The Former Trump Presidency Thread

[Captain Caveman]

This insane level of attempted gaslighting reaps of desperation.

If it works, we’re so much more fucked than I ever imagined.

[tjg_marantz]

This insane level of attempted gaslighting reaps of desperation.

If it works, we’re so much more fucked than I ever imagined.

You're not trying hard enough then.

[Zaxxon]

It's somewhat adorable that you question whether it's working.

[Holman]

Trump is back on Twitter, now ranting that collusion is fake news and that HRC is the real criminal.

Lists her supposed crimes and then declares that it's time to "DO SOMETHING!"

[Captain Caveman]

So Clinton colluded with Russia to hack her own campaign’s emails and help elect Trump? Is that what they’re arguing?

[Isgrimnur]

False flag! Red flag! Black Flag sticker on a Cadillac!

[Max Peck]

Meanwhile... Things in Puerto Rico are worse than our government's admitting

Hau Yau, a registered nurse who recently went to Puerto Rico to provide aid to those harmed by Hurricane Maria, says in a report released by National Nurses United, "We couldn't believe this is a part of the United States." The people her group found suffering on the island, the nurse said, "have already had chronic diseases going on and now their environment is full of hazardous materials and sanitation is so poor."

To hear President Donald Trump tell it, everything's going well in Puerto Rico. When asked Oct. 18 to rate the federal government's recovery effort on a scale of one to 10, Trump said, "I give ourselves a 10." The only surprise is that he didn't give it a grade of 11.

When Trump gave his administration a perfect score for its Maria response, he was sitting in the Oval Office next to Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rossello. He put Rossello on the spot. "Did the United States, did our government, when we came in, did we do a great job? Military, first responders, Fema, did we do a great job?"

Rossello said, "You responded immediately, sir," which didn't contradict Trump's claim that the government had done a great job, but didn't validate it either.

Trump met with Rossello in the Oval Office on Oct. 18. That happens to have been the same day that 50 members of National Nurses United, a nurses' union, returned to the states after two weeks of volunteering on Puerto Rico. Those nurses were greatly disturbed at what they saw, and on Thursday (Oct. 26) they delivered a report to Capitol Hill that accuses the federal government of letting Puerto Ricans suffer and die.

"It is unconscionable that the people of Puerto Rico are being left to die," NNU vice president, Cathy Kennedy, said on Capitol Hill. "Our nurses witnessed a humanitarian and healthcare crisis, and we know our government has the power to bring relief to those who are suffering."

Odd, I don't recall the administration's immediate response being all that immediate...

[Kraken]

Yesterday I heard the tail end of a radio interview with a Puerto Rican doctor or nurse who said that the hospitals have run out of IV bags. She said that when a trauma case comes into the emergency room, the first thing they do is intubate you so that they can immediately hydrate you, or get blood into you, or infuse drugs or nutrients, or whatever's appropriate. Establishing that line is literally the first step for any emergency treatment...and they can't do it anymore.

I didn't hear the full report. The interviewee might have been the same nurse you quoted above.

[Smoove_B]

To be fair, Trump has been very busy with important things. The current tally:

Trump has spent 96 out of his 282 days in office in a Trump property. Of that total, 76 days were spent at one of his golf properties

He's been golfing every weekend in October at his course in Virginia. I'm sure if there's talk of building one in Puuuuertow Riiiico, he'll suddenly become more interested. I have no doubt it's still a total mess down there and a humanitarian crisis in need of attention.

[tgb]

But he's being rated 10 out of 10! He said so himself.

[Skinypupy]

Surprising no one, the Whitefish contract has been cancelled.

The Puerto Rico electric power company said Sunday that it is canceling a controversial $300 million contract it had signed with a small Montana-based company and tasked with a central role in repairing the territory’s hurricane-ravaged electric grid.

The move came after Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said the contract was a distraction and should be canceled after critics in the electric power industry, Congress and the Federal Emergency Management Agency raised questions about whether the company, Whitefish Energy, was well equipped to respond to the hurricane damage.

I read somewhere that they've already been paid $8MM.

[Kraken]

Surprising no one, the Whitefish contract has been cancelled.

The Puerto Rico electric power company said Sunday that it is canceling a controversial $300 million contract it had signed with a small Montana-based company and tasked with a central role in repairing the territory’s hurricane-ravaged electric grid.

The move came after Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said the contract was a distraction and should be canceled after critics in the electric power industry, Congress and the Federal Emergency Management Agency raised questions about whether the company, Whitefish Energy, was well equipped to respond to the hurricane damage.

I read somewhere that they've already been paid $8MM.

That buys a lot of paper towels.

[LawBeefaroni]

Heard a few things last week. One from a guy that works at UPS. He said that they regularly hire trucks on contract to transfer parcels between hubs. They are having problems hiring because FEMA has hired ton of trucks at above market rates. They're all sitting in/near port cities awaiting orders. They're not doing anything but sitting around getting paid.

The second is more second hand. A guy whose brother is a US Marshal went to Puerto Rico. He volunteered for some kind of duty with some other Marshal buddies of his. It was work but very specific duty. They saw supplies being looted and resold. Like water sold for $20/bottle, etc that he just watched being stolen off a truck. He was powerless to stop it, they were guarding/escorting certain assets and couldn't do anything else.


All FWIW, can't verify any of it.

[Rip]

I'm thinking what the White House needs is a new Communications Director and I thought of just the guy..........

Spoiler:

Derek Smart

So I would like everyone to join me in calling for it.

[hepcat]

Obviously it should be Baghdad Bob.

[Carpet_pissr]

Orson Scott Card would also be a good fit with this administration. Not sure why he hasn’t been picked for something yet.

[Scraper]

I'm thinking what the White House needs is a new Communications Director and I thought of just the guy..........

Spoiler:

Derek Smart

So I would like everyone to join me in calling for it.

That's the first thing you've said on this board in months that I actually agree with. How could Drumpf possibly do worse than the Mooch? Easy answer, Derek Smart.

[Isgrimnur]

Orson Scott Card would also be a good fit with this administration. Not sure why he hasn’t been picked for something yet.

Look for him in a cabinet position in the Romney/McMullin administration.

[Max Peck]

Surprising no one, the Whitefish contract has been cancelled.

The Puerto Rico electric power company said Sunday that it is canceling a controversial $300 million contract it had signed with a small Montana-based company and tasked with a central role in repairing the territory’s hurricane-ravaged electric grid.

The move came after Gov. Ricardo Rosselló said the contract was a distraction and should be canceled after critics in the electric power industry, Congress and the Federal Emergency Management Agency raised questions about whether the company, Whitefish Energy, was well equipped to respond to the hurricane damage.

I read somewhere that they've already been paid $8MM.

That buys a lot of paper towels.

Fun factoid: In addition to Whitefish Energy and Zinke, the town of Whitefish is home base for Richard Spencer. Such a small world...

[hepcat]

Wait...a white supremacist comes from a town called Whitefish?

Who says God doesn't have a sense of humor.

[Max Peck]

Wait...a white supremacist comes from a town called Whitefish?

Who says God doesn't have a sense of humor.

I don't think God has anything to do with it. From what I've read, the Flathead Valley region in Montana has been quite a Mecca (Ha!) for Spencer's fellow travellers over the last few years. Apparently they're drawn to the area because it is extremely white.

[LawBeefaroni]

I was recently in Missoula. It is maybe 100 miles south of Whitefish. Missoula is a liberal college town compared to the rest of the state and it was white as all heck.

To say Whitefish is extremely white is probably an understatement.

[Blackhawk]

I was recently in Missoula. It is maybe 100 miles south of Whitefish. Missoula is a liberal college town compared to the rest of the state and it was white as all heck.

To say Whitefish is extremely white is probably an understatement.

And yet my little Indiana town still out-whites them by 2%. We probably win on KKK activity, too.

Yay?

[Isgrimnur]

The Hill

A federal court has blocked President Trump in part from changing the military's transgender policy as a case against his ban works its way through court.

A judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled Monday that Trump's directive changing the transgender policy back to what it was before June 2016 and banning new transgender recruits from enlisting cannot be enforced while the case is being reviewed in court.

However, the judge denied the plaintiff's motion to block the ban on funds for gender reassignment surgery.

In a 76-page memo accompanying the ruling, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly wrote that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed in their case arguing the transgender ban violates their Fifth Amendment right to due process.

“The court finds that a number of factors—including the sheer breadth of the exclusion ordered by the directives, the unusual circumstances surrounding the President’s announcement of them, the fact that the reasons given for them do not appear to be supported by any facts, and the recent rejection of those reasons by the military itself — strongly suggest that Plaintiffs’ Fifth Amendment claim is meritorious,” she wrote.

I love the part I underlined.

[tgb]

And yet the Kosher deli near our house makes a whitefish salad that tlr swears is the best ever (I don't care for the stuff myself).

[Isgrimnur]

WSJ

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating a decision by Puerto Rico’s power authority to award a $300 million contract to a tiny Montana energy firm to rebuild electrical infrastructure damaged in Hurricane Maria, according to people familiar with the matter.

[El Guapo]

Hey, if a clear linkage between Zinke and the procurement of that contract turns up, we could have a whole new other bona fide Trump administration scandal. He is creating tons of jobs in scandal investigations, at least.

[Holman]

Hey, if a clear linkage between Zinke and the procurement of that contract turns up, we could have a whole new other bona fide Trump administration scandal. He is creating tons of jobs in scandal investigations, at least.

"Perhaps no Administration has done more in its first nine months than this Administration."

[Fitzy]

Hey, if a clear linkage between Zinke and the procurement of that contract turns up, we could have a whole new other bona fide Trump administration scandal. He is creating tons of jobs in scandal investigations, at least.

I don't get how Zinke could have been involved. It's a stretch to think the Interior Secretary had anything to do with recovery contracts in Puerto Rico.

Though if they find any of his fingerprints on it, he'd have a hell of a time explaining them.

[gilraen]

I don't get how Zinke could have been involved. It's a stretch to think the Interior Secretary had anything to do with recovery contracts in Puerto Rico.

I don't get how Zinke could have not been involved, there are dozens of energy companies that could have bid on the project given the option. The guy is his neighbor, Zinke's son worked for him over the summer. CNN Money mentioned that "Zinke's office acknowledged they received an email from Techmanski, but said no one at the agency took any further action." I'll believe the former...not so much the latter (given the track record with this administration).

[Jolor]

That buys a lot of paper towels.

10 - 20 supersize rolls ... possibly even those extra absorbent ones.

[Jolor]

I'm thinking what the White House needs is a new Communications Director and I thought of just the guy..........

Spoiler:

Derek Smart

So I would like everyone to join me in calling for it.

That's the first thing you've said on this board in months that I actually agree with. How could Drumpf possibly do worse than the Mooch? Easy answer, Derek Smart.

Really. I mean, what does Derek have to lose?

[Max Peck]

I'm thinking what the White House needs is a new Communications Director and I thought of just the guy..........

Spoiler:

Derek Smart

So I would like everyone to join me in calling for it.

That's the first thing you've said on this board in months that I actually agree with. How could Drumpf possibly do worse than the Mooch? Easy answer, Derek Smart.

Really. I mean, what does Derek have to lose?

I suspect that he's got a pretty full plate at the moment with his Star Citizen debunking gig. Cleve Blakemore, on the other hand, is a better fit and probably has an aching void in his life now that Grimore has been released.

[malchior]

And to top off the crazy today we had Kelly making inaccurate statements about the lack of compromise that led to the civil war and a defense of General Lee. I know the electorate is idiotic but even they don't deserve these fools.

[Holman]

And to top off the crazy today we had Kelly making inaccurate statements about the lack of compromise that led to the civil war and a defense of General Lee. I know the electorate is idiotic but even they don't deserve these fools.

Thread:

[tjg_marantz]

And to top off the crazy today we had Kelly making inaccurate statements about the lack of compromise that led to the civil war and a defense of General Lee. I know the electorate is idiotic but even they don't deserve these fools.

No no. They do.

[Holman]

You know they feel the walls closing in when they change the subject to "Slavery maybe wasn't so bad, m'kay?"

[Moliere]

You know they feel the walls closing in when they change the subject to "Slavery maybe wasn't so bad, m'kay?"

Things I've had to listen to for years at family gatherings:

The War aka the War of Northern Aggression was not about slavery, but states' rights. [Yes, the right to own another human being.]
Slavery was not profitable and would have ended on its own. [In the meantime, no reason to rush the ending of human bondage, eh?]
Very few Southerners owned slaves. [Not relevant to the fact that it was legal to do so.]

[Holman]

You know they feel the walls closing in when they change the subject to "Slavery maybe wasn't so bad, m'kay?"

Things I've had to listen to for years at family gatherings:

The War aka the War of Northern Aggression was not about slavery, but states' rights. [Yes, the right to own another human being.]
Slavery was not profitable and would have ended on its own. [In the meantime, no reason to rush the ending of human bondage, eh?]
Very few Southerners owned slaves. [Not relevant to the fact that it was legal to do so.]

Yup. Me too.

That last one is especially a whitewash. In no CSA state did fewer than 25% of families own a slave, and in some it was close to 50%. Plus, slave-owners (including small farmers with just one or two or three) would regularly rent their slaves to non-slave-owning neighbors for occasional labor.

Even if you didn't own or use a slave, you lived in a slave society and probably saw enslaved people every day of your life.

[pr0ner]

Trump is bleating about coal production being up this year on Twitter. Oy.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/sta ... 7708496897