monitoring Trump and relevant contemporary events

“ABSTAINER, n. A weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure. A total abstainer is one who abstains from everything but abstention, and especially from inactivity in the affairs of others.”

Sorry Bernie, I didn't notice that this was your thread.

You said it better than I did: You nailed it.

Lola wrote:

Y'all please. Your comments are so primitive and punitive and punishment lowers self esteem and low self esteem is the cause of depression and aggression. Stop chasing your tails.

I live to chase tail!

Oh sweety, you must be so disappointed. But don't get frustrated, There are so many insecure girls who are actually grateful to meet someone like you.

Extremists Turn to a Leader to Protect Western Values: Vladimir Putin

Just two weeks ago, President-elect Donald Trump appeared poised to assemble a Cabinet as unconventional as he is, drawing heavily from a band of quirky loyalists that included several from the fringes of the Republican Party.

But as he moves rapidly toward assembling his roster of top advisers, Trump instead is pulling together a more orthodox GOP team than many expected, including a defense secretary nominee, retired Marine Gen. James Mattis, who has received solid marks from the party establishment ahead of his formal unveiling Monday.

The emerging Cabinet has gone a long way toward mollifying some of Trump’s Republican critics, and several of the picks — including the wife of the Senate majority leader as transportation secretary — are tailor-made to encourage cooperation between the administration and GOP leaders on Capitol Hill. The incoming team is preparing not only to implement longtime Republican goals — such as repealing the Affordable Care Act and cutting taxes — but also to push for Trump’s iconoclastic and controversial campaign promises on issues such as a border wall and trade...

Paul Ryan isn’t ruling out Medicare privatization, and it isn’t just Democrats who are wary

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan made clear Thursday that he is willing to pursue a major overhaul of Medicare, including changes that could eventually put private companies in charge of the health care for tens of millions of American seniors. But talk of wholesale changes to the popular federal programs has key GOP lawmakers nervous about overshooting their electoral mandate.

“Save Medicare for another day,” said Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. “We want to begin immediately to repeal Obamacare. . . . Trying to deal with the solvency issues with Medicare at the same time falls into the category of biting off more than you can chew. It’s an important issue, it’s one I’m ready to address, but a little humility here would be in order. We can’t do everything at once, and we shouldn’t try.”

"The incoming team is preparing not only to implement longtime Republican goals — such as repealing the Affordable Care Act and cutting taxes — but also to push for Trump’s iconoclastic and controversial campaign promises on issues such as a border wall and trade..."

Swamp-draining notes from all over

Winner of today's "Great idea, guys!" category award

Quote:

Extremists Turn to a Leader to Protect Western Values: Vladimir Putin

Mr. Putin has never personally promoted white supremacist ideas, and has repeatedly insisted that Russia, while predominantly white and Christian, is a vast territory of diverse religions and ethnic groups stretching from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean. Nor has he displayed any sign of hostility toward Jews, a fact that has infuriated some of Russia’s more extremist nationalist groups....

Mr. Spencer acknowledged that Mr. Putin did not share his ideology, but played that down, saying, “We can look to Putin as someone we can admire and understand...

Not all of the alt-right has fully embraced the Russian leader. Stephen K. Bannon, Mr. Trump’s new chief strategist, who until he entered the White House ran Breitbart News, which he has called a platform for the alt-right, has a complicated view of Mr. Putin. In a speech in 2014, he said that Mr. Putin ran a “kleptocracy,” but also that “we, the Judeo-Christian West, really have to look at what he’s talking about as far as traditionalism goes.”

At an Ohio rally yesterday, Pence said that the ACA would be replaced with "American solutions".
If that's the message being forwarded (and I think that's exactly the message being forwarded) then it will hold true that the origins or provenance of any such program is and will always be irrelevant. And it would hold true that the popular will is also irrelevant.

One of the more common sentiments in the wake of this year’s presidential election has been calls for “blue” America to spend more time listening to Trump voters, respecting their perspective, and understanding their motivations. At face value, it’s hardly an outrageous suggestion – I don’t recall anyone urging “red” America to spend more time listening to Obama voters in 2008, but there’s usually no harm in treating people with dignity and learning more about their perspective, especially if you hope to try to win them over to your side of the political divide in future elections.

But what’s to be gained from more conversations with people who believe demonstrable nonsense and those who believe “there’s no such thing” as facts?

Asked by Mr. Tapper whether Mr. Trump’s recent posting of misinformation on Twitter about millions of undocumented immigrants voting was presidential, Ms. Conway defended the message.

“He’s the president-elect, so that’s presidential behavior,” she said.