October 16th, 2017 - October 17th, 2017. 336-337 days since the Nov 8, 2016, election of some rich asshole, no.45, and 268-269 days since the Jan 20th inauguration.
the rich asshole Just Agreed To Support Legislation To SAVE Obamacare From His OWN Executive Order
GOP Senator Lamar Alexander and Democratic Senator Patty Murray have announced an agreement on a piece of bipartisan Obamacare legislation that will fund key Obamacare subsidies that were ended by President the rich asshole’s executive order last week. Meanwhile, the rich asshole just finished a press conference at the White House with Prime Minister of Greece Tsipras, where he both championed killing subsidies for Obamacare, while claiming he supports Alexander and Murray’s legislation to reverse his executive order. You can’t make this up.
“Senator Murray and I have an agreement,” Alexander said today, “We’re going to round up co-sponsors as best we can.” Their agreement provides two years of funding for Obamacare’s cost-sharing program that President the rich asshole cut last week. the rich asshole championed his executive order that killed these key Obamacare subsidies at the White house today, a mere 10 minutes before he completely reversed his position and confirmed that he would support Murray and Alexander’s new legislation to revive the subsidies.
“So when I knocked out the hundreds of millions of dollars a month being paid back to insurance companies by politicians…I said I’m not going to do it. They’ve had an incredible run and it’s not appropriate. Obamacare is a disaster.” said the rich asshole, in support of his Obamacare subsidy killing executive order. You can see his comments in the footage below.
the rich asshole was then asked about the new Obamacare saving deal about 10 minutes later, as the deal was announced during the rich asshole’s press conference. “Apparently Lamar Alexander has said he’s made a deal with Senator Patty Murray to stabilize Obamacare. Has the White House been involved in those negotiations and will you support that deal?” a reporter asked the rich asshole, to which he replied, “Yes, we have been involved and this is a short term deal.” You can see this eyeopening flip flop below.
Chuck Schumer has already offered a statement in support of this new Obamacare saving deal. Democrats will be coming out strong today to attack President the rich asshole for this seemingly unprecedented flip flop. There has never been a President who issued an executive order to end a piece of legislation, who then supported different legislation, less than a week later, to reverse said executive order.
McCain Responds With Zero Fucks To Give Over the rich asshole’s Threat
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz) went full-Maverick during an emotional speech Monday night after receiving the National Constitution Center’s Liberty Medal. McCain appeared to target some rich asshole and his nationalist base.
“To fear the world we have organized and led for three-quarters of a century, to abandon the ideals we have advanced around the globe, to refuse the obligations of international leadership and our duty to remain ‘the last best hope of earth’ for the sake of some half-baked, spurious nationalism cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems is as unpatriotic as an attachment to any other tired dogma of the past that Americans consigned to the ash heap of history,” McCain said in the speech.
The Arizona senator continued to say that “we live in a land made of ideals, not blood and soil.”
That was just too much for the former reality show star to take.
the rich asshole warned the Arizona Republican, who has brain cancer, and served in the Navy for more than two decades and spent years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, that at some point he would “fight back” and added that “it won’t be pretty.”
Trump, asked about McCain on @ChrisPlanteShow: "I'm being very, very nice. But at some point I fight back, and it won't be pretty."
President Bone Spurs has been the recipient of multiple deferments and never served in the military, by the way.
McCain responded to the rich asshole’s warning, saying, “I’ve faced far greater challenges than this,” according to a CNN reporter.
In response to Trump's threat, McCain had this blunt response: "I’ve faced far greater challenges than this" twitter.com/danmericaCNN/s…
In 2015, the rich asshole attacked McCain for being a prisoner of war. “He’s not a war hero,” the rich asshole said at the time. “He was a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren’t captured.”
McCain was repeatedly tortured while being held in a notorious North Vietnamese prison for about five and a half years. Two of those years were spent in solitary confinement. We’re pretty sure Sen. McCain isn’t breaking a sweat over the 71-year-old baby’s threats.
We don’t have to always agree with McCain’s politics to admire him.
John Kelly and his wife sat with Michelle Obama at Gold Star family gathering after son’s death: report
General John Kelly (Youtube)
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President some rich asshole politicized the death of his chief of staff’s son to slur his predecessor — and it appears he may not be telling the whole truth.
the rich asshole claimed Monday that President Barack Obama did not call the families of slain service members, and he suggested Tuesday that the former president had disrespected retired Gen. John Kelly by neglecting to call when his Marine son was killed.
“You could ask General Kelly if he got a call from Obama,” the rich asshole said.
It’s not clear that Obama offered condolences to Kelly by phone, but CNN’s Jeff Zeleny said the retired general and his wife joined first lady Michelle Obama at her table during a White House breakfast for Gold Star families in 2011.
“President Obama engaged families of the fallen and wounded warriors throughout his presidency through calls, letters, visits to [Arlington Cemetery], visits to Walter Reed, visits to Dover, and regular meetings with Gold Star families at the White House and across the country,” a former White House official told Politico.
Second Lt. Robert Kelly was killed at age 29 while leading a platoon in Afghanistan in November 2010, and his father delivered a speech four days later about military sacrifices and the troops’ growing isolation from society.
His father has largely avoided speaking publicly about his family’s loss since then, and asked the Marine Corps officer who introduced him ahead of that impassioned speech not to mention his son.
“We are only one of 5,500 American families who have suffered the loss of a child in this war,” Kelly told the Washington Post six years ago. “The death of my boy simply cannot be made to seem any more tragic than the others.”
Reporter calls the rich asshole a liar to his face: Claiming US is ‘highest taxed country’ is ‘objectively false’
Mike Sacks speaks to some rich asshole (screen grab)
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Scripps news political correspondent Mike Sacks this week called out President’s the rich asshole’s false claim that the U.S. the “highest taxed” country in the world.
At a White House event on Monday, the president called the United States the “highest taxed country in the world.” It’s a common the rich asshole claim that has been repeatedly debunked.
Sacks caught up with the president at the White House later on Monday. He posted video of the conversation on Twitter.
Sacks explained to the rich asshole that his claim was “seen as objectively false.”
“With the credibility you need to pass tax reform, why did you say it?” Sacks asked.
“Some people will say it differently,” the rich asshole insisted, forgiving himself. “They’ll say we’re the highest developed nation taxed in the world.”
“Then why are you saying it that way?” Sacks pressed.
“Because a lot of people know exactly what I’m talking about,” the rich asshole opined. “But in many cases, they think I’m right when I say the highest. As far as I’m concerned, I think we’re really essentially the highest. But if you would like to add the developed nation, you can say that too.”
“But a lot of people think the way that I’m saying it is exactly correct,” the president added before walking away.
For what it’s worth, the U.S. is is ranked in the middle for both revenue collected per person and individual tax income rates among developed countries.
Senator John McCain of Arizona quickly issued a beautiful response to President the rich asshole this Tuesday morning, after learning that the rich asshole had issued warnings to McCain in an attempt to intimidate him. the rich asshole warned McCain that he should be careful in calling out the President.
“People have to be careful, because at some point I fight back,” the rich asshole told WMAL radio host Chris Plante, “I’m being very nice. I’m being very, very nice. But at some point, I fight back, and it won’t be pretty.”
the rich asshole’s attempt to intimidate has completely backfired though, as McCain’s response is that of a true warrior. “I’ve faced far greater challenges than this,” McCain said, according to a CNN reporter. McCain’s allusion to his military service and brain cancer here, is basically unbeatable in a war with words.
This war of words is the product of McCain calling out the rich asshole in a speech yesterday, where he called out “half-baked, spurious nationalism” in the United States. McCain gave his speech after receiving the National Constitution Center’s Liberty Medal. He also referred to the rich asshole’s plan for America as, “cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems.”
FCC doesn't have authority to revoke license over content, says chairman
BY ALI BRELAND - 10/17/17 11:24 AM EDT
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) doesn’t have the authority to revoke a broadcast network’s license based on content, Chairman Ajit Pai said Tuesday in response to President the rich asshole’s call on it to challenge NBC’s FCC licenses.
“I believe in the First Amendment. The FCC, under my leadership, will stand for the first amendment,” Pai said in response to a question about calls from the rich asshole to revoke the licenses of broadcasters who, according to the president, broadcast “fake news.”
The FCC Chairman also stressed that it is “not within the FCC’s jurisdiction to handle fake news.”
the rich asshole tweeted last week that NBC’s broadcasting license should be challenged and potentially revoked after it published a story that said he had called for the nation’s nuclear stockpile to be increased by a factor of 10.
“With all of the Fake News coming out of NBC and the Networks, at what point is it appropriate to challenge their License? Bad for country!” the rich asshole tweeted in response.
“Network news has become so partisan, distorted and fake that licenses must be challenged and, if appropriate, revoked. Not fair to public!” he wrote in a separate tweet.
the rich asshole on claim Obama didn't call soldiers' families: 'You could ask General Kelly if he got a call'
BY MAX GREENWOOD - 10/17/17 10:54 AM EDT
President the rich asshole said on Tuesday that the press should ask White House chief of staff John Kelly if former President Obama called him after his son died in Afghanistan.
"To the best of my knowledge, I think I've called every family of somebody that's died, and it's the hardest call to make," the rich asshole told Fox News Radio host Brian Kilmeade. "As far as other representatives, I don't know, I mean you could ask Gen. Kelly, did he get a call from Obama?"
"I don't know what Obama's policy was," he added. "I write letters, and I also call."
Kelly's son, Marine 2nd Lt. Robert Kelly, was killed in Afghanistan in 2010. A White House official confirmed to The Hill that John Kelly did not receive a call from Obama at the time.
The president's comments came after he said during a news conference on Monday that most other presidents, including Obama, did not call the families of fallen service members.
the rich asshole's claim came in response to a question about why he had not spoken publicly about the killings of four Army Green Berets in Niger earlier this month. The president said that he had written letters to the soldiers' families and would call them soon.
“If you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls,” he said. “A lot of them didn’t make calls. I like to call when it’s appropriate.”
Pressed on his claim, the rich asshole said he was "told" Obama did not often call, but acknowledged that the former president "probably did sometimes."
Obama and other presidents have held phone calls and meetings with families of fallen soldiers, and the rich asshole's comment was heavily criticized by former staffers in the Obama administration.
--This report was updated at 12:00 p.m.
Bannon's move to purge GOP may backfire
BY BRENT BUDOWSKY, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR — 10/17/17 09:50 AM EDT 654
THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY CONTRIBUTORS ARE THEIR OWN AND NOT THE VIEW OF THE HILL
While President the rich asshole claims that his relations with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have never been better and while Stephen K. Bannon continues his war against McConnell and a long list of Republican Senators, we will learn whether Bannon is fronting for the rich asshole or acting against him.
If Bannon does not end his attacks against incumbent GOP senators, we will know that he is colluding with the president, who is dividing Republicans — and all Americans — against each other and endangering GOP control of the Senate.
Bannon is bidding to become the most powerful Republican in America by seeking to promote primary challenges against key Republicans in Congress, including possible primary challenges against every incumbent Republican senator running for reelection in 2018 except Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas).
While public disapproval of various congressional leadership has historically surged at times, what is different this time is that the president and congressional leaders of his party are so unpopular at the same time. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. McConnell both suffer from high levels of public disapproval along with the rich asshole and the Republican Congress itself.
Bannon is attempting a wholesale purge of the Republican Party by constantly attacking House and Senate Republican leaders in aggressively ideological and personal terms and actively seeking primary challenges against a large and growing number of Republican incumbents now serving in Washington.
The GOP long ago purged liberal Republicans out of the party. Now, Bannon seeks to purge moderate, centrist, center-right conservatives and bipartisan Republicans out of the party. What kind of Republican Party will be left if Bannon and far-right conservative groups succeed in their attempts to oust even very staunch conservatives, such as Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Sen. John Barasso (R-Wy.)?
There are various potential outcomes to the Bannon play. the rich asshole may seek to persuade Bannon to end his attempted purge and succeed. the rich asshole may not try to persuade Bannon to end his purge, which should show he has been colluding with Bannon behind the scenes.
If Bannon proceeds with his planned purge, his candidates could be defeated by more moderate or establishment Republicans in primaries. However, there is a very strong chance that Bannon succeeds and his candidates win a succession of primaries against incumbent Republicans, in which case, Bannon could well become the most powerful Republican in America.
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- Stephen Bannon's misplaced war
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Few will publicly admit it, but many key Democrats are privately rooting for Bannon to succeed in his play to purge the Republican Party. With the rich asshole, McConnell, Ryan and the Republican Congress so unpopular with voters at the same time, Democrats have a strong chance to regain control of the House of Representatives in the 2018 midterm elections.
With Republican Senators potentially facing a surge of ugly and divisive primary challenges, it is now possible to envision a scenario where Senate Democrats have a slim but realistic chance of winning back control of the Senate, a possibility that was unthinkable two months ago.
Remember the 2010 midterms? That year, there was a wave election that brought House Republicans to power, but the GOP nominated fringe, right-wing candidates in key Senate races, including Nevada and Delaware, who were defeated by Democrats.
Remember the 2012 Senate elections? Democrats had to defend far more seats than Republicans are trying to do in 2018, and back then, the GOP nominated fringe candidates in Missouri and Indiana, a mistake that enabled Democrats to prolong their control.
It is possible that in 2018, Democrats win a wave election that gives them control of the House, while Republicans nominate fringe candidates for the Senate that give Democrats a narrow victory to regain control of the Senate as well.
Steve Bannon may or may not end up being the most powerful Republican in America, but what he does in the coming months will probably make him the most important Republican in America.
Brent Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and former Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), then-chief deputy majority whip of the House. He holds an LL.M. in international financial law from the London School of Economics.
McCain: 'I’ve faced far greater challenges' than the rich asshole's threats
BY REBECCA SAVRANSKY - 10/17/17 11:17 AM EDT
Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Tuesday shot back at President the rich asshole after the rich asshole warned the Arizona Republican that, at some point, the president would "fight back."
"I've faced far greater challenges than this," McCain said, according to a CNN reporter.
In response to Trump's threat, McCain had this blunt response: "I’ve faced far greater challenges than this" twitter.com/danmericaCNN/s…
The back-and-forth comes after McCain in a speech late Monday blasted “half-baked, spurious nationalism” in the United States.
“To fear the world we have organized and led for three-quarters of a century, to abandon the ideals we have advanced around the globe, to refuse the obligations of international leadership and our duty to remain 'the last best hope of earth' for the sake of some half-baked, spurious nationalism cooked up by people who would rather find scapegoats than solve problems is as unpatriotic as an attachment to any other tired dogma of the past that Americans consigned to the ash heap of history,” McCain said after receiving the National Constitution Center's Liberty Medal.
the rich asshole was asked about the remarks from McCain during a radio interview on Tuesday — and issued a warning.
"At some point, I fight back and it won't be pretty," the rich asshole said on "The Chris Plante Show."
Trump, asked about McCain on @ChrisPlanteShow: "I'm being very, very nice. But at some point I fight back, and it won't be pretty."
Trump, asked about McCain on @ChrisPlanteShow: "I'm being very, very nice. But at some point I fight back, and it won't be pretty."
McCain, who was diagnosed with brain cancer in July, served in the Navy for more than two decades and spent years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.
the rich asshole has attacked McCain in the past after he voted against a GOP bill to repeal and replace ObamaCare.
the rich asshole: Ask Gen. Kelly if Obama Called When His Son Died
WASHINGTON — President some rich asshole on Tuesday defended his false claim that his predecessor didn't call the families of soldiers killed in action by alluding to former Gen. John Kelly's son, a Marine who died in Afghanistan.
"You could ask General Kelly, Did he get a call from Obama?" the rich asshole said in a radio interview with Fox News' Brian Kilmeade.
Kelly, who came on as the rich asshole's chief of staff in July, does not often speak about the son he lost in 2010. 1st Lt. Robert Michael Kelly, 29, was killed in combat in Afghanistan after stepping on a landmine.
"I don't know what Obama's policy was. I write letters and I also call," the rich asshole said, adding he has called "virtually everybody" during his past nine months as commander in chief.
the rich asshole: Ask Gen. Kelly If He Got A Call From Obama2:19
the rich asshole's comments Tuesday come a day after he falsely claimed that President Barack Obama did not call the families of soldiers killed in action after being asked why he had not yet addressed the deaths of American troops killed in Niger earlier this month.
When pressed by NBC News on how he could make that claim, the rich asshole said he was told that Obama "didn't often" call families of fallen soldiers.
"President Obama, I think, probably did sometimes, and maybe sometimes he didn't. I don't know. That's what I was told. All I can do — all I can do is ask my generals," he said.
According to a 2011 profile in The Boston Globe, Kelly has avoided speaking publicly about his son so as not to draw attention.
"We are not inclined to make ourselves out to be any different, just because I’m a lieutenant general in the Marines," Kelly said then. "We are just one family. It's not worse for us; it's not easier for us."
A White House official told NBC News on Tuesday that Obama did not call Kelly after the death of his son.
A former senior Obama administration official disputed the rich asshole's initial claim on Monday that Obama didn't call Gold Star families, calling it "wrong."
"President Obama engaged families of the fallen and wounded warriors throughout his presidency through calls, letters, visits to Section 60 at Arlington, visits to Walter Reed, visits to Dover, and regular meetings with Gold Star Families at the White House and across the country," the ex-official told NBC.
the rich asshole said Tuesday that he had to allow a little time to pass but he "will be calling, have called, and will be calling the parents and loved ones, wives of the soldiers that recently were killed."
The White House said later that the president was scheduled to call the families of the four soldiers killed in Niger on Tuesday.
the rich asshole drops 92 spots on Forbes richest list after losing $600 million
some rich asshole greets supporters and tourists at the the rich asshole Tower on July 22, 2015 in New York City
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President some rich asshole reportedly lost $600 million last year, causing him to drop 92 spots on the Forbes list of richest people.
CNN reported on Tuesday that the rich asshole dropped to the number 248 spot on the list of the richest 400 Americans after becoming president.
Forbes cited a tough real estate market and the cost of the rich asshole’s presidential race for the decline in his net worth.
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President some rich asshole reportedly lost $600 million last year, causing him to drop 92 spots on the Forbes list of richest people.
CNN reported on Tuesday that the rich asshole dropped to the number 248 spot on the list of the richest 400 Americans after becoming president.
Forbes cited a tough real estate market and the cost of the rich asshole’s presidential race for the decline in his net worth.
the rich asshole backer stuns CNN by admitting the rich asshole was wrong about past presidents calling military families
Former Rep. Jack Kingston vs. Symone Sanders (Photo: Screen capture)
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Former Georgia Republican Congressman Jack Kingston has regularly been one of President some rich asshole’s top defenders during his appearances on CNN
However, on CNN Tuesday, Kingston surprised the panel by agreeing that President some rich asshole should not have claimed that past presidents have not called the families of American soldiers who have been killed in combat.
“I know I have been with President Bush when he met with members of [military] families, and Barack Obama did it, according to his staff,” Kingston said. “These things are very, very sensitive… and I think, probably, where there’s sacred ground, we just don’t talk about these things.”
Fellow panelist Symone Sanders then criticized the rich asshole for talking about himself when asked about four U.S. troops who were killed in Niger two weeks ago, while noting that the rich asshole seems to lack basic empathy for others.
Kingston defended the rich asshole on this count and called the president “an empathetic guy,” despite the fact that he doesn’t appear that way in his public appearances.
“His personal persona, I guess, is a lot different than what we see in public,” he insisted.
Watch the video below.
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Former Georgia Republican Congressman Jack Kingston has regularly been one of President some rich asshole’s top defenders during his appearances on CNN
However, on CNN Tuesday, Kingston surprised the panel by agreeing that President some rich asshole should not have claimed that past presidents have not called the families of American soldiers who have been killed in combat.
“I know I have been with President Bush when he met with members of [military] families, and Barack Obama did it, according to his staff,” Kingston said. “These things are very, very sensitive… and I think, probably, where there’s sacred ground, we just don’t talk about these things.”
Fellow panelist Symone Sanders then criticized the rich asshole for talking about himself when asked about four U.S. troops who were killed in Niger two weeks ago, while noting that the rich asshole seems to lack basic empathy for others.
Kingston defended the rich asshole on this count and called the president “an empathetic guy,” despite the fact that he doesn’t appear that way in his public appearances.
“His personal persona, I guess, is a lot different than what we see in public,” he insisted.
Watch the video below.
the rich asshole warns McCain to ‘be careful’ about criticizing him: ‘I fight back — and it won’t be pretty’
Sen. John McCain (R), Dolnald Trimp -- AFP/Gage Skidmore via Flickr
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President some rich asshole on Tuesday fired back at Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who on Monday delivered a speech slamming the rich asshole’s brand of “half-baked nationalism.”
Appearing on talk radio station WMAL in Washington DC, the rich asshole was asked about the criticism McCain leveled at him this week, in which he lashed out at “half baked, spurious nationalism” that’s being “cooked up by people who had rather find scapegoats than solve problems.”
“People have to be careful because at some point I fight back,” the rich asshole told WMAL radio host Chris Plante. “You know, I’m being very nice. I’m being very, very nice. But at some point I fight back and it won’t be pretty.”
the rich asshole has regularly attacked McCain after the senator was a key vote against the Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act this past summer. In addition to McCain, the rich asshole has also regularly picked fights with Sens. Bob Corker (R-TN) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ).
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President some rich asshole on Tuesday fired back at Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who on Monday delivered a speech slamming the rich asshole’s brand of “half-baked nationalism.”
Appearing on talk radio station WMAL in Washington DC, the rich asshole was asked about the criticism McCain leveled at him this week, in which he lashed out at “half baked, spurious nationalism” that’s being “cooked up by people who had rather find scapegoats than solve problems.”
“People have to be careful because at some point I fight back,” the rich asshole told WMAL radio host Chris Plante. “You know, I’m being very nice. I’m being very, very nice. But at some point I fight back and it won’t be pretty.”
the rich asshole has regularly attacked McCain after the senator was a key vote against the Republican efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act this past summer. In addition to McCain, the rich asshole has also regularly picked fights with Sens. Bob Corker (R-TN) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ).
NFL officials to discuss the rich asshole’s demand to punish players who kneel during the national anthem
A protester demonstrates and holds a sign with Colin Kaepernick on it in support of NFL players who "take a knee" before kickoff and during the National Anthem protesting police violence while she sings the "Black National Anthem" outside the StubHub Center where the Los Angeles Chargers are playing the Philadelphia Eagles in an NFL football game in Carson, California, U.S. October 1, 2017. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok
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National Football League officials will weigh the fervor of players who protest racism by kneeling for the national anthem against the anger of U.S. President some rich asshole at their two-day autumn meeting beginning on Tuesday in New York City.
the rich asshole’s unflagging criticism of the symbolic gesture as unpatriotic, which he repeated as recently as Monday, has only made the practice more widespread. His calls for fans to boycott games if players persist is an unwelcome prospect even for the world’s highest-grossing sports league and have forced the topic high up the regularly scheduled meeting’s agenda.
An NFL spokesman said ahead of the meeting that the president may not see an outright ban on the act soon, if ever.
“I anticipate a very productive presentation of things we can do to work together,” Joe Lockhart, the spokesman, told reporters ahead of the gathering of team owners, players and their union’s leaders at a Manhattan hotel. “Beyond that I don’t anticipate anything else.”
the rich asshole wants the league to punish players with suspension if they kneel during the pre-game renditions of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” saying on Monday the players were disrespecting the country. His vice president, Mike Pence, walked out of the stadium in Indianapolis earlier this month as players began kneeling, which the rich asshole said he had instructed Pence to do.
Some team owners, including Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, sympathize with the president. Jones said he would punish players who kneel by keeping them off the field.
The league was more inclined to seek a compromise that allowed an outlet for the players’ political activism rather than to compel them to stand during the anthem, Lockhart said.
The small but growing number of players who have taken to kneeling say they are protesting against the police killings of unarmed black men and boys across the United States and racial disparities in the criminal justice system. More than half of all NFL players are black.
Players, along with their union the NFL Players Association, have bristled at the rich asshole’s assertion they are unpatriotic. Though still a minority, more players have begun kneeling since the new season began, and some sympathetic teammates have linked arms with the kneelers while standing themselves.
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who first popularized the gesture last year, said he settled on kneeling as a form of protest because it is widely seen as a gesture of respect.
(Reporting by Jonathan Allen; Additional reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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National Football League officials will weigh the fervor of players who protest racism by kneeling for the national anthem against the anger of U.S. President some rich asshole at their two-day autumn meeting beginning on Tuesday in New York City.
the rich asshole’s unflagging criticism of the symbolic gesture as unpatriotic, which he repeated as recently as Monday, has only made the practice more widespread. His calls for fans to boycott games if players persist is an unwelcome prospect even for the world’s highest-grossing sports league and have forced the topic high up the regularly scheduled meeting’s agenda.
An NFL spokesman said ahead of the meeting that the president may not see an outright ban on the act soon, if ever.
“I anticipate a very productive presentation of things we can do to work together,” Joe Lockhart, the spokesman, told reporters ahead of the gathering of team owners, players and their union’s leaders at a Manhattan hotel. “Beyond that I don’t anticipate anything else.”
the rich asshole wants the league to punish players with suspension if they kneel during the pre-game renditions of “The Star-Spangled Banner,” saying on Monday the players were disrespecting the country. His vice president, Mike Pence, walked out of the stadium in Indianapolis earlier this month as players began kneeling, which the rich asshole said he had instructed Pence to do.
Some team owners, including Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, sympathize with the president. Jones said he would punish players who kneel by keeping them off the field.
The league was more inclined to seek a compromise that allowed an outlet for the players’ political activism rather than to compel them to stand during the anthem, Lockhart said.
The small but growing number of players who have taken to kneeling say they are protesting against the police killings of unarmed black men and boys across the United States and racial disparities in the criminal justice system. More than half of all NFL players are black.
Players, along with their union the NFL Players Association, have bristled at the rich asshole’s assertion they are unpatriotic. Though still a minority, more players have begun kneeling since the new season began, and some sympathetic teammates have linked arms with the kneelers while standing themselves.
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who first popularized the gesture last year, said he settled on kneeling as a form of protest because it is widely seen as a gesture of respect.
(Reporting by Jonathan Allen; Additional reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
CNN conservative says the rich asshole is the real victim after smearing past presidents with a brazen lie
Conservative radio host Ben Ferguson (Photo: Screen capture)
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In an early morning news panel about the four Green Berets killed in an ISIS ambush in Niger, conservative Ben Ferguson seemed to indicate it was President some rich asshole who was the real victim of the media.
During a press conference Monday, the rich asshole claimed that he hasn’t called the families of the four soldiers killed because it’s traditionally not done. That was so far from the truth that the internet exploded with photos of past presidents on both sides of the aisle calling families or standing at Dover as their bodies came off of planes.
Ferguson explained that the rich asshole’s response was a reflex because “he was on the defense as if there was a criticism of him.” The White House later was forced to “clarify” the rich asshole’s response saying that the rich asshole was told “they did not always call.”
“Lying has become a favorite past time,” said Jenn Psaki “I worked for [President Barack] Obama for eight years, and not only did he call the families, he welcomed gold star families to the White House, and he visited Walter Reed every month, and visited Dover and welcomed and honored the bodies of fallen soldiers. I would ask whether President the rich asshole is doing any of those things. Honoring soldiers or military and families is part of what we focused on nearly every single day. I know that was the case for President [George W.] Bush as well. It’s disheartening and I find it pathetic. We did not publicize all these visits, and neither did Bush or his predecessors.”
Ferguson did notably say that the sad part of the story was that this has distracted from the deaths of the soldiers themselves. Earlier, CNN co-host Chris Cuomo called the rich asshole’s comments a “fog” and “distraction” from the fact that Americans still don’t know how these men died. Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr also said that it’s unknown why the body of one of the men lay on the battlefield for two days before being retrieved.
“I think the president’s point is, ‘Look, I was going to contact them and I wrote letters over the weekend, and not every single time a soldier passes away in action do presidents call them,'” Ferguson tried to explain. “Unfortunately, this has turned into a political talking point.”
Co-host Alisyn Camerota wasn’t buying it, saying that it was the rich asshole that caused this problem and this distraction by blaming his inaction on past presidents.
“He did that by throwing his predecessors under the bus,” she said.
Ferguson tried to recall what the White House clarification was, but Camerota wasn’t buying it.
“You are trying to come up with the logic of why he would say that,” she cut in. “Why, when he is criticized, he will throw past presidents under the bus like that?”
Ferguson said that if you compare the soldiers that died under the Bush and Obama administrations it was a lot of soldiers, so clearly they couldn’t call every single family.
Psaki cut in to say that was why she was so shocked. Previous presidents had thousands, while the rich asshole has had four, and still couldn’t manage it. Instead, the rich asshole made it about him, claiming it was “hard” for him to do.
Watch the exchange below:
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In an early morning news panel about the four Green Berets killed in an ISIS ambush in Niger, conservative Ben Ferguson seemed to indicate it was President some rich asshole who was the real victim of the media.
During a press conference Monday, the rich asshole claimed that he hasn’t called the families of the four soldiers killed because it’s traditionally not done. That was so far from the truth that the internet exploded with photos of past presidents on both sides of the aisle calling families or standing at Dover as their bodies came off of planes.
Ferguson explained that the rich asshole’s response was a reflex because “he was on the defense as if there was a criticism of him.” The White House later was forced to “clarify” the rich asshole’s response saying that the rich asshole was told “they did not always call.”
“Lying has become a favorite past time,” said Jenn Psaki “I worked for [President Barack] Obama for eight years, and not only did he call the families, he welcomed gold star families to the White House, and he visited Walter Reed every month, and visited Dover and welcomed and honored the bodies of fallen soldiers. I would ask whether President the rich asshole is doing any of those things. Honoring soldiers or military and families is part of what we focused on nearly every single day. I know that was the case for President [George W.] Bush as well. It’s disheartening and I find it pathetic. We did not publicize all these visits, and neither did Bush or his predecessors.”
Ferguson did notably say that the sad part of the story was that this has distracted from the deaths of the soldiers themselves. Earlier, CNN co-host Chris Cuomo called the rich asshole’s comments a “fog” and “distraction” from the fact that Americans still don’t know how these men died. Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr also said that it’s unknown why the body of one of the men lay on the battlefield for two days before being retrieved.
“I think the president’s point is, ‘Look, I was going to contact them and I wrote letters over the weekend, and not every single time a soldier passes away in action do presidents call them,'” Ferguson tried to explain. “Unfortunately, this has turned into a political talking point.”
Co-host Alisyn Camerota wasn’t buying it, saying that it was the rich asshole that caused this problem and this distraction by blaming his inaction on past presidents.
“He did that by throwing his predecessors under the bus,” she said.
Ferguson tried to recall what the White House clarification was, but Camerota wasn’t buying it.
“You are trying to come up with the logic of why he would say that,” she cut in. “Why, when he is criticized, he will throw past presidents under the bus like that?”
Ferguson said that if you compare the soldiers that died under the Bush and Obama administrations it was a lot of soldiers, so clearly they couldn’t call every single family.
Psaki cut in to say that was why she was so shocked. Previous presidents had thousands, while the rich asshole has had four, and still couldn’t manage it. Instead, the rich asshole made it about him, claiming it was “hard” for him to do.
Watch the exchange below:
Man In ‘I Stand For The National Anthem’ Shirt Thinks American Flag Is A Lawn Chair
You know how the rich asshole supporters are screaming because brown people are protesting police violence and discrimination by peacefully kneeling for the National Anthem? Well, a photograph has surfaced that perfectly demonstrates the hypocrisy of the “fornicate with the flag” movement or whatever those screaming about it are calling themselves these days.
the rich asshole fans love to wave around their American flags while screaming “America First” but when you look at the respect conservatives actually show for their flag and country, you have to consider having a physician on standby to prevent you from dying of laughter.
One right-wing “protester” wearing a shirt that says “I STAND FOR THE NATIONAL ANTHEM” was captured at a Jets game Sunday casually lounging on the same American flag he waves as he claims he’s the biggest patriot in the history of patriotism with his trusty beer next to him.
Deadspin reports that the person who snapped the photo saw the spectacle as they were walking with a friend through the stadium during the third quarter of the game.
“There is a huge tv screen by the food carts right inside the stadium where people gather to watch. We went over there to check it out and we saw him spread the flag out and sit down,” they said. “I thought it was too ironic so I snagged a picture. He sat on it for a few minutes before leaving.”
This is the reality of the “Patriots” on the Right. They talk a big game whenever they see a rainbow American flag or whenever an African-American person is kneeling in front of one as the National Anthem plays. But when it comes to respecting the flag — well, you see what happens.
You know how the rich asshole supporters are screaming because brown people are protesting police violence and discrimination by peacefully kneeling for the National Anthem? Well, a photograph has surfaced that perfectly demonstrates the hypocrisy of the “fornicate with the flag” movement or whatever those screaming about it are calling themselves these days.
the rich asshole fans love to wave around their American flags while screaming “America First” but when you look at the respect conservatives actually show for their flag and country, you have to consider having a physician on standby to prevent you from dying of laughter.
One right-wing “protester” wearing a shirt that says “I STAND FOR THE NATIONAL ANTHEM” was captured at a Jets game Sunday casually lounging on the same American flag he waves as he claims he’s the biggest patriot in the history of patriotism with his trusty beer next to him.
Deadspin reports that the person who snapped the photo saw the spectacle as they were walking with a friend through the stadium during the third quarter of the game.
“There is a huge tv screen by the food carts right inside the stadium where people gather to watch. We went over there to check it out and we saw him spread the flag out and sit down,” they said. “I thought it was too ironic so I snagged a picture. He sat on it for a few minutes before leaving.”
This is the reality of the “Patriots” on the Right. They talk a big game whenever they see a rainbow American flag or whenever an African-American person is kneeling in front of one as the National Anthem plays. But when it comes to respecting the flag — well, you see what happens.
Huckabee Sanders tries to spin the rich asshole’s fallen soldier smear of Obama: He was just ‘stating a fact’
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Screenshot)
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White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders pushed back against almost universal condemnation of President some rich asshole’s smear of previous presidents who he accused of not speaking with the families of fallen soldiers.
During a Rose Garden press conference on Monday, the rich asshole deflected charges that he failed to speak with families of Green Berets recently killed in combat.
“If you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls” to the families of soldiers who died in combat, the rich asshole claimed, leading a former Obama official to call the rich asshole a “liar” and “a deranged animal.”
According to Huckabee Sanders, “The president wasn’t criticizing his predecessors, but stating a fact.”
You can read her parsing of the rich asshole’s comments below.
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White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders pushed back against almost universal condemnation of President some rich asshole’s smear of previous presidents who he accused of not speaking with the families of fallen soldiers.
During a Rose Garden press conference on Monday, the rich asshole deflected charges that he failed to speak with families of Green Berets recently killed in combat.
“If you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls” to the families of soldiers who died in combat, the rich asshole claimed, leading a former Obama official to call the rich asshole a “liar” and “a deranged animal.”
According to Huckabee Sanders, “The president wasn’t criticizing his predecessors, but stating a fact.”
You can read her parsing of the rich asshole’s comments below.
the rich asshole says military should not have to help with food, water distribution in Puerto Rico
- The military is helping distribute water and food in Puerto Rico, but President the rich asshole says that's "something that really they shouldn't have to be doing."
- The U.S. territory has been reeling in the wake of Hurricane Maria, which left most of the island without power or access to clean drinking water.
- the rich asshole has faced criticism for an apparent lack of empathy amid the disaster response.
President some rich asshole on Monday said he thinks Democratic lawmakers will be scapegoated for turmoil in the insurance market kicked off by the rich asshole’s announcement last week that he would end cost-sharing reduction (CSR) payments to insurers.
Man rescued from Taliban: I thought my captors were kidding when they said the rich asshole was president
BY JACQUELINE THOMSEN - 10/16/17 09:11 AM EDT
A CANADIAN MAN WHO WAS RECENTLY FREED AFTER BEING HELD IN AFGHANISTAN BY TALIBAN-TIED KIDNAPPERS FOR FIVE YEARS SAID HE THOUGHT HIS CAPTORS WERE JOKING WHEN THEY TOLD HIM SOME RICH ASSHOLE WAS PRESIDENT.
JOSHUA BOYLE TOLD THE TORONTO STAR THAT ONE OF THE CAPTORS SAID THE RICH ASSHOLE WAS ELECTED PRESIDENT BEFORE HE WAS FORCED TO FILM A “PROOF-OF-LIFE” VIDEO.
“It didn’t enter my mind that he was being serious,” Boyle said.
The Boyles were kidnapped in 2012 and were held for five years before being rescued by Pakistani forces last week.
BOYLE’S FAMILY — HIS AMERICAN WIFE CAITLAN COLEMAN AND THEIR THREE YOUNG CHILDREN, WHO WERE ALL BORN IN CAPTIVITY — WERE RESCUED AFTER U.S. INTELLIGENCE DIRECTED PAKISTANI AUTHORITIES TO THE FAMILY'S LOCATION.
THE FAMILY WAS IN THE TRUNK OF A CAR WHEN THEIR KIDNAPPERS WERE CAUGHT IN A SHOOTOUT WITH PAKISTANI FORCES. THE CAPTORS WERE ALL KILLED DURING THE RESCUE.
Updated at 2:20 p.m. ET
Not much of significance has gotten through this Congress, despite the House, Senate and White House all being controlled by the same party — Republicans.
President the rich asshole says, don't blame him.
"We're not getting the job done. And I'm not going to blame myself, I'll be honest," the rich asshole said during short remarks in a Cabinet meeting.
He then shifted away from "we" to "they."
"They're not getting the job done," the president said of Congress.
It's a continued attempt by the rich asshole to draw a line between him and Republicans in Congress. It's something that has irritated Republicans, who feel the president hasn't shown the rigor to understand the details of legislation to adequately sell it.
the rich asshole was asked about his former chief strategist Steve Bannon's efforts to put up primary challenges to establishment Republicans in Congress. the rich asshole said he understands it and seemed supportive.
"And I can understand where Steve Bannon is coming from," the rich asshole said, "and I can understand, to be honest with you ... I can understand where a lot of people are coming from, because I'm not happy about it. And a lot of people aren't happy about it."
"Up on Capitol Hill, it's like the Ides of March," Bannon told the Values Voter Summit. "They're just looking to find out who is going to be Brutus to your Julius Caesar. We've cut your oxygen off, Mitch."Over the weekend, Bannon let loose on congressional Republicans, particularly Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell.
Later Monday, the rich asshole tried to make a show of unity with McConnell, taking to the Rose Garden of the White House for a joint appearance.
"We've been friends for a long time," the rich asshole stressed, adding, "We're probably now, despite what we read, closer than ever before."
McConnell said, as the rich asshole looked on, "We have the same agenda."
The GOP Senate leader also used the word "friends" and noted they "talk frequently."
There has been reporting that McConnell and the rich asshole don't see eye to eye, personally or professionally. They are very different men — the rich asshole is showy and bombastic; McConnell is reserved and likes to work behind the scenes.
But McConnell claimed, "Contrary to what some of you may have reported, we're together totally on this agenda to move America forward."
One of Bannon's requirements to back candidates is that they vote against McConnell as GOP leader.
"It's not my war," Bannon added, "this is our war, and y'all didn't start it, the establishment started it. ... Right now, it's a season of war against a GOP establishment."
"I think this is somebody who talks big, but at the end of the day, I just don't see it there," Law told David Greene on NPR's Morning Edition. "The only thing that's a concern for us is that we are going to have to divert some resources that we'd otherwise spend beating Democrats to make sure that we don't nominate candidates who would lose general elections the way they did in 2010 and 2012 before we got involved."Steven Law, president of the Senate Leadership Fund, a McConnell-aligned superPAC, told NPR Monday that he is not concerned about Bannon's threats.
In those two cycles, five Tea Party challengers won Republican primaries and went on to lose to Democrats in general elections. In 2014, McConnell vowed to crush insurgent primary challengers — and did so. But in the age of the rich asshole, the outsiders hope to be newly ascendant.
"The goal here is to win elections in November," McConnell said, pointing out that the candidates in 2010 and 2012 "didn't appeal to a broader electorate."
"Winners make policy and losers go home," McConnell added.
Law told NPR that the problem for the party goes beyond Bannon. "At the end of the day," Law said, "I think our problem right now is not a Steve Bannon problem. It's a product problem."
The man whose face would be on the label of that product is the president. But the rich asshole has tried to insulate his brand by taking credit for executive actions while attempting to separate himself from congressional failures.
And the rich asshole did not wave Bannon off — even when given a second chance to do so in the Cabinet meeting.
"There are some Republicans frankly that should be ashamed of themselves," the rich asshole said.
He added that "most of them" are "really really great people. ... So I can understand fully how Steve Bannon feels."
While standing next to McConnell, the rich asshole added, "Steve is doing what Steve thinks is the right thing."
He seemed to soften his earlier remarks, saying it's possible that "some of the people maybe we talk him out of that."
the rich asshole added that "with the exception of a very small few," he has a "great relationship" with many congressional Republicans.
"I like and respect most of them," he said. He stressed: "The Republican Party is very, very unified."
the rich asshole's callous health care order will haunt the GOP in 2018
BY MARIA CARDONA, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR — 10/16/17 06:20 PM EDT 65
Morally, Americans are disgusted. Republicans should be as well, and common-sense Republicans are. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) did not mince words when she said the rich asshole’s actions would directly hurt her constituents. She clearly does not support such a callous move, nor should any elected official who represents the best interests of his or her voters.
Regardless of political parties, did Americans think they would ever see a president of this great country take deliberately cynical action to hurt its citizens? This obscene scenario has now become a reality.
some rich asshole took steps last week to take away the health care subsidies used to help low-income Americans pay for their health care plan on the Affordable Care Act exchanges.
It was a petty, vindictive move that takes millions of low-income Americans hostage to the rich asshole’s petty and pernicious retribution. It also gives Americans another reason to kick Republicans out of power in 2018.
Morally, Americans are disgusted. Republicans should be as well, and common-sense Republicans are. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) did not mince words when she said the rich asshole’s actions would directly hurt her constituents. She clearly does not support such a callous move, nor should any elected official who represents the best interests of his or her voters.
Ironically, the rich asshole’s cruel intentions take aim directly at many of his supporters. According to news reports, 70 percent of Americans that will be directly affected by ending the cost-sharing subsidies live in states that the rich asshole won last November.
Many of those citizens are already very concerned with how the rich asshole’s heartless actions will affect their premiums as they are predicted to skyrocket in the months to come.
According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), the rich asshole’s actions will cause premiums to soar 20 percent and even more in 2020 and beyond, increasing upwards of 25 percent.
It would also cause the deficit to soar by 194 billion from 2017 to 2026, because larger federal subsidies would have to cover the lost cost-sharing subsidies.
It is a spiteful sabotage of ObamaCare, a program that, up until now, had been able to withstand the numerous deliberate attacks the rich asshole has waged since becoming president.
Contrary to a favorite but misguided Republican talking point, ObamaCare is not "collapsing under its own weight.” Many experts had indeed declared that the ACA was stabilizing, and insurers were starting to regain profitability.
That was before the bomb the rich asshole dropped on the ACA on Friday. I guess he realized that all of his past attempts at single-handedly destroying the law were not working.
the rich asshole and many Republicans are covering their hideously cold and heartless efforts by insisting they are merely keeping a “popular” campaign promise that helped them all get elected.
What they don’t understand is that while it may have been a beloved campaign slogan, the reality has not caught up with them.
It turns out the ACA is much more popular than any of the horrific, unworkable Republican plans that have been floated.
It turns out the ACA has actually slowed the increase in the cost curve of health care, keeping the existing premium increases much lower than they would have been without the ACA in place. It turns out that in addition to saving millions of dollars, the ACA has saved millions of lives.
No wonder this latest destructive action prompted withering but well-deserved criticism from editorial boards across the country, panning the move as cruel, unnecessary and extremely dangerous to the most vulnerable Americans — seniors, people with pre-existing conditions and low-income Americans — many of whom were the rich asshole supporters.
It has also drawn the ire of patients’ groups, doctors, health-care associations, providers and health-care advocates. They know just how detrimental and insidious these the rich asshole administration moves have been.
The American people do too.
There is a reason why Democrats now hold an 11-point advantage in the congressional generic ballot. There is a reason Emily’s List now has a record 18,000 women running for office. People are outraged, and they will hold Republicans and the rich asshole accountable.
Americans prefer their leaders work together to keep and strengthen ObamaCare instead of repealing it or letting it die by a thousand cuts.
In fact, by letting it wither on the vine, Americans will die in the process, and that is not what members of Congress or the president were elected to do.
If congressional Republicans do not realize they need to protect Americans, they will turn on them as they have already turned on the rich asshole.
Maybe then the 2018 Democratic majority will be able to work with the Republicans left standing to ensure American lives are protected and the will of the people is finally upheld.
Maria Cardona is a principal at the Dewey Square Group, a Democratic strategist and a CNN/CNN Español political commentator. Follow her on Twitter @MariaTCardona.
The Memo: the rich asshole keeps beating 2016 drum
BY NIALL STANAGE - 10/16/17 06:59 PM EDT
President the rich asshole isn’t letting the 2016 election go.
Twice on Monday — on Twitter and then at his Rose Garden news conference with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — the president jabbed at his vanquished opponent, Hillary Clinton.
The attacks irk Democrats and independent critics, who note that past presidents have generally avoided public gloating about their victories after Election Day.
“He is the only person who — after he has won — is conducting a negative campaign against his opponent,” said Democratic strategist Robert Shrum.
Sources in the rich asshole’s orbit offer a wide range of reasons why he is unwilling to let the campaign drift into the past.
They cite his taste for battle, the overall pride he takes in his victory and their sense that he likes having a foil against whom he can contrast himself.
Some say that he also considers his defeat of Clinton, against almost all predictions, as Exhibit A in his broader argument that pollsters and his media critics are detached from the realities of American life.
But even if those are all part of the rich asshole’s motivation, his attacks on Clinton may also carry some political benefits.
Few things unite a fractious Republican Party more than hostility toward Clinton.
And even though the Democrat is beloved among her base, it is a different story among the population at large.
In June, Gallup found that Clinton was seen unfavorably by 57 percent of Americans and favorably by just 41 percent.
The polling organization noted that “Over the past quarter century, the favorable ratings of losing presidential candidates generally have increased after the election. … But for Clinton, this has not been the case. Seven months after her failed bid for the presidency, she remains as unpopular now as she was then.”
To that extent, at least, the rich asshole may gain by continuing to bang the 2016 drum.
On Monday morning, he tweeted, “I was recently asked if Crooked Hillary Clinton is going to run in 2020? My answer was, ‘I hope so!’ ”
In the Rose Garden, he was asked about remarks Clinton had made defending NFL players who take a knee during the national anthem to protest racial inequality.
At one point he interrupted the questioner, John Roberts of Fox News, to say, “Hillary, please run again!”
Moments later, he added that if Clinton denied that taking a knee during the national anthem was disrespectful, “then I fully understand why she didn’t win. … I mean, look there are a lot of reasons she didn’t win, including the fact that she was not good at what she did.”
Corey Lewandowski, the rich asshole’s first campaign manager in the 2016 race, told The Hill that the rich asshole was a “counter-puncher” who was only returning fire at Clinton.
In Lewandowski’s view, Clinton has sought to avoid culpability for her own defeat in her public statements and in her recently published book, “What Happened.” The book has been accompanied by a transatlantic publicity tour, which has seen Clinton take more jabs at the rich asshole.
During a British TV interview broadcast Sunday, Clinton reacted to the current allegations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein — a friend and past donor to her campaigns — by saying in part, “After all, we have someone admitting to being a sexual assaulter in the Oval Office.”
Clinton was alluding to the lewd “Access Hollywood” tape, unearthed during the campaign, in which the rich asshole boasted of a grabbing woman by the genitals.
“What you saw from Hillary Clinton over the weekend were personal attacks on the president,” Lewandowski said. “Hillary Clinton continues to push the narrative that the election was stolen from her, when in fact she was a terrible candidate with a terrible campaign that lost in places where a Democrat had not lost in 30 years.”
the rich asshole’s fixation on 2016 has led to plenty of unusual moments.
According to a Reuters report in April, the rich asshole stopped midway through a conversation with Chinese president Xi Jinping to hand out copies of the electoral map.
"Here, you can take that, that's the final map of the numbers," Reuters quoted the rich asshole as saying. "It’s pretty good, right? The red is obviously us.”
Last month, the rich asshole retweeted an internet meme altered so it appeared to show him hitting Clinton with a golf ball.
And back in February, the rich asshole erroneously claimed at a White House news conference that he had won the biggest Electoral College victory since President Reagan.
When the inaccuracy was called out by one reporter present, the rich asshole shot back, “It was a substantial victory. You do agree with that?”
Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, said the rich asshole’s refrains about Clinton could help him in some quarters.
“The base likes him fighting. To fight you need enemies. Going back to the campaign reminds you of Enemy Number One,” he said.
But he cautioned that the gambit could be much less effective beyond the audience of the rich asshole loyalists.
“I think it hurts him with the rest of the country because it seems petty and almost irrelevant," Zelizer said. “People want to see if they have a competent president. They’re asking ‘Does he have the gravitas needed?’ And he is going back to ‘Crooked Hillary.’ ”
As California burns, the rich asshole displays little interest
Devastation on the West Coast isn't the only crisis that the rich asshole has overlooked.
A slew of natural disasters have hit the United States in the past few months. A number of islands and mainland Gulf Coast states have been impacted by severe hurricanes, while the West Coast has grappled with devastating wildfires. But the White House isn’t affording each crisis the same attention. As California faces the most destructive and deadly blaze in its history, President the rich asshole has remained uncharacteristically quiet — seemingly unaware of the disaster’s severity.
At least 40 people have died since wildfires spread across northern California last week. Of the nearly 1,500 missing persons reports filed, more than 230 people are still unaccounted for. Hundreds of homes have been destroyed and thousands of residents displaced as firefighters battle numerous fires, some burning more than 200,000 acres.
“Some of them are merely ashes and bones,” Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano said at a press conference. Giordano predicted the death count was likely to rise. “We may never get truly confirmative identification on ashes,” he continued. “When you’re cremated, you can’t get an ID.”
Paradise lost. More than a dozen homes destroyer in Silverado Oaks gated community in Napa. #NorthBayFires #Napafires
Around 11,000 firefighters were struggling to contain the fires as of Monday morning. Economic damage could exceed $70 billion, placing a strain on California’s budget. The fires have hit wine country hard; footage of Sonoma County reveals a charred landscape once home to orchards and vineyards, something that could take years to return. More immediately pressing is limited access to basic resources — power and water is out in various parts of the region and many residents are afraid of returning to their homes.
“Every day we keep hearing sirens at night, alarms,” Juan Hernandez told Bloomberg. Hernandez fled his home with his family last Monday and is set to relocate again if the wildfires return. “We’re scared,” he added. “When you see the fire close to your house, you’re scared.”
California’s crisis is undeniably dire. But that urgency hasn’t been reflected at a federal level. Residents in Florida and Texas received some attention from the rich asshole following Hurricanes Harvey and Irma last month and the president toured affected areas offering his sympathies. Californians want the same treatment — something they’ve yet to see. Typically active on Twitter, the president has been relatively quiet about the fires apart from brief acknowledgements made in person and outside the internet.
“I spoke with Governor Brown last night to know that the federal government will stand with people of California and be there with you in this time of terrible tragedy and need,” the president said early last week.
the rich asshole’s comments came shortly after California Governor Jerry Brown (D) sent a formal plea to the White House asking for help.
“These fires have forced thousands of Northern California residents to immediately evacuate their homes and seek temporary shelter in order to save their lives,” Brown wrote. “Many residents had little time to flee due to the fires’ rapid and erratic rate of spread through the rural terrain. Tragically, these fires have already taken lives and emergency responders anticipate the number of fatalities could grow.”
In addition to the rich asshole’s brief comments, Vice President Mike Pence also tweeted his support, writing that he and the rich asshole “have the communities that are affected in our thoughts [and] prayers in the days ahead.”
We're grateful for the firefighters helping to protect those in CA. @forestservice has sent 5 firefighting crews, 4 dozers & 2 strike teams
.@POTUS & I are standing w/ CA & the U.S people will have the communities that are affected in our thoughts & prayers in the days ahead.
Any further acknowledgement of California’s devastation has been relatively non-existent. the rich asshole’s Twitter is typically a source of constant updates, but the president has yet to add a single comment about the wildfires on his official accounts, despite addressing a number of other topics including health care, religion, and the chances of his former opponent Hillary Clinton running for political office again.
That oversight isn’t sitting well with Californians. In a blistering editorial, the San Francisco Chronicle called out the rich asshole’s silence, criticizing the president’s absence during such a harrowing time.
“This is not a man who is reticent to let Americans know what is foremost on his mind. He is also someone who should have learned by now — after devastating hurricanes and the Las Vegas massacre — that Americans expect their president to step forward with empathy and resolve in moments of national trauma,” the editorial notes. “Yet the rich asshole has offered no more than a few perfunctory words about the Wine Country fires that have left at least 40 dead, consumed thousands of structures and stretched the physical and mental mettle of the dedicated firefighters and medical professionals to the edge of exhaustion.”
The publication went on to blast the rich asshole’s failure to visit California (or, seemingly, to make any plans to do so) and referenced the rich asshole’s treatment of another part of the United States. Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory hit by a Category 4 hurricane almost a month ago, is in the midst of a humanitarian crisis, one that the president has repeatedly downplayed. Around 85 percent of the island is without power and more than 20 percent lack access to potable water. Puerto Ricans have been warned not to drink water at toxic waste sites after reports circulated that islanders were desperately consuming water from hazardous wells. Fixing the crisis and restoring the island is likely to take at least two years, but the rich asshole has spent his time arguing that federal responders cannot stay there “forever” while threatening to cut off aid to Puerto Rico and simultaneously praising his administration’s response efforts.
the rich asshole initially came under fire for the lag in response time to Puerto Rico’s crisis. Facing pressure and backlash, the president ultimately weighed in, only to attack the island, pointing to its pre-existing debt as the source of its many problems, rather than decades of poor policies from the mainland as well as a legacy of enduring apathy. In a Rose Garden press briefing on Monday, he doubled down, saying that the island “was in very poor shape before the hurricanes ever hit.”
Californians, meanwhile, may see little more attention than the beleaguered Puerto Rico. On Monday afternoon, the rich asshole weighed in only briefly on the wildfires during a Cabinet meeting.
“We mourn the terrible loss of life,” the rich asshole said, saying it was “very sad to watch how fast, how rapidly they move and how people are caught in their houses.”
He went on to praise federal efforts to tackle the fires before turning to discuss health care and other topics.
WH defends the rich asshole over claim Obama didn't call soldiers' families
BY OLIVIA BEAVERS - 10/16/17 06:20 PM EDT
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Monday pushed back against criticism over President the rich asshole's claim that former President Obama and other past presidents didn't call the families of fallen soldiers.
“The President wasn’t criticizing predecessors, but stating a fact," Sanders said in a statement Monday.
"Individuals claiming former Presidents, such as their bosses, called each family of the fallen, are mistaken," she added.
Some ex-aides to former President Obama, including Ben Rhodes and Alyssa Mastromonaco, took to Twitter on Monday to blast the rich asshole for his comments.
President the rich asshole made the comments during an impromptu press conference in the White House Rose Garden.
“The traditional way, if you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls, a lot of them didn’t make calls,” the rich asshole said in response to a question about four Green Berets who were killed in Niger earlier this month.
“I like to call when it’s appropriate, when I think I’m able to do it.”
When pressed on his statement, the president said he was "told" that Obama didn't call the families of slain soldiers often.
"And some presidents didn't do anything," he continued. "I like, when I can, the combination of a call and also a letter."
the rich asshole faces blowback after claim about calls to families of the fallen
BY ELLEN MITCHELL - 10/16/17 06:18 PM EDT
President the rich asshole on Monday defended his delay in responding to the recent Army Green Beret deaths in Niger — and also claimed that former President Obama and other past presidents didn’t call the families of fallen soldiers.
the rich asshole made the remark at an impromptu press conference in the White House Rose Garden after being asked why he had not yet addressed the four U.S. soldiers killed in Niger on Oct. 4.
The president said he had written personal letters to the families of the soldiers over the weekend and that they would be sent “either today or tomorrow.”
He also said he planned to call the parents and families of those who were killed, something he said he has done “traditionally.”
“The toughest calls I have to make are the calls where this happens — soldiers are killed,” the rich asshole said.
“It's a very difficult thing. Now it gets to a point where you make four or five of them in one day, it’s a very, very tough day. For me that’s by far the toughest,” he said.
“So the traditional way, if you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them, didn't make calls, a lot of them didn't make calls. I like to call when it's appropriate, when I think I'm able to do it,” he continued.
the rich asshole's remarks were immediately criticized online, as Obama and other past presidents did make calls to the families of fallen soldiers.
Obama and former President George W. Bush have both described the difficultly in making those calls.
Several former aides of Obama weighed in immediately, with former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Alyssa Mastromonaco calling it a “f---ing lie” to say Obama and other past presidents hadn’t called the families of fallen soldiers.
“He’s a deranged animal,” she said of the rich asshole in a tweet.
As the news conference continued, the rich asshole was pressed on his claim, and said that he was “told” Obama didn't often call the families of slain soldiers.
“I don’t know if he did. I was told that he didn’t often, and a lot of presidents don’t, they write letters. I do a combination of both,” the rich asshole said.
“President Obama, I think probably did [call] sometimes and maybe sometimes he didn’t, I don’t know, that’s what I was told,” he said.
the rich asshole added that “all I can do is ask my generals.”
Later, in a statement reported by NBC News, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the rich asshole had merely said that past presidents didn’t always call the families of fallen soldiers.
“The president wasn’t criticizing predecessors, but stating a fact,” she said. “When Americans make the ultimate sacrifice, presidents pay their respects. Sometimes they call, sometimes they sent a letter, other times they have the opportunity to meet family members in person.
“This president, like his predecessors, has done each of these. Individuals claiming former presidents, such as their bosses, called each family of the fallen, are mistaken,” Sanders said.
The White House comments seemed unlikely to satisfy those angered by the rich asshole’s remarks.
Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, said the rich asshole’s statement was “an outrageous and disrespectful lie even by the rich asshole standards.”
He also raised the issue of the rich asshole’s criticisms last year of Khizr Khan, the father of a fallen Muslim American soldier named Humayun Khan, who spoke at the Democratic National Convention. Khan has repeatedly criticized the rich asshole since his appearance at the convention led to a battle with the then-GOP candidate for the White House.
There is no long-held White House policy for contacting the families of fallen service members, but for the past several decades, presidents have sent a letter to the families of those killed in combat or accidents while deployed.
President George W. Bush typically sent form letters to families of troops killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, changing only the salutation and reference to the soldier killed.
The Obama White House also used form letters, though Obama said he had personally signed each one. He also made calls to families of slain U.S. service members.
The White House did not respond by press time to questions about whether the administration had a specific policy on contacting families of fallen soldiers.
“Other presidents did not call, they’d write letters, and some presidents didn’t do anything, but I like the combination. I like, when I can, the combination of a call and also a letter,” the rich asshole said at the press conference.
This is the first time the White House has publically addressed the four Green Berets killed in Niger. A group of a dozen U.S. soldiers was ambushed while conducting a joint patrol with about 40 Nigerians. Two other U.S. soldiers were injured, and Pentagon officials suspect a self-radicalized, ISIS-affiliated group is to blame.
some rich asshole says he wants to run against Hillary Clinton in 2020
Christal Hayes
Posted with permission from Newsweek
In office less than 10 months, President Donald Trump already has his eyes on the 2020 general election — and he wants to run against: the woman he already defeated.
"I was recently asked if Crooked Hillary Clinton is going to run in 2020? My answer was, 'I hope so!'" the president tweeted early Monday. amid many other pressing matters.
I was recently asked if Crooked Hillary Clinton is going to run in 2020? My answer was, "I hope so!"
It is not clear what prompted the tweet. Clinton has told reporters numerous times she didn't plan on running again, telling CBS News, "I am done with being a candidate."
She has said she isn't done in politics but doesn't plan to run for an office again.
Other politicians are also eyeing the 2020 general election.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders told SiriusXM in July that a second presidential campaign was not out of the questions.
"No, I am not taking it off the table," Sanders said when asked if a 2020 run was on or off the table. "I just have not made any decisions."
Former Vice President Joe Biden is publishing a book November 14, titled Promise Me, Dad, and some think the book tour could be the starting point to a presidential bid. Biden did not run in 2016 after the death of his son, Beau.
A former aide told The Hill it was "a great soft launch for a potential campaign" and "a chance to step out on his own terms with a character-reinforcing narrative that reintroduces himself to America."
Other big name politicians have also been touring for their new books, putting them under the spotlight of any potential campaign bids.
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren went on a media tour this spring in support of her latest book. Minnesota Senator Al Franken appeared on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert recently to discuss North Korea and—you guessed it—talk about his new book.
It's not surprising that President Trump is tweeting about re-election. Trump raised more than $10 million in the last quarter, giving his campaign warchest more than $35 million, according to new figures analyzed by the Center for Public Integrity.
One-quarter of his campaign donations have gone towards legal fees, partly stemming from the ongoing Russia investigation. The Trump campaign has also spent nearly $170,000 on Trump-branded merchandise.
Meanwhile there are at least eight presidential candidates from 2016 who remain in debt, the Center found, including Democrat Bernie Sanders; Republicans Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Chris Christie, Rick Santorum, Jim Gilmore and George Pataki; and Libertarian Gary Johnson.
‘Won’t it be ironic?’ White House allies fear Bannon’s war against GOP will get the rich asshole impeached
Steve Bannon and some rich asshole (Composite / RawStory)
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Former White House political strategist Steve Bannon’s declaration of war against the Republican Party establishment could inadvertently help Democrats retake the House in 2018 — and could set the stage for President some rich asshole’s impeachment, White House allies fear.
In talking to CNN, multiple Republican sources said that Bannon’s decision to run primaries against multiple incumbent Republican congressmen and senators risks dividing the party ahead of next year’s midterm elections, thus increasing the risk that Democrats will retake at least one chamber of Congress.
And if the Democrats do retake the House, they warn, the rich asshole’s presidency will be ground to a complete halt — and perhaps end with his impeachment.
“Won’t it be ironic that Steve Bannon helped get the President elected and impeached?” one GOP source told CNN.
Other Republicans say that, even if Democrats don’t impeach the rich asshole, they will still do everything in their power to make him as miserable as possible for the remainder of his term.
“Once the House is lost, then it just becomes, ‘Let’s look into Don Jr.’s tweets, let’s subpoena his country club locker,'” one GOP strategist told CNN. “Nothing is going to get done.”
Another GOP congressional aide similarly predicted that a Democratic Congress would simply make the rich asshole’s life “a living hell.”
Ex-Obama staffer nails ‘deranged animal’ the rich asshole for lying about Obama not calling families of fallen troops
some rich asshole (AFP / Nicholas Kamm)
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President some rich asshole on Monday said that former President Barack Obama did not call the families of soldiers who had died in combat — and a former Obama aide absolutely let him have it on Twitter.
Alyssa Mastromonaco, who served as a deputy chief of staff under former President Barack Obama, angrily responded to the rich asshole’s declaration during a press conference that “if you look at President Obama and other presidents, most of them didn’t make calls” to the families of soldiers who died in combat.
“That’s a f*cking lie,” she said. “To say President Obama (or past presidents) didn’t call the family members of soldiers KIA – he’s a deranged animal.”
A quick search of news archives reveals multiple times Obama met with military family members in which he offered thanks and condolences for their sacrifice.
Later in the press conference, the rich asshole was asked what evidence he had that Obama never called the families of fallen soldiers, and he said that it was simply something he had heard about.
Republicans might be warming up to the idea of impeaching some rich asshole
Jason Le Miere
Posted with permission from Newsweek
The push to impeach President Donald Trump could soon receive a major boost, with one Democratic lawmaker claiming that a Republican could support his planned articles of impeachment.
Two Democrats, Al Green of Texas and Brad Sherman of California, have already filed impeachment articles in the House, but they did so without having widespread support—even among members of their own party. Tennessee Representative Steve Cohen said he is planning to soon follow suit, but he is determined that when he does so, he will have some significant weight behind the effort.
Cohen, who announced his plan following Trump's controversial comments in the wake of the deadly violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August, said he is looking to get between seven and 10 co-sponsors before taking impeachment articles to the House. And, he suggested, he is hopeful that one of them will be a member of Trump’s own party.
“I have one Republican who has said he is looking at it, he’s considering it,” Cohen told MSNBC Sunday. “I have other Republicans, just like Senator Bob Corker suggested, who have told me on a constant basis that they know this man is not balanced, he is not capable of continuing to lead us, including Freedom Party people, who said 'I don’t know how long we can stand this.'”
Corker, who also represents Tennessee, recently became the most outspoken Republican critic of Trump, accusing the president of putting the U.S. “on the path to World War III” and claiming that the White House had become little more than “an adult day care center.” Most recently, Corker claimed the president had engaged in a public “castration” of his secretary of state, Rex Tillerson.
Corker’s rebukes, however, have come only after he announced he would not be running for re-election in 2018. And Cohen accepts that while many Republicans may privately harbor wishes for Trump to be removed, it would be unwise politically for them to come forward publically with their criticisms, much less to back articles of impeachment.
“Privately they will tell you, by their words and by their expressions, that they would like to see an end to the Trump administration and don’t approve of what he’s doing,” Cohen said. “But the Republican base is still supportive of Trump—that’s who’s strong in their primaries, and politically they can’t come out and say it.”
Cohen, who said he already has “some people committed” to supporting his move, said he would be backing impeachment on the grounds of obstruction of justice, violations of the emoluments clause and abuses of the press and the judiciary.
‘Categorically false’: MSNBC’s Katy Tur smacks down the rich asshole lie that Obama never called soldiers’ families
MSNBC's Katy Tur -- screenshot
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Immediately following some rich asshole’s Rose Garden press conference where the president claimed former President Barack Obama never spoke with the families of fallen soldiers, MSNBC host Katy Tur called the president out.
As Twitter lit up the president, with a former Obama official calling the rich asshole “a deranged animal,” Tur let viewers know that the president lied to the nation.
“some rich asshole and Mitch McConnell wrapping up a doozy of a press conference there and a lot to get to in that,” Tur began. “We want to clear things up on one issue right at the outset. The president said that President Obama never made calls to the families of fallen soldiers. That is categorically false.”
“He was asked about it again by our Peter Alexander and then he retracted it a little bit, saying that that’s ‘just what he was told,'” she continued. “Again, though, it is false.”
Watch the video below via MSNBC:
‘Such trash’: Internet ridicules ‘shameless’ the rich asshole’s for boasting he and McConnell are buddies
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY, left) and President some rich asshole (right). Image via screengrab.
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On Monday, President some rich asshole held a Rose Garden press conference whose purpose appeared to be convincing the assembled crowd and media that he and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) are great friends in spite of reports to the contrary.
“We’ve been friends for a long time,” the rich asshole said of McConnell in the joint speech. “We are probably now…closer than ever before and the relationship is very good.”
Twitter, naturally, saw right through it.
CNN’s Daniella Diaz jokingly pointed to the rich asshole and McConnell’s failed “hand-lock” as they exited the stage, tweeting “that hand-lock though” as a caption to the video.
“Watching Mitch McConnell endure the humiliation of being forced to subjugate himself to the rich asshole on live TV is quite enjoyable,” yet another CNN reporter, Dan Pfeiffer, tweeted.
“Do the police know about a deranged old man holding Mitch McConnell hostage in the Rose Garden?” another mused.
Check out some of the best responses below.
The whole Rose Garden press conference could be titled, "The Humiliation of Mitch McConnell." The U.S. dictator always has these public displays when he wants to teach naughty children a lesson.
Trump is a deeply disturbed ignoramus who is a pathological liar, but Mitch McConnell is cool with it cuz tax cuts or something twitter.com/nycsouthpaw/st…
Too bad Mitch McConnell only seems to have one facial expression. I'd love to know if he's as horrified by this lie as the rest of us are.
I would like to announce Mitch McConnell and I will be going away together this weekend. True love. #trump #TrumpRussia#Trumpcare #maga twitter.com/OPSVeracity/st…
Interesting to watch @SenateMajLdr & @realDonaldTrump get on their knees in the Rose Garden begging Steve Bannon to call off his war against Mitch McConnell.
He needed Mitch McConnell's help going up the stairs? My oh My. We might be closer than we think. twitter.com/hawaiidelilah/…
the rich asshole regularly mocks Pence’s religion — and even joked he wanted to ‘hang’ all LGBT people: report
some rich asshole, Mike Pence -- (60 MInutes screen grab)
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A new report from the New Yorker’s Jane Mayer claims that President some rich asshole regularly keeps Vice President Mike Pence in his place by mocking his Christian faith.
According to Mayer’s sources, the rich asshole enjoys ribbing Pence for his right-wing Christian views by portraying him as a Taliban-style fundamentalist who wants to execute all LGBT people.
During a recent conversation on gay rights, for instance, the rich asshole allegedly pointed at Pence and said, “Don’t ask that guy—he wants to hang them all!”
Additionally, the rich asshole likes to ridicule Pence’s commitment to overturning Roe V. Wade by noting that many blue states would simply vote to legalize abortion even if the Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 ruling that gave every woman in the United States the right to have an abortion.
“You’ve wasted all this time and energy on it, and it’s not going to end abortion anyway,” the rich asshole told Pence, according to two sources.
Mayer also reports that the rich asshole asks people who have just come out of visiting with Pence if the vice president made them say prayers during their meeting.
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