Trump's White House Is a Mess 💙 🔥 💙
Evidently HR McMaster (Trump's National Security Adviser) is in the doghouse these days.
The general who said that Do nald Trump had the intelligence of a kindergartner, and also called him an idiot and a dope, may be on his way out. A few days ago H.R. McMaster incurred Donald Trump’s wrath once again because he had the audacity to put truth before Trump and tell an international audience at the Munich Security Conference that evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election is beyond dispute.
I think the general is being rather hard on five-year-olds.
Kushner and Kelly are at odds over Kushner’s security clearance
White House chief of staff John Kelly has been locked in an internal struggle with President Donald Trump's son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner over his access to highly classified information for weeks now, a confrontation that has escalated amid a recent policy overhaul and the resignation of a staff secretary who was accused of spousal abuse.
The dispute has deepened a growing rift between Kelly and Kushner, who initially welcomed the new system of rigor instituted by the chief of staff but has since grown frustrated by what he views as attempts to limit his access to the President.
Now, Kelly came out with a statement about how valuable Kushner is, yada, yada, yada, but I believe Kelly wants Kushner out, and may just play nice a little while in order to stick it to him later.
What awful people. All of them.
People with Guns Kill People … and finally we seem to be getting some acknowledgement here 💙 💛 💙
The Parkland shooting was terrible but inevitable. I feel as if some of us have been shouting for years that the Emperor has no clothes, but now the kids are finally getting the word out. And these kids sure don’t seem like kids, but brilliant, articulate young men and women who are challenging Rick Scott and Marco Rubio and all the other tools of the NRA who want to think and pray rather than do anything (if all you’re going to do is think and pray, then get out of government and join a monastery). Here are a few of their accomplishments:
They've pressured President Trump to order a Justice Department crackdown on bump stocks and propose tougher background checks on gun buyers. They've persuaded Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to buck the party line and call for congressional hearings.
They've persuaded the GOP-controlled state Legislature to consider gun-control measures once deemed off-limits in Tallahassee and sparked marches, protests and school walkouts around the country.
Several factors helped make this possible. They’re old enough to speak for themselves, unlike the Sandy Hook victims, and they’re all from the same community, unlike the Las Vegas concert victims. They are also just amazing young men and women.
Moreover, some of the NRA’s corporate sponsors are getting named and shamed and are withdrawing their support.
But of course the Russian bots are on the attack:
An expansive network of Russian social media bots has zeroed in on David Hogg, a Florida school shooting survivor who's been the target of far-right conspiracy theorists in recent days.
Researchers at Hamilton 68, a joint venture between the Alliance for Securing Democracy and the German Marshall Fund that has closely tracked the automated Russian Twitter accounts, found Tuesday that "Hogg" was the top trending topic within the network it follows. The researchers found a more than 8,000% increase in tweets on containing the student's last name. The words "David" and "survivor" were also among the top trending words.
(I think we’ll see more and more connections between Russia and the NRA, which is going to make it harder to cry out PATRIOTS when they really mean COMRADES).
In the meantime, we have some amazing allies in the late night crowd. Jimmy Kimmel:
“These are kids who should be applauded, even if you don’t agree with them,” he said. “Unfortunately, there are some who not only aren’t supporting these children who just lived through a nightmare they’ll never forget, there are some who are attacking them, who call them fake news, who say they’re crisis actors who orchestrate tragic events in order to advance some kind of liberal agenda.”
It’s not over until it’s over. It may never be over. On the other hand, gun manufacturers have discovered that their gun sales actually go down when Republicans rule.
Sturm Ruger (RGR), one of the major gun manufacturers, said that net sales fell 27% in the fourth quarter of 2017, and profits were nearly cut in half… The gun industry as a whole has experienced a steep decline in sales and profits in the U.S. since the election of President Trump, a Republican endorsed by the National Rifle Association. The industry enjoyed strong sales during President Obama's tenure, particularly during the presidential campaign between Trump and his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton. Gun enthusiasts were afraid that another Democratic president would impose gun control laws, so they continued to buy guns.
Russia, Russia, Russia 💙 💛 💙
New charges filed
New charges were filed Thursday against former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and his business partner, ratcheting up the legal pressure on them as they prepare for a trial later this year.
A new indictment has long been expected in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s prosecution of Manafort and his right-hand man, Rick Gates, on fraud and money laundering charges. Manafort served as President Trump’s campaign chairman from June to August 2016. Gates also served as a top official on Trump’s campaign. The new indictment contains 32 counts, including tax charges.
Go, Bobby, go! You have to save the country! And follow that money!
In the meantime the country has decided: Not a hoax! From Quinnipiac
American voters think, 76 - 18 percent, including 55 - 35 percent among Republicans,that the Russian government did try to influence the 2016 presidential election, the highest number so far for this question.
As we can now include the feces-flinging orangutan in that group, I guess it’s not surprising that it’s so high. And the fact that so many Americans now understand that this happened makes it more difficult for Nunes and Ryan to sweep it under the rug, although they are trying. They may even be going for more Russian meddling:
We have weird evidence that the current administration is taking its direction from Russia. Maddow had a segment from Wednesday (2/21) describing how the guy in charge of Russia’s GRU (the group that attacked us during the 2016 election!) came to the US recently. As this guy is not generally permitted, according to Obama sanctions, there are open questions about how he got in and what he was doing here. Maddow’s team contacted our State Department to ask about it — and instead of getting an answer they were referred to Russia! I sure hope this story gets more exposure. Perhaps planning more meddling? We all have to be ready to fight.
And some people are willing to say it like it is — Trump is acting guilty because he is guilty:
To speak the obvious has become nearly forbidden. But here goes: Donald Trump has gone to extraordinary lengths over the course of his time in office to try to stymie or discredit rigorous investigation of the Russia matter. The most likely explanation for why he has done it is that he is guilty of serious Russia-related wrongdoing.
Manafort, who helped Russia’s campaign in the Ukraine, did the same for Russia's campaign in the US (with a similar “Lock her up” theme where they actually did lock up the main competitor after winning). Anyway, I hope more people start saying this. The article also points out that Trump should not be dismissed as stupid. He is certainly not an intellectual, but he is cunning and completely amoral.
Trump and the Republicans Suck — and People Know It — Go Democrats! 💙 💛 💙
From the Maddow Blog (2/22/2018):
Though Donald Trump's approval rating has inched higher in some recent polling, Quinnipiac shows the president's support dropping to 37%. It was 40% in the same poll in early February. Gallup's latest report also found Trump slipping from 40% to 37%.
Another morsel from that blog — another Republican in trouble:
Rep. Rod Blum (R-Iowa), a top target for Democrats in this year's midterms, has reportedly violated House ethics rules "by failing to disclose his role in a company that he formed."
Missouri Governor (R!) indicted for felony invasion of privacy
A St. Louis Grand Jury has indicted Missouri Governor Eric Greitens for Felony Invasion of Privacy. The charge stems from his extramarital affair with a Missouri woman who later told her ex-husband that Greitens tied her up and photographed her, without her permission, and threatened to release the photo if she ever came forward about their relationship.
You know, sometimes you just can’t make this shit up!
Texas early voting fueled by a “Democratic surge”
Of the 51,249 Texans who cast ballots Tuesday on the first day of early voting, more than half voted in the Democratic primary.
The total number of voters from the 15 counties with the most people registered is high for a midterm year. In 2016, a presidential election year, 55,931 Texans voted on the first day of early voting for the primary. But in the last midterm election in 2014, only 38,441 Texans voted on the first day.
Even more surprising is the turnout among Democrats. Since the last midterm election, the party saw a 51 percent increase in first-day early voting turnout, while Republicans saw a 16 percent increase.
Voters who take the time for the primary will certainly make the time for the general!
Overall, Polling Looks Great
Five of the last six major polls of the 2018 congressional race have put Democrats up by at least eight points — with Marist and Quinnipiac University showing Team Blue’s advantage at 11 and 15 percent, respectively.
The Quinnipiac finding is especially encouraging. The (historically quite accurate) pollster has been kind to Democrats throughout this whole cycle. But its last survey, taken the first week in February, showed the Democratic advantage falling to 9 percent — the party’s worst showing in a Q-poll for several months. Thus, the university’s latest findings suggest public opinion about the 2018 race may be reverting back to its long-term mean. And a newly released Economist/YouGov survey — which shows the Democrats gaining four points since the second week of this month, to recover the 8 percent lead they boasted in late December — echoes that signal. As of this writing, poll averages from RealClearPolitics and FiveThirtyEight both have Democrats up by more than 8 percent, which would almost certainly be a big enough wave to knock the Speaker’s gavel out of Paul Ryan’s hand.
💙 💛 💙
Now for some reflections. I am a long-time Hillary supporter, recalling how she fought for women’s rights, children’s health care and just about everyone. In 2016 I was shocked by the virulent attacks on her, here and elsewhere. I remember a long drive where, passing through northern Arizona, I saw an enormous sign recommending putting her in prison.
Now I am less shocked, because now I know that much of this was stoked by Russia. It’s horrible to realize how many people fell for it, who bought the “corporate whore” label, and who decided either not to vote or who wrote in Sanders’ name in the general. But … how do we get people to realize they were duped? Because that’s such an uncomfortable position for people. (I once fell for a scam, and was so embarrassed that all I’m going to do is say that I fell for it when I should not have.)
Or maybe I’m worrying unnecessarily. Both Facebook and Twitter are taking steps against the Russian bot problem. The Democrats are strong. But NO ONE HERE SHOULD TAKE ANYTHING FOR GRANTED! KEEP ON WORKING, MY FRIENDS! SHARE YOUR TACTICS/STRATEGIES BELOW!
PS How about instead of “a better deal” we go for the slogan “a real deal” — which both rhymes and reminds everyone that the Rs are lying.
PPS I was planning to discuss postcards to voters today. But the postcards I ordered have not yet arrived. So the postcards discussion is postponed.