President Donald Trump’s inaugural address was fiery and nationalistic, a considerable departure from the traditional Republican Party embrace of the free market and an activist foreign policy. Trump talked of an “America First” policy and vowed that “January 20th 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again.”
But Trump’s words on the steps of the Capitol bore little resemblance to the reality of the administration he is building.
It’s hard to argue with Trump’s assessment that “the establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country. Their victories have not been your victories; their triumphs have not been your triumphs.”
But that establishment will be in full force in the Trump administration. The megabank Goldman Sachs, famously close to Trump’s opponents in the Democratic Party, has six alumni posed for key posts in his administration, including his treasury secretary nominee Steve Mnuchin.
Trump spoke of “mothers and children trapped in poverty in our inner cities; rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones across the landscape of our nation,” but Mnuchin built a fortune off of helming banks that misled borrowers and foreclosed on their homes.
One of Trump and Mnuchin’s few explicit policy priorities is to slash taxes for corporations that have stashed money overseas, so that they will repatriate their profits to the United States. On the surface, this is to encourage businesses to invest in American jobs. But corporations are already telling their investors that they’d rather use this windfall to increase dividends and mergers, not hire more Americans.
People protest during the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump on Jan. 20, 2017 in Washington.
Photo: Zach Gibson/AFP/Getty Images
The president also complained that the United States has “subsidized the armies of other countries,” but his nominee for Secretary of State, former Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson, wants to continue to help Saudi Arabia bomb the impoverished nation of Yemen.
“When you open your heart to patriotism, there is no room for prejudice,” the president told the millions who tuned into his remarks. But that isn’t the point of view of his CIA nominee, Mike Pompeo, who has depicted the war on terror as a struggle between Islam and Christianity, or his national security adviser Mike Flynn, who has referred to Islamism as a “cancer” in the body of the world’s Muslims.
Americans do in fact want “great schools for their children,” as Trump advised, but his nominee to lead the Department of Education, Betsy DeVos, hasn’t spent a day working in a public school. Instead, she’s an heiress who inherited billions through marriage and inheritance while waiving away Bernie Sanders’s plan for tuition-free public college for all by invoking the proverb that “nothing in life is free.”
Trump was correct when he said that “for too long, a small group in our Nation’s Capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost. Washington flourished – but the people did not share in its wealth.”
But he cannot ameliorate that problem while tapping Washington’s elite for jobs. His nominee for secretary of transportation, Elaine Chao, is the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — and as a former Wells Fargo board member, she will receive a golden parachute of up to $5 million from the bank if she is confirmed.
The president used his concluding words to promise to listen to all Americans:
So to all Americans, in every city near and far, small and large, from mountain to mountain, and from ocean to ocean, hear these words: You will never be ignored again. Your voice, your hopes, and your dreams, will define our American destiny. And your courage and goodness and love will forever guide us along the way.
But with a cabinet whose combined net worth is greater than that of a third of America combined, it’s likely that many, many Americans will continue to be ignored.
Top photo: President Donald Trump celebrates after his speech during the Presidential Inauguration at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Jan. 20, 2017.
Note to all “journalists” and uninformed “historians” ,,,, nationalism and capitalism are not exclusive to each other … in fact nationalism only arose because of print capitalism and the industrial revolution that created a bourgeois class. Nationalism and corporatism often go so much hand in hand that it historically created a political ideology called fascism. So Italian nationalism and German nationalism had big financial backers like IBM, Ford and Coke-Cola.
Fred Trump was a klan member and got arrested at a klan riot in New York.
The best advice I can give to President Donald Trump is to advocate and lead the Congress to introduce and enact the Capital Homestead Act. Now. That is, if he truly wants to “make America great again” and empower the people to”become the rulers of this nation again.” If he can achieve monetary reform and enact the Capital Homestead Act, our nation will be set on a course to build a future affluent economy in which EVERY child, woman and man becomes a significant personal owner of the exponential growth of America’s non-human productive power.
Abraham Lincoln’s 1862 Homestead Act, in its time empowered the settlement of the West, but it had three flaws: 1) the land ran out, 2) the financial system was inadequate, and 3) the tax system was inadequate. Fortunately, today we can open up the industrial and commercial frontier (to all intents and purposes without practical limit), have an adequate (if grossly misused) financial system that has the potential to do what is needed, and have a tax system that, although junked up with so much garbage that it is virtually unworkable, can easily be fixed by applying the proper, Just Third Way principles.
Support the Agenda of The Just Third Way Movement at http://foreconomicjustice.org/?p=5797, http://www.cesj.org/resources/articles-index/the-just-third-way-basic-principles-of-economic-and-social-justice-by-norman-g-kurland/, http://www.cesj.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/jtw-graphicoverview-2013.pdf and http://www.cesj.org/resources/articles-index/the-just-third-way-a-new-vision-for-providing-hope-justice-and-economic-empowerment/.
Support Monetary Justice at http://capitalhomestead.org/page/monetary-justice.
Support the Capital Homestead Act (aka Economic Democracy Act) at http://www.cesj.org/learn/capital-homesteading/, http://www.cesj.org/learn/capital-homesteading/capital-homestead-act-a-plan-for-getting-ownership-income-and-power-to-every-citizen/, http://www.cesj.org/learn/capital-homesteading/capital-homestead-act-summary/ and http://www.cesj.org/learn/capital-homesteading/ch-vehicles/.
Otherwise, today’s wealthy ownership class and their heirs will continue to monopolize the ownership of America’s future non-human productive assets, with the vast majority of Americans economically slipping due to the increasing lack of job opportunities and job security, and increasingly more dependent on taxpayer and government debt-financed welfare. Essentially, if we do not reverse course and reform the system, the masses will be OWNED and dependent on an oligarchy.
Wealth in and of itself is not determinative of how a particular individual will serve in government. The best president of the 20th century, Franklin Roosevelt, was a wealthy man yet he solved the woes of the Great Depression and instituted the most popular socialist program of all time, Social Security.
Actually, almost all the time, wealth is a pretty good indicator that government service is not a good fit for the possessor of said wealth. That’s the wisdom of the ages at work there, and I would hope that most people would understand that. Same goes for someone braggin’ about how smart they are: Invariably, the braggart is an idiot. If the braggart is rich to boot, than even more so an idiot. You can bank on that.
excellent article and useful to note that the ‘successful’ businessman Trump could have made the same from his inherited wealth in a basic tracker stock.
His nationalistic and notably fantasy skyfairy endorsed pitch for ‘America First’ seems to pretend that the liberal mutual sum claimed FP has not been zero sum in inter-state relations despite the actual relative sum so disproportionate in the US interest that super-ordination would be more apt in the US management of both its allies in its global spheres of influence and in WTO trade which has advantaged US beyond border deals with developing states in ODA and famously has long, despite DOHA and under G8 since 2005 transformed developing internal economic policies to the negative liberty US preferred model of economic and then social liberal policy to such an extent that the recipient african states were effectively denied economic policy autonomy. Global MCN’s are almost all exclusively US controlled and as such the soft power of the 2 consistent US Foreign policy objectives since Cordell Hull, of;
1. Establishing capitalism within international order to such an embeddedness , that it would no longer matter if the US was not the order’s uni-polar power in future.
2. Confronting communism and socialism and its protectionist or state planned economy with associated import substitition trade relations – the US ME interventionism has been notably solely against nominally socialist secular states notably those with former ties to Russia.
Globalisation has in the republican Fukuyama vein, been the very apotheosis of US superordinate power in realizing both these long term goals.
For Trump to pretend otherwise is fantasy.
It is therefore consequently nuts for Trump to actually pretend that he would institute trade protectionism and import substitution from current globalisation since it in realist terms is far more economic realist in reality than the liberal kantian rhetoric would pretend. Indeed, it is that very same liberal (meaning capitalist) rhetoric that has created the veneer for underlying us vested interest in realist power positional own terms.
The hollowed- out privatised, low tax state and its prioritization of the freedom of capital that globalism suddenly allowed – over universal human rights and former domestic worker rights exchanged for zero hrs employee contracts and its accompayning transient low wage labour is and has been the ideological lynchpin of modern republicanism with individual negative liberty rights preferred over the more cosmoplitan and equalities of the democratic liberals.
Low tax and increased private for profit education exclusifies society into an embedded directional elite as recorded by historic fact and therefore specifically mitagates against the interests of the majority . That Trumpers pretend otherwise shows indeed how post truth the political atmosphere has sadly become.
too many abbreviation codes. while intellectually stimulating, a bit over the top no doubt for most who voted the dude in–like the fools of the ridiculous electoral college!
Of course the hope for us out in the wide world outside USA can hope that Trump’s ‘leadership’ will cause the collapse of the US as we know it, with the US public waking up to the fact that their society is neither extraordinary nor particularly pleasant, seen as a whole. So with enough internal problems, maybe the rest of the world will be left alone from US imperialism and warmongering?
If they are lucky. I fear the US (even if they withdraw politically to their isolationist roots) Military-Industrial-Intelligence Complex and their Self Funding (collect it all and everyone elses – insider insider trading – skimming entire banking systems – lightning trading (now you see it now you dont) wholesale industrial espionage) Hegemonic Agendas will continue unabated even as their domestic populations and democratic institutions pivot toward insolvency and irrelevancy.
Hey Zaid,
Are you aware that:
1. U.S. corporations are compelled by law to maximize profit to the benefit of their share holders?
2. the appointment of corporate board members is subject to the approval of its share holders?
3. most “golden parachutes” are structured to reward individual actions that lead to greater corporate profitability?
Because United States law is intended to reflect and promote capitalist ends – in keeping with two centuries of historical precedent – persons like Elaine Chao can hardly be faulted for playing the game well.
Wells Fargo and its competitors have every intention of influencing policy makers in a way that maximizes their profit potential. They are also going to implement policies that test legal limits from time to time. When confronted by Congress in the wake of the 2008-2009 collapse of financial markets, the banking elites told Congress that it should shoulder the burden of responsibility for the collapse because it was they who deregulated the markets. Who then do we employ to construct regulations that:
1. limit self-defeating excess (irresponsible risk)?
2. do not inhibit the growth and expansion of capitalist ends?
Global finance is now largely the domain of those who hold doctorates in mathematics; some of the most successful investment funds bare this out. It is all well and good to retrospectively lament over the proven excesses and illegalities of Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo, but the future demands that we create law with an equal degree of foresight. To this end, it is often necessary to rely on the financial expertise of those who are most intimately connected with the intended target of future regulation – else we just might throw the baby out with the bath water.
Your “are you aware” points are subject to interpretation. Corporations maximize profits at their discretion and definition, often not benefiting the shareholders. The share holders with the most shares appoint the board members, usually just a handful of majority share holders in each corporation that call the shots. Golden parachutes are subject to interpretation, typically abused, implemented by the upper echelon, and provided to the upper echelon. The Dodd-Frank Act mandated share holder approval of golden parachutes, but majority share holders dictate.
The 2008 Bush-Republican recession and consequent government-taxpayer bailout of the too-big-to-fail automobile and financial industries was the largest socialist bailout ever in the USA. Nothing is too-big-to-fail under the rules of capitalism. It has evolved and taken different forms, but continues today as Quantitative Easing.
Last sentence should state, “continues today as FOMC inflation targeting”, more commonly known as the Fed rate hike, keeping interest rates artificially low to stimulate the economy.
Hi Mike
All good points. Yes, there are a lot of exceptions to the rules. And yes the rules are structured to favor majority shareholders as they are perceived to have the greatest stake in the outcome of policy decisions.
trump’s rich friends CAN help americans become middle class affluent again … if trump removes environmental protections and reduces taxes on corporations
which trump will do … china is already destroying the world climate, we might as well get a big fat chunk of that old-fashioned industrial pie
sorry if we all can’t gurgle freely into your web v4.0 world of crowdsourced majic snowflakes, staffed by the international transgendered unicorn collective
1. Follow the money.
2. Believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see.
Memo to the Left: it will be very helpful to you to view the Trump administration as a reality TV show. Based on high ratings in season 1 (aka the election), Trump and cast were signed for season 2. Episode 1 of the new season just concluded as our controversial star entered the oval office and signed some documents as some of the star-strucked looked on and cameras whirred. Your predictions about what will happen next may make good advertising for the show but the producers keep a tight lid on the drama to follow. Stay tuned for the next installment of The Donald Trump Show!
This is exactly right…he won the election by touting some populist small guy stuff which he has not loyalty to, affinity to and commitment for. He is an elitist, right wing greed inspired narcissist and is the greatest danger to america in the world. the people that voted for him are his cannon fodder…you will see, after he pulls regulations what always happens…the economy will shoot up, become over leveraged and valueless and will be followed by a huge crash…insiders will get out early and everyone else will get hurt. he will not fulfil any of his promises except to keep Vlad in his bed.
So what are you doing to Make America Great Again? Tearing Down America Again ain’t gonna get ‘er done.
I tried to keep making America great by not voting for Trump. “Tearing Down America” is Trump’s more truthful slogan.
If any of you thought it would be better under Hillary, guess again. It would be the same in the way of military involvement overseas. Poor people will be sacrificed in the name of freedom $$$$$$. If you want to win an election just aim at the stupid people who seem to think it’s because of the minorities and the government that they’re doing it tough. If you’re doing it tough it’s because your a follower who doesn’t know what direction to take in life when things get rough. Has Trump or any of his people had a financially rough life? ???? Stupid is a stupid does!
Nope. Wrong answer!
Yes, on the surface it smells a little regarding some of these appointments but let’s give the guy a chance eh? Maybe in four years’ time Trump just might change your mind regardless of the choices he’s made as appointees.
It “smells a little?” No, it stinks to high heaven, and you are extraordinarily naive if you think any good is going to come out of this.
People keep underestimating President Trump. What he has done is nothing short of incredible. For many people it is literally unbelievable. He defeated the entrenched power structures of both political parties and the Mainstream Media as well. He did it with a shoestring budget, a minimalist political staff and Twitter account.
He took a beating that would have left most people catatonic and shrugged it off like it was a minor case of indigestion. His opponents keep stamping their feet and calling him names, but it doesn’t work. He keeps chugging along, dragging them like leaves in his wake.
I voted for President Trump. His mission to Make America Great Again is a noble one. And I will view any attempt to destroy him or thwart his presidency as an assault upon the national interest. You are not simply picking a fight with President Trump, but also, with the people who elected him.
Be warned.
cabinet full of billionaires. they could only have my best interests in mind. right?
If the poor were as politically engaged as the rich, they wouldn’t be poor.
Yup. And that’s why the rich have got their boot firmly on the collective necks of the underclass. And that is where it will stay.
The reichwing is already making threats on the interweb. How predictable. How impotent. How fascist.
Bring it.
Donald Trump is an assault upon the national interests, as is anyone that supports the abomination. Thanks for the warning that there’s a scourge upon us.
In light of your thoughts, then, you would obviously view Mitch McConnell’s infamous statement eight years ago that it was his job to make Obama’s presidency a failure as an equal assault on the national interest.
Oh, you don’t?
I detest Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan. I would have much preferred Bernie Sanders, but Trump carried the day against all the political odds. Obama had 8 years, but he refused to lead. So it’s time to MAGA.
The Democrats need to clean up their act and get back to representing ordinary people, but they’re not doing it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HAqDPfj8B8
I agree with your first two paragraphs, but, I had to get off at the end where you issue vague threats against vague people for vague reasons to protect a vague man whom you really don’t have the slightest idea about. You come off more as a misty-eyed, authority-loving true believer in a leader who can do no wrong, than a responsible citizen willing to hold everyone accountable no matter who they are or what party they’re in.
buy american and hire america … sorry if that leaves you out
Amen, brother. I for one am getting tired of all the left-wing talking points and fears getting re-re-recycled ad nauseum. President Trump has not done anything yet and we’ll get to find out what he does soon. Trump has a plan, actually several plans, and no one know what is going to happen however much people think they can read tea leaves and whip up indignation. Much has yet to be revealed and then it will make sense to fully analyze and react to the new Trump reality.
That there’s some pretty good satire!
Listen to the little green frog howl. What would it sound like if frogs could actually learn from their own mistakes, and could figure out they have betrayed themselves again?
If President Trump does go off the rails (which is possible) and pass some draconian laws or whatever, you are going to need political allies. Which you are not going to have if you go around sh!tting people.
Like, for example, the people who elected him.
No need to shit on shit after they already sodded themselves. Again.
And I do not personally know one single torture loving American coward with enough vertebrae to qualify as an ally of mine. No thanks, Tex.
The Supreme court is Republican.
The Presidency is Republican.
The House is Republican.
The Senate is Republican.
Most of the State legislatures are Republican.
Most of the State governors are Republican.
How much more can you lose?
I think what Si1ver1ock is saying is we’d better play the hand your dealt. Like Si1ver1ock I too would have voted for Bernie. You all did get that Si1ver1ock would have voted for the other populist right if that choice hadn’t been denied him by the DNC?
Hell. I didn’t even vote this year. I spent the year focusing on positioning my family and assets to thrive through any political outcomes. No off the grid prepper BS. Just retired some assets and paid off and made upgrades to that big farm house house and always in demand rental property while fine tuning our budget priorities in light of the implosion of Obamacare while the Fed starts raising rates and ices QE.
“People keep underestimating President Trump. What he has done is nothing short of incredible. For many people it is literally unbelievable. He defeated the entrenched power structures of both political parties and the Mainstream Media as well. He did it with a shoestring budget, a minimalist political staff and Twitter account.
He took a beating that would have left most people catatonic and shrugged it off like it was a minor case of indigestion. His opponents keep stamping their feet and calling him names, but it doesn’t work. He keeps chugging along, dragging them like leaves in his wake.”
OH OK WHATEVER 1OCK RELATED TO ERIC PRINCE?
On the facts to date your acclaim is perfectly correct, but the reserve most people will have is in fact how his ‘ inaugerational promise ‘ is deployed, particularly, by the power of the ruling oliarchy who have been the real power in the USA ( and probably through the so-calledwest of the World } since at least the end of the second world war. Its early days so far and esta jacka ( the die is cast ) has not been cast !
Wrong. The “people who elected him” and actually like him or expect much from him are a tiny minority indeed. Your warning is a joke, and the tenor of your imbecile hagiography (“His mission to Make America Great Again is a noble one. “) suggests that you’re a troll, a trumpkin, as it were. Hell, you might even be the Great Man himself, but your attention span is a bit longer than anything we can expect from our witless President. You’ve been put on notice.
Judging by the inane comments you’ve published throughout this forum, I’d say “empty vessels make most noise” is more than apt
Well like Bibi, of course Goldman Sachs was going to win this election. The house always wins..
He doesn’t have to make everyone rich, just better off than they are now, and he can actually manage to pull this off. The elites know they’ve been overreaching for decades now and will soon be moving into bloody revolution territory if they don’t cool it. The TPIP is dead. That’s good for Joe Sixpack. And every other “free” trade deal is likely going to be renegotiated too. Even better for John Q Public. It’ll will bring work back. Hillary on the other hand would have continued to sell the American worker up the river. If you think you’d have been better off with her you need your head examined.
If you’re a straight white male of Christian background you’re possibly better off with Trump than if Hilary had won. If you’re a woman of reproductive age, a gay or trans person, a Muslim, Hispanic or African-American, then not so much. We were going to be truly fucked either way, but with Trump some are going to be severely more fucked than others.
Dirty jobs, dirty rotten jobs with a steady paycheck and some lousy benefits to go with it are all Trump has to deliver. When was the last time a President spoke of the economic interests of workers? I don’t know, FDR? That is the lesson the so-called, liberal left failed to grasp, it is not only white Christian men who got their asses handed to them by globalization. The majority of working people have gotten their asses handed to them over the last 30 years. Will this end it, probably not, but it might help to awaken pro-labor elements of the Democratic Party.
Now, let’s be clear that we all know very well that Trump will not be creating more jobs or making economic life better for anyone… because ultimately, he works for the same 8 guys as Hillary does.
However, I do NOT believe blacks have done better after 8 years of a black president. I do not believe that women in need of reproductive care have fared any better than 10 years ago, and in places, have fared worse. Ditto for every group you have mentioned outside of LGBTQ people…..
Now, on that: Have you heard neo-Nazi Richard Spencer speak? First of all, I am not sure you can get much more gay. Though he isn’t “out” he has made it clear that white, gay men couldn’t be more welcome to join the new Nazi party. (You know you have achieved equality when the Nazis want to recruit you).
But they’re now going to fare very badly. That is, their well-being is going to be grossly harmed.
You may want to re-examine that christian part of your rant given your use of vulgarity. It’s not allowed in that religion. Ephesians 4:29.
Trump’s changes to the economic system won’t map to civil liberties the way you think they will … he is significantly different than Clinton in his approach to global industrial policy (even though he’s in bed with global capital)
the minority groups you listed will all make more money, because they have all been hit hard by the export of our industrial economy to other countries
maybe in the past minorities haven’t had these high-paying blue collar jobs, but they’re posed to get them now … if they can look past Trump’s obvious personal prejudices
the disparity groups you listed (except for tokens in the mediaspace and academia) have mostly been shut out of the higher income professional jobs, which are largely occupied by a protestant white male and protestant white female quasi-meritocracty, heavily fueled by inherited money , social position, and access to the best education available
personal income is the only measure of self-determination in america …
Shut up Mona! Obama has deported more immigrants than any president in history. Stop whining like a mental patient.
Jamie,
Did you read the comments policy?
Joe, you apparently didn’t read Jilani’s essay that you posted your comment to.
GLENN GREENWALD: And welcome back to Washington Stupid in Review. Now, panel, why did The Donald cross the road?
EDWARD R. MURROW: Because he’s wires and lights in a box, all of them short-circuiting.
GEORGE GALLOWAY: Because he’s an obtuse, bollocks-less twit.
DAN SAVAGE: Because he was pursuing his fifth wife.
JON STEWART: Because he’s a punch line in pursuit of a stupid joke.
CHARLES LINDBERGH: Because he wants America First, although his wives aren’t.
Good work. I wish I could vote you some UP arrows.
@Alan
Hillary Clinton did not lose the rust belt states because she was perceived as “too leftist.” She lost because she didn’t campaign and reach out to the suffering working class in those states. She went into this deeply unpopular and did nothing to ameliorate that. Instead, she held lavish fundraising parties with her rich donors. By contrast, Trump stumped throughout the midwest directly appealing to the working class.
Hillary Clinton was so unpopular she lost to Donald fucking Trump. Virtually every poll throughout the primaries showed Bernie Sanders defeating Donald Trump far more decisively than Clinton.
Bernie Sanders generated enormous enthusiasm that Clinton utterly lacked. For getting out the votes THAT MATTERS. A small but significant segment of people who voted for Trump have been identified as Bernie’s, had he been the Democratic choice.
It’s a counter-factual, so not amendable to definitive evidence, but between the polls — including the one at my link above — and the enthusiasm factor, yes, it’s likely Bernie wild have won.
Donald Trump was and is deeply unpopular; Bernie is deeply popular. So what did those genius Democrats do? They forced a nominee that couldn’t beat DONALD FUCKING TRUMP.
Donald Trump is the fault of the Democratic Party. It either learns it’s lesson, or we get eight years of Trump.
“including the one at my link above” should read “including the one at my link below” which was this.
Are you talking to yourself? Not all the links in the world will change the fact that Obama deported more immigrants than any president in history.
Considering the total denial of the DNC is in at the moment and that they have only 2 years to come up with an alternative to Agent Orange, 8 years it is then.
Snowflake: “but… but… won’t they impeach him soon?”
Not to mention a significant percentage of voters who didn’t bother to vote because the choices were so bad that likely would have voted had Sanders been on the ticket instead of Clinton.
If you listen carefully you will hear the sound of me clapping. I was worried that this would be the result. Debbie Wassermann Shultz and Donna Brazile you caused this problem. Your cheating destroyed your Party.
Q. Use Goldman Sachs in a sentence.
A. Goldman Sachs & Pillages the city and the people flee into the countryside.
Source: http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2017/01/then-and-now.html
Obama’s Presidency: January 2009 compared with December 2016
Vehicle Sales: 9.6 million / 18.3 million
Monthly Employment change: -791,000 / +156,000
Unemployment Rate: 7.8% / 4.7%
Dow Jones: 7,949 / 19,762
S&P Index 500: 805 / 2,251
Housing Starts: 490,000 / 1,126,000
New Home Sales: 336,000 / 592,000
Budget Deficit: 9,8% / 2.8% (January 20 2009 vs 2017)
Insured under ACA: 0/ 20,000,000
Let’s keep up the carnage!
A perv, a con artist, and a fascist walk into a bar. Bartender says, “What’ll it be President Trump?” (anonymous)
And The Donald answers, “I’ll have the American Carnage, that’s red meat in vodka.”
Trump inspires us to to believe and trust that any American–literally any American–with a 14 million dollar loan from their parents and an army of bankruptcy lawyers, can become a billionaire, too.
Ultimately, it’s a story of hope, don’t ya think? I mean, if Trump can do it…
Look, if you can’t make it in the Land of Opportunity, you’re a moocher, period!
That’s right, all you lazy bums who couldn’t become billionaires…
Mr. Trump is being careful not to repeat the mistake of Mr. Obama by setting popular expectations too high. Most people will consider Mr. Trump’s presidency a tremendous success if he:
a) does not start a nuclear war with China;
b) does not start a race war in the US.
I believe that Mr. Trump has almost even odds of achieving at least one of those objectives. So while expectations may be low for him now, by the end of his term, I am confident he will be viewed as one of the best forty five US presidents of all time.
Aw… Give a billionaire(s) a chance to do right by the Amerian People ?
Reminds me of a Twilight Zone episode, “To Serve Man”:
“Respectfully submitted for your perusal – a Kanamit. Height: a little over nine feet. Weight: in the neighborhood of three hundred and fifty pounds. Origin: unknown. Motives? Therein hangs the tale, for in just a moment, we’re going to ask you to shake hands, figuratively, with a Christopher Columbus from another galaxy and another time. This is the Twilight Zone.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Serve_Man_%28The_Twilight_Zone%29
Serve ’em up with mashed spuds and a flute of bubbly.
Wells Fargo fraud against disabled, seniors for taking trust accounts used for fraud with failure to produce bank statements for audit then Cassandra Carnell’s and Oliver Cassidy fraudulent Wells Fargo documentation regarding false accounts opened/closed without bank customer having any knowledge. Staff and branch managers of Wells Fargo notified of explicit fraud/abuse of trust account drained then staff in Pleasant Hill, CA & Concord, CA at Reverse Mortgage unit break California law by having mentally unstable/ill hospitalized seniors sign loan documents that are illegal because senior under severe ICU at Kaiser Walnut Creek hospital when customer drugged out of his mind! Then fraud against federal government Reverse Mortgage program fails to perform small investigation about falsely written property title for loan against disabled joint owner without joint owners signature. Loan agent was hompletely aware three seperate family members should be required to sign loan documents otherwise fraud committed by Wells Fargo Reverse Mortgage loan agency of Concord, California multiple times was perpetrated! Congressman Mark DeSalnier of 11th Congressional district knows all about deliberate murder of the senior at Walnut Creek, CA Kindercare nursing home to suppress investigation of the fraud regularly committed in Contra Costa County, California. Contra Costa county den of corruption that no one will investigate agencies that always sweep under the carpet so fraud and gross negligence of county agencies are NEVER brought out into open! DNC is joke in this county so is RNC.
“or his national security adviser Mike Flynn, who has referred to Islamism as a “cancer” in the body of the world’s Muslims.”
Is that NOT a good way to describe it? If he’d called Islam a cancer on the world that’d be understandably angering, but calling IslamISM a Cancer on Islam? That’s just the truth.
fantastic image with Obama’s head seated to the left.
Also posted to the thread under Dan’s piece:
98 to 1. Only Kirsten Gillibrand thought the guy who said things like the following shouldn’t be Secretary of “Defense.”
Ninety-eight to one.
We love our war heroes and war criminals. The difference between the two is often a matter of luck.
That’s Marine talk. It’s how we talk to one another to make us crazy enouph to deal death and destruction in a terrible way, so you don’t have to.
And we do respect Robert but all to frequently our political leadership comes up short providing us legitimate verifiable proof of the imminent nature of a perceived threat to justify our almost invariably (barring a false flag attack like the Sarin Gas attack in Syria debunked y Seymour Hersch) PREEMPTIVE military intervention based on zero hare evidence.
Same could be said of our PREEMPTIVE diplomatic strategies where the congress is cooking up fake news legislation based on as yet to be proved assertions of Russian “intervention” in US elections which on their face amount to nothing more than international reporting on US elections. Before (and this is important…before) the IC even issues any report or analysis even remotely verifying any protion of it. Which they have not.
@Mona
Yeah Mona ,,, but what about your Honorary Chairperson —Deborah Wassermann Schultz ? Seems to me the Democratic Party is to Democracy as Wrong is to Right !
And yes ,,, Bernie would have won … We could have run a roast beef sandwich against the clown ,,, but Wassie and her arrogant SEMITES pushed Hilarity down our throats .
It was the DNC that elected Donald Thrump , pure and simple .
And now they are having a hissy fit !
BTW : Bernie owes me $575 !!
But I thought it was the Russians that elected him! Geez, now I’m all confused!
America is dead and dying and everything is shitty.
That was really uplifting.
The purpose of journalism here is not to cheer you up.
Here ya go:
Good News
Well, I watched the full ceremonial stuff and can’t disagree more. I am a foreigner myself (and, guess what, from “Latin America”, whatever this means), am not a Trumpster (I couldn’t disagree more with a score of his voters), but let me be very candid: I really did not see this “angry nationalism” in Trump’s speech.
Wow. And I had to read a full year of editorials and opinions about how Clinton was just too close to Goldman Sachs to be considered worthy to serve. I hope all the ideological purists they were just oh too principled to put any support behind Clinton are well pleased with the results of their efforts.
Hillary Clinton was and is a Wall Street whore. But had she won, being such a shill for Goldman Sachs would continue to be legitimized. Now, it becomes part of the odious package of Trump.
There’s war going on for the direction of the Democratic Party. Continue with Clintonism and welcome 8 years of Trump. Continue, and keep seeing Democrats in ash heaps at the municipal, state and federal levels.
Oh and: Bernie would have won.
Yeah Mona ,,, but what about your Honorary Chairperson —Deborah Wassermann Schultz ? Seems to me the Democratic Party is to Democracy as Wrong is to Right !
And yes ,,, Bernie would have won … We could have run a roast beef sandwich against the clown ,,, but Wassie and her arrogant SEMITES pushed Hilarity down our throats .
It was the DNC that elected Donald Thrump , pure and simple .
And now they are having a hissy fit !
BTW : Bernie owes me $575 !!
“…but what about your Honorary Chairperson —Deborah Wassermann Schultz ?”
I’m trying to think of who the “your” is here that you’re referring to.
“For axes to be ground effectively, a proper sharpening stone must be used.”
– Some inter-web persona
The 2nd most important thing a caste is obsessed about, after protecting itself from the lower one, is it’s purity. Now there are orange stains all over the place.
Their bankster buddies at the periphery of the empire, operating under Washington Consensus, are visibly shaken. It’s up to forces in their respective countries to use the situation to their advantage (where is Varoufakis when you need him).
So I am supposed to believe that somehow the few hundred thousand votes that cost Clinton the EC in five states mostly because they saw her as too leftist would have suddenly decided to vote for Bernie who is even more left. The same voting population that cannot tolerate the ACA as too “socialist” and LGBT rights will suddenly see the light and vote for a proclaimed socialist pushing single-payer and total social equality. Yeah well whatever. Go ahead and believe that.
I would have loved to see Bernie as president as well but somehow I am unable to embrace the what-if delusions others cherish. You can blame “Clintonism” all you want but anyone who chose not to support Clinton once she actually became the nominee is more culpable for Trumpism than any gun-toting Texan or hillbilly who hasn’t yet realized they just voted away their own healthcare and toxin-free environment (to the extent that exists).
So Mona you got your “I told you so” victory — the greatest sour grapes on the planet. You don’t even have the burden of having to prove “your way” would have resulted in victory because it is impossible to prove it. Go celebrate.
Another one who has still failed to learn the lessons of the recent election.
Clinton lost because the voters in the Rust Belt are no longer buying the lies and deception of the neoliberal cretins and whores for Wall Street who have long since seized control of the Democratic Party. They decided to take a chance on the devil they didn’t know.
Every indication we’ve seen so far suggests that the party bosses haven’t learned any more than you have. Unless and until that changes, you should probably expect the Democrats to remain rudderless, largely unelectable and on a long slide into irrelevance.
The chance they took on the devil they didn’t know will be the joy-ride of their lives. I suspect anything-but-Republican will look pretty darn good in four years, if not sooner, to these same joy-riders.
I agree with everything you said except the Democrats remaining on a long slide into irrelevance. I think they’re already there; the slide’s over. Any relevance or credibility the Democrats had came to a halt with a sickening thud November 8, when the working class chose to jump into the void rather than endure even more years of a loathsome poser who acknowledged them only when she wanted their vote.
The Clinton/Obama faction of the Democratic Party is virtually done, and won’t be back anytime soon, if ever. Personally, I think that’s a good thing.
Time to build a truly progressive party.
Slide’s Over.
Instead, she’s an heiress who inherited billions through marriage and inheritance while waiving away Bernie Sanders’s plan for tuition-free public college for all by invoking the proverb that “nothing in life is free.”
Good lord, that’s an inelegant sentence. Heiress who inherited through inheritance? Come on, man. Some of us are driving Ubers.
Wolves – here is your hen house. Thank those pigeons for putting you there.
Hallelujah, with my fingers crossed for Trump to be true!
Only for parts. I am hoping we finally end the Cold War, and target IS and their allies- including their funders and armers. Those two actions would save billions and make the world safer.
so you’d have us bomb ourselves?
-nods- it’s what we deserve.
But leave Pogo out of it, and me too. As for the collaborators, go for it.
Well ,,, for better or for worse ,,, he’s the president now . And there’s one thing that scares the Be’Jesus out of the Establisment ,,,
this guy is his own nut !!
Gotta say I kind of feel good about being an AMERICAN again. That was a loooonnnngggg 8 years.
An interesting opinion, but nothing more. As for Goldman Sachs, it was never far from the reach of all recent American administrations. Some actually marry into Goldman Sachs. Undoubtedly, there are things GS does very well and perhaps if they are put in a position to perform those things so well on behalf of the American people instead of on behalf of the wealthy, they might astonish us.
So do you feel like it would be better if Trump jut followed Obama’s lead and got a list of cabinet appointments from Michael Froman of Citigroup?
if i were elected president, i would bar the military from participating in the inauguration cermonies.
emphasis on military is a real bad sign.
Don’t sweat the little things, Americans. It’s the same shit you had yesterday; it just doesn’t speak English.
You’re still the biggest shit on earth.
As the TI 500 page said: “Something went wrong[.]
Please try reloading the page or come back later.” So I did.
And some things are worth repeating.
Don’t sweat the little things, Americans. It’s the same shit you had yesterday except it can’t speak English.
Your still the greatest shit on earth.
The Intercept needs to get rid of their racist affirmative action writers if they want to stop being called fake news
What do you mean excactly?
thats not what fake news is. Fake news is anyone claiming Obama was born in Kenya, or that Clinton was on the verge of death, or Pizzagate
Come on, they nailed it. It’s their job to call out the hypocrisy in the government eg Obama dropping bombs within Nobel peace prize. Its about time Trump fans realise Trump isn’t a flawless messiah and analyse his words and actions critically
Racist in what way?
You are a fuckwit who has repeatedly demonstrated he has no clue about anything relating to this site, certainly nothing about the writers here.
Mona, didn’t you hear? TI has called an emergency editorial conference to address the fake news accusations.
I understand the site is going to be converted to cover only orphan sports. Jeremy gets curling and Glenn gets badminton.
Well…I really like badminton, so….
mackey gets Synchronized Swimming.
Here in Alabama, Trumpkin halfwits are celebrating, not unlike they would have celebrated UA defeating Clemson in the colligate national championship football game. And sadly, I think their grasp of political reality is just that shallow–it’s all about their team winning, the actual issues of policy and legislation be damned.
Individuals who actually grasp the reality of U.S. politics cannot be this obtuse unless they’re realistically positioned to profit from such a dire turn of events. Again, sadly, such does NOT apply to the majority of halfwits celebrating Trump’s inauguration.
No doubt, the democratic party has long since dropped the ball, but now we have a large white racist minority cheering on the installment of an actual oligarch and functional fascist.
I’ve long held the opinion that all things political in this country must get much worse before they can get better; well, much worse has finally arrived.
And who would have stood to profit from marching forward toward war with Russia? Where would the American people have been with Hillary Clinton as president? Instead of a cabinet of business elites, you’d have a cabinet of warmongering deep state puppets and corporate lobbyist whores.
The grand decry of Trump continues to drown out the reality of the other option being far, far worse. I’ll take my chances with the new president rather than a continuation of Obama, which was a continuation of Bush II. “An actual oligarch…” Puh-leeease. As if there was any difference between any side in that regard.
up^^^^
Yup. I wasn’t one of those who supported voting for Trump in order to “heighten the contradictions,” becasue the price to be paid by people of color, and women of reproductive age, is simply too high. Not to mention what hell he may unleash elsewhere with things like bombs.
But we got him. So, now we see protest vastly increase, including an increase in violence. There’s going to a lot of blood in the streets. Often.
President Trump is going to put both BLM and BDS on steroids, and galvanize the left well beyond their keyboards. The Democratic Party will either reform to address the demands of an increasingly aroused segment of the activist electorate, or it will die. And be replaced.
Short term, this is going to be ghastly. But in the mid-term it could be the best thing.
your point/counterpoint using Trump statements and contrasting factoids is empty
a nationalist US/Russian/UK reality is emerging, for better or worse, due to over-rapid globalization of our economy
even if the new administration continues to globalize, transnational neoliberalism will also continue to decline as an operating political philosophy
“The president also complained that the United States has “subsidized the armies of other countries,” ”
Umm, like Israel?
Like ISIS
We give $3.8 billion a year to Israel in military dollars.
For being a rogue state, ignoring I’nal law and being disrespectful to the US!
Oh no, Israel can do no wrong. That’s US foreign policy 101
The U.S. has been busy arming Europe to the teeth. Trump has complained before that Europe and other countries are not not paying their share of the bill for their own ‘defence’ and are thus being “subsidized” by American taxpayers.
One can hope that Trump will end this, which would be a good thing for the US budget and world peace. (And, except for Israel, he just may!) Of course, while Trump can abrogate treaties, Congress has the power of the purse and oversight of the military. (Which means that Graham, McCain, Cotton and Schumer may be forcing our troops to stay in Europe.)
A leading businessman told me once, a secret to success,
If you are going to give people the shaft, make sure it is well greased
It’s a pity Trump isn’t what you’ld call a “successful businessman”,successful conman maybe
The lack of reading comprehension demonstrated by Trumpkin halfwits isn’t surprising in theory, but jeez, it’s jarring when one actually encounters it.
Yeah, and it keeps being jarring, over and over and. . .
We may all need to get sparring helmets to protect our brains from the cumulative damage of repeat concussions.
“IllegitAmate”
<__>
Pretty certain that wasn’t a Trump supporter…
Haha I noticed that, too.
If your sign only has one word, you should probably take the time to spell it correctly.
The question is, which people. When we have Citizens United in vigor who knows what people he might be referring to, but reading between the line I think he means the elite.
The ultimate in words not reflecting actions. I do wonder if he’s stupid enough to actually believe what he says. If so, he’s going to be greatly disappointed in himself…
Her we go again, more anti-trump propaganda.
Ever heard the old addage “Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer”? Perhaps, that why Trump has G Sachs on board.
Give the guy a chance and then judge him by his actions not by his words.
You clearly don’t know what the word propaganda means. Nothing he wrote here is untrue.
Uh-huh. Ever hear this one?
Oh, Doug, don’t be so hard on Mary! Obama did just what Trump is doing and see what great results. . . .er,. . . Oh, Never Mind!
Indeed. That phrase has been around for a while and it did not work with anyone who said it, in fact or fiction.
Thanks for this Mary. Never, through a campaign, have we had so little information as to what a president will do. The media has been putting words in his mouth on all fronts. The guy is a business man and can sometimes come across as a fool when he runs his mouth, but at this moment, when I listen to his actual words (aside from the overt nationalism, which does scare me a little), it seems he has good intentions for the middle class of our country who have viewed declining jobs for years. I like that he wants clean up the career politicians who have spent too much of their life currying favors. Let’s give him a shot and see what happens.
The media has been putting words in his mouth? Oh, come on! The media reiterates his every non-truthful rumination along with his horse, Kellyanne. I’m sure he has intentions for the middle class, but his intentions are those of a hustler viewing his prey. He’s cleaning-up the career politicians by replacing them directly with the puppeteers that pulled their strings.
His actions have ver much been divulged. His cabinet picks speak for themselves. whitehouse.gov is rampant with clear choice on direction. This is by far the most right wing extremist government to have snaked its way through the electoral college for perhaps as much as a century. So to suggest we give the guy a chance is simply a pacifist position on a very extreme candidate. I hope you are reading the articles here and watching democracynow.org.
Mary – you’re spot on. It’s noticeable that like all media, The Intercept is merely a vehicle for conveying it’s owners pro Establishment, anti-Trump agenda
Are cabinet nominations not an action?
No.
I’ve heard and seen enough already, thank you very much.
From the Mike Flynn- Alex Jones brand of reasoning. You got my vote for the numbest comment here. Thx for the giggle
Good analysis of where Trump’s loyalties lie – and it’s telling that he said “Washington flourished – but the people did not share in its wealth” – when really it was Wall Street that flourished, and any wealth Washington insiders got was kicked down to them by the financial sector in the form of legal bribes – foundation donations, jobs for family members, large campaign donations, junkets and trips, etc.
And while he mentioned nothing about energy in his speech, his first White House post calls for a return to coal, which would be an economic as well as an environmental disaster:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-white-house-president-global-warming-climate-change-environment-a7538206.html
And somehow, the “revenues” from burning coal and oil are supposed to help pay for his infrastructure plan. . . that has to be one of the more ludicrous notions he’s proposed. Here’s how Reuters describes it:
That’s either some kind of inside joke or the stupidest fiscal plan for infrastructure ever proposed.
The funny thing? Thanks to the market, coal is getting more and more uneconomical every year. It is cheaper to burn cleaner natural gas (or even oil!), build solar panels and windmills, and simply cut consumption.
Wait Zaid didn’t Hilary get payed directly by Goldman.
I was thrilled to learn from Chuck Schumer that we equal protection under the law for all.
Murica now is offically a fascist cleptocracy, run by a thin skinned sexual pervert and a vice president that believes the world is 6000 years old.
How long will it take until we see something like the Trump Youth or Trump SS and SCOTUS implementing x-tian style sharia laws?
If Murica only was a 3rd world country, then at least the thin skinned pervert in chief would not have the nuclear codes!
A horrorstory not even Kafka himslf could have come up with!
Got it in one, Zaid.
Error/typo, 3rd para: “waiving away” should be “waving away.”
I’m confused!!!
Trump is using words which are, so far, not in line with his actions.
This use of contradictory words and actions is the hallmark
of the democrats.
Is Trump the epitome of the bi-partisan corporetum????
Maybe he has a vagina too, like his friend Hillary!
==>>This use of contradictory words and actions is the hallmark of the democrats.
You mean Republicans do not usually do this? You mean they really do what they say? You mean tax breaks of the wealthy really do make the poor richer? Etc., Etc.
The fact is that the republicans and the colleagues the democrats
both lie is what I was referring to when I said “bi-partisan.”
The democrats are much more inclined to say the kind
of misleading words which Trump is using in this instance
while they enable the same agenda of corporate ownership
of all aspects of life.
[[[ Maybe he has a vagina too, like his friend Hillary! ]]]
I think you’re confused.
Michelle Obama is a tranny. Barry offers reacharounds.
Goldman gets their people inside no matter the party in “power.”
Edward Snowden
“Trump was correct when he said that . . . “
Curing disease, creating new energy sources, even space exploration. It looks like his speech is making technological progress the centerpiece.
GAGA Get America Going Again?
Technology — like progress, growth, patriotism, etc. — is a false god.
I = P*A*T
I think the long-run avg (20+ yrs at least) is that for every unit of efficiency gained, we use 1.5 more units of energy. The compact car is a perfect laymen’s example: my first vehicle, an 86 VW Jetta, made about 34 mpg combined (with 400k+ mi on the engine!) My second car, a 96 VW Golf, with a slightly larger but similar engine fine-tuned through several iterations by some of the worlds’ finest engineers, made slightly less, about 32. The 96 Golf is only 5″ shorter than the 86 Jetta, and wider. It’s packed with an array of sensors and a computer that are absent in the Jetta. The Golf is also 200 lbs heavier than the older Jetta. (the 96 Jetta is almost 700 lbs heavier- can you imagine gaining 700 lbs. in 10 years and maintaining the same athletic performance?)
The compact car grew larger than the mid-size sedan from a decade prior, while maintaining roughly similar performance specs, and the mid-size sedan grew closer to full-sized sedan. The same trend is clearly evident across manufacturers, particularly obvious with continuous models like the Jetta, Accord, Camry, Civic etc.
The trend is harder to spot in some areas, like computing. Yes, our phones, laptops and the hardware within are much smaller and magnitudes more powerful than in 2006- but to fill that demand we’ve also slapped processors in every manner of gadget, built massive server farms, and drastically increased rare earth element mining, amongst other things, assuring that energy use still outpaces savings from efficiency gains.
This conceit is our downfall. Our system of production fails without unending growth, which produces an unending growth in energy usage. Earth as a system has a finite capacity for energy absorption, becoming ever more hostile to life. At the fundamental level, our system of production disputes the laws of Thermodynamics, a completely f*ing futile argument.
You don’t know how nice it is to, once in awhile, find in these threads someone who gets it.
My favorite expression of the laws, “Ginsberg’s Theorem,” from 1975:
For the benefit of the billions of members of the Church of Technological Salvation, we should probably add:
4. You can’t repeal the Laws.
“and magnitudes more powerful”
The phrase is, ‘orders of magnitude’ more powerful.
“our system of production disputes the laws of Thermodynamics,”
No, it does not. It’s a crappy system that always needs more input. It is called Ponzi or a Pyramid scheme. Thermo has nothing to do with it.
It pays the rent, heats the house and puts food on the table.
Which is good enough.
Curing disease by appointing an anti-vaxxer to head up a panel on vaccines.
Creating new energy sources by deriding alternative energy sources and pushing for a return to oil and coal.
Space exploration. Well, okay, he hasn’t appointed a caveman to run NASA yet, so that’s something.
Thank you for your early take.
It would indeed be remarkable, but he has proven himself to be a vindictive, thin-skinned child, who cheats working people (citizens and imported low-wage workers) out of their earnings and if he could, their pensions, he has existing lawsuits w/the NLRB, etc, and he never before shown that he gives a damn about anybody other than himself in largely the 70 years of life.
I truly hope that he proves many of us wrong or his movement adherents will turn against him soon enough and the protests will ramp up considerably. You worry about surveillance now? Contingencies are being plotted/planned in cities across this country.
For the first time in many decades, I sat this one out.
I’ll read more of the high/lowlights later.
So, you didn’t vote for Clinton when you knew EXACTLY what Trump is? I didn’t want Clinton, but I voted for her anyways because I know what’s at stake. Harm reduction matters. While you sit on your hands, millions who voted are going to suffer. This is not hyperbole–the Republicans are now in charge of the buffet. What are you and every non-voter and third party voter going to do to fix this clusterfuck?
Republicans are always in charge, even when they’re not, and maybe Joshua understands what Clinton, Donald’s old friend, is about. You fucked up, Mr. Democrat–you torpedoed Sanders in favor of the loser Clinton. This is YOUR fault, not Joshua’s. I know you’re still in denial, and this is gonna take time for you. Can’t wait to see the Dems roll over on Trump’s Supreme Court picks and other selections. Why, one angry tweet from the Great Man and those cowardly Dems will be falling all over themselves in fear and confusion. Here’s a paradox for ya, maybe a riddle: When the Dems are the majority in the Senate, the Republicans run the Senate. When the Dems are the minority, the Republicans run the Senate. Crazy, huh? You better get busy grooming all the losers the DNC is gonna run in 2018. Then, the big one: a world class neo-liberal fraud–like, say, Corey Booker–to run against Pence (I don’t think Trump is gonna make it, but not because of anything the Dems will/can do to unseat him, though it can be done).
What pathetic propaganda by Zaid. This article is really just a tantrum that his racketeering war-criminal Hillary Clinton lost.
Amazingly, we just had a president that appointed a Goldman Sachs alum to the supreme court. He also appointed a Goldman executive to head the Commodities and Exchange commission. Yet from reading the propagandist Zaid, the reader would never know this.
The greatest lie is the lie of omission … and Zaid is a great liar. He laments over Trump’s education pick, yet fails to tell the readers about Arne Duncan, Obama’s Education pick. Arne was a huge champion for charter schools as was Obama. He toured with Newt Gingrich to support them. The Obama Administration has pumped billions into charter schools and choked thousands of public schools to death. Yet the liar Zaid wants us to believe that the push against public education just started today.
He complains to us that Betsy DeVos is an heiress of billions. What doublethink! Obama hired Penny Pritzker at commerce, another billionaire heiress! Yet propagandists like Zaid must erase any history that doesn’t get in the way of their manipulations and hate. The wiping of history is always a sign of fascism. Fascists can’t stand facts that get in the way of their lies and half-truths.
The ultimately most idiotic thing about this article is the use of the word ‘Nationalism.’ When liberals use that against Trump they are hoping to morph that term into ‘white nationalism’ and then, of course, Nazism, fascism. I find this so hilarious, considering Obama armed Nazi battalions in the Ukraine and had to fight congress on restrictions to train them. As for border nationalism, Zaid will memory-hole the fact that Obama has deported more immigrants than any president in history.
Thank you for the comedy.
Well put. And here’s an example of Zaid Jilani’s frame of mind http://imgur.com/a/whYB2
You and Jaimie are both fuckwits. Zaid Jilani is not a Hillary Clinton fan, in any manner. Moreover, every bit of what he writes above is true</em.
Uh, Mona, don’t get too upset, but I think they were talking about our beloved past president, Barack Obama, who telegraphed his agenda quite effectively by having Lloyd Blankfein as his very first sleep-over guest in the White House. Contrary to rumors from some quarters, I am sure they did not engage in any inappropriate sexual behavior, occupied as they were in planning to FUCK US.
Mona is just ‘moaning’ that her fake liberal house of cards is falling down. No matter how much she plays house with her liberal dolls it won’t change the material crimes and actions that Obama engaged in as POTUS.
You are the fuckwit Mona, You don’t even have the guts to face all of Obama’s war crimes and his constant service of the super-rich. You personify the useful idiot. Stop pretending you care about anything besides your fragile ego. What liberal coward!
Reading comprehension: what you need!
This is what Zaid wrote:
You wrote:
No surprise to Zaid, or any one able to understand what is written.
Yes, I missed the part about Obama’s Commodities and Exchange commission pick … or are you just another hallucinating liberal?
Well if you are expecting new POTUS to shun the elite institutions, like he said he would in his speech, you are probably in for a disappointment. Just like how Obama promised change and unity but did not deliver.
Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.
Amen.
Lets not forget who helped finance the Ukranian NGOs along with Soros for that wonderful display of Democracy in Action..The Principle Bankroller for the Intercept. We can fake independence all we want..in the end Money talks Bull$hit walks.
But it gets worse
Of the many problems that poses, none is more serious than the fact that Omidyar now has the only two people with exclusive access to the complete Snowden NSA cache, Glenn Greenwald and Laura Poitras. Somehow, the same billionaire who co-financed the “coup” in Ukraine with USAID, also has exclusive access to the NSA secrets—and very few in the independent media dare voice a skeptical word about it.
But what is more immediately alarming is what makes Omidyar different. Unlike other billionaires, Omidyar has garnered nothing but uncritical, fawning press coverage, particularly from those he has hired. By acquiring a “dream team” of what remains of independent media — Greenwald, Jeremy Scahill, Wheeler, my former partner Matt Taibbi — not to mention press “critics” like Jay Rosen — he buys both silence and fawning press.”
That said
I am not impressed Zaid
So before we get all too serious here..a moment of levity
I just saw a pic of Obama tearfully waving a following drone goodbye
http://i.onionstatic.com/onion/5568/6/16×9/960.jpg
[[[ Somehow, the same billionaire who co-financed the “coup” in Ukraine with USAID, also has exclusive access to the NSA secrets—and very few in the independent media dare voice a skeptical word about it.]]]
The global spy grid isn’t about securing the world from terrorists.
It’s an industrial espionage club where members get to spy on whoever they want — to manipulate stock markets, rob banks, further the blackmail and extortion rackets, and, when all else fails — embarrass enemies.
Even MSM is in on it.
If I can read YOUR mind… but you cannot read MINE…. I have the power of God over you.
That’s the long and short of it. (That’s why club members engage in oppositional rants against encryption stuff.)
Gentle readers: Virtually all of the above is lifted verbatim, without citation, from a screed by Mark Ames, published by Pando in February, 2014.
Drat left quote mark out at beginning..my..bad..and yes “lifted” does not make it Fake…
Its compromised period..
Its been my experience when posting a link it gets spit to the awaiting moderation bucket.
So I’ll add another comment to the same point with a link ..
https://www.rawstory.com/2015/02/journalist-quits-pierre-omidyars-first-look-media-with-facebook-blast-calling-it-a-slaughterhouse/
“The fact that that it hired so many talented people to create Racket and spent millions of dollars on it and in the end fired everyone and Racket never published a single story is probably the greatest squandering of money and example of criminal ineptitude in the history of modern journalism,” he wrote. “Again, what a pathetic joke. Oh yeah, I was not originally hired to work at Racket and didn’t get fired, so I am not including myself in the group of “talented” people I mentioned above.”
Silverstein went on to say “My prior posts reflect the anger and disillusionment I feel towards the company, and my anger and disillusionment is shared by many former employees.”
In the comments on his own Facebook page, Silverstein added, “You will never produce fearless, independent journalism if you live in fear of angering your media boss and pull your punches to please him/her, or to please your sources or even your friends. So I hope you all feel as good and free and liberated this Sunday as I do and enjoy the rest of your day.”
Compromised..admit it…I just happen to be on Trumps pirate ship and Intercept is led by another pirate figuratively speaking…..
So all the indignant finger pointing about GS munchkins..is wasted on those who know better.
Obama has the Black Nazi Youth Club called “ACORN.” They grew up. They are called “Black Lives Matter”, now.
Like it or not, I think a national holiday like the one in the movie called “The Purge” may be the only solution.
Okay, so Trump is gonna do bad shit that Obama did, but it’s okay ’cause Obama did it first, so what right do I or others have to complain? This is gonna surprise you, but I have as much use for Obama as I do for Trump. So, your angry little screed doesn’t work on me like it’s supposed to. You come off as someone who’s not thinking it all the way through.
This article is about the new President, Trump, and the dumb bad shit he’s up to, not about Obama, and the dumb bad shit we all know he did. Calm down, kid.
Illegitimacy, misspellings aside, is still central to this government. Our new Leader apparently swore an oath to uphold the Constitution, and hasn’t abolished it, so if he didn’t mean it when he swore to uphold it, that’s illegitimacy. To the extent he or Congress flout its provisions — e.g., the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th and 14th Amendments, implicated in numerous campaign statements — that’s illegitimacy. And it’s worth calling them on it, and not just in court.
That national charter has survived worse, over more than 200 years, and it would be ludicrous if it ended in this hollowed-out orange pumpkin.
Well done, as per usual.
An aside: Whatever the details of the coming Troubles, the Sessions DOJ and whoever ends up as Solicitor General can expect a relentless pounding.
Let’s see what Jefferson Beauregard Sessions has going. Bad enough, fox guarding henhouse in most departments, but this is the Confederate Department of Justice here.
Trumps team rhetorical triangulation- coopting the usual corporate dems rhetoric to peel away dem voters…