[Winstonm]

Only the best people prevaricators:

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Matthew Whitaker, the acting U.S. attorney general, claimed that he was an Academic All-American while playing football at the University of Iowa—but, according to documents and the organization that awards the honor, he never received the honor.

The Wall Street Journal

[johnu]

President "Fake" Bone Spurs

NYT: Podiatrist’s Daughters Say He Diagnosed Trump With Bone Spurs During War As A ‘Favor’

Dennison could clear this up with a medical exam from an independent group of podiatrists. Cynics would put the odds of Dennison getting a public exam is between "No Way" and "No Way in Hell".

[Winstonm]

I am on record stating I think all presidents get too much credit/blame for economies and the markets. Still isn't it curious that the first time Individual-1 sneaks out of town in the middle of the night this happens:

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BOOM: Stocks soar 5%, Dow adds a record-breaking 1,086 points

Correlation is not causation.

[johnu]

World's most prolific liar tells another whopper

Dennison Brags To Troops About A Fictional Giant Pay Raise He Got Them

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he was proud to secure them a much-needed pay bump of “more than 10 percent” after years of stagnant wages. Many of the troops in attendance may have been surprised to learn they hadn’t seen a pay increase in more than a decade.

“Is anybody here willing to give up the big pay raise you just got?” Trump said, asking for a show of hands. “You haven’t gotten one in more than 10 years. More than 10 years. And we got you a big one. I got you a big one. I got you a big one.”

In fact, military members have seen a pay raise in each of the last 10 years, ranging from 1 percent to 3.9 percent, according to the Defense Department. They even saw pay bumps when other federal workers were subjected to a three-year pay freeze in the wake of the Great Recession.

The pay increase for 2019 passed by Congress and signed by the president in August will be 2.6 percent, the largest since 2010. It is not far above last year’s raise for troops, which was 2.4 percent.

[barmar]

 johnu, on 2018-December-27, 02:20, said:

World's most prolific liar tells another whopper

Dennison Brags To Troops About A Fictional Giant Pay Raise He Got Them

He's probably also counting last year's tax cut, although I doubt it really benefits most of the troops much, since most of the benefits went to the wealthy and corporations.

[Winstonm]

 barmar, on 2018-December-27, 09:31, said:

He's probably also counting last year's tax cut, although I doubt it really benefits most of the troops much, since most of the benefits went to the wealthy and corporations.

Corporations? I thought they said corporals!

[Winstonm]

No collusion?!?

Quote

WASHINGTON
A mobile phone traced to President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen briefly sent signals ricocheting off cell towers in the Prague area in late summer 2016, at the height of the presidential campaign, leaving an electronic record to support claims that Cohen met secretly there with Russian officials, four people with knowledge of the matter say.

During the same period of late August or early September, electronic eavesdropping by an Eastern European intelligence agency picked up a conversation among Russians, one of whom remarked that Cohen was in Prague, two people familiar with the incident said.

McClatchy Washington Bureau

[barmar]

Trump seems to think he's Bugs Bunny and the Democrats are Daffy Duck.

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I Just Figured Out How To Build The Wall, I'll Say I Don't Want It And The Democrats Will Insist

[Winstonm]

Individual-1 in 2013:

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CNN’s Don Lemon showed his viewers 2013 footage of Donald Trump saying then-President Barack Obama should be fired over a government shutdown.

“If you say, ‘Who gets fired?’ it always has to be the top,” Trump said on an episode of “Fox & Friends” that aired in September 2013.

“I mean, problems start from the top and they have to get solved from the top. The president’s the leader. He’s to get everyone in a room and he’s got to lead,” Trump said in the clip.

[johnu]

Dennison hires the best people with the best ideas

Federal Personnel Office Suggests Furloughed Workers Offer To Trade Chores For Rent

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The U.S. Office of Personnel Management realizes that federal workers furloughed by the partial government shutdown might be having a difficult time paying their bills. So it came up with some suggestions and aids — including a sample letter in which employees offer to do chores in exchange for rent. Otherwise, “consult with your personal attorney” for legal advice, the office urged, presumably about possible credit problems.

As the saying goes, you have to spend money to make money, so spending money on a lawyer about credit problems seems like a no brainer. If you hire 10 lawyers maybe you can afford to go on an expensive vacation

People who own homes (yes, despite the best efforts of Dennison, some of the rank and file federal employees own homes) and have a mortgage can offer to do chores for the bank that owns their loan. Problem solved.

[y66]

From Paul Krugman:

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Some Republican economists I know keep trying to pretend that Trumpian trade policy is based on something smarter than the really dumb take that running a bilateral trade deficit means we're losing. But ...

[johnu]

Dennison Blames Democrats For Deaths Of 2 Children In Border Patrol Custody

Dennison is mentally incapable of accepting responsibility for his actions. When he blames anybody else for doing something wrong it is a red flag that he is guilty of doing that very thing.

Quote

Prior to the deaths, no child had died in Customs and Border Patrol custody for more than a decade, according to CBP Commissioner Kevin McAleenan.

A Democratic congresswoman recently said that border agents expressed vile, racist, Dennison style comments while she was trying to help refugees at the border. The border agents are just reflecting the fact that rot starts at the top of the administration and has spread to all levels of government.

It may take a Democratic president to request a full and open criminal investigation into the actions of Dennison and Kirstjen Nielsen in the deaths of these children. If they are found to be criminally liable for these deaths, they should get the maximum sentences allowed by Federal law with no possibility of parole (and certainly they won't get a pardon from a Democratic president.

[barmar]

As vile as I think Trump and his policies are, I suspect it would take the kind of twisted legal logic only found in "Law and Order" episodes to make them criminally responsible for these deaths. There's just too long a chain of cause-and-effect between establishing a crappy border control policy and the poor health management of the detainees to hold any one or two people liable. If that actually worked, you could also hold lawmakers responsible for prisoners who have severe mental reactions to solitary confinement, or hold the administration responsible for people who die as a result of reductions in Obamacare requirements.

[johnu]

 barmar, on 2018-December-30, 01:23, said:

As vile as I think Trump and his policies are, I suspect it would take the kind of twisted legal logic only found in "Law and Order" episodes to make them criminally responsible for these deaths. There's just too long a chain of cause-and-effect between establishing a crappy border control policy and the poor health management of the detainees to hold any one or two people liable. If that actually worked, you could also hold lawmakers responsible for prisoners who have severe mental reactions to solitary confinement, or hold the administration responsible for people who die as a result of reductions in Obamacare requirements.

If they are put on trial, maybe you'll get a truthful "You can't handle the truth!" moment.

[johnu]

 barmar, on 2018-December-30, 01:23, said:

As vile as I think Trump and his policies are, I suspect it would take the kind of twisted legal logic only found in "Law and Order" episodes to make them criminally responsible for these deaths. There's just too long a chain of cause-and-effect between establishing a crappy border control policy and the poor health management of the detainees to hold any one or two people liable. If that actually worked, you could also hold lawmakers responsible for prisoners who have severe mental reactions to solitary confinement, or hold the administration responsible for people who die as a result of reductions in Obamacare requirements.

Border Patrol chief: Agents 'did everything they could' to prevent 'absolutely devastating' deaths of migrant children

Quote

Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said Wednesday afternoon that she has ordered “extraordinary protective measures” after Felipe's death, which occured in immigration custody.

Border authorities did not disclose the results of the health checks.

But Nielsen said in a statement to Fox News that she had asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to investigate what she says is an “uptick in sick children crossing our borders.” She also wants the U.S. Coast Guard to examine the medical programs offered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency that detained Felipe and his father for a week.

Nielsen pledged that all children in the future will receive a “more thorough” medical screening after they are apprehended.

The unspoken message is that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) under White House influence was lax, maybe criminally lax, in providing medical care for sick children. Anybody who has seen pictures of imprisoned children without their parents held in cages along the border should have a good idea that the well being of children is not a high priority for CBP and the White House.

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Nielsen on Wednesday blamed “a system that prevents parents who bring their children on a dangerous illegal journey from facing consequences for their actions.”

Repeating a Dennison tweet that blames the victims. This excuse gives Dennison and Nielsen carte blanche denial of responsibility to do nothing to protect detained immigrants in their custody. This may be the smoking gun that will eventually lead to justice for Dennison and Nielsen.

[Winstonm]

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Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said in a statement to Fox News that she wants the U.S. Coast Guard to examine the medical programs offered by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency that detained Felipe and his father for a week.

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Unlike the other branches of the military, the Coast Guard is part of the Department of Homeland Security and not part of the Defense Department. That means it's still waiting to be funded by the government. And so, it's families are being subjected to the harsh reality of living through the federal government shutdown, which has lasted a week so far.

That's it, ask the guys busy painting their landlords houses in barter for rent to keep working for free. After all, it only affects asylum seekers and their health - not like it's real (white) people.

[y66]

The Market Swoon Isn’t All About Trump

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It is demonstrating, though, just how poorly the president will probably react when faced with real adversity.

Good summary of various swoon factors which have been widely discussed in reputable financial pages.

According to outgoing White House Chief of Staff John Kelly,

Quote

“It’s never been: The president just wants to make a decision based on no knowledge and ignorance. You may not like his decision, but at least he was fully informed on the impact."

So, if real adversity comes, we have that going for us which is nice. Gunga galunga.

[barmar]

So he's given information, but routinely ignores it. It's not clear which is worse.

[Winstonm]

 y66, on 2018-December-30, 19:21, said:

The Market Swoon Isn’t All About Trump


Good summary of various swoon factors which have been widely discussed in reputable financial pages.

According to outgoing White House Chief of Staff John Kelly,


So, if real adversity comes, we have that going for us which is nice. Gunga galunga.

So, when we die we'll have "total consciousness"?

[Winstonm]

I've wondered how Individual-1 could continue with a 40% approval. This, from an Atlantic article, may explain it.

Quote

In a forthcoming book titled How Fascism Works, the Yale philosophy professor Jason Stanley makes an intriguing claim. “Corruption, to the fascist politician,” he suggests, “is really about the corruption of purity rather than of the law. Officially, the fascist politician’s denunciations of corruption sound like a denunciation of political corruption. But such talk is intended to evoke corruption in the sense of the usurpation of the traditional order.”

As long as he is fighting the "good fight" to retain white privilege he is good.