Conservative Icon Max Boot: With a Friend Like This Republicans Don't Need Enemies

But They Have and Deserve Them Anyway

The world needs real conservatives.  The world needs men and women of principle who will help keep the balance between the public sector and the private sector.  The Republicans used to have some of them.  They don't anymore.

Recognizing this is Max Boot, unknown to the general public but known as a principled man to many.  And here is his assessment of modern Republicans.

"I’m old enough to remember when the Republican Party was pro-FBI, pro-morality and anti-deficits. What a startling turnaround. Now Republicans are issuing venomous and cretinous attacks on the FBI that make a mockery of their reputation as the party of “law and order.” They are unwilling to condemn a president whose lawyer allegedly paid off a porn actress, who endorsed an alleged child molester for the Senate and who tolerated aides who allegedly beat their wives, making a mockery of their reputation as the party of “family values.” And they are going on a spending and tax-cut binge that makes a mockery of their reputation as the party of fiscal discipline."

Yes, in one paragraph he says it all. And his conclusion.

"I’m starting to think that MAGA stands for Make America Greece Anon. Trump is leading Republicans to fiscal, intellectual and moral perdition. There is no longer a conservative party in this country. There is only a cult of Trump."

We could not have said it better ourselves, so that is why we are re-printing his.

Georgia Struggles to Take Name of a Vicious Racist Off a Bridge

Why is This So Hard? Oh, Conservatives

A bridge into Savannah is named for a former Georgia Governor, Eugene Talmadge. Here is his history.

His white supremacist views and staunch segregationism make for a troubling legacy. For example, he vowed to purge the state university system of any employee who supported “Negroes in the same schools with white folks in Georgia,” a stand that helped cost the state’s white colleges their accreditation. He staged an electoral comeback with a pledge to restore all-white primary elections. He used martial law to wage political turf battles, and he was implicated in corruption.

So why is this a problem. Well Georgia will not rename the bridge. Instead the people who dislike Talmadge, that is, decent people, are looking for a loophole in that the bridge may not have been formally named and so they can change the name by just officially naming it.

If officials do find proof that the 1991 bridge was formally named, any proposal to change it will be “dead in the water,” he said, but “as long as you’re not talking about a renaming, I’m not running into resistance at all.” (Natalie Dale, a spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Transportation, whose board had the power to name bridges until 2002, said Friday that formal action to name the new bridge in 1991 had not been necessary.)

But it should not be that way. But as long as the bigots hold sway, it will. Nice going Georgia.

When You Care Enough to Send the Very Worst

Ivanka Trump and Sarah Huckabee Sanders Represent U. S. At Olympic Closing Ceremonies

Yes, we are just as embarrassed as you are.

Trump Says He Would Have Gone After Florida Gunman Even if He Did Not Have a Weapon

Now That's Real Fake News

From Taegan Goddard we have this.

Trump Says He Would Have Confronted Shooter

February 26, 2018 at 12:05 pm EST

President Trump claimed he would have run into a Florida high school to prevent a gunman from carrying out this month’s mass shooting, The Hill reports.

Said Trump: “I really believe I’d run in there even if I didn’t have a weapon.”

Now everyone needs to remember that this was the man who got a deferment from serving in Viet Nam because of a bone spurs, a deferment to go with his four previous ones. We feel pretty sure that if Trumpie heard gunfire he runs the other way. There's a reason that in the definition under 'chickenshit' it says 'see Trump, Donald'.

College Basketball Has a New Hero

For Missing a Foul Shot!

Most professional athletes, and yes we are talking college football and basketball players here are not always very good people. But some are great people, and here is the story of one of those great ones.

"Time passes, and sports records are meant to be broken. But Jordan Bohannon, Iowa’s sophomore point guard, decided that one record, set long ago by a legendary Hawkeyes hoops player, should stand for a little longer.

And so, with fans chanting “Chris! Chris!” and the parents of Chris Street in the stands, Bohannon stepped to the line Sunday and deliberately clanged a free throw that would have broken Street’s school record of 34 in a row. The former star was killed in January 1993 when his car collided with a snowplow.

“Obviously that’s not my record to have. Obviously that record deserves to stay in his name,” Bohannon told the Big Ten Network after the game. “I’ve been really close to his family these past couple of years. … Just listening to his story, honestly, it’s really gotten me emotional these past couple of games because I knew what I wanted to do.”

An unselfish act that deserves to be celebrated, given the level of selfishness in public life today.

In Florida Shooting Republicans Play the Blame Game - And Get Burned

And No, Not Every Threat Can be Contained

Seeking salvation from tragedy Donnie has castigated the FBI for not detecting the threat that the Florida murderer was.  And the state's Governor, who is ready to run for the Senate was also attacking the FBI.  But it turns out the Florida social services was the major problem here.

Florida social services investigated alleged school shooter Nikolas Cruz before rampage, knew he wanted to buy gun

"Florida’s state social services agency investigated Nikolas Cruz’s home life more than a year before police say he killed 17 people at his former high school, closing the inquiry after determining that his “final level of risk is low,” despite learning that the teenager had behavioral struggles and was planning to buy a gun, according to an investigative report.

The investigation detailed several unnerving behaviors from Cruz, including that he had cut his arms on Snapchat, had a Nazi symbol and a racial epithet on his backpack and intended to purchase a gun for unknown reasons, according to a Florida Department of Children and Families report obtained by The Washington Post. Ultimately, the investigation was closed in November 2016, just months before Cruz bought the AR-15 assault-style rifle that police say he would later use in the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla."

So Gov. Scott, looking for someone to blame? Look in the mirror. The truth of couorse is that these things can not be predicted. There are probably tens of thousands of individual who fit the profile. Finding the one who will act is impossible. Politicizing the act is reprehensible.

Which One is Dating a Wife Beater? Which One LIes for the President?

Not a Difficult Quiz

Sarah With Her Lying Face On - Hope With her "I hope he doesn't hit me" Face On

From the Washington Post

Sarah Huckabee Sanders, right, stands next to Hope Hicks as they listen to Trump during a school safety session. (Ricky Carioti/Post)

From the NY Times - LifeJust Gets Better and Better!

BREAKING NEWS

Top Trump Campaign Aide to Plead Guilty

Rick Gates, Indicted in Mueller Inquiry, May Be Cooperating

By MARK MAZZETTI and MAGGIE HABERMAN 9:34 AM ET

• Mr. Gates, a former top adviser to Donald J. Trump’s presidential campaign, was first indicted by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, in October.
• His expected guilty plea suggests he is cooperating with the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election. It could be a significant development in the inquiry.

18 Comments

• Mueller Files New Fraud Charges Against Manafort

Rubio Faces His Critics – Gov. Scott and President Trumpie Decline

Guns Makes Cowards of Them

In a glaring example of courage for the wrong reason Sen. Marco Rubio appeared at a town hall meeting to defend his support for allowing everyone to own an assault rifle.

WASHINGTON — Senator Marco Rubio and a spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association were repeatedly heckled at a nationally televised forum on Wednesday night in Florida after they refused to back new gun control measures.

The crowd was hostile, as well it might be after a crazed gunman used an assault rifle to murder kids. And Senator Rubio, the Senator from Florida and the NRA refused to support a ban on the weapons. But at least he had the guts to show up. Not so much the Governor who will run for the Senate and the President who would rather be on the golf course.

President Trump and Gov. Rick Scott of Florida, a Republican, both declined invitations to participate in the town hall-style meeting.

Paul Manafort and Missouri Gov. Greitens Are Going Down

A Great Day for Law Enforcement

This headline from the Washington Post on former campaign head of the Trump electon effort.

Special counsel files new charges in Manafort, Gates case


And this one about a Republican Gov. who cheated on his wife and threatened his mistress.

Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens indicted on felony invasion of privacy charge stemming from affair

Some days it does pay to get out of bed

Idaho to Sell Allow Health Insurers to Sell Bogus Plans

Law? We're Republicans We Don't Need No Stinkin' Law

One of the many great thing about the health care law is that it forbids phony health care policies. Policies which discriminate on existing conditions or leave out basic benefits or limit claims are just not allowed. Now Idaho has decided they will allow exactly those policies, federal law be damned.

In a bulletin issued Wednesday, the Idaho Department of Insurance said that it would allow insurers in the state to begin offering “state-based plans” to consumers. These products could leave out some of the benefits mandated by the ACA for individual coverage. Insurers would be able to consider enrollees’ medical history in setting their premiums, a practice known as underwriting, which isn’t authorized under the ACA. The new state-based plans could also include dollar limits on total benefit payouts, which the ACA banned.

Just so everyone is clear, considering medical history means if you have had any medical problems in the past your insurance will be prohibitively expensive or will cover so little it will have no value. Zombie Health Insurance, coming to a Republican state near you.

Trump Needs Empathy Notes

Cause He Can't Remember to Feel Sympathy

While Donnie was told by his advisers that he had to show that he cared about shootings and shooting victims, such a position is so alien to his personality that he needed crib notes to remember how to do it.

President Trump holds a card with talking points during a listening session with high school students and teachers on gun violence on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2018. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)

"Yep, right there at No. 5 is a talking point about telling those present that he was actually listening to them. After what appear to be four questions he planned to ask those assembled, No. 5 is an apparent reminder for Trump to tell people, “I hear you.”

Even No. 1 is basically a reminder that Trump should empathize. “What would you most want me to know about your experience?” the card reads. So two-fifths of this card is dedicated to making sure the president of the United States assured those assembled that he was interested in what they had to say and their vantage points."

Trumpie Wants to Pardon Russians Charged in Election Interferrence

Real Fake News That Could be True

Last week the Special Counsel indicted a group of Russians who allegedly illegally interfered in the 2016 election. Today the President said that he would pardon all of those so charged but apparently did so because he is confused.

“Everyone deserves their day in court, and the charges against the Russians that they harassed some women is just not fair so I will pardon them so they can get on with their lives and believe me they are good people and I am happy to give them a strong job recommendation.”

After issuing the statement the President was advised that these were not wife beaters, but foreign agents who attempted to disrupt the 2016 election. “Why didn't somebody tell me?” he shouted and went on to ask the FBI if they could determine that the Russians were wife beaters also  so he could pardon them.

Conservatives Say: It's Not About Guns

Real People Say:  It is about guns.  If the shooter did not have a military assault weapon whose only purpose is to kill people he would not have been able to kill children.

Are we going to fast for you?

Stock Market Under Trump and Obama - How Did it Do?

Trumpies Just Don't Want You to Know



Presidents have nothing to do with how the stock market performs. But Trump claims otherwise, because the market has done well since he took office. Of course he has no role in its recent fall.

Taegan Goddard compares the Trump market with the Obama market. Don't look to good for Trump.

Obama Market vs. Trump Market

February 9, 2018 at 8:37 am ESTBy Taegan Goddard95 Comments

Since President Trump is fond of touting his stock market record, here’s what the S&P 500 has done since inauguration for him vs. during same period in Barack Obama’s presidency.

The Moral Majorit: Neither Moral nor a Majority

Here's What a Mulligan Is

The professional moralists were in full force during the Clinton administration, and not without some cause. Now that the Sinner in Chief is in the Oval Office, not so much.

Tony Perkins, a man who has made a career out of lecturing others on behavior has famously said that the religious community is giving Trumper a 'mulligan'  on his actions.  Of ourse given the acusations it seems Trump needs a lot of mulligans.

But here's the thing.  A mulligan is used in golf.  When a person playing golf hits a bad tee shot they take a mulligan, which is to tee up the ball and hit it again.

But guess what, in golf this is known as CHEATING!!!

So the religious community is saying to Trump, go ahead and CHEAT.  Nice going religious people.

Religious Leaders: We Don't Care if Trump is Satan Himself

Cause He Reduced the Estate Tax

Real Fake News Headlines

Rob Porter, You Have Just Beaten Two of Your Wives - Where Are You Going Next?

Porter:  I am going to Disneyworld White House

Lying Bob Corker (R, Tn) - A Senator Who Personifies Trump

Hypocrisy Taken to the Extreme

Last year Senator Bob Corker made news because of a principled stand he took opposing Trump, telling the nation exactly what Trump was, supporting health and stating he would not vote for any tax cut that increased the deficit.

Now the Senator is making news because he has finally become a turncoat on all of those issues. Once there was this.

It was just a few months ago that Bob Corker, soon after announcing his retirement from the Senate, began to blast President Trump, calling him a childlike president who was putting the United States “on the path to World War III.”

Trump fired back, tweeting that the Tennessee Republican had “begged” for his endorsement and “couldn’t get elected dogcatcher.”

So what has changed? Well Corker announced he was retiring from the Senate, but now he is trying to reverse that, like everything else he has reversed.

But in recent days the two men have reconnected, warming their long-chilly and acrimonious relationship as Corker has moved closer to shelving his retirement plans and launching a late reelection bid.

Corker has had several conversations with the president in which the possibility of a 2018 campaign has been broached, according to five Republicans who were not authorized to comment on the discussions.

Corker also has been cultivating his bonds with the Trump family and top White House staffers, they added — and Monday he met with Ivanka Trump, the president’s daughter and senior adviser, for coffee.

This man does not deserve to be in the Senate. He has no moral compass, no belief that cannot be compromised by the greed of political gain. He belongs, well we are not sure where he belongs.

After Thinking About it Trump Decides He is Opposed to Wife Beating

It Was a Close Call the Pres Said

Partial Fake News

It took a week, but Donnie has now come out and said that he is opposed to spousal abuse.

WASHINGTON — One week after Rob Porter, his staff secretary, resigned amid spousal abuse allegations, President Trump on Wednesday said he was “totally opposed to domestic violence,” his first condemnation of the alleged conduct behind a scandal that has engulfed the White House.

Reports from people inside the White House, who refused to be identified because they were mortified that they were working in the White House confirmed the story and said that yes, Trumpie did think beating one's wife was not a good thing, and that if someone did that they should probably have to give up dessert for a Tuesday lunch.

The reason it apparently took so long for Trump to speak out on domestic violence is that he wanted to hear both sides of the issue. He feels that there are good people on both sides, both wife beaters and victims.    While he knew the pro's for hitting one's wife, he was not familiar with the con's and initially did not understand why such behavior was being condemned. The Donner told associates that some of his best friends were wife beaters and that hitting women was a talent he looked for in hiring for his private company and for people in high level positions in the White House.

It was only after he thought about it long and hard did Trumper realize that giving a wife a black eye might not be good. He had talked about the issue with many of the right wing religious leadership and they had told him that as long as he appointed conservative judges and cut taxes for the wealthy Jesus really didn't care about this other stuff. But later he looked up the definition of a hypocrite and admitted there might be a little truth to the position that maybe a serial wife assaulter should not be that close to him, although he certainly hoped for such a person to have a great life and said he would be proud to provide a glowing recommendation.

 CreditJonathan Ernst/Reuters

Currently  charged wife beater Rob Porter with enabler Gen. John Kelly (Ret)
There is no truth to the report that Kelly had to tell Porter that no, he could not
beat up Melania just because he was twice divorced and had no current wife to strike.

University of Washington Learns Even Republicans Get to Speak on Campus

Free Speech is Free Speech

Worried about security the University of Washington wanted an extra $17,000 from Republicans to cover the costs of a speaker on campus. A court said no way.

"A federal judge on Friday blocked the University of Washington from charging a college Republican group $17,000 in security fees for hosting a controversial speaker on campus.

The student group invited Joey Gibson, head of Patriot Prayer, a conservative group known for rallies in support of President Donald Trump in liberal enclaves, to speak at a campus rally on Saturday. The event is expected to draw large protests, including from the far-left antifa movement, prompting the university to anticipate high security costs.

In an order Friday, Judge Marsha Pechman forbade the university from imposing the security costs on the students, saying such a move would have the effect of “chilling speech.”

Yeah, if a campus cannot provide security for speakers it has no business being a campus. And maybe it should tell the protestors to re-examine their tactics if they cause that much extra security just to allow an unpopular person to speak.  As for the idea that the U cannot afford this, our advice is take a look at what you spend on football.

Real Media Bias - Republicans Dominate CBS's Face the Nation

Or Maybe Dems Just Don't Care

The Sunday news shows are important, not because a whole lot of people watch them but because they create news which is reported over and over again by the news reporting people.

So it is with a little wonder, given the Republicans charge of bias that CBS had Rand Paul, Mike Mulvaney and Mark Meadows,all hard line conservatives on its Sunday show to talk about the budget and fiscal matters, with no counter by the Dems. Rand Paul distinguished himself by refusing to talk about the spousal abuse because he just doesn't know the facts.  He probably thinks Mrs. Porter gave herself the black eye so that years later she could discredit her husband.  You know, two sides to every story, right.

It could be the Dems were not invited, it could be the Dems could not find a single person to talk or it could be that the CBS folks just want to cozy up to Republicans.  Don't know, do care.

Trump Attorney Says He Paid Porn Star Out of His Own Pocket to Defend Trump

Just Paid $130k Out of His Role as a Human Being

Funniest Joke of the Year

For the past several years we have had a series of unbelievable situations involving Donnie, but now we have the most hilarious momment of all.  Earlier this year it was revealed that Trump's lawyer had set up a separate company and paid a porn star to keep her quiet about her claims that she had been involved with Trump in a naughty way.

Now the lawyer, and we are not making this up, says he paid the money out of his own funds out of the goodness of his heart.

Cohen reportedly created a private LLC to pay Clifford just weeks before the 2016 election. The money was allegedly intended to buy her silence over a reported 2006 sexual encounter with Trump.

Cohen told the Times that, “Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly.”

The mystery of course is why or how Trump inspires such loyalty that his attorney would tell such a story.  As for credibility, anyone who believes this is ready to buy a bridge connecting Brooklyn and Manhattan, or get huge money from a Nigerian prince.

Where Air Travel Stands Today

Gee, You Think?

The Atlantic magazine has a rather long article on the technology of airliners. Here is one conclusion from it.

"The bitter truth is that human air travel probably won’t get much better in the years to come. It might have reached certain limits in terms of speed, economy, and comfort. There are any number of signs that this is the case: climate change, limited resources, land-use constraints, wealth inequality, and so on."

Wow, that makes everyone feel better who has to fly. Yep, however bad your flying experience is today, that is as good as it gets.

Joke of the Day – Rob Porter's Explanation of How He Beat His Wives

As Good as a Confession

In Trump's world the wife abuser is the victim and if he denies doing anything, well he is innocent of anything. So now we have Rob Porter's denial story, a laugh out loud moment.

Porter told senior staffers his first ex-wife, Colbie Holderness, received a black eye and facial bruises during an argument as the two struggled over a Venetian glass vase in their hotel room while on vacation in Venice in the early 2000s after they were married.

He said that “[Holderness] was ready to throw glass onto the floor to smash and they both lunged for the glass and there was a struggle,” according to two people with knowledge of the account.

Porter went on to say that she bruised her eye when she fell during their struggle and denied punching her. He also said that the was first time they had a physical altercation.

Gosh, where to start? First of all apparently there was no door for her to run into, running into the door being the traditional explanation of injuries to a battered spouse. . But we really like the part where this was the first time they had a physical altercation. See in the normal world, where husbands don't abuse wives there is no 'first time' for physical altercation. And now for the second wife.

In the case of the restraining order that his second ex-wife Jennifer Willoughby filed against him for allegedly breaking into their house with his fist, Porter said that he was merely tapping the glass pane with his index finger, according to the two people with knowledge of what he shared with senior staff.

Porter said he and Willoughby were separated at the time. He returned to the house to collect his clothes, and while tapping the glass door pane with his index finger, his knuckle went through the glass. Porter said he went into the house to wrap up the wound but Willoughby told him to leave, and then she called the police.

Gosh, that has happened to all of us. We tap glass with our index finger, and somehow, mysteriously our finger turns into a fist. Yep, that's gotta be it.

 Trumpie has stated that accusations like this ruin people's lives. In the case of Rob Porter we can only hope it does.

Greece, With All Its Problems, Has Demonstrations Protesting the Name of Neighboring Country

The World Gone Crazy

The leading basket case of Europe is the nation of Greece. The country has massive unemployment, the public sector is broken and basic services are just not available. The place is literally falling apart. The nation exists on life support from the IMF.

So when the Greeks stage a massive protest surely it is about the sorry state of the country and the fact that the bailout has caused great misery. Or maybe not.

ATHENS — More than 100,000 people gathered in the Greek capital on Sunday to stage the biggest demonstration in decades against the inclusion of the word “Macedonia” in the name of a neighboring former Yugoslav republic, saying it implies a territorial claim on a northern Greek region.

The rally, drawing around 140,000, according to police estimates, was larger even than most of the numerous demonstrations organized after Greece signed its first international bailout program in 2010, paving the way for years of painful belt-tightening.

How stupid is this? Don't know, the scale of stupidity don't go that high.

Remember That $1.5 Trillion Infrastructure Program From Trumper?

It's Now $200 Billion Over 10 Years

Bait and Switch is Alive

One area where even those who doubted Trump had the ability to be dogcatcher, much less Prez were encouraged was his so-called dedication to improving the nation's infrastructure. Now, like everything else Donnie touches, that program has turned into a turd. Here's the scoop.

Mr. Trump will propose spending $200 billion over 10 years, most in the form of new, competitive grants designed to encourage states and cities to raise their own money for improving rails, airports, highways and water systems. The proposal also would expand federal loan programs for such projects.

Oh, okay, your local taxes would go up to the tune of $1.3 trillion to pay for stuff. The feds put in very little. But wait there's more.

The White House expects the spending to spark hundreds of billions more from local governments and private investors to pay for the upgrades, resulting in $1.5 trillion in new investment.

Oh, money from private investors! What that means is not only will taxpayers pay for the improvement, they will pay for a profit to the private sector in addition. Water rates, going up. Tolls, going on all those free roads. Parking solutions, money out of your pocket. Better airports, higher prices on fares. And so forth.

The fleecing of the American taxpayer, by the greatest Fleecer of them all.

'Concerning' The Best Peggy Noonan Can Do on a Spousal Abuser in the White House

What if the Victim Had Been Close to Ms. Noonan?

The revelations that a key White House aide abused his wives is not surprising.  The reaction of the President is not surprising.  The reaction of Republicans is disappointing, but not surprising.

Writing an opinion piece in the WSJ Peggy Noonan, who should know better says this about a key White House staffer for whom there is strong evidence that he was a spousal abuser.

"Scrutiny of the White House’s FBI clearance operation is legitimate. Those who work for presidents are subject to a full field investigation, and it’s a scary thing. They try to interview everyone you ever knew—and it’s the FBI, so you better play it straight. If Mr. Porter was working for a president after the FBI reported this, it is concerning."

No Ms. Noonan, it is disgusting. It is deplorable.  It is an indictment of the morality of the administration. That iswhat you would have said about a Democrat.  Is the fact that this is a Republican mean it is just mildly upsetting to you?  Yeah, probably so.

Spending Millions To Support Tax Cuts – Gosh What Kind of Cuts Require That

Oh, Republican Tax Cuts

One purpose of advertising is to get people to buy things they don't want or don't need or flat out just do not want to have. If they do want to buy it, like a $1,000.00 Apple phone then you certainly do not have to spend money to advertise the item.

So what does it say about tax cuts if rabid conservatives have to spend big bucks to convince people to think they are good. Even the people opposed to tax cuts are happy to get the extra money. But the tax cuts passed by the GOP in December are highly unpopular, mainly because they give billions to large, profitable, wealthy corporations and they give millions to people who already have, well, millions. So the Koch Brothers, a couple of ultra conservatives hoping to buy government in America are doing this.

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. (AP) — The political network backed by conservative industrialists Charles and David Koch plans to spend $20 million to promote the tax overhaul recently signed into law by President Donald Trump.

The investment marks an early focus of the Koch brothers' 2018 political strategy. It comes as the conservative billionaires work to expand their sweeping efforts to promote a "free society" in America.

They probably will not mention companies like Kimberly Clark who plan to use their tax savings to pay the severance costs of the thousands they plan to fire, and to pay higher distributions to their shareholders.

Actor TimRobbins Talking with Maureen Dowd

The Quote of the Day

From the NY Times

"He agrees with the philosophy of the San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who explained recently why charitable contributions matter: “Because we’re rich as hell, and we don’t need it all, and other people need it.” And you’re a jerk if you don’t give it."

And we all know who the biggest of the rich jerks is, don't we.

Another Day, Another Trump Nominee Pulled for Incompetence and Offensiveness

Just Another Day at the White House

The moral, ethical and intellectual bankruptcy of the Trump administration is on display almost every week when they have to remove an appointed official or withdraw a nominee because that person is just a terrible individual totally unsuited for the job for which they were selected.

In a normal administration the withdrawal of a nominee would be headline news. In this one they are so common that nobody takes notice. Here is the most recent.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The White House late Saturday confirmed plans to withdraw the nomination of a climate change skeptic with ties to the fossil fuel industry to serve as President Donald Trump's top environmental adviser.

Why? Well there is this, which in a competent White House dedicated to public service rather than destruction of the public sector the nomination would have never been allowed to happen.

White, who is not a scientist, has compared the work of mainstream climate scientists to "the dogmatic claims of ideologues and clerics." In a contentious Senate hearing last November, she defended past statements that particulate pollution released by burning fuels is not harmful unless one were to suck on a car's tailpipe.

Critics of White's nomination to head the council pointed to her praise of fossil fuels as having improved living conditions around the world and helping to end slavery. She has called carbon dioxide not a pollutant but "a necessary nutrient for plant life."

Our message, hey Ms. White, take your stupidity elsewhere, the current administration has enough already.

Carter Page, Hero of the Memo, Was an Adviser to the Kremlin

But No, a FISA Warrant Was Issued to Get at Trump

How perverted is the claim that the FBI was out to get Trumpie and so got a FISA warrant to surveil a nonentity like Carter Page.  Well it turns out he was heavily involved with the Russians.

"Former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page bragged that he was an adviser to the Kremlin in a letter obtained by TIME that raises new questions about the extent of Page’s contacts with the Russian government over the years.

The letter, dated Aug. 25, 2013, was sent by Page to an academic press during a dispute over edits to an unpublished manuscript he had submitted for publication, according to an editor who worked with Page.

“Over the past half year, I have had the privilege to serve as an informal advisor to the staff of the Kremlin in preparation for their Presidency of the G-20 Summit next month, where energy issues will be a prominent point on the agenda,” the letter reads."

See, normally when this happens a person gets the attention of the people who, you know are concerned with the security of the United States. But to Trump it is all a plot to get him.

Paul Ryan - Today's Fool

It Doesn't Get Any Better ThanThis.  Mr. Ryan later deleted this, and did not say that if it were possible to die of embarrassment the funeral would be this coming Friday.

From the great Taegan Goddard

Sorry Donnie, Coal is Not Clean, Coal is Dead

And Glad to See It Go

The fascination of Republicans with coal is strange. The stuff pollutes the ground and water when it is mined and it pollutes the air when it is burned. The idea that coal can be made into clean energy is a fool's dream, hence its appeal to Trumper.

And now one report, if true, is putting the final nails in the coffin.

New wind and solar will be cheaper than existing coal and nuclear by the early 2020s

First, the headline numbers. Here are the costs Robo anticipates “early in the next decade”:

• Unsubsidized new wind: 2.0-2.5 cents per kilowatt-hour
• Unsubsidized new solar: 3.0-4.0 cents per kilowatt-hour
• Variable operating costs of existing coal or nuclear plants: 3.5-5.0 cents per kilowatt-hour

If those predictions hold up, it is game over for coal (and nuclear, unless it gets support based on its low carbon emissions, as in New York). No one will ever build another coal plant in America, and the ones still running would likely shut down sooner than scheduled.

So who is this Robo person, why should we believe him. Oh, him

The latest is Jim Robo, CEO of NextEra Energy, a giant energy company with subsidiariesthat include Florida Power & Light (America’s third-largest utility, with 4.8 million customers) and NextEra Energy Resources, which boasts of being “the world’s largest generator of renewable energy from the wind and sun.”

On a Q4 earnings conference call on Friday, Robo predicted that by the early 2020s, it will be cheaper to build new renewables than to continue running existing coal and nuclear plants. That’s ... crazy.

Republicans in Missouri Determined to Lose Winnable Senate Seat to Incumbent Democrat

They Did it in 2012 – History Does Repeat Itself

For some reason Republicans in Missouri, who are on the rise and would normally be highly favored to defeat the incumbent Senator Claire McCaskill want to say the most outrageous, the most stupid, the most offensive things about women and sex.

Here are just a few comments from two of the Republican Neanderthals who are seeking the nomination. First of all the headline.

GOP candidate blames human trafficking on sexual liberation, saying it leads to ‘slavery’ of women

And now for some of the ugly statements. First up, Josh Howley who wants to use government to control people's private lives.

Josh Hawley, the state’s attorney general and the Trump-endorsed candidate as the party tries to unseat Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill, made the remarks in December at the event “Rediscovering God in America,” hosted by a Christian political group, the Missouri Renewal Project.

“We’re living now with the terrible aftereffects of this so-called revolution,” said Hawley, according to audio of the event. “We have a human-trafficking crisis in our state and in this city and in our country because people are willing to purchase women, young women, and treat them like commodities. There is a market for it. Why is there? Because our culture has completely lost its way. The sexual revolution has led to exploitation of women on a scale that we would never have imagined.”

But wait, there's more

The news comes on the heels of statements made by one of his opponents for the Republican nomination, Courtland Sykes, who criticized feminists and career-focused women as “nail-biting manophobic hellbent feminist she-devils” and said he expected his fiancee to make dinner for him every night.

And getting back to Hawley

Hawley, a staunch abortion opponent, spoke about “the lordship of Christ” and said that the appropriate place for sex was “within marriage.”

These are the people who supported a candidate in 2012 who spoke about 'legitimate rape'.

With cretins like this even a Democratic party that is divided, disorganized and destined to lose, lose, lose might still win.

And Now For Something Completely Funny

From Taegan Goddard we have a new breakthrough about the horror of diabetes.  It  seems it makes you commit voter fraud.

As for the quote at the end, well maybe he can think of how to revise it during his community service work.  Hopefully it's cleaning toilets at a senior center.

Ex-Colorado GOP Chair Sentenced for Voter Fraud

January 28, 2018 at 2:09 pm ESTBy Taegan Goddard

Former Colorado GOP chairman Steve Curtis “was sentenced to four years of probation and 300 hours of community service for voter fraud,” CBS News reports.

He blamed a “major diabetic episode” for causing him to vote his ex-wife’s absentee ballot in October 2016.

Earlier quote from Curtis: “Virtually every case of voter fraud, that I can remember in my lifetime was committed by Democrats.”

Washington Post Fact Checker Destroys GOP Memo

Zero Credibility for Trumpie and Cohorts – But Nothing New There

The claim by the Donnie defenders is that a memo produced by House Intelligence GOP staffers and the White House is the smoking gun that exonerates Trump. The major part of the memo is that the FBI used Clinton campaign anti-Trump research to obtain a surveillance warrant from the FISA court to spy on a person named Carter Page who was at one time associated with the Trump campaign.

Here is the refutation by the Post's Fact Checker. First of all Carter Page is described by Trumper as one of his key advisers.

March 16, 2016: In an interview with The Washington Post editorial board, Trump names Page as one of his foreign policy advisers.

“Well, I hadn’t thought of doing it, but if you want I can give you some of the names … Walid Phares, who you probably know, PhD, adviser to the House of Representatives caucus, and counterterrorism expert; Carter Page, PhD;

Then Trumper disavows Page.

Sept. 23, 2016: The Trump campaign denies Page was ever part of the campaign. “Mr. Page is not an adviser and has made no contribution to the campaign,” campaign spokesperson Jason Miller said. “He’s never been part of our campaign. Period.”

But then Page leaves the campaign, assuming he was ever a part of it.

Sept. 26, 2016: Page himself announces he is taking “a leave of absence” from the campaign, saying the reporting on his remarks has created a “distraction.”

Then a month after that the FBI gets its FISA warrant.  According to Republicans this was to spy on the Trump campaign, but of course the Trump campaign, which had been going on for a year and a half only had weeks to go so there was no campaign to spy on.  Clever, FBI peope, clever.

So the conclusion is that after a low level adviser left the Trump campaign and was no longer a part of the campaign and right before the election when there was little campaign left the FBI obtained a surveillance warrant to spy on the campaign by surveilling a person who was no longer part of the campaign.

Huh.

The Post gives this four Pinocchio's. We call it garbage.

Coal is Back – Trumpie Adds 200 Jobs to Coal Mining After Taking Office

Okay Coal Country – You Ready to Meet Mr. Reality Yet

Promises made, promises fulfilled. According to Trumper he has single handedly saved the coal industry and created a huge number of jobs. Well, the numbers are out, here they are.

This is the BLS Raw Data, number of coal miners in (000).

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
2007	77.5	77.0	77.1	77.3	76.6	76.7	77.2	76.9	77.0	77.4	77.7	77.2
2008	77.2	77.3	77.6	78.0	79.2	80.3	80.4	82.7	83.6	84.8	86.1	86.3
2009	86.4	85.9	85.2	83.9	82.2	81.0	79.9	80.0	79.4	78.3	77.9	77.7
2010	77.8	78.6	79.1	79.2	80.3	80.2	80.9	81.2	82.0	82.7	83.4	84.0
2011	83.9	83.1	84.4	86.0	87.6	88.3	87.8	88.6	89.3	89.5	89.6	89.4
2012	89.7	89.3	88.9	87.9	87.6	85.8	84.6	83.0	81.6	79.4	79.1	78.9
2013	78.5	79.3	79.4	77.6	78.8	78.6	78.2	77.9	77.3	77.4	77.1	76.8
2014	76.1	75.0	73.5	73.8	74.1	73.9	74.3	73.2	72.7	71.5	70.8	69.8
2015	69.0	68.6	67.9	67.1	66.0	65.0	64.1	62.8	61.7	60.7	58.8	57.1
2016	55.5	53.5	52.1	51.2	49.8	49.0	48.7	48.6	48.6	49.3	49.7	49.7
2017	50.0	50.3	50.4	50.6	50.8	50.8	50.8	51.5	51.7	51.6	50.9(P)	50.5(P

So in February there were 50, 300 coal miners in the nation and at the end of 2017 there were 50,500 coal miners. Yep 200 more. Nice going Donnie, you sure showed everyone how to revive employment in an industry.