No president has had such poor ratings - at least going back to Harry Truman
·Andrew Buncombe Minneapolis, Minnesota
·12-24-17
some rich asshole has attacked “fake polls” and “fake news” as surveys show he enters the holiday season with the lowest approval rating in modern presidential history.
“The Fake News refuses to talk about how Big and how Strong our BASE is,” he wrote on Twitter, displaying his trademark affection for the use of capital letters.
“They show Fake Polls just like they report Fake News. Despite only negative reporting, we are doing well - nobody is going to beat us. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.”
Mr the rich asshole approaches the end of 2017 amid a flurry of polls that show him with a dismal approval rating. A poll released last week by CNN found that it had tumbled to just 35 percent, from the 45 percent he enjoyed in March shortly after taking office.
A nonpartisan poll released by the NBC/Wall Street Journal found the president’s approval rating stood at 40 percent. Peter Hart, a Democrat who helped conduct, said his final survey of 2017 found Mr the rich asshole had “lost the support and respect of a majority of Americans in his first year as president”.
Meanwhile, a tracker from the political data site FiveThirtyEight put his rating at 37.1 percent. It said that dating the way back to President Harry Truman in 1945, at Day 337 of their first term every president had an approval rating at least ten percentage points better than where Mr the rich asshole stands now at the same point.
Yet while Mr the rich asshole is may be off target in his criticism of the polls and the media organisations, he is at least partly right about his claim that he retains intense loyalty among his base of supporters.
In October, a Fox News poll found that 83 percent of Republican voters still approved of Mr the rich asshole, compared to just 7 percent of Democrats. But while his overall support among conservatives has remained steady, the poll found he had leached some support among two crucial constituencies - white evangelical Christians and white men without a college degree.
BY ALEX KOTCH @ALEXKOTCH ON
Just after signing the Republican tax cut bill on Friday, President some rich asshole returned to a familiar weekend getaway: his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. That night at dinner, he told friends, “You all just got a lot richer,” according to CBS News.
Despite saying in 2016 that if elected president, “I’m not going to have time to go play golf,” the rich asshole has often sought refuge at several properties he owns. According to NBC News, he has visited one of his properties, most of which are golf resorts, on 109 days this year — nearly one-third of his presidency so far.
And these visits come with a cost. the rich asshole has used tens of millions of taxpayer dollars to subsidize numerous trips to his properties in 2017. The big price tag covers travel on Air Force One, cargo planes and expenses for White House aides and the fleet of security that accompany him.
One trip to the so-called “Winter White House” may cost taxpayers $3.6 million or more, although exact estimates are difficult to make. An estimate by the website trumpgolfcount.computs the total cost to taxpayers this year at more than $42 million. Local governments have to pitch in, too. The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office estimates that it costs roughly $60,000 per day in overtime pay for officers when the rich asshole is at Mar-a-Lago.
Mar-a-Lago is a club accessible only to the wealthy; it costs $200,000 to join and $14,000 per year in membership fees. the rich asshole’s statement to friends on Friday describes one of the biggest effects of the tax legislation; the bill primarily advantages those at the top of the income scale while many middle- and low-income Americans will see their tax bills increase by 2027.
Per NBC, the rich asshole has spent 37 days at Mar-a-Lago since becoming president. The only property the rich asshole has visited more often is his Bedminster golf resort, where he’s spent 39 days.
President @BarackObama's vacation is costing taxpayers millions of dollars----Unbelievable!
In 2012, the rich asshole criticized then-President Barack Obama for “costing taxpayers millions of dollars” for vacations. In total, the rich asshole tweeted criticism at Barack Obama for golfing27 times. But the rich asshole is far outpacing Obama in terms of travel costs to taxpayers, and it’s “a near certainty” that this will continue, according to Snopes.
At his resorts, the rich asshole has been known to golf with other celebrities and cross paths with wealthy conservatives who are members of his clubs. The president has claimed that the tax bill does not benefit the richest Americans, like many Mar-a-Lago members, saying that he has many rich friends who are “not so happy” with him over the law. But nonpartisan tax analysts have found that the top 20 percent — and, specifically, the top 0.1 percent — willbenefit most from the legislation, the first major bill the rich asshole has signed into law since becoming president in January.
the rich asshole’s critics were vocal on Twitter on Sunday, attacking the tax bill and the president’s recent comments at Mar-a-Lago.
the rich asshole: Don’t Believe ‘Fake Polls’ Because ‘Insider Polls’ Prove I Had An ‘incredible’ First Year
some rich asshole has repeatedly lashed out at the ‘fake news’ and ‘fake polls’ today in his Twitter timeline. the rich asshole refuses to believe that his poll numbers are bad because he says “insider polls are strong.” But the “insider polls” are extremely biased. the rich asshole is the least popular president at this point of his presidency than any of his predecessors but he insists that he’s had an “incredible year.”
Earlier, he tweeted that “we are doing well.”
Let’s compare his numbers to previous presidents.
The GOP decided to compare the rich asshole’s presidency to former President Barack Obama’s, but that insider poll was highly biased.
Hey @realDonaldTrump and @GOP ....... you weren’t fair in your poll and didn’t give me the option to click “poor” for Trump’s first year like you did for Obama. So I just wanted you to know what my “other” option was for. Record it: POOR. Thanks 
After taking the GOP poll, the person polled lands on a donation page. In the rich asshole’s mind, everyone is lying except for him and that’s strange since the frequency of the former reality show star’s lies is well documented.
Hey @realDonaldTrump and @GOP ....... you weren’t fair in your poll and didn’t give me the option to click “poor” for Trump’s first year like you did for Obama. So I just wanted you to know what my “other” option was for. Record it: POOR. Thanks
the rich asshole told friends at Mar-a-Lago 'you all just got a lot richer' after tax bill passed: report
BY REBECCA SAVRANSKY - 12/24/17 07:28 AM EST
President the rich asshole reportedly told friends at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida just hours after he signed the GOP tax bill that they all just got wealthier.
"You all just got a lot richer," the rich asshole said Friday at a dinner at Mar-a-Lago, two friends at a table near the president told CBS News.
Late last week, the rich asshole signed the sweeping Republican tax bill into law, marking his first major legislative accomplishment since winning the White House.
He spoke at length during the signing, thanking Republicans in Congress for getting the legislation to his desk and predicting it would help the economy.
"It's going to be a tremendous thing for the American people. It's going to be fantastic for the economy," the rich asshole told reporters in the Oval Office.
"It's going to keep companies from leaving our shores and opening up in other countries."
the rich asshole and congressional Republicans have been pushing tax reform for several months. the rich asshole has pitched the tax-reform plan as a boon to the middle class.
Democrats, though, have argued that the largest benefits will go to wealthy Americans like the president.
— This report was updated at 9:39 a.m.
Federal judge partially lifts the rich asshole’s latest refugee restrictions
International passengers arrive at Washington Dulles International Airport after the U.S. Supreme Court granted parts of the the rich asshole administration's emergency request to put its travel ban into effect later in the week pending further judicial review, in Dulles, Virginia, U.S., June 26, 2017. REUTERS/James Lawler Duggan
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A federal judge in Seattle partially blocked U.S. President some rich asshole’s newest restrictions on refugee admissions on Saturday, the latest legal defeat for his efforts to curtail immigration and travel to the United States.
The decision by U.S. District Judge James Robart is the first judicial curb on rules the the rich asshole administration put into place in late October that have contributed significantly to a precipitous drop in the number of refugees being admitted into the country.
Refugees and groups that assist them argued in court that the administration’s policies violated the Constitution and federal rulemaking procedures, among other claims. Department of Justice attorneys argued in part that U.S. law grants the executive branch the authority to limit refugee admissions in the way that it had done so.
On Oct. 24, the the rich asshole administration effectively paused refugee admissions from 11 countries mostly in the Middle East and Africa, pending a 90-day security review, which was set to expire in late January.
The countries subject to the review are Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, North Korea, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. For each of the last three years, refugees from the 11 countries made up more than 40 percent of U.S. admissions. A Reuters review of State Department data showed that as the review went into effect, refugee admissions from the 11 countries plummeted.
Robart ruled that the administration could carry out the security review, but that it could not stop processing or admitting refugees from the 11 countries in the meantime, as long as those refugees have a “bona fide” connection to the United States.
As part of its new restrictions, the the rich asshole administration had also paused a program that allowed for family reunification for refugees, pending further security screening procedures being put into place.
Robart ordered the government to re-start the program, known as “follow-to-join”. Approximately 2,000 refugees were admitted into the United States in fiscal year 2015 under the program, according to Department of Homeland Security data.
Refugee advocacy groups praised Robart’s decision.
“This ruling brings relief to thousands of refugees in precarious situations in the Middle East and East Africa, as well as to refugees already in the U.S. who are trying to reunite with their spouses and children,” said Mariko Hirose, litigation director for the International Refugee Assistance Project, one of the plaintiffs in the case.
A Justice Department spokeswoman, Lauren Ehrsam, said the department disagrees with Robart’s ruling and is “currently evaluating the next steps”.
Robart, who was appointed to the bench by Republican former President George W. Bush, emerged from relative obscurity in February, when he issued a temporary order to lift the first version of the rich asshole’s travel ban.
On Twitter, the rich asshole called him a “so-called judge” whose “ridiculous” opinion “essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country”.
Robart’s ruling represented the second legal defeat in two days for the the rich asshole administration. On Friday, a U.S. appeals court said the rich asshole’s travel ban targeting six Muslim-majority countries should not be applied to people with strong U.S. ties, but said its ruling would be put on hold pending a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.
(Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati; Additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Susan Thomas and Mary Milliken)
‘We say Christmas again very proudly’: the rich asshole praises himself in video conference with troops from Mar-a-Lago
some rich asshole speaks to troops in video conference from Mar-a-Lago (MSNBC/screen grab)
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President some rich asshole used a holiday teleconference with the troops to suggest that he reinvigorated the use of the word “Christmas” by becoming president.
Speaking to the five branches of the military from his office at Mar-a-Lago, the rich asshole struggled with the names of soldiers as he read a speech thanking the troops for their service.
At one point, the president thanked sailors aboard the USS Sampson for setting a “new standard” for readiness.
“It really has always been ready,” he continued. “But we’re all ready. So congratulations on the new standard. We’re all talking about it. It’s a high standard you’ve set.”
“We’re asking God to watch over you,” the president added.
According to CNN’s Dan Merica, the rich asshole repeated the suggestion that he had brought back an interest in Christmas by being elected president.
“We say Christmas again very proudly,” the rich asshole told the troops.
Watch the video below from MSNBC.
Kurtis Lee
Los Angeles Times
Posted with permission from Tribune Content Agency
The request from Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap seemed to be a given for any member of President Donald Trump's voter fraud commission: He wanted transparency.
But Dunlap, among a handful of Democrats on the panel launched by executive order in May with the stated goal of restoring confidence and integrity in the electoral process, said he was denied full access to internal information. So he sued the commission he sits on.
On Friday, a federal judge ruled the panel must give Dunlap access to relevant documents in order to allow him to fully participate in the commission's work.
"He has a right to access documents that the commission is considering relying on in the course of developing its final recommendations," U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote in a lengthy opinion.
Last month, Dunlap filed the lawsuit against the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, alleging he was being denied access to the commission's records and effectively frozen out of its activities. He wanted access to, among other things, communications about how to select experts who would testify before the committee and the scheduling of meetings. At the core of his lawsuit, Dunlap argued that the voter fraud commission had run afoul of the 1972 Federal Advisory Committee Act, which requires transparency and balanced membership for government advisory groups.
The commission has convened twice — in Washington, D.C., in July, and in New Hampshire in September — and heard testimony about how to improve the registration and voting process. The panel's work is expected to be completed sometime next year in the form of a written report.
Outside those meetings, Dunlap said he had received little information pertinent to the commission's overall goal — no written debriefings from the gatherings and no guidance about future meetings. Before filing the lawsuit, he wrote a letter to the panel's leaders including its chairman, Vice President Mike Pence, and vice chairman, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. One of the only notes Dunlap received from the panel leaders came in October, acknowledging the unexpected death of former Arkansas state Rep. David Dunn, another Democrat on the committee.
Dunlap said he was also caught off guard by reports in October that a researcher for the commission was arrested on child pornography charges.
Three other Democrats sit on the 11-member commission and have expressed concerns about transparency, but Dunlap was the only one to file a lawsuit.
Dulap said Saturday that he was relieved by the judge's decision in the case.
"In order for participation of myself and other commissioners to be meaningful, we have to be treated as full partners in the work," Dunlap said. "The people of the United States deserve the open and transparent process."
Danielle Lang, senior legal counsel at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, which focuses on election law, said the ruling set a good standard heading into the new year.
"At the very minimum, if the commission is going to offer the fig leaf of bipartisanship, they should be allowing members of the group to receive any and all the information they want," she said.
Neither the White House nor Kobach immediately responded to requests for comment.
In May, Trump established the commission to study registration and voting processes. He has said — without evidence — that 3 million to 5 million illegal votes were cast in last year's presidential election, in which he lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million ballots.
Critics have assailed the commission as a sham created by an insecure president and a tool to justify measures that would make it harder for minorities to vote.
In recent months, the panel has faced a flurry of lawsuits over privacy concerns for requesting voter names, addresses and other data from all 50 states — 15 of which have reportedly denied the requests.
This fall, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, an independent and nonpartisan agency, announced that it had accepted a request from Democratic lawmakers to review the commission.
In an Oct. 18 letter requesting an investigation, Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet of Colorado, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota wrote that the manner in which the commission is conducting its work "will prevent the public from a full and transparent understanding of the commission's conclusions and unnecessarily diminish confidence in our democratic process."
A review by the agency is expected to be completed in the months ahead.
When Trump created the commission, he ordered its members to meet and collaborate with election officials from all 50 states.
Dunlap said Saturday that the committee had not informed him of its next meeting, but that he intended to continue working on the panel.
"Whatever is the outcome of our work, it needs to be done as a full unit," he said. "Everyone needs to be informed and the commission has to work as one."
But Dunlap, among a handful of Democrats on the panel launched by executive order in May with the stated goal of restoring confidence and integrity in the electoral process, said he was denied full access to internal information. So he sued the commission he sits on.
On Friday, a federal judge ruled the panel must give Dunlap access to relevant documents in order to allow him to fully participate in the commission's work.
"He has a right to access documents that the commission is considering relying on in the course of developing its final recommendations," U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote in a lengthy opinion.
Last month, Dunlap filed the lawsuit against the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, alleging he was being denied access to the commission's records and effectively frozen out of its activities. He wanted access to, among other things, communications about how to select experts who would testify before the committee and the scheduling of meetings. At the core of his lawsuit, Dunlap argued that the voter fraud commission had run afoul of the 1972 Federal Advisory Committee Act, which requires transparency and balanced membership for government advisory groups.
The commission has convened twice — in Washington, D.C., in July, and in New Hampshire in September — and heard testimony about how to improve the registration and voting process. The panel's work is expected to be completed sometime next year in the form of a written report.
Outside those meetings, Dunlap said he had received little information pertinent to the commission's overall goal — no written debriefings from the gatherings and no guidance about future meetings. Before filing the lawsuit, he wrote a letter to the panel's leaders including its chairman, Vice President Mike Pence, and vice chairman, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach. One of the only notes Dunlap received from the panel leaders came in October, acknowledging the unexpected death of former Arkansas state Rep. David Dunn, another Democrat on the committee.
Dunlap said he was also caught off guard by reports in October that a researcher for the commission was arrested on child pornography charges.
Three other Democrats sit on the 11-member commission and have expressed concerns about transparency, but Dunlap was the only one to file a lawsuit.
Dulap said Saturday that he was relieved by the judge's decision in the case.
"In order for participation of myself and other commissioners to be meaningful, we have to be treated as full partners in the work," Dunlap said. "The people of the United States deserve the open and transparent process."
Danielle Lang, senior legal counsel at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, which focuses on election law, said the ruling set a good standard heading into the new year.
"At the very minimum, if the commission is going to offer the fig leaf of bipartisanship, they should be allowing members of the group to receive any and all the information they want," she said.
Neither the White House nor Kobach immediately responded to requests for comment.
In May, Trump established the commission to study registration and voting processes. He has said — without evidence — that 3 million to 5 million illegal votes were cast in last year's presidential election, in which he lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million ballots.
Critics have assailed the commission as a sham created by an insecure president and a tool to justify measures that would make it harder for minorities to vote.
In recent months, the panel has faced a flurry of lawsuits over privacy concerns for requesting voter names, addresses and other data from all 50 states — 15 of which have reportedly denied the requests.
This fall, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, an independent and nonpartisan agency, announced that it had accepted a request from Democratic lawmakers to review the commission.
In an Oct. 18 letter requesting an investigation, Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet of Colorado, Cory Booker of New Jersey and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota wrote that the manner in which the commission is conducting its work "will prevent the public from a full and transparent understanding of the commission's conclusions and unnecessarily diminish confidence in our democratic process."
A review by the agency is expected to be completed in the months ahead.
When Trump created the commission, he ordered its members to meet and collaborate with election officials from all 50 states.
Dunlap said Saturday that the committee had not informed him of its next meeting, but that he intended to continue working on the panel.
"Whatever is the outcome of our work, it needs to be done as a full unit," he said. "Everyone needs to be informed and the commission has to work as one."
He ‘fears them’: Intel community blasts the rich asshole administration’s attacks on FBI’s Jim Baker and Andy McCabe
President of the United States some rich asshole (Shutterstock)
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As defenders of President some rich asshole ramp up their attacks on the Federal Bureau of Investigation, top officials are rushing to defend the top federal law enforcement agency, Business Insider political correspondent Natasha Bertrand reported Sunday.
President the rich asshole took to Twitter on Saturday to attack former FBI Director James Comey and current Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.
Deputy Director McCabe has announced his retirement in 2018.
Also in GOP crosshairs is James Baker, the former head of the FBI’s Office of General Counsel, who was reassigned by FBI Director Christopher Wray.
Senior fellow at the Brookings Institution Benjamin Wittes, who has known Baker for years and is a close friend of Comey, told Business Insider his concerns about the optics of Baker’s reassignment.
“The idea that Jim should stay in place indefinitely is not what I would argue,” Wittes said. “But, if I were Wray and I meant to replace my general counsel, the antics of the last two weeks would have convinced me not to do it under fire to make sure no one thinks I am giving the administration a scalp.”
Andy McCabe & Jim Baker epitomize integrity, competence, and respect for rule of law. Not surprised @realDonaldTrump fears them, along with the rest of FBI. I just donated to @FBIAgentsAssoc as a small way of saying #thanksFBI. Here’s how you can too: fbiaa.org/ways-to-donatetwitter.com/benjaminwittes…
“I have known Jim Baker for many years, in and out of government and I know him to be a person, and public servant, of the highest moral character and integrity,” former Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ’s National Security Division told Business Insider.
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) have been ramping up attacks on special counsel Robert Mueller in recent weeks, escalating tensions between Congress and the FBI.
Meanwhile, Democrats have been defending the FBI and special counsel investigation.
“We have decided we will not stand by and allow Fox News and right-wing Republicans to defy the rule of law and create their own rules to interfere with a legitimate investigation under the Constitution of the United States,” Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) said during a #ProtectMueller press conference. “We will be vigorously working to deny the brazen attempts to destroy special counsel Robert Mueller and his investigation.”
Some defenders of the the rich asshole administration are even stoking anti-the rich asshole conspiracy theories.
Alex Jones said he predicts the FBI will make an “assassination attempt” on the rich asshole’s life in the coming weeks.
some rich asshole, Jr peddled conspiracy theories about the FBI last week. The former head of the CIA, retired Gen. Michael Hayden said the rich asshole Jr’s comments were “scary” and “an appeal to the heart of autocracy.”
Fox News has joined Alex Jones in floating FBI assassination conspiracy theories.
New from me: Former FBI officials and national security vets have come out swinging in defense of Jim Baker and Andy McCabe — the FBI's general counsel and deputy director who have come under attack by Trump and his allies businessinsider.com/fbi-general-co…
Fresh Off The Golf Course, the rich asshole Lashes Out At FBI Deputy Director And James Comey
some rich asshole spent a good portion of his day at his golf club, marking the 84th day he’s done so since taking the oath of office. It must have been a bad game because just after that, the rich asshole lashed out at FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe on Twitter following a report saying McCabe plans to retire in a few months. The report follows McCabe’s testimony in front of congressional committees this week, as well as mounting criticism from Republicans regarding the Russia probe.
So, naturally, the rich asshole attacked McCabe with a lie.
“How can FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the man in charge, along with leakin’ James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (including her 33,000 illegally deleted emails) be given $700,000 for wife’s campaign by Clinton Puppets during investigation?” the rich asshole tweeted.
He didn’t stop there.
Wow, “FBI lawyer James Baker reassigned,” according to @FoxNews.
With all of the Intel at the rich asshole’s disposal, he’s getting his information from Fox News. McCabe spent most of his career in the fight against terrorism and now he’s being attacked by the so-called president. the rich asshole has been fact-checked before on his claim of his wife receiving $700,000 for her campaign.
Politifact noted in late July that the rich asshole’s “tweet about Andrew McCabe is a significant distortion of the facts. And the implication that McCabe got Clinton off as a political favor doesn’t make much sense when we look at the evidence.”
His July tweet was rated ‘mostly false.’ But the rich asshole repeats these lies because he knows his supporters will believe them without bothering to Google. It’s still a lie, though.
12/23/2017 03:30 pm ET
Happy holidays!
Happy holidays!
The war is finally over. No, not the one in Afghanistan. And no, it’s not even the war on drugs. It’s the battle over semantics that conservatives have long been up in arms about: the war on Christmas.
President some rich asshole has been patting himself on the back in recent weeks for apparently bringing Christmas back. For those not familiar, Christmas is a little-known holiday where worshippers celebrate the birth of Jesus while being simultaneously outraged at anyone else who might not.
“Remember I said we’re bringing Christmas back?” the rich asshole bragged at a rally earlier this month in Utah. “Christmas is back, bigger and better than ever before. We’re bringing Christmas back.”
America First Policies — a nonprofit started by former the rich asshole campaign aides ― is set to air a new Christmas day commercial in which “everyday Americans are standing to thank President the rich asshole.”
That includes “letting us” say “merry Christmas” again, according to a cherubic child in the ad being used to gain political points.
As The New York Times pointed out last year, there’s no actual evidence of anyone declaring a war on Christmas, but the partisan issue took solid root in 2012 with conservative Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, who constantly attacked then-President Barack Obama for having the nerve to say “happy holidays.”
Liberals are “tying the Christmas situation into secular progressive politics” because they wanted “a new America, and traditional Christmas isn’t a part of it,” O’Reilly said in 2012.
For all his bloviating about the importance of Christmas, the rich asshole’s own children don’t seem to care about the phrase that started the war: Happy holidays.
“Happy holidays!” daughter Ivanka the rich asshole tweeted earlier this month, clearly unaware her father had won the war and she could finally say merry Christmas.
the rich asshole’s son, Eric, had a similar reaction.
We don’t mean to make you paranoid, Mr. President. But if you’re looking for the true culprits of continuing this brutal, pointless war ― start with your children.
And merry Christmas!
Trumps Starts Christmas With Golf
Tim Marcin
Posted with permission from Newsweek
President Donald Trump has spent much of his first year in office at one of his golf courses, so it makes sense he would kick off his Christmas vacation at the links.
Pool reports indicated the president went to Trump International Golf Club near his Mar-A-Lago estate in Florida just after 9 a.m. CNN's Kristen Holmes tweeted that this marked his 107th day at a Trump property during his presidency and his 84th day at one of his golf properties as president. The White House often tries obfuscate whether or not the president actually golfs on his trips to his courses, but the website TrumpGolfCount.com has collected evidence of him playing at least 37 times.
Golf has long been Trump's favorite sport and he has built a global empire of courses brandishing his name. The Trump Golf website lists 18 different courses located from Ireland, to Indonesia, to North Carolina, to, of course, Florida. During his time in office, Trump has a number of playing partners, hit the links with famous pros like Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson as well as politicians such as Senators Rand Paul and Bob Corker.
Pool reports indicated the president went to Trump International Golf Club near his Mar-A-Lago estate in Florida just after 9 a.m. CNN's Kristen Holmes tweeted that this marked his 107th day at a Trump property during his presidency and his 84th day at one of his golf properties as president. The White House often tries obfuscate whether or not the president actually golfs on his trips to his courses, but the website TrumpGolfCount.com has collected evidence of him playing at least 37 times.
Golf has long been Trump's favorite sport and he has built a global empire of courses brandishing his name. The Trump Golf website lists 18 different courses located from Ireland, to Indonesia, to North Carolina, to, of course, Florida. During his time in office, Trump has a number of playing partners, hit the links with famous pros like Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson as well as politicians such as Senators Rand Paul and Bob Corker.
POTUS is currently at his golf course Trump International Golf Club near Mar-A-Lago.
By the #’s per @danmericaCNN:
-He’s spent 107 days as pres at one of his properties.
-Today is 36th day spent at Mar-A-Lago as pres
-spent 84 days as president at one of his golf properties
By the #’s per @danmericaCNN:
-He’s spent 107 days as pres at one of his properties.
-Today is 36th day spent at Mar-A-Lago as pres
-spent 84 days as president at one of his golf properties
Trump is expected to stay in Florida through New Year's on a so-called working vacation. The former reality TV star is spending his holiday away from the White House, despite criticizing former President Barack Obama for doing the same in the past. He tweeted in 2013, "Pres. Obama is about to embark on a 17 day vacation in his ‘native’ Hawaii, putting Secret Service away from families on Christmas. Aloha!"
Despite his repeated criticisms of his predecessor, Trump has proven remarkably unpopular in his brief tenure in power, his approval rating well below Obama's lowest point. Heading into his first Christmas in office, Trump's approval rating hovered around 37 percent, at least ten percentage points worse than any other president on Day 337 of their presidency, via data-centric website FiveThirtyEight. For comparison's sake, at the same point in 2009, Obama's approval rating stood at about 50 percent.
Mitch McConnell says the so-called ‘war on coal’ is over but the ‘war on Kentucky’ rages on
Emma Dumain
McClatchy Washington Bureau
Posted with permission from Tribune Content Agency
WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell praised the Trump administration for ending the so-called "war on coal," but acknowledged there was more work to be done there — and in fighting Democrats' "war on Kentucky."
"There's been a little (relief)" from the war on coal, the Kentucky Republican told McClatchy in an interview Thursday from his Capitol Hill office. "The new administrator of the (Environmental Protection Agency), I think, has been very good in stopping the war. It doesn't immediately bring everything back."
In October, McConnell accompanied EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to Hazard, Ky., where Pruitt announced his agency would withdraw from President Barack Obama's "Clean Power Plant" rule. Many argue this regulation, which limited greenhouse-gas emissions from existing power plants, is one of many that have had an adverse effect on the state's longstanding coal production economy.
"The war against coal is over," Pruitt said in his announcement.
In a recent roundtable conversation with conservative activists and industry stakeholders at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building adjacent to the White House — which included representatives from the National Mining Institute and the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity — Pruitt called Obama's "war on coal" one of the previous president's main objectives.
McConnell told McClatchy he agreed. "The war was conducted by the government against the coal industry," the senator said. "There's no question the war is over. That does not automatically mean a massive return of the industry, but there have been some hopeful signs."
But McConnell had another worry about his state's Washington fortunes: He sees a separate "war on Kentucky" being waged by congressional Democrats, which he pledged to win in due time.
He was referring to Democrats' refusal to allow a provision to be included in the freshly-passed Republican tax bill that would have exempted local Berea College from a 1.4 percent tax on earnings of its billion-dollar endowment. The endowment is used to waive tuition for students who can't afford college.
"It's a little college in the foothills of Appalachia that started in 1855 by abolitionists who don't have any money, and (students) get to go to school for nothing and they work their way through," McConnell explained. "Berea got caught by one of the provisions in the tax bill that provides a tax on college endowments after a certain point."
McConnell said he intervened on behalf of the institution.
"They don't even charge tuition," he said of Berea. "This isn't Harvard or Princeton or Yale."
He succeeded in securing an exemption. But at the eleventh hour, McConnell said, Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who ran as a Democrat for president in 2016, and top Senate Finance Committee Democrat Ron Wyden of Oregon tried unsuccessfully to remove the exemption, saying it violated Senate budget rules.
"In the mad dash to provide tax breaks for their billionaire campaign contributors, our Republican colleagues forgot to comply with the rules of the Senate," they said in a joint statement. "Instead of providing tax breaks to the wealthiest people and most profitable corporations, we need to rebuild the disappearing middle class."
McConnell fired back.
"This was led by a man who campaigned last year that every student in America should have free college," McConnell said of opposition from Sanders, who is also the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee.
McConnell said he was looking out for Kentuckians on at least one other front: health care.
Congress this year was not able to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Gov. Matt Bevin also was unable to dismantle much of the law inside the state despite campaigning on a promise to do so, with the Medicaid expansion program particularly hard to scrap.
Asked whether in retrospect he might have looked to Kentucky as a warning sign of just how hard it would be to undo Obamacare in Washington, McConnell said people were aware of the challenges across-the-board: "It's not a state law so there was a limited amount they could have done at the state level."
But the Republican tax bill, which President Donald Trump signed into law on Friday, includes a repeal of the Obamacare policy that fined individuals who declined to purchase health insurance.
"That important," McConnell explained, "because these are people who are not eligible for subsidies and not on Medicaid."
"There's been a little (relief)" from the war on coal, the Kentucky Republican told McClatchy in an interview Thursday from his Capitol Hill office. "The new administrator of the (Environmental Protection Agency), I think, has been very good in stopping the war. It doesn't immediately bring everything back."
In October, McConnell accompanied EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to Hazard, Ky., where Pruitt announced his agency would withdraw from President Barack Obama's "Clean Power Plant" rule. Many argue this regulation, which limited greenhouse-gas emissions from existing power plants, is one of many that have had an adverse effect on the state's longstanding coal production economy.
"The war against coal is over," Pruitt said in his announcement.
In a recent roundtable conversation with conservative activists and industry stakeholders at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building adjacent to the White House — which included representatives from the National Mining Institute and the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity — Pruitt called Obama's "war on coal" one of the previous president's main objectives.
McConnell told McClatchy he agreed. "The war was conducted by the government against the coal industry," the senator said. "There's no question the war is over. That does not automatically mean a massive return of the industry, but there have been some hopeful signs."
But McConnell had another worry about his state's Washington fortunes: He sees a separate "war on Kentucky" being waged by congressional Democrats, which he pledged to win in due time.
He was referring to Democrats' refusal to allow a provision to be included in the freshly-passed Republican tax bill that would have exempted local Berea College from a 1.4 percent tax on earnings of its billion-dollar endowment. The endowment is used to waive tuition for students who can't afford college.
"It's a little college in the foothills of Appalachia that started in 1855 by abolitionists who don't have any money, and (students) get to go to school for nothing and they work their way through," McConnell explained. "Berea got caught by one of the provisions in the tax bill that provides a tax on college endowments after a certain point."
McConnell said he intervened on behalf of the institution.
"They don't even charge tuition," he said of Berea. "This isn't Harvard or Princeton or Yale."
He succeeded in securing an exemption. But at the eleventh hour, McConnell said, Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who ran as a Democrat for president in 2016, and top Senate Finance Committee Democrat Ron Wyden of Oregon tried unsuccessfully to remove the exemption, saying it violated Senate budget rules.
"In the mad dash to provide tax breaks for their billionaire campaign contributors, our Republican colleagues forgot to comply with the rules of the Senate," they said in a joint statement. "Instead of providing tax breaks to the wealthiest people and most profitable corporations, we need to rebuild the disappearing middle class."
McConnell fired back.
"This was led by a man who campaigned last year that every student in America should have free college," McConnell said of opposition from Sanders, who is also the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee.
McConnell said he was looking out for Kentuckians on at least one other front: health care.
Congress this year was not able to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Gov. Matt Bevin also was unable to dismantle much of the law inside the state despite campaigning on a promise to do so, with the Medicaid expansion program particularly hard to scrap.
Asked whether in retrospect he might have looked to Kentucky as a warning sign of just how hard it would be to undo Obamacare in Washington, McConnell said people were aware of the challenges across-the-board: "It's not a state law so there was a limited amount they could have done at the state level."
But the Republican tax bill, which President Donald Trump signed into law on Friday, includes a repeal of the Obamacare policy that fined individuals who declined to purchase health insurance.
"That important," McConnell explained, "because these are people who are not eligible for subsidies and not on Medicaid."
White House is clueless about 2018 electoral and legislative strategy: ‘It’s tough to look at the horizon’
President some rich asshole yelling inside a truck (image via Creative Commons).
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President some rich asshole suffered intense backlash during his first calendar year in office, resulting in few legislative achievements and record low poll numbers. Top White House officials now “anticipate 2018 will be a legislative and accomplishments grind,” Axios reported Saturday.
“It’s tough to look out on the horizon and see another sure or easy victory,” an official said.
“Complicating matters, President the rich asshole faces a wave of staff departures, with thin pickings for replacements,” Axios explained.
One potential issue is infrastructure — that could even include “tunneling” for underground high-speed rail. Such a move could potentially receive some Democratic votes, while alienating Republicans in Congress.
Some Republican strategists wonder if President the rich asshole should avoid passing an infrastructure bill with Democratic Party support.
“Do you really want a bipartisan issue? What is going to mobilize people to go to the polls and say. ‘I have to vote for a Republican?'” a source close to the White House explained.
The “realistic prospects of losing their congressional majorities” in the 2018 midterm elections will make any accomplishment’s harder to achieve in the new year, White House officials worried.
“Most people ignore midterm elections and don’t bother voting. Next year feels different: The the rich asshole show has grabbed a sustained audience and Democrats, especially women, want it canceled ASAP,” Axios explained. “This will further galvanize Democrats and polarize the two parties.”
Christians in Holy Land say the rich asshole and Pence have killed tourism and put their lives at risk
Trudy Rubin
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Posted with permission from Tribune Content Agency
Bethlehem. A week before Christmas, there was only a handful of tourists snapping photos of the huge decorated tree in Manger Square, with its strings of red and white lights. The large plaza in front of the Church of the Nativity was nearly empty except for a handful of visiting clergy.
Chalk the absence of visitors up to President Donald Trump's Jerusalem speech, which outraged Muslims, scared off tourists, and unnerved Christian clerics. It also bushwhacked Vice President Mike Pence's planned (now postponed) trip to Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Cairo, which was meant to express solidarity with Mideast Christians. Church leaders were refusing to meet him.
"Who was advising Trump?" one prominent Bethlehem Christian asked me plaintively. Good question. Because the backlash against Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital makes one wonder what Trump and Pence thought they would gain.
Perhaps Trump thought his move would advance the "ultimate (Israel-Palestinian peace) deal" that he tasked his son-in-law and real estate lawyer to devise. But instead, he has doomed the effort.
And then there is Pence �� a fervent Christian who urged the president to keep his pledge to his evangelical base and move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. If he thought this move would help Holy Land Christians, he was very wrong.
For starters, the president's move wrecked a pre-Christmas tourist season that is especially important to Palestinian Christians.
"Before the Trump statement, we thought this would be the best year in the past 10 years for tourism," I was told by Maher Canawati, who, with his father, Nicola, owns the legendary Three Arches gift shops in Bethlehem, specializing in mother of pearl and carved olive wood objects. Living in Bethlehem since the early 17th century, the family has managed to navigate political challenges over time; portraits of ancestors look down on Canawati, including one of his father posing with a Bethlehem Boy Scout troop.
"The city has 50 hotels, 20 built in the last four years," says Canawati. "Everyone thought things would be better. But now there have been many cancellations after the statement." Bethlehem's economy is at stake.
On a broader scale, Trump's move brought the Jerusalem issue back into the global limelight, which stokes religious tensions here. That also unnerves local Christians.
A United Nations vote Thursday calling for Trump to rescind his Jerusalem move passed by 128-9, with 35 abstentions. And the United States was outnumbered by 14-1 when it vetoed a similar resolution from the U.N. Security Council.
Trump's promise to withdraw aid to nations that voted yes puts the president in conflict with major Arab allies such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt (whose Coptic Church leaders also rebuffed a planned Pence meeting).
"After Trump's statement," says Canawati, "churches felt it was wise not to welcome someone who made such a big statement against the Islamic world."
Ordinary Christians in Jerusalem and Bethlehem worry that Trump's perceived challenge to Muslim holy sites will destabilize the city and affect them. They are a minority who have lived for centuries alongside their Muslim Palestinian brethren, and always hope for calm.
On the West Bank, Palestinian Christians do not face persecution for their religious beliefs. Christian restaurants in Bethlehem serve alcohol without any problem, and Christian women walk with hair uncovered. "In Bethlehem, we are a minority, but the Palestinian government supports Christians here," Canawati said. "The post of mayor always goes to a Christian."
But political tensions have caused a steady emigration of Christian Palestinians to North and South America. Thirty-five years ago, Christians made up at least 70 percent of Bethlehem's population and Muslims 30 percent; today the percentages are reversed. Canawati told me there are 3,000 members of his family living in Honduras and only 250 in Bethlehem.
"Most Christian Palestinians feel caught in the middle," says the Rev. Peter Vasko, a Brooklynite and longtime resident of Jerusalem, who heads the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land, which aims to help Christians remain there. "Israeli soldiers look at Christians as Arabs, while Palestinian radicals see them as traitors to the cause."
And the huge concrete border wall and fence that Israel has built to separate itself from most of the West Bank adversely affects Palestinian Christians, cutting them off from worshiping at Christianity's holiest sites in Jerusalem, and depriving many of jobs. Snaking around Bethlehem, it often turns what would be a 10-minute journey to Jerusalem into a lengthy ordeal, with Israeli checkpoints �� if a Bethlehemite can get a permit to enter Jerusalem at all.
So what Christian Palestinians hope for most is that religious tensions will be tamped down, and they can get on with their businesses and worship.
"People are fed up with riots and demonstrations and resolutions," says Canawati. "We just want the simplest thing � freedom of movement to visit our country from north to south, pray in our churches, and definitely demolish this separation wall that separates us from friends.
"I have a lot of Jewish friends and relations with Jewish companies," he adds, and they try to overcome the political divide.
If a two-state solution ever happens, Canawati hopes it will have open borders "because we cannot separate Jerusalem from Bethlehem or East Jerusalem from West."
Trump's unilateral move on Jerusalem gained nothing for Israel, whose capital is and will remain in the Holy City. It served only to stir up religious tensions and disturb the Christians whom Pence claims he cares for.
"We pray God will give wisdom to leaders," says Canawati. "Everybody's waiting." We in America are waiting, too.
———
ABOUT THE WRITER
Trudy Rubin is a columnist and editorial-board member for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Readers may write to her at: Philadelphia Inquirer, P.O. Box 8263, Philadelphia, Pa. 19101, or by email at trubin@phillynews.com.
Chalk the absence of visitors up to President Donald Trump's Jerusalem speech, which outraged Muslims, scared off tourists, and unnerved Christian clerics. It also bushwhacked Vice President Mike Pence's planned (now postponed) trip to Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Cairo, which was meant to express solidarity with Mideast Christians. Church leaders were refusing to meet him.
"Who was advising Trump?" one prominent Bethlehem Christian asked me plaintively. Good question. Because the backlash against Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital makes one wonder what Trump and Pence thought they would gain.
Perhaps Trump thought his move would advance the "ultimate (Israel-Palestinian peace) deal" that he tasked his son-in-law and real estate lawyer to devise. But instead, he has doomed the effort.
And then there is Pence �� a fervent Christian who urged the president to keep his pledge to his evangelical base and move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. If he thought this move would help Holy Land Christians, he was very wrong.
For starters, the president's move wrecked a pre-Christmas tourist season that is especially important to Palestinian Christians.
"Before the Trump statement, we thought this would be the best year in the past 10 years for tourism," I was told by Maher Canawati, who, with his father, Nicola, owns the legendary Three Arches gift shops in Bethlehem, specializing in mother of pearl and carved olive wood objects. Living in Bethlehem since the early 17th century, the family has managed to navigate political challenges over time; portraits of ancestors look down on Canawati, including one of his father posing with a Bethlehem Boy Scout troop.
"The city has 50 hotels, 20 built in the last four years," says Canawati. "Everyone thought things would be better. But now there have been many cancellations after the statement." Bethlehem's economy is at stake.
On a broader scale, Trump's move brought the Jerusalem issue back into the global limelight, which stokes religious tensions here. That also unnerves local Christians.
A United Nations vote Thursday calling for Trump to rescind his Jerusalem move passed by 128-9, with 35 abstentions. And the United States was outnumbered by 14-1 when it vetoed a similar resolution from the U.N. Security Council.
Trump's promise to withdraw aid to nations that voted yes puts the president in conflict with major Arab allies such as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt (whose Coptic Church leaders also rebuffed a planned Pence meeting).
"After Trump's statement," says Canawati, "churches felt it was wise not to welcome someone who made such a big statement against the Islamic world."
Ordinary Christians in Jerusalem and Bethlehem worry that Trump's perceived challenge to Muslim holy sites will destabilize the city and affect them. They are a minority who have lived for centuries alongside their Muslim Palestinian brethren, and always hope for calm.
On the West Bank, Palestinian Christians do not face persecution for their religious beliefs. Christian restaurants in Bethlehem serve alcohol without any problem, and Christian women walk with hair uncovered. "In Bethlehem, we are a minority, but the Palestinian government supports Christians here," Canawati said. "The post of mayor always goes to a Christian."
But political tensions have caused a steady emigration of Christian Palestinians to North and South America. Thirty-five years ago, Christians made up at least 70 percent of Bethlehem's population and Muslims 30 percent; today the percentages are reversed. Canawati told me there are 3,000 members of his family living in Honduras and only 250 in Bethlehem.
"Most Christian Palestinians feel caught in the middle," says the Rev. Peter Vasko, a Brooklynite and longtime resident of Jerusalem, who heads the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land, which aims to help Christians remain there. "Israeli soldiers look at Christians as Arabs, while Palestinian radicals see them as traitors to the cause."
And the huge concrete border wall and fence that Israel has built to separate itself from most of the West Bank adversely affects Palestinian Christians, cutting them off from worshiping at Christianity's holiest sites in Jerusalem, and depriving many of jobs. Snaking around Bethlehem, it often turns what would be a 10-minute journey to Jerusalem into a lengthy ordeal, with Israeli checkpoints �� if a Bethlehemite can get a permit to enter Jerusalem at all.
So what Christian Palestinians hope for most is that religious tensions will be tamped down, and they can get on with their businesses and worship.
"People are fed up with riots and demonstrations and resolutions," says Canawati. "We just want the simplest thing � freedom of movement to visit our country from north to south, pray in our churches, and definitely demolish this separation wall that separates us from friends.
"I have a lot of Jewish friends and relations with Jewish companies," he adds, and they try to overcome the political divide.
If a two-state solution ever happens, Canawati hopes it will have open borders "because we cannot separate Jerusalem from Bethlehem or East Jerusalem from West."
Trump's unilateral move on Jerusalem gained nothing for Israel, whose capital is and will remain in the Holy City. It served only to stir up religious tensions and disturb the Christians whom Pence claims he cares for.
"We pray God will give wisdom to leaders," says Canawati. "Everybody's waiting." We in America are waiting, too.
———
ABOUT THE WRITER
Trudy Rubin is a columnist and editorial-board member for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Readers may write to her at: Philadelphia Inquirer, P.O. Box 8263, Philadelphia, Pa. 19101, or by email at trubin@phillynews.com.
the rich asshole rants about Clinton emails, ‘Leakin’ Comey’ and FBI’s McCabe in loopy afternoon tweets
President some rich asshole campaigns for Roy Moore in Pensacola, FL (Screen capture)
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President some rich asshole took to Twitter on Saturday afternoon to lash out the FBI, former Director James Comey, current Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and the “Phony Hillary Investigation.”
“How can FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, the man in charge, along with leakin’ James Comey, of the Phony Hillary Clinton investigation (including her 33,000 illegally deleted emails) be given $700,000 for wife’s campaign by Clinton Puppets during investigation?” the president ranted.
Mediaite.com said that the rich asshole tweets went out at the same time Fox News was showing a segment attacking McCabe, who testified this week that Comey reported to him contemporaneously about the rich asshole’s request that the FBI drop its investigation into retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn.
Flynn pled guilty to lying to the FBI in special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation and since then, right wing attacks on the FBI and on Mueller’s integrity have intensified.
Joy Reid said on Friday that Republicans’ only aim is to exonerate the rich asshole “at any cost and by any means necessary.”
the rich asshole Oval Office immigration rant: Haitians ‘all have AIDS’ and Nigerians would never ‘go back to their huts’ after seeing US
some rich asshole (Photo: Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
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President some rich asshole ranted against immigrants of color during an Oval Office meeting with controversial policy adviser Stephen Miller, The New York Times reported Saturday.
Citing six officials who attended the meeting or were briefed about it, The Times explains the rich asshole was outraged after seeing a document showing the number of visas granted by country during the first five months of his administration.
They “all have AIDS” the commander in chief allegedly said about the 15,000 Haitian visas.
the rich asshole also complained about 40,000 Nigerian visas, predicting none would “go back to their huts” after seeing the United States.
John Kelly, the current White House chief of staff, was then the secretary of homeland security and asked that the room be cleared of staff, but aides could still hear the president yelling from behind the closed door.
The White House lashed out at The Times for the report.
“General Kelly, General McMaster, Secretary Tillerson, Secretary Nielsen and all other senior staff actually in the meeting deny these outrageous claims,” press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed in a Saturday statement. “It’s both sad and telling The New York Times would print the lies of their anonymous ‘sources’ anyway.”
Despite the White House denials, immigrant rights advocates worry the episode is just the latest sign of President the rich asshole’s alleged racism.
“He’s basically saying, ‘You people of color coming to America seeking the American dream are a threat to the white people.’ He’s come into office with an aggressive strategy of trying to reverse the demographic changes underway in America,” explained Frank Sharry, the executive director of America’s Voice.
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President some rich asshole ranted against immigrants of color during an Oval Office meeting with controversial policy adviser Stephen Miller, The New York Times reported Saturday.
Citing six officials who attended the meeting or were briefed about it, The Times explains the rich asshole was outraged after seeing a document showing the number of visas granted by country during the first five months of his administration.
They “all have AIDS” the commander in chief allegedly said about the 15,000 Haitian visas.
the rich asshole also complained about 40,000 Nigerian visas, predicting none would “go back to their huts” after seeing the United States.
John Kelly, the current White House chief of staff, was then the secretary of homeland security and asked that the room be cleared of staff, but aides could still hear the president yelling from behind the closed door.
The White House lashed out at The Times for the report.
“General Kelly, General McMaster, Secretary Tillerson, Secretary Nielsen and all other senior staff actually in the meeting deny these outrageous claims,” press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed in a Saturday statement. “It’s both sad and telling The New York Times would print the lies of their anonymous ‘sources’ anyway.”
Despite the White House denials, immigrant rights advocates worry the episode is just the latest sign of President the rich asshole’s alleged racism.
“He’s basically saying, ‘You people of color coming to America seeking the American dream are a threat to the white people.’ He’s come into office with an aggressive strategy of trying to reverse the demographic changes underway in America,” explained Frank Sharry, the executive director of America’s Voice.
‘Sons of b*tches’: How professional sports beat the rich asshole the ‘bum’ in 2017
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) celebrates a basket in the third quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center. The Golden State Warriors beat he Minnesota Timberwolves 129-116. Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports
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From the US President describing protesting NFL players as “sons of bitches” to the pre-eminent superstar of the NBA disparaging the occupant of the White House as a “bum”, 2017 was the year that American sport went political.
Decades of convention which had allowed the two phenomenally successful professional sports leagues to chug along peacefully, and apolitically, were swept away in the course on one tumultuous weekend in September.
In February, as protests erupted across the nation after some rich asshole’s new administration issued restrictions on visitors from several Muslim nations, participants in Super Bowl 52 mostly stuck to the line that sport and politics should be kept apart.
“I’m not talking politics at all,” said New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. “If people want to take sides, they have a right to do that. I have a right to stay out of it too.”
Brady would subsequently go on to lead the Patriots to an astonishing comeback from 28-3 down to defeat the Atlanta Falcons for a record fifth Super Bowl.
In the immediate aftermath of that win, there was no hint of the controversy that would engulf America’s most popular sport soon after the 2017-2018 season kicked off seven months later.
The seeds had been sown a year earlier, when San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick refused to stand for the national anthem in a protest aimed at drawing attention to injustices suffered by minorities at the hands of law enforcement.
– the rich asshole tirade –
Yet as September rolled around, Kaepernick’s protest movement had largely fizzled.
Participants in Super Bowl 52 mostly stuck to the line that sport and politics should be kept apart, with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady saying “I’m not talking politics at all” AFP/File / TIMOTHY A. CLARY
Participants in Super Bowl 52 mostly stuck to the line that sport and politics should be kept apart, with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady saying “I’m not talking politics at all” AFP/File / TIMOTHY A. CLARY
Kaepernick, a free agent, had found himself frozen out of the sport, with none of the 32 teams in the NFL seeing any value in a 30-year-old quarterback who had led the 49ers to the brink of a Super Bowl victory only four years earlier.
A handful of players continued to kneel for the anthem in early season games, but as a story, the issue had been mostly forgotten.
That all changed on September 22, when the rich asshole, speaking at a rally in Alabama, raised the issue of NFL players who refused to stand for the anthem.
To loud cheers, the rich asshole said NFL owners should respond to the players by saying, “Get that son of a bitch off the field right now, he’s fired. He’s fired!”.
The following day, the rich asshole turned his attention to the NBA’s reigning champions Golden State and their star point guard, Stephen Curry.
Curry, like many of his Warriors team-mates an outspoken critic of the rich asshole, had earlier indicated he would be reluctant to visit a White House reception if the team was invited. the rich asshole responded by withdrawing the team’s invitation.
“Going to the White House is considered a great honor for a championship team. Stephen Curry is hesitating, therefore invitation is withdrawn!” he wrote.
the rich asshole’s outburst drew sharp criticism, with Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James leading the charge.
“U bum @StephenCurry already said he ain’t going!” James wrote on Twitter. “So therefore ain’t no invite. Going to White House was a great honor until you showed up.”
– ‘Lack of respect’ –
The NFL, meanwhile, united in its response to the rich asshole’s criticism of players who protest.
Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, an outspoken critic of President some rich asshole, indicated he would be reluctant to visit a White House reception if the team was invited GETTY/AFP/File / EZRA SHAW
Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, an outspoken critic of President some rich asshole, indicated he would be reluctant to visit a White House reception if the team was invited GETTY/AFP/File / EZRA SHAW
“Divisive comments like these demonstrate an unfortunate lack of respect for the NFL, our great game and all of our players,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell wrote in a statement.
NFL team owners issued statements condemning the rich asshole’s comments.
But the most resounding statement came on the following Sunday, two days after the rich asshole’s comments, when a wave of player protests erupted across the league in the biggest single demonstration of political activism in NFL history.
All told, around 150 players across the league took to one knee during the playing of the US national anthem, instantly reigniting Kaepernick’s cause.
“We felt like President the rich asshole’s speech was an assault on our most cherished right — freedom of speech,” Denver star Von Miller explained.
the rich asshole’s anti-NFL invective has continued, as have the player protests, albeit on a smaller scale.
The NFL meanwhile has had to navigate a difficult course, on the one hand defending protesting players from political attack while at the same time not antagonising fans who see refusal to stand for the anthem as an affront bordering on treason.
Goodell has led talks with protesting players and the NFL has pledged nearly $100 million to charities which deal with criminal justice reform, law enforcement/community relations and education.
The NFL hierarchy hopes the pledge will help draw a line under its season of protest, although there is no explicit requirement for players to refrain from demonstrating during the anthem.
‘Going Breitbart’: Fox News staffers appalled as website moves from hard news to anti-Hillary, pro-the rich asshole propaganda
21st Century Fox co-chairman Rupert Murdoch (Screen capture)
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Staffers who work on the Fox News website say under new leadership it is moving away from hard news and becoming more like the network’s talk show hosts, promoting President some rich asshole and harping on so-called Hillary Clinton conspiracies.
According to one media expert who spoke with Politico, the popular news website is “going a little Breitbart.”
“The approach has gone much more the way the prime-time programming works where it feels more agenda or opinion driven, or combative,” explained one Fox New employee, comparing recent coverage to the opinion-driven ramblings of night-time hosts Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham.
According to the report, Noah Kotch took over as the Fox News digital editor in chief six months ago and has beefed up the staff by over 45 percent — many of whom are working hand-in-hand in collaboration with the television side.
“The digital side of Fox, they weren’t investing as much for many, many years, I think that’s widely known,” Kotch explained. “We’re finally staffing up, we’re getting all the resources that we really need to be competitive, which we didn’t have before.”
Longtime digital staffers claim that, under their new boss, they have moved away from delivering straight news to a more ideological slant that promotes the rich asshole.
Politico notes that a story on the passage of the GOP tax plan was headlined with “RELIEF IN SIGHT,” taking an editorial stance on a new story. Another story hyped “anti-the rich asshole bias allegations” against Deputy FBI Director Andrew McCabe.
The report states that one editor reportedly grew upset when the new site took a lead from the rich asshole’s derogatory “Rocket Man” epithet for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to refer to scientists in the country as “Rocket men.”
Equally notable was the way the website buried the story of ex-Judge Roy Moore’s stunning defeat for a U.S. Senate seat representing Alabama — which did not go unnoticed on Twitter.
“I don’t think we would have buried a story like that back in the old days, so to speak,” said one former editor at the site who left before the rich asshole was elected.
You can read the whole report here.
‘You are the American SS’: ICE gets torched for asking Twitter to name its ‘top stories’ of 2017
Immigration officials detain someone during a raid, as seen in a video posted by Netroots Nation
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Maybe the regular social media personnel at U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement have already taken off for the holidays because the agency should have known better than to ask Twitter users to name its “Top ICE stories of 2017.”
Readers rightly scorched the agency for stalking a 10-year-old girl with cerebral palsy’s ambulance and staking out her hospital room, classifying any person caught in an ICE raid as a “criminal” and for attempting to deport a journalist back to a country where he faced death at the hands of the drug cartels he’d exposed.
The responses came in a torrent.
You are the American SS and you need to go away. Everything you do is established in racism, and all your other "work" is just a veil for that racism. You don't care about gangs, drugs, or sex trafficking, all you care about arresting brown ppl and PR. You make me sick.
Big fan of what you guys do ICE. I have to say one of my favorite ICE moments this year was when you arrested a journalist and his son and threatened to send them back to their certain murder at the hands of the cartels he bravely reported on. twitter.com/ICEgov/status/…
The top story was when you guys detained a 10 year old child with CP after following her Ambulance to the hospital.
‘Pure racism’: Internet scorches the rich asshole for claiming Haitians ‘all have AIDS’ and Nigerians ‘live in huts’
some rich asshole during CNN debate (Photo: Screen capture via video)
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President some rich asshole was savaged online after a bombshell New York Times report claimed he said Haitians “all have AIDS” and Nigerians would never “go back to their huts” after seeing America.
The racial overtones of President the rich asshole’s alleged Oval Office comments drew a sharp rebuke.
One Twitter commenter noted: “This is the man who leads our country saying these things, not some drunk man clutching on to his whisky and a bar stool.”
“Wow. I didn’t know people still used racist insults like go back to Africa, and black people from (insert black country) all have AIDS. Not only is the rich asshole a Nazi troll, he is a Nazi troll with retro racist insults.”
Here are some of the best tweets:
Holy crap. In an immigration meeting, Trump complained that
-Haitian immigrants “all have AIDS”
-Nigerian immigrants “would never go back to their huts” nytimes.com/2017/12/23/us/… pic.twitter.com/Z6jvksrQ5s
this ignorant, racist piece of shit..acts like he has AIDS of the brain. Biggest LOSER embarrassment ever!... fb.me/91FvcXYmV
Must-read article about how much Trump has gone off the rails on immigration policy. Trump even said in WH meeting that the 15000 Haitian immigrants “all have AIDS.” Such irrational and unAmerican policies need challenge. nytimes.com/2017/12/23/us/…
Trump's "knowledge" of HIV/AIDS is stuck in 1983, when people wrongly believed AIDS only affected the so-called "4-H" groups: Haitians, homosexuals, heroin users and hemophiliacs.
This is why he bans the CDC from using words like "diversity," "science-based" & "evidence-based." twitter.com/maggieNYT/stat…
Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States*.
*This is all a Daliesque dream, right? Right? Bueller... Bueller...
Trump Oval Office immigration rant: Haitians ‘all have AIDS’ and Nigerians would never ‘go back to their huts’ after seeing US rawstory.com/2017/12/trump-…
It is a sign of how far 2017 has taken us that the headline here isn’t “POTUS: All Haitian Immigrants ‘Have AIDS,’” as it would be with literally any other president. For Trump, it’s just an anecdote a few grafs down. nytimes.com/2017/12/23/us/…
This is the man who leads our country saying these things, not some drunk man clutching on to his whisky and a bar stool:
"Haiti had sent 15,000 people. They “all have AIDS,”
40K had come from Nigeria: they would never “go back to their huts” in Africa.
nyti.ms/2DEB3Ds
OMFG. I completely believe he said it. He is that kind of person & it sounds like him. He's an awful, awful human being.
Trump Oval Office immigration rant: Haitians ‘all have AIDS’ and Nigerians would never ‘go back to their huts’ after seeing US rawstory.com/2017/12/trump-…
Trump said in a June meeting:
Haitian immigrants "all have AIDS."
Nigerians coming 2 the U.S. would never "go back to their huts".
Afghan immigrants come from a terrorist haven.
This is our president. Let that sink in.thehill.com/homenews/admin…#antitrump #resist #resistance
So I guess we are back to talking about whether the President is a racist. -- Trump, on Hatian immigrants coming to the US, they “all have AIDS." On Nigerian immigrants, Trump said once they’d seen the U.S., they’d never “go back to their huts” in Africa. mobile.nytimes.com/2017/12/23/us/…
Esq.
Trump 
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