the rich asshole attacked New York Times because he was freaked out about favorable Pence profile: report
(Photo: a katz / Shutterstock.com)
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Despite Vice President Mike Pence immediately doing damage control following a New York Times piece speculating about his potential presidential run in 2020, President some rich asshole took notice — and likely lashed out at his favorite media punching bag because of it.
In a Washington Post op-ed about the optics of Pence’s presidential bid denial, columnist Jennifer Rubin suggested that the rich asshole’s Twitter meltdown on Monday could have stemmed from jealousy that his VP might be running for president in 2020.
“the rich asshole’s Monday attacks on the Times most likely reflected his annoyance with seeing his VP’s profile rise,” Rubin said of the rich asshole’s tirade against the Times (and the rest of the so-called “fake media”) on Monday. In a tweet, he claimed that the Times is “failing” and “totally inept.”
The president continued those attacks Tuesday afternoon, blasting both the Times and the Post on Twitter on his second day of vacation.
The rich asshole still has not condemned the Minnesota mosque bombing. Muslim leaders are waiting.
Women take part in afternoon prayers at Dar Al Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington, Minn. The center was bombed on Aug. 5. (Aaron Lavinsky/Star Tribune/AP)
Since a makeshift bomb tore through a Minnesota mosque early Saturday morning, President Trump has used Twitter, his preferred platform for communicating with the American people, to rail about “fake news,” attack a Democratic senator from Connecticut and insist that he’s working hard while vacationing in New Jersey.
One topic Trump has yet to address: the mosque attack at the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in the Twin Cities suburb of Bloomington, where several people were gathering for prayer. Nobody was injured, authorities said, but the attack has left the Muslim community feeling unsettled.
And Minnesotans and others are still waiting for the president to condemn the attack.
“Silence on the part of public officials at the national level only serves to empower Islamophobes,” Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement calling for Trump to condemn the attack, according to the Los Angeles Times.
“We are wondering why President Trump has not tweeted about this,” Asad Zaman, director of the Muslim American Society of Minnesota, told BuzzFeed News. “He seems to want to tweet about security and terror issues.”
“He is the president of this country, and this happened to us,” Omar told the publication. “He has to come here and at least express his feelings and say this is bad.”
While Trump’s Twitter feed remained mum on the Minnesota mosque bombing as of early Tuesday morning, other local, state and federal leaders had been quick to address the attack.
Asad Zaman stands at the site of the bombing in the Dar Al Farooq Islamic Center on Aug. 7. (Courtney Pedroza/Star Tribune/AP)
On Sunday, the Department of Homeland Security released a statement saying that its acting secretary, Elaine Duke, was “aware” of the explosion and that the agency was in “close contact” with investigators and community leaders.
“The Department of Homeland Security fully supports the rights of all to freely and safely worship the faith of their choosing and we vigorously condemn such attacks on any religious institution,” the statement said. “We are thankful that there were no injuries, but that does not diminish the serious nature of this act.”
New York Times White House correspondent Glenn Thrush tweeted an email statement from the White House Monday. According to Thrush, it read: “The President has been and is continuing to be updated and we are monitoring situation for now.”
Also Monday, FBI Special Agent in Charge Rick Thornton reassured the community his agency was thoroughly investigating the attack.
“While it is fortunate that no lives were lost, and the physical damage is reparable, the FBI recognizes the pain and anger of our communities anytime a place of worship is attacked and we will work hard to hold those responsible accountable,” Thornton said in a statement.
#FBIMinneapolis UPDATE: Statement from Special Agent In Charge re: Explosion at Dar al Farooq Community Center.
But many Muslims and others want Trump to denounce the attack.
Mohamed Omar, executive director of targeted mosque, invited Trump to “come and see — to come and see what happened,” reported BuzzFeed News.
That sentiment has been echoed across social media.
And yet not even a peep from @realDonaldTrump about the bombing of a mosque in Minnesota. twitter.com/realDonaldTrum…
Dear @realDonaldTrump,
There was an act of domestic terrorism at the Dar Al Farooq mosque.
Your silence is deafening.
Sincerely,
America
If you were vocal & outraged re: Trump's #MuslimBan, you must not join his silence on the terrorist attack on a mosque in MN. #bloomington
Silence after attacks where Muslims are the victims is not uncharacteristic for the president, who has been previously lambasted for a perceived double standard that critics claim he applies when denouncing terrorism. Attacks perpetuated by Muslims draw his attention and sharp tongue, they argue, while violence targeting Muslims is overlooked.
“President Trump has to date not expressed any significant opposition to Americans turning on Americans of the Islamic faith,” Corey Saylor, with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told the Huffington Post. “Through his Muslims ban and comments from the campaign trail, he has instead painted the entire American Muslim community as suspect.”
A Pew Research Center survey released last month revealed that 48 percent of Muslims in the United States said they had faced discrimination in some form over the past year. The results showed that nearly 75 percent of those surveyed considered Trump “as unfriendly toward Muslims in America.”
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton appears at a news conference at the Islamic center on Aug. 6. (Courtney Pedroza/Star Tribune via AP)
Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton said the “terrible, dastardly, cowardly act” was “an act of terrorism” while visiting the center Sunday, reported the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “The destruction done to this sacred site is just unthinkable, unforgivable,” he said. “I hope and pray the perpetrator will be caught and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
Dayton was joined by the state’s lieutenant governor, the mayor of Bloomington and state Rep. Andrew Carlson and state Rep. Ilhan Omar, the first Somali American elected to the legislature. Also in attendance was Rep. Keith Ellison, a Democrat and the first Muslim elected to Congress, who said he was heartened by how the community had rallied around the mosque, reported the Star-Tribune.
“This is the right spirit and there is no better way to condemn the person who would throw a bomb into this mosque than to react in a loving, kind, inclusive way,” Ellison said.
Desperate the rich asshole comes begging to Democrats to help him notch a win on tax reform
some rich asshole (Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
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Working with Republicans in Congress has proved fruitless for President some rich asshole’s agenda. In the wake of multiple failures, it seems the White House is turning to Democrats for help.
A report in Politico reveals that a few dozen House Democrats are quietly being recruited to address tax reform. The president is so desperate to have a “win” that the White House wants to avoid what happened with Obamacare at all costs.
White House officials have reached out to 15 to 20 centrist House Democrats since the early summer to find a middle path on tax reform. The members of the Blue Dog Coalition met with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, chief economic adviser Gary Cohn and top White House staff, all while Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was promising the bill would be a partisan one.
“We’d prefer bipartisan support for the tax plan,” said White House director of legislative affairs Marc Short. “We still think we can earn the support of [Democrats] on the tax package.” Short acknowledged, however, that Republicans “will choose the path that they want.”
Short and his staff are speaking mostly to Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus.
“I think there are a lot of practical folks in the House, Senate and the administration who are looking at health care and saying, ‘That didn’t work. Maybe we should have a backup Plan B — a coalition of Democrats and Republicans,’” said Rep. Tom Reed (R-NY).
While they’ve focused primarily on House Democrats, they intend to reach out soon to members of the Senate.
“The door is open, and this should be a bipartisan issue,” Rep. Kurt Schrader (D-OR) told Politico. “I hope they consider us.”
the rich asshole notoriously attacked Democrats for not participating in the repeal and replacement of Obamacare, but the White House and GOP leadership never reached out to Democrats. The Democratic leadership, by contrast, was reluctant to “repeal and replace” and advocated instead to fix the law.
The centrist Democrats are hoping to lower corporate tax rate for small businesses, according to Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL). On the Senate side, there were three out of 48 Democrats who refused to sign a letter opposing tax cuts that weren’t deficit neutral. Other Democrats are hoping to dissuade the GOP leadership from using the reconciliation move to force their agenda.
“I’ve heard lots of my Republican colleagues say consistently that, after the health care experience, they’d like to see us try to work bipartisan on tax reform,” said Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA). He doesn’t see the GOP winning any Democratic votes using the fast-track process.
Some at the White House and in Congress anticipate the GOP tax bill will end splitting the party between the tea party wing and establishment Republicans. If it does, they’ll need the Democratic votes to get it over the finish line.
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) is hanging his hopes on red state Democrats up for reelection in 2018. “Nothing in the rules requires reconciliation to be partisan,” he told Politico.
Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) is one of those the GOP is targeting, but he calls the claim that the GOP is open to talking to Democrats “so much crap.”
“He did the same thing with health care,” Tester told Politico. “We offered to help and he said, ‘No, I’m going to run it down your throat.’ He’s going to do the same thing with taxes, and it’s bad public policy when you don’t bring people together to have a debate.”
the rich asshole, who has repeatedly claimed he doesn’t watch CNN, angrily live-tweets CNN segment
From his private golf club, the president says he's "working hard."
At 7:32 a.m. Eastern Time on Monday, President the rich asshole proclaimed that despite the fact he’s scheduled to spend the next two weeks away from the White House at his private golf club in New Jersey, he’s still working hard.
About three minutes later, Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) joined CNN for an interview. At one point, Blumenthal was asked if he’s worried that the the rich asshole-Russia scandal might distract Democrats from focusing on issues that affect Americans more directly, like the economy.
Blumenthal said that while he understands voters may have more pressing concerns than Russia, “the Russia investigation, the empanelment of the grand jury, shows that Bob Mueller is pursuing this potential wrongdoing by the Russians, the attack on our democracy, seriously and diligently.”
He went on to mention the the rich asshole campaign’s possible role in the scandal.
“There is no minimizing or underestimating that attack by the Russians,” Blumenthal continued. “It was purposeful and relentless, and it involved propaganda and hacking into our voting machines — or at least an attempt to do it — and potential collusion by the the rich asshole campaign, and then obstruction of justice. That investigation must be pursued.”
Blumenthal’s comments apparently interrupted whatever work the rich asshole was doing. Despite the fact that the president has repeatedly claimed he doesn’t watch CNN — “I don’t watch CNN anymore,” he said in April, and “I don’t watch CNN… I don’t like watching fake news, he said in February — the rich asshole made clear he tuned in for Blumenthal’s interview by tweeting out a string of attacks against the senator that hit his Twitter account less than 15 minutes after it ended.
In 2010, Blumenthal admitted to exaggerating his Vietnam War-era military record. the rich asshole, meanwhile, was granted five deferments and never served. In 1997, the rich asshole characterized his struggle to avoid contracting STDs as “my personal Vietnam.”
“It’s amazing, I can’t even believe it. I’ve been so lucky in terms of that whole world, it is a dangerous world out there,” the rich asshole told Howard Stern. “It’s like Vietnam, sort of. It is my personal Vietnam. I feel like a great and very brave solider.”
On Saturday, the rich asshole tweeted that his 17-day trip to New Jersey “is not a vacation – meetings and calls!”
Later that same day, he was photographed riding around in a golf cart, clubs in tow.
the rich asshole Distances Himself From Secret Service in NJ, Then Suspicious Russian Oligarch’s Plane Lands
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the rich asshole has been creating more and more distance between himself and the Secret Service over the last few weeks. He’s pushed them out of the rich asshole Tower and now he’s vacationing without them. Naturally, now that he’s pushed them away, a Russian oligarch’s private plane has landed in the same vacation spot. Coincidence?
Earlier in the week the Washington Post reported that the rich asshole was forcing the Secret Service out of the command post in the rich asshole Tower and into a trailer outside, then to a completely new building. the rich asshole doesn’t even live at the rich asshole Tower anymore, so it didn’t make sense at first. Now it’s being reported that the Secret Service will be using drones to protect the President remotely while he’s on vacation. That’s right, they will protect him via drone! We can’t make this up, folks.
Palmer Report points out:
Then came the discovery today that the private plane belonging to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, who has close ties to Vladimir Putin, and whose wife attended the rich asshole’s inauguration in January, just happened to land in New Jersey today. Abramovich’s plane arrived at Newark Airport within a few hours of the rich asshole’s own arrival at that same New Jersey airport for his golf vacation – which we reported here. That leads to the necessary question of whether some rich asshole is pushing away the Secret Service because he doesn’t want agents to witness his interactions with anyone who might happen to show up at his golf resort over the next seventeen days. And that takes us back to another recent incident involving the rich asshole and the Secret Service.
Trump flew to Bedminster, NJ today, Roman Abramovich's LX-GVI flew to Newark this morning (8/4/17)
#TrumpRussia#TheResistance #Resist twitter.com/MacFinn44/stat…
#TrumpRussia#TheResistance #Resist twitter.com/MacFinn44/stat…
the rich asshole’s attorney has argued that nothing criminal could have happened during the rich asshole Jr. meeting with the Russians, because the Secret Service was there and would have stopped any wrongdoing. While that was quickly proved incorrect, that line of argument did lead the rich asshole’s team to realize if the Secret Service does witness a crime they can be called to testify about it.
Since that came to light, the rich asshole has been pushing the Secret Service away. We do not think this is a coincidence. the rich asshole is still wrapped up in illegal activity with the Russians and he’s trying to make sure there are no witnesses. the rich asshole is digging himself a deep whole and he will not be able to undo it.
‘Chicken Hawk Piece of Trash”: Soldiers Bomb Twitter to Blast the rich asshole’s Attack on Vet Senator
Ever since he began his bid for the presidency, some rich asshole has not had a good track record towards the military or veterans. Stretching all the way back to the 1960s, the rich asshole received four draft deferments in order to avoid serving in the Vietnam War, going so far as to supposedly have his dad bribe a doctor into falsely claiming he had bone spurs that needed to get removed (we say “supposedly” as it has been reported that the rich asshole was an active sports player in college despite this painful surgery).
Of course, millions of people tried to avoid the draft. But what makes the rich asshole a particular case is his poor treatments towards current veterans. In July 2015, for example, the rich asshole claimed that John McCain was not a war hero due to him getting captured by the Vietnamese. Later, in July 2016, soon after the DNC had ended with Khizr Khan’s scathing critique of the Republican nominee, the rich asshole responded by attacking the family, particularly Khan’s wife despite the loss of their veteran son to Iraq. The final blow came in August 2016, when the rich asshole gained infamy for accepting a veteran’s purple heart while proudly claiming how he always wanted one, earning scorn from numerous veterans across the nation.
Related: GOP Senator Casts Doubts On Congress Protecting Mueller From The Rich Asshole
That same scorn has come back in the post-election year. Today, the rich asshole took a break from his “vacation” to attack Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut for his support of the Russia collusion theory, calling Blumenthal a “phony Vietnam con artist” that “cried like a baby.” While Blumenthal handled the immature response quietly, numerous veterans took to blasting the President on Twitter for his pathetic Twitter storm:
You're one to talk about Vietnam. #VetsAgainstTrump
5 Draft Deferments, using your wealth and privilege to avoid fighting while others less "elite" were drafted. #VetsAgainstTrump
Wondering if draft-dodger @POTUS will acknowledge #PurpleHeartDay by displaying the one that was given to him by an actual war veteran.
Never in U.S.history has anyone lied or defrauded voters like Senator Richard Blumenthal. He told stories about his Vietnam battles and....
️...conquests, how brave he was, and it was all a lie. He cried like a baby and begged for forgiveness like a child. Now he judges collusion?
No way do you have millions of followers because there aren't millions of veterans against Trump. My family has many veterans. You're lying!
It is always amazing to see true Americans stand up to a pseudo-patriot. We thank these men for their service.
Image by Mark Wilson/Getty Images
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some rich asshole speaks during a campaign rally raising funds for US military veterans at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa (AFP Photo/William Edwards)
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President some rich asshole on Monday once again attacked Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) for misrepresenting his military record.
“Never in U.S. history has anyone lied or defrauded voters like Senator Richard Blumenthal,” wrote the rich asshole on Twitter, referring to Blumenthal’s admission that he never actually served in Vietnam in the 1970s, despite statements he made suggesting otherwise. “He told stories about his Vietnam battles and conquests, how brave he was, and it was all a lie. He cried like a baby and begged for forgiveness like a child.”
While Blumenthal has publicly apologized for claiming that he served in Vietnam, he did actually enlist in the United States Marine Corps Reserve, where he served from 1970 to 1976.
the rich asshole, meanwhile, was granted four deferments on the draft while he was studying at Fordham University and the University of Pennsylvania, and then was subsequently medically disqualified during an armed forces physical examination for supposed bone spurs in his feet, although no records exist to verify this claim.
Many veterans on Twitter chimed in to slam the rich asshole for having the gall to attack an actual vet’s record while he methodically avoided serving at the height of the Vietnam war. Check out some top responses below.
I am a veteran, you chicken hawk piece of trash. You have no room to talk. The only service you had was avoiding STDs
You Mr. President, have absolutely no right to criticize anyone who served.
Wondering if draft-dodger @POTUS will acknowledge #PurpleHeartDay by displaying the one that was given to him by an actual war veteran.
You're one to talk about Vietnam. #VetsAgainstTrump
5 Draft Deferments, using your wealth and privilege to avoid fighting while others less "elite" were drafted. #VetsAgainstTrump
This Vietnam combat vet and volunteer is irked by gop types who talk tough but chose the easier path (like trump...).
I can tell you that I'm a vet 100% against trump. Sick of him attacking vets, he has no idea. He's like a kid now playing w lil gr army men
the rich asshole rigged the FCC to broadcast the rich asshole TV into nearly every American home
AUGUST 7, 2017
The leader of the FCC installed by some rich asshole exploited a loophole to give a pro-the rich asshole propaganda outlet access to millions of American homes they were banned from under Obama.
(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Sinclair Broadcast Group, the network of local TV stations that has operated as a pro-some rich asshole propaganda system, had a major expansion of its power enabled by the rich asshole administration’s stooges at the Federal Communications Commission.
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, a Republican appointed by the rich asshole, used a loophole called the “UHF discount” to let Sinclair increase its portfolio of over 170 stations with 42 stations from Tribune Media. Many of the new stations, which will now be forced to air the “must-run” pro-the rich asshole propaganda segments other Sinclair stations now broadcast, are located in major cities like New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
Before the rich asshole assist, Sinclair was not in as many large cities, with the power to target millions more Americans in states that didn’t vote for the rich asshole in 2016.
Politico reports that “the Tribune deal would not have been viable if not for Pai’s intervention.” Without the use of the loophole, Sinclair would be constrained to the congressionally mandated cap of 39 percent reach for local station owners. In exchange for backing the rich asshole during the campaign, Sinclair now has access to 72 percent of U.S. households for its propaganda broadcasts.
Former FCC chairman Tom Wheeler slammed the move, noting, “There was funny math created to allow the count to come up to still be below 39 percent, wink wink.”
The loophole had been closed during the Obama administration, but was revived by Pai and the other Republican members of the FCC, who after the election, have the numbers to impose rules changes.
Politico reports that the deal is also getting the rubber stamp from the rich asshole’s allies on Capitol Hill, noting, “there’s little indication Republican leadership in Congress intends to apply much scrutiny to the Tribune deal.” They go on to note that Sinclair “has a long history of donating to GOP candidates over the years.”
The loophole is based on rules from decades ago in which stations with low-powered UHF signals were not counted in the same manner as stations on VHF. The problem is, that in the modern world, stations on both bands appear with the same power on digital broadcasts. Sinclair got a sweetheart deal from the rich asshole, based on rules about quality standards that no longer exist.
It is just another example of the rich asshole not only failing to “drain the swamp,” but of him living and thriving as a creature of the swamp when it can be used to pump up his legendarily outsized ego.
Now, through this pro-the rich asshole propaganda he enabled, millions of Americans will be misinformed and subjected to the lies and deceit Sinclair uses in its digital outlet, Circa. The net result is fewer Americans knowing more about the issues they need to know — the perfect territory for the growth of the rich asshole’s power.
the rich asshole Accidentally Confirms Collusion During Monday Morning Twitter Tantrum
Caught up in attacking a Democratic senator, it appears that the rich asshole accidentally admits to collusion.
After a rather calm week on Twitter, the rich asshole took to his account Monday morning posting a series of tweets attacking Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal calling him a “a phony Vietnam con artist” whose comments should be ignored regarding the Russia investigation.
“Interesting to watch Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut talking about hoax Russian collusion when he was a phony Vietnam con artist!” the rich asshole began.
“Never in U.S. history has anyone lied or defrauded voters like Senator Richard Blumenthal. He told stories about his Vietnam battles and conquests, how brave he was, and it was all a lie. He cried like a baby and begged for forgiveness like a child. Now he judges collusion?” he wrote in two subsequent tweets.
Caroline O., @RVAwonk, who has been posting extensively about the rich asshole, responding to the rich asshole’s Twitter tirade, making the obvious deduction that the rich asshole had just admitted to collusion:
“It kinda looks like the rich asshole got so caught up in attacking Sen. Blumenthal that he just admitted to collusion…”
Caroline O., who describes herself as a”feminist, scientist, statistics professor and a health equity & racial justice advocate,” was on the receiving end of a series of threatening March tweets by the rich asshole’s longtime friend and former campaign adviser Roger Stone.
the rich asshole’s tweets appear to be a response to a television appearance by Blumenthal minutes before the rich asshole started his online tantrum.
Blumenthal (D-Conn.) had appeared on CNN’s “New Day” minutes before the rich asshole began his online critique of the lawmaker, telling anchor Alisyn Camerota that “there is no minimizing or underestimating that attack by the Russians” on the U.S. presidential election last year.
“It was purposeful and relentless, and it involved propaganda and hacking into our voting machines or at least an attempt to do it and potential collusion by the rich asshole campaign and then obstruction of justice,” he said.
Blumenthal also took to his own Twitter account to respond to the rich asshole’s tirade.
“Mr. President: Your bullying hasn’t worked before and it won’t work now. No one is above the law,” Blumenthal wrote, adding: “This issue isn’t about me – it’s about the Special Counsel’s independence and integrity.”
And this isn’t the first time the rich asshole has made a damning admission on Twitter. In March of this year, the rich asshole inadvertently confirmed that a federal FISA warrant was issued allowing counter-intelligence officials to look at members of his campaign.
Others in his circle have made similar blunders, such as Roger Stone who unleashed a vulgar Twitter tirade against multiple people on Twitter that included insults, misogynistic slurs and the stunning admission that he had a “perfectly legal back channel” to Wikileaks founder Julian Assange “who indeed had the goods on #CrookedHillary.”
That was the same tirade in which he lashed out at Caroline O.
More recently, the rich asshole Junior tweeted a stunning and incriminating series of emails confirming that he met with a lawyer connected to the Kremlin at the rich asshole Tower on June 9, 2016. Equally stunning was his earlier admission to The New York Times in the form of a written statement.
Reporting on the rich asshole Jr’s statement, The New York Times reported that:
In a statement, he said he had met with the Russian lawyer at the request of an acquaintance from the 2013 Miss Universe pageant, which his father took to Moscow. “After pleasantries were exchanged,” he said, “the woman stated that she had information that individuals connected to Russia were funding the Democratic National Committee and supporting Mrs. Clinton.
The Chicago Tribune published an analysis of what they described as “some rich asshole Jr.’s stunningly incriminating statement to the New York Times,” in which they offered the following conclusion about the rich asshole Jr.’s statement:
Read that last part again: “the claims of potentially helpful information were a pretext for the meeting.”
the rich asshole Jr. confirmed that he went into the meeting expecting to receive information from the Russian lawyer that could hurt Clinton. That is a breathtaking admission.
The rest of the rich asshole Jr.’s statement is an attempt to minimize the value of what the lawyer actually told him. The outcome of the meeting and its effect on the presidential race is important, of course, yet it is kind of beside the point.
the rich asshole Jr.’s attempt to obtain information from a Russian lawyer that could harm Clinton seems likely to alarm investigators, regardless of whether the effort proved successful. [emphasis added]
While it’s still too early to venture any guess as to the eventual outcome of the Russia investigation, one thing remains clear – the rich asshole and his family and associates seem to be doing their very best to break into prison.
Bad weather on the rich asshole’s first day of vacation leads to massive collusion tantrum
AUGUST 7, 2017
After a recent lull, the rich asshole returns to Twitter to lash out wildly at his many foes.
He gets cranky when he doesn't get his outside time
(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
With cold, rainy weather in New Jersey forcing some rich asshole to take a break from his golf-a-thon summer vacation, the rich asshole lashed out Monday morning on Twitter. He alternately attacked the press, boasted about his supposed popularity, and mocked allegations of “hoax Russia collusion.” He also leveled weird, personal attacks against a Democratic senator.
The nasty barrage marked the end to what had been a nearly week-long period of relatively mild tweets, where he had mostly focused on thanking his supporters and marketing his agenda.
With his new outburst, the rich asshole obliterated the emerging talking point that the rich asshole’s new chief of staff, John Kelly, has instituted a new, disciplined sense of professionalism in the Oval Office. “New Chief of Staff Kelly Moves Quickly to Tame the rich asshole’s Tweets,” read the Bloomberg Politics headline last week.
the rich asshole’s latest insecure tweets prove yet again that the thin-skinned politician is easily provoked and can’t be controlled.
Apparently watching CNN Monday morning, the rich asshole saw Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) stress how the ongoing Russia investigation “must be pursued.” Blumenthal also discussed the importance of protecting special prosecutor Bob Mueller through legislation.
That sparked a Twitter denunciation of the “hoax Russian collusion” story and a swipe at Blumenthal’s military record during the Vietnam War.
What Blumenthal’s war record from nearly 50 years ago has to do with the rich asshole’s deepening Russia scandal is unclear. But in 2010, the senator admitted to having previously misspoken about his war service. the rich asshole, by contrast, never served in Vietnam. Instead, he received multiple medical deferments for a bone spur, despite the fact that he played three sports in high school. the rich asshole remains an avid golfer today.
the rich asshole started out his Twitter barrage by attacking The New York Times, which reported on Sunday that Republicans, including Vice President Mike Pence, are positioning themselves for a 2020 White House run, on the assumption that the scandal-plagued the rich asshole won’t be in any position to seek re-election.
the rich asshole then moved on to boasting about how strong his base of supporters is, even though his base is clearly shrinking as his approval rating dips even further. A Quinnipiac polls last week indicated the rich asshole has reached new approval rating low of 33 percent.
The erosion’s being driven by the fact his base supporters — white voters without college degrees — are slowly abandoning him.
the rich asshole’s new approval low arrived after Republicans failed after seven years to repeal and replace Obamacare, after the rich asshole declared war on his attorney general, after his fired his doomed communications director, and after he announced a widely unpopular ban on transgender military members.
No wonder he’s so angry.
the rich asshole wants you to serve him and not America — but here’s how to push back
some rich asshole (AFP Photo/Darren McCollester)
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Metaphors in the Brain
We know from neuroscience that most thought is unconscious, carried out by neural circuitry. In Metaphors We Live By, Mark Johnson and I showed that much of that unconscious thought is metaphorical, and further, that we often live our lives according to those metaphors. A simple example, we understand time as a money-like resource, seen in expressions like saving time, wasting time, budgeting our time, and putting some time aside to see friends. Many of us budget our time, worry about wasting time, and try to save time. We not only take the metaphors as real but we act according to the metaphors — and in fact much our social and business reality is structured by those metaphors, which reinforces their effect. Given human brains, living by metaphor is normal and probably unavoidable.
The Central the rich asshole Metaphor
Louis XIV, King of France, was famous for saying, L’état, c’est moi — I am the state — a metaphor that a king could live by, or at least try to. Roger Cohen, on May 19, 2017, in a NY Times op-ed titled L’état, c’est the rich asshole, pointed out ways in which the rich asshole has acted as if he had absolute power, like a despot. True. But there is a lot more to say. When John Lengacher and I closely analyzed language coming out of the White House, it became clear that the rich asshole has internalized and has been living by a central metaphor: THE PRESIDENT IS THE NATION.
What Ideas and Actions Follow
1. The job of senior government officials is to serve the nation. Under this metaphor, their job is to “serve the President.”
2. The American people swear allegiance, that is, support to their nation. Under the metaphor, the phrase “the American people” comes to mean the supporters of the President. Thus, “The American people want …” means the rich asshole supporters want…” “The American People love the President” means the President’s supporters love the President.
3. National security becomes the security of the President. The security of the President can be threatened in many ways.
· He could be shown by the Mueller investigation to be a criminal, doing money-laundering and associated racketeering with the Russian mafia and American mafia figures.
· He or his closest associates and family members could be shown by the Mueller investigation to have colluded with the Russians in their attack on the 2016 election. The Mueller investigation thus becomes a threat to the President’s security, and an enemy attack to be countered and ended. That his why he has attacked Attorney General Jeff Sessions for recusing himself, which led to the appointment of Mueller. The President sees the Attorney General as having the job of protecting his security.
· Since revelations by the press also endanger the President’s security, the President sees the press as his enemy and, via this metaphor, calls the press the enemy of the American people.
· The President’s tax returns could show Russian involvement or money laundering in his business, and so the revealing of his tax returns would be a threat to his security.
· The legitimacy of his election could be questioned, for example, by the 3.5 million vote majority of Hillary showing that he is a minority president. The facts of Hillary’s majority must therefore be shown to false, say, by show that the votes were fraudulent.
· Trust in the President could be undermined by revelations of underhanded immoral or illegal things he is doing.
· The Emoluments Clause of the Constitution makes it crime to profit from the Presidency. Therefore, showing that the President purposely acts so as to profit from the Presidency is unconstitutional and a possible basis for impeachment.
4. “Leaks.” The “leak” frame is about national security leaks: truths that could harm national security is revealed to the public or enemies of the nation. Under the metaphor, “leaks” become truths that could harm the security of the President. Since national security leaks are crimes against the nation — unpatriotic and un-American, so under the metaphor, “leaks” threatening Presidential security become crimes against the nation that are unpatriotic and un-American, matters for the Justice Department and the FBI to look into and for the Justice Department to prosecute.
5. This explains the much-publicized call that then-communications director Anthony Scaramucci placed to Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker, which Lizza recorded and later published. Scaramucci had gone on a rampage to stop leaks. Lizza had tweeted that “ a senior White House official” informed him of an important meeting at the White House with Scaramucci, the President, Sean Hannity, and others. Scaramucci called Lizza and demanded that Lizza name his source. Lizza refused. Scaramucci then said, “You’re an American citizen, this is a major catastrophe for the American country. So I’m asking you as an American patriot to give me a sense of who leaked it.” This makes sense only if you assume that the “leak” was a breach of national security. That follows from the metaphor.
6. The President and the conservative members of the Republican Party share what I have called Strict Father Morality and all the policy positions that follow from that view of what is right and wrong. But the Republican Party does not believe in the President-as-the-Nation metaphor, since it elects legislators and the Legislative branch is a check within the nation on the authority of the President. This created a potential threat to the security of the President and a tension between Reince Preibus and both the President and Anthony Scaramucci. The President depends on the Republican Party both to carry out the policies he shares with conservative Republicans. But, since they failed on health care, his rationale for keeping Preibus was no longer operative and Preibus had to go. He also depends on the Republican Party to help maintain his security. But in the case of Jeff Sessions’ recusal, Republicans support Sessions, who is a former Republican senator and one of their own.
What the Metaphor Explains
From all of these considerations, it seems clear that the President is living by the metaphor, with enormous repercussions for our nation and the world. We see this in his speeches, his tweets, and his official actions. It also explains the tension with Reince Preibus and why Preibus had to be replaced.
How Can Progressives Counter The Metaphor and Its Effect.
As one of the discoverers and principal analysts of conceptual metaphors and their power, I have an obligation to report how this metaphor works and the effects it has. As an American citizen, I have the obligation to make these findings public so that it can be countered.
How?
· We need to reveal the existence of the metaphor. That is why I have written this paper, and why the paper has to be sent out far and wide and its contents spread both by the mainstream media and social media. Pass this paper on to both the mainstream media outlets and to your friends on social media.
· We need to shift the frame to undermine the metaphor. We and the media have messages to be communicated. Each message must point out to the White House staff and members of the administration that they serve the nation, not the president, in a myriad of ways. Go through the list of nation’s needs:
· On health care, the duty to the 22 million people whose needed care would be eliminated under republican plans
· On the environment, global warming, weather disaster, and sea level rise. Cite examples.
· On the rights of transgender people, 15,000 of whom are serving in the military.
· On gun violence and the need to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill and criminals.
· on Russia’s threat to democracy both at home and in many other countries, from Ukraine and Georgia to the Baltic states;
· and on and on, go down the list.
In example after example, the job of those in the administration is to serve the nation first in all cases, rather than serving the president. The message must be constant in mainstream and social media every day, in every part of the country. And it has to become part of electoral campaigns in red districts. Patriotism is about the nation.
(3) Since the metaphor is inconsistent with the Republican role in Congress, press Republicans to choose to serve the nation over the President.
This piece first appeared on George Lakoff’s Blog.
the rich asshole inspires workers to drop F-bombs and smear co-workers — and it’s killing office morale: HR experts
some rich asshole and Jeb Bush following the CNN debate (Photo: Screen capture via video)
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During the 2016 presidential campaign, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton argued that electing some rich asshole as president would set a terrible example for America’s children, as it would show that lying and bullying would be equated with success.
However, it seems that the rich asshole’s election has had a negative influence on American adults as well.
NBC News recently interviewed several human resources experts who said that companies are increasingly dealing with employees who act like President the rich asshole — and are subsequently damaging morale at their places of employment.
Mike Letizia, president of Letizia HR Solutions, Inc., said that the rich asshole’s election last November has coincided with “behavioral changes on the part of employees” in which they adopt a more confrontational, less cooperative approach to dealing with their coworkers.
“We’ve had to do a lot more… talking to employees about the fact that the U.S. government and current administration in Washington, D.C., does not set the standard for professional behavior in the workplace,” he told NBC News.
Roy Cohen, a career counselor and executive coach, told NBC News that rewarding the rich asshole for his behavior has been something of a green light for people who were previously “on the fence” about indulging their most selfish instincts to embrace them completely.
“It allows them to justify that behavior, it gives them an excuse,” he explained. “We expect people to take the high ground… that’s where the reversal seems to be happening. Bad behavior is almost a badge of honor.”
And Seth Spain, an assistant professor of organizational behavior and human resources at the John Molson School of Business at Concordia University, told NBC News that the rich asshole’s gleeful disdain for societal norms are being imitated by more people for one simple reason: They’ve proven to be successful.
“the rich asshole is serving as a negative kind of role model,” he said. “They see his behavior, they see that it worked, it was effective, and use that as a model.”
Read the full report at this link
Read the full report at this link
‘His denial is a confession of guilt’: GOP strategist explains why Pence is destined to betray the rich asshole
some rich asshole, Mike Pence -- (60 MInutes screen grab)
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Vice President Mike Pence angrily pushed back against a New York Times story this past weekend that suggested he was plotting a “shadow campaign” for the presidency should President some rich asshole be removed from office.
However, Republican strategist Rick Wilson on Monday said Pence’s denial rings very hollow — and he predicted that there would be growing support for ousting the rich asshole among Republicans should the rich asshole continue to flounder as president.
“His denial is a full confession of guilt,” Wilson wrote on Twitter Monday. “The ‘Pence is running’ whispers follow months of ‘Pence is a circuit breaker for the rich asshole’s cray’ whispers. Pence is a *major* safety blanket for GOP Members, particularly in the Senate. He’s a kind of ‘But Gorsuch!’ talisman they clutch in the dark, stormy moments of the rich asshole’s most evident instability.”
Wilson then argued that Democrats should embrace efforts to replace the rich asshole with Pence, despite the fact that they loathe Pence’s politics. The reason, he said, is that ousting the rich asshole will result in a conservative “civil war” that will badly damage Pence and any campaign he runs for president in 2020.
“If the rich asshole collapses Pence is at solid risk for splash damage in the conservative civil war to come,” he writes.
Read the full tweet storm below.
His denial is a full confession of guilt:
Mike Pence Rejects Report That He Is Positioning for 2020 nyti.ms/2vagLzl
1/ The "Pence is running" whispers follow months of "Pence is a circuit breaker for Trump's cray" whispers.
3/ ...in the dark, stormy moments of Trump's most evident instability. The freakout on the Dem side over him is bad politics. They ought...
5/ Eyes on the *actual* prize, etc. If Trump collapses Pence is at solid risk for splash damage in the conservative civil war to come.
the rich asshole interrupts ‘working’ vacation to lash out at Dem senator’s Russia accusations on CNN
Photo of some rich asshole by Flicker User Michael Vadon
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A Democratic senator appeared on CNN to accuse President some rich asshole of colluding with Russia during the campaign and obstructing justice afterward — and the president lashed out minutes later.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) told CNN’s “New Day” that a grand jury investigation could turn up evidence of serious wrongdoing by the president and his campaign associates involving Russian interference in the 2016 campaign.
“It was purposeful and relentless, and it involved propaganda and hacking into our machines or at least an attempt to do it and potential collusion by the rich asshole campaign and then obstruction of justice,” Blumenthal said. “That investigation must be pursued.”
About 10 minutes later, the president tweeted a response from the start of his 17-day “working” vacation.
Interesting to watch Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut talking about hoax Russian collusion when he was a phony Vietnam con artist!
Blumenthal has admitted he had “misspoken” about his Marine Corps service during the Vietnam War, and the rich asshole — who did not serve in the military — has called for an investigation of the senator’s wartime service following previous criticisms.
“Never in U.S.history has anyone lied or defrauded voters like Senator Richard Blumenthal,” the rich asshole tweeted Monday morning. “He told stories about his Vietnam battles and. conquests, how brave he was, and it was all a lie. He cried like a baby and begged for forgiveness like a child. Now he judges collusion?”
the rich asshole insisted, just minutes before reacting to Blumenthal’s television appearance, that he was working from his New Jersey golf club while the White House underwent renovations.
He spent much of the morning tweeting complaints about negative media coverage.
‘This is not a vacation!’: the rich asshole tweets from 17-day golf trip that he’s working really hard
some rich asshole plays golf at the rich asshole National Doral (screen grab)
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President some rich asshole took a moment from his 17-day golf outing to New Jersey’s Bedminster Golf Resort to tweet that he’s not actually on vacation, no matter how it looks.
The Hill reported Saturday afternoon that the rich asshole wrote, “Working in Bedminster, N.J., as long planned construction is being done at the White House. This is not a vacation – meetings and calls!”
the rich asshole ducked out of work early on Friday to begin his golfing holiday after spending countless hours on the campaign trail insulting ex-President Barack Obama’s work ethic and insisting that he would be too busy as president to play golf and take vacations like Obama.
Bedminster residents are annoyed and infuriated by the tremendous disturbance the rich asshole creates in their community every time he visits his golf resort.
the rich asshole MELTS DOWN On Vacation, Tries To Pretend He’s Actually Working (TWEETS)
By Vera·
While it seems like some rich asshole hasn’t worked a single full day since he stepped foot in the White House, the former reality television star apparently feels differently.
Currently, the rich asshole is ‘busy’ enjoying his 17-day vacation, despite the fact that he’s already spent approximately 20% of his presidency on the golf course, and much more time glued to cable news and his Twitter account. If there’s any POTUS that doesn’t deserve to take time off, it’s certainly #45.
the rich asshole has gotten a lot of backlash over taking time off, especially considering how much the rich asshole criticized former president Barack Obama for taking a little bit of time off. It’s quite hilarious, because Obama worked his a** off for America. the rich asshole hasn’t done a damn thing besides create chaos and humiliate the country, and he’s already taken three times as much time off than Obama! Here’s a quick refresher of how the rich asshole has trashed Obama over the years:
By Vera·
While it seems like some rich asshole hasn’t worked a single full day since he stepped foot in the White House, the former reality television star apparently feels differently.
Currently, the rich asshole is ‘busy’ enjoying his 17-day vacation, despite the fact that he’s already spent approximately 20% of his presidency on the golf course, and much more time glued to cable news and his Twitter account. If there’s any POTUS that doesn’t deserve to take time off, it’s certainly #45.
the rich asshole has gotten a lot of backlash over taking time off, especially considering how much the rich asshole criticized former president Barack Obama for taking a little bit of time off. It’s quite hilarious, because Obama worked his a** off for America. the rich asshole hasn’t done a damn thing besides create chaos and humiliate the country, and he’s already taken three times as much time off than Obama! Here’s a quick refresher of how the rich asshole has trashed Obama over the years:
Now that the rich asshole is being outed for being the laziest POTUS we’ve ever had, it’s no wonder he threw an absolute FIT today in response to the criticism. This evening, the rich asshole took a break from his golf outing at New Jersey’s Bedminster Golf Resort to whine about how he’s working hard and NOT on vacation, despite the fact that this is totally a vacation.
Seriously pathetic. the rich asshole even left work early to begin his golfing holiday today. The hypocrisy that follows everything the rich asshole does is just mind-blowing. He truly lives in his own world, far removed from reality and any sort of logical thought.
the rich asshole does not deserve to be taking a holiday right now. He is ignoring America’s pressing issues and the American people while creating disturbance everywhere he goes. Deep down, he knows he doesn’t deserve it – or else he wouldn’t be so damn defensive.
White voters are fleeing the rich asshole
NEWSWEEK
05 AUG 2017 AT 09:52 ET
August 5, 2017 Tim Marcin
‘Serious issues and problems’: Federal employees step up their resistance to the rich asshole administration
some rich asshole during CNN debate (Photo: Screen capture via video)
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Employees in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and other federal departments are becoming increasingly outspoken and defiant about President some rich asshole and the steps he has taken to neuter or misdirect their agencies.
The Hill reported on Saturday that current and former staffers of the EPA have been vocal in recent weeks that the rich asshole’s changes are dismantling their agency and pose the threat to environmental catastrophe for the U.S. and the world.
This week, Elizabeth “Betsy” Southerland handed in her resignation as director of science and technology in the federal Office of Water and did it with a scorching open letter directed at the rich asshole and his appointee to direct the EPA Scott Pruitt.
Jeff Ruch — executive director of the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) — told The Hill it’s “kind of obvious” why public employees would be in open revolt against a president who appears bent on dismantling their agencies.
The the rich asshole administration has dragged its feet on hiring federal officials to staff the top ranks of multiple critical federal agencies such as the State Department, the Department of Defense, the EPA and security agencies like the NSA.
Administration critics have echoed the alarms sounded from within these agencies — pointing out that the U.S. is critically vulnerable to any actual crisis while its leadership is deeply engaged in misinformation, political infighting and resisting investigation for its ties to a hostile foreign power.
The the rich asshole administration has responded to whistleblowers and intra-agency conflicts by threatening to jail “leakers” who expose the White House’s failures and fabrications.
“I think career staff don’t typically speak out publicly unless they feel like there are serious issues and problems going on within the agency,” said Liz Purchia — a former Obama administration EPA spokeswoman — to The Hill.
“It takes a lot of guts for someone to make the decision to end their government service and to put themselves out there for public scrutiny and comment,” she said. “You wouldn’t see that if they didn’t feel like there was a considerable threat to the agency and its missions.”
This week the U.S. Coast Guard’s Admiral Paul Zukunft announced that he will defy President the rich asshole’s twitter announcement that all transgender personnel will be purged from the U.S. military. He pledged that he will “not break faith” with trans personnel who have invested their lives in the Coast Guard.
Last month, national ethics czar Walter Shaub of the National Office of Ethics resigned from his post, saying that his job has become impossible in an age when the president is so clearly apathetic about his conflicts of interest and determined to make money off his presidency.
White voters are fleeing the rich asshole
NEWSWEEK
05 AUG 2017 AT 09:52 ET
August 5, 2017 Tim Marcin
Posted with permission from Newsweek
The voters who launched President Donald Trump into the White House appear to be growing tired with his administration just six months through his tenure.
A new poll this week from Quinnipiac University found that not only had Trump's approval rating sunk to a new low, but support among key demographics Trump won during the 2016 election—most notably white voters without a college degree—had also dropped off.
Just 33 percent of voters approved of Trump's job performance overall, a sharp decline from 40 percent approval in the Quinnipiac poll at the end of June. Sixty-one percent of voters disapproved of Trump in the latest survey.
But even among white, non-college voters—the folks often credited with handing Trump the presidency—the president's approval rating was underwater. Just 43 percent of that demographic approved of Trump's job performance while 50 percent disapproved. In June, 53 percent of white voters without a college degree approved of the president. In the 2016 election, meanwhile, 66 percent of whites with no college degree voted for Trump, according to exit polls.
The survey was chock full of bad news for the former reality TV start turned most powerful man on Earth amid an ongoing investigation into his ties to Russia and a White House that has largely been defined by chaos and confusion. It also hasn't helped that Trump has fired or lost key staffers at a stupendous clip, including the recent departure of former communications director Anthony Scaramucci after just ten days.
"It's hard to pick what is the most alarming number in the troubling trail of new lows for President Donald Trump," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University poll in a statement. "Profound embarrassment over his performance in office and deepening concern over his level-headedness have to raise the biggest red flags. The daily drip drip of missteps and firings and discord are generating a tidal wave of bad polling numbers."
Even among white, male voters—62 percent of whom voted for Trump in November, according to exit polls—were split on Trump. Forty-seven percent of white men approved of the job Trump is doing while 48 percent disapproved, according to Quinnipiac. White women—52 percent of whom voted for Trump—disapproved of the president's job performance by a large margin, 64 percent to 31 percent. The Quinnipiac poll interviewed 1,125 voters from July 27 through August 1. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.
Nearly every survey this week was not kind to Trump. For instance, Rasmussen Reports—a firm that has been criticized as right-leaning and has long found better results for the former reality TV star compared to other pollsters—found the president's approval rating at one point dipped to an all-time low of just 38 percent. By the end of the week, the weighted average from data-focused website FiveThirtyEight had Trump's approval rating at just 37 percent, an all-time low.
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