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May 14, 2018
Following the lead of the rich asshole University, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is trying to protect for-profit colleges that defraud students.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos seems to be operating under the bizarre, inverse premise that for-profit colleges need government protection from students. To that end, she has quietly dismantled the agency’s ongoing investigation into the shady practices of some of those companies.
The New York Times reports that DeVos has “effectively killed investigations” into widespread fraud and abuse at the schools. She has also “marginalized, reassigned or instructed [members of the special probe team] to focus on other matters.”
Last year, DeVos announced she was delaying Obama-era protections for students defrauded by for-profit colleges,
That regulation, which was supposed to take effect July 2017, would have allowed tens of thousands of students to have their loans forgiven if the for-profit schools they attended had deceived them about their education and career prospects.
DeVos put a freeze on the rule, and sought to delay its implementation until 2019. Rather than allowing defrauded students to quickly recover lost funds, DeVos and her team are slow-walking the process in court.
Eighteen Democratic attorneys general sued DeVos over the delay.
“It’s another example of the the rich asshole administration favoring these predatory for-profit schools at the expense of students, many of whom are vulnerable, and also at the expense of the federal government,” Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh told the Associated Press at the time.
But now it appears DeVos has simply dismantled the entire investigative process.
The anti-consumer action comes as little surprise, however, after DeVos chose a former associate dean at DeVry University as head of the DOE’s enforcement unit.
“This is a joke, right?” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) tweeted about that appointment in August 2017. He noted that DeVry remains at the center of the controversy regarding pro-profit schools defrauded students.
Meanwhile, who ran perhaps the most famous for-profit fraud school in America? some rich asshole, of course.
Roughly 7,000 people were scammed out of their life savings by the rich asshole University, including single mothers and veterans. the rich asshole ended up settling related lawsuits for $25 million.
Once again, DeVos is scrambling to protect for-profits schools instead of defending at-risk consumers. Just like her boss.
Fox News laments mainstream media only covers the rich asshole: ‘Where is Ben Carson?’
Ben Carson (screen grab)
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On Monday, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof appeared on CNN’s Reliable Sources to decry the relentless media coverage of some rich asshole and point out that it’s crowding out other important stories—making Americans as ignorant about world affairs as the President is assumed to be.
“I do think that we have to acknowledge that there is so much more happening in the world than Donald the rich asshole, and we in the media are essentially all the rich asshole all the time,” Kristof said. The columnist pointed out that the rich asshole is mocked as parochial—at the same time that the media fails to cover issues of international and domestic importance. “That can also be said about us,” Kristof concludes.
Fox News’ The Five played Kristof’s admission but reached a strikingly different conclusion—and lost track of HUD secretary Ben Carson in the process.
“The Washington press corps focuses way too much attention on the White House to the exclusion of all the different federal agencies. You never hear anything about the energy department, … we might as well not even have one,” co- host Dana Perino.
“Or Ben Carson, where is he?” Greg Gutfield interjects.
Carson drew scrutiny in April when it was found his office ordered over $100,000 in new office furniture.
Watch below.
POLITICS
the rich asshole Orders Help For Chinese Phone-Maker After China Approves Money For the rich asshole Project
the rich asshole will profit from Indonesian resort project that will get $500 million in Chinese loans in a deal sealed days before his tweet ordering help for ZTE.
WASHINGTON – A mere 72 hours after the Chinese government agreed to put a half-billion dollars into an Indonesian project that will personally enrich some rich asshole, the president ordered a bailout for a Chinese-government-owned cellphone maker.
“President Xi of China, and I, are working together to give massive Chinese phone company, ZTE, a way to get back into business, fast,” the rich asshole announced on Twitter Sunday morning. “Too many jobs in China lost. Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!”
the rich asshole did not mention in that tweet or its follow-ups that on Thursday, the developer of a theme park resort outside of Jakarta had signed a deal to receive as much as $500 million in Chinese government loans, as well as another $500 million from Chinese banks. the rich asshole’s family business, the rich asshole Organization, has a deal to license the rich asshole name to the resort, which includes a golf course and hotels.
the rich asshole, despite his promises to do so during the campaign, has not divested himself of his businesses, and continues to profit from them.
“You do a good deal for him, he does a good deal for you. Quid pro quo,” said Richard Painter, the White House ethics lawyer for former President George W. Bush and now a Democratic candidate for Senate in Minnesota.
“This appears to be yet another violation of the emoluments clause of the Constitution,” Painter said, referring to the prohibition against the president receiving payments from foreign governments.
The White House did not respond to HuffPost queries asking if there was a connection between the “MNC Lido City” project and the rich asshole’s directive regarding ZTE.
At Monday’s daily briefing, Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah referred questions about the Indonesian project to the rich asshole Organization. “That’s not something that I can speak to,” he said.
The rich asshole Organization on Monday acknowledged its involvement in the resort, but did not respond to questions about how much the company would make from its licensing or management fees.
ZTE phones have already been described as a security risk by the U.S. military and intelligence community. Two weeks ago, the military banned their use on bases for fear they could be used to track the locations of service members.
The company, which is owned 33 percent by Chinese-government-owned enterprises, had been fined $1.2 billion last year after it was found to be violating U.S. sanctions against Iran and North Korea. After it was determined that ZTE officials had lied about their actions, the U.S. government last month banned it from purchasing U.S. components for seven years — a decision that essentially forced the company to shut down.
the rich asshole followed up late Monday afternoon with a new tweet on the issue: “ZTE, the large Chinese phone company, buys a big percentage of individual parts from U.S. companies. This is also reflective of the larger trade deal we are negotiating with China and my personal relationship with President Xi.”
The new statement, however, still did not address the question of the Indonesian resort and the the rich asshole Organization’s coming profit thanks to Chinese investment.
“This is stunning. They perpetually find new things to surprise me,” said Robert Weissman, president of the open government advocacy group Public Citizen. “The idea of the president intervening in a law enforcement matter to satisfy a foreign government is extraordinary. And it’s extraordinary because it doesn’t happen. Opening that door threatens the integrity of all corporate law enforcement.”
Shah, on other ZTE questions at the daily briefing, appeared to downplay the import of the rich asshole’s directive to “get it done.” Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross will examine the matter “consistent with applicable laws and regulations,” Shah said.
He acknowledged, however, that the issue is of great concern to the Chinese and its president, Xi Jinping.
“In our bilateral relationship, there is a give and take,” Shah said.
During his campaign, the rich asshole attacked China almost daily for “stealing” U.S. jobs by manipulating its currency and using unfair trade practices. “No one has ever stolen jobs like other countries have taken from us,” the rich asshole told a Nevada rally on Nov. 5, 2016. “We’ve lost 70,000 factories since China joined the WTO,” the rich asshole told a Pittsburgh-area audience the following day.
In recent months, the rich asshole has been trying to craft a trade agreement with China at the same time he is asking for Xi’s help in cracking down on North Korea because of its nuclear weapons program.
At a National Press Club speech Monday, Ross said that the ZTE sanctions were an enforcement action, unrelated to the trade negotiations, but that he would be reviewing the situation “very, very promptly” as a result of the rich asshole’s request.
For ethics advocates, the timing of the ZTE tweet on the heels of the Indonesian development announcement is yet another example of the consequences of the rich asshole’s unwillingness to abide by the emoluments clause.
“The Chinese government seems to have figured out a way to manipulate President the rich asshole,” Weissman said. “It’s exactly why this anti-bribery clause of the Constitution is common sense.”
US EPA chief Scott Pruitt asked for 24/7 security from day one of taking office: watchdog
EPA AdministratorScott Pruitt of Oklahoma speaking at the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt requested and received around-the-clock security since his first day in office in 2017, the agency’s watchdog on Monday told a lawmaker questioning Pruitt’s expensive security detail.
Prior EPA administrators have not had blanket protection. Pruitt, under pressure from Congress for his high travel and security spending as America’s top environmental regulator, has said his 24-hour security was installed due to unusual threats against him.
"The decision was made by the Office of Criminal Enforcement, Forensics and Training after being informed that Mr. Pruitt requested 24/7 protection once he was confirmed as administrator,” according to the letter from The EPA’s Office of Inspector General.
The office “played no role in this decision.”
The inspector general released the detail in a letter to Democratic Senator Tom Carper of Delaware, who had asked the office how and why Pruitt was getting 24-hour protection.
During hearings last month, Pruitt, who was confirmed Feb. 17, 2017, justified his security spending by citing threats he had received since taking office.
EPA spokesman Jahan Wilcox did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Writing by Richard Valdmanis; Editing by Cynthia Osterman
POLITICS
some rich asshole Lashes Out At ‘So-Called Leaks,’ And Twitter Users Pounce
As one paraphrased the rich asshole, “the food here is awful and the portions are too small.”
You’d think logic trumps all ― except when it comes to some rich asshole.
On Monday the president took to Twitter to lash out against news leaks from White House staffers like the one reported last week regarding Kelly Sadler’s remark that the opinion of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is meaningless because “he’s dying anyway.”
the rich asshole’s anger is clear, but the tweet was a little confusing, as Twitter users helpfully pointed out, starting with CNN anchor Jake Tapper.
The leakers are traitors and cowards but what they're leaking is being exaggerated by the media. Got it. twitter.com/realDonaldTrum…
Tapper wasn’t the only one who picked up on the underlying contradiction of the rich asshole’s tweet.
"We must, at all costs, hunt down these leaking traitors who totally don't exist and it's not a big deal really." twitter.com/realDonaldTrum…
So it’s a totally fake problem AND a very serious real problem. Got it.
Others had questions. Lots of questions.
So the leaks are "so-called" so they're not leaks? If they're not leaks how can they be over-exaggerated? How does one "over-exaggerate" an exaggeration, anyways? But the leaks are real so you'll get the leakers?
Jesus, your stupid is just exhausting. twitter.com/realDonaldTrum…
So, your point is "These leaks didn't happen and we're going to put in prison anyone we find who did leak these non-leaks". GOT IT.
Lordy, if the leaks are fake why do they all turn out to be true? Trump is a moron. It's going to take some real luck to get through the Trump crazy without having America being permanently damaged.
One man pointed out the topsy-turvy message in the president’s tweet.
In Trump's opinion, his staff member who made fun of John McCain's terminal illness isn't a "traitor," but the people who told the press about it are. twitter.com/realDonaldTrum…
One person offered advice to the rich asshole on finding who’s responsible.
How to Find the Leaker in 4 Steps:
1) Close your eyes
2) Stand in front of a mirror
3) Open your eyes
4) There’s your leaker!
Others rephrased the rich asshole’s tweet in a way that made more sense.
the rich asshole contradicts himself in a single tweet about leaks he claims are fake news — then denounces
President some rich asshole yelling inside a truck (image via Creative Commons).
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President some rich asshole went off on the “fake news” that claims leaks are coming out of the West Wing of the White House. First, he called it fake news, and then he denounced the leaks that were coming out.
“The so-called leaks coming out of the White House are a massive over exaggeration put out by the Fake News Media in order to make us look as bad as possible. With that being said, leakers are traitors and cowards, and we will find out who they are!” the rich asshole tweeted Monday.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was bothered by the leak of the comment top aide Kelly Sadler made about Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). It has been reported that the communications department is searching for the leak.
When it was revealed that first lady Melania the rich asshole underwent a procedure Monday on her kidney, pundits remarked that no one knew the procedure was coming. They compared the leaks in the East Wing, the first lady’s office, to the sieve in the rich asshole’s West Wing.
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May 14, 2018
Some Republicans in Congress admitted they were trying to pass their tax scam to ensure their billionaire donors would keep the cash flowing. Now, they've even failed at that.
When the GOP forced through its reckless tax scam giveaway to corporations and billionaires, some lawmakers made it clear their priority was not to help working families, but to please the wealthy donors who keep their campaigns funded.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said they had to get it done or “the financial contributions will stop.” Rep. Chris Collins (R-NY) said “who cares” if the tax cuts are unpopular, and later clarified, “My donors are basically saying, ‘Get it done or don’t ever call me again.'”
But according to a new report from CNN, Republicans failed even at keeping their top donors happy.
It turns out several wealthy Republican donors are now withholding funds — including financiers Paul Singer, Ken Griffin, Warren Stephens, Cliff Asness, Bruce Kovner, and Daniel Loeb — because they are angry the bill’s corporate tax cuts do not apply to their hedge funds.
As CNN notes, “Although some of the donors have not sworn off contributions to individual campaigns or even the Republican National Committee, all have so far withheld contributions to the House and Senate Republican campaign arms — which are key players in the 2018 midterm elections — as a way to send a message over the law.”
Furthermore, these six donors “accounted for more than $50 million to Republican groups during the 2016 election cycle; Singer ranked among the top 10 donors of either party, while Griffin and Stephens ranked in the top 20.”
To put this in perspective, in the 2016 cycle, the total expenditure on all candidates was $161 million for the National Republican Congressional Committee, and $134 million for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
So if this continues, the GOP could see noticeable shortfalls at a time when their majorities are already vulnerable — and when, ironically, their lawmakers face voter anger over the tax cuts.
Some GOP-aligned groups like Americans for Prosperity have run ads against Democrats for opposing the bill. But instead, the bill is rapidly becoming a political disaster for Republicans.
Analyses have found it will put the budget deficit over $1 trillion, and that 83 percent accrues to the top 1 percent of income earners and 80 percent to foreign investors. The bill turned out to include drafting errors and glitches that Republicans are now forced to ask Democrats to help them fix.
Health insurance costs are now set to spike as much as 94 percent in parts of the country thanks partly to the bill’s individual mandate repeal. And some businesses, far from creating jobs, are actually using their tax cuts to fire their workers.
Voters have not fallen for the scam. Recent polls find just 27 percent of voters think the tax cuts were a good idea. Some vulnerable Republican lawmakers organizing rallies to support the tax bill, like Iowa Rep. Rod Blum, have been greeted with near-empty parking lots.
And it is not helping them win elections. In Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District, where voters backed the rich asshole in 2016 by 20 points, Republicans had to back off ads promoting the tax scam after an underwhelming voter reaction. They went on to lose the special election to Democrat Conor Lamb, who opposed the tax cuts.
Republicans could and should have seen all of this coming. The bill polled terribly even before it passed. But as the remarks of lawmakers like Graham and Collins showed, the GOP was desperate to deliver the goods to their donors.
If they could not even do that, Republicans should seriously question whether their tax crusade had any point at all.
President the rich asshole finally speaks with the hero who took down Waffle House shooter
James Shaw Jr in an interview with ABC News (Screenshot)
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On Monday, President some rich asshole finally spoke with James Shaw Jr., the black man who disarmed a shooter at a Nashville Waffle House with his bare hands on April 22nd, likely saving countless lives and suffering a burn in the process.
“This morning he had a call with James Shaw to commend his heroic actions and quick thinking at a Waffle House in Tennessee,” White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah said Monday. “Mr. Shaw saved lives when he wrestled a gun from an active shooter who had opened fire.“
The president, who addressed the NRA-ILA meeting in early May—the political lobby group of the National Rifle Association— had been criticized for celebrating white gun culture while failing to recognize Shaw’s heroism. Shaw’s story contradicts the NRA’s dictum that the only thing that can stop “a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun.”
Shaw, who’s fundraised to help the families of the four shooting victims, has famously refused the label of hero, claiming he was merely trying to save his own life.
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May 14, 2018
the rich asshole's latest Twitter outburst was not only nonsensical — it also seemed to take direct aim at his own team.
the rich asshole seems to have finally addressed the horrific joke that one of his aides made about Sen. John McCain. But it wasn’t by apologizing for it.
Last week, White House communications aide Kelly Sadler joked during a closed-door meeting that McCain is “dying anyway,” so his opinion on CIA nominee Gina Haspel is irrelevant.
For days, the White House has refused to apologize, and railed against the story as a “leak” that could not be confirmed.
But at Monday’s White House daily briefing, deputy press secretary Raj Shah officially confirmed that the “leak” was true, that Sadler had apologized for the remark, and that the matter was being handled “internally.”
Hours later, the rich asshole lashed out in a nonsensical tweet, not at the hateful comment itself, but at the fact that it was leaked and whomever was responsible for doing so.
“The so-called leaks coming out of the White House are a massive over exaggeration put out by the Fake News Media in order to make us look as bad as possible.” the rich asshole tweeted.
But he immediately contradicted his “Fake News” claim in the same tweet.
“With that being said, leakers are traitors and cowards, and we will find out who they are!” he added.
It’s no surprise that the rich asshole won’t apologize, since he’s said much worse about McCain himself.
And his paranoid campaign to root out “traitors” from his own staff won’t make his White House any more attractive to job seekers.
the rich asshole’s rage over “fake news” has had numerous targets over his time in office. Now his own inner circle is next up for the blame.
Watch Fox News’ Shep Smith use a pastor’s own words to fact-check him after prayer at the Jerusalem embassy
The host of 'Shepard Smith Reporting' on Fox News
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Fox News’ Shep Smith on Monday blasted a member of some rich asshole’s evangelical counsel who gave a prayer at the opening of the new Israeli embassy in Jerusalem — using the pastor’s own words.
Pastor Robert Jeffress “says he believes all Jews are going to hell,” Smith noted, and has uttered similar condemnations of Islam. The host then went on to quote the pro-the rich asshole evangelical leader
"Islam is a false religion,” Smith said, quoting Jeffress. “And if you sincerely follow the tenants of it, then you will end up in hell when you die.”
After the gay host recounted the pastor’s belief that LGBT people are “engaged in the most detestable, unclean, abominable acts you can imagine,” Smith noted that reporters asked deputy White House press secretary Raj Shah why Jeffress was chosen to give the prayer at the embassy on behalf of the rich asshole administration. The spokesman replied that the pastor had a good relationship with people “on both sides of the aisle.”
Smith then noted before cutting to a commercial break that Jeffress is a Fox News contributor.
Watch below:
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May 14, 2018
It took the rich asshole three weeks to call James Shaw Jr., the hero who disarmed a shooter in a Nashville restaurant. And he still hasn't offered any public praise for Shaw's bravery.
It was three weeks ago Sunday that James Shaw Jr. stopped a mass shooting at a Waffle House in Tennessee. And it took that long for the rich asshole to finally contact him.
On Monday afternoon, deputy press secretary Raj Shah opened the White House daily briefing by quickly noting that the rich asshole called Shaw that morning to “commend” him. The 15-second mention contained no direct quotes from the call.
Later in the briefing, American Urban Radio Networks White House correspondent April Ryan pressed Shah for details.
“We all need more information about the conversation the president had by phone with James Shaw, Jr.,” Ryan said. “Why wasn’t it here at the White House?”
Shah stammered a response, but Ryan continued to press him about the lack of a White House invitation.
“Honestly, I don’t know if he was invited,” Shah finally said. “I just honestly don’t have more for you on that.”
Ryan had also questioned press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders two weeks ago about the rich asshole’s snub of Shaw, and pointed out that the rich asshole praised other heroes. Sanders promised a phone call and an invitation to the White House.
But today, Shah had no information about a White House visit, and very little to say about the phone call. And even now, three weeks after the tragedy, the rich asshole still has yet to publicly praise Shaw.
The Waffle House shooting doesn’t fit the NRA’s “good guy with a gun” narrative. And James Shaw Jr.’s heroism doesn’t fit the racist worldview of the rich asshole or his base.
By keeping his words of praise for Shaw private, the rich asshole conveniently and disgracefully avoids offending his right-wing supporters.
Lawmakers call for probe after emails reveal the rich asshole administration tried to block health study
EPA and White House officials had worried the toxic chemicals study would cause a "public relations nightmare."
Lawmakers called for a probe and the release of a controversial study on Monday after emails revealed that the rich asshole administration officials attempted to block a public health study from being published over worries it would cause a “public relations nightmare” and reflect poorly on both the Department of Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency. The unreleased study relates to toxic chemicals contaminating water supplies near sites including chemical plants and military bases.
Emails obtained by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) reveal that EPA and White House employees sought to bar the release of a toxic chemicals assessment from the Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
Shortly after the emails were made public, Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH) called the revelations “outrageous” and an “unacceptable decision to conceal critical public health research.”
“That lobbyists, industry insiders, and political appointees could have played a role in the decision not to release this study is beyond the pale,” Shea-Porter said in a press release. “Congress must hold hearings and investigate how it is possible that the EPA, the White House, and HHS have, for months, possessed research that could have helped families understand the health impacts of their exposure to toxic chemicals, but instead, have failed to even tell anyone that this study exists at all.
Shea-Porter has asked the House Government Oversight Committee to open an investigation in addition to holding hearings on the issue. In addition, Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) called the information “deeply troubling” and called for the study’s release. Another New Hampshire Democrat, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, similarly called the decision to withhold the study “unconscionable”.
The email exchanges, first reported Monday by Politico, indicate that concerns raised by a Defense contact prompted conversations between EPA and White House officials about the health study in question.
“The public, media, and Congressional reaction to these numbers is going to be huge,” read an email from an unidentified sender forwarded to James P. Herz, the Associate Director for Natural Resources, Energy and Science at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB).
“The impact to EPA and DoD is going to be extremely painful. We (DoD and EPA) cannot seem to get ATSDR [the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry] to realize the potential public relations nightmare this is going to be,” continued the email, which Herz forwarded on January 30 to EPA Chief Financial Officer Holly Greaves.
Greaves in turn queried Richard Yamada, an employee with the EPA’s Office of Research and Development with ties to conservative lawmakers, about the study. Yamada spoke about the findings with Nancy Beck, the deputy assistant administrator at the EPA chemicals office who has deep ties to chemical corporations. The officials spoke of coordinating interagency review and finding a “neutral arbiter” in the form of OMB.
Their conversations indicate that the unreleased study shows that chemicals harm human health at a level lower than previous numbers indicated by the EPA. The chemicals, referred to as PFOA and PFOS, are used in a number of products, including Teflon, which has been linked to chemical cancer. Companies have argued that their products carry only low levels of such chemicals and are safe for people, but experts worry even those levels offer too much exposure.
For the Defense Department, those chemicals pose an outsized liability. The military uses foam containing them in exercises, compromising neighboring water supplies in the process. While the HHS draft study would carry no regulatory weight, the emails sent by various the rich asshole administration staffers indicate Defense officials worried it might be used as a factor in Superfund site cleanup requirements. That could make such processes significantly more intensive and expensive, not only for the military but also for chemical plants.
Pruitt has purportedly made addressing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances a goal for the EPA under his leadership. But the draft study remains unpublished as of May, months after the email exchanges.
Pruitt’s chief of staff, Ryan Jackson, defended the agency’s handling of the issue to Politico, saying the “EPA is eager to participate in and, contribute to a coordinated approach so each federal stakeholder is fully informed on what the other stakeholders’ concerns, roles, and expertise can contribute and to ensure that the federal government is responding in a uniform way to our local, state, and Congressional constituents and partners.”
Under the rich asshole, funding meant to clean up toxic waste sites is set to shrink. The administration has proposed cutting the Superfund cleanup program from $1 billion to $762 million. A Florida study published two months ago in the Journal of Statistics and Public Policy found that state residents living in counties with Superfund sites were 6 percent more likely to receive cancer diagnoses.
POLITICS
Melania the rich asshole Is Recovering From Kidney Surgery
Her condition was benign, her office said, but she will remain hospitalized this week.
First lady Melania the rich asshole is recovering from surgery she had on Monday to treat a “benign kidney condition,” her office announced.
She will likely spend the next few days in the hospital recuperating after the embolization procedure, a surgery done to prevent blood flow to part of a body, typically with the intent of shrinking a tumor or preventing an aneurysm.
“The procedure was successful and there were no complications,” a statement from her office read. “Mrs. the rich asshole is at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and will likely remain there for the duration of the week. The First Lady looks forward to a full recovery so she can continue her work on behalf of children everywhere.”
President some rich asshole spoke with his wife before the surgery and with her doctor after, a White House official told NBC. He is expected to visit her Monday.
The first lady’s surgery was announced the same morning that the family of Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he had also undergone surgery. His doctors at the John Hopkins Cancer Center removed a tumor from his pancreas on Monday. The tumor was detected in a routine screening, and he will begin chemotherapy treatments after recovering from his surgery.
Melania the rich asshole treated for benign kidney condition, in hospital
Melania the rich asshole gives an interview/Screenshot
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President some rich asshole’s wife, Melania the rich asshole, has been treated for what was described as a benign kidney condition and will remain at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for the rest of the week, the first lady’s office said on Monday.
Spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham said in a statement that Mrs. the rich asshole, 48, underwent an embolization procedure to treat the kidney condition.”The procedure was successful and there were no complications,” Grisham said. “The first lady looks forward to a full recovery so she can continue her work on behalf of children everywhere.”
EPA watchdog contradicts Pruitt’s story on need for 24-7 security detail
Pruitt's round-the-clock security has cost taxpayers more than $3 million.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt asked for, and received, a 24-hour security detail, seven days a week, starting his very first day in the job last February, the Washington Post revealed Monday. The agency has claimed that the increased personal security was necessary due to threats the administrator was receiving.
“EPA’s Protective Service Detail began providing 24/7 coverage of the Administrator the first day he arrived,” the agency’s inspector general, Arthur Elkins, said. This decision came at Pruitt’s request shortly after he was confirmed as EPA administrator, Elkins wrote in response to inquiries from Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Tom Carper (D-DE).
In his response to Whitehouse and Carper, Elkins added that the inspector general’s office — which is responsible for investigating any threats made against EPA employees — “played no role” in the decision to grant Pruitt’s round-the-clock security detail.
According to a separate report by the New York Times last week, as of mid-March, the EPA had a total 33 threat investigations underway, 10 of which involved Pruitt covering the past six months.
Pruitt has frequently cited the number of threats made against him as a justification for his extensive security, as well as the many first-class flights he took at taxpayer expense.
“We’ve reached the point where there’s not much civility in the marketplace and it’s created, you know, it’s created some issues and the [security] detail, the level of protection is determined by the level of threat,” Pruitt said earlier this year.
One incident described by Henry Barnet, director of the agency’s Office of Criminal Enforcement, involved an individual approaching Pruitt at the Atlanta airport and yelling, “‘Scott Pruitt, you’re f—ing up the environment,’ those sort of terms.”
In addition to the costly security detail, there was also reportedly a request to spend about $70,000 to replace two desks in Pruitt’s office with a bulletproof desk. While this request was ultimately not fulfilled, another separate request to upgrade Pruitt’s official car was — this involved upgrading to a larger, more expensive vehicle with bullet-resistance covers over the seats.
The EPA administrator is facing mounting criticism and numerous investigations related to his unethical behaviors, including his use of his round-the-clock security for personal trips, such as with his family to Disneyland or sports events. Pruitt is set to testify before a Senate Appropriations subcommittee on May 16 where he is expected to face more questions over his ethical scandals.
Team the rich asshole plans to go to ‘war’ with Mueller to fend off impeachment — and it could backfire spectacularly
US President some rich asshole speaks during a joint press conference with the Palestinian leader at the presidential palace in the West Bank city of Bethlehem on May 23, 2017 (AFP Photo/MANDEL NGAN)
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Rudy did it again. Last Friday, Giuliani gave an interview to the Huffington Post, and the subject of the rich asshole fixer Michael Cohen’s recently revealed arrangement with AT&T about the pending merger with Time Warner came up. In his usual thoughtless, arrogant fashion Giuliani explained that AT&T didn’t get anything for their money because “the president denied the merger.”
This article was originally published at Salon
The president is not supposed to interfere in such decisions, and the White House has repeatedly denied that he did. But ever since the Department of Justice unexpectedly moved to block the merger, unless (among other things) the company agreed to spin off CNN, some rich asshole’s nemesis, it had seemed likely the rich asshole was behind the move. He had said on the campaign trail that he was opposed to the merger, but blocking it was considered an unusual decision by a Republican DOJ, and the stated rationale seemed thin. Considering the rich asshole’s repeated threats to take the Justice Department in hand and muzzle the press, it’s not surprising people would wonder about all this.
The resulting lawsuit has been in court for some time, and the judge has not allowed AT&T’s attorneys to pursue this line of inquiry, so the suspicions quieted down until Giuliani stuck his foot in it again. He later walked it back, of course, telling CNN’s Dana Bash that the president had nothing to do with the decision after all. But it was yet another example of Giuliani creating more problems than he solves.
Not that he’s shutting up, mind you. In fact, he telegraphed the rich asshole team’s plans to “make a little fuss” this coming week over the length of the Mueller investigation as it approaches the one-year mark. They had already trotted out the talking point last week when Vice President Mike Pence sat down for an interview with Andrea Mitchell and put on his patented pained expression and sanctimoniously declared it was time to wrap it up, reminding everyone of another sanctimonious phony who served as veep and later president:
Nixon resigned seven months later.
Shameless as they are, or perhaps just historically illiterate, even after that embarrassing allusion, the rich asshole and his henchmen are apparently going with this new P.R. push to try to force Mueller to close up shop. After all, he’s only indicted or gotten guilty pleas from 19 people. If the man can’t finish an investigation that runs from New York to Moscow into a possible criminal conspiracy to upend American democracy in a year, there’s obviously nothing there.
According to The Washington Post, the administration is going on a “war footing” or, as Giuliani put it, “We’ve gone from defense to offense.” What that evidently means is a new push in the campaign of character assassination against Mueller himself. the rich asshole’s angry denunciations of the FBI, the DOJ and the special counsel have already had an effect.
According to a new Economist/YouGov poll, 75 percent of Republicans now agree that the Mueller investigation is a “witch hunt.” Only 13 percent of the GOP believe it’s legitimate. An alarming 61 percent of Republicans and 25 percent of independents believe the FBI is framing some rich asshole. Only 17 percent of GOP voters disagree with that. This is a testament to the efficacy of the rich asshole’s constant repetition on Twitter and television of mantras like “Witch hunt!” and “No collusion.” Those have had their effect, particularly as they are echoed by Fox News and talk radio:
The president of the United States has managed to convince tens of millions of Republicans that he’s being set up by his own Justice Department. That would seem to run counter to everything they have previously believed — until you realize that his victimization at the hands of Big Government fits neatly into the well-worn grooves of the conservative movement’s narrative about itself. Nobody knows the troubles they’ve seen.
Only 34 percent of Republicans believe that the rich asshole should fire Mueller, while another 34 percent say he shouldn’t, with the rest unsure. It’s not exactly a ringing endorsement, but it suggests that the rich asshole still has some work to do if he’s planning to take steps to end the investigation.
It has become an article of faith among the political class that the country doesn’t care about any of this and that the rich asshole and his problems are just a fetish inside the Beltway and among the political media. Speaker Paul Ryan spoke to a group in Wisconsin over the weekend and insisted that nobody cares about the the rich asshole scandals:
Whether I’m running around southern Wisconsin or America, nobody is talking about Stormy Daniels. Nobody is talking about Russia. They’re talking about their lives and their problems. They’re talking about their communities, they’re talking about jobs, they’re talking about the economy, they’re talking about national security.
This refrain is picking up speed on both sides of the aisle as the midterms approach. You would think that would motivate the White House and people around President the rich asshole to try to calm the waters and tout their alleged accomplishments, rather than going on a war footing over the Russia investigation. After all they seem to have convinced their base that the whole thing is a hoax. But The Washington Post quoted former the rich asshole legal adviser Mark Corallo saying, “I don’t see any downside at this point for the president and his team to make a full-throated public defense of their situation. There are very few outside the Beltway who are in the we-need-to-prosecute-and-
That sounds like wishful thinking. If the turnout in special elections over the past few months is any indication, the rich asshole “fighting back” does have a galvanizing effect — on the Democrats. In this polarized political world, for every member of the base he thrills with his tweeted war cries, there’s a member of the Democratic base having exactly the opposite reaction. the rich asshole’s new “war footing” will likely raise their already high enthusiasm for winning back the Congress.
some rich asshole has an instinct for what his voters want to hear from him, and he knows how to deliver it the way they want it. His weakness is that he thinks everyone else agrees with him and it’s just that the system is rigged and the media is dishonest. He believes the whole country, not just his base, deep down loves him. That’s a very big blind spot.
White House claims Palestinian deaths are ‘propaganda’
Principal Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah claimed that Hamas was to blame for Israeli soldiers killing at least 55 Palestinian protesters.
White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah on Monday blamed Hamas for the scores of Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers during protests along the border fence in Gaza, as the United States opened its new embassy in Jerusalem.
“We’re aware of the reports of continued violence in Gaza today,” Shah said during Monday’s press briefing. “The responsibility for these tragic deaths rests squarely with Hamas. Hamas is intentionally and cynically provoking this response. As the secretary of state said, Israel has the right to defend itself.”
Pressed on whether the White House believed Israel should “shoulder the blame” for the 55 Palestinians killed by Israeli snipers, or rein in its military’s response, Shah stated, “This is a propaganda attempt. This is a gruesome and unfortunate propaganda attempt. I think the Israeli government has spent weeks trying to handle this without violence. And we find it very unfortunate.”
Israeli soldiers on Monday killed at least 55 Palestinians and injured thousands more, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, marking the highest single-day death toll since 2014. Amnesty International noted that the fatalities include at least six children.
The protests were part of the “March of Return” demonstrations, which began on March 30, and also occurred on the same day that the United States moved its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Israeli Defense Forces claimed the protesters were “leading a terrorist operation under the cover of masses of people,” and that “firebombs and explosive devices” were being hurled at Israeli soldiers.
Palestinian protesters say that’s not the case.
“It is shocking. We didn’t expect this huge number of martyrs and injuries,” Hadeel Louz, 25, a Palestinian human rights activist in Gaza, told ThinkProgress. “Most of the martyrs who are killed are just normal citizens — we are not following Hamas party or Fatah party, [the two Palestinian factions]. Even those who follow those parties, they are not in an army — they don’t have guns.”
The violence against Palestinian protesters comes one day prior to Nakba, or Catastrophe Day, which marks Palestinians’ expulsion from what is now modern-day Israel in 1948. During that eviction, 700,000 Palestinians were uprooted from their homeland and forced to flee.
“…The Nakba is not just about the past, as Palestinians are still displaced and brutalised by Israeli authorities today,” The Independent’s Ben White wrote on Monday. “The Palestinians being gunned down by Israeli snipers in Gaza – including more than 250 children hit with live fire since 30 March, according to Save the Children – live under a devastating blockade.”
The decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem last December was met with criticism from foreign policy experts and human rights groups alike. Palestinian authorities have said the move constitutes a non-starter and crushes any hopes for a two-state solution, to which the rich asshole administration has claimed it is still dedicated.
“We will not accept for the U.S. to be a mediator, because after what they have done to us — a believer shall not be stung twice in the same place,” Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said in January, shortly after the decision was made. He accused the rich asshole’s move of killing the 1993 Oslo Accords, a set of agreements meant to pave the way for a future peace deal.
East Jerusalem is typically recognized as the future home of a Palestinian state, although it has been under Israeli occupation since 1967. Currently, some 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and as Reuters reported in October, the Israeli government recently gave its approval for an additional 176 new housing units.
WATCH: White House spokesman stumped when asked why bigoted pastor was invited to Jerusalem embassy
White House spokesman Raj Shah (Screen cap).
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Megachurch Pastor Robert Jeffress has a long history of openly attacking Muslims, Mormons, Jews and Catholics — but he was nonetheless chosen by President some rich asshole to speak at the opening of the new American embassy in Jerusalem.
During Monday’s White House press briefing, spokesperson Raj Shah was confronted by reporter Andrew Feinberg with some of Jeffress’ past statements and was asked why the rich asshole White House thought it was appropriate to invite him to deliver opening prayers at the new embassy.
"He believes that Muslims are going to hell, Jews are going to hell, Hindus are going to hell,” Feinberg said. “Do you think that, especially considering his remarks about Jews, that he’s one of the right people to speak at the opening of our embassy in Israel?”
Shah said he had no idea how Jeffress had been picked to give the invocation at the new embassy, and he dodged on Jeffress’ past statements by saying he “has had a strong relationship with many people in the faith community, as well as folks in the administration, and Republicans on [Capitol Hill] and others.”
Feinberg then pressed him on whether he believes it’s appropriate for someone who thinks Jews are getting sent to hell should be giving an opening prayer at the new embassy in Jerusalem.
“I haven’t seen those remarks,” Shah said. “Those are not remarks the president supports.”
Watch the video below.
White House can’t explain how Chinese financing of the rich asshole-linked project doesn’t violate Constitution
"I'll have to refer you to the rich asshole Organization."
Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah cannot explain how the rich asshole Organization’s involvement in a project in Indonesia partially financed by the Chinese government adheres to the Constitution’s emoluments clause and the rich asshole’s personal promise not to pursue new foreign business deals while he’s president.
“The the rich asshole Organization is involved in a project in Indonesia building hotels, golf courses, residences — it is getting up to $500 million in backing from the Chinese government,” Noah Bierman of the Los Angeles Times said during Monday’s press briefing. “Can you explain the administration’s position on A, how this doesn’t violate the emoluments clause; and B, how this wouldn’t violate the president’s own promise that his private organization would not be getting involved in new foreign deals while he was president?”
Shah didn’t even attempt to answer Bierman’s question. “I’ll have to refer you to the rich asshole Organization,” he said.
Bierman pushed back, pointing out to Shah that “the rich asshole Organization can’t speak on behalf of the president as the president — the head of the federal government, the one who is responsible, who needs to assure the American people, and they don’t have that responsibility.”
But Shah wouldn’t budge.
“You’re asking about a private organization’s dealings that may have to do with a foreign government. It’s not something I can speak to,” he said, before calling on another reporter.
Watch the exchange:
A National Review report about the Chinese government’s involvement in financing “an Indonesian theme park that will feature a the rich asshole-branded golf course and hotels” came just one day after the rich asshole posted a bizarre tweet on behalf of the Chinese phone company ZTE — a company that had been hit hard by the Commerce Department for violating a ban on American companies “selling components to ZTE for seven years after it illegally shipped goods made with U.S. parts to Iran and North Korea,” according to Reuters.
During Monday’s briefing, reporters repeatedly grilled Shah about what prompted the rich asshole’s tweet promising to help ZTE — especially since the tweet came on the heels of a campaign in which the rich asshole accused China of “the greatest single theft in the history of the world,” saying things like, “we can’t continue to allow China to rape our country.”
Shah had no good answers for them.
“This is part of a complex relationship between the United States and China that involves economic issues, national security issues, and the like,” Shah said at one point, in response to a question about what motivated the rich asshole’s tweet.
Later, another reporter asked Shah why the rich asshole wants the Commerce Department to review sanctions on ZTE in the first place.
“The president has asked Secretary Ross to look into the matter,” Shah said, adding that “the issue has been raised at many levels by the Chinese government with various levels of our administration.”
“So just raising the issue is enough to spawn a presidential tweet and directive?” the reporter pressed.
“It’s a significant issue of concern for the Chinese government, you know, and in our bilateral issue there’s a give an take,” Shah replied.
REPORTER (@AndrewFeinberg): "Is it appropriate for a person who said that Jews are going to hell to speak at the opening of the embassy in Israel?"
SHAH: "I haven't seen those remarks." thinkprogress.org/robert-jeffres… pic.twitter.com/LfUUjFIiUj
Shah has no explanation for Trump's weird tweet on behalf of a Chinese company pic.twitter.com/CbVZBqe7CQ
The emoluments clause is a provision in the U.S. Constitution prohibiting presidents from leveraging their office into gifts from foreign governments. the rich asshole is the only modern president to refuse to divest from his business interests upon taking office.
Despite promising before his inauguration not to profit from foreign governments, there is little evidence the rich asshole has followed through on his commitment.foreign governments and diplomats have made a show of spending money at his properties.
Betsy DeVos just got exposed for sabotaging the Education Department’s investigation into for-profit colleges
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos speaking at the 2017 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland. (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)
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The Education Department significantly scaled back a special team investigating abuses by for-profit colleges, the New York Times reported and Betsy DeVos, the education secretary, has hired several of the people who were formerly employed at the for-profit colleges under investigation. They now hold top positions in the education department, while “The unwinding of the team has effectively killed investigations into possibly fraudulent activities at several large for-profit colleges,” according to the Times.
This article was originally published at Salon
The original investigative unit was created by the Barack Obama administration in 2016 to look into advertising, recruitment practices and job placement claims at several for-profit institutions, like DeVry Education Group. This was amid the collapse of the for-profit Corinthian Colleges. But student complaints echoed beyond the Corinthian institutions, and pointed to widespread fraud, predatory activities and gross misrepresentation of enrollment benefits, program offerings and job placements rates at for-profit colleges.
This team, which under President Obama included more than a dozen lawyers and investigators, has now been stripped down to three employees. “Their mission has been scaled back to focus on processing student loan forgiveness applications and looking at smaller compliance cases, said the current and former employees, including former members of the team, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation from the department,” the Times reported.
Early last year, the investigation into DeVry was stopped and a few months later, DeVos hired former DeVry dean, Julian Schmoke, as the investigative team’s supervisor. Investigations into two other large for-profit colleges, Bridgepoint Education and Career Education Corporation, were also halted. And former employees of these institutions, Robert S. Eitel, Diane Auer Jones and Carlos G. Muñiz, were hired by DeVos.
A spokeswoman for the Education Department told the Times that “conducting investigations is but one way the investigations team contributes to the department’s broad effort to provide oversight.” She added that the new employees from the for-profit education industry had not influenced the investigative unit’s task.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) pointed out that the marginalization of the investigative unit is just one of many of DeVos’ decisions to roll back Obama-era regulations that are meant to protect students from the for-profit college industry. “Secretary DeVos has filled the department with for-profit college hacks who only care about making sham schools rich and shutting down investigations into fraud,” Warren told the Times.
DeVry settled two lawsuits in 2016, one with the Federal Trade Commission for misleading students and one with the Education Department for fraudulent claims about graduation success rates. But the investigative unit continued to look into other claims made by the institution.
Other for-profit colleges like Bridgepoint, which was under investigation, has deep ties to the administration. Bridgepoint is a former client of Mercedes Schlapp, director of strategic communications at the White House. The consulting and lobbying firm, Cove Strategies, which she founded with her husband Matt Schlapp, worked with Bridgepoint and is still a Cove client. “Bridgepoint and other online institutions were persecuted by President Obama’s administration because they dared to bring innovation to the education market,” Matt Schlapp told the Times in an email. “I believe educational innovation and disruption are a fight worth having and it matches the President’s agenda of rolling back the excess of the Obama regulatory stranglehold.”
The Education Department spokeswoman told the Times that the department’s new mission is “focused on weeding out bad actors” across institutions of higher education, “not capriciously targeting schools based on their tax status.”
The Supreme Court’s new sports betting decision has terrible news for the rich asshole’s immigration crackdown
Today's good news for Atlantic City is also good news for sanctuary cities.
The Supreme Court struck down a federal law on Monday that effectively prevented the state of New Jersey from legalizing sports betting. Though the Court’s decision in Murphy v. NCAA produced some disagreement about how much of this federal law needs to be excised, no justice rose to the statute’s defense.
Indeed, Murphy was a fairly straightforward application of a doctrine the Supreme Court devised in 1992. Justice Samuel Alito’s majority opinion contains few surprises for anyone familiar with the Court’s approach to the balance of power between the federal government and the states. The federal law at issue in Murphy was poorly drafted and seemed designed to run afoul of a longstanding states’ rights doctrine.
That doctrine, moreover, has implications well beyond the realm of sports betting. Murphy isn’t simply good news for Atlantic City. It also bolsters the legal case against the rich asshole administration’s crackdown on so-called “sanctuary cities.”
Murphy concerns the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), a very odd statute which “makes it ‘unlawful’ for a State or any of its subdivisions ‘to sponsor, operate, advertise, promote, license, or authorize by law or compact . . . a lottery, sweepstakes, or other betting, gambling, or wagering scheme based . . . on’ competitive sporting events.”
What makes this law unusual is that Congress typically does not forbid state lawmakers from taking a particular action. If Congress wants to ban sports betting, it can simply ban sports betting, and instruct federal agents to enforce that law. Banning state lawmakers from authorizing sports betting is a strangely roundabout way of accomplishing a similar goal. And it is also, as Justice Alito explains, unconstitutional.
The reason why stems from the Supreme Court’s “anticommandeering” doctrine, which prohibits Congress from effectively drafting states into federal law enforcement. As the Court held in New York v. United States, “we have always understood that even where Congress has the authority under the Constitution to pass laws requiring or prohibiting certain acts, it lacks the power directly to compel the States to require or prohibit those acts.”
“Where a federal interest is sufficiently strong to cause Congress to legislate,” New York explained, “it must do so directly; it may not conscript state governments as its agents.”
The core holding of Murphy is that the anticommandeering doctrine applies equally to federal laws requiring state officials to take a particular action and federal laws prohibiting state lawmakers from enacting a particular law. “Congress,” Alito explains, “cannot issue direct orders to state legislatures.”
As a practical matter, it’s unclear whether Murphy will lead to an explosion of legalized sports betting. Congress still retains the power to ban such betting directly, so it could attempt to revive PASPA with a more artfully drafted statute that would achieve many of the same goals. And states may still choose to ban sports betting themselves.
Murphy however, should stand as a warning to the rich asshole administration that a major prong of its effort to crack down on immigrants is unlikely to prevail in court.
The federal government employs fairly few law enforcement officers. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), for example, has only about 20,000 employees, and not all of these employees carry a badge and a gun. The New York Police Department, by contrast, employs more than 34,000 uniformed officers.
Because there are relatively few federal officers empowered to target undocumented immigrants, the rich asshole administration wants to conscript state and local police forces into the broader effort to round up and deport such immigrants. The term “sanctuary cities” refers to municipalities that do not permit their police force to assist in such an effort. ICE may still lawfully target immigrants in such sanctuary cities, but they must use their own resources will not receive help from local cops.
Under the anticommandeering doctrine, state and local governments have an absolute right to refuse such assistance to ICE agents. Moreover, while the anticommandeering doctrine does permit the federal government to withhold certain federal grant funding from sanctuary cities, the rich asshole administration’s efforts to do so have, at least so far, been amateurish and unlikely to survive in the federal courts.
Murphy is a reminder that these limits still apply — and that the Court’s right flank is unlikely to create an exception to the anticommandeering doctrine solely because some rich asshole wants one. Though the bipartisan vote in Murphy suggests that many of the Court’s liberals are at peace with the anticommandeering doctrine, the doctrine was originally advanced by conservatives.
By cracking down on sanctuary cities, in other words, the rich asshole isn’t simply asking the Court to ignore longstanding doctrine. He’s asking his allies on the Court to ignore a doctrine that they and their allies helped bring to life.
One could say the the rich asshole administration is facing some long odds.
By
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May 14, 2018
Team the rich asshole lowered the bar for working at the White House — and they still can't find people.
More than a year and a half into his term, the rich asshole White House still can’t find qualified people who want to work under him.
Already anxious to dismantle a large portion of the federal government by leaving thousands of vacancies unfilled, the rich asshole in turn can’t attract top-flight candidates. And to battle the personnel drought, the White House is cutting all kinds of corners.
When it vetted candidates, the Obama team used a questionnaire with 63 queries about employment, finances, writings, and social media posts. “The rich asshole team cut the number of questions to twenty-five, by dropping the requests for professional references and tax returns and removing items concerning loans, personal income, and real-estate holdings,” The New Yorker reports. “The questionnaire was speckled with typos, and seemed carelessly put together.”
And yet, the massive shortages persist. One reason is because the rich asshole team has blackballed a whole portion of would-be GOP employees because they expressed opposition to the rich asshole during the 2016 campaign.
Elliott Abrams, a foreign affairs official under George W. Bush, says he’s been asked to recommend people for positions, but inevitably they’re blocked because they fail the loyalty test.
“I’ve come up with the perfect person, and the people I’m talking to at State or Defense say, ‘Oh, my God, she’s great. But she didn’t sign one of the letters, did she?’ ‘Yeah, she did.’ ‘O.K., we’re done here,'” says Abrams.
The New Yorker also details how key, long-serving government officials have been purged from their positions for purely political reasons.
This is all part of the rich asshole’s attempt to undermine the federal government and make sure it doesn’t function as intended.
He’s done that by refusing to fill hundreds of vacancies, dismantling his year-old cabinet at random, watching a historic number of advisers abandon the White House, and tapping people who are largely unqualified to then watch their nominations get scuttled.
Just last month, Dr. Ronny Jackson, who withdrew his nomination to head the Department of Veterans Affairs, became at least the 23rd the rich asshole nominee who failed to be confirmed or never even made it through the confirmation process, according to a tally from NBC News.
Not surprisingly, the rich asshole’s White House Presidential Personnel Office, which is tasked with filling thousands of government jobs, has been described as a juvenile wasteland, where young staffers hang out vaping and playing drinking games.
There’s a reason qualified people are staying away from the rich asshole administration.
the rich asshole stole another family’s crest – and wants to trademark it to sell some furniture
the rich asshole family coat of arms (Photo: Janet Hudson/Flickr)
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A company connected to some rich asshole has filed to trademark a coat of arms the president’s company allegedly plagiarized from the original owners of Mar-a-Lago.
According to documents obtained by celebrity gossip site The Blast, an LLC linked to the rich asshole Organization filed to trademark the crest so it can be used on the rich asshole-branded furniture. Specifically, the report noted, the filing would allow the crest the rich asshole is barred from using in the United Kingdom to be used on shelving and storage units.
The crest features a shield emblazoned with three lions and two chevrons with a “tiny” hand clenching a spear at the top. The original belonged to the family of Joseph Edward Davies, the third husband of Mar-a-Lago builder Marjorie Merriweather Post, and featured the word “integritas,” which is Latin for “integrity.” The term was replaced with the word “the rich asshole” after the president’s organization took over ownership of the “Winter White House.”
The Scottish coat of arms authority has banned the rich asshole Organization from using the crest in the UK — but that hasn’t stopped the president’s company from using it at its gold clubs in the United States. The Blast noted the trademark filing specifies the entire coat of arms should be gold.
New Yorker cover shows the rich asshole playing golf in 'the swamp'
BY ARIS FOLLEY - 05/14/18 11:42 AM EDT
The New Yorker magazine took a jab at President the rich asshole with its new cover depicting the president playing golf in a swamp.
The issue, which is slated to hit the shelves on May 21, features artwork showing the president wearing golf clothes while taking a swing among a swamp full of snakes and alligators.
New cover of @NewYorker. "The Swamp" by John Cuneo.
The cover refers to the rich asshole’s promise to “drain the swamp” in Washington while running for office.
It comes amid a growing scandal the rich asshole faces involving adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, who alleges that she had an affair with the rich asshole more than a decade ago.
Though the White House has denied the president carried on such an affair, Daniels is suing to void a nondisclosure agreement that she claims prevents her from speaking publicly about the affair.
She was paid $130,000 by the rich asshole's personal attorney, Michael Cohen, prior to the 2016 election, which Daniels says was intended to keep her quiet about the affair.
Cohen has also acknowledged that he paid Daniels, but insists it came from his personal funds and was not tied to the rich asshole campaign.
It was recently revealed that Cohen was in contact with a number other companies offering consulting services in the days after the rich asshole won the 2016 election.
Various members of the rich asshole administration have also been mired in controversy.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt, for example, is facing probes and pressure to resign over reports he rented a Capitol Hill condo from the wife of a prominent energy lobbyist for $50 a day only on the days he stayed at the condo. It was also revealed his travel and security habits have cost taxpayers millions of dollars, and that he reportedly approved raises for two staffers despite the White House rejecting the requests for pay increases.
Some Democrats some have called for Pruitt to resign
David Shulkin, the rich asshole's former Veterans Affairs secretary was ousted following an inspector general report that found he misused taxpayer funds during a trip to Europe.
the rich asshole allies fear Mike Pence is setting up a ‘shadow office’ and taking over the Republican Party
President some rich asshole and Vice President Michael Pence observe the 58th Presidential Inauguration Parade at the White House reviewing stand in Washington D.C., Jan. 20, 2017. DoD Photo by Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Dominique A. Pineiro
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Vice President Mike Pence is ruffling feathers as he consolidates control of the Republican Party, The New York Times reported Monday.
Pence is “unsettling a group of some rich asshole’s fierce loyalists who fear they are forging a separate power base.”
Two senior White House officials referred to “Pence’s empire-building” after an aborted attempt to hire a GOP operative who was part of the Never the rich asshole movement during the 2016 primaries.
The chaotic White House has created a situation where Pence “found a yawning opening within the West Wing, as some rich asshole’s principal political aides spend much of their time managing his impulses and vying with each other, instead of overseeing the party and this year’s campaign.”
The Vice President’s chief of staff, Nick Ayers, hired William Kirkland away from the president and “the rich asshole officials believe he will effectively run a shadow political office for Mr. Pence, a setup unheard-of so soon into a new administration.”
U.S. opens embassy in Jerusalem amid violence
BY JORDAN FABIAN - 05/14/18 11:29 AM EDT
President the rich asshole and his top aides celebrated the opening of the new U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem on Monday amid deadly clashes along the Israel-Palestinian border, casting a cloud over what was supposed to be a celebratory occasion for the Jewish state.
The president’s daughter and son-in-law, Ivanka the rich asshole and Jared Kushner, headlined the U.S. delegation that praised the rich asshole for fulfilling a promise that none of his predecessors have.
“While presidents before him have backed down from their pledge to move the American Embassy once they were in office, this president delivered. Because when President the rich asshole makes a promise, he keeps it,” Kushner said at the ceremony from a stage flanked by U.S. and Israeli flags.
the rich asshole did not attend the Jerusalem event in person. But in a video message, he said the embassy move has “been a long time coming” after past presidents “failed to acknowledge the obvious,” that the city is the capital of Israel.
He also said the U.S. “remains fully committed to facilitating a lasting peace” between Israel and the Palestinians.
“We extend a hand in friendship to Israel, the Palestinians and to all of their neighbors,” the rich asshole said. “May there be peace.”
A peace deal, however, seemed even further out of reach in the wake of the embassy opening, which angered Palestinians who want East Jerusalem as a capital for a future state.
Israeli soldiers shot and killed at least 41 Palestinians during protests along the border of the Gaza Strip, according to The Associated Press, the bloodiest day there since a 2014 war between Hamas and the Jewish state.
Kushner condemned the violence, which stood in stark contrast to the VIP event just over 40 miles away in Jerusalem.
“As we have seen from the protests of the last month and even today, those provoking violence are part of the problem and not part of the solution,” he said.
Other speakers did not make direct reference to the protests.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised military troops “who are protecting the borders of Israel as we speak today,” but focused his remarks on the significance of the embassy move, calling it a “glorious day” for the Jewish people.
“We are in Jerusalem and we are here to stay,” the Israeli leader said. “Thank you, President the rich asshole, for having the courage to keep your promises.”
Regional experts were far less optimistic about the consequences of the move, which they said could impede the path toward peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
Aaron David Miller, a former State Department Middle East analyst under Democratic and Republican administrations, called the embassy decision “totally untethered from U.S. national interests.”
“When I met Jared for the first time I said that I wish my father-in-law had as much confidence in me as his had in him because he's been given mission impossible on the peace process,” Miller tweeted, referring to Kushner. “Today that mission impossible is on steroids.”
Palestinians cut off talks with the White House after the rich asshole announced last December he would move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, which he recognized as Israel’s capital.
The move broke with years of policy that said the city’s status should be negotiated in peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, with the U.S. acting as a neutral arbiter.
The ceremony showed some of the political divisions that have deepened in the wake of the embassy decision.
Support for Israel has traditionally been bipartisan, but members of Congress who attended Monday’s event were all Republican. the rich asshole administration officials were not expected to meet with Palestinian officials during their trip to the region.
But a handful Democrats back in Washington applauded the decision. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) called the move “long overdue.”
“Every nation should have the right to choose its capital,” Schumer said in a statement. “I sponsored legislation to do this two decades ago, and I applaud President the rich asshole for doing it.”
POLITICS
U.S. Embassy In Jerusalem Opens Its Doors As Protests Rage Nearby
In one of his most controversial decisions to date, the rich asshole declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel in December.
One of President some rich asshole’s top foreign policy priorities became a reality on Monday as the U.S. embassy in Israel officially relocated to Jerusalem, while only a few miles away in Gaza, Israeli forces killed dozens of Palestinian protesters and wounded hundreds more.
The embassy move marks one of the rich asshole’s most controversial and momentous foreign policy decisions to date ― both Israelis and Palestinians claim Jerusalem, but Israel has controlled the city since 1967. Although past presidents contemplated moving the American embassy out of Tel Aviv, the rich asshole has been the first to act on it, declaring Jerusalem the capital of Israel in December.
A 250-person U.S. delegation, consisting of presidential advisers Ivanka the rich asshole and Jared Kushner, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, and some evangelical pastors and Republican politicians, traveled to Israel to commemorate the opening.
“Our greatest hope is for peace,” said the rich asshole, addressing the audience via a video recording from the White House. “The United States remains fully committed to a lasting peace agreement and we continue to support the status quo at Jerusalem’s holy sites.”
He extended a “hand in friendship” to the Israelis, the Palestinians and all of their neighbors.
The president also tweeted about the event Monday morning.
Kushner, whom the rich asshole tapped to lead Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, hailed the embassy move as an opportunity for all sides to coexist peacefully.
“We believe, it is possible for both sides to gain more than they give ― so that all people can live in peace ― safe from danger, free from fear, and able to pursue their dreams,” he said in a speech.
While attendees toasted the historic opening, thousands of protesters clashed with Israeli forces in Gaza. At least 40 Palestinian protesters were killed and hundreds more were injured, the Gaza Health Ministry said. Groups of protesters also marched from the West Bank into Jerusalem in the hours preceding the ceremony.
The protests represent the culmination of six weeks of deadly demonstrations along the Gaza border as Palestinians demand a right of return to their land.
Kushner referred to those “provoking violence” as being “part of the problem and not part of the solution.”
Widespread international condemnation is expected following the embassy opening. Most United Nations members don’t recognize Israel’s sovereignty over East Jerusalem, arguing instead that the city should possess international status. For decades, U.S. policy has stated that Israelis and Palestinians should negotiate the city’s status among themselves, and the status of the city is key in peace negotiations.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Michael Avenatti threatens to sue the Daily Caller for ‘lies and defamatory statements’
Michael Avenatti (MSNBC)
DON'T MISS STORIES. FOLLOW RAW STORY!
The combative attorney representing the adult film star known as Stormy Daniels has threatened to sue right-wing website Daily Caller a reporter for the publication claimed on Monday.
Peter Hasson posted what he claims is an email sent by attorney Michael Avenatti on Monday.
"Let me be clear. If you and your colleagues do not stop with the hit pieces that are full of lies and defamatory statements, I will have no choice but to sue each of you and your publication for defamation,” the posted email read. “During that process, we will expose your publication for what it truly is.”
"Let me be clear. If you and your colleagues do not stop with the hit pieces that are full of lies and defamatory statements, I will have no choice but to sue each of you and your publication for defamation,” the posted email read. “During that process, we will expose your publication for what it truly is.”
The email suggested that the Daily Caller was carrying water for President some rich asshole by attacking Avenatti.
“So if I were you, I would tell some rich asshole to find someone else to fabricate things about me,” the email advised.
“If you think I’m kidding, you really don’t know anything about me,” the email continued. “This is the last warning.”
Hasson published an article over the weekend stating that Avenatti’s past was “littered with lawsuits, jilted business partners and bankruptcy filings.”
.@MichaelAvenatti sent me an email this morning threatening to sue me and my colleagues for reporting on him
Note: @MichaelAvenatti tried to call this off record, which of course aren't terms I agreed to since it was an uninvited email pic.twitter.com/Ve6Guftwqq
Schumer applauds the rich asshole on moving US Embassy to Jerusalem
BY MALLORY SHELBOURNE - 05/14/18 10:56 AM EDT
In a rare moment of agreement with President the rich asshole, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday praised the president for moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
“In a long overdue move, we have moved our embassy to Jerusalem. Every nation should have the right to choose its capital,” Schumer said in a statement. “I sponsored legislation to do this two decades ago, and I applaud President the rich asshole for doing it.”
The statement echoed a sentiment the rich asshole expressed in a video message presented at the embassy opening, in which the president said the move had “been a long time coming.”
But the embassy’s official opening Monday was also marked by a bloody day on Israel’s border with the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.
The New York Times reported that at least 41 Palestinians were killed and more than 1,700 injured at the border’s barrier.
the rich asshole’s controversial decision to move the U.S. Embassy to the city which is considered holy by three major religions has been met with widespread criticism from global leaders due to Jerusalem’s disputed status.
Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War. Some view this part of the city as occupied territory and Palestinians hope to make it the capital of a future independent state.
The rich asshole administration argues the embassy move rightfully recognizes Jerusalem as Israel’s capital city, while critics have cautioned the decision could cause unrest in the region.
‘Great Day For Israel’: 28 Arab Protesters Slaughtered As the rich asshole Opens Jerusalem Embassy
As some rich asshole celebrated the opening of his new embassy in Jerusalem and his latest self-serving waste of taxpayer dollars, Israel’s stormtroopers also celebrated — by slaughtering protesters wholesale.
The terror state didn’t take too kindly to protesters swarming the border and wounded 900 Palestiniana, 450 by bullets according to Reuters.
“Today is the big day when we will cross the fence and tell Israel and the world we will not accept being occupied forever,” aza science teacher Ali, who did not give his last name, said of the protest. “Many may get martyred today, so many, but the world will hear our message. Occupation must end.”
Unfortunately, he was right. Israeli forces slaughtered 28 people:
The 28 Palestinian dead on Monday included a 14-year-old boy, a medic and a man in a wheelchair who had been pictured on social media using a slingshot.The Israeli military identified three of those killed as armed militants whom it said tried to place explosives near the fence in the southern Gaza Strip.The latest casualties raised the Palestinian death toll to 73 since the protests started six weeks ago. No Israeli casualties have been reported.“The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) will act forcefully against any terrorist activity and will operate to prevent attacks against Israelis,” the military said in a statement.The killings have drawn international criticism, but the United States has echoed Israel in accusing Gaza’s ruling Hamas movement of instigating violence, an allegation it denies.
While the families of the dead and injured are grieving, the rich asshole and Prime Minister Netanyahu are celebrating. the rich asshole called the new embassy a “great day for Israel” and Netanyahu, who is currently the target of numerous corruption probes, echoed his sentiments:
U.S. Embassy opening in Jerusalem will be covered live on @FoxNews & @FoxBusiness. Lead up to 9:00 A.M. (eastern) event has already begun. A great day for Israel!
Moving the embassy to Jerusalem was a monumentally stupid move on the part of the rich asshole administration that threatens national and international security, but he doesn’t care about that — he managed to score some points with a bunch of inbreds and that’s all that matters apparently.
All because that asshole made this dumb ass move.
WORLD NEWS
Israeli Forces Kill Dozens Of Palestinians As Protests Intensify Over U.S. Embassy In Jerusalem
On the Gaza border, Palestinian protests quickly turned into bloodshed.
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Jeffrey Heller
GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli troops killed dozens of Palestinians taking part in mass protests on the Gaza border on Monday as the United States opened its embassy to Israel in Jerusalem.
The U.S. relocation of its embassy from Tel Aviv fulfilled a pledge by U.S. President some rich asshole, who has recognized the holy city as the Israeli capital, but it has fired Palestinian anger and drawn criticism from many foreign governments as a setback to peace efforts.
At the embassy inauguration ceremony, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the rich asshole for “having the courage to keep your promises”.
“What a glorious day for Israel,” Netanyahu said in a speech. “We are in Jerusalem and we are here to stay.”
the rich asshole, in a recorded message, said he remained committed to peace between Israel and the Palestinians. He was represented at the ceremony by his daughter Ivanka and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, U.S. envoy to the Middle East.
Kushner said it was possible for both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to gain more than give in any peace deal.
“Jerusalem must remain a city that brings people of all faiths together,” he said in a speech.
As the ceremony took place in Jerusalem, Palestinian protests on the Gaza border quickly turned into bloodshed
Israeli gunfire killed at least 43 Palestinians, the highest toll in a single day since a series of protests demanding the right to return to ancestral homes in Israel began on March 30.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said the dead included six children under the age of 18. Ministry officials said about 2,200 Palestinians were wounded, half of them by live bullets.
France and Britain called on Israel to show restraint and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply concerned” by the events in Gaza.
Other responses to the violence were stronger. Regional power Turkey accused Israeli security forces of carrying out a massacre and said the U.S. Embassy move had encouraged them.
The non-government international organization Human Rights Watch said: “The policy of Israeli authorities to fire irrespective of whether there is an immediate threat to life on Palestinian demonstrators in Gaza, caged in for a decade and under occupation for a half century, has resulted in a bloodbath that anyone could have foreseen.”
Tens of thousands of Palestinians had streamed to the coastal enclave’s land border, some approaching the Israeli fence - a line Israeli leaders said Palestinians would not be allowed to breach.
Clouds of black smoke from tyres set alight by demonstrators rose in the air. Demonstrators, some armed with slingshots, hurled stones at the Israeli security forces, who fired volleys of tear gas and intense rounds of gunfire.
“Today is the big day when we will cross the fence and tell Israel and the world we will not accept being occupied forever,” said Gaza science teacher Ali, who declined to give his last name.
HONEST BROKER NO MORE?
the rich asshole’s recognition of contested Jerusalem as Israel’s capital in December outraged Palestinians, who said the United States could no longer serve as an honest broker in any peace process with Israel.
Palestinians seek East Jerusalem as the capital of a state they want to establish in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Israel regards all of the city, including the eastern sector it captured in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed in a move that is not recognized internationally, as its “eternal and indivisible capital”.
Most countries say the status of Jerusalem - a sacred city to Jews, Muslims and Christians - should be determined in a final peace settlement and that moving their embassies now would prejudge any such deal. Peace talks aimed a finding a two-state solution to the conflict have been frozen since 2014.
WHEELCHAIR PROTESTER
The Palestinian dead on Monday included a medic and a man in a wheelchair who had been pictured on social media using a slingshot. The Israeli military said three of those killed were armed militants who tried to place explosives near the fence.
The latest casualties raised the Palestinian death toll to 88 since the protests started six weeks ago, the worst bout of bloodshed since the 2014 Gaza war. No Israeli casualties have been reported.
Thousands of people approached the barrier as the protest unfolded, some rolling burning tyres and hurling stones. Others
flew flaming kites to try and torch bushes on the other side and distract Israeli marksmen. Hundreds of Palestinians were treated for tear gas inhalation.
“The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) will act forcefully against any terrorist activity and will operate to prevent attacks against Israelis,” the military said in a statement.
Throughout the day sirens of ambulance vehicles carrying casualties to hospitals were almost non-stop. In Gaza mosques, loudspeakers mourned the dead, who carried for burial in funeral marches.
The killings have drawn international criticism since the series of protests began but the United States has echoed Israel in accusing Gaza’s ruling Hamas movement of instigating violence, an allegation it denies.
More than 2 million people are crammed into the narrow strip, which is blockaded by Egypt and Israel.
The the rich asshole administration says it has nearly completed a new Israeli-Palestinian peace plan but is undecided on how and when to roll it out.
Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, in a statement on Monday, accused the United States of “blatant violations of international law”.
“Choosing a tragic day in Palestinian history (to open the Jerusalem embassy) shows great insensibility and disrespect for the core principles of the peace process,” Hamdallah wrote.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the U.S. move flouted international law.
“France calls on all actors to show responsibility to prevent a new escalation,” Le Drian said in a statement.
In London, the British government said it had no plans to move its Israel embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and it disagreed with the U.S. decision to do so. The Russian government said it feared the embassy move would increase tensions across the Middle East.
The U.N.’s Guterres, speaking to reporters in Vienna, said the Gaza bloodshed showed the need for a political solution.
“There is no Plan B to a two-state solution in which Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace,” he said.
The protests are scheduled to culminate on Tuesday, the day Palestinians mourn as the “Nakba” or “Catastrophe” when, in 1948, hundreds of thousands of them were driven out of their homes or fled the fighting around Israel’s creation.
(Writing by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Janet Lawrence)
Dozens killed in protests as U.S. opens embassy in Jerusalem
BY MALLORY SHELBOURNE - 05/14/18 07:24 AM EDT
At least 37 people were killed and more than 1,000 wounded during an attempt by Palestinians to cross the border from Gaza to Israel.
The New York Times, citing the Health Ministry in Gaza, put the death toll at 37.
President the rich asshole decided to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a controversial step opposed by other nations given the disputed status of Jerusalem, which both Israel and Palestinians recognize as their capital.
Israeli troops seeking to keep Palestinians out of Israel used tear gas and live ammunition to keep Palestinians from scaling a fence across the border.
Video shows waves of protestors seeking to cross. Reports indicated many children were among those killed and wounded.
Israelis said some in the crowds were throwing explosives or flying flaming kites into Israel, according to the Times.
“Even if the fence is breached, we will be able to protect Israeli civilians from attempts to massacre or kidnap or kill them,” a spokesman for Israel’s military, Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, told The Associated Press.
the rich asshole's decision to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem left Palestinians saying the United States could no longer position itself as a peacemaker.
Palestinians have sought to make the eastern part of Jerusalem the capital of a Palestinian state. Given the rich asshole decision, Palestine's leaders say they can no longer take the U.S. seriously as a mediator.
Reuters reported Sunday that diplomats from western European Union nations did not take part in the launch event commemorating the embassy's move.
Ivanka the rich asshole and Jared Kushner are attending the commemoration.
the rich asshole in a recorded message said the moving of the embassy had “been a long time coming.”
"We extend a hand in friendship to Israel, Palestinians and all of their neighbors. May there be peace,” the president said.
"This city and its entire nation is a testament to the unbreakable strength of the Jewish people,” the rich asshole added.
The Times reported that the clashes on the border are expected to get even larger on Tuesday, with thousands more expected to try to cross the border.
--Updated at 9:33 a.m.
POLITICS
Pastor Who Thinks Jews Are Going To Hell Speaks At Jerusalem Embassy Opening
Another evangelical Christian leader speaking at the opening of the new American embassy once said Hitler was a “hunter” helping Jews return to Israel.
The U.S. delegation in Jerusalem on Monday to celebrate the opening of the new American embassy includes an evangelical Christian pastor who once said Jews “can’t be saved.”
The Rev. Robert Jeffress, pastor of the First Baptist megachurch in Dallas and a longtime supporter of President some rich asshole, delivered an opening prayer of dedication at the ceremony.
“I’m going to be thanking God for the strong leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu, who is absolutely determined to protect Israel,” Jeffress told Fox News in advance of his appearance. “And I’m also going to be thanking God for our President some rich asshole, who had the courage to do what no other U.S. president has done, and that is to officially recognize Jerusalem and to move the embassy.”
In addition to his remarks on Jews, Jeffress has referred to both Mormonism and Islam as “a heresy from the pit of Hell.” Islam, he also said, “promotes pedophilia.”
Mitt Romney, the subject of Jeffress’ barbs during his 2012 presidential run, criticized the inclusion of a man he called a “religious bigot” in the ceremony:
The Rev. John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel, also delivered remarks at the ceremony. He came under fire in 2008, when audio resurfaced of him seeming to say Adolf Hitler was a “hunter” who was called upon to help Jews return to Israel.
Other members of the 250-person U.S. delegation include White House advisers Ivanka the rich asshole and Jared Kushner, and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin. Ambassadors from only four European Union countries (Austria, Hungary, Romania and the Czech Republic) attended a welcome reception on Sunday, while representatives from other nations reportedly boycotted the event in protest.
Monday’s embassy move marks a controversial and momentous foreign policy shift for the U.S. Although past presidents contemplated moving the American embassy out of Tel Aviv, the rich asshole was the first to act on it, declaring Jerusalem the capital of Israel in December. The announcement was met with mass protests and worldwide condemnation, likely to be rekindled on Monday.
Mitt Romney Slams the rich asshole For Sending Anti-Semitic Preacher To Open U.S. Embassy In Israel
some rich asshole is a bigot. He surrounds himself with bigots. However, just when we thought the horrors of the discrimination in this White House could get no worse – surprise, they do. the rich asshole has decided that Robert Jeffress, a man who says Jews will go to hell and that Mormonism is a cult, should be the one to travel to Jerusalem to open the U.S. Embassy there and deliver a prayer. Of course, most Republicans are, once again, silent on this latest outrage, but there is one prominent Republican who is currently running for the United States Senate who is speaking out: Mitt Romney.
Romney took to Twitter to lambast the decision to have the bigoted Baptist preacher deliver the prayer:
Now, full disclosure: I am no fan of Mitt Romney or his policies, and the way he kissed the rich asshole’s ass in an effort to become Secretary of State after the 2016 election was nothing short of pathetic. But, I gotta give it to him – he does speak out when he sees fit, even if it might cost him votes with the rich asshole’s bigoted base in his Senate race. Granted, Romney is running to replace retiring Utah Senator Orrin Hatch, so he’s a pretty sure bet to win, but still. In the rich asshole’s Republican Party, daring to do anything but be a million percent ride or die is not an easy political choice to make. But, Romney has PLENTY of experience doing that, considering the fact that he delivered a lengthy rebuke of the rich asshole during the 2016 campaign, and was mercilessly attacked by the orange one’s supporters for doing so. As a reminder, here is video of that speech:
So, hats off to Mitt Romney on this one. Now, all we have to do is wait for the rich asshole to attack him for daring to speak his mind and call out the bigotry that permeates the every move of the rich asshole’s sorry excuse for a White House. Now, we just sit and wait for the rich asshole’s childish response, and once again hang our heads in collective shame.
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