The Russian government is an asshole government. SURPRISE!
The FSB (formerly the KGB) were harassing our diplomats prior to the Obama administration. TThe Russian government is an asshole government. SURPRISE!
The FSB (formerly the KGB) were harassing our diplomats prior to the Obama administration. They were beating them up, threatening them and their loved ones, and even killing their pets while they were out. Assholes.
I am not one that would say positive things about Mitt Romney, mostly I’d just make fun of him; but do you recall during one of the debates, that he had with president Obama, when the question asked was “What is the biggest threat facing the United States today?” Mitt answered “Russia” and goddamn it he was right! President Obama laughed and replied (I’m paraphrasing) “What is this this, the 1980’s?” I love President Obama...... I miss him every minute of everyday, but he was a bit naive when it came to Russia. Just like he handled the Republicans, he was too optimistic about believing in their humanity. Silly Obama.
Former Secretary of State, and winner of the 2016 presidential election by 4 million votes but yet is not the president of the U.S. because of a bunch of BS in the constitution (that must changed), Hillary Clinton called Putin out on cheating in his election at the time. This made Putin mad, and you don’t make sociopaths with short man syndrome mad. So, when Hillary ran for president, he was going to do everything in his power (of which he has a lot of) to disrupt our election. Check.
When it came to light that Russia had definitely hacked the DNC (as well as the RNC.... oh the kompromat they must have on those slimy weasels), the Clinton campaign begged president Obama to come out strong about what was clearly happening and to come down hard against the Russian invasion and the Tump campaign’s collusion with it. The president (just like almost everyone else at that time..... remember?) thought that Clinton would win and didn’t want to appear to be playing partisan politics in an effort to sway the election. Oh silly Obama, why must you be such a nice guy?
*sigh*
Of course there is much more depressing information to be had in this book, which is quite good. The more you know the more prepared you are for whatever the future holds.
**Knock knock** Uh… hello? Mr. *president? I’m sorry to just walk in to the oval office, but no one was at the desk and the door was wide open. Should**Knock knock** Uh… hello? Mr. *president? I’m sorry to just walk in to the oval office, but no one was at the desk and the door was wide open. Should that be?
Trump: “Yeah, I have trouble finding people willing to work for me, so I just leave the door open and let people wander in. Who are you? I hope you’re not from CNN.”
“No sir. My name is Michael Wolff, I’m an author and I want to write a book about you, your administration, and your first year in office. The working title is “The Great Transition: The first 100 Days of the Trump Adiministration”, yeah, that’s the ticket ….hey, have you lost weight? You look amazing!”
“I do look amazing. I’m the most amazing looking *president of all time…. Everyone says so. Come in and sit on the couch and never leave. I like you because you like me. You have the best taste. Here, have a laminated electoral map of the United states, see all the red? So much red, I won bigly.”
Wolff: “Thank you sir, I’m sure the red has nothing to do with mostly empty landmass.”
Trump: “Let me introduce you to the cast….um…. the people who work for me. Don’t ask me what they do, because I’m not sure what they do. This is my son in law, Jared Kushner. He’s going to bring peace to the Middle East because he’s Jewish. It’s a done deal!”
Wolff: “Wow! That’s almost impossible to believe, nice to meet you Jared.”
Jared: “……………….. Inaudible…………”
Trump: “This is Baby Ivanka, my wife daughter.”
Wolff: (throws up in mouth a little bit) “Hi Ivanka. Do you have a position here? “
Ivanka: “I think I’m an adviser or something. I sit here and look good and I never have an expression on my face.”
((Jared + Ivanka = Jarvanka. This is true.))
Wolff: “Who’s that woman in the corner? The one sobbing and covering her face, is she okay?”
Trump: “That’s Melania, my trophy wife. She’s been crying like that since election night.”
Wolff: “Me too.”
Trump: “What?”
Wolff: “Nothing….carry on with the introductions.”
“This is Reince Priebus. He gets me covfefe and fetches anything I tell him too.”
Reince: “I’m the Chief of Staff to the *president. Nice to meet you, (whispers) kill me and end this please.”
Trump: “This is Michael Flynn, he’s my ‘in’ with Putin.”
Flynn: “Actually, I’m the National Security Adviser AND the guy in charge of the Russia stuff. How’s it going?”
Wolff: “I’m feeling a bit nauseous, to be honest.”
Trump: “This is Sean Spicer. He goes on TV and talks to the fake news reporters, but I don’t think he looks the part.”
“Hi Michael. I’m the Press Secretary and it’s my job to lie outlandishly for the *president every day, and if I do a good job he won’t scream at me for hours.”
Trump: “This is my daughter Hope Hicks. She’s pretty.”
“Hello Hope, I didn’t see you down there….are you steaming the *president’s pants whilst he’s in them?”
“Yes. He enjoys it. I’m the White House Communications Director.”
Wolff: “Really? The position Bradley Whitford played in the West Wing? …huh.”
Hope: “Who? Well, as far as I know my job is to worship the *president, agree with everything he says, and make him feel good about himself at all times. I do my best to make sure he doesn’t hear anything negative about himself.”
Wolff: “So you’re a feminist.”
Hope: “What?”
Wolff: “Nevermind.”
Trump: “This is president Steve Bannon.”
“Hey there Michael, believe it or not I’m the White House Chief of Staff….. Toby from The West Wing. How are you?”
Wolff: “Kind of regretting my life decisions at the moment. Are you wearing two shirts? Forget it… Mr. *President, do you mind if I interview, and record, everyone that comes in here?”
Trump: “Sure! You’re a good guy because you like me. I know it’s going to be a great book. Any book about Trump is the best book! You’re only going to write nice things, right, because you like me?” Wolff: “But of course! Heh heh…”
If you pay close attention to the clusterfuck that is happening in this country, nothing in this book will surprise you. If not, defiantly read it and get caught up. Most of this stuff has been reported by pundits for the last couple of years, but there is plenty in here to bring one a bit of schadenfreude, which makes it worth the read. But the best thing about the book is that it's making Trump pooh his pants.
A couple of fun facts that I learned was the *president yells at the cleaning staff (and everyone for everything all the time) for picking up clothing that he left on the floor, stating that ‘if the shirt is on the floor it’s because that’s where he wants it.’
He prefers fast food because he has a phobia of being poisoned. His (ir)rationale is that the McDonald's has no idea he’s showing up, so there is no chance they can plan on the poisoning. Yes, the food is poison and it kills one just as dead, only a bit slower. Don’t tell him.
Oh, and he likes to go to bed with a cheeseburger. Go whichever direction you wish with that information. I was reminded in the comments by Susan (the other Susan), that he also insists on stripping his bed every morning instead of letting the staff do it. Why? His diet (intestinal issues?) The nighty night cheeseburger? Who can say?
We, the citizens of the United States, are in danger. Our Democracy is in trouble. We must come out and vote for Democrats in the midterms in such numbers that the shenanigans by the republicans to keep us from voting will be unsuccessful. Make sure you’re registered now, and near Election Day. If everyone takes one other person who has never voted to the polls with them it will be more than enough to flip one, if not both houses. It’s the absolutely vital we flip them. Our lives depend on it. A reckoning is coming… 11-6-18. Save the date!
*illegitimate, fake, not an actual president...more
I was hiking in the woods with Bogey, my dog, yesterday when I notice a woman with a familiar face walking with her two dogs approaching me on the traI was hiking in the woods with Bogey, my dog, yesterday when I notice a woman with a familiar face walking with her two dogs approaching me on the trail.... then I notice all the people in black meandering through the woods around her, and it dawned on me....
"Hey Hillary! I can't believe it! What are you doing in Ohio? Are you getting a jump on 2020....doing a bit of the old campaigning?" I asked. "I'm NEVER going through that again, I'm done being a candidate.....DONE! I have a book tour stop nearby." at which point she pulled out a flask and a couple of glasses.
"Want a glass of chardonnay?" She asked me. "Um, yes....of course and I hope there's more where that came from. Hell, Hill I'm putting Chardonnay in my morning smoothie, which consists of Chardonnay, chardonnay, ice with a splash of vodka and a dash of protein powder ever since the Putin Puppet marionetted his way into the white house. " I replied. She pours us both a glass and we sit on a nearby bench. "of course there's more! The secret service not only protects me, they carry some backup as well." she said with a grin. "I'm sorry, but I didn't get your name." "Oh sorry, I'm Stephanie." We shake hands. "It's nice to meet you Stephanie."
"I read your book, What Happened, and I read that you like the Chardonnay." I said, "I like chardonnay almost as much as Bill likes balloons!" She said, and we chuckle and chuckle.... then we sit in silence as we stare off into space for a good long while.
"So....Hill..... What in the hell happened?" I ask and she drops her head down and slowly shakes it back and forth, picks it up and takes a drink. "Well, it was a whole bunch of things Stephanie....you read the book... Russia all out cyber attacked us, Putin hates me and the feeling is mutual; the Republican's are treasonous bastards, Mitch was told of the cyber attack prior to the election and did absolutely nothing....party over country; Comey stabbed me in the back with that ridiculous letter and for sure cost me the election; propaganda from Fox and from Russian bots on facebook really hurt me...... I made mistakes with my campaign and I take full responsibility for them, but that doesn't change the fact that I was also up against all that other stuff and still I won the popular vote by over 3 million votes!"
"I'll drink to that!" I say and we clink glasses. "You got more votes than any other white man ever to have run for the office...EVER....hick...! ***blurrp*** " So.... fuck the electoral college! What's their purpose anyway if it's not to keep lunatic fascists out out of the white house?" I slur. "I'm pretty sure I heard Alexander Hamilton sing about that fact....hick....ugh... and fuck all the people telling you to shut up and go away. Don't go away."....*sniff*..."I'm not going anywhere." she smiles.
"Are you okay Stephanie?" she asks as she pours us another glass. "Sure...I'm fine...*burp* but would you be so kind as to drop me off at my house? I think I'm done hiking for the day....Hey, aren't your two dogs Shih-poos? Bogey here is a shih-poo.... hey we both have shih-poos ....aren't they the best dogs ever?!?" She laughs "yes they are, Stephanie." She raises her glass and so do I "To the United States of America!" she says..."To the United States of America.." and we finish our wine.
We make our way to the cars and get in...."Nice limo, Hill"....
I don't care if you don't like Hillary Clinton and she probably doesn't care either. She wrote this book for those of us who wanted to hear 'what happened' from her perspective, the perspective of the winner. I highly recommend this book, it's fascinating. Even if you don't like her, you'd probably would like her book.
That's all I have to say about that... unless there will be trolls to battle. Heh heh.... 3...2...1 and.......more
Do you know what the one I found impossible to believe about this book?
Zombies? No. Sure, they are impossible but no, not that.
Hipsters with determinaDo you know what the one I found impossible to believe about this book?
Zombies? No. Sure, they are impossible but no, not that.
Hipsters with determination enough to create a top notch news site/blog? No...
That a society wouldn't just lose their collective minds when their dead friends and loved ones got up and tried to eat them, and yet somehow kept it together enough to create amazing tech to help them survive? When in 2015 I'm amazed most people can keep themselves alive, feed themselves and tie their shoes without the extra trouble of dodging zombies.
No. All of that is more plausible than the possibility of the GOP producing an electable, reasonable, presidential candidate with a heart, and only in a short 24 years.
So last night was the last presidential debate and all of us are a bit tired of politics at the moment, even politi“Oh…….Sweet Jesus”- Joe Scarborough
So last night was the last presidential debate and all of us are a bit tired of politics at the moment, even political geeks like me. Also, considering the fact I live in Ohio, Ohio, Ohio, (if you live anywhere else, multiply your ads by ten) the most salivated over state in the nation……..well, I’m wanting this over! But, never the less, I had to read this book.
Why? Because, like you may have experienced yourself, I have been through some mind boggling conversations with those on the tea party extremes of today’s Republican Party. The absolute denial of facts as they are pointed out to them confounds me. When I read the title of this book I thought, “yes! Finally an explanation.”
An example of a conversation with an extreme teaparty type Republican, let’s call him Skeeter.
“Hey there Skeeter, what’cha watching?”
“I’m watching a story on Obama. It’s really scary! Did you know that he’s a secret Muslim, Kenyon, Socialist, Communist, Nazi with a crazy Christian pastor? And that he has a plan to destroy America from within and a plan on world domination? He’s going to take away our guns AND force women to have abortions when they don’t even need them AND he’s going to force a government takeover of health care with DEATH PANELS!” pant, pant, pant. “He shouldn’t even be president……he’s foreign!! Plus I heard he’s GAY!”
“Wow Skeeter, that is scary….I guess, but the good news is that all of that is false.”
“Huh? No, it has to be true; they said it on the TV machine.”
“Well, for starters you can’t be Muslim and have a crazy Christian pastor. His religion should not be a factor anyway. He’s not from Kenya, he was born in Hawaii. You can’t be a Socialist, a Communist, and a Nazi because they are a completely different ideology from each other. He’s not trying to destroy America, just the opposite, I’m not so sure about the current Republican party though. He doesn’t want to rule the world, this country is fucked up enough he doesn’t have the time to rule the rest of the planet. He hasn’t tried to take your guns in the last four years. How do you force non-pregnant women to abort a non-existent pregnancy? Health care needs reforming and there are no death panels. Have you seen Michelle? He’s not gay……not that that would matter.”
“But how do you know for sure Stephanie? Like, how do you know he wasn’t born in Kenya?”
“He has a birth certificate that he has released from the state of Hawaii, here it is online. If that’s not enough proof for you, here’s a copy of the birth announcement dated in 1961 printed in a Hawaiian newspaper.”
“That don’t prove nuthin’ Stephanie.”
“Uh…..yes it does.”
“Nope. He probably has a time machine and he took it back to 1961 to plant the birth certificate and the article so he could become president to destroy America!”
“Skeeter, that’s insane.”
This conversation could go on forever. Chris Mooney calls this motivated reasoning. When you believe something as strongly as Skeeter does it becomes almost physical in the brain and nothing short of surgery can remove this belief. Think about the cults who predict the end of the world, it never happens, yet these people are so invested in this belief that they always come up with a new date, rather than admit to themselves they made a mistake. Skeeter is extreme, a closed minded authoritarian according to the author. Not all Republicans are this extreme, but they are most certainly closed minded by definition. That’s how they can stick by a candidate no matter how bad they turn out to be. They are a loyal crowd, for better or for worse.
Now for the opposite person, the extreme liberal, let’s call him Kyle.
“Hi Kyle. What’cha reading?”
“Oh hi, a blog about how Obama hasn’t done EVERYTHING I wanted him to do in the last four years, so I’m going to vote for the Green candidate in protest.”
“But that’s just throwing your vote away Kyle! You know that the president is your best bet to get what you want; Romney will do nothing for you. Protest? I don’t think the president will be thinking about how he failed you…….”What? We lost Kyle? What could we have done? Maybe if we would have got him a unicorn that farts glitter…….”
“A glitter-farting unicorn would buy my vote, I admit…….but come on Stephanie, he didn’t magically fix everything in four years like he promised he would. I’m very disappointed. Plus his performance in the first debate was horrible.”
“He didn’t promise that, he said the road would be long and he would need our help, that he couldn’t do it alone. Besides, I didn’t think the debate was all that bad. You fought for him in 2008, made phone calls and went knocking on doors. You loved him, now you turn on him? ”
“Yep!”
The problem with the extreme liberal is that, like all liberals, they are open minded. Except more so. They will change their mind on a dime. New information will send them off flailing their arms in a new direction. Think Chris Mathews after the first debate. It didn’t go as well as Chris had hoped so he went mental. Pretty much declaring it a tragedy in all out panic, I yelled “you’re not helping Chris!” at the tv that night.
To sum it up, if you put facts in front of a liberal with a strong belief, that disproves his belief, he will change his mind most of the time. Try the same thing with a teaparty type, and you will find him to stick to his guns come hell or high-water……or facts.
Do I understand Republicans any better now that I read this book? Um….not really, I’m not sure that’s possible. But, by all means read the book. It’s very interesting. ...more
My dream Democratic presidential ticket for 2016 would include Rachel Maddow. I’m thinking if Joe Biden doesn’t want to do it (and I don’t think he doMy dream Democratic presidential ticket for 2016 would include Rachel Maddow. I’m thinking if Joe Biden doesn’t want to do it (and I don’t think he does) then Al Franken, John Stewart or Stephen Colbert should be the other half. That would be an entertaining and smart duo to run the country. Maybe Colbert would be the smartest pick since his satire is so genius it might fool a few on the right to vote for him.
Everyone should read this book. It’s a non partisan commentary, it takes to task the presidency itself and how it has changed from what the founders envisioned it to be. And it’s really fucking scary.
Let’s start off with the invasion of Granada, Operation Urgent Fury, (good God, does that mean I’m in a big damn hurry to be angry) in 1983. At that time I was way too deep in a fog of Aqua Net to be politically aware. I have a vague memory of it happening but the details were fuzzy. Apparently Ronald Reagan, during World War II, was in the military but was too near sighted to actually fight in it. He was given the job of “playing” a soldier in training films (produced by the military) and never left the studio back lot he had been working on since before he joined. He played a gung-ho-rata-tat-tat-shoot-em-up-bang-bang-gotcha soldier, and he liked it. When he got to the White House (early Alzheimer’s sadly was likely affecting him) he had that deep seeded need to be that macho cowboy soldier and wanted to get those Commies. In Granada he saw some Commies (possible-maybe-someday Commies) a military coup ousted a revolutionary government and became a bit touchy and unstable, ripe for Commies.
Regan new that he would never get congress to Ok a strike on Granada (because it was nutty) , so he did an end run around congress, went ahead with it, and told them it was happening when it was too late. Tip O’Neal was rightly pissed. From the very start of this nation no one person could declare war on another country. Congress has to OK such actions. But Regan didn’t think the president should bow down to congress, so he basically gave them the middle finger. This set a dangerous precedent.
Then there was Iran-Contra, where Reagan tried to get the ok from congress to take action to free hostages in Iran. Congress cut funding to the operation. Unable to take no for an answer, Regan decided to solicit other countries for money. One way of getting cash was by selling weapons, which he did to any country (no matter how sketchy) that would pay, like Saudi Arabia and Iran. WTF? He got caught and “communicated” his way out of the mess. Shocking.
Since, all of the following presidents have used their executive power to make war, against the founding fathers express instructions that no one person should be able to take the country into war. All (the current president does love his drones). It’s just too easy and no president wanted to give up that ability.
War sucks.
Currently the way we go to war (and it’s been perpetual for some time now) is insulated from the general public, unless you are a family member of a soldier. Troops are re deployed over and over, this has been devastating on their emotional health. In the first five years of the Iraq war the suicide rate of military personnel doubled. In the last ten years we have lost more troops to suicide then in combat. Something is wrong here. The Reserves are not used as reserves anymore, they are no longer civilian soldiers, and they are called up to war just as often as the regular military. We use contractors extensively. There are currently more contractors in Afghanistan then US military. They are not bound by the military for their conduct, they are paid better then the troops and we never hear of their deaths. It doesn’t affect us, so we don’t yell about it much.
Nuclear Bombs………you do not want to go into that particular stinky restroom, peeeeuuuuu.
-We have lost track of 11 nuclear bombs, and we keep track better than most countries. Yikes. Currently there is a nuclear bomb buried in a swampy field in Goldsboro North Carolina, it was too swampy to dig it out so they just left it there. Yay. Currently we have aging bombs in silos that we no longer remember how to fix properly, some have wing fungus.
It’s amazing to me each day we get through without becoming a giant smoking crater.
Here is the end of the epilogue which sums the whole thing up nicely.
“And finally there’s the Gordian knot of executive power. It needs a sword something fierce. The glory of war success will always attach itself to the president, so presidents are always be prey to the temptation to make war. That’s a generic truth of power, and all the more reason to take the decision making about war out of the hands of the executive. It is not one man’s responsibility. The “Imperial Presidency” malarkey that was invented to save Ronald Reagan’s neck in Iran-Contra, and that has played as high art throughout the career of Richard Cheney, is a radical departure from previous views of presidential power, and should be taught and understood that way. This is not a partisan thing. Constitutionalists left and right have equal reason to worry over the lost constraint of the executive. Republicans and Democrats alike have options to vote people into congress who are determined to stop with the chickenshitery and assert the legislators constitutional purgatives on war and peace. It would make a difference, and help reel us back towards balance and normalcy. None of this is impossible. This isn’t bigger than us. Decisions about national security are ours to make. And the good news is this isn’t rocket science, we don’t have to reinvent fogbank here, we just have to revive that old idea of America is a deliberately peaceable nation. That’s not simply our inheritance, it’s our responsibility.” ...more
Stephanie *Eff your feelings*
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