My president @POTUS44 - patriot, friend, leader, best boss, compassionate human
#morerarethanyouthink twitter.com/katiecouric/st…
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Alyssa Mastromonaco (@AlyssaMastro44) September 03, 202503
Sep
17
109 Responses to “Chat Away”
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The People’s View
- Weekend self-care, part the second: John Lewis Liberal Librarian
- Weekend self-care, part the first: Hair metal Liberal Librarian
- Open thread - Al Franken Liberal Librarian
- In the realm of bad ideas, this is king Liberal Librarian
- Crossing the red line Liberal Librarian
Smartypants
- Obama: "The Best Is Yet To Come"
- What We Should Be Talking About on the Anniversary of 9/11
- Parallels with JFK
- A Tale of Two Ground Games
- How President Obama Moved the Overton Window to the Left
Steve Benen
- This Week in God, 12.9.17
- Many themes of Trump dossier have borne out over time
- Steele dossier hotly debated as Trump Russia ties become scandal
- Publication of Trump dossier triggered controversy and debate
- First public news of dossier lost amid 2016 bombshells
https://niskanencenter.org/blog/notes/trumps-white-identity-politics-conservative-welfare-bait-switch/
This passage in Michael Grunwald’s Politico piece on Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s OMB director, nicely illustrates standard Republican shadiness about what does and does not count as “welfare”:
During his populist run for the White House, Trump had vowed to leave Social Security and Medicare alone. But Trump had also vowed to rein in America’s national debt, which Mulvaney didn’t think was possible without reining in the two biggest chunks of the federal budget. So Mick the Knife brought a cut list to his meeting in the Oval.
“Look, this is my idea on how to reform Social Security,” the former South Carolina congressman began.
“No!” the president replied. “I told people we wouldn’t do that. What’s next?”
“Well, here are some Medicare reforms,” Mulvaney said.
“No!” Trump repeated. “I’m not doing that.”
“OK, disability insurance.”
This was a clever twist. Mulvaney was talking about the Social Security Disability Insurance program, which, as its full name indicates, is part of Social Security. But Americans don’t tend to think of it as Social Security, and its 11 million beneficiaries are not the senior citizens who tend to support Trump.
“Tell me about that,” Trump replied.
“It’s welfare,” Mulvaney said.
“OK, we can fix welfare,” Trump declared.
First, Trump is … not bright.
Because he doesn’t know and doesn’t even care to learn. People will be hurt or even die.
Proof they are voting against their own interests and there’s a disconnect….
Second, the standard conservative mental model of “welfare” is that it consists of government transfers that don’t go to older white people, who vote overwhelmingly Republican. Of course, Social Security (the non-SSDI part) and Medicare alone consume more than 1/3 of the annual budget. The main beneficiary of the welfare state is older white Republicans—by a long shot. The fact that the welfare state, fairly defined, is actually wildly popular with the GOP base is a huge problem for ideological “small government” dogmatists like Mulvaney. If you think the secret sauce of freedom and booming economic performance is a much lower level of tax-financed government spending, there’s no alternative to furiously hacking away at Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and SSDI with a hatchet. Taken together, they’re half the federal budget:
Congrats, DF on your solid Au ⭐ Furst 😉
Thanks, Nena:)
Hello TODbots on a Sunday Afternoon.
Thanks, NW for all you do for Us.
{{{ ❤ Chips ❤ }}}
Now, back to catching up.
GA & TY, NerdyW. It’s a real pleasure to see you! 🙂
GA, Df, mother of the birthday boy….oops…man! May your day be blessed with laughter and happiness.
🙏😘
Can’t come soon enough for me.
🎂🍰🎈🎁🎉
to continue…
More thoughts on the PBO transition letter. I’m still pissed, but I can still agree with his thoughts.. 🙂
Sorry:) Read the thread
one of the replies…i feel her
And that was with over 300K provincial votes……mostly discarded…..This gave Mr. Flake a win in ’12 Senate seat.
AZ like TX, NC & FL are easily ‘gettable’ States for Dems when VOTES are actually tabulated w/o Statewide GOP Voter Suppression.
I do believe this… hopefully we will elect a Democratic governor and SOS…next year
AMEN!!!!
President Jimmy Carter is a real and true Christian!
GERMANS BUYING INTO OUR US GROCERY STORES FOR FOOD CONTROL..NO ONE IS STUPID…
Ambassador Rice takes the mic ….
Obviously ….
Compare ….
With ….
BTW, both true, obviously …..
Wow
Wanted to share this from the Today Show this morning. It’s a piece (3:18) that Tom Brokaw did on healthcare in America from a small town in Wyoming. He and one of the people he interviewed managed to work i a big ‘hit’ to the ACA. 😦 😦 Watch it and then let me know what you think.
https://www.today.com/news/outside-washington-health-care-still-everyday-concern-t115868
Good for them.
The owner called the donation “exercising free speech” and the usual mess. The employees exercised their rights and quit. They put decency before money and I hope that they all land in better positions soon.
YIKES!
This one is for all who need a damn break, but most especially for Dudette who always gives us the most amazing music. Not sure if you’ve heard of this guy. He’s a DMV special (DC, MD, VA) & we went to one of his shows a while back & I was blown away. “Doc” was amazing in the energy he put in his show. Plus he graduated from Howard Dentistry (‘cos Mom & Dad said “son ….” 🙂 ) But his love is the sax & he’s proving to Mom & Dad, yup …. 🙂 Anyhoo, here’s one of his hits from his album “Phillip ‘Doc’ Martin: Good Day at Work”:
P.S. The whole album is fabulous!
He is an actual dentist, BTW! Must be fun music in there when you’re getting fillings, etc. 🙂
Sounds GREAT! Thanks, Gazelle!
You’re most welcome, DF! You’re going to love the album, I tell ya! 🙂
I can already tell I love it:) Will hook my husband up, too. He’ll love this as well. Thank you, daaaaarling!
Awww! During his show, he was jumping up & down, playing sax, then one of his buddies in the audience, guy from France who’s played w/ Stevie Wonder and so forth, got on stage w/ a harmonica. I was like, okay …. And, damn didn’t the harmonica and sax just simply play off each other, and they were jumping up and down and still playing their instruments. Made me want to go to the gym, do cardio, something, pronto! Or just enjoy … 🙂 I chose the latter! 🙂
Awesome:) This is great. Thanks again for the head’s up
By the way, this is yet another reason why I love my TOD family:) We inform and share. I love that about us!
Yup & indeed! Ditto! 🙂
He is good enough to quit his day job! I really like this kind of music; off to uplift my spirit with more.
My thought exactly, CEB! And he’s such a humble soul, with a great heart. His wife is just as kind & fully supportive of his music. I had the same feeling, “dude quit your day job”!
In honor of the High Court in Kenya, the Supremes, Wakafrica:
Now, Kenya, show us how you nullify a rigged election & go out again & vote peacefully. Show us the nullification of Cambridge Analytica, WikiLeaks, etc. For real, you can give our Electoral College & Supreme Court a teaching movement for upstanding elections. Peace!
The reason every person on this planet should be terrified of ‘Little Hands’ is that he is smart enough and, beyond any doubt, vain enough to know that he has the ultimate eraser of all history, at his tiny little finger tips.
Be assured, he’ll use it before anyone impeaches or indicts him.
That’s the reality no “public figure” has dared state, so I’ll be so bold to do it for all of them.
As is the long-standing tradition of TOD - you read it here, first.
GE TODville.
Just had a post eaten by WordPress, so instead will update everyone on the weather in the western US. Will try again soon.
Saw a tweet yesterday with the path of Lidia, but can’t find now. 😦
So I posted on an old thread - of course I did - 14 hours ahead and days behind in the blog - sigh
I miss President Obama. He was trusted by the world to avoid WWIII – the new guy incites everything negative in our world.
http://thegrapevine.theroot.com/5-year-old-asks-where-did-barack-obama-go-1795566191
Stay safe over there TODers
Link’s adorable! I tweeted it, 99ts!
Lovely - thanks JoB. I am so horrified at what trump is doing to the US and the world - one has to look for some better moments.
We’re all doing the same, I can assure you!
LOL! Tiny feet, Tiny hands! Tiny pebble brain. 🙂
Forgot to post this, but firefighters really *are* unsung heroes — we in the west appreciate their hard work and dedication so much.
From the article:
And another illustration of how being right on the Pacific Ocean offers no relief from the heat (although I detect a change in the weather now, after 6pm PDT — seems cooler and less humid, so hopefully Lidia has come and gone…).
“Remarkably, the temperature at Point Reyes at midnight Friday night was a sweltering-for-the-location 86°F—just 4°F below the previous all-time high.”
It rained here in RPV, just by San Pedro and has been off and on in the past hour. Hopefully it will head north to put out those fires.
Vicious monster - no other president has ever spent all his time undoing the goodness of those who came before. May he forever reside in the dustbin of history.
I have no idea why this won’t post, so will try a piecemeal approach.
re: Utah nurse arrested by Salt Lake City policeman:
Yay, fourth time is the charm (although WordPress wouldn’t allow me to add this detail):
See Owen Barcala’s thread for more info.
Thread.
GE DF.
Can’t find the tweet now (story of my life now, LOL), but saw one recently that said ICE is deporting people to Mexico, regardless of country of origin (didn’t read the article when I saw the tweet, but presumably anyone from Latin America gets dropped off at a Mexican border town):
From the article:
“His kidnapping is an increasingly common occurrence along the U.S.-Mexico border, particularly the Texas-Tamaulipas region, immigrants rights groups say. Narciso and other immigrants deported by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement have become easy prey for violent criminal groups desperate for money. The gangs hold the deportees until their relatives in the U.S. pay thousands of dollars for their release.”
So Mexican criminals are benefiting from FUBAR criminal idiocy.
Another tweet:
Heads-up for America: If Trump is out doing P.R., he’s about to dismantle / overturn / crap on something.
apartheid amurkkka is here.
Mother Nature is no match for Trump ….
Goodnight TOD ……
Great tweets, JO’B! I don’t know how Trump and his so called Christian supporters sleep at night. Right wing evangelicals are quick to erroneously cite LEVITICUS to attack gay people, but they are totally silent when it comes to passages in LEVETICUS about treating the so called “aliens.” Here is what LEVITICUS says about treating foreigners/aliens:
” When an “Alien” resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the “alien.” -LEVITICUS, 19:33
“The “Alien” who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the “Alien” as yourself, for you were “ALIENS” in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD YOUR GOD.” -LEVITICUS, 19:34.
Damn near cried when I read that, nath. This is how it is, no matter what trump and his bozos say.
Was trying to post “Fatoumata Diawara - Clandestin”, let’s see if this works.
I just cannot comprehend the savagery and evil in this person. It is beyond any of my understanding. I never thought I would see my beloved country come to this.
I’m with you Carolyn. I weep for the country we are leaving our children and grandchildren by the time this presidency is over. We will go down as the first generation in history that left our beloved country in worse shape than it was entrusted to us by our parents. I am heartsick.
I am with you Carolyn. Trump’s evilness is truly beyond my comprehension.
Am totally fascinated (& in awe) of these musical instruments:
I’m going to bed. Rage is brewing.
All of this! That the GOP is not embarrassed by him makes everyone of those adjectives apply to the entire party and everyone who votes for them. Shame on each and every one of them.
What’s so mind boggling to me is: how in the world does a man who has four children with two immigrant wives mistreat children of other immigrants? Why is Melania, Trump’s immigrant wife who is now FLOTUS, silent? Why are Trump’s 3 adult children of his first immigrant wife (Don, Jr., Ivanka, and Eric) silent? By the way, was Melania here legally before she married Trump?
It’s a race issue with DT. His wives don’t count as immigrants because they are white. And as I understand it, Melania was eventually here legally but she worked for a time without the proper visa which is illegal. Of course, DT was going to have that news conference with Melania’s paperwork before the election but it never happened, and the media was more concerned with Hillary’s emails than Melania’s status to keep after him.
“It’s a race issue with DT.”
I know you speak TRUTH, Foxfire TX! The irony, of course, is that Eastern Europeans-the Slavic people-, where Melania is from, were classified by the proponents of the concept of RACE to be lower than the pure white Nordic/Aryan people. I suppose one thing the U.S. Should be proud of is the creation of the “white race,” which did away with European racial/ethnic hierarchies. The American racial categories of: White, Red, Brown and Black, are silly, but they’ve been beneficial to all Europeans immigrants to America-including those European ethnic groups that occupied lower status in Europe’s racial/ethnic hierarchy.
❤️
It honestly doesn’t get much worse than this:
A Canadian asks…….
New post.
https://theobamadiary.com/2017/09/04/every-day/