All Trump sees is green. All we see is a traitorous orange menace. Who is right? Place bets now!! (Trump continued)

[badbadhusky]

A nod to Banzai there for old timers like me.

Old thread here.

Question is, is it Mueller time yet? Anyone fancy placing a bet on when Trump will exit the POTUS role?

My bet: 20 March 2019.

Colbert had a good line too:

Stephen Colbert
‏*@StephenAtHome*
If Donald Trump likes being spanked with a magazine, he's going to love it when a judge throws the book at him.

Mattis takes Congress to task for budget impasse as he unveils new Pentagon defense strategy

www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2018/01/19/mattis-calls-for-urgent-change-to-counter-russia-and-china-in-new-pentagon-strategy/?utm_term=.9c133afbe42e

[an excerpt]

The United States must build up its military to prepare for the possibility of conflict with Russia and China, according to a new Pentagon strategy released Friday by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis as he took Congress to task on the eve of a potential government shutdown for years of failing to reach budget deals.

Mattis was due to unveil the strategy Friday morning at Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, and described it in an advance copy of his speech as a “clear-eyed appraisal of our security environment with a keen eye of America’s place in the world.” It relied on a “fundamental precept” that Mattis states frequently: “America can afford survival.”

But the defense secretary saved some of his tough words for lawmakers as the government approaches a shutdown at midnight, saying that the military needs Congress “back in the driver’s seat” and making budget decisions.

“For too long we have asked our military to stoically carry a ‘success at any cost’ attitude, as they worked tirelessly to accomplish the mission with inadequate and misaligned resources simply because the Congress could not maintain regular order,” Mattis said. “Loyalty must be a two-way street. We expect the magnificent men and women of our military to be faithful in their service, even when going in harm’s way. We must remain faithful to those who voluntarily sign a blank check to the American people, payable with their life.”

Ryan Grim
‏
Verified account

@ryangrim
52s52 seconds ago
Betsy DeVos: Obama-era sexual assault guidelines are the "most infamous example" of abuse of authority interc.pt/2mX8EBB by @rmc031

I know not to whom he refers, and not because there aren't any candidates that don't immediately spring to mind but because I can't imagine Hatch could be thinking of the same people

Sahil Kapur
‏*@sahilkapur*

.@OrrinHatch on the Senate floor:

"This is the greatest country in the world. But we do have some really stupid people representing it from time to time."

Daniel Dale
‏*@ddale8*
U.S. trade negotiators will be participating in next week's NAFTA talks in Montreal even if the government is shut down, a U.S. official says. (Don't ask me what the rules are.)

Graham seems to be back to his normal self

Ken Dilanian‏Verified account
@KenDilanianNBC
Wow, @LindseyGrahamSC just called @SenTomCotton "the Steve King of the Senate." On @MSNBC with @GarrettHaake

Not consequential but relish it nonetheless

Mortal Again: Christie Blocked at VIP Entrance to Newark Airport

www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-18/mortal-again-christie-blocked-at-vip-entrance-to-newark-airport

Meet Chris Christie, former New Jersey governor and current nobody at Newark Liberty International Airport.

The two-term Republican, who left office on Jan. 16, was blocked from a VIP entrance he had used for eight years, and directed to stand in Transportation Security Administration screening lines at Terminal B like anyone else, according to a person familiar with the incident.

The order came from police for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport, according to the person, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about security matters. The Port Authority also operates the George Washington Bridge, the target of a plot by Christie aides and allies to tie up traffic for political punishment in 2013.

Christie, and the state trooper who accompanied him for his security detail, complied with the instructions, the person said.

The former governor used the entrance, reserved for some airport employees and flyers who need extra security, for his two terms. He spent more than half of 2015 out of New Jersey traveling and campaigning for his failed White House bid.

New Jersey ex-governors are allowed one state trooper to accompany them, at their request, for six months, according to Lieutenant Ted Schafer, a state police spokesman. Two former governors in addition to Christie have used the service, Schafer said. State police declined to comment on the airport incident.

The airport incident was reported earlier by WCBS News.

Particularly if you recall that during the state government shut down, he took advantage of the empty beaches and used them privately for just his family.

NARAL
‏
Verified account

@NARAL
3m3 minutes ago
More
Trump at #MarchForLife: “Every life is sacred, every child is a precious gift from God.” Oh realllllly.

If Trump & the GOP actually cared about children, they’d work w/ us to restore #CHIP, address #DACA & address our obscene rates of maternal mortality. #DreamActNow

Handelsblatt Global‏Verified account
@HandelsblattGE
Follow Follow @HandelsblattGE
More
Deutsche Bank reported questionable transactions involving President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, or people or businesses near him, to German securities regulators and will forward the info to special prosecutor Robert Mueller. @manager_magazin #DeutscheBank #JaredKushner

Between Kushner and the shutdown (and who knows what else!) this is shaping up to be another eventful Friday!

Schumer’s currently at the White House on trump’s request

Igor Bobic
@igorbobic
Are you concerned there are no Republicans in the room with Trump and Schumer right now?

“Yes,” Sen. Blunt tells me

OMG.... that vile family are really capitalising on every avenue possible aren't they?

As Eric said, DJT only sees green.

Frida Ghitis
‏
Verified account

@FridaGhitis
30s30 seconds ago
Trump-Russia inquiry is told Nigel Farage may have given Julian Assange thumb drive filled with data www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jan/19/trump-russia-inquiry-is-told-nigel-farage-may-have-given-julian-assange-data?CMP=share_btn_tw …

Hot from my inbox

The routinization of 'governing by near-death experience'

www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/the-routinization-governing-near-death-experience/amp?__twitter_impression=true

[...]For most of American history, government shutdowns even threats of shutdowns weren't a credible option available to policymakers. There were some "funding gaps" in the 1970s, which some might consider shutdowns, but federal officials weren't furloughed and those brief interruptions didn't resemble what you and I consider shutdowns.

The incidents became a little more common in the 1980s and 1990s, but the routinization of shutdown politics didn't begin in earnest until Republicans took control of the House in 2011.

• April 2011: House Republicans threaten a government shutdown unless Democrats accept GOP demands on spending cuts.

• July 2011: Republicans create the first-ever debt-ceiling crisis, threatening to default on the nation’s debts unless Democrats accept GOP demands on spending cuts.

• September 2011: Republicans threaten another shutdown.

• April 2012: Republicans threaten another shutdown.

• December 2012: Republicans spend months refusing to negotiate in the lead up to the so-called “fiscal cliff.”

• January 2013: Republicans raise the specter of another debt-ceiling crisis.

• September 2013: Republicans threaten another shutdown.

• October 2013: Republicans actually shut down the government.

• February 2014: Republicans raise the specter of another debt-ceiling crisis.

• December 2014: Republicans threaten another shutdown.

• February 2015: Republicans threaten a Department of Homeland Security shutdown.

• September 2015: Republicans threaten another shutdown.

• November 2015: Republicans threaten another shutdown.

• September 2016: Republicans threaten another shutdown.

• April 2017: Donald Trump threatens a shutdown, which is only avoided by Congress ignoring his demands.

gnome thanks! Who is he going to present this petition to? Himself? It’s so ridiculous

Well done gnome .

NBC News
@NBCNews
JUST IN: Sheriff provides updates on Vegas shooting

• No motive discovered in Vegas shooting that killed 58
• 851 total injured, 422 injured by gunfire
• No charges anticipated against girlfriend of gunman
• Authorities have sought 2,000 leads + reviewed 21,560 hrs of video

Chris Hayes
Chris Hayes
@chrislhayes
Best chance to avoid a shutdown is the fact the president probably really wants to go to his bribe party in Florida.

Who is he going to present this petition to? The link in the email takes you to this: action.donaldjtrump.com/stop-the-schumer-shutdown/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=ET_16&utm_campaign=20180119_3078_stop-the-shutdown_donaldjtrump_jfc&utm_content=white-house_agenda_text_sign_bottom_other_all

This is a repeating motif in these emails - very vague outcomes for the responder.

At least we know his version of what he said to Schumer when they were alone

Very short straw.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/19/buy-a-flat-meet-trump-jr-offer-criticised-as-ethics-atrocity

Difficult to know how this could be narrowed down.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/19/12-weirdest-days-from-trump-first-year

'An official appointed by Donald Trump has resigned after clips emerged of him making homophobic, racist and Islamophobic comments.

Carl Higbie – who served as external affairs chief at the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) – was recorded telling followers of Islam to "go back to your Muslim s*hole".

Mr Higbie served as a surrogate for Mr Trump's campaign in 2016 and has worked as a spokesman for the Great America PAC, which supports Mr Trump.'

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/carl-higbie-trump-official-resigns-muslim-shithole-rant-us-president-a8167896.html

I believe some posters on here would sign up for this (in the interests of developing their ethical leadership skills, of course).

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/james-comey-former-fbi-director-ethical-leadership-class-william-and-mary-college-williamsburg-a8168731.html

Thanks, gnome, that's quite enlightening.

The actual message there is not "Sign our petition!" but "It's the Democrats' fault the entirely Republican government is having a shutdown."

Fake news delivered personally to your inbox.

How on earth does one fight that?