https://www.thenation.com/article/sean-spicer-has-embarrassed-himself-badly/
John Nichols from the Nation Magazine
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The Young Turks Podcast – July 21, 2017. Listen to the Young Turk folks talk about Yemen, Sean Spicer and Films. Well worth a listen.
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- Trump is signaling that if Mueller goes into his (Trump’s) finances, Mueller will be exceeding his mandate as Special Counsel (which Trump spells as Council). This means that the Trump Administration is going to claim that Mueller should be fired for going outside his mandate. The right-wing media has evidently been backing him up on this line of argument.
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I have never seen such a poor excuse for a program. I’m so glad she’s gone.
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https://theintercept.com/podcasts/
The Intercept has a great podcast on (scum of the earth) Eric Prince. There is also an interview with Tavis Smiley on the real Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“We must make our choice. We may have democracy, or we may have wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can’t have both.” Louis Brandeis
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Once again, Mika Brzezinski is hiding behind a jeremiad about sexism to excuse her dismal performance as a journalist.
When I turned on Morning Joe yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the dreadful Joe Scarborough had the day off. This usually means that we can have three hours of relatively interesting discussion free from the self-congratulatory bombast meted out every morning by the primary host. But, what ensued was three hours of Mika Brzezinski demonstrating that she desperately needs Joe Scarborough in more ways than I can count.
Brzezinski rarely contributes anything meaningful to the daily discussion. She looks on lovingly as Joe rants, and does what I think of as “editorial face making.” Rather than do the research that would make her comments meaningful, she hides behind being bullied by Scarborough. This woman who prides herself on being a role model for young women, engages in the worst type of female stereotypical behavior. She sits meekly by and makes faces while Joe rants. She does not engage him in debate, nor does she confront him or contradict him. She, like the rest of the panel, allows herself to be bullied every morning.
But what yesterday demonstrated so well is the fact that she is, evidently, incapable of doing anything else. This morning Scarborough went through a little rant about how Mika was being unfairly accused of being “emotional” for her embarrassing performance the day before. The point (which both of them rarely get) is not that she was overly emotional, but that she was nothing else. I do not turn into a morning news discussion program to see someone emote. I turn in for rational discussion and some evidence of intelligent thinking. Wringing of hands and staring soulfully into the camera is not intelligent discussion.
What she and Joe don’t get is that nobody cares about their personal feelings. Remember this is the program where the two hosts appeared in front of a fire in their pajamas to do the news during the holidays. Pajamas? Really? Do they really think they are so cute that we give a damn about seeing them cozy up to each other in their pajamas? Are they mad? They talk about Mika’s chickens for God’s sake. Message to Morning Joe: WE DON’T CARE.
But, as usual, this morning, they are talking about…wait for it…themselves.
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Mother Jones
Republicans All Over the Country Are Pushing These Anti-Protest Bills to Silence Peaceful Dissent
The proposals could criminalize the non-violent demonstrations that have grown since Trump was elected.| Mon Mar. 6, 2017 10:51 AM EST
As citizens unhappy about the Trump administration look to build on the momentum of the historic Women’s March with additional public expressions of outrage, Republicans across the country are quietly introducing legislation aimed at limiting and even criminalizing peaceful demonstrations.
According to a recent count from the American Civil Liberties Union [1], at least 17 states have proposed such anti-protest bills, many of which include language ostensibly aimed at improving measures such as public safety. But upon closer analysis, these bills all appear to share the intended goal of suppressing First Amendment rights by making peaceful dissent a crime with the threat of jail time and hefty fines.
Look no further than Minnesota for a prime example. Republican lawmakers there are advancing legislation [2] to punish protesters who block highways and airport access. While the bill’s proponents insist it will protect highway safety, critics argue that the measure instead overwhelmingly targets people participating in demonstrations by saddling them with steep fines, all while having hardly any effect on furthering roadway safety.
The legislative move to suppress protests comes amid angry town halls [3] that have erupted across the country, where thousands of constituents have railed against Republican lawmakers for their reluctance to speak out against the Trump administration, their ill-conceived plans to dismantle Obamacare, and more. Trump notably accused former president Barack Obama of being “behind” [4] the ongoing protests.
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Betsy DeVos (estimated family net worth: 5.6 billion)
Steve Mnuchin (500 million)
RexTillerson (325 million)
“Trump has also scoured the executive ranks of the banking giant Goldman Sachs for many of his senior advisers, includingGary Cohn as his top economic adviser and Dina Powell as a special adviser on economic initiatives.”Source: The Nation Magazine March 13, 2017
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I’m sorry, I know that we are expected to fall all over ourselves praising Melania Trump because she managed to utter a few public words, but a chill went up my spine when she said: “As you may know by now, when you attack him [Trump] he will punch back 10 times harder.” Is it me or is there something deeply creepy about that choice of words given Trump’s history with women? Maybe it’s just having lived through the O.J. Simpson trial, but I felt a definite shudder when those words came out of Melania Trump’s mouth.
And, it hasn’t escaped my attention that there seems to be no personal relationship between the two of them. They are completely uncomfortable together and as physically awkward around each other as two feral cats needing a nap. They act like they’ve never been in the same room with each other, much less the same bed.
But, be that as it may…MSNBC anchor Tom Brokaw is predicting the demise of the Trump campaign tonight. I’ll believe it when I see it.
The polls will be closing in Wisconsin in about an hour.
Stories that are attracting my attention:
- The Panama Papers. The Prime Minister of Iceland has stepped down after massive protests of citizens that he do so. This resignation makes the Prime Minister the first casualty in what promises to be a series of revelations about those named in documents leaked from a Panamanian law firm which handled offshore shell companies and tax shelters. Last night Rachel Maddow said that individuals in the U.S. hadn’t been named simply because reporters hadn’t had time to get through the enormous amount of information to get to them.
- The Trump Misogyny Machine. Ann Coulter, a Trump supporter, tonight said in an interview with Chris Matthews on MSNBC: “Women can be very suggestible.” She was talking about women who found Trump’s misogyny insulting. According to Coulter, silly women are letting the media tell them to be insulted by Trump’s unending sexist narrative. But, nobody respects women more than Trump. Just ask him. Just a note: Why would any professional journalist have Ann Coulter on their program? Oh, I forgot, it’s Chris Matthews.
- The Clinton Entitlement Machine. I have listened to two interviews in the past few days, one with Barney Frank and the other with James Carville that really got up my nose. Both men were nasty, emotional and extremely indignant that Bernie Sanders was running against Hillary Clinton and that stupid people were voting for him. James Carville said that the administration of Bill Clinton and Barak Obama had been successful and popular and so just what the hell did people think they were doing voting for Bernie Sanders? How dare they? Frank blamed voter discontent on the fact that democratic voters hadn’t come out to vote in off year elections. Had they come out and voted, Frank reasoned, Democrats would have been elected and voters’ concerns would have been spoken to. Frank, then, essentially blamed the voters for their own discontent. They brought this on themselves, said Frank in a contemptuous and offensive tone. Carville kept repeating: I just don’t understand it, talking about the stupidity of people voting for Sanders. Well, I just don’t understand the attitude of the Clinton campaign. This is still a quasi-democratic country. People are allowed to run against Hillary Clinton and question her record, even if they are on the Democratic side. The only way I can explain the attitude is that the Clinton people think that she is entitled to this nomination. The attitude and what underlies it will deeply offend and alienate Sanders’ supporters who the Democratic Party needs to get elected. It’s like pitching a temper tantrum because you’re not getting what you feel you are entitled to. Well, nobody is entitled to the nomination and if the Clinton people keep whining because Sanders is raising tough and legitimate questions about her record I can’t imagine how they are going to respond when confronted with a Republican nominee. The Clinton campaign is just reminding people why they hate career politicians so much.
- Finally, what the hell does MSNBC think they are doing filming some of their news programs with anchors sitting in front of rooms full drinking, eating, chattering people? It’s distracting, juvenile and unnecessary. We are not frat boys sitting in a bar. Oh, yes, I forgot, it’s Chris Matthews.
Law, Power and Justice 