midwest and on to the Gulf Coast. The approval of the easement the company needs to complete work follows Trump’s memorandum that advised expediting review of the project [known as the Dakota Access Pipeline, or DAPL].” Bloomberg, 7 February 2017
“Sebastian Gorka, deputy assistant to President Donald Trump, said Monday that the administration will continue using the term “fake news” until the media understands that their “monumental desire” to attack the President is wrong. “There is a monumental desire on behalf of the majority of the media, not just the pollsters, the majority of the media to attack a duly elected President in the second week of his term,” Gorka, a former Breitbart editor who also holds a PhD in political science, told syndicated conservative radio host Michael Medved. “That’s how unhealthy the situation is and until the media understands how wrong that attitude is, and how it hurts their credibility, we are going to continue to say, ‘fake news.’ I’m sorry, Michael. That’s the reality,” he added.” CNN, 7 February 2017
“First lady Melania Trump has said little about what she intends to do with her prominent position. But in new court documents, her lawyers say that the “multi-year term” during which she “is one of the most photographed women in the world” could mean millions of dollars for her personal brand. Mrs. Trump “had the unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, as an extremely famous and well-known person, as well as a former professional model, brand spokesperson and successful businesswoman, to launch a broad-based commercial brand in multiple product categories, each of which could have garnered multi-million dollar business relationships for a multi-year term during which plaintiff is one of the most photographed women in the world,” the lawsuit said. Richard Painter, who advised former President George W. Bush on ethics, said the language in the lawsuit shows Melania Trump is engaging “in an unprecedented, clear breach of rules about using her government position for private gain.” The Chicago Tribune, 7 February 2017
“Vice President Pence cast the deciding vote to confirm Betsy DeVos as education secretary Tuesday after opponents failed amid a groundswell of opposition to produce the additional “no” vote required to sink her nomination. DeVos was confirmed by a vote of 51-50 just at 12:30 p.m., with Pence breaking a 50-50 tie — the first time a vice president has cast a Senate vote since Richard B. Cheney helped break a tie on a procedural matter in 2008.” The Washington Post, 7 February 2017
“Angry at the civilian casualties incurred last month in the first commando raid authorized by President Trump, Yemen has withdrawn permission for the United States to run Special Operations ground missions against suspected terrorist groups in the country … Grisly photographs of children apparently killed in the crossfire of a 50-minute firefight during the raid caused outrage in Yemen. … While the White House continues to insist that the attack was a “success” – a characterization it repeated on Tuesday – the suspension of commando operations is a setback for Mr. Trump.” The New York Times, 7 February 2017
“Senate Republicans passed a party-line rebuke Tuesday night of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) for a speech opposing attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions, striking down her words for impugning the Alabama senator’s character. In an extraordinarily rare move, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) interrupted Warren’s speech … and said that she had breached Senate rules by reading past statements against Sessions from figures such as the late senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) and the late Coretta Scott King. The Washington Post, 7 February 2017
McConnell, later giving his reasons for shushing Warren: “Sen. Warren was giving a lengthy speech. She had appeared to violate the rule. She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.”
Social media seized on McConnell’s words immediately and turned them into a meme. “He’s literally describing every female hero in history.”
“Wisconsin congressman and former Real World: Boston cast member Sean Duffy appeared on CNN Tuesday to defend the Trump administration’s fixation on the public safety threat presented by natives of seven specific majority-Muslim countries in the Middle East and Africa. (No immigrant from those countries has ever carried out a terror attack in the United States.) CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota asked Duffy why the White House wasn’t expressing similar concerns about the threat presented by white extremists in light of last week’s murder of six Muslims by a white supremacist Trump supporter in Québec City. That’s when Duffy started doing something that is colloquially known down by the docks as “talking out of his ass.”Slate, 7 February 2017
Let the tweeting begin:
“I don’t know Putin, have no deals in Russia, and the haters are going crazy – yet Obama can make a deal with Iran, #1 in terror, no problem!” Donald Trump, via Twitter, 4:11 am, 7 February 2017
Trump respects Putin, doesn’t care if he’s a killer or not, thinks American government is full of killers & is okay with that – problem!
“It is a disgrace that my full Cabinet is still not in place, the longest such delay in the history of our country. Obstruction by Democrats!”> Donald Trump, via Twitter, 5:04 pm, 7 February 2017
“This, of course, is demonstrably false. Clinton didn’t have Cabinet in place until March 11. George HW was March 17. Obama not till April 28” Anthony Zurcher, BBC senior North America reporter, via Twitter, 5:43 pm, 7 February 2017
Finally, this: Postcards to Bannon becomes a trending hashtag on social media, the idea being that you address a post card to “President Bannon, 1500 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington DC 20050” as a way of needling Trump. Senders post photos of the postcards on Twitter and other social media before sending. Seems like poking the bear to me, but some of them are kind of funny.
This Is Drivel 