The Former Trump Presidency Thread

[malchior]

If you subscribe to the digital edition only, do you get access to the crossword puzzles? There's an app for it, but it still costs something like $40/year just for the crossword.

It is separate - even for regular subscriptions. Annoying.

It is about $20 a year if paid annually FWIW.

[Smoove_B]

Muslim registry being discussed by transition team:

Kobach told Reuters last Friday that the immigration group had discussed drafting executive orders for the president-elect's review "so that Trump and the Department of Homeland Security hit the ground running."

To implement Trump's call for "extreme vetting" of some Muslim immigrants, Kobach said the immigration policy group could recommend the reinstatement of a national registry of immigrants and visitors who enter the United States on visas from countries where extremist organizations are active.

Hey, remember when we had the registry?

Kobach helped design the program, known as the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, while serving in Republican President George W. Bush's Department of Justice after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States by al Qaeda militants.

Under NSEERS, people from countries deemed "higher risk" were required to undergo interrogations and fingerprinting on entering the United States. Some non-citizen male U.S. residents over the age of 16 from countries with active militant threats were required to register in person at government offices and periodically check in.

NSEERS was abandoned in 2011 after it was deemed redundant by the Department of Homeland Security and criticized by civil rights groups for unfairly targeting immigrants from Muslim- majority nations.

[Fitzy]

So Trump is having random conversations with foreign leaders on the phones at Trump Tower. What could go wrong with this scenario?

Oh. So one might say Trump is using a private phone system for official business...

Donald Trump isn’t the president yet, the incumbent president expressed on Monday, telling the press ahead of a foreign trip “there is one president at a time.”

Did Obama have some special "potus-elect" phone system to use before he was inaugurated?

Oh. I see now. It's only treason to use private insecure systems to convey potentially classified information after being sworn in. Understood.

[malchior]

How Bannon ingratiated himself into a position of power with Trump.

[Captain Caveman]

How Bannon ingratiated himself into a position of power with Trump.

Last November, for instance, Trump said he was concerned that foreign students attending Ivy League schools have to return home because of U.S. immigration laws.

“We have to be careful of that, Steve. You know, we have to keep our talented people in this country,” Trump said. He paused. Bannon said, “Um.”

“I think you agree with that,” Trump said. “Do you agree with that?”

Bannon was hesitant.

“When two-thirds or three-quarters of the CEOs in Silicon Valley are from South Asia or from Asia, I think . . . ” Bannon said, not finishing the sentence. “A country is more than an economy. We’re a civic society.”

WTF.

[malchior]

Yep - you caught the piece that led me to the story. I found a tweet complaining about that passage and it led me back to the story. The guy is a piece of shit. And he is the CHIEF STRATEGIST of the President of the United States. We are definitely on the darkest time line.

[hepcat]

It's common knowledge that complimenting Trump is the sure way to gain influence with him. And it's been widely reported that he cares little for the actual decision making process, so he'll gladly hand that off to anyone who compliments his...hand size.

[RunningMn9]

That John Oliver show convinced me that I need to do more to support the causes I think will be under fire in a Trump presidency. So yesterday I donated for the first time to the ACLU and Planned Parenthood (not using Mike Pence's name, unfortunately). I also looked into getting a New York Times subscription, but just the Sunday Times costs $460/year! As an educator(ish), I can actually get a discount to make it "only" $250/year. But still, holy crap.

The digital subscription to The New York Times is about $15 per month I think. That's by far the most expensive option. The Washington Post is much cheaper (I think), but it turns out that I get a free digital subscription there because I have a .mil email address. So score there! Subscribing to The Atlantic was $25 for the year (print + digital). Subscribing to Newsweek was $35 for the year (digital only).

I have the ginormous iPad, and using the NYTimes app on there is pretty slick. Feels like a really good combination of a physical newspaper and a Kindle. I like it. The "contents" (I guess) is organized exactly like the front page of a newspaper, and when you select an article that goes fullscreen, but still has a newspapery feel.

I think that this decision is more a combination of wanting to support actual journalists, and me wanting to be more deeply informed. While some may scoff at that, I find long-form investigating journalism far more enthralling than the superficial reporting that TV news has degenerated into.

[Smoove_B]

I do wish they'd stop calling it the alt-right. It sounds like a possible respectable group of people - like maybe they just don't agree with all of the policies of their fellow right-leaning citizens, so they've forked off and follow an alternative right philosophy. While that is technically true, I don't think it puts the spotlight that is necessary on these clowns. They're not just alt-right - they're white nationalists.

[Isgrimnur]

Alt - →

[hepcat]

People's Front of Judea?

[Combustible Lemur]

You mad bro?

If only he was more like Harry Reid.

So he didn't really give examples. Also as I've noted before Newt has openly stated on national television that facts matter less than beleif when called on lies. So by his own assertion, an accusation of bias against a paper would actually matter less if it was true.

[Skinypupy]

Judean People's Front, you traitor.

[hepcat]

Splitter!

...god we're nerds.

[Defiant]

Alt - →

It's society's Ctrl-Alt-Del.

[AjD]

I do wish they'd stop calling it the alt-right. It sounds like a possible respectable group of people - like maybe they just don't agree with all of the policies of their fellow right-leaning citizens, so they've forked off and follow an alternative right philosophy. While that is technically true, I don't think it puts the spotlight that is necessary on these clowns. They're not just alt-right - they're white nationalists.

This. I was thinking about this yesterday, and I think even "white nationalist" is a watered-down term that just further normalizes the beliefs of these groups.

They're not "white nationalists." They are white supremacists. They believe whites are superior to other races. We called these people supremacists for decades. The widespread change from "supremacist" to "nationalist" is very recent. And I believe this change was driven by these very groups -- as they have spin-doctored their public stance to seem less threatening.

[Zaxxon]

The digital subscription to The New York Times is about $15 per month I think. That's by far the most expensive option. The Washington Post is much cheaper (I think), but it turns out that I get a free digital subscription there because I have a .mil email address. So score there! Subscribing to The Atlantic was $25 for the year (print + digital). Subscribing to Newsweek was $35 for the year (digital only).

Thanks for the #s. I'll be subbing to at least one of those for much the same reasons as you.

And back to R-W's original question: $1.88/week for educators for an NYT sub. $98/year.

[Rip]

So Trump is having random conversations with foreign leaders on the phones at Trump Tower. What could go wrong with this scenario?

Oh. So one might say Trump is using a private phone system for official business...

Donald Trump isn’t the president yet, the incumbent president expressed on Monday, telling the press ahead of a foreign trip “there is one president at a time.”

Did Obama have some special "potus-elect" phone system to use before he was inaugurated?

Oh. I see now. It's only treason to use private insecure systems to convey potentially classified information after being sworn in. Understood.

It apparently isn't treason to convey verified highly classified information via private insecure systems.

Thanks Comey!

[Defiant]

Donald Trump's administration mulls bringing back Muslim registry, per report

[Ralph-Wiggum]

And back to R-W's original question: $1.88/week for educators for an NYT sub. $98/year.

That's reasonable and perhaps something I'll look at when I eventually get a tablet. As it is, reading long articles on my phone is sort of a PITA and I try to spend as little time as possible on my computer over the weekends.

[Captain Caveman]

Alt - →

It's society's Ctrl-Alt-Del.

I pronounce it Alt-Reich.

[GargoyleBoy]

Alt - →

It's society's Ctrl-Alt-Del.

I pronounce it Alt-Reich.

So stealing this.

[Smoove_B]

Alt - →

It's society's Ctrl-Alt-Del.

I pronounce it Alt-Reich.

Which would be funny (in a gallows humor way) if the people on Stormfront weren't vocally excited about Trump's picks. That's why this needs to be in the spotlight and not hidden behind catchy nicknames or shorthand by the news media.

[Defiant]

A Rhode Island congressman says he is among 120 House of Representatives members calling on Donald Trump to rescind his appointment of Stephen Bannon as chief strategist.

Representative David Cicilline is circulating a letter among the members of the House blasting Bannon and calling for his withdrawal. The letter has attracted 120 co-signers, including the entire House delegations from both Massachusetts and Rhode Island, a spokesman for Cicilline said Tuesday.

link

If you want to do your part, Call your Senator and Representative

[RunningMn9]

That's reasonable and perhaps something I'll look at when I eventually get a tablet. As it is, reading long articles on my phone is sort of a PITA and I try to spend as little time as possible on my computer over the weekends.

Yeah, the phone is an inappropriate device (for me) for long-form work. My iPad however, is perfect.

[malchior]

Spoiler alert but all 120 are probably all Dems and will mean fuck all unless they can get some Rs to participate which is unlikely at the moment.

[RunningMn9]

I feel like if there was any honor in Bannon, he would sit down with Trump and explain that his role was very much like the Operative of the Parliament in Serenity.

US Citizens: So me and mine gotta lay down and die... so you can live in your better world?
Steve Bannon: I'm not going to live there. There's no place for me there... any more than there is for you. I'm a monster. What I do is evil. I have no illusions about it, but it must be done.

[Rip]

There can only be one great Satan at a time, you guys are going to need to pick one.

[hepcat]

He is Legion, remember?

[naednek]

Open in incognito window.

Even stupider...I missed the little "x" to close the popup.

Using Chrome? Might I make a recommendation?

I could hug you right now

[Isgrimnur]

[Skinypupy]

Your President, ladies and gentlemen, epitomizing the utmost in class and leadership after his victory.

Again...why on earth is he doing this? Even he has to see how petty and childish this makes him look, right?

[hepcat]

To his supporters, that kind of behavior is exactly what they want though.

[ImLawBoy]

What possible incentive does he have to stop? This is what got him where he is now.

[Paingod]

If you look at the NYTimes Twitter feed, it's almost as though they don't even notice a world leader trying to taunt them into a pissing contest behind the gymnasium.

What has this world come to?

[hepcat]

What possible incentive does he have to stop? This is what got him where he is now.

Our only hope is that the novelty of watching what is akin to a child randomly and publicly screaming out the F word will eventually wear thin with his followers.

[Zaxxon]

[Rip]

No reason to stop.

His tweets have been tremendously effective at distracting his detractors so they don't have time to find anything that may actually damage him.

It's like a WH press briefing in short quips and he doesn't even have to bother with ignoring questions.

[Smoove_B]

Clearly it's effective and I don't think anyone realisticaly expects him to stop. It's just terribly sad that we went from:

“There is nothing which can better deserve our patronage than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness.”

to

The failing [New York Times] story is so totally wrong on transition. It is going so smoothly. Also, I have spoken to many foreign leaders.

[hepcat]

Rip, you're spinnin' so fast, I can't believe you haven't slipped the bonds of earth's gravity yet.