Good King Trump

[SR71]

Xi Jinping is in town and gets a front row seat of T-Rump flying off the handle, even as China is taking punitive measures against Korea for our deployment of THAAD anti-missile missiles to Korea in response to the numerous N. Korean missile launches. The Chinese are ostensibly upset because the range of our THAAD's extends into mainland China. So, we can now expect China to ratchet up the pain on our Korean allies. Good goin' T-Rump.

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Now that Obama’s poll numbers are in tailspin – watch for him to launch a strike in Libya or Iran. He is desperate.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 9, 2012

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[erimir]

With Trump, every accusation is a confession.

You can probably predict a lot of things he will do by looking through his attacks on Clinton and Obama - the nefarious motives he imputes to them are because that's what he would be motivated by.

[The Man]

Good breakdown of the implications of last night's bombing via LGM commenter Warren Terra:

LGM commenter Malaclypse was pointing out the Pavlovian potential here on Twitter – this is one of only two times Trump has been widely praised by the mainstream media, and the other was when he gave an hour-long deadly dull meaningless speech, so we should expect more showy military actions from him. This is certainly a real risk, but “Pavlovian” applies to the pundits, too, who see any “decisive” action and their hearts go aflutter.

But let’s look at the incredible, execrable thing Trump did yesterday, which had a bunch of rather amazing features; in no particular order, and my apologies for the length:

1) It certainly seemed to be against US Law. The idea that the 2001 AUMF extends to bombing the Syrian government’s air base in 2017 would be risible anytime, but Congress was asked to bless such actions in 2013 and refused – though apparently there never was a final vote.

2) Moreover, Trump is on record saying an attack on Syria is both a bad idea and one requiring Congressional approval, under circumstances in 2013 that aren’t significantly different from those applying now (if anything, there was a better argument for attacking in 2013, when the Syrian government was weaker)

3) It’s against international law, too, but that almost never stops us.

4) The list of people who weren’t considered and informed is simply amazing. Apparently the NSC wasn’t involved or informed. We didn’t consult with or even inform our closest allies, some of whom are involved in military operations alongside us in the region. We didn’t seek the blessing of the UN. Hell, Trump was sitting down to dinner with China’s President and its chief diplomat, and we don’t even know whether they were told in advance.

5) And, obviously, not a word was said to a single deputy or undersecretary of State or Defense, because none of them exist. It’s April.

6) Trump didn’t even plan ahead to inform the American people – there was no prepared statement, and no technical facilities for live broadcast when he later spoke to some reporters. There’s still no clear idea what our policy now it, and whether Trump thinks we’re at war with Syria.

7) Equally amazing, there’s who he did inform: Putin, and therefore Assad. Some of this is because of the precipitate nature of the attack: he wanted to avoid killing Russians, and didn’t leave time for a warning that after the chemical weapons attack any Syrian Air Force facilities would be considered open targets, and Russians should leave them. But it means that Assad knew, and our allies didn’t.

8) Because Assad knew, we spent $100M blowing up an empty air base. There have been endless Milo Minderbender jokes that it would have been cheaper to pay them to do it themselves.

9) And of course the Press isn’t paying enough attention to the significance of that. Trump spent $100M on completely empty military theater – notably, he wants to cancel the NEA’s $150M annual budget, which pays for other forms of theater. He did this without consulting our allies, and in collusion with Assad (who salvaged his equipment beforehand, and notably didn’t move an orphanage onto the crosshairs). If there’s a strategy involved it hasn’t been declared and no-one’s inferred one; the media are just cheering the explosions, undeterred that this appears to have been a wildly expensive PR operation cooked up between Trump and Putin, with no further plan – and that’s the best possibility, as if it was simply Trump flailing and making things go boom to wild applause the result might be American troops entering the Syrian quagmire.

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Of Course there's Evidence Trump Colluded with Russian Intelligence - Lawfare

[Watser?]

Here's what a pro-Syrian regime paper has on that Syria strike:

What we know so far:

U.S. missiles struck Shayrat’s airfields, aircraft hangar, and fuel tankers
Destroyed fuel tankers caused several explosions and a large fire that has not been put out yet
At least 15 fighter jets have been damaged or destroyed
Six military personnel have been killed, some non-Syrian
Russians were present at the airbase when it was attacked

Latest update from Syrian airbase attacked by US Navy

Some suggests at least 2. Non-Syrian is probably not Russian the way they worded it, but could be. Or Iranian or Lebanese. So pissing off not just the Syrian regime but also Hezbollah, Iran and Russia. Hezbollah might even decide to retaliate.

[Watser?]

Trump said he would defeat ISIS in, what was it, 20 days? This weakens the army fighting ISIS...

[The Man]

Those beautiful, suffering #Syrian children Trump spoke about? THEY are the refugees the White House is shutting the door on. #Syria

— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) April 5, 2017

Trump Confident U.S. Military Strike on Syria Wiped Out Russian Scandal - The Onion - America's Finest News Source

On a serious note, I'm really pissed about the extravagant waste of taxpayer dollars here. Cheeto Caligula's budget proposes cutting funds for the NEA and schools. This causes demonstrable harm to the economy: in effect, we are cutting actual theatre in favour of military theatre. I participated in a high school theatre program with one of the producers of this year's Academy Award winner for Best Picture. The film has earned almost $60 million, nearly forty times its budget, at the box office and literally would not exist without my classmate, who encouraged its director to make a second film. Cutting funding for the arts hurts the economy. Meanwhile, we just spent $100 million on a fireworks display.

[erimir]

I'm not sure how much the entertainment industry helps the economy overall.

I mean, internationally successful arts exports help the US. But the money spent domestically could've gone to other forms of entertainment without any real implication on the economy, or to "practical" things. Not that leisure is pointless even from an economic standpoint (workers are more productive if they're not miserable, so it probably has indirect benefits), but I would say the arts are valuable more for other reasons.

I think of them as more of an ends of economic activity than a means. That is, the government should support arts not because it has a massive return economically*, but because it makes life better for citizens.

I also wonder whether using a job-creation frame to support the arts is useful. It's perhaps not useful to the left to frame everything in that way.

*Although I suppose you can argue that given the US's cultural dominance internationally (in film and music), it does pay dividends to the country. Just as Sweden's excellent music education pays dividends in that they are the world's 3rd largest exporter of music despite their small size (most per capita) - although I couldn't find how much they spend on music, so I don't know how good of an investment it is in pure economic terms. But I think it also provides benefits to the populace beyond just making money.

[The Man]

It does provide benefits beyond its economic value, true. But having the United States as a centre for entertainment clearly benefits us economically, too. If productions aren't filmed here, they'll be filmed somewhere else, and that's money that's not going to our local economies where film casts and crews stay, eat, and generally spend money. That's money that won't result in tourism to the areas the productions are filmed in (in some cases). That's money that's not going back to our government as tax revenue. And if erratic government policies threaten the stability of local affairs, there's less incentive to film here. If film companies think they won't be able to get visas for cast members or that they won't be able to fly, they'll just film somewhere else. And that's a clear, explicit economic harm to the country. (And naturally, as I addressed in my previous post, if we cut funding to school arts programs, that means we have fewer artistically skilled people to compete in the world market of entertainers.)

I mean, I agree that the value of art isn't merely economic, but a lot of right-wingers hate art because it's mostly done by those filthy Hollywood libruls, so that's an argument that won't be persuasive to them. Arguing in terms of direct economic benefits might actually persuade some of them, though. (And most of them don't recognise indirect economic effects; they don't even realise that if people don't have money, they can't spend money, which is literally Economics 101.)

Vox has a good piece on the direct economic impacts of the NEA. It is extremely beneficial overall, and most of the funding doesn't go to rich people.

[erimir]

What I mean is, I'm not sure there's a strong argument for art on a purely economic basis, not without taking into account indirect benefits that are harder to measure. And the soft power of American cultural output is nothing to sneeze at either. American art makes people in other countries like America more, which provides other benefits. But these benefits are harder to put in a spreadsheet and say "Look how much return on investment we get from the NEA."

There are nationalistic elements as well for some people. People seem to remark on the number of British and Australian actors that get into American productions. Well, if you want American actors you've got to train American actors

I'm sure they'll still be on board with tax credit handouts to the film industry to film things in particular places. Cannibalizing tax revenue from other states is not something they have a problem with. Hollywood, as that article says, is not the primary beneficiary of the NEA. The major industries don't get as much benefit out of the NEA, but you would probably want to base a primarily economic argument on major film studios and record companies and such.

But yeah, I think we're in agreement that there are plenty of benefits to the NEA and arts education, some of which are economic.

[Stephen Maturin]

The Colorado GOP congressional delegation is certainly covering itself with glory over this Syria thing.

In 2013, Assad murdered a thousand or so civilians with chemical weapons. In response:

Sen. Cory Gardner said:

Engaging our military in Syria when no direct threat to the United States exists and without prior congressional authorization would violate the separation of powers that is clearly delineated in the Constitution.

and

I am not yet convinced of a compelling & vital national interest.

Rep. Mike Coffman said:

"Pres. Obama must obey Constitution and come to Congress before any military action in Syria" and"Your Colorado delegation agrees, no to war in Syria and yes to transparency from the President."

Rep. Doug Lamborn said:

"Nothing I heard from President Obama tonight convinced me that a military strike against Syria is in America’s best interest."

After Assad murdered some 70 civilians with chemical weapons and the Dumpster ordered missile strikes without Congressional approval ...

Gardner:

Tonight, the United States of America took action against a treacherous regime whose actions and allies have shown the world the dark edge of humanity. The use of chemical weapons is illegal under international law and the Administration is well justified taking this long-overdue action tonight against a designated state sponsor of terrorism.

Coffman:

Tonight’s actions in Syria come after Assad’s horrific actions against his own people. America must show leadership and I’m thankful for what appears to be an effective response by our military.

Lamborn:

Syrian President Assad continues to act far beyond the norms of civilized leaders. Unlike the previous administration which walked away from similar outrages, President Trump is willing to send a clear signal of U.S. opposition to crimes against humanity.

But hey, none of that matters, does it? The media is deliriously excited with Trump's actions and ankle-deep in its own jizz. Fuck this country.

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Sean Penn Confirms Steve Bannon Was A 'Bitter Hollywood Wannabe' | The Huffington Post

Bannon was then, as he is now, simply another bitter Hollywood wannabe who went rogue by way of toxic narcissistic iconoclasm. But, deep in his heart, he’s just a conniving hateful bloated punk who despises mankind. And then there are also the bad things about him…

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Donald J. Trump on Twitter: "Tens of millions of dollars in airstrikes had no impact because key leaders fled after hearing ON NEWS REPORTS the strikes were coming. DUMB"

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Jared Kushner hid dozens of meetings with Russians from his application for top-secret security clearance - Salon.com

Kushner’s lawyer, Jamie Gorelick, is calling the omissions an error. Gorelick said that Kushner simply submitted the forms prematurely and immediately requested the opportunity to provide additional information.

Maaaaaaaaaybe.

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

IMG_0647.JPG

EPA was many things. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Week 21: Experts in authoritarianism advise to keep a list of things subtly changing around you, so you’ll remember.

April 8, 2017
Over the past three weeks, Trump’s approval plummeted as he struggled to take back the narrative amidst legislative failures and a ubiquitous Russia. He floated several attempts to deflect, and replace Russia as the lead story: the Obama wiretapp, the Nunes brouhaha, the Susan Rice unmasking — but none seemed to work. This week he figured out a way to take back the narrative — one commonly used by autocrats — he started a war.

1. Five weeks have passed since Trump’s tweet accusing Obama of wiretapping Trump Tower. He has yet to offer any evidence or apologize.
2. Seeking to deflect from his growing unpopularity and Russia stories, Trump segued his Obama story to “a crooked scheme” involving Susan Rice spying on the Trump regime.
3. Citing no evidence, Trump said Susan Rice had committed a crime. Experts debunked his claim, saying unmasking is routine for an NSA.
4. The LA Times Editorial Board launched a scathing six-part series on the Trump presidency: “Our Dishonest President.”
5. Since taking office, Trump has made 367 false or misleading claims according to the WAPO.
6. Rejecting Trump’s defense, a Kentucky federal judge said a lawsuit against Trump for inciting violence at a campaign event could proceed.
7. Trump’s popularity plunged to 34% in an April IBD/TIPP poll, including a significant loss of support among rural voters (56% to 41%) and white men (58% to 49%).
8. A Quinnipiac poll found a similar drop in approval by Trump key demographic white men: 58% to 47%.
9. The US jobs report for March was dismal, weakest in almost a year. Unlike February when Trump took credit for a strong report despite his short time office, this time there was no comment.
10. ProPublica reported that despite his pledge to remove himself from his business interests, Trump can pull money from any of his businesses, at any time, without disclosing it.
11. At a WH press briefing, Spicer defamed ProPublica, calling it a “left-wing blog.” ProPublica issued a strong response and statement of facts, including the Trump trust documents which were revised on February 10.
12. While under consideration for a major national security role, Stephen Feinberg said he wants to keep his stake in Cerberus, which is the 17th biggest US Army contractor in 2015.
13. Breaking from Trump’s pledge to “drain the swamp,” POLITICO reported that Trump ex-staffers are cashing in through foreign lobbying work.
14. Trump has left the WH Office of Science and Technology vacant, filling just one position with the former chief of staff for Peter Thiel. As discussed in past lists, Trump is installing “spies” into agencies, while leaving key roles without appointed candidates.
15. Researchers said the Trump regime has been deleting scientific data collected by government agencies. One scientist said, “It’s a bloodbath.”
16. In violation of the Hatch Act, Dan Scavino Jr., social media director and WH advisor, tweeted at a member of the Freedom Caucus that he was a “big liability” and should be primaried. He later changed his Twitter bio to “Personal @Twitter Handle.”
17. Without public announcement, Trump issued an EO changing the order of succession within the DOJ.
18. Twitter filed a lawsuit after the Department of Homeland Security requested they reveal the identity of an anonymous account which has been critical of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office
19. On Friday, DHS dropped its request, and Twitter withdrew its lawsuit.
20. The Twitter account for the US agency which controls the US nuclear force, US Strategic Command, tweeted an article by Breitbart.
21. Expanding his already huge portfolio of responsibilities, Kushner traveled to Iraq with General Dunford. The trip became the stuff of parody in a piece titled, “Jared Goes To Iraq! A Picture Story.”
22. WAPO reported Kushner Iraq trip violated protocol in that it was confirmed before they landed.
23. Kushner’s increasing foreign relations portfolio led to questions of whether he has become the “defacto secretary of state.”
24. The city council in Cambridge, MA passed a resolution calling for Congress to begin an impeachment investigation into Trump.
25. Trump invited Egyptian President el-Sisi to the WH, and did not mention human rights abuses. Families of Americans being held prisoner in Egypt also said Trump had ignored their pleas for help, after Trump on the campaign trail, excoriated Obama for not prioritizing prisoners in Iran.
26. On #EqualPayDay it was noted that Trump had quietly signed an EO taking away Obama-era protection for women workers.
27. Trump cut all funding to UNFPA, a United Nations agency that works on maternal and reproductive health.
28. Trump defended serial sexual harasser Bill O’Reilly during Sexual Assault Awareness Month, calling him “a good person” and saying, “I don’t think Bill did anything wrong.”
29. In the first three months of 2017, hate crimes in NYC doubled over last year. Most crimes were anti-Semitic, with an uptick in anti-black incidents as well.
30. The NY State Supreme Court ruled that NYC can destroy immigrants municipal ID information, as part of the City’s effort to protect undocumented immigrants from being deported by the Trump regime.
31. An Indiana restaurant owner was deported overnight by ICE to Mexico, despite pending legal actions. According to NPR, none of his lawyers were notified.
32. FT reported that the FBI plans to create a special unit to coordinate its investigation of Russian interference with the election.
33. Before resigning as NSA, Flynn did not reveal income he received from Russian-related entities during 2015 for speaking fees.
34. Yahoo reported that Trump abruptly pulled out of meeting scheduled for February with Alexander Torshin, the deputy governor of the Bank of Russia and a close ally of Putin, over disclosed ties to organized crime.
35. ICE whisked away Evgeny Buryakov, the Russian spy mentioned in Week 20. At trial, Buryakov’s attorney fees were paid by his employer VEB, a Russian Bank whose head secretly met with Kushner in December.
36. BuzzFeed reported that former Trump advisor Page met with an undercover Russian spy in 2013, and passed along information.
37. WAPO reported Erik Prince, Trump insider and brother of Betsy DeVos, attended a secret meeting arranged by the UAE with a Russian close to Putin in Seychelles on January 11, opening a back-channel to Russia.
38. A UAE crown prince also had a meeting with Flynn, Kushner and Bannon in December. In an unusual breach of protocol, the UAE did not notify the Obama administration in advance.
39. CNN reported the FBI is investigating links between Alfa Bank and Trump Organization servers, indicating an intention to communicate. During the campaign, 80% of Trump Org server lookups were done by Alfa Bank and 19% by Spectrum Health, which is led by Betsy Devos’s husband.
40. NYT reported that Kushner omitted his multiple meetings with Russians in filling out his Questionnaire for National Security Positions.
41. In a video obtained by Forward, Trump’s chief counter-terrorism adviser, Gorka, publicly supported a violent anti-Semitic militia group.
42. On Thursday, Nunes temporarily stepped away from chairing the House Intelligence Committee’s investigation of Russia, citing an ethics complaint by the Office of Congressional Ethics.
43. In a letter that afternoon, the Republican chair of the House Ethics Committee announced they too are investigating Nunes for the “unauthorized disclosure of classified information.”
44. Confusion reigned in the Trump regime after the Assad chemical bombing. Without citing specifics, Trump said he changed his Syria policy, but no one else in the regime seemed to know details.
45. Without a formal announcement, Trump removed Steve Bannon from the National Security Council. Jennifer Jacobs, a Bloomberg reporter, broke the story after reading it in a notice published in the Federal Register.
46. POLITICO reported that mega-donor Rebekah Mercer convinced her close ally Bannon not to resign. Reporter Jane Mayer has uncovered that the Mercers stand to avoid $6.8bn in taxes under Trump.
47. The National Security Council page on whitehouse.gov is blank, save for these words: “Check back soon for more information.”
48. NYT reported that as early as July, the CIA had evidence of Russia’s efforts to get Trump elected, and that Trump advisers were likely working with the Russians.
49. In August, CIA director Brennan met with the Gang of Eight to share his findings. Reid has pushed repeatedly to inform the American public, but McConnell questioned the findings and pushed for a softer version of a public letter, striking any reference to Russia.
50. As noted in Week 4, McConnell had also been the roadblock to Obama going public in October with more explicit information on Russia’s attempted interference with our election.
51. Also as noted in Week 4, shortly after the election, Trump chose McConnell’s wife as his nominee for transportation secretary.
52. On Friday, McConnell passed the filibuster-ending “nuclear option” for Supreme Court picks. One columnist referred to him as “the man who broke America.”
53. Trump had also pushed McConnell towards the nuclear option. One expert in authoritarianism said of autocrats, “They will continue to rewrite major rules and disregard norms.”
54. Wars within the Trump regime continued this week, with open animus between Kushner and Bannon, and rumors that Bannon and Priebus could be on their way out.
55. All the while, power continues to consolidate into the hands of Trump, Ivanka and Kushner. In the executive branch, only 4% of key roles are filled and 92% still have no nominee.
56. In a PR stunt that fell flat, Trump donated his $78,333 paycheck to the Park Service. Ironically, Trump’s budget calls for deep cuts to the Interior Dept, which includes the Park Service, of 12% or $1.5bn.
57. On Thursday, amidst a continued fall in approval and a growing drumbeat of Russia, Trump used provocations by North Korea and Syria as an opportunity to threaten war against both.
58. On Thursday night, while in Mar-a-Lago meeting with China’s President Xi, Trump launched an attack on Syria .
59. Trump did not seek approval or notify Congress ahead of time. He did however, give advance notice to Russia.
60. Trump cited Assad’s use of chemical weapons against Syrian civilians, including children, as justification. Ironically, one of Trump’s first actions in office was his Muslim Ban, which banned Syrian refugees. Also per PolitiFact, on the campaign trail, Trump promised to remove existing Syrian refugees from the US.
61. Also of note, the Trump regime has been responsible for killing hundreds of innocent civilians, including children, in the failed Yemen raid, and then in Mosul where pamphlets told citizens not to leave their homes.
62. Pentagon released a video of the US strike Thursday night, which they claimed, “Initial indications are that this strike has severely damaged or destroyed Syrian aircraft and support infrastructure and equipment.
63. Nine civilians, including four children, were killed by Trump’s airstrike.
64. By the next day, the Assad regime was again launching airstrikes from the airfield Trump’s attack had supposedly destroyed.
65. The media loved Trump’s show of force, and on Friday Syria become story one, displacing Russian interference and ties to Trump.
66. The Onion ran the perfect parody of the situation on Friday, “Trump Confident U.S. Military Strike On Syria Wiped Out Russian Scandal.” Other pundits used the euphemism, Wag the Dog.
67. To complete the stagecraft, the Trump regime released their version of the Situation Room photo. This version was taken in Mar-a-Lago, and included Spicer, two Goldman Sachs executives, Commerce Secretary Ross, and Kushner glaring over at Bannon.

Week 21: Experts in authoritarianism advise to keep a list of things subtly changing around you, so…

[Gorgias]

Originally Posted by Kamilah Hauptmann

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Now that Obama’s poll numbers are in tailspin – watch for him to launch a strike in Libya or Iran. He is desperate.</p>&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/255784560904773633">October 9, 2012</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

¯_(ツ)_/¯

Yep

[JoeP]

The Coming Incompetence Crisis - The New York Times

the Albert Einstein of confirmation bias

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Originally Posted by JoeP

The Coming Incompetence Crisis - The New York Times

Up until this period I had always thought of ignorance as a void, as an absence of knowledge. But Trump’s ignorance is not just an absence; it is a rich, intricate and entirely separate universe of negative information, a sort of fertile intellectual antimatter with its own gravitational pull.

[specious_reasons]

Originally Posted by JoeP

The Coming Incompetence Crisis - The New York Times

As much as I enjoy well written Trump insults, David Brooks is not someone I would identify with otherwise. I'm going to read this strictly for entertainment purposes because Brooks can't be trusted on facts in his articles.

[Pan Narrans]

Those who ignore history are condemned to retweet it.

[Stormlight]

Reinvigorated coal industry already creates new jobs!!

#MAGA

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Originally Posted by Stormlight

Reinvigorated coal industry already creates new jobs!!

#MAGA

Promoted Comment:

It's actually kind of fitting since it's a museum. Learn about the history of energy, powered by the future of it.

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

220 Cities Losing All Passenger Train Service per Trump Elimination of all Federal Funding for Amtrak's National Network Trains

Infrastructure investment something.