45 After Dark: The Purge — Transition Week
A week into the Donald Trump transition, the president-elect’s team is showing shades of the most dysfunctional days of his campaign — full of personal rivalries, steered by heavy family involvement and hamstrung by opposing factions working to undermine each other.
“It’s an absolute knife fight,” one Trump insider told POLITICO’s Eli Stokols. “But that just makes it Tuesday.”
The most obvious sign of unrest Tuesday was the surprise ouster of former Rep. Mike Rogers, who had been leading Trump’s national security transition efforts. Rogers’ ouster is part of a broader effort to diminish the influence of those connected to Gov. Chris Christie, who lead Trump’s transition effort before getting demoted in favor of Vice President-elect Mike Pence.
It’s also the latest blow to the GOP’s national security and foreign policy establishment — always perhaps the most ruffled by Trump’s rise.
The “mood has darkened sharply since the weekend,” POLITICO’s Michael Crowley and Shane Goldmacher report, as names like former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani have emerged as contenders for Secretary of State. Foreign policy hands are particularly leery of Giuliani’s potential conflicts of interest. Another foreign policy adviser, Matthew Freedman, was also removed on Tuesday, The New York Times reported.
The man at the center of Tuesday’s bloodletting, Rogers, seemed to both downplay his ouster and acknowledge some level of tumult in Trump’s operation. He called his departure part of a “natural course” but also told CNN, “Is there a little confusion in New York right yet? I think there is, but I think this is growing pains,” Rogers said. “And once they integrate people who have been doing it [in Washington] with people in New York I think you'll see a smoother transition.”
And Trump, the man at the center of the maelstrom, has done something he has rarely, if ever, done since riding down the escalator in the summer of 2015: keep mostly quiet, and keep out of sight. He has tweeted occasionally hasn’t been spotted publicly since Thursday. (Though, very early transition pool reports suggest that he may — repeat “may” — have slipped out late Tuesday night for dinner.)
Here’s some other things that might have slipped by you today:
SESSIONS STAKES: Could key Donald Trump ally Sen. Jeff Sessions face a confirmation fight? His racially charged statements held up a Senate confirmation once before.
MILLIONAIRE: Hillary Clinton now leads in the popular vote by 1 million voters.
KUSH GIG: Donald Trump wants Jared Kushner to sit in on his presidential briefings, once he gets security clearance (NBC News)
FULL HOUSE: GOP Budget hawks are still leery of Donald Trump’s potential policies. (Los Angeles Times)
WARREN PARTY: Elizabeth Warren says she will fight Donald Trump every step of the way if he doesn’t get rid of all the lobbyists on his transition team. (Boston Globe)
GETTING READY: Mexico’s government says it is preparing for a change to Donald Trump’s immigration policies.
CASTING A PAUL: Rand Paul says he’ll do whatever it takes to prevent one name proffered as a Trump appointment, former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton from becoming Secretary of State.
TRUMP INC.: Donald Trump’s various and layered business holdings pose ample opportunity for conflicts of interest. (The New York Times)
LESS THAN GRAND STAND: D.C.’s City Council is considering downsizing its Inaugural grandstand after Donald Trump’s surprising victory. (Washington Post)
And, there you have it, you’re caught up on the the Trump transition. Here’s a serene stream, for a calmer time.
Bolton would be a disaster.
ReplyDeleteI don't think he's going to get it.
DeleteGiuliani seems to want it.
I think he's got the inside track with The Donald.
Where is that coming from?
ReplyDeleteUPDATE ON TEMPERAMENT AND FITNESS TO BE POTUS
ReplyDeleteA Tuesday of catharsis for Donald Trump voters turned into an evening of rage for Hillary Clinton. The Democratic presidential nominee, anticipating the postelection reaction of many of her supporters, began shouting profanities, banging tables, and turning objects not nailed down into projectiles.
“Sources have told The American Spectator that on Tuesday night, after Hillary realized she had lost, she went into a rage,” R. Emmett Tyrrell reports. “Secret Service officers told at least one source that she began yelling, screaming obscenities, and pounding furniture. She picked up objects and threw them at attendants and staff. She was in an uncontrollable rage.”
The appearance of campaign manager John Podesta at Manhattan’s Javitz Center, and the dematerialization of his heretofore ubiquitous charge, perplexed in the first hours of Wednesday.
“They’re still counting votes, and every vote should count,” Podesta declared to a sad and stunned hall. “Several states are too close to call, so we’re not going to have anything more to say tonight.”
As Podesta recalcitrantly refused to recognize reality early Wednesday morning, Hillary Clinton called Donald Trump to offer congratulations. The juxtaposition of the campaign manager publicly vowing to fight around the time the candidate privately conceded the election left observers scratching their heads.
Tyrrell’s reporting indicates that Mrs. Clinton’s mental state made it impossible for her to address her supporters on election night as custom requests. So, instead, Podesta gave a rah-rah speech on a boo-hoo night to cover for the absence of the first woman president, her fireworks, and her victory speech shout-outs to the mothers of the Black Lives Matter martyrs.
“She is not done yet,” Podesta claimed. Tyrrell’s reporting indicates that, indeed, Clinton remained far from done.
“Her aides could not allow her to come out in public,” he writes. “It would take her hours to calm down. So Podesta went out and gave his aimless speech. I wish we could report on Bill’s whereabouts but we cannot.”
Bill was at Monica's.
DeleteBill's not done yet.
DeleteTrump may be off on a lumpy start, but so what? Clinton would be fully staffed be now. Why? Because the same usual suspects would still be in power.
ReplyDeleteLESSON
A little dissension and upheaval is necessary when the CEO dissents with the stars quo. We dodged the bullet with Clinton.
“status quo”
DeleteAsh said Trump is a total failure already because of it.
DeleteWhen actually there is nothing unusual really going at all.
Ash is grasping, grasping....
Serene stream is good.
ReplyDeleteI like that.
New Zealand emergency services and defence personnel began evacuating hundreds of tourists and residents from a small South Island town amid more strong aftershocks on Tuesday, a day after a powerful earthquake killed two people.
ReplyDelete...
China chartered four helicopters to evacuate around 40 nationals from Kaikoura, mostly elderly and children, late on Monday, said Liu Lian, an official at the Chinese Consulate in Christchurch.
...
An A-League soccer match scheduled for Saturday between the Wellington Phoenix and Australia's Melbourne Victory has been postponed because of damage to Wellington's 34,000-seat Westpac Stadium, officials said.
“I categorically deny the allegations Quirk makes about me,” Doug said
ReplyDeleteWhat is Megyn Kelly's record wrt The Clintons treatment of women?
DeleteI think you should sue Quirk for libel.
DeleteSue his socks off.
Make him go barefoot !
And sue Ash's ass too while you're at it.
DeleteThat's not legal in Canada, except for minors.
Delete:)
DeleteMegyn has criticized the Clintons.
DeleteShe got her panties in a wad over something Trump said.
She pushed Hannity back in his time slot, but is now losing the ratings war to him.
Lately she has become nothing but a self promoter.
Her new book, her first, is "Settle For More".
Don't know if she wrote it herself.
On Fox nearly everyone has a book, O'Reilly has a dozen, none written by himself.
And the majority of the women have law degrees and worked as lawyers.
She's always bragging about her husband, too, which gets a little old after a while.
Probably makes the husband feel good, though.
DeleteBetter than getting totally dissed, as a young lady on the radio does here about her ex-husband.
Heh, I get a big kick out of her.
How would you like to be dissed day after day on your local country/western radio station ?
Haven't experienced it.
DeleteYet
More likely to happen on a radio station featuring that Fat Hawaiian Guy.
DeleteBolton for White House Toilet Brush.
ReplyDeleteSam:
ReplyDelete"By the way, a name being mentioned for Secretary of Education in lieu of Carson is Michelle Rhee, who went to war with the teachers’ union in Washington D.C. when she was chancellor of public schools there in the last decade. She fired bad teachers and proposed financial incentives for good performance in exchange for an end to tenure — exactly the sort of reforms conservatives have championed for decades to reduce union influence over public education."
===
Good God,
Her husband, ex-NBA, is a Democrat Crook who became Mayor of Sacramento.
https://dianeravitch.net/category/rhee-michelle/
As Mayor Johnson's Scandals Grow, Was Obama Admin Wrong to Fire Inspector General?
ReplyDeleteDespite little national coverage, scandals surrounding former NBA star and Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson have been intensifying over past few months. Monday's report at Deadspin is a good place to start -- things have gotten so bad that Johnson's allies are accusing a local paper that's done a lot of damning reporting on Johnson of racism.
As Deadspin notes, there's "a variety of sexual, financial, and ethical improprieties" swirling around Johnson. Among other things, the mayor is suing -- and being sued -- by the National Conference of Black Mayors. And Johnson is also accused of using public money and resources for his own personal benefit involving work done for the National Basketball Players Association.
That last scandal is particulary interesting, because it mirrors accusations made against him in 2009, when he was accused of misusing federal grants meant for the Americorps program by Gerald Walpin, the inspector general of the Corporation for National and Community Service:
The most significant issue appeared to be Mr. Walpin’s actions in connection with St. Hope Academy of California, which was run by Mr. Johnson and Dana Gonzalez. St. Hope Academy received federal money from 2004 to 2007 from AmeriCorps. Mr. Walpin said a large amount of the money was spent improperly, some of it on personal expenses.
Mr. Walpin made a referral to the United States prosecutor in Sacramento, recommending that Mr. Johnson and Mr. Gonzalez face criminal charges and be banned from future contracts.
According to Walpin, the chairman of the board of the Corporation for National and Community Service, Alan Solomont, was a major Democratic fundraiser and was unhappy with his reports pointing out the misuse of federal money. Johnson was also said to be close to the Obamas, and shortly afterward the president abruptly fired Walpin from his job. The firing set off a flurry of inquiries from a bipartisan group of senators concerned that Walpin's firing had been been politically motivated. There were also allegations that the U.S. attorney in Sacramento, Lawrence Brown, filed an ethics complaint against Walpin to help lift a ban on Johnson receiving federal funds as well as curry favor with the White House. Brown was seeking a presidential appointment to become United States attorney for the Eastern District of California.
Now Johnson remains mired in scandal six years later and is being accused of allegations of corruption very similar to what was first alleged by Walpin. And in the intervening years, the Obama administration has acquired quite the reputation for selectively enforcing laws against compromised allies and for the vigorous prosecution of political enemies on dubious grounds. Johnson's current troubles certainly suggest that the president was wrong to fire Walpin, and are an unpleasant reminder of the Chicago-style politics that have come to define this administration's questionable uses of political power.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/as-mayor-johnsons-scandals-grow-was-obama-admin-wrong-to-fire-inspector-general/article/998681
"
DeleteAccording to Walpin, the chairman of the board of the Corporation for National and Community Service, Alan Solomont, was a major Democratic fundraiser and was unhappy with his reports pointing out the misuse of federal money. Johnson was also said to be close to the Obamas, and shortly afterward the president abruptly fired Walpin from his job. The firing set off a flurry of inquiries from a bipartisan group of senators concerned that Walpin's firing had been been politically motivated.
There were also allegations that the U.S. attorney in Sacramento, Lawrence Brown, filed an ethics complaint against Walpin to help lift a ban on Johnson receiving federal funds as well as curry favor with the White House. Brown was seeking a presidential appointment to become United States attorney for the Eastern District of California."
What ?
DeleteI thought if you were Mayor the government money belonged to you.
Wonder when this new way of thinking came about....
Just because her husband is a crook doesn't mean Michelle Rhee is a crook.
DeleteJust because Hillary is a crook doesn't mean Bill......hmmmm, well...
DeleteTrump looks to be considering Cruz for AG.
ReplyDeleteSorry, my menses got out of phase while I ate dinner.
DeleteLion Ted for Deporter in Chief.
DeleteIn another conversation, from February, Trump began with an attack on Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.), his GOP primary rival, saying, “I’ve never seen any human being lie like he lies.”
DeleteBannon, who had also praised Cruz in the past, interrupted.
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“Mr. Mr. Mr. Trump . . . You’ve been in New York real estate, and global real estate, and the gaming industry, and with politicians. You can’t say, reasonably, that Ted Cruz is the biggest liar you’ve ever seen,” Bannon said.
“He’s the biggest liar,” Trump said. “Okay, let’s get on to another subject. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-bannon-flattered-and-coaxed-trump-on-policies-key-to-the-alt-right/2016/11/15/53c66362-ab69-11e6-a31b-4b6397e625d0_story.html
Better Late Than Never:
ReplyDeletehttps://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/12642938_487735768066255_4891480966643622724_n.jpg?oh=8e9ac4543db4c82b8d7dd0238de91652&oe=58CCA3DF
Senator Bernie Sanders went on “CBS This Morning” on Monday to lament the current state of politics and take a swipe at the Democratic Party.
ReplyDelete“I come from the white working class and I am deeply humiliated that the Democratic Party can’t talk to the people where I came from.”
Bernie Sanders
Sanders went on to say that President-elect Donald Trump “very effectively” tapped into the angst and the pain of the working class, something Democrats have failed to do.
“There needs to be a profound change in the way the Democratic Party does business,” Sanders said. “It is not good enough to have a liberal elite.”
As for Trump, Sanders said he’ll be held accountable.
“We are going to say to Mr. Trump, ‘If you have the courage to actually stand up to the big money and trust of the billionaire class... if you have the courage to, in fact, develop policies to improve lives for working people, count us in,’” Sanders said.
John Bolton for Secretary of State
ReplyDeleteBolton has the advantage of being an experienced, straight-talking yet nuanced foreign-policy hand, who also fits the Trump sensibility on national security. Bolton is an American internationalist who believes in the importance of American power. He is a hard-headed realist whose focus is always the national interest. He negotiated the creation of the Proliferation Security Initiative, for instance, a global effort to counter illicit trafficking in weapons and materials of mass destruction. It was, and is, a diplomatic rarity—“an activity, not an organization,” as one U.K. diplomat put it. United Nations, take note. Bolton has been around the block—starting his career as a protégé of James A. Baker III—but has never become an establishmentarian or lost his edge. He would understand that he is the president’s emissary to the State Department, not the other way around, and avoid getting captured by Foggy Bottom’s bureaucrats the way, say, a Colin Powell did, or others with less experience likely would. He is a scourge of international institutions and treaties that threaten our interests or sovereignty. In the George W. Bush administration, he removed America’s signature from the treaty creating the International Criminal Court, and negotiated over 100 bilateral agreements to prevent Americans from being delivered into the ICC’s custody. And he negotiated America’s withdrawal from the 1972 ABM Treaty so President Bush could launch a national missile-defense program to protect America from the likes of rogue states such as Iran and North Korea. He believes that diplomacy and negotiations should be directed not to reach agreement at any price, but to advance American interests. It is his view, correctly, that the process of negotiation is not, as too many in the State Department see it, an end in itself but simply a means to achieve larger objectives, and always from a position of American strength. On top of all this, Bolton, who endorsed Trump soon after he clinched the Republican nomination in the spring, is respected by all factions of the party. (He is a long-time friend of this magazine and serves on the board of the National Review Institute.) In short, John Bolton is an ideal pick, and his appointment would be a sign that the Trump administration intends to get off to a strong start.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/442150/john-bolton-secretary-state
NATIONAL REVIEW ON TRUMP:
DeleteDonald Trump leads the polls nationally and in most states in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. There are understandable reasons for his eminence, and he has shown impressive gut-level skill as a campaigner. But he is not deserving of conservative support in the caucuses and primaries. Trump is a philosophically unmoored political opportunist who would trash the broad conservative ideological consensus within the GOP in favor of a free-floating populism with strong-man overtones. Trump’s political opinions have wobbled all over the lot. The real-estate mogul and reality-TV star has supported abortion, gun control, single-payer health care à la Canada, and punitive taxes on the wealthy. (He and Bernie Sanders have shared more than funky outer-borough accents.) Since declaring his candidacy he has taken a more conservative line, yet there are great gaping holes in it.
Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/430137/donald-trump-conservative-movement-menace
I am sure Trump values their advice.
DeleteCanada’s government is set to finally embrace anal sex.
ReplyDeleteUnder a controversial law, people that have anal sex in Canada can be punished with a 10 year jail sentence.
It has been accused of discriminating against gay men, but the government will introduce legislation to finally repeal the ban.
The law is laid out in Section 159 of Canada’s Criminal Code:
http://metro.co.uk/2016/11/15/canada-is-about-to-repeal-its-ban-on-anal-sex-6259579/
Ash is celebrating!
DeleteWell I hope he is not 'embracing' anal sex ! or getting embraced by it !
DeleteGeorge Pérez has come out in protest of United States' President-Elect Donald Trump by pledging not to attend any conventions or comic functions in any 'Red States.' Pérez explains that he feels threatened by Trump's statements and actions, for both himself, his wife, as weel as his family and friends.
ReplyDeletePérez provided this statement to Newsarama about his decision:
Just as a confirmation and clarification, since I have been flooded with requests for such, yes, I have indeed decided that I will no longer be accepting invitations to conventions and similar functions in states that supported and allowed a scurrilous and openly bigoted, misogynist, deceitful, homophobic, uninformed, philandering, sexist egomaniac to become our commander and chief and disgrace us in the eyes of the world. I have a lot of friends who will be adversely affected and run over by this crazy driver now that he’s been allowed the keys to the car, and I just had to take a stand somehow.
To me, it’s not a question of not respecting other people’s choice. This isn’t policy he was talking about; it’s oppression, it’s hate and fear, it’s tacit approval of violent action against those with whom one doesn’t agree with. It’s the denial and threatened removal of basic human rights and liberties. I am an Hispanic. I’m threatened. My wife is a woman; she is threatened. I have friends, fans and many members of my extended family, gay, straight, transgender, black, Hispanic, Muslim and, yes, even many whites, who are now scared and poised for disaster.
blah
blah
blah
blah
blah
blah
blah
blah
http://www.newsarama.com/32016-george-perez-joins-in-boycott-of-red-states-conventions.html
"My wife is a woman"
DeleteLeast we can all be relieved at that.
USGS Estimates 20 Billion Barrels of Oil in Texas’ Wolfcamp Shale Formation.
ReplyDeleteThis is HUUGGEE, boys. What happened to the Henny Penny's who kept saying we are at Peak Oil??
I hope Rufus is OK.
DeleteHe never got anything right but was such a dear.
(Trish)
There's No Such Thing As A Good Trump Voter
ReplyDeletehttp://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2016/11/there_is_no_such_thing_as_a_good_trump_voter.html
Change the name of The Elephant Bar to The Deplorable's Bar
Ash and Quirk are deplorable even if they didn't vote for Trump.
Keith Ellison the Right Man to Lead Dems Into the Future: Maajid Nawaz, Daily Beast
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/11/15/keith-ellison-is-a-muslim-and-the-man-to-lead-the-democrats-into-the-future.html
Go for it, Dems.
Elect a taqiyyah muzz as your leader of the DNC and see what the future brings.
Could A Radical Israel Basher Soon Head The Democratic Party?
DeleteBoycott Israel movement ally Keith Ellison gets closer to leading the DNC.
November 16, 2016 Joseph Klein
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) is the leading contender to head up the Democratic National Committee. In announcing his candidacy for the position, Ellison said, “When voters know what Democrats stand for, we can improve the lives of all Americans, no matter their race, religion, or sexual orientation.”
Ellison has the support of the progressive wing of the party, including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, as well as the so-called establishment types such as Senator Chuck Schumer.
What would a Democratic Party led by Rep. Ellison really look like? One need look no further than Rep. Ellison’s own statements, associations and actions. Under Ellison’s leadership, the Democratic Party will continue to evolve into a pro-Islamist party that helps advance the stealth jihad agenda, and a party that moves away from its traditional support of our closest ally in the Middle East, Israel.
Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, has a past history of working actively on behalf of the anti-Semitic firebrand Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam. In 1995, writing as Keith X Ellison, he published a column for Insight News, which praised Farrakhan as “a role model for black youth” and denied that Farrakhan was an anti-Semite. In 1997, Ellison defended a statement by Joanne Jackson of the Minnesota Initiative Against Racism, who was reported to have said that "Jews are among the most racist white people I know."
When Ellison first ran for Congress, Nihad Awad, executive director of the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), provided his support at a fund raiser in Minneapolis for Ellison. Ellison in turn has spoken at CAIR fundraising events. He also defended CAIR against credible charges that CAIR was trying to infiltrate staff offices tied to committees on the judiciary, homeland security and intelligence. At CAIR banquets in late 2008, Ellison urged CAIR supporters to seek jobs in the then incoming Obama administration.
Some of Ellison’s donors have “a history of Muslim Brotherhood connections,” according to Campus Watch. The Minneapolis branch of the Muslim Brotherhood affiliated Muslim American Society reportedly paid for Ellison’s pilgrimage to Mecca for the Hajj in 2008.
Ellison is not interested in hearing a diversity of views from moderate Muslims such as M. Zuhdi Jasser, founder and president of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, who believe that reform is needed within Islam today. Indeed, Ellison accused Jasser of speaking like those allegedly turncoat blacks “who would seek to ingratiate themselves with powerful people in the white community and would there turn them on the rest of us and give license to attack us all. Now is somebody going to snatch my 13-year-old daughter's hijab off, call her a horrible name, spit on her because of something that you said, Dr. Jasser, I worry about that.”.......
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/264848/could-radical-israel-basher-soon-head-democratic-joseph-klein
Keep that idiot Pelosi on as leader of the Dems in the House, too.
This is the way forward for you.
For his part, Obama is off touring the ruins of ancient Greece.
ReplyDeleteThere is truly something fittingly symbolic in this.
It’s called moving on up. He started his running for the presidency with Styrofoam columns and as he leaves, at taxpayer expense, visits the real deal in Athens.
DeleteThe Latest Hot Pardon Rumor - Trump Pardons Julian Assange
ReplyDeletecomments:
Mirjam Eikelboom
Poor quality article: Assange is wanted by Sweden for questioning - because he had consensual sex with an adult woman but did not use a condom as appointed. When she became aware of this during sex, she wanted him to continue - but later felt unhappy about this and went to the police to see if she could force Assange to take an HIV test. The public prosecutor in Sweden took the initiative to upscale the complaint to a possible case of rape and said that Assange (who had left Sweden) was needed back into the country for a second interview. Assange didn't want to go back for fear that Sweden would render him to the USA. This week monday Sweden was forced, by international courts, to do their interview in the Equadorian Embassy in London. If they can charge him with anything is still to be seen. See for updates @wikileaks on twitter!!
http://hotair.com/archives/2016/11/16/the-latest-hot-pardon-rumor-trump-pardons-julian-assange/
.
DeleteThe Latest Hot Pardon Rumor - Trump Pardons Julian Assange
For what? What crime has he committed that Trump could pardon him for?
.
You must read the article.
DeleteTrump does owe Julian a debt of gratitude.
He can offer him asylum. And a 'preemptive pardon'.
And he should.
The President-elect may decide to stop America’s investigation into the Australian-born WikiLeaks co-founder, which could see him regain his freedom after being holed-up in the South American embassy since June 2012.
Reports are suggesting Mr Assange’s lawyers are preparing to make the plea with Mr Trump.
The Obama administration launched a criminal investigation into WikiLeaks in 2010, following the publication of documents about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars provided by whistleblower Private Bradley Manning.
Asylum and a preemptive pardon, which is all the rage these days.
Hillary hasn't been charged with anything yet either and Obama might preemptively pardon her.
Assange hasn't been charged with anything here far as I know.
* 51% in U.S. say they are “more confident" in Trump's ability to serve
ReplyDelete* Similar to post-election confidence in Bill Clinton, George W. Bush
* 19% of Hillary Clinton supporters more confident in Trump since election
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Fifty-one percent of U.S. adults say they are "more confident" in President-elect Donald Trump's ability to serve as president based on his statements and actions over the past few days. The percentage "more confident" in Trump a few days after his election is similar to ratings when Bill Clinton and George W. Bush won their respective elections in 1992 and 2000.
OOOHHooooo...
ReplyDeleteOur Granny Nanny Pelosi makes her muscle move.....
Pelosi moves to intimidate Democratic rivals as she tries to cling to power
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/nov/16/pelosi-officially-running-house-minority-leader/
Ho ho ho
Joke told by Gutfeld on Fox -
ReplyDeleteIf Lyin' Ted Cruz is appointed Secretary of State he will lie in' State.
har de har
ReplyDeleteStudents hold 'shit-in' for gender-neutral bathrooms....DRUDGE
Let's admit we have some of the dumbest students in the world.
Dumb Shits, I might add.
DeleteJim Webb for Secretary of Defense -
ReplyDeleteCommentary: Will Jim Webb be Trump's secretary of Defense?
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/will-jim-webb-be-trumps-secretary-of-defense/
International human rights groups have condemned the decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin withdrawing Russia from the International Criminal Court, calling it a cynical move and a bad omen for justice.
ReplyDelete...
The Kremlin called the ICC judgment on Crimea "absolutely contradicting reality," according to Russia's Interfax news agency.
...
ICC spokesman Fadi El Abdallah told VOA "it is the sovereign right of each state to decide whether to remain or to withdraw from the ICC Rome Statute. What is important for the ICC is to continue fulfilling its own mandate in the best possible way, respecting the highest standards of fairness of the proceedings in a completely independent, judicial approach to things where no political elements can be taken into consideration."
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteSuper Moon Substitute:
Deletehttps://scontent-dft4-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/15109455_1409657322385491_7107657813659741435_n.jpg?oh=b88f77cf33174965cb7e1ceadd62aefa&oe=588B1009
FREE JULIAN !
ReplyDeleteJulian Assange lawyers to appeal to Donald Trump to end US probe
JAMIE BULLEN
Lawyers working on behalf of Julian Assange have revealed they will appeal to US President-elect Donald Trump to end a criminal investigation into the WikiLeaks founder.
Mr Assange was quizzed on Monday and Tuesday by Swedish prosecutors inside the Ecuadorian Embassy over sex allegations which he has denied.
The WikiLeaks founder is also subject to a criminal probe in the US over the publication of classified documents about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan provided by whistleblower Bradley Manning.
Mr Assange claimed political asylum inside the London embassy, where he has been holed up since 2012, amid fears he could be extradited to the US to face charges.
Fresh hope: Lawyers working for Julian Assange hope to appeal to US President-elect Donald Trump to end a criminal investigation into the WikiLeaks founder (Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire)
Following his interview with Swedish prosecutors, his lawyer Jennifer Robinson said he had co-operated fully and hoped the matter can now be closed.
She said: "It is important to remember that he has never been charged and has already been cleared once by the previous prosecutor.
READ MORE
Julian Assange's cat spotted wearing tie as authorities quiz him
Prosecutor arrives to quiz Assange after Pam drops off veg treats
Julian Assange to be questioned at embassy over rape claim
"We hope and expect that the prosecutor will come to the same conclusion."
She added that she hoped to strike a dialogue with Mr Trump over the ongoing investigation with the US which was launched in 2010....
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/julian-assange-lawyers-to-appeal-to-donald-trump-to-end-us-probe-a3396906.html
Julian Assange's cat spotted wearing tie as authorities quiz him
DeleteThe authorities, after much questioning, couldn't get a thing out of the polite cat, so the cat at least deserves a break.
Save Egypt Before It’s Too Late
ReplyDeleteNeeded: a new, sane policy under Trump.
November 16, 2016 P. David Hornik
Zvi Mazel, a former Israeli ambassador to Egypt, reports that Egypt is in trouble.
On the one hand, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi is pursuing ambitious economic reforms. He’s doubled the size of the Suez Canal, bringing a major spike in revenue. He’s building a new capital south of Cairo, aimed at relieving congestion and pollution in Cairo and making it a commercial and tourist hub.
Sisi has also launched processes of building about two thousand miles of new highways, cleaning and rehabilitating wheat silos where wheat—the main Egyptian staple—rots because of negligence, and developing oil and natural gas resources.
That oil and gas development, Mazel notes, “could be greatly accelerated if the West decided at long last to help Egypt. It has not happened so far.”
Indeed it’s well known that since Sisi—then the defense minister—overthrew the Muslim Brotherhood regime of Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, the Obama administration and other Western governments have turned Egypt a cold shoulder.
They have done so even though that overthrow was backed by the most massive popular protests in history, with 14 million Egyptians taking to the streets. They were protesting a regime that was radical, incompetent, and—in office for a year—already taking steps to abrogate Egypt’s constitution and strangle the country in sharia legislation.
Yet “Western countries led by US President Barack Obama,” Mazel notes,
still see in president Sisi a military dictator who grabbed power from a “democratically elected president.” They do not want to admit that Morsi was toppled by a popular uprising—admittedly with the help of the army—just in time to prevent him from creating an Islamic dictatorship.
Jilted by the West, Sisi has had to turn elsewhere. China is underwriting his building of a new capital. More problematically, Egypt has already signed major arms deals with Russia, and Russia has pledged $25 billion toward the building of a nuclear power plant in northern Egypt.
It might all be less troubling if Egypt were mainly suffering from economic problems.
But, in addition, it remains under assault by radical anti-Western terrorist forces.
“The Muslim Brotherhood,” Mazel reports, “is still carrying out low-grade warfare against local infrastructure in the country.” And a branch of Islamic State in the Sinai Peninsula has kept up a string of deadly attacks. The most devastating was its downing one year ago of a Russian plane, which, says Mazel, “has brought tourism to a near standstill.”
DeleteAnd as the economy keeps struggling and Sisi institutes reforms—some of them, like a VAT increase, widely resented—the potential for popular insurrection, driven by or at least exploited by the Islamist forces, remains.
Or as Mazel puts it, “It is now show time for [Sisi]. The next few months will be critical.”
Israel, for its part, is helping Egypt both in the security and economic spheres, but the assistance it can give is limited by ongoing popular hostility to Israel and Jews in Egypt.
Another development in the next few months, however, offers the best hope of keeping Sisi’s government on its moderate, constructive course and keeping the jihadists at bay.
An AP analysis notes that U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has already praised the “good chemistry” between him and Sisi when they met at the UN in September, suggesting a possibility of “closer ties after the chill between al-Sissi and Obama.”
Indeed Egypt’s media cheered Trump’s victory, reflecting widespread resentment at Obama’s support for the short-lived but hated Morsi regime.
It is not that Egypt is an exemplary country or a Western democracy. As mentioned, hatred in the Israeli and Jewish direction is still pervasive decades after the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty. Vigilante attacks on Christians continue. Sisi’s crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood and other radical forces hardly meets Western judicial standards.
But in the real world, the Sisi government—which wants to align with the West, is nonbelligerent toward Israel, and at least aspires to curb Islamic extremism—is vastly preferable to the alternatives.
Supporting Sisi would mean a shift to a sane policy.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/264841/save-egypt-its-too-late-p-david-hornik
Donald Trump is reportedly considering appointing Clare Lopez, an anti-Muslim conspiracy theorist, to serve as his deputy national security adviser.
ReplyDelete...
The Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit organization that works to combat hate and discrimination, has labeled Lopez’s organization an anti-Muslim hate group. Heidi Beirich, who directs SPLC’s Intelligence Project, told The Huffington Post that Trump’s reported consideration of Lopez for a White House job was a “tragedy,” and “means nothing good for the Muslim American community.”
“We don’t want members of hate groups who have raging bigoted ideas about Muslims in the White House,” said Beirich. “That’s the last place they should be.”
Rep. Keith Ellison, who may soon be the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, used to hang out with The Nation of Islam and Farrakhan.
DeleteHe used to call himself Keith X, or Ellison X Muhammad, or Muhammad X Ellison.
Realizing that this connection would be a liability when running for Congress he gave it up some short time before doing so.
Clare Lopez sounds OK to me.
I want to read her report on Ellison.
After news broke that President-elect Donald Trump appointed Stephen K. Bannon as his chief White House strategist, the media unleashed a torrent of attacks calling Bannon an extremist, a “white nationalist,” and a “racist” in order to force Trump to rescind his offer to add Bannon to his White House staff.
ReplyDelete...
Yet, the media has ignored all Ellison’s controversial ties, all the while going mad over Stephen Bannon.
Trump pushes back against reports of transition turmoil, but there's little indication of progress
ReplyDeleteThe team does not appear to have progressed much toward assembling an administration, and questions remain unanswered about the level of influence that Trump’s family will exert.
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-transition-201611116-story.html#nt=oft12aH-1la1
===
Total Bullshit.
His appointments thus-far have been stellar.
Ya, he's appointed all of ZERO so far. Stellar!
DeleteAsh you moron check out, if it matters, the time line for other Presidents-to-be forming a Cabinet.
DeleteObozo was in week three when he made his first choice.
Historically it looks from the chart Fox has been putting up that most are in week four maybe.
Please quit with this making a fool of yourself on such a daily, or even thrice daily, basis around here.
Please !
Pence can be considered a stellar appointment.
DeleteAsh, go to Drudge -
DeleteWATCHING ELEVATORS AT TRUMP TOWER
L I V E
- and watch all the action at Trump Tower live !
Get a life, man !
Or, watch Fox News....
DeleteIf you had been watching Fox you would not have missed the fascinating debate on whether VP pick Pence had just used a selfie stick, or not.
DeleteGet up to the moment, man !
Ash, 8 EIGHT ! excellent potential cabinet picks are meeting with The Donald just today !
DeletePLUS, the Japanese Prime Minister is flying in to do a hello to Trump today as well !
See: Fox News
.
Delete:o)
Yes, Ash, get a life, spend your day viewing FOX news and watching elevators going up and down at Trump Tower.
It's the way they do it in Idaho.
What a life.
.
:)
DeleteBeats walking the mutt to the corner to piss on the public's fire hydrant and listening to the gossip at The Ol' Detroit Mafia Barber Shoppe.
Prince Riebus can be considered a stellar appointment.
Delete.
ReplyDeleteGood news: Admitted liar, James Clapper, resigns.
Bad news: Janet Yellen says she plans on completing her 4 year appointment as FED head.
.
Obama is passing a truly immense amount of gas at his Presser with Merkel.
ReplyDeleteMore even than Quirk and Smirk together have passed here on their record days.
Henry 'Super K' Kissinger is meeting with The Donald today !
ReplyDeleteSuper 'Q' is set for 7:15 am tomorrow !
.
ReplyDeleteTwo great Trump ideas for 'draining the swamp' that in reality will end up going nowhere...
Term Limits: Would have to be approved by Congress so in effect is a non-starter.
No-Lobbying for 5 years: Great idea. Won't happen. Five years is probably too long. Trump has to fill 4,000 jobs. Even if set in motion, Trump will do the same as Obama and grant innumerable 'waivers' for people he wants. IMHO.
.
.
ReplyDeleteIdaho Elevator Report: Kissinger visits Trump Tower.
Expert Opinion: This is potentially very bad.
.
Idaho Elevator Report: Super 'Q' to meet Trump tomorrow.
DeleteExpert Opinion: This is potentially very good.
(some are saying Trump is just shamelessly trying to pull support from the 'star power' of Super 'Q')
Delete(Super 'Q' is no relation to the Q arrested yesterday for trespassing at Trump Tower)
Delete.
DeleteQuentin Tarantino?
.
That might be the guy.
DeleteQuentin Jerome Tarantino[1] (/ˌtærənˈtiːnoʊ/; born March 27, 1963) is an American filmmaker, screenwriter, and actor. His films are characterized by nonlinear storylines, satirical subject matter, an aestheticization of violence and gore, extended scenes of dialogue, utilization of ensemble casts consisting of established and lesser-known performers, references to popular culture, soundtracks primarily containing songs and score pieces from the 1960s to the 1980s, and features of neo-noir film.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quentin_Tarantino
I recall someone sometime saying something about 'non linear neo-noir' storylines and this 'Q' character.
He often leaves a mysterious J hidden in his writings, I have been told.
DeleteVisiting Schedule (General Public - Non Legal)
DeleteVisiting Staff Hours: 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Five (5) Condemned Contact: 7:30 a.m., 9:45 a.m., 12:00 p.m.
Three (3) Grade B: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
Eight (8) Reception Center: 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.
Saturday and Sunday
Visiting Staff Hours: 7:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Three (3) A/C non-contact: 8:00 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 12:30 p.m.
Eleven (11) Reception Center, non-contact: 8:00 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 12:30 p.m.
Five (5) Ad-Seg/Grade B, non-contact: 8:00 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 11:00 a.m., 12:30 p.m.
Five (5) Condemned (East Block): 7:30, a.m., 7:45 a.m., 8:00 a.m., 9:45 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 12:15 p.m., 12:30 p.m.
Five (5) Condemned (North Segregation): 8:00 a.m., 8:30 a.m., 10:15 a.m., 10:45 a.m.
General population visiting hours: 7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
For information on how to get to San Quentin State Prison, visit this link to customize your driving directions.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=San+Quentin,+CA+94964&ie=UTF8&ll=37.943961,-122.489533&spn=0.01374,0.023346&t=h&z=15&iwloc=addr&om=0
Residents rent their driveways to media vans during controversial executions. The reporters are attracted to the place because it is the only place in California where prisoners are executed and many death penalty abolitionists appear and demonstrate against the practice.
DeleteThis garners much media attention.
"NAFTA no ‘existential threat’ to Trump's America, numbers show
ReplyDeleteMichael Babad
The Globe and Mail
Published Thursday, Nov. 17, 2016 5:28AM EST
The numbers alone raise questions about Donald Trump’s condemnation of the North America free-trade agreement.
Indeed, they suggest the U.S. president-elect is somewhat off base, leading BMO Nesbitt Burns to ask how NAFTA can possibly be an “existential threat” to the American economy.
A 12-month total to September shows the U.S. trade deficit with Canada shrinking to only $8.1-billion (U.S.), from an oil-fuelled peak of about $80-billion in 2008, BMO chief economist Douglas Porter noted.
The latest number, he said, is “literally a rounding error,” accounting for a teeny 0.04 per cent when expressed as a share of gross domestic product.
“The U.S. bilateral trade deficit with Canada has been whittled down to nearly nothing in recent years,” Mr. Porter said.
“This is due to the combination of lower commodity prices, firmer Canadian domestic spending, and the loss of Canadian manufacturing share in the U.S. market.”
Mr. Porter didn’t say Mr. Trump was off base, though his numbers also show that the U.S. deficit with Mexico, which has taken the brunt of the president-elect’s complaints, is 0.3 per cent, or $63-billion, over the same period.
“Combined, the two countries account for less than 10 per cent of the total U.S. trade deficit, begging the question of why so much focus is falling on NAFTA,” Mr. Porter said.
“Even at its ‘peak,’ the deficit with Canada was running at an unremarkable 0.6 per cent of U.S. GDP. Put another way, U.S. exports to Canada are now equal to 97 per cent of imports from Canada, almost precisely balanced.”
That’s on the goods side. When you include services, the Americans have actually been running a surplus of $7.7-billion. That, too, is basically a rounding error, this time in favour of the U.S. equivalent to 0.04 per cent of GDP.
The total deficit with Mexico came in at $60-billion.
“But that’s less than a fifth of the imbalance with China, smaller than the deficit with Germany and in line with the shortfall with Japan,” Mr. Porter said.
“Thus, overall trade in goods and services with its NAFTA partners generates a deficit of less than 0.3 per cent of U.S. GDP,” he added.
“We would simply ask: In what way, shape, or form, does that pose an existential threat to the U.S. economy?”"
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/top-business-stories/nafta-no-existential-threat-to-trumps-america-numbers-show/article32883270/
.
DeleteNuclear war with a major power would be an existential threat to the US.
NAFTA is not. However, that fact is irrelevant to the discussion of what is good for the US.
.
Trump did go on about how the trade deficit is unsustainable. The trade deficit numbers with the NAFTA partners don't bear it out.
DeleteDo you really think re-introducing tariffs with trading partners would be good for the US? You would be closing off a lot of markets for US goods as each country would retaliate against US goods.
I think we should re-introduce the 1950's.
DeleteFuck a bunch of robots, immigrants, and cheap Chinese labor.
you mean like back in the good old days when unions ran things just fine?
Delete.
DeleteDo you really think re-introducing tariffs with trading partners would be good for the US? You would be closing off a lot of markets for US goods as each country would retaliate against US goods.
I suspect the subject of international trade is beyond the purview of the EB think tank. I wish I was more knowledgeable on the subject. However...
As far back as I can remember, the conventional wisdom (which I usually question regardless of the subject) has been that when speaking of trade it's defined by the equation
TRADE = GOOD
Obviously, some people and countries benefit from trade but the benefits aren't uniform and they are not universal. Trade agreements have facilitated the growth of globalization and multinational corporations. No doubt this has helped raise the standard of living in most countries especially third world countries. Though, of course, there are many more factors than trade involved.
However, it's easy to speak in general terms but that doesn't help the many who are negatively effected by these trends, and the 'enlightened self-interest' Adam Smith said was one of the reasons for trade can also work in the opposite direction. When it comes down to it, it doesn't matter what the economists tell us about the general benefits of trade if we don't accept what they are selling as true, or more specifically, true for us.
Why is Trump talking about trade? Mainly because of jobs. Has he convinced enough people? Well, he won the election. He won it because of the trends over the past 35 years.
Globalization has been rapidly spreading.
Average wage growth has been flat.
Good jobs in manufacturing and now starting in services have disappeared.
The argument that people who have lost their jobs can just re-train isn't selling.
Though unemployment is low, labor force participation is at the lowest in 70 or 80 years.
The only wage increases we talk about these days are minimum wage increases.
Since 2000, GDP growth has been below the historical norm.
There is a growing divide between the 1% and the rest of us that is evident and frustrating.
Will Trumps approach work? Only if he convinces enough people it is working and they are willing to accept the offsets. Can his policies generate enough job growth and economic improvement to keep those who voted for him happy? Will there be a backlash when the population sees a general price rise on goods, both imported and domestic? At what point would the offsets be acceptable and even preferred?
We'll have to wait and see.
As for NAFTA, I don't know enough about it to come out strongly one way or the other; although, I'm familiar with some of the more dramatic negative effects, good paying jobs moving from here to Mexico, the hit the Mexican agriculture industry took when its market was opened to big Agra from the US. On the other hand, I have read the entire TPP and am decidedly against it for all the reasons we have talked about before.
.
If all these chumps are really in the mix, I'll withdraw my claim:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cnbc.com/2016/11/17/romney-and-trump-to-discuss-secretary-of-state-position-nbc-source-says.html
.
DeleteIf these are the only choices, my preference would be
1. Haley
2. Corker
3. Romney
4. There is none (Giuliani doesn't qualify)
.
Corker is an idiot.
DeleteCorker for wielder of the John Bolton White House Toilet Cleaning Brush.
Delete.
ReplyDeleteGingrich says he will not be part of the Obama cabinet.
Probably a good thing. All through the campaign his views have been all over the map and when you think of 'The Establishment,' Gingrich is the kind of guy you think of.
.
Definitely a loser choice to join the Obama Administration's Cabinet.
DeleteVery short time work, low pay.
I was asked just this week to join the Eisenhower Administration, and though 'I Like Ike', I turned that down, probably a good thing.
DeleteWould Obama even give him consideration?
DeleteLast thing he wants is a fellow grandstander.
Breaking Idaho Elevator Report:
ReplyDeletefrom Trump Tower: Mitt 'Mittens' Romney, once best described by The Donald as a stone cold loser who clutched when the chips were down now has an inside track as Secretary of State.
Updates later....
Did he get on his knees for that one?
DeleteAll I've heard is something about grabbing 'Celestial Underwear' but that's all I know at this time.
DeleteWhen was the last Idaho Elevator explosion and fire?
DeleteIn North Idaho, the Potlatch Elevator, Potlatch, Idaho burned to the ground about a decade or more ago. Make that two decades or more ago.
DeleteI sold black winter peas through there and I've always thought the owner, whom I knew, burned it down himself for the insurance because the business wasn't doing so well.
I had no product in the elevator at the time.
Black winter peas are loved by pigeons.
DeleteThe carrier pigeon folk use them.
Also the homing pigeon folk.
Also the Pakistanis who make some kind of something out of them.
When I raised them every pigeon in the area was in the field.
DeleteWhat's a Black Pea Pigeon Stool look like?
DeletePresident-elect Donald Trump will meet on Sunday with Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential candidate, and may discuss bringing him on to his team as secretary of state, a source familiar with the meeting said on Thursday.
ReplyDeleteRomney described The Donald as a phony and a fraud, totally unfit for office.
DeleteSounds like a phony and a fraud and a stone cold loser who clutches when the chips are down are bringing the country together in healing.
Or something....
And all we get is a cheap hat.
DeleteAnd if we wear it were at risk for a severe beating.
DeleteI think it's time for The Elephant Bar to march on Trump Tower.
ReplyDeleteCalifornia Democrats ask Obama to pardon nearly 750,000 'Dreamers'
ReplyDeletehttp://www.latimes.com/nation/politics/trailguide/la-na-tg-california-democrats-pardon-dreamers-20161117-sl-story.html#nt=oft12aH-1gp2
The Prez is supposed to thoughtfully review each and every pardon case.
DeleteBut what the hell....
Lexus Sriracha
ReplyDeleteThe car features a number of Sriracha details, including gold flecks in the paint that are supposed to resemble chili flakes. There is actual Sriracha in the steering wheel, 43 bottles in the trunk and — just in case that weren't enough — an emergency supply of the stuff in the key fob. The temperature and drive settings even have Sriracha options.
The car sports a number of green accents that recall the hot sauce's signature bottle caps, including the brake calipers, details on the side-view mirrors and ambient light in the car.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hy-live-updates-2016-la-auto-show-lexus-has-the-hottest-car-of-the-1479411361-htmlstory.html
Before leaving Sydney, Mr Turnbull delivered a rallying call to APEC leaders.
ReplyDelete...
Apart from the formal APEC sessions, the Prime Minister will engage in a series of one-on-one meetings with regional leaders, most of whom were trying to understand how much upheaval US foreign and economic policy was likely to go through under Mr Trump.
Mr Turnbull is likely to seek out President Barack Obama and is set to hold his first talks with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte.
Should arrange a meeting for the three of them together.
DeleteBrad Parscale was the real brains behind the operation and the one who actually guided Team Trump to victory.
ReplyDeleteBrad ought to be Secretary of Whatever He Wants To Be.
Don’t sugarcoat the Obama years
ReplyDeleteDemocrats talk often about how much the economy has improved under President Obama, and Sanders said it’s a fair point considering what a mess the president inherited. But the Vermonter said that the pressing that case overlooks the reality that the middle class is shrinking rapidly. Displaced workers who once earned
good livings in now-shuttered factories and mines are only going to be repelled by the argument that everything was bad before and it is good now.
“Democrats too often have ignored that over a 40-year period … the middle class of this country has been shrinking,” Sanders said. “Real wages for American workers have gone down. Inequality has gone up. Those are real issues, and the Democratic Party has got to address them.”
http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-bernie-sanders-20161117-story.html
More immigration woes:
ReplyDeletehttp://ww4.hdnux.com/photos/55/05/77/11821043/3/core_centerpiece_tab.jpg
It also went offshore at other faults. It wasn't known how far the faults may have ruptured offshore, but onshore the rupture of faults probably extended for about 130 kilometres.
ReplyDelete...
Earthquakes had lifted land in many places throughout New Zealand. For instance, the magnitude 8.2 to 8.3 Wairarapa earthquake in 1855 lifted Wellington Harbour by about two metres.
There were raised beaches all along the Kaikoura Coast from earthquakes over thousands of years, but they were not well preserved.
I'll eat the Trump hat I don't have if Romney becomes Secretary of State.
ReplyDelete.
ReplyDeleteAsh, had another disappearing post episode with Google so I moved it here.
QuirkThu Nov 17, 07:24:00 PM EST
Do you really think re-introducing tariffs with trading partners would be good for the US? You would be closing off a lot of markets for US goods as each country would retaliate against US goods.
I suspect the subject of international trade is beyond the purview of the EB think tank. I wish I was more knowledgeable on the subject. However...
As far back as I can remember, the conventional wisdom (which I usually question regardless of the subject) has been that when speaking of trade it's defined by the equation
TRADE = GOOD
Obviously, some people and countries benefit from trade but the benefits aren't uniform and they are not universal. Trade agreements have facilitated the growth of globalization and multinational corporations. No doubt this has helped raise the standard of living in most countries especially third world countries. Though, of course, there are many more factors than trade involved.
However, it's easy to speak in general terms but that doesn't help the many who are negatively effected by these trends, and the 'enlightened self-interest' Adam Smith said was one of the reasons for trade can also work in the opposite direction. When it comes down to it, it doesn't matter what the economists tell us about the general benefits of trade if we don't accept what they are selling as true, or more specifically, true for us.
Why is Trump talking about trade? Mainly because of jobs. Has he convinced enough people? Well, he won the election. He won it because of the trends over the past 35 years.
Globalization has been rapidly spreading.
Average wage growth has been flat.
Good jobs in manufacturing and now starting in services have disappeared.
The argument that people who have lost their jobs can just re-train isn't selling.
Though unemployment is low, labor force participation is at the lowest in 70 or 80 years.
The only wage increases we talk about these days are minimum wage increases.
Since 2000, GDP growth has been below the historical norm.
There is a growing divide between the 1% and the rest of us that is evident and frustrating.
Will Trumps approach work? Only if he convinces enough people it is working and they are willing to accept the offsets. Can his policies generate enough job growth and economic improvement to keep those who voted for him happy? Will there be a backlash when the population sees a general price rise on goods, both imported and domestic? At what point would the offsets be acceptable and even preferred?
We'll have to wait and see.
As for NAFTA, I don't know enough about it to come out strongly one way or the other; although, I'm familiar with some of the more dramatic negative effects, good paying jobs moving from here to Mexico, the hit the Mexican agriculture industry took when its market was opened to big Agra from the US. On the other hand, I have read the entire TPP and am decidedly against it for all the reasons we have talked about before.
.
you mean like back in the good old days when unions ran things just fine?
.
Deleteyou mean like back in the good old days when unions ran things just fine?
I suspect you may be too young to appreciate what the union movement did for this country, Ash, especially the bigger unions. [Here, I'm talking about unions in the private sector not public sector unions which to my mind carry an inherent conflict of interest.]
It was the unions that built the middle class in this country. I was only in one for a couple years but I benefited from them throughout my working life. All we hear about are the bad things about the unions but in fact they did a lot of good. They negotiated specific wage increases which tended to raise to general wage level in the country. I went from a union job to a salary job at the same company and I, like all my fellow salary co-workers (with the exception of those negotiating with the union) loved it when negotiating time came around. Whatever the union got, we got, and in fact, we got more just to assure we wouldn't be forming a union of our own.
Unions also fought for health and safety issues, equal pay, job security, etc.
I'm convinced that part of the reason wage growth has been stagnant for the last 30 years has been to decline in union membership over the same period.
Part of the impetus for globalization were the cheaper wages that could be obtained by taking the work overseas where you didn't have to worry about starvation wages, ungodly hours, health and safety laws, child labor, etc.
The question facing Trump is will the American public be willing to pay more for its TVs, iPhones, and everything else they now get dirt cheap in return for more jobs, higher wages, likely a growing economy, and changes in the existing distribution of wealth.
.
That all makes good sense.
DeleteAt least 73 people were killed and scores more injured when an oil tank truck burst into flames in a village in western Mozambique on Thursday, the nation's public radio announced.
ReplyDelete...
Tete province was also hit by another tragedy in January 2015, when 75 people died from intoxication after drinking traditional beer.
Must've been one hell of a party.
Delete73 to 75.
DeleteBeer drinking in Mozambique always knocks over a few more people than traffic mishaps.
The real trouble begins when the beer drinkers begin driving oil trucks.
I wish I was more knowledgeable on the subject. However...
ReplyDeleteI wish I were more knowledgeable on the subject too as my lack of knowledge of it keeps me from spouting off, and I like to spout off.
Gary Kasparov just said on the new Tucker Carlson Show on Fox that Pooty is a much bigger threat to the USA than ISIS or any other terrorist group.
ReplyDeleteHe is all for sticking with NATO, and Japan and South Korea, etc, honoring our traditional commitments, and, though he didn't say it, I imagine he'd be fine with John Bolton as Secretary of State.
Now Tucker has the self promoting Megyn Kelly on so I've turned the sound off.
DeleteFox has way too many self promoters.
Gingrich, O'Reilly, it's hard to think of some who aren't....
Judge Jeanine comes to mind, possibly....
I miss Greta.
Between the “Stalin-esque purge” of Christie loyalists and industry lobbyists from Donald Trump’s White House transition team, and the stampede of Trump allies and Establishment types lining up to take meetings with the president-elect, the revolving doors at Trump Tower have hardly stopped spinning over the past week. The New York Times chronicles the comings and goings of the Republican V.I.P.s, including potential secretary of state Rudy Giuliani, Treasury candidates Steve Mnuchin and Rep. Jeb Hensarling, as well as Henry Kissinger and South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, all of whom were captured by C-SPAN cameras Thursday as they headed to the 26th floor to kiss Trump’s ring.
ReplyDelete...
Other Republican names have also begun appearing in reports, some more unexpected than others: Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal has been mentioned as a candidate to lead the Health and Human Services Department, while Arkansas senator Tom Cotton is considered a candidate for Defense. Sarah Palin, naturally, has been rumored to head up the Department of the Interior.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has met with US President-elect Donald Trump in New York today, becoming the first foreign leader to shake his hand since the election.
ReplyDelete...
The Japanese Government also holds concerns about the state of the defence and security alliance with the US.
...
Japan has become reliant on a strong relationship with the US, providing it with an extra security blanket in the face of heightened regional threats from North Korea and an emboldened China.
,
ReplyDelete...though he didn't say it, I imagine he'd be fine with John Bolton as Secretary of State.
Five things to remember about John Bolton:
1. Bolton was a primary cheerleader of the War in Iraq and stands for everything Americans rejected about the Bush administration's foreign policy.
2. Bolton wanted the U.S. to go to war with Cuba over WMDs that also didn't exist
3. Bolton really, really wants to bomb Iran
Having apparently learned nothing from the decade-plus quagmire that resulted from the invade-now-come-up-with-an-exit-strategy-later Bush administration approach to the Iraq War, Bolton in March 2015 advocated for a similar bomb-now-and-figure-out-the-details-later approach to dealing with Iran.
4. President Obama followed Bolton's terrible advice about Libya and then Bolton blamed Obama for the resulting mess
In March 2011, while mulling a potential run for president, Bolton suggested to an Iowa crowd that the United States should try to assassinate Muammar Gadhafi, the then-dictator of Libya.
5. Bolton suggested Israel should unleash nuclear weapons against Iran
Perhaps the most terrifying manifestation of Bolton's desire to bomb Iran no matter the costs or consequences for America (to say nothing of the consequences for the people of Iran fixed in his crosshairs) occurred in 2009 while Bolton was speaking at the University of Chicago.
"Unless Israel is prepared to use nuclear weapons against Iran's program, Iran will have nuclear weapons in the very near future," Bolton said.
If that’s not enough…
He helped cover-up the Iran-Contra scandal.
He founded a political action committee with the goal of electing more hawkish candidates. Donors received this mustachioed coffee mug.
He wants to "cause Putin pain," whatever that means.
He supports the drone warfare program created under Bush and expanded under Obama.
He fears we might miss an opportunity to go to war with North Korea.
http://reason.com/blog/2016/11/15/five-horrifically-bad-foreign-policy-ide
.