Trump

[Phoebe]

This right here is why I don't subscribe to the NYT. They have been and continue to be beholden to this administration, and lack all sense of ethics. They were very concerned that one of their reporters was detained in Egypt and apparently had to be rescued by the Irish because the Trump administration would have been content to let any New York Times reporter rot in prison! Look what they let happen to a WaPo reporter! With impunity. Yet here they go carrying his water again, creating even more incentive for people to hide and lie rather than tell the truth because they know there's no such thing as anonymity in this situation. What snakes.

[Phoebe]

If God personally and directly told Lindsey Graham that he was going to burn in hell unless he did what he is doing in public right now, his actions might make some sense, possibly.

[Phoebe]

Oh wow, each four-hour news cycle brings a wave of perplexity and concern, but an unexpected boon: have fallen mildly in love with the Finnish President and his eyebrows. Look at this man, who stood there and deliberately recited that list of museums. He has a natural sardonic smirk and his hair is so agreeably poofed. Pathetic that I have such a predictable "type", but what a good type it is! Only the best. This man is the giant scallop of scrumptious world leaders. Get away from me with your Justin Trudeaus and Macrons. Don't even jest like that!

[Phoebe]

I was thinking the NYT reports in the mindlessly pro-Trump way it does out of malice, but now I wonder if it's mere incompetence. Case in point, did ANY reporter there read the guidelines for whistleblower reports? Even one? Would make a big difference if any reporter knew the actual rules, i.e. relevant facts that explain what is going on in the story they're covering. Let's put aside their incredible ability to be led around by the nose to "stories" that aren't the story, to the exclusion of reporting about the most essential matters. If they are going to be so led, it's their job to know the facts, and TBH I don't think their reporters are doing the necessary reading to know what's up, or they aren't smart enough to grasp those facts. Seriously, it's a problem.

[akiva]

Potential problem for Trump--since it came out the White House has repeatedly said that the record of the call with Ukraine's president was not a verbatim transcript.

Then yesterday Trump said it is.

Which makes it sound like he's preparing to resist calls for the full transcript by saying the released one is the full transcript.

Which could easily be proven to be untrue. In fact, Trump's own staff is basically saying he is lying.

[akiva]

This is jaw-dropping. While Trump is being investigated for possible impeachment for asking a foreign government to dig up dirt on his opponent, he publicly says a second foreign government (China) should be digging up dirt on that opponent.

[akiva]

One of the things that drives me crazy, and boggles my mind, is how many people don't believe things that are provably true. Trump himself has acknowledged that he ask Ukraine to investigate Biden, and the rough transcript of the phone call shows beyond a doubt that he asked Ukraine to investigate. Yet only 40% of Republicans believe that he asked Ukraine to investigate Biden.

How the hell can you have a country when people literally believe things that are factually untrue--and see any attempt to question those beliefs as all-out war.

[Phoebe]

Yeah, the usual explanations of "fake news", tribalism, psychological processes of belief formation and rejection... none of it explains this in a satisfying manner. A man says, "x is true", and then the very same man says, "x is not true", and then he says "x is true" again and no problem is detected. How do Trump voters even know WHICH thing to believe? More than fifty US Senators think a man who wants a moat with alligators is going to lead us through a free and fair election and four more years of democracy, or worse yet, they don't believe it but will vote like it anyway.

[poorpete]

At the very least, when Clinton tried to claim he didn't lie under oath ("all depends on what your definition of is is") everyone knew it was shit. Everyone knew the truth about what happened, he cheated and then he lied under oath, and everyone decided based on that whether he deserved to be removed from office for it.

Alternate facts is where we are now.

People also talk about the gaslighting of the president's group, and I do think it's true, but almost unintentionally, because they fight everything the same way, by arguing:

- we will not comment on this your question is beneath us
- we did not do this how dare you
- we totally did it and it's totally fine we did

They throw out regularly all three lines, and see what stick. And if none of them do, at least everyone's dizzy.

[akiva]

Mike Pence from today: "And I think the American people have a right to know if the vice president of the United States or his family profited from his position."

Apparently that doesn't apply to his boss, who has fought tooth and nail to avoid giving any information about whether he or his family profits from his presidency.

[poorpete]

Amazing all the new daily and sometimes hourly stories of the last two weeks but the moderate GOP is still saying ~"I won't comment on the presidents actions but will say that Pelosi has gone too far."

[Tahlvin]

She hasn't gone far enough or fast enough.

[poorpete]

100 years ago this month, Woodrow Wilson had a stroke, leaving him incapacitated for the rest of his term. No one made the perfectly ok VP Thomas Marshall president. They had a weak and rudderless America for 15 months instead of making a simple, prudent change.

Thomas Marshall, the Mike Pence of the 20th century.

[Phoebe]

I have learned not to have internet discussions, especially about politics, but I was presented with an opportunity to offer some harmless, judgment-free factual information to a group of Trump supporters. I did this and everything was cordial and pleasant, but the Trump supporters are not programmed to receive factual information. This is the core of The Problem, right here. They take themselves to be as expert as anyone else on whatever subject presents itself, so they feel free to substitute their own random and completely stupid "judgments" in the place of very simple, unbiased, nonthreatening Factual Information. It's mind blowing to me, honestly, so mind blowing to watch this transpire.

We all wander through life forced to rely on the expertise of others, and much like any leader or politician trying to make good decisions on behalf of a group, we must sift through expert testimony and evidence and try to figure out which information or sources should be trusted. When experts disagree it can be quite tricky. However, the genius of Fox News and the whole right wing media machine is that it has utterly destroyed the capacity of these people to discern expert knowledge or reliable information from every manner of hoax, bullshit, and outright lie imaginable. I felt this deep chill of fear in my heart when I saw how far down that rabbithole goes, and I want to be a fly on the wall when these people visit the doctor. Do they trust doctors (or anyone? mechanics? accountants? attorneys? you name it) as experts or do they attempt the same trick of substituting their own second grade level grasp of medicine and anatomy in place of whatever the doctor is trying to tell them? I need to know but also don't want to know.

[Phoebe]

Interesting development: promulgation of judgement free basic factual information has caused others who seem more aware of the existence and importance of facts to pipe up. It still makes no dent on the people citing YouTube videos as if all of YouTube is a credible journalistic source, but it is encouraging to see Republicans citing legit facts, and even encouraging to see the others recognizing the process of citation itself as useful, as if we need to have evidence for the things we say. Building blocks. Baby steps. I think the world needs more honest, credible information sources who come out and fly their conservative and Christian credentials on their sleeve, even as they offer a completely different set of facts - you know, the objectively true ones. Maybe that would help get past some of the knee-jerk tribal response, the first questions of which are, does this information own the libs or does it help Planned Parenthood in some way? It's okay, hun, we are all Jesus lovers here, all of us disliking the Clintons... you are in your Safe Space now and can talk about the realities affecting bird, insect, and ocean life.

[poorpete]

Thank you for your struggle

Today:
Endorsing ethnic cleansing
chief of staff admitting quid pro quo
self-dealing a major summit to your own property

Today is more than enough.

[akiva]

[mimekiller]

Not our country not our business, get the troops out.

[mimekiller]

Look at whose upset by this, MITTENS ROMNEY and other frothing at the mouth new cons, not good people and not good company!

[poorpete]

Presidents should golf, or do whatever they need to destress from one of the most stressful jobs.




The golfing is not working.