The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
    barefooted's picture

    Enough

    By barefooted on Fri, 01/27/2017 - 9:15pm |

    Enough.

    Our president calls those who oppose his policies, executive orders and general theatrics his enemies while his spokespeople who hold positions of unwarranted power declare the media corrupt.

    That one sentence scared me as I wrote it – and it’s extremely benign compared to what has been and will be written … or not.  Where even the internet and our freedom to use it goes from here is under attack; at this point opening our mouths to speak may be.

    How long do we wait?  How long do we laugh at the joke that hurts?

     

    Comments

    Twenty one months. And then we throw the rascals out.


    by Flavius on Fri, 01/27/2017 - 10:36pm

    Not the ones that matter, and a few won't be nearly enough.

    I wish I could think of them as "rascals".


    by barefooted on Fri, 01/27/2017 - 11:29pm

    Trump is clearly mentally ill. It is more than just narcissism. He is a pathological liar. He is delusional. His minions are power hungry and willing to cover up his illness. Republicans love being in power, so they will not speak out. Democrats have to oppose virtually everything this White House does because it is not thought out. Trump talked about tariffs ignorant of the fact that U.S. citizens would foot the bill. Trump is the great business genius. If Trump organizes his business like he organized the transition, I'm surprised that he didn't have multiple lawsuits and bankruptcies.

    Congress had years to craft legislation to replace Obamacare, yet they still don't have a bill. Republicans are incompetent. Hopefully our coalition will be strong enough to fight them at every turn.

     


    by rmrd0000 on Fri, 01/27/2017 - 11:28pm

    The obvious and horrible truth is that we're the minority within our government - we have representatives in the House and Senate who are still standing but for how long?  As you have noted, they haven't even been able to coalesce behind "no" votes that should be "duh" votes regarding Trump nominees.

    It's not just Trump.  A president can't do it alone.  But the Republicans in power are so giddy that they finally have it that they're perfectly willing to watch our country go to hell.  They don't see it that way, of course, and neither do Trump supporters - yet if we wait until they start to figure it out it will be too late.


    by barefooted on Fri, 01/27/2017 - 11:43pm

    Trump supporters will not admit error. The Trump supporters still believe that Vietnam was winnable and that we could have democracy throughout the Middle East if we just kept the troops there.


    by rmrd0000 on Fri, 01/27/2017 - 11:50pm

    Screw Trump's supporters - they've done most of their damage.  And yes, I realize that I'm supposed to give a damn about what they feel and give them all kinds of respect because they deserve it for some newly-discovered reason and it's about time we listened because blah blah blah and kiss my ass.  My bottom line is that our country and everything that it has strived to stand for - successes and failures acknowledged - is on the edge of a cliff with a madman holding the leash.


    by barefooted on Sat, 01/28/2017 - 12:11am

    I agree with you. Trump supporters are either ill-informed or willingly ignorant. They don't deal in facts. Trump's Cabinet is disqualified because they are willing to work for a madman. 


    by rmrd0000 on Sat, 01/28/2017 - 9:53am

    The Washington Post received a leaked audio recording of a confidential Republican meeting on their healthcare strategy Thursday. The recording has been confirmed as genuine. link

    “Recordings of closed sessions at the Republican policy retreat in Philadelphia this week were sent late Thursday to The Post and several other news outlets from an anonymous email address. The remarks of all lawmakers quoted in this article were confirmed by their offices or by the lawmakers themselves. ...We’d better be sure that we’re prepared to live with the market we’ve created” with repeal, said Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.). “That’s going to be called Trumpcare. Republicans will own that lock, stock and barrel, and we’ll be judged in the election less than two years away.”....However, these leaders acknowledged in Thursday’s meeting, as they have before, that Obamacare cannot be fully undone — or replaced — without Democratic cooperation.....Republicans are also still wrestling with whether Obamacare’s taxes can be immediately repealed, a priority for many conservatives, or whether that revenue will be needed to fund a transition period.

    The tape shows they have no plan on what to do, and are primarily worried about their own re-election. The taxes they can eliminate with just a simple reconciliation majority are mainly a 3.8% tax on unearned investment income over 250k on the 1%.

    The GOP prime objective is always to serve the rich. As to the poor and middle class, they could care less.


    by NCD on Sat, 01/28/2017 - 12:10am

    One of the mildly amusing things about the first week of disaster has been the incredible number of leaks and psst, guess what? stuff that's been reported.  Then again, maybe it's just more nonsense to twist our heads.  It's not like there's a surprise buried in the news that Republicans don't know what the hell to do.  The big deal is that they are now in the position to fake it - with Trump as their mentor.


    by barefooted on Sat, 01/28/2017 - 12:24am

    Democrats should get the tape or a transcript and shout loudly in Congress and on TeeVee news, over and over, word for word, how the Republicans only care about the politics and the next election. And how they LIED....they do not care, they have no plan whatsoever after 6 years and 60 repeal votes.

    Between Trumps "fantastic and a fraction of the price" and the reality that they have no idea what to do, if the Dems hold firm, this could swing the House in '18.


    by NCD on Sat, 01/28/2017 - 1:27am

    Why are we waiting for the GOP Congress to present a plan?  D. Trump ran on his own plan for a fantastic health care program.  Better than ever and cheaper too. What?  He was lying?  There never was a plan?  Well, at least we know he has a plan to finish off ISIS a....


    by CVille Dem on Sat, 01/28/2017 - 9:13am

    To Every Democratic Member of Congress - For the love of God, please walk away from this Republican-made disaster. They own it. All of it. If you do involve yourselves in their health care train wreck, they'll only persuade their voters that you were to blame for their screw ups. Please represent your base, for once, and don't cave in to them.

    Zatari at NYT


    by NCD on Sat, 01/28/2017 - 10:47am

    The link goes to an article about the leaked tape recording, but this is exactly on point:

    Republican leaders have predicted that Democrats will come to the table to help draft a replacement once it becomes clear that the health law will be repealed. But some rank-and-file members were not so sure.

    Representative John Katko of New York wondered what Republicans would do “if we can’t get anything out of the Democrats.”


    by barefooted on Sat, 01/28/2017 - 11:17am

    Zatari was a commenter on the linked article.

    The Republicans big problem is health care for 20+ million is directly linked to a ACA tax on the 1% which funds subsidies. The core mission or the GOP is to eliminate taxes on the rich.


    by NCD on Sat, 01/28/2017 - 12:04pm

    Activists are delivering a spine to Chuck Schumer

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/chuck-schumer-spine-protest_us_588bc...


    by rmrd0000 on Sat, 01/28/2017 - 12:37pm