Trump: yes, we have no Steve Bannon

[PerkingFaintly]

"If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention."

It's as if he thought being President for a term was the same as the game children play, you know, imagining you were "King for a Day" and everyone in the world was your subject and you were not to be contradicted but constantly kow-towed to.

Great article about the sterile, dead, fashion shoot look that the Trumps bring to every situation.
www.thecut.com/2017/08/melania-trump-hurricane-heels-and-the-artifice-of-fashion.html
'The problem is that this administration turns every event- no matter how dire- into a kind of anaesthetised luxury fashion shoot which leads us to some disturbing political truths.'

Hello all, I've been following these threads for a few months now and just wanted to say that you've been doing sterling work

Just delurking to share this article, which made me laugh: Here are a bunch of Trump inner circle Amazon wish lists

Hi mackerella (love the name!)

Laughed at the wish lists! Only trouble is, it makes Gorka seem almost human and I'm sure that's not the case

Dogs and Terry Pratchett Who'd have thunk it?

Trump's been tweeting his usual shit this morning . Nothing of substance: bland platitudes re Texas with the obligatory typo - they're "heeling" apparently - and his usual accusations leveled at Comey that implies that Clinton was found innocent prematurely.

Cozie something to look forward to later on today:

Here comes the jobs report ...
uk.businessinsider.com/us-jobs-report-nonfarm-payrolls-august-2017-9?r=US&IR=T

The market doesn't know whether it's coming or going.

Other things that have been happening:

Trump is slashing Obamacare’s advertising budget by 90%
The White House will also cut the in-person outreach program by $23 million.

www.vox.com/2017/8/31/16236280/trump-obamacare-outreach-ads

Sarah Kliff‏Verified account
@sarahkliff
Trump will spend $10M nationally on ACA advertising.

To put that in context: California alone is spending $111.5M.

Andy Slavitt‏Verified account
@ASlavitt
Andy Slavitt Retweeted Sarah Kliff
Many who have been following the ACA closely over the years are between angry, stunned & speechless.👇

These are not taxpayer dollars.

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Jeremy Slevin‏ @jeremyslevin

I learned more looking at this chart for 10 seconds than I did in 20 minutes watching Trump's speech

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www.politico.com/story/2017/08/31/rex-tillerson-funding-russian-propaganda-242224

Tillerson moves toward accepting funding for fighting Russian propaganda

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www.politico.com/story/2017/09/01/economy-created-156-000-jobs-in-august-242249

Economy created 156,000 jobs in August

This isn't a laughing matter I know but it looks like Trump may get a second chance to find his empathy gene.

This is Hurricane Irma. National Hurricane Center predicts it’ll be a Cat 4 storm in 5 days. It’s heading toward US.

www.wunderground.com/cat6/irma-intensifying-eastern-atlantic-big-long-range-questions

Just dropping by.

So, climate change is a distraction, is it?

Anyway, about Melania:

The Problem With Melania Isn’t Her Shoes
"Her silence, not her stilettos, should be of concern to us all."

www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-problem-with-melania-isnt-her-shoes_us_59a7599be4b00ed1aec9a593?section=us_women&utm_campaign=hp_fb_pages&utm_source=women_fb&utm_medium=facebook&ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000046

Oh brother!

My 'oh brother' was to Irma, not Melania. I feel sorry for Melania.

Poor Texas and Louisiana - if Irma (who appears to be well organised at the moment) makes landfall there.

Good article about How Hurricane Harvey is forcing Repubs to change their spending priorities. Maybe that wall isn't so important after all....

www.nytimes.com/2017/08/31/us/politics/hurricane-harvey-shifts-political-winds-in-washington.html

Even if it hits Florida, it's not good for anyone to have two large disaster areas in such a short time.

We'll see if Republicans do change their priorities. Maybe because it hit a Republican state?
They weren't so concerned about Sandy relief when it hit the North East.

That's terrible - those poor people . As if they haven't already had enough to endure.

I'm ashamed to admit that I only learnt yesterday that 1200 people were killed in the monsoon floods of India that have been raging on. They usually have rains but the patterns and intensity of the rainfall has been changing over the years, leading to more devastating events

www.economist.com/news/briefing/21727917-total-rainfall-does-not-have-be-unusual-do-great-damage-india-and-pakistan-are-seeing

Despite tenders being put out etc on the Wall, I think Trump should use Harvey as an excuse not to build it. OK that's bad, using a hurricane that has caused human misery as an excuse to not undertake one of his campaign promises.... but... we know how this idiot works. He can't stand to lose face and he could get by without losing face if he did this.

As far as Melania, that article was good. I can't have any sympathy for her I'm afraid. I've seen clips with her defending DT to the hilt. She is also so passive when she could do some good. She's sold her soul I think

roussette she's also been very vocal about the birtherism thing so I have limited sympathy too.

I largely share teen vogue's perspective although I do wobble sometimes about whether she is coerced (I've read enough relationships threads to know that what you see isn't necessarily the whole picture)

www.teenvogue.com/story/melania-trump-supported-her-husbands-racist-birtherism-claims-on-tv

Pain oh hell I've really gone off her now seeing that clip! I always felt she backs him totally because of money and status. She is just a servile wife which comes across like she needs 'rescuing' but she doesn't want to be rescued. He had problems with two feisty wives before so wanted one who will do his bidding and he's got that.

It's her job. Wear high heels and frocks,look pretty and suck in her cheekbones. Also agree with he husband and try not to show him up. She's rather ornamental. I have no feeling for her character at all - just nothing.

Now, as for Michelle... warm character, fun, loving wife and mum, friendly, 'real'.

www.noaa.gov/news/globe-had-2nd-warmest-july-and-year-to-date-on-record

Impossible to know where Irma will hit, it looks quite likely that Puerto Rico will be, but after that....

2nd warmest July on record, (only beaten by 2016), warmest global temperature recorded, lowest antarctic sea ice recorded.

Encouraging?

thehill.com/homenews/campaign/348838-manchin-leads-republican-challengers-by-double-digits-in-new-poll

Republicans see Manchin as a top target in the 2018 midterm elections, pointing to President Trump's 42-point 2016 margin in the state as proof that the seat is ready to flip.

But a new poll released Friday by West Virginia MetroNews Network finds Manchin comfortably ahead of hypothetical matchups with his top-two primary challengers, Rep. Evan Jenkins (R-W.V.) and Attorney General Patrick Morrisey (R).

Jenkins trails Manchin by 10 points in the polling, while Morrisey sits 14 points behind the Democratic senator. In each hypothetical matchup, 11 percent of likely voters sat undecided.

It's the second dose of good news for Manchin out of the MetroNews poll. Thursday's release scored his favorability rating at 51 percent, a number higher than both President Trump and Gov. Jim Justice, who recently switched parties to join the Republicans.

Irma, if it follows the path of one of the weather models, could potentially have a big impact on oil production in the Gulf of Mexico, which is just starting to recover a little after Harvey.

No one knows - and that's the biggest problem. Hurricanes etc aren"t predictable and won't obey orders.

Wasn't the word on the net some time ago that Melania was going to divorce him just before before elected? I imagine once he became president the pressure on her to stay was phenomenal. The president had to have a wife doesn't he?

There was also that whole business with her not going to the Whitehouse for ages. While I agree she is not a particularly nice piece of work and I certainly wouldn't put her on my Christmas card list, I do feel that nobody deserves to have to be married to that man if they don't want to be. Even if she did probably just marry him for the cash.

Sorry. ...predictable in a detailed way......